Wall of Hope

I read about a greeting card project on a blog post by one of my Etsy Greetings team mates, wimzieprints. Thought I'd share it with you. Just click here.

Etsy Twitter Shop of the Week - L'elephant Rose

Sherisa Vassel, of L'élephantRose.etsy.com creates jewelry and hair accessories for women to feel gorgeous in. Filled with a rich palette of color, her shop has many unique items. Her earring designs bring out the curves of a woman’s face and cheekbones.

Sherisa herself is a rich palette of interests and histories: Temple University alumna; lover of color, music, laughter, nature, warmth, her man; writer; jewelry and accessories designer; mother of a duckling; and daydreamer extraordinaire.

“Major life influences: stories from my childhood, French, my wild imagination. I'm heavily influenced by the past. And very intrigued by what lays ahead in the future. I try to find a point to balance in between it all.

One thing I think is paramount is that I take great care in attention to detail when making anything. It is a blessing to be able to follow a dream through and I attempt to pass that blessing on through my work. I care deeply about what I make.

L'élephant Rose is for the bold woman. Those not afraid to exude confidence. The woman who understands that they define their sensuality. We are effortlessly cool. Dare to be bold! Adorn yourself accordingly.”
I encourage you to accept her challenge to see yourself as bold, confident, and sensual. Maybe some new jewelry would help! I know this cute little shop that’s just the place.

Free shipping on any US domestic orders and 50% off international shipping on orders placed this week. Use code “ETT” in message to seller to redeem.

Etsy Twitter Shop of the Week - Curious Mess

Read more here about curiousmess.etsy.com and her gorgeous fabric bowls.

I don't do mornings

I had some time to make cards last night. Here is my favorite. It's handstamped with two different stamps. I'll post the others later.

Etsy Beagle Team is having a contest

They've got an awesome pendant as a prize. Go to their blog for the details on how to enter and WIN.

Selling onlilne

I've added a third shop over on ArtFire and am slowly populatiing it. Three shops is a lot to handle since every venue has a different social and graphical structure. I am so spoiled by being a part of both the CCCOE and EtsyIrish forum threads where we know each other well. There's nothing comparably active that I've found on either ArtFire or 1000Markets, although ArtFire's chat function might be more dynamic...

On another note, I was looking through the hearts on my Etsy shop tonight and discovered a new seller. One of the things I like about selling online is that you've got all sorts of regional marketplaces all subsumed in this international venue. The midwestern crafter in the U.S. side by side with someone in Thailand or Sinagpore. New York and Minnesota, California and Tennessee, Louisiana and Ohio. Different crafts, different trends, different histories, different stories. All ages, men and women, children, collectors, crafters, craftspeople and artists, pragmatic and profane.

This week

This was a big week for my shop. I made several series of cards, which are sampled above; I bought my first ad on craftcult.com, and the CCCOE handmadeincalifornia gift guide went live, where I have both a listing and an ad. I also joined the EtsyTwitter Team, have been using Google Analytics, and uploaded my shop to Google Base using LetsEts to format the .xml file. I tried Twitter Magpie and junked it, preferring my own Twitter postings to using the site just for ads or promotion.

Another thing I did that was kind of fun was have a great 15-minute sale (any five cards for $10), which I announced on my team threads and on Twitter. Maybe next time I'll list it in the promotions section of the Etsy Forums. I might even do that tonight just to see what kind of results I get.

I also made my first two sales in my 1000 markets shop -- very exciting. And I went through and changed the exposure on 150 photos and then reloaded them to both my Etsy site and my 1000markets shop. I cleaned up my Flickr site, too. And I found out that I have been on a few front pages recently. The next thing I'd lilke to start doing is blog interviews again -- that was fun and it's exciting to learn about and promote other people's shops.

I got blogged today

GEDesigns blogged about my teeny tiny Cupid envelopes today. Be sure and take a look at her wonderful custom valentines!

The gift guide has launched

The incredibly talented CraftyWren, a.k.a Shop Whimsy is the graphic designer who put this amazing site together. She has an able crew of CCCOE members who are also working on a constant basis to write up Spotlight articles (OhMay Designs) or curate the collections on the front page (ButtercupBloom). You can find the gift guide here.

Iris and the Sweet Thursday challenge

My friend Iris from either Germany or Ireland depending on how you think about it does beautiful mixed media work and entered a Sweet Thursday challenge on sunsets. Read more about it in her blog post.

Gift Guide front page today

CCCOE's Handmade in California Web site included me as one of the front page picks for the day. Go by and visit to see all the other great CCCOE artists that have signed up.

Valentine's Day preparations

I've had a great time this week turning the supplies I bought last week into cards. Here are some samples. You can find all of them at my shop on Etsy,

Handmade in California

The California Crafters Club of Etsy (CCCOE) has a wonderful PR team which has set up our spring "Handmade In California" Web site, following on the huge success of the Winter site. The new one won't go live until February 1, but you can get a preview now. Last time I checked, one of my cards was on the front page.

Valentine's Day is coming

I got my first request for this year's batch of teeny tiny envelopes for Valentine's Day this morning. That was a fun project, and, of course, led to a trip to not one, but two craft shops. Scrapbook Territory is one of my all time favorite shops because they have beautiful paper, wonderful stamps and a great store dog named Wilbur. Diane is the friendly proprietor. I also went to Michael's. You know what that's like. I got a new pad of beautiful double-sided cardstock, some Valentine's cardstock to make more teeny tiny envelopes, and some stamps for making my Valentine's cards. The visions of them are starting to dance in my head. Look for them in my shop in the days to come.

I got blogged today

AlliesAdornments blogged my shop today! You can read her post here. Allie has two shops, AlliesAdornments and OldeTymeNotions. Allie makes beautiful jewelry out of vintage buttons.

CCCOE Gift Guide for 2008

My street team, CCCOE, or California Crafters Club of Etsy, is sponsoring a holiday gift guide this year, featuring the work of a whole range of artists. Please stop by and visit it. You can find me in the Paperie, Holiday, and Gifts under $25 sections within the next 48 hours. In the meantime, you can visit my shop for all sorts of new cards for the fall and winter holidays -- and just every day.

I just joined Technorati

Technorati Profile

I was featured today

in this blog yesterday ChrissiB -- My Life On Parade. Please go by and give her a visit!

A wonderful feature

I was featured in this wonderful blog by naturemanipulated. Please stop by and comment.

And the winners are...

So we have an ANNOUNCEMENT OF WINNERS for the March challenge, thanks to the efforts of DesignsbyTami, who also did an excellent job of keeping the thread bumped up during the week:

First place: Black Cat and a Blood Moon by MaidofClay
Second place: Large Sunface filigree suncatcher by Oceankisses AND Chupacabra by slurkgirl
Third place: 1692 Bridget Bishop Witch Charm Necklace by PalleikoDesigns

CONGRATULATIONS and thanks to all our voters