Friday, February 29, 2008

Rainbow Crayons: New Spring Shapes!




I believe this is the first time that I have blogged about myself and my shop, but wanted to give an update for those who love purchasing the Rainbow Crayons and Jumbo Rainbow Crayons from my shop!

I have sold over 150 sets since joining Etsy exactly 3 months and one day ago!

The New Spring Shapes of Rainbow Crayons are in and HOT! These make great Easter basket treats and unique party favors for your child's next birthday party.

Some of the new shapes include:

Jumbo Flower Rainbow Crayons (perfect for spring)

Jumbo Star Rainbow Crayons

Jumbo Diamond Rainbow Crayons

Rainbow Butterfly-Large (this one is so cool!)

These crayons are non-toxic and perfect for kids and adults of all ages! Custom orders and wholesale are available at request.

Please visit my Etsy shop for more information on these products and other art and unique finds I have in my shop!

ETSY Featured on Martha Stewart!


If you did not catch the show today, Rob, the creator and founder of Etsy, was featured on the Martha Stewart Show today!


Thursday, February 21, 2008

Create. Collect. Trade. Has been Featured in ACEO Magazine's Newsletter!


ACEO Magazine has featured my artist and student ACEO book, Create. Collect. Trade. in their new edition of Cardaddix, a monthly ACEO newsletter that features interviews with worldwide artists, techniques, articles, and more!
For those of you not framiliar with Project ATC or the ACEO book that I am putting together that features 32  ACEO artists and elementary student artists here is some information...


I am an elementary school art teacher from Indiana who teaches the art of ACEO and ATC to student artists. About two months ago, I began searching for ACEO artists willing to donate ACEO cards to trade with my students. The purpose of this search was not only to introduce students to real artists from all over the world, but also to help students understand the large range in imagery, styles, and media used in ACEO art. After an overwhelming response from artists, this project, now being called “Project ATC,” began to evolve into something much bigger.

I wanted these artists to be able to share their love for ACEO art, while being able to inspire student artists and promote their art at the same time. To best do this, I came up with a book project where ACEO artists and student artists would be featured together to show how one can inspire the other, and to visually show the range of ACEO art. This book, Create. Collect. Trade. A Collection of Artist Trading Cards Created by Artists and Students, is now in its first edition (with a waiting list of artists to be in the second edition).

32 ACEO artists are featured alongside over 25 different student artists in the 2008 first edition, which is expected to go on sale mid-March.

There are a variety of ways that you can become involved in this wonderful project and help spread the news about ACEO art!

To Donate ACEO cards and trade with a student, please contact myself at:  Art2theextreme@yahoo.com

 To receive an e-mail when the book goes on sale OR to be put on the waiting list for the 2nd edition of Create. Collect. Trade., send an e-mail with this as the subject line to: Art2theextreme@yahoo.com


 If interested in donating $5.00 or a gift of $23.00* (enough to purchase 1 free book for a student). Please visit: http://createcollecttrade.blogspot.com/

*Donors who purchase a whole book will have the chance to write a message to the student on a donor label to be included in the book. Name inclusion is optional.

For more information about “Project ATC” or Create. Collect. Trade., please visit  the Official Book Blog. http://createcollecttrade.blogspot.com/


I have been talking to the Editor, Kelly, who will also be featuring the book on the site for ACEO magazine in the near future. This is very exciting because the magazine has a large following and is sent worldwide to ACEO artists.
To visit their newly revised website or to get your own copy of the newsletter, please visit their site at:

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Topic Talk #2: The Benefits and Importance of Blogging


In this blog, I feature other art and artists about 90% of the time with the occasional drop of something I am posting or working on. I think it is important for others to help promote eachother and spread the word. Making meaningful connections is key to becoming a great artist and a successful seller on etsy, ebay, or any types of sites where art is shared, sold, or discussed. 

There are so many blogs to read. What makes one more popular than the next? How do I get more exposure to my blog? How do I become featured in a blog? These and other blog related questions I want to address below with a little help from some friends and previous feedback.

MY PERSONAL TIPS
-Post something new every day!!!!!!!!

-Use Blogpatrol.com (see below)

-Refer to items, artists, posts with LINKS when you can. It is a great way to be picked up by search engines and other artists trying to find you.

-Find a good balance of personal posts, your art/crafts/etsy, blogging about other artists or sellers, and a range of interesting photos. 

-Link your blog when appropriate in forums, blog comments, or other sites. 

-Make friends with other bloggers and post links to their blogs (I have a "My Favorite Etsy Bloggers" section to the left). They will often return the favor.

-Hold contests and give-aways from time to time to up your views, gain more readers, and even get others interested in what you have to sell.

-Include meaningful and useful content!


PLACES TO INCREASE TRAFFIC TO YOUR BLOG
A free blog widget, where posts are automatically promoted on related blogs across the internet.

Also, free and you can join specific blog rings such as ETSY, ACEO, etc. Blog readers can click on a small icon this site creates for you to automatically be taken to the next blog on that ring. It is random when people get to yours, but it works and increases traffic. I have a link at the upper, left side under my counter. TRY IT!

Share tips, ideas, and meet others who blog. This site also will create a widget for you to put on your blog so others can find you. I am a member of this team, but have not spent a lot of time with the site yet.

This site is a social blogging directory on the internet. It sorts blogs by various topics and serves as a promotional tool for others to find your blog. I have yet to sign up for this due to lack of time, but I have often been taken to this site when I goggle myself or my blog. I find that many have written about things I have posted in Etsy or they have written about my blog.


COUNTERS AND WAYS TO TRACK TRAFFIC TO YOUR BLOG
If anyone has a blog, THIS IS THE TOOL THAT IS A MUST HAVE!!!!!! 

This site will track everything from daily visits, total visits, what site someone found your blog link on, the specific pages in your blog they read, how many times that blog post has been read, top 10 posts, etc. 

There are even graphs of how many visitors have seen your blog, a pie graph of what countries visitors are from, what types of computers they are using, etc.

It also keeps track of google searches and yahoo searches that people have typed in to find you or your blog.

The nice thing is that this will also give you an accurate visit count without counting yourself when you visit and update, refresh, etc.

Most bloggers I have seen use this counter that is free and gives a variety of styles to choose from. The only bad thing is that it will count myself when I visit, update, and refresh. There might be a way to change this, but I have not found that yet. Still, it is still good to have on the blog.


TIMOTHY ADAM DESIGNS BLOG UPDATE 
Timothy Adam has a great blog and has recently written a post about blogging as well that has similar sites, but is a great tool in general!

 His big tip is to post something new EVERY DAY (something that I am bad at recently).


READERS WRITE BACK... WHY DO YOU BLOG?

"I just started blogging for fun - cicuska.typepad.com
I blog about things i make or find, anything i think someone might find interesting and/or useful, and i do "etsy sundays" where Ii pick a theme and 6 items from etsy that fall under that category. "   -Cicuska, Flickr

"I blog mostly to get ideas out of my head and stored elsewhere. and keep track of all of my "projects."   -Smashing, Etsy

"I blog and I put links to other blogs on my blog. I blogged mainly because I wanted to have a journal accounting my first year in business. Then I started getting hits to my site and that was fun. The more I blog the more visitors I get, the more visitors I get the more I blog. " -Dancing Monkey Jewelry, Flickr

"I mainly use mine as a way to keep things organized - i feel like i have things scattered all over the internet - flickr, etsy, etc. and it's nice to be able to link to just one or two places where people can find links to any of my other online spaces, instead of just randomly finding them over time. So mainly, i have it for organization. the content is sort of general, mainly just things i find online that i like, or things i am making. if someone recommends something to me, like a book or a movie, and i like it, i'll throw it up there too. but it's mainly craft-related. oh, and there are pictures of my cats."   -Chelsea Creature, Flickr

"I use my blog to show off. Simply put. I also use it as kind of a journal though too. I write about any and everything. I love getting the comments and views and I always hope that it leads to sales, though it often does not."  -armorgan, Etsy

"I try to blog regularly about my work. It's the only place that I post news, such as what I am currently working on, new items I have created and where to purchase them, where my work has been featured, etc. I also use it to try and promote artists that have featured my work in blogs or treasuries to try and repay them for their kindness =)" 
 -Kaysk9s, Flickr

"I think one important thing is building relationships. I've become friends with some of the people that visit my blog often, and in turn I end up hearting their things and will go to these people if I ever need something that they sell!"   
-Kieutiepie, Flickr

"I only use blog as my art gallery and write a few basic things about each piece:)."   -tanyabond, Etsy

"For me, blogging is important to give a human aspect to my store....people get to know you through your blogs."                       -artbyangie, Etsy

"Blogging is important because it forms a bridge between the artist and the potential buyer. We don't sell "things". We sell pieces of ourselves, and by talking about our pieces and the processes that go into making them, we are helping the buyer to see the art as we see it. As far as tips are concerned, I'd say having some great images in each post is the most important thing you can do to get someone to read. I've left plenty of blogs that were all text, because there was nothing to draw me in

When it comes to traffic, the
best thing you can do is get involved in other groups outside Etsy and spread your link there. Illustration Friday and Flickr have provided a great boost for us, but there are several crafting forums that could work as well. Having contests and give aways also will bring a temporary boost, but make sure you have lots of great content to keep people coming back. For search engine optimization (SEO) you need to add alt tags to all of your images. That will get them picked up in image searches. It will require editing the html of your post, but it's really easy. Just look for the alt=" " and place a description of the picture (with your shop name) between the quotes."   -GreenSpaceGoods, Etsy


I hope that this information has been useful and that you take to heart some of the tips that are provided. 

Feel free to comment or add to anything that was mentioned or any new ideas you may have for Bloggers!

Image by PigseyArt

Sunday, February 10, 2008

ETSY ARTIST FEATURE #4: Jenmaestre


In my search for ACEO artists to donate cards to PROJECT ATC, I came across Etsian Jenmaestre, who offered to donate a card! Her card was one of the coolest the students had seen so far because she had used pencil shavings to create it. As I began looking though her shop, I found items that I could never find in any store or Etsy shop! 

Jenmaestre creates her pins, pendants, earrings, and ACEO cards from pieces of colored pencils. She uses all different colors, sizes, angles, and views when created her art and uses an epoxy to give them a finishing coat.  Pieces are made by hand and hand-sanded. No two items in her shop are alike.  

I recently bought the heart pendant that is seen above. I thought that since I was an art teacher and Valentine's Day was coming up, that it would be very appropriate and very cool to own!
I have been showing EVERYONE this shop because these items are truly unique and a MUST HAVE!

Please take the time to visit Jenmaestre's shop! I promise you wont be disappointed and you will fall in love with something immediately! 

LINKS TO JENNIFER:
Her Etsy Shop:
Her Website:
Interviews

Sunday, February 3, 2008

My Latest Purchases on Etsy!

I have stared purchasting items on Etsy now that I have some money in my paypal account and find it hard to stop now :). There are so many tallented artists here!

My latest purchase today was this LOVE BAMBOO COLLAGE PENDANT from Etsian AnnaCox (picture above). She has so many other very beautiful pendants at a great price!

I have also purchased these sparkling, beautiful EARRINGS from Jewelrybytiti. She had great communication with me and also ran a very successful BNR on Friday evening (it was the first one I had participated in).

That same night I purchased a BROWN SATIN CLUTCH from lucymoonglow. I loved the brown color and the pattern on the outside. She was also very friendly to talk to!

For my students, I purchased this FUZZY BABY PENGUIN ACEO from artbylmr, who also bough a spot in the ACEO BOOK that I am putting together. I could not resist the cute penguin.



One of my first purchases was from PurpleLicious, who makes the cutest headbands! I bough THIS HEADBAND MADE FROM VERA BRADLEY FABRIC and THIS HEADBAND.



It is so much fun to purchase art and be able to afford it for once :). Please take some time to look in these shops I have featured or post some recent purchases of your own!

Saturday, February 2, 2008

ETSY ARTIST FEATURE #3: HeavensEarth


During my quest to find ACEO and ATC artists to feature in a promotional and educational book I am putting together called, "Create. Collect. Trade. A Collection of Artist Trading Cards by Artists and Students," I ran across a post in the book thread by heavensearth. I began looking though her shop and found the most colorful and beautiful art I have seen in a long time!

In her shop, Heavens Earth, the artist uses a greens, pinks, and reds to create stunning works canvas paintings and ACEO cards. She even has works organized by series such as her Tree Series and Flower Series.

My eyes were immediately drawn to "Green Eggs" on a canvas. I would really love to see this on an ACEO, which she has created before, but sold out of!

Another favorite of mine is pictured above called, "Picking Flowers." This ACEO reminds me of the students I teach art for at two elementary schools (the same students for the start of PROJECT ATC) the colors are AMAZING. 

Please take some time to comment about her work or visit her shop! Prices are very affordable and images are too unique in beauty not to buy!



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