EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT! : All About Newsletters

In 2010 I am becoming more organized and have always wanted to try out a newsletter. Today, I did just that and I am excited to show you what I have found and created!

I first was inspired by TimothyAdamDesigns and his newsletter. He always has so many great tips and links. His e-mail I get is just text and links, so I wanted a little more color and pizzaz to mine since I am artsy and funky anyways.

I went to the Etsy forums and looked up a thread started by etsian, thecyclingartist, about newsletters and mailing lists. I hate using the word mailing list because it sounds like spam and ads. This is not want I want to see or read all the time if I am being picky about which newsletters I am signing up for.

In this thread, I founds two great sites to create a newsletter. Mad Mimi was the first mentioned. While it looks very cool and there were good reviews about it, I wanted something free to start off with to make sure I would stick with a newsletter and learn how to reach my audience. Their site starts off at $8 a month for the same amount of contacts I could have at Mail Chimp, which is the site I am using.

I have found Mail Chimp to be pretty easy to use once I poked around for an hour or two and sent myself a test newsletter. I am able to link my twitter and allow readers to share the newsletter via Facebook and other social networking sites! Now I am ready to send out my first newsletter, which will be bi-monthly and focus on featured artists, Etsy news, tips, and deals!

If you are choosing to create a newsletter or mailing list, there are a few rules and laws you must follow and can be found at the FTC site for the CanSpam Act Laws. Please take a look at these and make sure your newsletters follow the few, but simple laws.

I will be updating this post as I learn more about newsletters and read comments and suggestions from you!

Please take a moment to sign up for my bi-monthly newsletter. Check out my first issue and see what you think? Let me know if it is good, bad, or what could be improved. What do you want to see?? You can always opt out later. Sign up below or to the left side of my blog!

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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 2^nd 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:

http://aceomagazine.com/