Shop is go!
Countdown to shop opening!
Are you excited? I'm excited. The Official Tipsy Sheep Shop (say that 5 times fast) will be launching at midnight tonight.
The polls showed that most of you wanted the shop to either be integrated as part of the blog or launched as its own tispysheep.com website. In fact, it was split 50/50 between the two! For the sake of simplicity and continuity, I'm going with the "integrate into blog" option, using PayPal to handle the transactions. Some day soon I would very much like to have a real website with a real domain name, but it's unfortunately not in the cards right now.
Early tests of the shopping card have been successful, with all the shipping calculators working out just fine. I've yet to figure out how to do automatic inventory tracking or allow you to purchase more than one ball of yarn with a single click. I expect to work these kinks out before launch, but just in case, know that I'm working on it and it will all be ironed out soon.
Don't try clicking on that shiny new shop link up top just yet - it won't take you anywhere until 12:01 am November 1!
The polls showed that most of you wanted the shop to either be integrated as part of the blog or launched as its own tispysheep.com website. In fact, it was split 50/50 between the two! For the sake of simplicity and continuity, I'm going with the "integrate into blog" option, using PayPal to handle the transactions. Some day soon I would very much like to have a real website with a real domain name, but it's unfortunately not in the cards right now.
Early tests of the shopping card have been successful, with all the shipping calculators working out just fine. I've yet to figure out how to do automatic inventory tracking or allow you to purchase more than one ball of yarn with a single click. I expect to work these kinks out before launch, but just in case, know that I'm working on it and it will all be ironed out soon.
Don't try clicking on that shiny new shop link up top just yet - it won't take you anywhere until 12:01 am November 1!
October 29, 2013
Ravelry user WatchOutForAnna has recently completed a pair of truly bitchin' socks using Tipsy Sheep's Kir de Reddit, and has given me permission to share the awesome with all of you! You can check out the project page HERE for pattern info.
Thanks for sharing, WatchOutForAnna! I think I speak for all of us when I say:
If you'd like to show off your Tipsy Sheep knits on the blog, send me a link in the comments!
October 24, 2013
So far this blog has been basically about one think: making bitchin' yarn. I've thrown in a few book or pattern reviews, a few personal posts, and promoted a bit of my other work but I'm starting to run out of ideas. I'm not going to keep making new colorways forever (th final one of Part Deux will probably the last new one for a while) which means this blog would die out, and that would make me very sad.
I've come up with a few things I could start putting on the blog but would be more interested in what you all want to see here. Here's a little poll (pick as many options as you want) and please feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts and feelings.
survey solutions
October 21, 2013
Hey everyone. As you know, I'm planning on opening a real Tipsy Sheep shop in November for those who didn't or couldn't subscribe to the monthly mailings for round one. Originally I was going to set it up on Etsy, but I've been looking around at other options and suddenly am presented with too many choices. So I'm going to leave it up to you. Here are the shop types with their pros and cons:
Keep it on the blog - I would set up a shop post where each yarn would be listed, and allow PayPal to handle the shopping cart end of things
Pros: No outside linking, minimal fees per transaction, no listing or hosting fees, easiest thing in the world to set up, PayPal is amazing, great seller protection
Cons: Don't know how shipping would work for multiple items, some people find a blog shop less trustworthy, not too much client communication, anyone who doesn't know about the blog would probably never see the shop
Etsy
Pros: Pretty easy to set up, well known, decent seller protection, easy client communication, shipping calculations are super easy, could reach people outside the blog
Cons: Lots and lots of fees - monthly listing fee for each item plus they take a percentage from each sale, practically zero visibility in the Etsy marketplace due to the sheer number of fiber artists, very little customization or control
Big Cartel (website for artists to build free shops)
Pros: Gosh they look pretty, site doesn't take percentage fee per sale, no listing fees per item, they calculate shipping
Cons: Monthly hosting fee for more than 5 products, PayPal would still take a cut of each sale, I've never used it before so it might take longer to set up
A real tipsysheep.com website with shop - it would be nearly the same thing as having a shop on the blog, but with a real domain name
Pros: Lots of room for expansion, complete customization, trustworthy domain, could integrate the blog, no listing fees
Cons: Monthly hosting fees, additional fees for PayPal or whoever we use to handle transactions, harder to reach non-blog customers, will take a while to build as I would design/code it myself
So. There are the options. If you have other suggestions, please leave them in the comments - otherwise, use this poll:
Keep it on the blog - I would set up a shop post where each yarn would be listed, and allow PayPal to handle the shopping cart end of things
Pros: No outside linking, minimal fees per transaction, no listing or hosting fees, easiest thing in the world to set up, PayPal is amazing, great seller protection
Cons: Don't know how shipping would work for multiple items, some people find a blog shop less trustworthy, not too much client communication, anyone who doesn't know about the blog would probably never see the shop
Etsy
Pros: Pretty easy to set up, well known, decent seller protection, easy client communication, shipping calculations are super easy, could reach people outside the blog
Cons: Lots and lots of fees - monthly listing fee for each item plus they take a percentage from each sale, practically zero visibility in the Etsy marketplace due to the sheer number of fiber artists, very little customization or control
Big Cartel (website for artists to build free shops)
Pros: Gosh they look pretty, site doesn't take percentage fee per sale, no listing fees per item, they calculate shipping
Cons: Monthly hosting fee for more than 5 products, PayPal would still take a cut of each sale, I've never used it before so it might take longer to set up
A real tipsysheep.com website with shop - it would be nearly the same thing as having a shop on the blog, but with a real domain name
Pros: Lots of room for expansion, complete customization, trustworthy domain, could integrate the blog, no listing fees
Cons: Monthly hosting fees, additional fees for PayPal or whoever we use to handle transactions, harder to reach non-blog customers, will take a while to build as I would design/code it myself
So. There are the options. If you have other suggestions, please leave them in the comments - otherwise, use this poll:
surveys & polls
October 18, 2013
I got all the skeins dressed up in their pretty little labels, so I thought I'd post a few more images. As always, they're behind a cut to keep it a surprise for those who don't want to know ahead of time!
October 15, 2013
Now that the last ball of KdR is safely in the hands of its new owner (be sure to feed and water it regularly and take it for nice long walks!), I've updated the official gallery post. I'll be putting KdR as well as the other colorways from Round 1 up for sale in a shop early next month.
I've also spent the last few days dividing and skeining Blue. I'm about halfway through the second kilo now, and haven't made the labels yet, but this colorway is just too pretty not to share.
Although the cocktail for this month is called "Blue," the actual finished color of the drink is mostly a strawberry pink, a result of the pale blue of the blueberry liqueur mixing with the natural orange of the OJ. Since strawberry is also a dominant flavor in the cocktail, I made a soft pink a dominant color in this yarn. I also spent a long time experimenting with this one, trying to mix just the right shade of blue to represent the blueberry element of the cocktail, and I think I finally got it. It's a navy blue with faint purple undertones, almost the exact same shade as a ripe blueberry. The transitions between the navy blue and pink fade to this really lovely lavender color that reminds me of summer sunsets - very fitting, considering that this cocktail basically tastes like summer in a glass. I kept the orange and lemon yellow elements rather small, with a smooth gradient between them, further reinforcing that sunset feel.
Without further adieu, here are some pics of the yarn!
I've also spent the last few days dividing and skeining Blue. I'm about halfway through the second kilo now, and haven't made the labels yet, but this colorway is just too pretty not to share.
Although the cocktail for this month is called "Blue," the actual finished color of the drink is mostly a strawberry pink, a result of the pale blue of the blueberry liqueur mixing with the natural orange of the OJ. Since strawberry is also a dominant flavor in the cocktail, I made a soft pink a dominant color in this yarn. I also spent a long time experimenting with this one, trying to mix just the right shade of blue to represent the blueberry element of the cocktail, and I think I finally got it. It's a navy blue with faint purple undertones, almost the exact same shade as a ripe blueberry. The transitions between the navy blue and pink fade to this really lovely lavender color that reminds me of summer sunsets - very fitting, considering that this cocktail basically tastes like summer in a glass. I kept the orange and lemon yellow elements rather small, with a smooth gradient between them, further reinforcing that sunset feel.
Without further adieu, here are some pics of the yarn!
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