DIY: Selling on Etsy, An Art Teacher's How To (bonus: giveaway!)

Moon Shadow Rings, here.

I believe that just about every artist, art teacher, crafter and maker-of-many-a-thing has toyed with the idea of selling on Etsy. I mean, it's every creator's dream to share their work, have people take note and, best of all, make some spare coin (you know, for buying even more craft suppliezzz). But, if you've been down Etsy Avenue, you know it's not so simple as listing your stuff and raking in the dough. It's serious (and sometimes no-sales-for-weeks/soul-crushing) work. Which is why you find so many abandoned shops on the site (including my very own belt shop, ahem). All that aside, it can be done. Today I'd like to introduce you to one art teacher who is also a super successful Etsy seller. Meet Mary Beth Heishman!

Just who are you and where do you teach art?  

My name is Mary Beth Heishman and I teach elementary school art in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Tell us a little bit about how you got started creating jewelry. Have you always done it or is this a kinda new thing for you?

I was always in awe of my Grandmother's collection of gems and this really fueled my passion. I have been creating jewelry since I was a child.  I used to make friendship bracelets in grade school and in high school I made hemp jewelry.  I was always selling and trading my creations with friends.  Later in college I even worked at a local bead shop.  I would balance painting with jewelry making.  Right now jewelry making is all I do after I teach during the day.  

Personalized Plane Necklace, here.

What lead you to open an etsy shop? 

At an art inservice, haha, I was talking to a pal about starting an online website. She mentioned etsy and the rest is history.  I was afraid to go solo as how would I generate my own traffic to my site, so etsy was perfect. 

Life Cuff Bracelet, here. 

How long have you been an etsy shop opener? 

I have had my etsy shop since 2007.  In its infancy it was a hodgepodge mess.  I sold art, prints, hand painted vintage records, purses and jewelry.  It wasn't until 2010 when I had started fine tuning my shop and just making jewelry.  That is when I started selling more and had great buyer feedback which fueled my desire to want to make more.

 My personal fave, The Amazonite Bronze Block Necklace influenced by mid-century cinder blocks, here. 

Your shop is very well stocked full of beautiful pieces. And you've had a ton of successful sales! Tell us your secret: How do you find the time to teach, create AND sell on etsy (which entails photographing the piece, writing a description, shipping and costumer-service dilemmas)? 

Haha, I sometimes question myself on this. I do not know the secret, maybe it is having a loving and supportive husband.  My husband and I work together this year (I teach art, he teaches 5th grade math). We take turns making healthy meals (BIG meals) so we have plenty of left overs for lunch and an additional dinner. Food is very important to us, I may not have time to workout but we eat very well (healthy overall).

Personalized Banjo Bracelet, here. 

We have loving and supportive friends too that have always encouraged and supported my art and jewelry!

Hexagon Statement Necklace, here. 

As for product photos, I have a little mini light set up and white plastic backdrop that I shoot pics on.    My favorite is to take model photos with friend's in the nearby desert canyon.  I usually do this all after school.  Although I am behind on 8 new pieces that I need to photograph and post.

As far as customer service, I check my emails when I wake up in the morning and after I get off of work, so far I keep up that way.  My customers are always so sweet and lovely (I feel they too have a love for the handmade and crafted), dilemmas are few.

Whale Tie Bar, here. 

Are you actually a robot? 

 I wish, I need to upgrade my operating system, I am getting old.  haha, jk.

Can you tell us what a (totally ideal) teaching/creating/selling on etsy day looks like?  

I have taught for 14 years and it wasn't until 2011 that my shop has picked up consistent sales. I am always working during the work week, I wake up, walk our awesome dog, go to school, teach all day, come home and work on making jewelry until 7:30/8 pm every week night. I usually work a full day over the weekend on custom orders. During the holidays I start evening jewelry work until 9/10pm.  I am very thankful for the winter holiday as this is still order time but a few days before December 25th it slows down and I can unplug and relax. I love it though. I love teaching my little artists and then making my own works in the evening. So far I feel balanced.  

If you could give advice to someone who was considering opening an etsy shop, what would that be? (I know, where to start, right?!)

Really it was all trial and error for me. I had a hodgepodge shop and when I had feedback on jewelry that was the direction I went and stayed. I do not know if that is the way to do it but it worked for me. Ask yourself, what is your goal? Have a consistent product that you can replicate if the demand is there. Have fun with your etsy and try to stand out from the rest, be one of a kind.

Thank you so much, Mary Beth, for the fun and informative interview! It's always inspiring to hear from working artists, dontcha you think?

Especially generous ones. Check out this giveaway, y'all!

Mary Beth is GIVING AWAY this ring! Here's all you have to do to enter to win (it's worth $40, kids! How awesomely nice is Mary Beth?!):

1. Leave a comment below telling us your favorite piece in Mary Beth's shop IadornU. 

2. Follow Mary Beth on Instagram @iadornu. This way you can keep up with all of her creations AND more giveaways!

AND THAT'S IT! Winner will be announced one week from today!

***

Speaking of Giveaways...

In honor of Thanksgiving and all that I'm grateful for (that'd be you guys, thanks always for popping in and reading/commenting), I've decided to draw TWO names for the Crayola Giveaway! Congrats to...

Morgan Garcia!

Cowpoke Paintbrush!

If you lovely ladies would email me your home address (cassieart75@gmail.com) I'll have these goodies shipped your way soon!

Thanks for participating, y'all!

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What the Art Teacher Wore #121 and Art Room Craziness

"Super Hero" Monday: I know, y'all have seen this here get-up before. You can read all the gory, near-death-by-applique details here, if you can handle the scandal. dress: vintage DIY dealio here; tights and wig: (yes, it's fake. So realistic though, riiiiight?) Target; shoes: Dolls by Nina; belt: Pin Up Girl Clothing

Hey, kids. How are ya's? 'Twas Spirit Week on my art teacherin' planet which is code for Dress Like a Crazy Person All Week. However, when you are the crazy art teacher who abides by this rule all the time (The Dude Abides, y'all. And I only say that cuz I JUST saw The Big Lebowski for the very first time. I know. I live under a rock. From the 1990's.), well, it's just another week. And the kids totally agreed. For 'zample, on Monday, aka Dress like a Super Hero Day, I was asked by a fourth grader:

"What super hero are you supposed to be, Mrs. Stephens?"

"Uh, I dunno. How about Super Crazy Art Teacher?"

"And how is that different than any other day?"

For this I had no words. You got me, kid. You got me.

Sometimes I wonder if these children realize the sacrifices I make for them. Do they even know how difficult it is to get into one's car and drive down the road in a 12" high wig? And don't even get me started on the complexities of navigating an elementary school restroom without bouncing one's foamy-wigged head back and forth on the stall walls like some sort of bizarro Super Crazy Art Teacher pinball game. It's all for you, kiddos. 

Speaking of crazily dressed art teacher, HOLY COW, Y'ALL! Did you check out the Dress Like a Famous Artwork/Artist Contest?! If not, y'all have just one day left to vote so, what are you waiting for?  Look for your faves then get out the vote. You can vote for more than one art teacher as it's just too tough to pick just one. 

In other non-crazily dressed news, I thought I'd share with ya's just a snippet of what the wee artists in my world have been creating this week. I'll be sharing complete posts with art lessons to come but I was just too stinkin' excited with what was goin' down this week not to share a snippet. What excitement has been happening in your world this week?

Oh! AND, I almost forgot to mention, I'm now on twitter! If you follow me, I'll follow ya right back. Chat soon, y'all!

 'Kay, so I really don't know what's cuter, this dude, that toothy grin or the artwork. My friends in first grade-land zipped right through this project and loved it! We spent the first day using our Gelli-Art plates for printmaking and created these leaf prints on fabric. Then we hit the sewing machines, stitched the two pieces of fabric together and added the Sculpey-beaded hanger. I'll be sharing the complete -n- detailed lesson here next week.

 "Dress Like a Farmer" Tuesday: Look, I dunno who came up with these days but this particular day certainly reminded me of high school. I attended schoolin' in rural Indiana surrounded by acres of corn fields (still have the corn-detassellin' hands to prove it) which was great and I loved it. I do recall that there was always one day outta the year that was called something like "Drive Your Tractor to School Day" (couldn't even make this up, y'all). I never owned a John Deere (hence my low high school standing) but if I could travel back in time, I woulda totally wore this get-up. Cuz at the time I was prolly either in my goth- or hippie-phase. Neither of which were as farmer-chic as this. blouse: thrifted, Anthropologie; jeans: Target; boots: Seychelles, old; leg warmers: dunno

 I decided that our word of the week this crazy week would be "popular culture". This was just perfect as we chatted about Roy Lichtenstein on Monday (whilst wearing that Super Hero thangie), Grant Wood's American Gothic on Tuesday and, well, for Rock Star Day we chatted about Warhol. It was so easy and super fun to tie in these artists with our wacky attire. I could totes do a wacky dress day every day of the week! Oh...wait. By the way, can you even think of a better farmer than the one in Grant Wood's painting? I wore it MOST of the day EXCEPT when I needed to use the restroom. Lesson learned from Monday, sigh. 

 I'd not revisited my tree weaving lesson since first sharing it with you a coupla years ago. I decided to give it another go with this group of third graders and, of course, they loved it. Mostly cuz the kids love weaving. It's that tactile thang, you know? My early finishers then learned about the history of Ojos de Dios and began creating their own...

 Holy mackerel, yous guise, I can't get these kids to STOP weaving! They love it. And for some reason, giving them the option to weave on the floor, standing up, walking around the room (without your scissors, please and thank you) is like a party for them. I'm just hoping they'll be cool with taking a break from 'em next week to begin a new project...if I can get the dern things outta their weaving-manical lil hands!

 "Dress Like a Rock Star" Wednesday: So I pretty much think Katy Perry is the bomb what with her super fun throw-back to the 80's style and pop-y tunes. Although, truth be told, I'm a die-hard Springsteen, Beastie Boys and G-n-R fan. Unfortunately, since none of those dudes qualify as "cute", I opted for the pop star look. nasty-kids wig that pinched my scalp and made me question my life's choices: Walmart. Barf; jacket and dress: Modcloth; tights: Target; boots: Lucky Brand; crinoline: Amazon; necklace and headband: made by me. That headband is made from the scraps of Monday's dress!

 Of course, my second grade was not to be left outta the Ojos de Dios loop. They created these guys in just under two 30 minute classes. I have a giant box of donated bells from India that seemed to be the perfect addition to these God's Eyes. 

 "Dress in Your College Colors" Friday: After spending most of the week feeling slightly under the weather, I decided to give myself a break on Thursday. Howeverness, there ain't no way I'm dressing in my boring college t-shirt. Nah, that sounds like a snooze fest. Instead I opted for more Mexican attire as we are still neck deep in our journey through Latin America. blouse: Olvera Street; skirt: thrifted, vintage; belt: Anthro

 Here's another project that the kids are wrapping up this week, the fourth graders relief-sculpted/Sharpie-colored/painted and woven Metepec-inspired Mexican suns! All the gory deets to come. I'm just glad they muscled through this lengthy project. They are pretty stoked with the results!

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In the Art Room: A Light Up Mural

Disclaimerness (please excuse me, but I have ness-disease. Meaning I must add a ness/ish/ify at the end of nearly every otherwise boring word or else I don't feel complete. Ish.): This here Light Up Mural was created last year and I never got around to sharing it with y'all. Since winter will be upon us before you know it, I thought now would be a super awesome glittery good time to post it. So there. Disclaimerism over. 

I know many of y'all create murals with your students. My students have created grid murals, collaged murals and one giant We-Are-the-World inspired self-portrait mural. They can be pretty labor-intensive for both the kids and the poor art teacher who has to crawl around on her knees hot gluin' the thing together but in the end, they are totes worth it. The visual impact is stunning, says me. And this here light up mural was one of my faves. But before we get to that, lemme show you some murals of mural-tastic past along with some linky-loos for your link-clicking pleasure. 

This Monet-inspired mural was created by my kindergarten through second grade students. We created it at the end of the school year, using scraps and painted papers. This was a great mural to hang up at the end of the school year as it kept the school cheery throughout the summer and into the start of a new school year. All the details can be found here. 

If you are an art teacher and you've been on pinterest for 5 minutes that you've seen that rainbow self-portrait mural. Shoot, you prolly even had your kids create one. I know I did. It was the start of my mural-makin' disease. This mural was created by my students the following year. We had a "travel the world" theme and this was how we kicked it off. Now, I ain't gonna lie, it was a beast to put together. That's why I happily passed that task off to some green college kids who came in to my room to "observe" (which for me translates to "cheap labor"). Full story here, friends. 

 If this flowery dot mural looks familiar, that's cuz we just made it this school year! It presently hangs outside my art room and I absolutely love it. It brings a smile my face every morning. And it truly was a snap to create. Read more here, please. 

This mural was actually the inspiration for the light up mural. In fact, you can find even more details on how the light up mural was created by going here as I prolly did a better job of 'splainin things. 

Grid murals are a good time if you like putting together puzzles (which I don't) where the pieces don't always match (fun-ness!). However, the visual impact is pretty rad. This one hung in our school cafeteria for a while until it was replaced by this bad boy last year...

My fave grid mural to date. And this one went together much easier than Starry Night. Not to mention that each class created it's own soup can so the kids could easily find "their piece" of the soup, so to speak. Deets here. 

This mural still hangs outside my art room door and I love it. This mural project not only resulted in a giant collaborative work of art but also two separate art projects. It was like the gift that kept on giving. Lookie here and I'll show ya.

So, getting back to the mural at hand (thank you for indulging me in my stroll down Mural Memory Lane), lemme give you the rundown on who-did-whuh: kindergarten painted the sky papers after looking at a lil van Gogh; second grade created the printed trees during a short chat about texture and line; first grade made the lil collaged houses with some left over papers from a previous project and the third and fourth grade kids created the ice skaters. 

Which they did by working on sketching their roller skating buddies in P.E. class. We walked down to P.E. with our clip boards and charcoal sticks and spent about 15 minutes drawing away. Mind you, this was after a chat about gesture drawing. 

When we returned to art the following class, we chose our fave sketch, used a wooden mannequin to copy the pose seen in the sketch and created a more detailed drawing from that. Clothing was NOT optional (ahem) so that was added as well. Drawings were then traced in Sharpie and colored with colored pencils.

And then carefully cut out. Yes, we did have to tape some limps back on. I happens. We call it Art Room ER. 

Dude, the cuteness. It's burning my eyes.

With the help of some super mom volunteers, the pieces of the mural puzzle were put together. Then the sky portion was folded down. I then started cutting slits into the paper and poking some LED lights through the openings.

Like this, see?

I know, it looks like a big ole stitched scar. That's why it's on the back, y'all.

But from the front, ooh-la-la! Sparkly. The light switches are kept in a pocket located to the side of the mural. Just outta kid-reach.

Most of the time, the mural is left unlit. However, I'm excited with out it will look during December. I think it will definitely bring some holiday cheer.

And there you have it! What murals have y'all done? Have you crazy kids attempted a ceiling tile grid mural type deal? If so, would you please come to my school and teach me and the kids how to create one? Pretty please and thank you!

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What the Art Teacher Wore #119 and Spooky Ensembles of Halloween Past

A Return from Fall Break: Ain't gonna lie, that break sure was nice but it was good to be back. Looking at this photo, I can't help but notice all the creepy things that stare at the kids while they work: Señor Roy G. Biv (um, that's what we call the big-eyed rainbow), Graffiti Mona and those rando drawings of mine on the board. owl sweater: felted DIY, details here; dress: BCBG, old; belt, tights and necklace: Target, old; boots: Buffalo Exchange; hair bow: um, I'm wearing the belt from the dress as a hair bow. What?

Hey, friends! I hope you all are enjoying your weekend. Here the leaves are turning, the temps are as unpredictable (warm-then-cold-then-warm-again-and-now-rain-for-three-days-straight) as my moods and it's now dark way too early. I think that's the only thing I don't dig about fall: the fact that it's, like, 5pm and the pitch black night has me convinced I need to hop into my pajamas and consume multiple cups of hot chocolate. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I suppose. 

Now since Halloween is right around the corner, I thought I'd share with you some of my fave spooky ensembles from years past. I'm hoping this will inspire you to start dreaming up your creation for the Dress-Like-A-Famous-Artist/Artwork Contest! Y'all have been coming up ideas for your costume, riiiiight? Halloween is on Friday this year which means you can totes wear your costume to school (if you are a teacher although any of my non-teacherin' friends can enter!) and tie it in to whatever it is you are teaching. I don't plan to enter (although I will be in costume that day!). I did spend my weekend wrapping up a coupla costume ideas (come on back on Tuesday and I'll show ya!). Grand prize is your pretty face in SchoolArts Magazine, y'all! For all the details, please click here. 

Speaking of creating, have y'all been gathering up your fabric and stitching supplies for our next Sew-Along? In case you missed it, we will be creating dresses for Dress a Girl Around the World, an organization that sends dresses to girls in need. I am so excited about this that a group of my teacher buddies and I are doing this in the afternoons as well! I was really hoping that I could get the first tutorial up by the week of October 27th but I forgot to consult my calendar. This coming weekend is my state art conference where I'll be, wait for it, recognized as Tennessee Elementary Art Educator of the Year! (Or, "Art Teacher of the Universe" to anyone who asks. You'd be surprised how many "REALLY?!"s I get. Sigh.) Since I won't be around to film any tutorials this coming weekend, I'm going to push it back a week. However, you really don't need my help as the Dress a Girl website has very clear directions. Have any of you already started? I can't wait for us to begin!

Other than that, I got nuthin, kids. I hope you have a super awesome fall-ish week. Until Tuesday, I hope y'all enjoy these spooky ensembles of Halloween past.

Last year I was so stinkin good at getting my Halloweenin' on. I felted eyeballs on my Target pants, created that leaf printed garland and even painted some pumpkins. This year, um, not so much. The season totally got away from me! I've decided not to let that happen with Christmas, gonna start early-ish on that one. 

Rainy Chilliness: Suriously? Where's my coat/hat/scarf? I swear, in my art room, I had my heat running one day and my ac the next. top: Buffalo Exchange; skirt: Anthro; necklace: El Dia de los Muertos DIY; tights: Target; shoes: thrifted

Part of the prob this year was that I got too late of a Halloween start. I mean, it's only a coupla weeks away and I have two dresses that I'd love to bust out before then (totally wishful thinking as I'm the slowest sewer everrrr). This Day of the Dead dress and matching planters were all created in early September of that year. What happened to that plan-ahead person? Where did she goooo? (and just who is she because I've never been one to plan ahead. I do think this was that time aliens clawed in my ear while I was sleeping and took over my brain for a hot minute before realizing that the battery was too low.)

Bustin Out Them Boots: It's that time. Tights -n- boots, y'all. I really am so glad that tights season is here as it means one happy thing: no more leg shaving until May! Let the glorious gorilla legs begin! sweater: felted fox DIY, here; dress: Anthro label found at Buffalo Exchange; tights: Target; boots: Frye, found at a discount joint because Frye boots are INSANELY expensive, kids; belt: Anthro

This outfit was super fun to make. Well, the needle felted sweater was actually the fun part. Sewing doesn't always go smoothly for me (I do more seam-ripping than stitchin, kids. True Story.) but felting I feel I can't mess up. I do seriously wish I had a white streak in my hair. Hmmm. 

Squirrelly Sweaterness: I love this sweater but I only wear it during the fall. I paired it with this funky 1960s sleeveless two-piece because, well, I thought they looked like a perfect match. sweater: Urban Outfitters, couple fall's ago; top, skirt, shoes: thrifted

One Halloween dress that wins my fave fabric award is this one. It's got al the famous Universal Studios monsters featured on it and it's just a buncha fun to wear. You can find the gory deets here, if you dare. 

Spook-tacular!: A friend of mine told me about a house just down from my school that was decked out in the Halloween spirit. Mitch and I took a trip there this weekend and I just had to share it with you. It really makes me sad that I didn't decorate at all for Halloween (we're always gone to haunted houses on the night of Halloween anyway, sigh). Next year I will attempt this level of amazingness. sweater: vintage, thrifted; skirt: Anthro found at Buffalo Exchange

Until next time, I hope your week is simply Be-witched!

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