Friday, May 1, 2009

Vote HandMade

Votehandmade.com has been re-skinned to make it more of a handmade feel. We have altered a lot of the core functionality to be easier to navigate. Today we are starting our full Launch. We did a soft launch here for Artfire members to get in and start building Karma early.





VoteHandmade.com

New website allows members to vote and submit art links from all over the web


Tucson, AZ – Today marked the launch of a new social media website, VoteHandmade.com. Powered by Reddit code and ArtFire.com, Vote Handmade serves as a link sharing platform for artisans and crafters of all types and specialties.


On VoteHandmade.com, users can share handmade items from venues all over the web with fellow users, up voting and down voting just like on Reddit. This allows artisans the opportunity to not only socialize and share links, but also to promote their quality product and drive buyers to their online studio.


VoteHandmade.com also aggregates news, instruction and business tips for the online craft world. With hundreds of thousands of handmade sellers and millions of handmade items currently listed for sale on the internet, VoteHandmade.com is a great place to see the best of all venues and all artists as voted on by their peers.


VoteHandmade is like the world’s largest juried craft show. Any user can submit an item from any site. VoteHandmade is free to use, free to join, and free to promote.

More About ArtFire.com


ArtFire.com is an interactive craft marketplace designed to bring artisans from different geographic locations and backgrounds together. On ArtFire, artisans are able to not only set up a customizable studio, but also are given the chance to meet fellow sellers though a number of interactive features available on the site. Artfire is more than just a venue, it’s a vibrant artisan community.


“We wanted to give artisans the chance to promote their items in a way which was not only free but also fun,” said John Jacobs, CEO of ArtFire.com. “Vote Handmade allows them to share and interact with artisans from the many different venues on the web.”


“We felt it was important to build tool specifically designed for artisans,” Said Tony Ford, COO of ArtFire.com. “It is our hope that the crafting community will use VoteHandmade .com to further their business and networking online and shoppers can go to one place to see the best of the best artisans in all

Craft Fair Season

Craft Fair season is upon us. It is a time when us artist and crafters can get out there and share our wares.
I have done a number of craft fairs over the years between the US and Scotland.
It is a time when we can meet the very people that keep us in business and give us the motivation to do what we do.
In my experience of craft fairs...some you win...some you loose..and some are just so much fun it doesn't matter whether you win or loose

A check List for fairs from someone who has been there, done that and bought the t-shirt

* Never have your table too full
* Have a variety, but not too much where it confuses your customers
* Always iron your table cloths
*Have clear signs with business name
*Always have business cards and literature about your business
*Make sure you have plenty of change
* Make sure you have bags for all different size of items( I did a craft fair were most of my things were small, but I had made a couple of long scarfs..when I sold one I had nothing to pack it in, I was very embarrassed)
* work on your craft when you are there if possible
* Make sure you customers can either walk into your booth or around it
* Smile, you are not being tortured
*Never accept offers..not a good image for your business
* Take your own food or you will end up spending all your profits..maybe you should just shove earplugs up your nose so you are not tempted by the smells of that fair food

* Last but not least..have fun.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Susan Boyle....One of the eight wonders

Susan Boyle is one of the eight wonders, she comes from the holy land which is Scotland.
Watching her flourish over this past few weeks has been amazing. As a fellow Scot who moved to the States 2 years ago, I am so very proud of her.

She is an example to all of us. We all judge a book by it's cover and Susan Boyle is an example of the very reason why we shouldn't. People are judged for how they look, how they speak, and how interesting they come across. Well Susan Boyle was judged for all of that, then she literally blew away the world with what came out of her mouth.

I am rooting for her to go all the way. I hope she blows everyone away once again when she performs.
Go Susan!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

All aboard the crazy train




The crazy train features artists who sell their art through Artfire.

Today we are featuring :



Fine artisan jewelry made with a variety of techniques including wire wrapping, metal smithing and lapidary (rocks). I make elegant, affordable, well made jewelry with a touch of whimsy.






Monday, April 6, 2009

It's Monday!


Hi everyone. I can't believe another Monday has rolled around. I didn't get to blog last week as I was busy creating for my store.

I sold my first item on Artfire last week wooooooooooooo. It was very exciting.

My goals for this week is to redo all my photographs. I will master the art of good photo's :)

I hope you all have a good week.

Here is one I created last week............JUST FOR BOYS.......................

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

All About Daisies

All about Dasie's Hat was inspired by my love of daisies. Daisies bring back beautiful memories of childhood, it reminds me of sitting in the tall grass of Scotland in the middle of summer and making daisy chains. Every little girl should sit in the middle of a grassy garden and make daisy chains.

Share with me a warm fuzzy memory of childhood.

Google Keywords

We all know how important it is to have the right keywords and titles for our products.
I found a great link yesterday that enables you to find keywords for your products that rank in the searches.

The link is:
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

This what I will doing all day, I will be changing my tags, keywords and titles..I will let you know how much a difference it makes in driving traffic to my store