Check Out Mel's Art Buffet!

Good evening everyone! Today I am going to show you a great shop called Mel's Art Buffet. Definitely check it out!

Beaded Necklace with Polymer Clay Pendant - Walnut Stuffed Celery

My name is Melissa & I am the proud & hopeful owner of Mel's Art Buffet. I was born, raised, & currently reside in the great city of Memphis, TN. We have a beautiful downtown area that is so much fun! Rich with local art, great music, and you can't beat grabbing a drink to watch the sun set over the Mississippi River. I am an office manager for a residential appraisal company where I am fortunate to work with friends & a staff that has become family over the many years. While I might be sitting at a desk all day, my mind is uncontrollably creating. I look forward to seeing my dog Cash at the end of the day & can't wait to start making something. All is well in my corner of the world, except needing more hours in the day, but who doesn't?

Polymer Clay Pod Adjustable Ring Green Tea

Polymer clay is currently my medium of choice. I have been working with polymer for over a year now & have not even begun to push it to its limits. It does everything I ask and never argues. Polymer clay is a flexible blank canvas and has completely changed my jewelry designing. A whole new world has opened right in front of me, so exciting! I have been combining polymer clay with my signature thread inlay that I have been developing. The thread inlay evolved from my infatuation with light shades made from string, popular in the 70's. My jewelry is definitely different. But I hope that my unique style will catch on.

 Beaded Necklace with Polymer Clay Pendant - Blueberry Lattice Pie

Currently, my fav piece is the “Walnut Stuffed Celery” necklace. But my fav tends to change often.

 Beaded Necklace with Polymer Clay Pendant - Blue Sky Martini

In 5 years, I would love to be writing a feature for Etsy's Quite Your Day Job Series :) It is my dream to be able to support myself from my creative endeavors. I would love to be so busy with sales that my head spins. It is a hope to be panicked with the burden of deciding to create or pack orders...

 Beaded Bracelet with Polymer Clay Focal - Blue Corn Tortilla Soup

Links that you should check out:
Etsy Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/melsartbuffet
Ecrater Shop (my beaded jewelry): http://melsartbuffet.ecrater.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/melsartbuffet
Blog: http://melsartbuffet.blogspot.com
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/melsartbuffet/

 Beaded Necklace with Polymer Clay Pendant - Carrot Coleslaw

Video Blog!

I am starting a video blog!

I will still be doing regular posts on here, more specific to etsy, and my video blog will be about my life, and a little bit of Etsy. I'll probably post specific videos on here every now and then as I make ones I want to share on here.

You can see my channel here - http://www.youtube.com/user/TaraBreannew

Subscribe!!

Lind B's Beaded Jewelry!

Hello everyone, today I am going to share with you all a great jewelry shop Linda B's Beaded Jewelry

Silver Wire and Pearl Beaded Kippah

My name is Linda B and I've been creating art of some kind for about 30 years, painting sweatshirts, beading, making stamped greeting cards, a woman of many interests. I live in the midwest with my husband and 3 furry cat children.

 Copper Wire Wrapped Clear Round Pendant With Swirls

I'm a jewelry designer who works with funky beads and gemstones. Also, I create Judaica items and magnets, accesorries for your home or office.

Today, my favorite item is Bumblebee Glass Heart Pendant and Earrings love the colors and it's perfect for Autumn. 

In five years, I'd like my shop to have 5 times the sales. I really like my full-time job, so I'm not sure if I'd go full time with my shop, but it's a dream for someday. 

 Turquoise Wire Wrapped Pendant

Wedding Black Round Onyx Gemstone Silver Finding Earrings Spanish Style- Ugly Betty 

HandBeaded Gemstone Bracelet Honey Onyx and Swarovski Sterling Silver Bracelet  

You can check out this great shop at all of these places:

http://lindab142.etsy.com
http://linorstorecom.blogspot.com
http://facebook.com/linorstore
http://twitter.com/lindab142

Have a great Monday everyone! Time for me to go to work!

Blog feature!

On Friday I was featured on a blog.
You can see the feature here

The feature was done by Shiny Cat Creations
You should check out the feature and the shop!


Have a great day everyone!

Western Fair Pictures

Today I thought I would show you all some pictures from my trip to London(Ont) last weekend from when I went to the Western Fair.

Sky Rider ride. This was a lot of fun, and I took a lot of great pictures from up here!

The Merry-Go-Round!

My favourite ride, I can't remember what it's called!

People!

 

 Me, I believe on the Ferris Wheel, and you can see the Kite Rider in the background, another favourite of mine

On my favourite ride!

On the Sky Rider at night when all the lights were on!

 

I had such a fun time that day! I love going to Fairs!

Interview with Moody and Sanguine!

 Hello everyone! Today I am going to share with you my interview with the owners of Moody and Sanguine

Tell us about yourself.

- We are two best friends who have become family over our many years of living together. We often dreamed of doing some kind of creative business together and this was a fantastic opportunity. In addition to her sewing, Melina (Moody) is a fabulous painter and I (Denise / Sanguine) write horror and supernatural fiction. We are both vegan and so are our products, and we are gracually introducing more eco-friendly fabrics and supplies into our work.

What kind of products do you sell on your etsy shop?

- We use the loose heading of 'accessories' for what we sell. The mainstays of our shop are the jewelery and handbags / totes, but we follow our creative impulses sometimes. We make craft accessories like knitting needle rolls, home accessories like wine charms and cutlery rolls, and everything in between. The most important thing is that we make what we would use and love. Often it's hard to give the items up!

How long have you been an etsy seller?

- We've been selling on Etsy for about a year and a half.

What is your current location?

- We live in Halifax, Nova Scotia but dream of living in the country.

How do you usually promote your shop?

- We have used Twitter and Facebook, as well as our own blog to promote our shop. The thing I love about Twitter is I have really gotten to know some of the people who are our regular customers. It makes the cold distance of an online shop so much more personal.

Favourite books, movies, musicians?

- We share pretty much the same tastes in these things. Music is everything from dancy fun music to the Smiths and the Misfits. Movies we watch all the time are Serenity, Gosford Park and the Resident Evil movies (because Alice makes us want to kick butt! ). We are both obsessed with True Blood, and most recently the British show Being Human. We watch every British mystery series we can find. Books are too many to list but we have both recently been loving the Kim Harrison series of supernatural fiction.

What do you like to do when you’re not doing etsy related things?

- Between our real life jobs and the Etsy shop, spare time is hard to find. We try to see our friends to remind them we still exist and Melina loves cooking for them. I like eating what Melina cooks so it works out well. I am writing a novel and as I have never done so before, and have very little idea what I'm doing, it is taking a lot of energy. Melina tries to squeeze in painting time as well.

Do you have any advice you could give to people just signing up to etsy?

- Best advice I got was not to wait until everything is perfect before you start listing. We were stalling because we had a horrible camera and terrible photos. You can always work on those later, but if you wait until you think they are perfect you will never start. List now and fix later!

Where would you like your shop to be in 5 years?

- We both dream of doing well enough with our shop that we can quit our day jobs and support ourselves through Etsy and painting / writing. Here's hoping!



You can check out Moody and Sanguine at the following links
http://www.etsy.com/shop/moodyandsanguine
http://moodyandsanguine.blogspot.com
http://facebook.com/moodyandsanguine
http://twitter.com/moodysanguine

Take a look at Bethmac2186

Hello everyone, today I am going to share with you a shop that sells bookmarks, cards, and other great things, bethmac2186. Check it out!

 My name is Beth and I am 24 years old and just celebrated my first wedding anniversary last week! I have a degree in Early Childhood Education and am currently working as nanny for four amazing little boys ages 12, 8 and twin two year olds!

In my shop I sell one of a kind cards, aceos, tags and bookmarks. I also do custom orders as favors for parties and would love to start doing custom orders of party invitations and thank you cards, I could even make the bookmarks to match so they all work together as a theme. It is so hard to pick a favorite item as I have poured myself into all of them, however, I think my favorite project was when I did a custom order of fifteen army themed bookmarks for a friend of mine to give to all of her army wife friends.

How I decided to become an etsy seller was a fun journey. I have been a scrapbooker for years and almost two years ago I became an etsy customer. A friend of mine from college has an etsy shop (designsbybec) and I was, and still am, obsessed with her jewelry! She made all of my bridesmaid gifts for my wedding. One day I decided to make a bookmark for myself and really enjoyed doing it. It was similar to scrapbooking but I enjoyed that each project was smaller, it worked well with my schedule. I made a bunch for my friends and then wanted to keep going. becky was the one who suggested I open an Etsy shop. I really didn't think it would go anywhere, but now, 35 sales later, I am so glad she encouraged me!

In five years I would love my shop to be booming! I really enjoy it as a hobby but if making cards could be my day job I would LOVE it! I am passionate about it and love knowing that others appreciate my work.





 Pink Flower Mini Bookmark

 Bunches of Flowers

 A True Friend is the Greatest of All

Glad and Gleeful Greetings 

Check out these great items and the rest of this fun shop!

Going away for the Weekend!

I am going to London to visit friends this weekend. We are going to the Western Fair, and I'm quite excited!!

I will definitely show some pictures when I get back!


I hope you all have a great weekend! And I will be back on Sunday!

My Interview with Vive La France Design

 Hey there everyone! I hope you're all having a great day. Today I am going to share with you my interview with Vive La France Design

Tell us about yourself.
What kind of products do you sell on your etsy shop?
Hello, I'm Kara of Vive LaFrance Design. My etsy shop started as a place to showcase (and sell) my paintings and art print note cards. But I'm not just an artist, I'm a graphic designer and I love sending cards. So, I started adding handmade, all occasion cards. Many are simple, bold and a little quirky. Others are pretty with sweet sentiments.


What is your current location?
Coastal North Carolina

 

Where do you find Inspiration for your creations?

They usually come from my life. Many of my love notes come from little everyday things with my husband. The childrens invitations are first done for my niece and nephew. Sometimes a quote is inspiration or a pretty piece of paper.


How do you usually promote your shop?
My main efforts take place in the forums and on my facebook fan page http://www.facebook.com/vivelafrancedesign


What do you like to do when you’re not doing etsy related things?
Most things seem to revolve around the creative be it designing a Catholic Prayer Book to painting little prop-planes for my nephews new room. I have also become a huge fan of pilates. I love the way it makes me feel and clears my head.


Do you have any advice you could give to people just signing up to etsy?
In a word "balance" The creating part has to be balanced with promoting so that your shop is being seen.

Where would you like your shop to be in 5 years?
I have no idea. My next step will be to convert all my cards and envelopes to recycled paper (more than half are right now). And, of course, add more cards, more often. Eventually, I think I will add graphic design services to my etsy shop, but for now, I like it just the way it is.




Make sure you check out this great shop!

A great site I came across

I came across this really neat site that you can use to advertise your etsy shop for free. You just have to make a profile with them and you can make postings of photos, videos, or anything else for all to see.

http://www.craftstylish.com

Here is a posting I just did on that website about my dresses --> http://www.craftstylish.com/item/71415/tarapparels-dresses

You should definitely check it out if you're looking for some free advertising.


Have a great day everyone!

Presenting, Dalkullan Jewelry!

Today I am going to share with you a great shop called Dalkullan Jewelry. You can find some really great items at this shop, so you should really check it out!

 Sunrise Over Deep Water Stacking Ring

Hi! My name is Heather, and I love jewelry -- it's beauty, it's utility in brightening our lives (and our wardrobes!), and that it can be passed from mother to daughter; a little piece of history, joy and a sign of love. I try to infuse that passion in the jewelry I create. I have a degree in physics, and also studied art in college. After working in a high energy physics lab for a few years, I found myself more and more interested in art and crafts. I've done wood working, wood carving, knitting , crochet, needlepoint, and embroidery, but when I started making jewelry, I knew I'd found my true love. I love taking a design idea and translating it into metal and gems.

 Sapphire Trilogy Ring

In case you're wondering about my shop's name, here's the scoop. Dalkullan means a "girl from Dalarne" a province in Sweden, which is where my Aunt was born. For years she ran a successful Swedish import shop in Chicago, named Dalkullan. I chose this name to honor her memory, and her and my father's courage and spirit of adventure in coming to the United States from Sweden.

Ruby and Sterling Ring

At Dalkullan Jewelry you can find handcrafted original jewelry, created from precious metals and high quality gems.

What is your favorite item in your shop? 

Hammered 14k Solid Gold Earrings

It's a unique twist on a classic design, and a lovely and very wearable design. It's also my first piece in solid 14K.

What made you decide to become an Etsy seller? 

I was getting a lot of compliments from those I'd given jewelry to as gifts, and moving on to selling seemed like a logical next step. That, and trying to justify to my darling husband why I was spending so much money on jewelry making tools and supplies. :)

Amber Pearls and Gold 3 Strand Necklace

Where would you like your shop to be in 5 years?

I'd like to have moved completely into fabricating in precious metals. I still have some beading items in my shop, which are lovely, but my interest lies in jewelry that involves a torch and hammers to create. There's nothing like the feeling of taking fire and sheet metal and crafting a beautiful piece of jewelry!

Lunar Sterling Bracelet

Check out this seller at any of these 3 places!
Dalkullan Jewelry's Etsy Shop
Twitter
Facebook page


Have a great day everyone!

My Interview with Joyous Treasures

Hello everyone! I hope you're all having a great day! Today I am going to share with you my interview with Joyous Treasures. Make sure you read it and check out the shop.

Tell us about yourself.

I'm a stay at home daughter. I have enjoyed helping my mom out with the housework and creating in between. I have two older siblings who are now married leaving me the oldest at home for now, and so far I have a nephew and niece and another nephew on the way!
We live in the country with all the animals and activities, you would usually find on a farm...horses, chickens, cows, gardening, etc.
It's quite an adventure!

What kind of products do you sell on your etsy shop?

I sell my crocheted bookmarks and appliques. Occasionally you'll see other things here and there, but the bookmarks are really my forte.


How long have you been an etsy seller?

I first opened shop around October of 2008, but it wasn't until March of 2009 that I really started investing time into it.

What is your current location?

I currently live in Middle TN, not far from the Franklin area, which is quiet convenient!


What made you decide to become an etsy seller?

I loved to crochet, and was interested in selling online. But I didn't want to have my own domain just yet, so I started looking around at my options. I had stumbled across Etsy before when searching for jewelry to buy, so I checked into and decided I liked it.

Where do you find Inspiration for your creations?

Nature! I love flowers, and always have. I wear them in my hair, on my clothes, I decorate with them. When I first started making bookmarks I made up the flowers, but then I started creating patterns that are modeled from real flowers. 

How do you usually promote your shop?

I think the thing that has worked best for me is to list several products a week. But sometimes it's hard to crochet fast enough to keep up with that.
So I spend a couple hours every day interacting with the community and getting to know knew people. I really enjoy this! I write business articles on two different blogs and also the Etsy forums.
I also have used Project Wonderful from time to time with some success.

Favorite books, movies, musicians?

My favorite books ever are the Star Wars books...the ones that continue where the movies left off. There are a couple hundred of them, and I've read most of them through twice.
My favorite movies, are X-men, Spiderman, Batman, The Mask Of Zoro, and others like it.
I think my all time favorite movies are the Lord Of The Rings though.
I also listen to a lot of soundtrack music. My favorite composers are Hans Zimmer, Howard Shore, and Harry Gregson Williams.
Classical music is a favorite of mine as well. I love piano especially, and enjoy listening to Beethoven and Chopin.
Having grown up with contemporary christian music, I also love to listen to Steven Curtis Chapman, Toby Mac, Group 1 Crew, and a few others.

What do you like to do when you’re not doing etsy related things?

I play the piano, and am a local photographer as well, so those things keep me pretty busy!


Do you have any advice you could give to people just signing up to etsy?

Be passionate and outgoing about your work. Confidence is one of the best marketing strategies out there!

Where would you like your shop to be in 5 years?

I think I would like it to be a small business I could run on the side while raising a family. A kind of dream that I have is to make 2 or 3 sales a week while raising my kids! Although I can handle a lot more than that right now, I want to start a family, and 3 sales per week seems like a good amount without getting overwhelmed.

You can check out this great shop here
http://www.etsy.com/shop/joyoustreasures










And also check out these other links
http://www.etsytreasurechest.blogspot.com
http://www.twitter.com/joyoustreasures
http://www.handmadespark.com/blog/author/johanna-draper/