Christmas?? Already??

That's what I thought when I saw people on the craft forums saying that they'd started making items for Christmas in July. But, then it dawned on me. Folksy's listing time is 6 months. To get the full benefit of that for a Christmas item you want it to run down, ideally, on the last posting date for Christmas delivery. That would mean listing Christmas things around June time. I couldn't do that. That would seem very odd. I'm just about coping with listing Christmas things in August. Truth be told, I was always a bit annoyed at shops that started putting their Christmas displays up in September. I really like Christmas, but to stretch it out over 4 months made the actual November/December run in seem a bit familiar, rather than building the excitement.

So, my dilemma, do I list some Christmas things to get value for money, but risk putting off people who think it's a bit too early? Or do I leave it until later in the year when there's less time for the items to be spotted? In the end I decided I'll start listing now. I have held back on advertising the fact on Facebook for the mo. I've got some non-crafting followers and I don't think they'd appreciate Christmas tinsel and baubles splattered all over their walls in August. (Actually, I think I might advertise on Twitter because I'm sure they are all crafter on there, so they'll understand.) And there's nothing Christmasy about my shop at the mo, apart from a new Christmas section with a couple of home/garden use mosaic ornaments in it, so it's not too 'in your face'. I'll gradually top up that section over the next few weeks, and advertise it on Facebook in a few more weeks. I'll add a Christmas section to my website at that time too. Problem solved. People who like Christmas can hunt down the items subtley placed in my Folksy Shop. People who like Christmas to start in the winter are non-the-wiser, at the mo.

I'm actually really enjoying thinking up designs for decorations. There are two versions of the bauble decorations that I've listed. The richly coloured bauble, Gold Star Dust, with shades of brown as a background has a gold-dusted effect, and jewel colour tiles with shiny gold stars on them. The pastel coloured version, Silver Star Dust, has a silver-dusted effect and darker tiles to show the shiny silver stars.

Keep an eye on my shop for more additions, if you don't mind Christmas coming early.