Thursday, April 23, 2009

A Cool Contest on Handmadeology!



I don't consider myself a photographer, but since I opened my Etsy shop last year, I have been learning the ropes of how to photograph my items to the best advantage. Of course, I happen to sell items that half of their appeal is scent - and you can't smell them on a computer! (what's up with that anyway? Someone please invent a scratch-n-sniff feature!!) So, it's doubly important that I have good photos. I have had a lot of fun taking photos of my items for my stores, getting lots of help and tips from Megzy who IS a photographer ( http://tredlightphotographs.etsy.com ) as well as the Etsy forums. I think my photos have come a long way! So, whilst feeding my daily Twitter addiction this morning, I kept seeing retweets of this tweet: @tweetmeme Etsy Worthy Photo Contest! Handmadeology http://bit.ly/Eu9F3
I duly entered one of my favorite photos...you will see it above, so please head over there and vote for it! The winner gets and ad space on Handmadeology's site, which is usually $60! There are already lots of wonderful photos besides mine, and you can even add yours...let me know so I can check it out too! :)

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

April Showers?


Hi again! This month is half over already, I can't believe it!! It has been very busy for my family...first of all, we traveled out of town for a 2 day Bible assembly. It was very upbuilding, and we got to visit with friends we hadn't seen in a long time! Hard on the heels of that trip, our annual observance of Christ's death, the Memorial, was celebrated on April 9th, which just happened to be hubby's and my wedding anniversary! Since he gave the talk this year, he was preoccupied and pretty nervous all week, so we waited until Saturday to celebrate our anniversary. It was our 15th, and sadly the first one in which Grandma Doreen was not there to have special time with the kids. We took them with us and had a wonderful family dinner out at a local steak house. (There is a new one opening soon so we are going to save our "alone" dinner for when that one opens!) Then we all exchanged presents, which is our yearly family tradition! The kids each got their first digital camera, and they are loving them.

The flowers above were one arrangement I helped make for the Memorial. A group of us got together on the 8th at our friend Debbie's house and had a great time! We had several bouquets around the Hall...and since I believe in Upcycling, many of the roses will become potpourri eventually! ;) Here is one of the Rose Bouquets:



With all of this activity, tax prep. kind of got shuffled, so now we are doing the last minute tax dash...but several surfaces in my house that I haven't seen in a long time are now shiny clean and free of stacks of papers!
Store News!
My store on Etsy has been busy with some custom orders recently finished and one in the works...yay! I made my first sale on ArtFire too! I hope my buyer loves my Starbucks Coffee Sugar Scrub as much as I do! I have another batch in the works, but this time I am using 90% Organic ingredients! Also, it will be scented with a hint of chocolate.....mmmmmmm!!! I will post here and Tweet about it as soon as it's ready...gotta finish Taxes first, ug!
In hopes of having some income to order supplies with, I am having my first ever BOGO SALE in my Etsy store! Buy any item and get another item of equal or lesser value 1/2 off!! This sale lasts through April 18th, so hurry!