Two weeks until the big move. I can not wait! Our current apartment is getting smaller by the second and there is only so much longer I can wait until I have to starting packing my design books up to go. It is all still sinking in that I will have a real studio to work in and not just my dining room table! haha!
I was very privileged to spend the day yesterday in DUMBO, Brooklyn at the Etsy.com headquarters for the 2nd annual Etsy Success Symposium. By the time I left, my mind was exploding with ideas on where to go and how take Make Haste Design to the next step.
The day was jammed packed with panels and sessions tackling the process of “how to get found.” Everything was covered from how to tell your story, getting into craft shows, pitching yourself to bloggers and magazine editors, catching the eye of a curator, using Pinterest, and How to conquer searches on the web.
I realized there is so much potential that I am not tapping into when it comes to my keywords, pricing, packaging, item titles, and a LOT more.
I have to say though, that the most valuable time where I took the most away for the day was squeezed into the 15 minutes I had with an Etsy curator to do a critique on where i was going with my shop. Talk about bang for the buck! I came away with so many amazing ideas, and you will see a lot of change coming from Make Haste Design in the next few months.
Thank you Etsy for being so amazing to your sellers, I feel like I am part of the tribe now.
Missed the day? No biggie.. Get your self over to the Esty Online labs page and you can see all the recorded videos there.
Little Joel has big footsteps to fill in the world of air guitar to keep up with his Dad. This screenprinted onesie is on its way to London, but can be recreated and personalized with any name.
Time to have a little fun. I have unfortunately been sick again these past few weeks. Just about when I seem to forget that I was sick it creeps up on me again. Oh well, I am tougher than all of that so it was time to have a little fun. A little size 6-12 months fun to be exact. 
This new onesie is all about going back to the mixed tape of the 80′s and 90′s. The front is the “side A” of the cassette and the back “side B.”
This sample uses a dark red screen print ink, but as with all items in my shop the colors can be changed to suit your tastes or match a theme.
Pictures below.
There are few more rockin onesies coming out soon, but they were made for a specific little man and I don’t want to give away the design yet.
Hope you like it, I would love to hear your comments or ideas for other music related designs.
Happy Monday.
Two more baby onesies designs up in the store. One with a sailboat in dark navy and another with a baby pig with the words “This little piggy.” The little piggy design has the word “oink” on the tush.
Sailboat:
This little piggy:
I have really fallen in love with creating little designs for baby onesies. It was not where I originally saw myself starting, but they are so much fun. My cousin just had her little boy (yey!) and the few that I made were for her shower. I realized that I could have a lot more fun with these than adult clothing, so I think I will give it a go and see where it takes Make Haste Design.
The first few on the Etsy.com site are of humorous definitions; odoriferous and incorrigible. They are meant to be personalized with any baby name. Pictures below. Would love to know what you think.
I am very excited to say that the Make Haste Design Etsy.com store is finally open! To kick off, there are four sets of screenprinted notecards, and baby onesies with funny definitions made to personalize with any name.
All of the items are handmade individually so each is unique. All are screenprinted lovingly with all water-based inks that are heat set to stand up to repeated washings.
Please visit the store, I would love your feedback. Make Haste Design can also be found on Pinterest, Facebook, and Twittter.
Make Haste Design – Etsy Shop
Thanks so much for your interest and I hope this is the first step of a long creative future!
Meredith
Image source: http://taxesinfo.org/the-pros-and-cons-of-filing-income-taxes-on-the-net/20/
Really? Does figuring out how the state can collect tax on my possible etsy.com sales have to be so darn complicated? I am trying REALLY hard to get this all up and running and I have hit the same wall that I have to image a million others have hit. There are those lucky states that do not have to worry about collecting sales tax, but those tax unfortunates like me living in New York State, I feel that no matter how much research I do into this topic, I might be missing something.
I should have known that when the e-books I read about starting a business on Etsy skirted around the process on setting up sales tax that I was in trouble. Most sources tell you to check with your local government site, and now I understand why because I wouldn’t want to touch this topic with a 50 foot pole.
PayPal and Etsy allow you to set tax rate based on state, zip code, or a range of zip codes. New York state, however has its own reporting codes that do not correspond with zip codes because zip codes do not define political boundaries.
From there I looked up Publication 718 that lists the rates for each reporting code. Great, there is the info I need to charge NYS residents, but I can not enter that information anywhere to automate the purchase process.
Where does this leave me? After reading many, many sites about what to do, there seem to be two general points of view. The first being to invoice each NY state customer to be sure to charge the right sales tax (meaning lost time from decision to buy to actually purchasing). The second being to charge the minimum area rate, or 7%, and I eat the difference and pay that difference when submitting quarterly tax reports.
I am really hoping that I am missing something simple here and someone will chime in and tell me how silly I am being. If lucky, I would love to come back to this post in the future and have a simple solution for anyone walking in my shoes.
I have to say that keeping the steam up while working two jobs is a challenge with developing Make Haste Designs, but what thrills me is that I never stop looking forward to getting to this part of the day where I can be at home with hubby, get a dinner on and in between work on these designs. i haven’t felt this amped about a project in along time.
While awaiting my packaging materials in the post, I decided to try something a little different for a card. I wanted to see if I could achieve the effect of an old worn out print of a stop watch. There are parts missing and more representative of full image. What do you think?
The paint is silver and catches the light depending on the angle. Right now this is paired with a silver envelope.
Faded Time Notecard
I had no idea what a process it was to apply for and receive a certification for resale. This is the last big obstacle that I am waiting for before being able to open the Etsy store. If anyone is considering a similar type of business, put this step at the front of the list. I applied weeks ago and even though approved, I am now awaiting the certificate to be mailed to me by the State of New York. I also found out that you have to be approved 20 days before making any sale where you might collect sales tax. Sheesh.
So to lift my mood, I decided to create my own little slice of sunshine and created this wild flower design in a dark yellow. It is paired with a pea green colored envelope. I think the combination reminds me of citrus and is fresh and bright.
This will eventually come in an assortment of colors (once I get my certificate… coughs).
wild flower design
Meredith Perkins
