My 1st Wedding Anniversary Today

TODAY IS MY FIRST WEDDING ANNIVERSARY WITH MY HUSBAND!

One year ago today I married the most amazing man. This year has flown by so fast, but there has not been one minute of being married that I have not enjoyed! Today I figured I would share some of my favorite wedding photos taken by photographer, Erin Hession, last year.

OH MY GOSH! I forgot to take the cake out of the freezer! I hope I unthaw correctly still! Off on a cake mission!

Father's Day at the Movies!

Today I am sharing my latest Treasury on Etsy with you. It has been inspired by my father and his business, Home Video Studio. I love looking at all the different treasuries! Have you made one lately? Comment with the link to your treasury! You could see it featured here possible!

Advertising: Love It or Hate It?

Image above from Thompsondesigns

Today I figured I would talk about advertising a bit and share some links with you. This is an area that I am not the best with and am pretty picky about where I advertise. In the past, I have used Project Wonderful, CraftCult, and soon will be advertising with Etsy Item of the Day.

I have found the most success with CraftCult, but keep in mind that this site is pretty much seen by only sellers on Etsy. I found that I got a pretty nice increase in traffic and hearts the two times that I have used CraftCult. The site operators are very quick to respond and the pricing is fair in my opinion. I usually purchase the $15 for 7 days. I have found that when I see new ads, I click on them, but when it is a shop that has purchased the 4 week ads and I see them over and over, my eye tends to skip over the ad. Have you used CraftCult before? What do you think?

I just sent my payment to advertise on Etsy Item of the Day. Jackie, who operates this site and is responsible for finding all the awesome items and features, has been wonderful to work with in the past when I was featured (check out the sidebar box to the right of this post)! I will update when I hopefully start to see some traffic coming in! Have you been featured on Etsy Item of the Day before? Have you advertised on this site?

Project Wonderful is a great site as well. Sometimes it works for you, sometimes it does not. I personally have not tried full force to advertise using PW, but I have PW space available on my blog in two spots that people seem to get a great response from (at least those who have advertised with me and shared).

ADVERTISE WITH ART 2 THE EXTREME

In addition to offering Project Wonderful advertising, I am starting to use Etsy minis to advertise on my other blog, Art Lessons and Parties by Nicole. I set up this blog to begin offering art lessons, workshops, and birthday art parties.

If you are interested in advertising on my other blog, spots are $5 for 30 days. You get your Etsy mini on the sidebar (1x1 thumbnail) and then on the "Shop Handmade" tab (1x1 Large Gallery Etsy Mini). The first three people to sign up for a space will get an additional month FREE! You can e-mail me at art2theextreme@yahoo.com if you are interested in supporting my new blog.

Post your comments and suggestions below! We would love to know who you advertise with and what has or has not worked for you in the past!

A Week in Review: Favors, Tie Dying, and Craft Night!

What a busy week! Check out these awesome things I did!!

RAINBOW CRAYON WEDDING FAVORS

On Monday and Tuesday, I finished up several Rainbow Crayon wedding favor orders. The colors for one wedding I was creating favors for were tangerine, magenta, and lime! How fun! Here is a photo of some of the Rainbow Crayons!

TIE DYE T-SHIRTS

Wednesday was full of art! I tied-dyed some t-shirts to try some new dyes. I have always used RIT dye, but it always fades and washes out. I went a different route this time and tried the Jacquard Tie Dye kit I bought at JoAnn Etc (see photo/link below).

This kit worked sooooo much better and the dye stayed in. We dyed the shirts, left them bundled (and rinsed the shirts till the water ran more clear), then washed them in the bundles in the washing machine with soap. I guess that is the correct way to do it. I did see where you should leave the dye in for 24 hours on other sites I searched, but I decided to follow the directions of the kit. We also pre-soaked the shirts in soda ash for 20 minutes before we tie dyed. What dyes or techniques have you used???

Here are some pictures together of the bundle, then how the shirts came out!

I was a little concerned that if I washed this shirts right away, that ALL the dye would come out. Nope! They turned out great!

Above: Other shirts we made...

Above: My first attempt ever at a V design and it worked.

Too bad I forgot to take a real picture of it!

Above: The Swirl

Above: Lines technique

CRAFT NIGHT

I have seen all these posts for Etsy Craft Parties, so I decided to start a Craft/Art Night! I figured, why do crafts just on one day of the year like Etsy is promoting?! It happens to be Etsy's Birthday on June 18th, the day they are suggesting others to throw a craft party, but I want to do it all summer!

I organized my first Craft Night, which met last Wednesday with a great turn out! The craft or theme for the first night was Lino-Cut Greeting Cards. I have so much fun carving stamps and art out of the soft-cut linoleum that I wanted my friends to try! Some of them were a little nervous to do this for the first time, but everyone had a blast! Here are some photos that show all the fun we had and the outcome!

Kelly has carved and is ready to print!

Melissa is carving away!

Some of the creations drying on the rack.

Monograms were a popular design for greeting cards. Artists had to remember to write/carve the letters backwards in order for the card to read correctly.

Kate applying ink to her tree design! This was one of my favorites!

Very cool flower design that Melissa made!

My first stamp carving of the night and the outcome... Pretty awesome birthday card I think!

More of my first card design...

My second carving/card design...

The aftermath...

Saturday, June 5th Art Show/Open House

This is your opportunity to spend some time with friends, play with your kids in the back-yard, mingle with the boutique shop owners, have a nice glass of wine and shop for goodies!

The openhouse will be on Saturday June 5, 1-4pm 5856 Primrose Ave. Indianapolis, 46220. Please plan to stop in and say hello and feel free to invite anyone and everyone you know that may like to be a part of this day as well!! Vendors: Mindy Hiatt Photography, Chick Pea Hair Bows, Indie sisters (bags/purses), The White Lilly(monograms), Art 2 the Extreme(creative art supplies & more), Embellished Baby Products, Madrin Designs (jewelry).

Drinks and backyard entertainment will be provided if you'd like to entertain the little ones in your family while you look around and mingle with friends.

(Originally From Mindy Hiatt Photography)

A Rainbow of Colors

Today my Rainbow Crayons were featured in a treasury. I think it is difficult to make a "good" rainbow treasury without clashing colors or patterns. This treasury created by AMIZANTI on Etsy is a great collection! Can you find my Rainbow Crayons?

Gallery 116 in Fishers

I made one of my weekly post office runs today and on the way home I visited Gallery 116 in Fishers to drop off some Rainbow Crayon samples. They had seen some of my items back in December at the Hoosier Artisan Boutique, so I figured now would be a good time to drop by now that the school year is over.

Gallery 116 is such an awesome place to buy gifts. The shop is an old house, each room with a different look or variety of art and gifts. The ladies who run the store were very helpful and friendly too!

What did I buy? A REALLY yummy smelling candle that my husband will love because it is coconut and pineapple scent (he loves anything beachy or tropical). The candle was created by Brown's Accents in Attica, IN (See the crazy picture above).

Gallery 116 also has a class schedule for adults (which I may be a future part of).

June 10th-Painting with Modern Masters 3-5 pm $30.00

June 16th-MAgnetic Boards 5-7 pm $30.00

When you are in Fishers next, make sure you stop by and see all the amazing art and gifts they have to offer!

More Info:

Visit Gallery 116's blog!

Visiting Fishers, IN? Visit Gallery 116!

Gardens Galore: My Gardening Experience So Far...

ABOVE: A Garden Inspired Treasury on Etsy Inspired by the Garden!

I am really excited to show you photos of my "garden." I put "garden" in quotes because yes, it is a garden, but I am still in the learning stages. Last year we had only a container garden and had pretty good luck. This year, I did a little science experiment to see if veggies would have enough sun to grow in the ground at the side of my house. I decided to do both this year and took some photos to show how they have been doing after a month. The ground plants were more mature than the container plants, so there is a difference as it is, but the ground plants are growing and look much more healthier.

You can also see my strawberries attacking my Rhubarb. I was able to get a good amount of strawberries about 3 times so far (every 2 days I pick), but now something is getting to them and they are quite small.

I did see a chipmunk and a new hole in my mulch. Anyone know what I should do about this? I hope the chipmunks do not eat my veggie plants when they start growing actual vegetables! I need chipmunk help!!!