Welcome To The This Splendid Shambles Etsy Store!

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Welcome to the This Splendid Shambles Etsy Store!

May I introduce to you, This Splendid Shambles, the Etsy store.

Now, you may be wondering “wait, don’t you already have a store?” And the answer technically would be “yes”. I had Anjali Kay Creations for about 7- 8 years, selling jewellery and printables that I had created. But after leaving England in early 2014, the mini business was becoming unsustainable. Shipping suddenly got extreme because I was in New Zealand and most of my business came from the UK or the USA, and I had moved on to other hobbies which occupied my time (and I, therefore, wasn’t keeping up with new products). I was spending money on relisting my items on Etsy, and only selling the odd thing here and there, while making a loss due to the shipping expenses.

So I closed Anjali Kay Creations earlier in the year. And it was really sad. I loved having a wee shop, and it was something I started in England and wanted to keep going when I got home. Alas, there is a time for everything, and sadly, Anjali Kay Creations is no longer. Perhaps I’ll come back to it one day, but for now, it’s laid aside.

But then I had an idea.

One of my favourite things to do is take photos. I take photos for my blog, for Instagram, for other people (baby bump photos, wedding photography on occasion, portraits for CVs, LinkedIn and even dating apps), and I especially love bringing together fun elements in creative ways.

So I thought, why not start a stock photo side hustle?

If you head to my newly named Etsy store, This Splendid Shambles, that’s exactly what you’re going to find: stock photos taken by a blogger, for bloggers. Of course, they’re not just for bloggers, but I do have other bloggers in mind while I’ve been creating.

That’s nice, but what does that mean for me?

While it’s always nice to share your photos, using stock images takes the effort and the stress out of finding new content for your website/blog/social accounts. Let me do the work for you, so you can get back to what you love doing, whether that be writing, connecting with your customers and/or readers, or simply putting together beautiful posts and are both eye-catching and informative.

The other beauty of stock photos is that once you’ve purchased them, you can do what you want with them (other than resell or redistribute them – let’s all be kind to the creators out there who put in a lot of work for their business, no matter how big or small). This means you can crop them, stick them together, put text over them, blow them up, make them smaller, share them on your blog, website, Instagram feeds … all without credit.

Of course, it would be amazing if you did want to give a quick shout out to where you got them from, and photographers and creators always appreciate it when users do that. But it’s not necessary. You can do with them what you will.

But I’m not a blogger or website owner …

And that’s okay! Not everyone is going to have a blog or a website to populate with pretty images. The good thing about stock photos is that they’re for everyone! Here are some ideas for ways you can use stock photos without having a blog/website:

Have an Instagram account? Why not mix it up with a new theme? You could intersperse your images with stock images to create a theme for your feed, or if you’d like to say something to your followers but haven’t thought of a photo to include, pop a stock in!
Why not print some off and create a gallery wall in your home? Choose some of your favourite stock photos from a pack and print them off in different sizes. Place them in some frames and create a beautiful feature wall of themed images.
Alternatively, pick one and blow it up big! Frame it, or pop it on a clipboard to hang on your wall.
If you’re on an editorial team (online or on in print) or create newsletters for work (or other), then they’re a great way to add a little something-something to your print and/or online news.

And there are a plethora of other things you can do with them too!

Fantastic! What kind of stock photos are you creating?

I’m going to be adding to the listings on Etsy often, so what you’ll find at the moment of this newsletter are mostly flower stock photos. However, in the coming weeks and months, I’m going to be adding more. Here’s what I’m hoping to have ready for you soon:

Seasonal stock photos (summer, winter, autumn/fall, spring)
Themed images (i.e. Christmas, tropical, party, book-nerd)
Blogging specific (i.e. laptops, notepads, pens – everything you might need in a blogging photo)
Hobby centred (i.e. writing, painting, drawing, all things creative)
And heaps more!

I’m also going to be doing combined packs of photos, with a different number of images in each pack.

Set of 15 images – Multicoloured Tulip Stock Photo Set
Pack of 30 images – Peony Stock Images Pack
Bumper Pack of 50 to 60 images – All the Tulips Bumper Pack

For example, you can score yourself this beautiful set of 15 x multicoloured tulip images, or you can grab the BUMPER tulip pack which is a combination of all tulip sets into one handy place, and for a cheaper price than if you bought 3 sets separately.

Excellent! Where do I find This Splendid Shambles the Etsy store?

Glad you asked! This Splendid Shambles is now an Etsy shop, and all the listings for the current stock photos that are available are listed on that shop.

As they are digital items, when you make a purchase you will then get an Instant Download of the files that come with that purchase. Etsy does have some restrictions as to how many items you can upload for purchase per listing, so for all my sets, packs, and bumper packs I’ve uploaded them as compressed zip files. This means that for a set of 15 photos, you will get multiple zip folders downloaded to your computer, which you will then need to unzip. It’s really easy: right-click on the folder once it’s downloaded, and select extract. Boom. You’re now the proud owner of pretty stock photos.

Tell me about discounts …

As a thank you, my newsletter subscribers, not only were they the first to know about this new endeavour of mine but they received a nice discount off their orders! But I don’t want you guys to miss out on the goods. So until the end of July, you can receive 10% off your whole order by entering the code NEWSHOPJOY10 when you get to the checkout. This is for anything and everything in the shop!

Now’s also a great time to become a newsletter subscriber if you’re not already. If you sign up, not only are you going to get 6 FREE stock images (as well as the 6 FREE printables you currently get for signing up) but each month you’re going to have access to FREE stock photos! These will range in styles, content, and number, so sign up and get ready!

While you’re waiting for me to upload even more content for you, tell me: what kinds of stock photos do you use for your blog or website? What would love to see available? Drop a comment and let me know!