in the never ending quest for the perfect shop greeting, i have once again remodeled my etsy banner - for free, of course!  here's what i came up with, using the tools available on pixlr + aviary:

i've read that having artist and product photos within your banner is a good idea - that way, potential customers immediately know what your store's about.  i thought i'd switch my banner up a bit and give this concept a whirl...

i'll let you know how it goes!

what's the buzz?

  beehive co-op strives to nurture the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of emerging designers and provide them with new markets and opportunities for their products...

look who's buzzing around the hive today!


:: click here to shop beehive co-op ::

don't run off and join some cult...

...yep, that truly is one of my mom's favorite one-liners.

looks like i disappointed her (again!) because i belong to one.

if you have an etsy store, you belong to a cult too - the craft cult!

3 reasons i like this site:

♥ it's great exposure for your etsy store on many different levels

♥ advertising is reasonably priced, and based on testimonials seems to drive traffic

♥ it's really nice having all this data in one location

happy weekend - see you monday!

more (free!) banner resources...

tired of your old etsy or blogger banner?  want to have a supply of banners on hand for each season, a sale, or when you're on vacation?  this formerly cumbersome task is now easily do-able thanks to the tons of free banner generator resources available online.  spend a little time searching for a banner with the right look and feel, then edit it with pixlr.  it's a mini-makeover that will keep your shop or blog 

so fresh and so clean! 

* if you are new to etsy or blogger and need a good, basic tutorial on how to create a banner using etsy's free banner generator option, this ehow.com  article is for you!

* leslie hamer, the lady/artist/friendly person at unless someone like you, has some crisp + clean choices.

* cinnamongirl studio design - simple + modern.

* the lampworketc.  forum has a wiiiiiide variety of choices for all different tastes.

*mandie from life in the craft lane has compiled a huge resource for not only banners, but buttons and blog backgrounds. 

* and as always, go visit kim over at everything etsy , she's got 40+ free banners on her site about, well - everything etsy!

ya'll have a good day!

i ♥ pixlr...

 ...and it's free!  a few months ago i was frustrated because i needed to edit a few photos and make a banner, but didn't want to buy adobe software.  there is a free one-month trial version available online, but my friend julia used the program and she said it was a pain - it kept making her computer crash. 

a photo i edited using the delightful service, pixlr

 

that's why i was so happy to discover pixlr!  it's pretty easy to use - the only quirk i've found is occasionally having difficulty opening my work once it's saved to my computer.  saving as a .png file seemed to help.  might not happen to you, though!

i created my etsy store banner and my blog banner with pixlr and was pretty pleased with the results...for now :)

meet my new best friend, statsy.

have you met statsy yet?  well boy howdy, she sure knows you!  don't worry - she doesn't know that you worked on your etsy store in your pajamas all day today.  oh yeah, and that you forgot to brush your teeth until after lunch...

no, no - she just knows a whole bunch of useful data-type stuff, like this:

* vutrac: allows you to track etsy views and ♥'s. 

* locator: searches etsy and google search results for an item (or your etsy shop) and tells you on which page and what place it is, and it will even give you a link to the result.

* featurator: a handy tool that sends you an e-mail every time you are featured on etsy's front page.

* biggest fan: a positive reassurance tool, if you will!  find out who ♥'s you the most out of everyone in the etsy world.

* colormatic: a tool for discovering what color etsy's search engines think your listing is...particularly helpful if you sell fabrics!

happy etsy-ing!

i don't want to come out of the closet!

i sense something's coming, and i sense that it involves me working.  alot.  but that's a good thing, and i'm thankful!  since i just returned from a month long stay in good ole' georgia and have this impending feeling of crazy busy-ness, i decided to take a time out and organize my....closet.

that's right, my closet! in atlanta, i had my own studio - but since we're new to vegas i felt that i'd minimize risk and try to work from home for the first couple of years. as luck would have it, our 1 bedroom, 1 bath condo has a decent size closet (6ft x 5 ft), which i've been using as my studio. lucky for me, i really dig small spaces!

time is money - less time spent looking for things i need is more time i can spend making things to sell. i'm never coming out of the closet, i'm so happy with how it turned out!