Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Have You Heard the Shop Handmade Buzz?


Shop Handmade! If you love crafts, it's a new place to shop! A nice aside is that they use part of their profits to protect the rainforests. They discuss carbon offsets and mitigation and offer buyers and sellers a way to help a little! Gotta love that!

If you sell your work, you may be like me and have wished that you'd been able to get in on Etsy at groundfloor level-- before 99,999 other people started hawking their wares. Here's your chance!

There are some things I like and some I'm not wild about, but I'd love to see it take off and take me with it! I certainly don't expect it to outstrip Etsy-- at least not for a good while-- but I love the chance at a new audience and with an eco-friendly site that advertises!

I found it on a Google link in my G-mail account.

Go ahead. Check out Shop Handmade!
The only thing better than shopping handmade is winning handmade-- so please check out my Giveaway post!

Monday, September 29, 2008

BAO Item of the week and Treasury Thank You's!







The Bead Art Originals Items of the Week are up! Please check these wonderful items out!

My BAO Item of the week is my Barbary Coast Cuff, of course! I love it and for one week, if you love it, you can have it and a little disount on something else in my shop. 10% to be exact.


thebeadedlily was in 6 Treasuries this week! I want to thank you all the lovely curators for your support of my work!



abneygirls is a buyer only at this time, but check out these 5 fabulous pieces!



Who wants to resist MAKUstudio's Super Star Diamond Shimmer...Handmade Raku Pottery Pendant/Focal Bead?




I can't say how much I adore time2cre8's new ropes, including Amphitrite's Tears!

It's not a incredible SandFibers beaded cuff, it's an incredible SandFibers felted cuff, Fiesta Swirls.



How awesome is this Stained Glass Cuff by njema?



I snagged a Treasury this morning! { c a g e d }



Please don't forget to check out the Giveaway Post below and comment to enter!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Post # 100, Giveaway and Don't be Shy!

Today is post # 100 for me! Yay!

That means I've been blogging for 100 straight days, which is pretty wild. I've always loved to write, but I've never been this consistant about it.

Again, I want to thank all of my readers and especially my subscribers and followers! Knowing that I'm not blogging in a vacuum ensures that I find something to post everyday-- whether I feel up to it or not. That in turn pushes me to pursue lines of thought instead of abandoning them prematurely. That often teaches me something that I didn't realize.

I know not everyday is stellar. And I appreciate you forgiving me my off days and coming back the next day, offering me your confidence that I can and will do better.

I read that more things should change about a blog than content, that readers like to see little things about the blog stay fresh. I'm newish to the blogosphere. Maybe that's true.

Does everyone recognize these lines?

"What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet"


Did the Bard have a point? Perhaps in context the statement works, but in reality names can make or break. I'm beginning to feel that the title 'sketchbook' is, well, a little too sketchy. I had no idea how broad or narrow my focus would be when I started blogging and it's still apt to change up once in awhile.

I kept the name broad purposely, but I'm thinking that maybe I'd like a new name. Does anyone have some suggestions?

I'd also like to hear from you about content. If you've read my blog a few times, do me a favor and think about why. What articles did you enjoy or what type are you most likely to enjoy? Which articles leave you cold?

If you're a reader but have never, or don't usually comment, please take a moment to talk to me!

As an incentive I'm doing my first blog giveaway!

This will run for a whole week, till 12AM October 4th and the winner will be randomly selected and announced October 5th! If you're new to my blog, a week gives you time to look around and form some opinions!

Leave me comment on this post to be entered. Talk to me. Tell me what you think!

I know sometimes I'd love to enter a giveaway (who doesn't like to win?) but I don't really like the prize, so I hesitate. To cover a wider selection of tastes I'm giving away $15 worth of the goodies (including shipping) of your choice from my Etsy shop!

Fine print:

Do be sure that I can reach you. If that means leaving a link or your email address or something, please don't forget!

Spam will be deleted and will not considered an entry. This is fun for us all, it means a gift for you, but info for me as I strive to make my blog the best it can be for all of us! Spam doesn't help:)

I'll pay shipping too-- so the gift is completely free-- as long as your item (or items) comes to $14 or less. If it's more-- no worries-- I'll just take the $15 off the bill.

If you're not in the States it doesn't matter. Please don't hesitate to enter!

The gift is transferable!

Don't be shy now!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

More Jewelry Party Tips

I'm bushed!

Sister mine and I are back from the jewelry party. It was held in a lovely Victorian home with a bit of a rustic southern atmosphere. I'm totally not into houses but I wish I'd taken my camera to share some shots with you!

The party was well attended and I sold two of my higher end strung pieces. I also met an artist who works in copper wire. Sadly, I couldn't resist ordering one of her fabulous bracelets. When I get it I'll share it with you.

I learned that:

I absolutely need to have my email address on my cards. I used to have it on them, but it never seemed to be used, so I took it off. All of the sudden I'm telling people to email me and giving them my cards and then I remember when I get home that I took it off. So . . . next time the email address goes back on.

When you take something for the hostess give it to her right off. Otherwise, you'll lose it.

Get some water early. When you need it, it will be during your busiest moments and you won't be able to get away.

If someone buys a necklace offer them earrings. If you don't have them, offer to make them and charge them up front. Explain what you'll make, tell them when you'll get it in the mail, but don't quote a price that's too low.

I've also stopped deleting my Etsy listings when they sell off Etsy. Instead I just label it sold and leave it up. I did pay for the spot after all, and this way it may lead someone who finds and likes the sold item to an unsold item!

I'm exhausted, but not as bad as I was after the Bazaar. That night after I blogged, I fell asleep in the computer chair. Tonight I'll just go to bed early.

Oh, but I do have a Treasury! Sea Breezin'.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Tips for Home Parties

I have a home party scheduled for tomorrow and it will shock you deeply to know that I'm nervous about it. So I was looking up tips this morning. Despite the fact that they nerve me up, home parties can be time very well spent.

Of course, everything can be honed to fine point, including my party technique and I'm working on it.

Things I've learned by experience:
Don't pressure people to buy
Don't bother with a sales spiel or games
Encourage people to try things on, explaining little facts about the pieces
Put sold pieces in little bags and give cards to everyone . . . and maybe little freebies
10% of my earnings in free jewelry makes a nice hostess reward
Keep track of sales via a carbon copy receipt book

Things I know I need to do:
Add Home Parties to business cards
Communicate better with my hostesses-- I'm too hands off. A flyer would be nice, outlining the best methods, food (wine and cheese or coffee and dessert), days and times(weekends evenings), setup possibilities, invitations, size suggestions, bring a friend specials, hostess incentives, etc
Accept credit cards-- easy enough via Paypal with an internet connection, something that can be included in the Hostess Flyer
Work on my display-- it's just not where I want it yet
Display a sign-up book for special offers and for hosting parties- I'm terribly shy about this for some reason

Things I found out today that I need:
More mirrors
A more open house style with a three hour range for coming and going
Invitations
Benefit statements instead of feature statements
Shopping bags or baskets-- the kind they hand you at bead shops
Custom jobs-- Don't leave it up in the air. Take the cash up front, write it out and quote a delivery time
Thank you note to hostess
Bring a friend offers
Posting a Host a Home Party flyer to bulletin boards

If you have some tips, I'd *love* it if you'd share with us.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Focus On: Karin Alisa Houben

Awhile ago as I searched for Treasury material, I came across some fabulous beadwoven butterflies! I just had to share this nature oriented artist with you!

Profile: Karin Alisa Houben
Shops: Gypsy Eyes Jewelry & Looking Glass House
Website: KarinAlisaHouben.com


Tell us about yourself. What makes you, you?
I am mother to two beautiful and wacky teens, an artist and a daydreamer.
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Do you see yourself as an artist or craftsman or both?
I would love to assume both titles. I love to create beautiful things, I think that makes me an artist. Occasionally I actually succeed in crafting something functional/ wearable, I think that makes me a craftsperson.

What made you want to be an artist/craftsman?
Was there a time to make a conscious choice? I think I just came into this world hard-wired that way. If I'm not creating something, then I must be sleeping, or going crazy!
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Why beads?
Good Question. Given my myopic eyes (I've had to wear glasses since the 2nd grade of elementary school) and rather large hands/fingers (friends call me "grand hand"), an even better question would be: Why teeny-tiny seed beads? Actually, my first love (in bead terms) is gemstones. The colors, the way the light passes through or bounces off, the weight and feel of them... I have had this recurring dream that I am swimming through a sea of tourmaline beads and stones. Then came seed beads, followed and nearly usurped by Delica beads. It's always about the colors, but with seed and Delica beads it's also about the forms they allow me to explore.
How do you see your style and what makes it unique?
Usually, I tend to take a painterly approach with a touch of scientific mind (botany, entomology, marine biology...). In the past couple of months I have been experimenting with purely playful designing. The two are balancing each-other (and me) out quite nicely.

What's the most wonderful thing you've made? The oddest?
The general answer to both questions is the same: my children. The bead answers: The most wonderful things that I make have got to be my butterflies. I still love making, looking at, wearing and selling them after over 8 years...
The oddest, perhaps by certain standards are my beaded fish. Again, I love making, looking at, wearing and selling them, but I guess they're not your typical adornment/ fashion accessory.

What inspires you?
Nature and its infinite beauty and wisdom, Fairy Tales and other fantastic literary works, Paintings of the masters.

What scares you?
Closed minded people, giant waves that threaten to take me under, interviews.

Tell us about your creative process.
When it's flowing really well, it seems like more of a trance. The beads come together one by one, and take form hour after hour, at some point I wake up (probably due to eye strain and a neck-ache) and I am thrilled by the results.

How did you get on Etsy and where else do you sell?
My awareness of Etsy began as a murmuring here and there, from fellow artisans/ friends, magazine articles, and grew into an incessant buzzing (like a swarm of bees) that could no longer be ignored. So here I am on Etsy, moderately addicted. My work is represented by several boutiques and galleries nationwide. I sell at a handful of juried craft shows annually. My website, http://www.karinalisahouben.com/ serves as a sort of "look-book"/ weighty tome.

Describe your shop.
Gypsy Eyes Jewelry is a varied showcase of beaded flora and fauna. It is filled with butterflies. moths, flowers, delicious gemstones and Delica seed beads. Looking Glass House is a playful vacation from that scientific mind stuff. The shop is in its very beginning stages. It is peppered with (and soon to be greatly populated with) whimsical, neo-Victorian jewelry with a very enthusiastic nod to Alice, White Rabbit, Mad Hatter, Queen of hearts, et al. Pearls, Swarovski Austrian crystal, vintage filigree, monocles, mirrors and feathers (oh my!)

Make a recommendation.
Enjoy beauty everyday through looking, listening, tasting, creating... this is my "secret" to happiness and peace.

Tell us the answer to a question that we didn't ask, but should have. If you can't think of anything, tell us something random.
Once upon a time I was a professional baker/ pastry chef. I still enjoy creating rather decadent desserts, now I do it purely for the love of my friends and family and chocolate.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

A Hint of Success

A pair of earrings in my Simplicity series hit the FP last night! That's always exciting in terms of views and hearts (bookmarks). I've sold things from Treasuries, but never from the front page so that that has little to do with the rush. It's all about exposure.

And it got me thinking. I figure I've hit the front page at least five times in the fifteen months that I've been selling on Etsy. There may have been more, but I can distinctly remember five times. and of course those times get closer together. It was probably five months into my Etsy experiment before I hit the front page the first time.

Much of it has to do with being part of the Bead Art Originals and Etsy Beadweavers Teams. Part of it is creating wonderful one-of-a kinds and part of it is making those little somethings that everyone wears. Part of it is using artisan beads. Part of it is bettering my photography skills. Part of it trying to be kind and professional in my dealings with everyone on Etsy. And I'm sure part of it is just being in the right place at the right time.

Since I first saw those threads on the Etsy fora about some not wanting to see the same people on the front page I've objected to them. In my view, if someone makes the front page time and time again, they excel. I know some artists who can't seem to stay off the front page and I rejoice for them, but I also know that they've earned the right to be there.

We shouldn't let jealousy get in our way. When we say I'm sick of seeing so-and-so there in the limelight. I want to be in the limelight, what is that but jealousy?

Now that I'm getting a few more front pages I'm wondering if people will start badmouthing me. Am I to be punished for having work someone loves? Am I to be punished for my mounting sales? If you work hard enough you're bound to have some small measure of success. When that happens to you, do you want people to punish you for it? That's all I'm saying.

No I'm not saying if you've never hit the front page you're doing something wrong or aren't successful. Success is a broad word and will be different for different people. The front page is a smallish kind of success in the grand scheme. But it makes me happy!

Check out Mak's Treasury:) And now I'll shut-up and just enjoy it I guess:)

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Barbary Coast Cuff Finished!

Whoo! Finally! And I love it, which is awesome! It's always a relief to finish something that you've spent hours on when you love it. There are other shots in the listing.

Ok, so this is my Animal Instincts project. You may recall that after dismissing a few animal skin pattern ideas I wished for teeth. Well I shopped for teeth and found some fabulous ones. I decided on shark teeth because sharks are one big instinct, aren't they? They're not a very sympathetic bunch and I think that's because they don't have the capacity for learning and companionship that the sea mammals do. Sharks are less what I'd call intelligent and more what I'd call cunning. And cunning is something I associate with instinct.



Anyway, while I was shopping I learned some about the uses that ancient cultures put sharks teeth to. They wore them, of course, but they also used them for tools, lining clubs and knives with them. I tried to evoke that in the arrangement of the smaller teeth around the big one.
I realized also while I was shopping that I frequently mix cocktails of beads for my 'weaving. The variegated colors add interest for me, both while I stitch and once the piece is finished.


Finding an appropriate clasp is always an issue. I rather like the way this one turned out. It's very much in tune with the focal arrangement.


Barbary Coast is what Europeans called the middle and western coastal regions of North Africa. It evokes the sea and violence and the word barbarian (which fits this piece) and I like that it's African which connects well with the cuff being herringbone, a stitch with African roots.

I can't wait to see everyone else's project!

On to smaller things! Have to get ready for a home party this weekend.

Oh, but please don't forget to vote for me in the Etsy Challenge! *beg* *whine* *beg*

Oh, and I have another Treasury!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Contest, Publicity Progress & BOA Special

Hamunaptra is an entry in 9/22 Weekly Grand Champion portion of The Etsy Challenge. Go check it out! maybe vote? That means that thanks to you all I won the Jewelry Category vote and all the winners this week got a plug on the BlogTalkRadio Show today. Whoo! Celebrations! Please vote again!

If you've been lusting over my Rose Distilled piece now's the time to grab it. this week it comes with 10% off any second item in my shop.

For more great deals check out Bead Art Originals!

World Artisan Gems contacted me yesterday to let me know that they'd published an interview that features me. That's good news because I'm very much interested in reaching people beyond my normal audience in hopes that they'll become part of my normal audience!


In addition, thebeadedlily was featured in 5 treasuries this week and I want to thank each of the curators, especially SandFibers who also mentioned me on her blog!

Here's a piece of work from each curator:








Sunday, September 21, 2008

Miscellany

I am not known for brevity. I'm not much known, true, but if I was, it would not be for brevity. I hope that doesn't bother any of you too much, but I expect that anyone who follows my blog for long likes to read anyway.

Perhaps part of it is a lack of focus. When I finally hit on a topic for the day it seems entwined with 5 other things that I just have to say. If they're lumped together in my mind separating them for blogging seems tedious and it feels like an incomplete post.

At any rate, I played around with Blogger's new Following module last night, just letting it take me here and there and commenting where I saw and opportunity. I've got 3 Followers and 20 subscribers via Feedburner. That's very exciting for me! Thank you all.

While I was exploring I found a post that got me thinking about packaging. That resonated with a recent concern for me.

With the Bazaar earlier this month I spent time packaging my smaller items by attaching them to cards. I love the look and the convenience of having a space to jot a note before I pop it in an envelope with a business card and drop it in the mail.

In person, it works as a display and price tag and then when an item is purchased I can stick the whole thing in a baggie and there it is. The packaging is crafty and raw looking, but that's fine for me because my jewelry is like that too. I think it works.

With larger strung pieces I can just stick them in a baggie in person and for Etsy purchases pop in a card, a note and wrap it securely if needed. It's a little less branded, but it works well enough.

My beadwoven pieces are troubling me though. Some of them are very large and they aren't cheap. Some won't fit in a baggie or even a little jewelry box. In fact, I haven't found anything they will fit in. Safety isn't an issue so much as I can use enough bubblewrap to prevent breakage, but when you spend $300 on a bracelet, shouldn't it come nicely wrapped instead of being rolled in bubblewrap and tape? Even if I sell them at a show, what do I put them in? I'd like to be slightly branded here at least and it would be best if the result was pretty enough for gift-giving.

I looked for boxes but they were too small or too big or just plain ugly. I thought of pouches and envelopes too, but didn't find anything that really fit me. It all looked junky and cheap or more polished, and more costly, than I want.

So I thought I'd toss it out here and see if anyone has any suggestions. How do you package your larger items? Any recommendations from site you've looked at or packages you've gotten? Help?
While I've got you check out the artists in my latest Treasury!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

The Sound of Silence

Paul Simon once said, "The main thing about playing the guitar, though, was that I was able to sit by myself and play and dream. And I was always happy doing that. I used to go off in the bathroom, because the bathroom had tiles, so it was a slight echo chamber. I'd turn on the faucet so that water would run — I like that sound, it's very soothing to me — and I'd play. In the dark. 'Hello darkness, my old friend / I've come to talk with you again'."

That line, 'Hello darkness, my old friend / I've come to talk with you again', you may recognize from Simon and Garfunkel's hit The Sound of Silence. I've always liked that song. I see it as a sort of protest against this world's lack of communication skills.

Today the noise (not the communication-- there's a huge difference) won't stop and I love quiet. I know many people like to play the radio or a certain type of music or even a certain artist when they create. I'm rarely one of those people. Once in a blue moon, when I can't bear to be alone with my thoughts, I'll put on a quiet movie and play it quietly while I work. The rest of the time I'd rather it be quiet, though it's frequently not. (Football is the 2nd worst noise in the universe. Go ahead, watch it. But do we have to listen to it?)

I know people who can't even sleep without a radio or TV on. I can't sleep with them on. I never could. I think I'm afraid I'll miss something.

But because of this day's constant noise I began to wonder how much we need silence. Is it good for creativity? I didn't look long, but I found nothing.

Still, I need it. I need space to think, to hear myself, to detox, to breathe. In this noisy, fast-paced world, silence, stillness and space are vital to my creativity. Here's a weird tidbit. If I had to lose one of my five senses, it would be hearing, hands down.

What about you? What do you need to be creative?

Friday, September 19, 2008

Changing Horses in Midstream

It happens fairly often, I think, with artists. They have a vision and proceed with the project only to have it develop a mind of its own and come out with only a hazy resemblance to the original intention. I think of that as more of the pony fleshing out into a Percheron. You get used to it, just going with the flow.

I know false starts are par for the course and I know a developing project is the way it is . . . even sometimes getting partway through and starting over so you can switch threads.

I'm thinking more along the lines of stitches today. I'm a newish beadweaver. I don't think of myself as a beginner anymore but I know I'm not at the top of my game either. Newish. Anyway, I mentioned before that I'd started in two-drop peyote and changed my mind and started in single-drop or regular peyote stitch.

Most of you know exactly what I'm talking about. For everyone else, the difference is picking up two beads at a time on the needle versus picking up one bead at a time. It has a different texture and it works up faster.

That was my first foray into two-drop. The thing was, it wasn't right for the project. I've seen it make up beautifully in other things, but this wasn't it. Anyway it took about four rows of peyote for me to decide that that wasn't what I wanted either and I decided to switch to herringbone-- which fits with my recent fascination with African beadwork. I'm about 4 inches into the herringbone now and pleased with it, though I didn't stitch the first stitch yesterday.

Anyway, that got me wondering. Is this something only newish beadweavers do. I mean, I know what peyote looks like. I know how it feels. So why did I have to make up a swatch before I decided it was wrong for the project? It's somewhat true that the beads themselves influence the final feel of the work, but I've worked peyote in many colors, textures and sizes. So why didn't I know it was wrong before I started?

I'm not worried about not knowing that the two-drop was wrong as I've never held two-drop or seen it up close till now.

How many of you do this? How many of you used to? Do you do it less often now? More often? Is it typical?

What if you're in another avenue? How often does a painter stop and say-- this should be done in watercolors instead of oils? Or does a metalworker stop his cold-forging project to cast it instead? Does a potter ever start with stoneware and end up with porcelain? Does anyone else start with the pinto and end up with the roan?

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Focus On: Marty Brown

Since I found Etsy I've been addicted to handmade cards. There's something I immediately discovered. Sometimes you feel like a bit of froufrou and sometimes you don't. Sometimes you want something a bit snarky, a bit more honest and straightforward.
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There are occasions that demand a Thinking of You and a bow and there are occasions that call for something more solid. For those moments Marty Brown has something just for you!
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Name: Marty Brown
Etsy Shop: Letterary Press
Tell us about yourself. What makes you, you?
I grew up in a typical, urban, mid-western, middle-class family in the late 20th-century. Well, of course there is no such thing as a typical family. My parents were academics, and restless travelers. There were always books in the house. I slept in a suitcase for a while. Literally: the suitcase was my travel-bed. As I was growing up, my family would travel every summer. I have seen large parts of the world, which has been a wonderful education and a gift, even if I didn't appreciate it at the time. Left to my own devices, I would rather stay home and read.
I think all that moving about has made me even more watchful and tentative than I might have otherwise been. I tend to stand on the edges and observe. I don't get attached to very much very easily. I try not to take anything too seriously.
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Do you see yourself as an artist or craftsman or both?
I view printing as a craft. I think it is a means to end, and not an end in itself. I have always resonated to Beatrice Ward's idea that printing should be invisible, the crystal goblet that contains the marvelous elixir of the message. Literature is an art. Printing is what makes it possible for us to enjoy it. Printing is vitally important, but not for its own sake.

What made you want to be a craftsman?
I have always wanted to work with words and pages and books. I could just as easily have taught Shakespeare or been a writer (maybe I still will), but I sort of fell into the printing and publishing business early on, and it stuck with me. As long as I'm putting words on paper, I'm happy.

Why letterpress?
I'm a sucker for obsolete technology. When I see things that have outlived their usefulness to the mainstream world, I feel sorry for them. I want to keep them alive.

How do you see your style?
I'm a minimalist. I like a lot of white space. My printing is more kiss than bite, but it depends how I'm feeling. I like to think my designs are charming without being precious, irreverent without being disrespectful.

What's the most wonderful thing you've made?
My wedding invitations. They were made to be like children's cootie catchers / fortune tellers. Each corner had the name of one person in our new family: my husband, his son, my son, and me. The little flaps lifted up to reveal different quotes about love and family. They were magical and three dimensional and so much fun.

The oddest?
Little notebooks, the size of a pack of gum, on keychains. I'm not sure what possessed me.

What inspires you?
Old ATF type catalogs, old product labels... Just about anything printed before 1900. I'm constantly amazed that anything got printed at all before the Linotype came along. I'm just one person in a studio. It would take me more than one lifetime to print... say.... Moby Dick. There must have been whole armies of people in composing rooms. Imagine.

What scares you?
Unleashed, barking dogs. Airport security. People who suffer from too much certainty.

Tell us about your creative process.
I'm not a very visual person. I usually start with a good quote and build the imagery around it. Sometimes I start with an idea and look for words and images to support it. Sometimes I just put a color on the press and start rummaging around in the drawers for something that seems to match the mood of the color. I don't do a lot of pre-planning. It's all very seat-of-the-pants.

How did you get on Etsy and where else do you sell?
I forget how I first came across Etsy, but I was immediately hooked. I think I set up my shop the very same day. I also sell directly from my Web site at http://www.letterarypress.com/, and I sell wholesale to a lot of retail outlets, and on Amazon.

Describe your shop.
Lots of cards. Lots and lots of cards. I specialize in quotations from classic literature, but I have my own original cards with a particular brand of sardonic humor. There's something for everyone, and something for any occasion. I ship orders quickly and try to provide good customer service.

Make a recommendation.
I have these boxed assortments of 8 different cards featuring quotes from individual authors. These are a great value, and they make wonderful gifts. Oscar Wilde is especially popular.

Tell us the answer to a question that we didn't ask, but should have. If you can't think of anything, tell us something random.
The first printing press in North America belonged to a woman. Her husband died during the trans-Atlantic crossing to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, leaving her with the printing press (and everything else, I imagine). She remarried shortly after her arrival, and all of her property, including the press, became the property of her new husband (times being what they were). But it makes me happy to know that the first press arrived in a woman's care.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Among Other Things BeadsandBlooms Takes the EBW September Challenge

The theme was Complimentary Contradictions and the entries for fabulous! Standing out amoung them was Tears of Joy, worked with three contrasts: color, shape and texture. Tears of Joy is already sold, but be sure to check out BeadsandBlooms for more wonderful beadwork!
My special mentions goes to Beadmatrix for her line of beadworked masks. She entered the Bananarama Mask in the challenge, but be sure to check out her shop for the rest of her line.
I have two treasuries running that you might enjoy getting a better look at. Here's Set Apart
and here's Infinite Light
While I'm at it, I'll thank Carol Dean Sharpe of SandFibers for including me both in her treasury
That's all, folks:)

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

In Other News . . .

Remember Alison Whittington of paintandink and The International Institute for Fantastical Exploration and Cartography? She's running an awesome special! Her blog announced that in view of National Talk Like a Pirate Day she's offering free Sea Monster Breath prints. Check it out!
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Also, an artish treasury that features a ring of mine made the 1st page of Etsy last night! Yay!
If you haven't seen it up close yet, take a look! It's gorgeous and will be up a couple more days!
While I'm at it, I was also featured on The Art Zoo, which was cool!
And I have a few thanks to offer to a few freinds who were kind enough to recognize my blogging efforts!
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Ileana of EnchantedBeads awarded me a prize on her blog, as did Ana Karenina of Just About Anything and most recently Carol Dean Sharpe of SandFibers, the blog and the shop.
The way this works is I pass on the recognition! There are other rules too, but I'm going to blithely ignore them and simply share blogs that I enjoy reading.
My top 10, in no particular order:
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I keep tabs on all the blogs on my sidebar, but those are my faves.
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If you blog you might find this to be an interesting and beneficial article on Eight Things All RSS Publishers Should Remember. I plan to follow some of the tips!

Monday, September 15, 2008

Bead Art Originals Items of the Week (9/15-9/21) and 16 Thank You's and Vote!

Hamunaptra is being featured in the Etsy Challenge here. Go check it out and vote!

And today is the final day to vote in the EBW Challenge here. Don't miss out!

My BAO Item is my kaleidoscope Vl cuff.
This week it comes with a free gift.
Check out the whole BOA Team's Items here.

This week was a banner week for thebeadedlily Treasury wise. 16! Sixteen treasuries! My mind boggles!

Thanks to each one of you who showed of my work in your own fantastic creations!

Here are some fabulous items I found in their shops! eclectibles has nothing in their shop except a really cute banner, but I didn't want to skip them.

Again, thank you all for all your help with promoting my work!