Learning curve ...

A fellow Etsian suggested that I could post the receipts for the donations/loans on my blog, which I thought was an excellent idea so that is what I shall do. I have already posted it for the donation to Kiva in February which in and of itself was a steep learning curve.

Having captured the receipt, I learned how to use the 'snipping' tool to capture just the image which I then saved as a jpeg (kiss to Tony for helping me!). Then I opened it in 'paint' and painted out the transaction number and my address for security. Not sure what anyone could do with the info but it seemed wise as this blog is open to the world.

Anyway, I feel much better today having found a way to show legitimacy and offer peace of mind to those that buy from my shops :)

p.s. for anyone reading this that might wonder, as I only started this blog a few days ago, I will not post last year's receipts. If anyone would like 'proof' I'm happy to provide it.

Etsy rules about charitable donations ...

It seems there are shops on Etsy that claim to donate money to charity from their sales, but don't actually do it.

I know I shouldn't be surprised by this, but I was. I'm 47 but am still blissfully naive at times!

That said, I have become aware of some Etsy rules regarding these donations and am abiding by them - I have contacted the charities I wish to donate/loan to to request permission to use their name in my 'fundraising' efforts. I have received said permission from Kiva.org and am awaiting the same from the Red Cross. I cannot therefore donate to the Red Cross relief fund for Japan until I have received that permission (which is maddening) so have gone ahead in the knowledge that there's no reason not to grant it and have listed this charity now so that my customers know where the net profits will go to.

It's all arse-about- face, but there we go. I have followed the rules, I list full details in my Etsy profile and do, truly, donate the money.

I'm not sure what else I'm supposed to do to prove this, but am left feeling frustrated tonight and upset that I may loose sales because people suspect I'm lying.

When people are in such dire need of urgent help, I find myself jumping through hoops designed by others, and which slow the whole process down. Clarity is hard to come across tonight in Etsy and there are a lot of other shop owners feeling the same way.

My heart is heavy.

Spring cleaning my shop ...

Today was a very exciting day - I couldn't wait to get started on the redesign of my Etsy shop so that it truly expressed what I am trying to achieve. I want my shop to be a destination for eco-friendly, fair trade ethical bags, purses and cards so I decided to have a massive clearance sale to (hopefully!) sell off everything that does not fit with that intention.

I've been designing and creating the items in my shop full time for a year now, and have, thus far donated $485 to charity. A great start, but I intend to donate a lot more over the coming years and this spring cleaning spree not only creates a cohesive statement about who I am and what I'm passionate about, but it means that every purchase does good for our wonderful planet, those that benefit through the donation of my net profits, and puts a smile on the face of someone whose found something they love!

So, dear blog, whilst I am writing this only to myself just now, I'm glad to have this written reminder of the day I finally had clarity on what it is I've been working so hard to achieve:)