New Year's Resolution No. 1 - www.aspenandpike.etsy.com

One of my New Year's resolutions for 2011 was to start an Etsy shop. I've been toying with the idea for a while, but I never had the motivation or gumption to actually sit down and do it. I didn't know what to sell either. I had about a bazillion ideas from calligraphy to jewelry to paintings, and I couldn't decide. I read up on a bunch of blogs and articles on how to market your Etsy shop and how you should focus your ideas and products so customers have a clear view of your vision, blah blah blah. Eventually I ditched a central vision and just put my shop up.

I called my shop Aspen and Pike, in honor of my Coloradoan heritage. I've currently only got two listings up for beaded tiaras, but there are more coming soon. I just made some cool coasters out of dominoes and Scrabble tiles. Having a shop actually inspires me to be more creative, since I know someone is looking.

After actually doing more artsy, craftsy stuff, I have found my central vision. I call it Scrimped Art. Four years of a student budget and an upside-down economy has forced me to get creative in a lot of aspects of life. I now know how to make bread from scratch, sell random stuff on eBay, and use coupons to get things for ridiculously cheap. My hobbies are no different. The tiaras I have up for sale now are made of leftovers from Zoe's Christmas present and repurposed beads from a necklace that died years ago. The Scrabble tiles I procured from DI, and the dominoes are leftovers from another project Aaron and I made for my mom and dad. I've also got two paintings in the works that use canvases from a previous failed art project and paint I got from Freecycle. Scrimped Art makes things more interesting for me. And cheaper.

(P.S. If you're interested in buying anything from my shop, use the coupon NEWBIE. It gets you free shipping!)