The Tax Man Cometh

The holidays are done. If you're like me, you're looking around at your life trying to remember what it looked like before the holidays struck! What exactly do I buy at the grocery store when I have time to go there!? Why is the line at the post office so SHORT today?? What year is it!?? Truly, we all deserve to take a deep breath and celebrate our survival through the joyous, yet stressful, holiday season. This is especially true of we Etsians (of the SCAD variety) because, with any luck, each and every one of us was swamped with holiday orders.

Ah, the sweet smell of relaxation.... wait, what else am I forgetting? I feel like there's one more thing on the horizon... oh, no, it's TAXES!! Just when we thought we were safe, in walks the Tax Man.

To be honest, I must confess that I am a FREAK of nature. I ENJOY doing my taxes. Well, I should say I enjoy organizing my finances, figuring my earnings, working on financial strategies. It's like raking the yard or cleaning the bathroom or painting the kitchen. Not exactly fun, but rewarding and satisfying. Spending time with your financial reality is a very good idea, especially when you are operating on a shoe-string budget. I'm no expert- I'm trying to learn what I can as the need arises, and I thought I would try to share some of the things I learn with you.

This year I learned about Sales Tax. It's the first year I have ever collected it because I officially became a business this year. These are different than your income taxes, which are due in April. In California, where I live, you report your earnings and pay your sales taxes based on a schedule provided to you by the state Board of Equalization (http://www.boe.ca.gov/). For me this is yearly, and happens to be due in January, so I filed already and got a head start on my BIG tax day stuff.

I found a blog post from last year that covers the basics of sales tax and a little bit about how it applies to Etsy sellers. Take a look: http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2010/tax-tips-everything-you-need-to-know-about-sales-tax/

Etsy has a great feature that makes adding sales tax to your items pretty simple, but they can't tell you what tax rate you should be using based on where you live, so you'll have to do some research on your own. Remember that each state is different! To set the tax options on your shop go to Shop Settings>Sales Tax Settings.

In CALIFORNIA, my BIGGEST TIP is to keep track of all your sales made within the state of California, and look up the COUNTY right away. Store this info with the record of your sale. You will have to report how much money was sent to you from each California county when you file (because of varying sales tax rates, I suppose) and it is a PAIN to look up each county when you have a huge  list of sales in front of you (ok, it wasn't as huge as I would have liked).

 The other great TIP, which they mention in the blog above, is try to be as accurate as you can in your tax collection because you cannot keep any extra money and if you come up short it will come out of your own pocket. No fair. Life (and taxes) are not fair.

I hope this will help to get you motivated about tax time. Now is a good time to at least begin organizing your books and figuring out what you will need to do to square things with Uncle Sam.
I'll try to post helpful things as I advance in my own tax adventures. Good luck everyone, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Laurel http://www.etsy.com/shop/LaurelBushman

Hi Everyone!!!!

We super excited about the Renegade Craft Fair in Austin, TX next weekend that our company Make Shop Live will be in attendance.  For us, it is big and exciting because it is our first trip out for a craft fair. Are there team members in Austin that are showing??? Please if you live in the area come out and say hi!

I am not sure what some of your summer plans may include, but I would kill to hear the inner workings of any and all craft/ independent design shows. Seriously,  I want to hear the wide spectrum of "happenings" of anything from celebrity sightings to artists in competition feeling ripped-off.  Come on- there is something.  A customer gave you the most wonderfully stated compliment ever... this stuff is fantastic!

We have been regrouping from Unique LA which all ways keeps us busy! And has us full of ideas to include for next weekend.
Check out the show here or our post at http://makeshoplive.blogspot.com/2011/05/unique-la-highlights-and-pictures.html.

Our new cards really emphasize the SCAD+Etsy=Love Team, and we have geared more marketing towards Etsy in hopes that it brings customers into our Etsy shop & hopefully Everyone else too ;)

I have been behind on the blog posts for the team :( But I have kinda been searching for something I felt passionate about writing.  I was hoping to do a wrap up of so show info/ marketing trends I see here and I think it would be really great if it could be so much more...

Now that we are getting bigger as a team, I am sure a ton of you all are out dealing with all types of sales and I want to know what everyone is up to??? Any tips you figured out?  Did you nail a display that is so awesome you will burst at the seams to share with everyone??? I want to know, and I am sure so does everyone else!  We are all up to amazing things these days I think we should have a call for entries. What ever you you have that you think can relate to this topic: please shoot an e-mail with details HERE by June 13th.

Maybe a campaign can be assessed for creating a bigger buzz for the team too- Just a pre-holidays thought... I know it seems soon but I am starting early!

Hope everyone is doing well and making some amazing things- and $$ too ;)
XO,
KC

Here are more details for people in Austin who want to attend the Renegade Craft Fair

 If you come buy and say hi, we will share a 15% discount to fellow SCAD-sters :) Booth #162

Etsy Apps To Check Out

Hi everyone!  Hope everyone is having an awesome start to Spring and that you are ready for April.  This year is flying by so quickly!!!   With life flying by I am always on the hunt for gadgets and tricks that cut time or organize things.

 The Favoritizer by ericj on Etsy is one of the best ways to keep my favorite shops and items organized.  Now that the group is getting bigger this app is super helpful because you can make a SCAD + Etsy = LOVE folder to keep track of all the team members. From there you can group/ access team members shops easy!  Once you set up all the folders for however you want to organize your favorites it is way easier to go threw all the items easier than scrolling across your list.

Check it out and see how easy it is to organize your favorite Etsy Shops and Items ;)

Best,

KC

Moo to the Rescue

We had a discussion on Team Board a little while back about a promo Moo was running, and I thought I would share how we've found this product to be a wonderful way to highlight your brands.

Click this link to score 50 Business Cards for FREE all you have to do is pay shipping.

I almost like the free ones with the visit my shop on Etsy and Moo watermark on the bottom better than the full price version!  The banner on the bottom automatically sparks a conversation about our shop every time we pull out these cards. We made an assortment but focused a bunch of these with our picture to give to friends and family.  These cards are a great way to highlight your merchandise or illustrations but don't forget sometimes people like to see pictures of you too ;)

One of my favorite products they have are their sticker books.  We made some assorted stickers that help put that finishing touch on all of our Etsy orders :) The stickers are 1" and make perfect closures to products and gifts to highlight your logo or message.

We have been thinking of purchasing some of the new post cards now that you can make them with double-sided prints... They were originally only available with one image and a selection of pre-made backs to chose from.  Their print quality and the weight of their cards are so nice I am sure the post cards are awesome.  I'll have to let you know when we place our next order and try them out.  If you want to get either the postcards or the stickers they are running a free shipping promotion with the code YAYSTICKIT

Member Profile: Blake Roberts

Greetings! My name is Blake Roberts. I'm from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and earned my Bachelor of Arts in Illustration at the Savannah College of Art & Design in Georgia. Since graduating, I've worked on both the east and west coast creating custom works that have sold nationally and internationally. Since 2009, I've been selling prints and greeting cards through my store, The Painted Peep Show. Recently, I was accepted into the Society of Illustrators in NY. I'm currently living in Brooklyn, New York and work out of my kitchen/studio.

 The Painted Peep Show began through a series of sketches, which upon first glance appear sweet enough to be featured in a children's book, but have a humor dark enough for the older crowd to enjoy. I enjoy creating images for children of all ages.

The Painted Peep Show is a proud member of the Etsy Greetings (etsygreetingsteam) and Men of Etsy (MoE) teams.

SCAD+ ETSY=LOVE Thursday Finds

Howdy Y'all! Hope this week is panning out nice for everyone.  The weather is finally nice here and it is making me want to run from my studio and soak up some vitamin D.

Incase you may have missed some team updates here are some important things to check out:

SCAD on Etsy- Shout out in the District

Team Tags need to be changed from "SCAD" to "SCAD Team"

(please also change: "I am a proud member of TEAM SCAD + ETSY = LOVE. Please enter SCAD Team into the etsy search to find my fellow team members.")

There are good discussions happening on our discussion board... Please check them out and add your input here.

New Treasury Picks Below-

Happy Crafting!

XOXO,

KC

Tips for Etsy: Avatars and Shop Banners

We have been so happy to see the SCAD + ETSY = LOVE Team applications flooding in!  I wanted to say a quick hello from Laurel and I to all our new members :)

The beauty of being in a team is having helpful incites from your fellow team members to constantly evolve and tweak your shop so that not only you will increase business, but also to bring other team members exposure on Etsy as well.  Now more than ever there are so many things to shift threw online that it can be a very exhausting process seeing everything.  While we want our team to not be too labor intensive for those of you on  a busy schedule, I do want to point out that for some of your fellow teammates their shop may already be the prime focus for showcasing their business.  By having some shops empty or without an avatar/ shop banner it lowers the standards for the overall group.  Here are some helpful (and quick) tips to get your shop appearance set and up and ready for business:

Standard Info for Banners and Avatars

For your Avatar/ Profile Picture:

You can use image editing software (for example: Adobe Photoshop or GIMP) to tweak a photo you've taken.
You will need to crop or re size your image to be a small square, 75 x 75 pixels in size at 72 dpi resolution. The file should be one of these formats: .jpg, .gif or .png.

For your Banner graphic at the top of your Shop:
Make sure you have your properly sized image saved on your computer. Your banner should be 760 x 100 pixels at 72 dpi. Banner images must be .jpg, .png or .gif file format.

To upload your banner image to your Etsy shop, go to Your Account > Info & Appearance. Click the Browse button to locate the file on your computer, then click the Save button at the bottom of the page. Your new banner will show up in your shop momentarily.

Make a Quick Banner HERE on Etsy's Banner Generator

Etsy Resources- Pre-made Badges

Etsy Resources- Pre-made Banners and Avatars

Here is a post from Etsy on Making a personalized shop banner in Photoshop

Wanna get a graphic designer to make a super sweet one for you?!? 

For Under $10 You can get a custom made avatar and shop banner from a fellow Etsian-

Modern/ Fashion

Simple/ Modern

A little bit pricier, but includes everything you would ever need- 

Full Packages with Vacation, Sale, even a custom reserved listing place holder!

I have created a fun picture for an Avatar you can click and download here:

Feel Free to promote your shop and our Team using this 

"Solid Gold" avatar or Etsy Flag picture ©Make Shop Live-

 

 

Team Treasury, Wrapping up February

SO EXCITED WE HAVE 50 MEMBERS NOW! Yay!!! As we grow as a team and strengthen our online community, I truly believe we are all going to do awesome things together!  How exciting to work with each other while building and defining all of our creative endeavors- Thanks to SCAD for all of these talented artists to work with :) 


I can't believe we are wrapping up February already!  FYI: I am not sure the details about business taxes in other states, but in CA business taxes are due by MONDAY.  Please double check over the weekend and make sure you have your ducks in a row.

Here are some new Team Treasuries highlighting some of the talented folks from SCAD on our Etsy Team.  You can see all of our new members listed here on Etsy to shop from or you can enter "SCAD" into the search field to find a collection from all of our members.

My Treasury Picks for the week-


Best of luck for everyone this weekend!
XOXO,
KC

Member Profile: Erica Regelin

 

 

My main focus is paintings and drawings (usually made into cards, gift tags, bookmarks, etc) and wallets and checkbook covers made from recycled magazines, newspapers, tissue paper, etc. I spend a lot of time working on my watercolor paintings, it can take me twenty hours to finish a painting! But I enjoy every moment (well, for the most part) and think it's worth it. Once they're finished I scan the painting and print it as a card, tag, or whatever else I'm in the mood for. The wallets and checkbook covers are made by spending countless hours looking through magazines (usually with a helper) to find images we think could work as either. Then theyre all cut out, poked and prodded, smushed and pressed, and then sewn into a final piece. Each wallet and checkbook cover have two pockets, stretch a bit to hold more things and can be made so theyre security safe (as in, no one can read your credit cards with a machine through the wallet). I'm also hoping to branch off into other things, as inspiration hits, like handmade books!

Right now a theme of mine is 'Horse Butts' so if you see a painting on a card or other object and you're not sure what it is, that's probably what it is! As many of us know, owning a pet can be life's greatest joys and well, honestly, you'll do a lot of things for an animal you wouldn't even consider doing for a human. As a pet owner (or guardian or friend or mommy/daddy) we love EVERY part of our pet/daughter/son/friend, including their butts. Who doesn't like a cute little animal butt? The only difference is.. horse butts are pretty big! But still super cute!! So I took the shape of a horse butt and made it into a heart thus showing my horse butt love. (I really hope you're still with me here and that I didn't scare off too many of you.. we all love our pets, some just aren't as vocal about it as me!)

Another theme is cupcakes, cakes, or desserts of any kind. I LOVE baking, I cannot even express this to you enough. I hate cooking but if it has sugar or tastes super dessert-delicious.. I'm up for it. I'll spend hours working on it, making my kitchen dirty, myself dirty and maybe even crying a little just for that moment of simple pleasure of eating a dessert. (Thankfully my boyfriend is a good guy who loves to eat dessert too!) But uh, back on topic, so why not paint what I love to make? I took a course in school all about painting food and it changed my life forever, in a way of putting it I 'saw the light!' I'm slowly building up my collection of food related paintings, I take great pleasure and pains to make sure each one is beautiful when it's done since its such a huge passion of mine so not as many of those are ready for the site yet, but soon!

I'm also up to doing custom work! Wallets and checkbook covers can be made with your logo or other personal images (some I cannot use because of copyright infringement, if you're unsure whether your image is copyright infringement please don't hesitate to contact me and we can discuss if it is and what other options you have!) cards can be made with personal tag lines or insides, and countless other things I'm sure I'm just not thinking of. Contact me if you have any ideas (even if they don't fit into what I've written here, I'm always up for a challenge, especially artistically!).

Hope to hear from you soon! (Especially if you're buying!)
http://www.etsy.com/shop/redbowillustration

Member Profile: Laine Benthall

Even as a youngster in Indiana, Laine Benthall enjoyed making jewelry for herself and for her Mom. With the help of a scholarship to swim, she graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2007 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts for Metals and Jewelry. Shortly after graduation, Laine moved to Honolulu, Hawaii and worked as a bench jeweler whenever she wasn’t surfing! After 18 months in paradise, she decided to start her own business as an artist. Laine is now a designer and goldsmith who lives in Evansville, Indiana. Her work can be described as contemporary and classy. She primarily uses sterling silver or 14K and accentuates her work with pearls, precious and semi-precious stones.

“The patterns and shapes created by the natural universe is what inspires me. I believe nature’s beauty is pure and immaculate. I aim to intensify this universal beauty as a way for me to indulge in extravagant visual bliss, and to show appreciation for nature’s unparalleled delicacy.”

See Laine's shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/LaineBenthalldesigns

Member Profile: Allison Thomas

Hello all! My name is Allison Thomas. I'm so happy that I have the opportunity to work from home doing what I love so that I don't miss any of the precious moments with my 2 year old daughter, London. I graduated in 2004 with a BA in Studio Art from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and in 2009 I earned my MA in Illustration Design from the Savannah College of Art and Design. I love to create, be it drawing, painting, collage work, or my newest endeavor...sculpting with paperclay! Hope you enjoy my shop!
Check out Allison's website at www.allisonweeksthomas.com or you can visit Allison's facebook fan page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Allison-Weeks-Thomas-Illustrator/173210946029502

Team Treasury, Vol. III

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4d47222b74956d91a49a5daf/scad-plus-etsy-equals-love-vol-iii

Member profile: KC & Kevin Sears @ Make Shop Live

Kevin and KC Sears met while studying at the Savannah College of Art and Design. They both have an obsession for design, pop-culture, film and current trends. More importantly however, is their passion for the environment and ways to help start an Eco-revolution with their friends and family. 

Earth and our future on it are a very important part of the process- Materials are recycled, upcycled and re purposed. The challenge of rethinking a material into many different uses is the best part in creating functional and useful objects. 

Along with Etsy Exclusives, we feature a steady section of products that are all one-of-a-kind made in small run batches. We love custom orders and using feedback from our etsy.com shop to make made to order items. 

Check out the shop at (http://www.etsy.com/shop/makeshoplive)

 We MAKE things we love!!! It just so happens that they are environmentally friendly :) Our SHOP can provide guilt-free consumption so that you can LIVE the lifestyle you believe in.

**Re purposed, Upcycled and Recycled is the name of the Game**

http://www.makeshoplive.com                   http://www.etsy.com/shop/makeshoplive.com

KC was born and raised in Raleigh, NC and Kevin is from Garland, TX.  They now preside in Los Angeles where they spend their time divided between watching movies and making things.  You can follow the fun on their blog http://makeshoplive.blogspot.com/

Team Treasury, Vol. II

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4d45084b82798eef4fa36b32/scad-plus-etsy-equals-love-vol-ii

Member profile: Laurel Bushman

 

I graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design, but lately have become fascinated by mechanized production and the homogenization of nearly every aspect of American life. This interest has led me to snack cookies, naturally.

The repetition, patterns, molds, and mass production of processed foods inform my crafts, but contrast with the hand-made and individualized nature of each item in my etsy.com shop
http://www.etsy.com/shop/LaurelBushman

Every cookie tells a story, whether of nostalgic childhood memories of animal cookies with sprinkles, sunny days picnicking in the park with packs of teddy grahams, or your toddler munching on gold fish. My little charms are lovingly detailed reproductions of icons intrinsic to American culture. 

I grew up in rural Colorado and learned to love traveling from my mom. Each summer from the time I was 8 until I turned 15 my mom my brother and I spent 4 or 5 weeks of every summer traversing North America. We rode trains from Colorado across the Midwest and down the East Coast, as well as up and down the West Coast. We saw countless miles of Canada, visited most of the major cities in the USA, and cruised the Alaskan Islands by boat. When I was older, I traveled to Germany and Austria, and then studied for a quarter in Lacoste, France with the SCAD program, after which I traveled in Spain and Portugal, and most recently visited Ireland. Throughout my travels I have frequented museums, art galleries, markets and gathering places. I love to watch people and to experience another point of view.

Traveling has taught me to be adaptable and to soak in knowledge. My new home in Santa Cruz, California has proved to be a new adventure of its own, and is one I wouldn't miss for the world.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/LaurelBushman

SCAD Alumni take the web by storm

What is possible when talented, motivated art students team up together? Anything! Alumni and current students of the Savannah College of Art and Design are working together to promote our artwork, crafts and creativity on etsy.com.