Blog Updates, Etsy, Shop, Face Masks & More!

Blog Updates, Etsy, Shop, Face Masks & More!

Hai Beautiful!

It’s about time for another update!

I thought it was about time I did this update considering so much has happened in the past month and a half, I don’t even know where to start!

Since around mid-June, I started on a project to open an online shop to sell journaling and scrapbooking ephemera/ supplies. This stemmed from a strange desire to tear apart old novels, and let me tell you that once you rip up one book, you won’t be able to stop!

Where it all started…

The YouTube Series

Once I had the idea to tear apart books and sell pages as ephemera online, I knew I had to document the process in some way, and what’s better than a shitty YouTube series?

Probably a lot of things…

The series was appropriately titled Starting An Etsy Store Series and although it has evolved into something bigger and I probably went about all of this wrong. I like the fact that so many things have changed since episode one. It’s really quite interesting to see and talk through the changes.

You can watch episode one below:

I have been posting every Wednesday for four weeks since I started the series but due to all the mixed emotions and the launch of the Etsy store and Blog Shop, I won’t be posting this week. Instead, episode five will be coming out next week!

The Etsy Shop!

Staying with my brand, the shop can be found on Etsy under JasperandSpice. I am currently selling the book pages and I want to start selling hand-made bookmarks, but the costs of selling on the site – as an Australian – means that my prices have to be higher than even I would like to pay for me to make a profit.

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The cool thing is, I have made one sale on the site! This helped me to both understand how much of a cut Etsy takes from the sale of my product, but also boost my self-esteem and confidence.

Shifting My Focus.

I really admire Etsy sellers from countries other than the US. Exchange rates are shite, especially in this economy. I now understand why prices are high for products sold on on that platform, especially if it’s a seller’s main source of income.

Sellers outside of the US – especially those with low product prices – lose a lot on their product, not only because Etsy wants to take a nice cut, but also because maintaining a listing costs a few US cents which is almost a dollar AUD.

I am keeping my products up on Etsy as I do believe it is a place that will benefit me as a seller, although if I do not receive any sales, or if it costing more to maintain than I am earning, I will be running solely out of my blog.

The alternative is to run the shop out of an eCommerce site from my blog/ website aka the site you are (hopefully) reading this on. All payments are processed through PayPal of which they only take a 3% cut for sales made within Australia which is far more profitable for me.

Changes to Jasper & Spice

Shop!

You may have noticed a banner at the top of your screen when you entered JasperandSpice.com, looking something like this:

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It’s there to tell you about the shop that is now attached to this beautiful blog of mine! A small page that I am so proud to have, nurture and watch grow as I have done with this blog.

Since the banner does not link to the shop, you will also see some new options in the menu bar of the site that make it look something like this:

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The page labelled SHOP! will bring you to the Jasper & Spice Shop which can also be accessed via this link.

Opening this shop means so much to me as it has been a dream of mine to be able to use my blog to make money and generate some form of income. Like many, I am all for the idea of pursuing my creative passion as a full-time job.

I have mentioned it many times that blogging or writing for a living is a dream of mine and starting this feels like I’m taking the first step to fulfilling my dreams.

Jasper & Spice Shop – What Am I Selling?

Journaling/ Scrapbooking Ephemera

As mentioned above, I am selling the same products on my blog as I am on the Etsy store!

In the shop you will currently find the following items that may be useful to your journaling and scrapbooking:

Selling on my blog allows everything to be within my control and also gives me a larger profit margin than selling through a third-party like Etsy. Also, it makes me feel really freaking freak about myself that I have opened my own personal shop!

Face Masks

Due to the new rules in Victoria that require everyone in the Metro and surrounding areas to wear a mask, plus my desire to make stuff myself, I am now making face masks!

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All mask, like the one I’m wearing above, are reversible, reusable and without a nose wire! They come in all types of cute patterns (9 total) as shown below.

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For more information on the masks, you can visit the listing here, and check out the cute design options!

Bookmarks (Coming Soon)

With the book pages that I have sneakily kept for myself, I am planning to make cute hand-made bookmarks for the shop. I have not started on this project just yet and probably won’t until next week as I am having my wisdom teething removed on Friday… Eek.

The Usual Blogging!

I hope you enjoyed this post and all the changes that have come to the site. Don’t worry though because blogging as usual will continue on Jasper & Spice, with my current, albeit lose schedule remaining.

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Do you need to wear face masks in your state?

Leave your opinions in the comments or alternatively on my social media channels!
Instagram // Goodreads // Twitter // YouTube .

See you back here on Monday’s (book reviews), Wednesday’s (storytime/ writing updates) and Saturday’s (other bookish content).

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