Shipping your Etsy Products. Save money and ship safe!

Hello Hello! Welcome and I hope you all are having a great day so far! Who doesn't love getting packages? I know I do! Most of our regular mail today is all upsetting bills and advertising, but when you get a package it is something wonderful!

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With having an Etsy Shop I deal a lot with the topic of packages and shipping. My shop is just starting to take off and in the last few weeks I have been shipping multiple Art Pieces in different mediums and styles. YAY GO ME!

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This is the first time I have had to ship anything on a consistent basis and I am realizing how in the dark I am with options and processes of shipping. So I decided to do some research to find out exactly what is out there! I came across this video documentary on YouTube that is a bit long but I was interesting to watch and I can not believe the process it takes to ship a package!

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Every penny counts when trying to run an online shop and learning how to ship most safely and cost efficient is very important! Ordering your own supplies and packing your items yourself saves BIG! I sent a wine bottle out a few months ago that I had packaged myself and last week sent the same bottle that I had FED-EX packaged for me in person and the cost to ship was more than double! Both packages arrived in great condition, so it really saves to do it yourself!

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Something that really helps boost your customer's happiness with the packaging is a personal message or thank you card! It puts that extra love into your package and it has been proven to drastically increase the amount of positive feedback to your Etsy Shop. It's the little things that really matter!

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Figuring out how to package and ship your products is mostly a trial by error basis. My main questions that I am still trying to figure out is the differences between using Fed Ex , UPS, and Etsy Shipping Directly. Searching the internet and YouTube for answers have proven a little harder than expected. Already I can say that I prefer FedEx over UPS as far as customer service goes but am unsure at the cost differences. 

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It's a learning process and the more I learn the more I will share with all of you! Stick with me and blogs and let's grow together. Also if you are a shipping pro let me know some of your secrets and trips or tricks! Which do you prefer? 

Until Tomorrow - Dream Away

Samantha Menzo

Cloud Nine Studios

Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Handmade Rubber Stamp Made With Love Stamp Heart Stamp Wooden Rubber Stamp Handmade Stamps by - PrettyTape

Song of the Day:

Dropkick Murphys - I'm Shipping Up to Boston

Color of the Day:

Decatur Bluff, Benjamin Moore, HC-38

Slow Down and Enjoy the Process.

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Hello, hello, hello! I have a feeling today will be a unique blog. I have been fighting a pretty bad migraine since last evening so I am in a different mental space. I wanted to try and get a blog for you guys today regardless and maybe typing can help take away from my focus on the pain. Anyone have any great migraine relief that's natural? I have pretty much tried everything. Hopefully it will be gone by the time you read this, but maybe for next time! ANYWAYS!

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Today I figured I would talk about something that seems to be happening in my own life and I think I might be able to avoid it by acknowledging it. OVER DOING IT. This is something I fall victim to far too often. I go, go, go and leave little down time for myself to recoup until my body rejects my efforts to be superwoman and I fall sick.

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Now I am not saying I am sick or am going to get sick, but I think this migraine is a warning sign that I need to slow down. How is this relating to art? I am getting there....but let's think just for a second about how fast everything is now. All the pressure of deadlines and due dates, appointments and meetings. Rarely do we take the time to slow our view of things down and focus on what is in front of our faces, instead of what is in the next coming week. I am one of those people but I work to fight it everyday. 

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With all of that said, I have been spending every waking moment I can inside my art studio trying to prepare for my very first art fair. I wake up and go to work to come home and go straight to work until the moment I fall asleep. I am determined to be properly prepared and ready! I even worked through a movie my boyfriend and I were watching late at night because I didn't want to waste time just laying there when I could have been working. 

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I know that my work process isn't always like this, but I want to remember two things. The First thing is to slow down and have confidence in myself that it is alright to take an hour before bed to read my book to unwind and relax my mind. I don't have to work every single second. The Second thing is to just slow down in general. I am knocking out a lot of great work very quickly but I am missing the those beauty of the process! I had painted three adorable wine bottles yesterday and worked on a wood burned piece that I had started and I barely remember doing it.

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For any astrologers out there tomorrow starts another Mercury Retrograde. Click here to learn all about it if you haven't heard of it. Recognizing that I need to relax and slow down to enjoy the process of my art and life, is a great way to start into a new Mercury Retrograde. With that, I will leave you to your peaceful day! 

Until Tomorrow - Dream Away

Samantha Menzo

Cloud Nine Studios

Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Sleep Eye Mask - The Fantastic Fox (Orange Burgundy) by - littleoddforest

Song of the Day:

Coldplay - Trouble

Color of the Day:

Benjamin Moore Regal Harbor Haze 2136-60