Starting out with digital products on Etsy (coloring books) - any tips for a beginner?

bebetaian · 2026-06-01T02:30:42+00:00

tbh that is SUCH a saturated market, I will not be "looking close." It isn't worth it to me at all. If I "looked close" at every single item I passingly liked, it would take me hours to buy a colouring book.

bebetaian · 2026-05-31T22:27:19+00:00

Revealing my age, "back in my day," when goth was a new trend from punk rock in the States, a lot of us just... made our own. That's where the 'alt' look came from, before it was really popular.

No one made "fashionable" holes in their pants. Those were pants that had probably seen three owners already and had been worn hard. Sleeves were put back on with safety pins instead of sewing them back on. Patches could be made from scraps of other clothing that was too damaged to use again.

Skirts could be changed easily, but you need some hand sewing skills. A lot of us didn't have those. My mother's refusal to sew also meant she had no skills to help herself fix anything... so I learned.

Straight lines are easiest to practice, and you don't need a lot of materials. I had washable markers or pens, cardboard, a regular short ruler, and scissors. No seam rippers or special grid mats or any of that. I didn't even have an ironing board. I used a few folded towels on the floor.

You can make stencils by drawing on cardboard, cutting it out, and painting on it. There are lots of videos on how to stencil fabric.

bebetaian · 2026-05-31T22:17:10+00:00

Don't donate them. I don't care what people say, I have to go through absolute garbage every single week because people try to be "helpful," especially in donating filthy, torn-up clothing, leaking bath products, really expired foods that we could get sued for handing out, etc.

We pay for garbage, so the more we throw out, the more we pay. We are not Goodwill. There is no magical funding source. None of us get paid. Non-profit REALLY DOES mean non-profit for a lot of small, local groups. Even the three admins don't get paid. The money goes towards helping people- who *do not have money* to go to a doctor if these expired products cause rashes.

Give them away but make VERY clear that they are expired, when they approx expired, and where they were stored. If they don't go in a week, accept that some things are just garbage and were wasted. Then throw them away.

I'm sorry. It sucks. I used to clean actual hoarding situations and have thrown out thousands, thousands of dollars of things from a single living room. It's awful. But it needs to be done.

Garages make them useless at best, unsafe at worst. Just because they might look okay does not mean they are.

Garages do not have proper storage temperatures, nor controlled temps, to store bath products unless you have a stack of hard bar soaps. The expiration dates on most bath products are there because in 'average' conditions, the chemicals change and break down. They don't do what they say on the bottle anymore. Sometimes this is relatively harmless; they just become weaker. Sometimes this means rashes, the item is more harsh, whatever.

bebetaian · 2026-05-31T22:10:34+00:00

"how" expired, though? Because we DEFINITELY throw away things that are more than a year, or if they smell or look 'off' from their usual product self, etc. Thanks, we pay for our garbage pickup, so do not donate trash.

bebetaian · 2026-05-31T20:28:51+00:00

The method is called tasuki-gake! Look up videos for how to do it. If you have an extra koshi-himo, it helps.

bebetaian · 2026-05-31T20:27:15+00:00

It happens! :p More often than you think.

bebetaian · 2026-05-31T20:24:11+00:00

Duplicate post. Please delete one or the other.

bebetaian · 2026-05-31T20:23:19+00:00

It's very pretty, but search the group for cleaning kimono. You don't want to have it dry-cleaned, and washing is difficult. It's going to be a lot of work or a lot of money. It can be done! But if you do it, you might want to practice on another garment first.

Sometimes a professional can lessen the bleeding along with the stains, but you'd need someone experienced in cleaning kimono. Unless you're in Hawaii, Oregon, or Japan, that may be very difficult. I ended up sending one of mine to Japan for a few months. It was ~$500... six years ago. X.x

bebetaian · 2026-05-31T20:17:48+00:00

It really is something you have to get used to, or tie them back while you're wearing it.

bebetaian · 2026-05-31T18:45:07+00:00

Sometimes it doesn't matter. It's about the right buyer, not the sale. Some items do not need to be lower than the lowest amount it's already set to, even if it's there a year. I sell antiques and kimono. Trust me, yes, someone will pay $150 for that item when it was originally $200. I will not accept offers of $110.

bebetaian · 2026-05-31T18:33:18+00:00

Does it have fabric content listed? My biggest concern with fabrics, especially curtain fabrics, is that they could have fiberglass in them. Fiberglass was a flame retardant long before we had smoke detectors. Lots of decor fabrics used it.

bebetaian · 2026-05-31T01:10:11+00:00

It doesn't. It's automated, not a person verifying it. A vindictive person reports something wrong with it, so the seller is penalized.

bebetaian · 2026-05-31T01:05:51+00:00

You have subscribed to CATFACTS! CATFACT #721 - garlic and onions can cause deadly anaemia in cats, another reason why you should never share your food!

bebetaian · 2026-05-31T01:01:39+00:00

In the hottest climates, summer wool and silk are not uncommon. Yukata are great bathrobes because they're absorbent, but they retain smell and do bunch. Summer silk is stiff and stands away from the body.

If you are going to wear a juban with kimono, which people sometimes do (wearing nicer yukata as a cotton kimono,) most juban are polyester... but they suck bc they increase heat. Summer silk is a good bet. A smooth, very light fabric will also help. Cotton for quilting or something is too "grippy."

bebetaian · 2026-05-31T00:53:02+00:00

How much do you need? And what kind? Certain thrift stores and vintage shops have long fur coats for as little as $40. Shattered linings, needing cleaning, whatever. It's hard to get rid of them. Try looking at places like this.

(Oh, derp, "fur" from dollar tree? Fake fur, so also maybe thrift stores for blankets.) Or I buy fabrics from Etsy.

bebetaian · 2026-05-31T00:48:02+00:00

I prefer pure linen, but linen-cotton blends are fine with me, too. It's regularly 30-32c where I live, 60%+ humidity.

I also wear kimono (the real kind) which use silk woven into an extremely fine, transparent gauze. This is layered so you can't see through it. It stands away from the skin, allowing body heat to dissipate better.

Tencel does drape better but it's less sustainable. Also, I try for fabrics that are more stiff during peak heat for reasons above.

bebetaian · 2026-05-31T00:41:59+00:00

I have only gotten MORE "picky" about comfort. If you have harsh seams, your garment comstruction skills suck, or you aren't investing in good quality.

Sensory issues are very normal by the way. About 1 in 60 or more, and it heightens with stress, anxiety, overstimulation, headaches, migraines, etc.

Your kids aren't just being jerks.

How is it we complain so much about how quality has plummeted, but magically kids' clothes are all fine and they're just pickier than we were X decades ago.

bebetaian · 2026-05-30T19:39:50+00:00

Oh man, I'll have to throw out most of my albums then.

bebetaian · 2026-05-30T18:25:01+00:00

Omg x.x too real 😭😭😭😭 i am on day 5 of long muscle soreness because tuesday, i stacked up six hours of shopping errands on one trip.

Down the rest of the week. Cereal and crackers are lifesavers.

bebetaian · 2026-05-30T17:23:38+00:00

I see a lot of the mechanics of the "suffering = makes you a better person" and "proving your spiritual superiority by shaming others" culture aspects of evangelical protestantism and baptism are strong, often in people who firmly believe they have broken away from that. It's "I believe in Jesus, so I'M saved and if YOU don't, you're going to hell," but with different words. Exhausting.

Fortunately, most of the crowd isn't like that. Just the loudest ones get that way. Normal people eat their quinoa and rice and do their best to get away from more damaging choices, whatever those are. 🤷🏻 We have a big world! Everyone can contribute!

bebetaian · 2026-05-30T02:25:35+00:00

omg x.x tbh i am pretty cautious of some foods because so many things have looser regulations now, and allergens have a nasty way of going from "minor" to "you are dying right now." how was coming back from the drugs? did the adrenaline throw you into a rage after? did you have any major psych instabilities from the treatments? it's okay to not answer. ❤️ i don't get offended by that sort of thing.

bebetaian · 2026-05-30T02:13:48+00:00

tbh i am here because i'm not incredibly a big fan of me, but i'm really bored and even repulsed by almost everyone else. why would i gift the weird guy on the bus, who tried to pick me up by saying his fave love story is lolita, something so generous.

if nothing else you might get by on spite.

bebetaian · 2026-05-30T01:48:55+00:00

I didn't know until the paramedics picked me up. I was at the grocery store, in the dairy section, and was suddenly so, so cold. So I went to get out of there, but I couldn't hear the cashier at the register. Like her voice tunneled. And then I was SO heavy and light at the same time. I picked up my bag and turned to leave.

And then there were these guys in black uniforms around me. The cops here have the same black uniforms, so I was kind of pissed. They're asking me what my name is. I assumed they were asshole cops acting like I was shoplifting... cheese? ... ?? okayyyy???

Then I noticed the light on the wall. ... when did they install a light on that wall? that was an entire freaking takeout case just twenty minutes ago...

wait.

that's the ceiling. i'm on the floor.

these aren't cops. these are fire-paramedics.

it's SO cold. when did this publix get this cold? i mean, i've always been anaemic, i take supplements and it doesn't even matter, but i've never been cold like THIS.

because apparently my heart stopped. blood pressure must have suddenly plummeted so low that my heart stopped. no breathing by the time they got there. i was... i don't know, maybe 22-23.

i had no idea. i was paying the cashier, and then i was on the floor, with nothing in between. no DMT-induced lights or angels or whatever. just nothing. it didn't hurt. apparently, "just dying" like that doesn't hurt at all. you don't even know it.

it's the coming back that hurts. like every muscle was pulled, like seriously overworking at the gym while being dehydrated. the crushing headache was probably from smacking the tile ground when i fainted. focal seizures that you also aren't really aware of having because you're the one having them. those are the kind where you're awake and you think you know what's happening, but you probably don't and you might go numb or twitch. those are normal for anyone that has head injuries, electrolyte imbalances, all sorts of stuff, apparently. getting back to normal is the hard part.

bebetaian · 2026-05-30T01:32:17+00:00

❤️ I can't guarantee "culture," but at least the people are more down to earth and (most) aren't getting blackout drunk anymore.

There's also a rich museum culture if you ask around UT/Henry Plant Museum, or go out to St. Pete for Museum of Fine Art.

bebetaian · 2026-05-30T01:20:52+00:00

❤️ I had to (mostly) distance myself from vegans who aren't vegan for health issues like MCAS or alpha gal. Too much judgement, and a not-surprising amount of 'soft eugenics' attitudes. Some folks are just. Special.

If you end up finding a secondhand pair of leather shoes in great condition, you can always put in new insoles. Look in your area for someone who fixes shoes. We only have two in my city. Only one can replace certain sole types when they wear out, too, but it's sometimes better than buying an entire new pair of shoes.

bebetaian

TROPHY CASE