Another great and new etsy related blog!!!

Hi all..well it's been a few days since my last post but I gotta tell ya..something cooky has been going on with my blog. Maybe ther eis some sort of bug or something but it really has me losing my very small amount of patience. I went to view it last night and the layout was there but no info at all..no sites, no posts, no pics, no links..no nothing!! A few hours later it was fine. Today, I am desperately trying to add another blog to my list of 'great sites' and the edit button is not working at all! It is so frustrating. I have wasted a good amount of time thus far by clicking in and out of the blog and continually clicking the edit as if it were going to magically work..but all of this to no avail. What I am going to do until all of this works out is to post here the link to the new blog that you simply MUST visit if you are any kind of fan of etsy and its sellers! The blog is brand spankin' new and the author of it has 2 etsy shops and other well maintained blogs related to all things handcrafted and even your pets! So, it is worth a peek. You will find there some very ingenious ways to become an avid reader and fan of that blog..so go and check it out instead of me telling you all about it. Here's the link http://tagsandbuttons.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-be-seen-on-this-blog.html Happy blogging and reading peeps!!

I'm an ETSY Handmade Kids Challenge Finalist!!!

Well, hello all.. I have some fabulous news to share with you. One of my etsy shop creations was entered into Etsy's big Handmade Kids Challenge contest and...it became a finalist! This, folks, is a very BIG deal to me...there were 7 different categories to enter into. I entered my paper mache 'Spring Meadow' inspired pink piggie into the Home Decor category. Approximately 40 entrants in each category were chosen to be in the finals. Right now the voting is open and will continue until Septemeber 8th. The 1st round of contests will be calculated by the etsy community..the most voted item in each category will win that challenge. Another voting contest consisting of some pretty talented judges (from Martha Stewart, Decor8 and many more) will be placing their vote for the favorite in each category as well. Just to be picked as a finalist amongst the hundreds (maybe more) of entries is a huge deal for me...so psyched about it. If you have not voted yet then get on over there..just by voting you are entering yourself into the etsy sweepstakes where 14 people will be picked to receive a $350 shopping spree on etsy! For every category you vote in you will receive an entry into the giveaway! Here is the link to the page that my piglet is on...make sure you are logged into your etsy account, find the piggie on the page..select the circle and press cast vote at the bottom of the page..it's that simple. Oh, by the way, you have to be a registered member of etsy to participate in the voting...so if you're not a member yet it is an easy thing to do..I'll also include the link to register and as always, it's totally free to become a member. Here's the link to my finalist's home decor page.. http://www.etsy.com/voter_list.php?room_id=16 and here's the link to register on etsy if you aren't yet a member. https://www.etsy.com/login.php?from_page=shop.php?user_id=5620372 Thanks to everyone who has already participated and entered a vote for me!

Another great blogging giveaway!!!

Hey peeps!!! Well, the onthedotcreations giveaways/celebration is still going strong!!! While today is the last official day for Julie to list each giveaway, it is NOT the last day to enter. The only giveaways that will expire today(8/22) are the 6 ones Julie listed on day one of the blogiversary celebration (8/18). So, the 6 listed on 8/18 will expire at the end of this day, Friday (8/22). The giveaways listed on 8/19 will expire at days end, this Saturday(8/23). The giveaways listed on 8/20 (mine included..#17!!) will expire at the end of the day this Sunday(8/24). All giveaways listed on 8/21 will expire Monday (8/25)and all those listed on 8/22 will expire on Tuesday of next week(8/26). This allows each days giveaways to be posted for the same amount of days (5) for equal exposure. It was very well planned out by Julie. So, one more time, here is the web address. http://onthedotcreations.typepad.com On another note...here is another great blog giveaway. http://debiquilts.blogspot.com is hosting her '200th post giveaway'. All you need to do to enter is to go to her blog, read the giveaway post and leave a comment! That's it!!! But be sure to remember to leave her you email info so that you can be contacted if you win! This blogger is giving away the following...2 Moda Charm packs (Wee Play and Peek a Boo), the 'Q' is for Quilt book and 2 spools of Essential thread in lavender and orange. If you post the giveaway on your blog and a link to the post, you will receive 5 additional entries into the giveaway!!! It's a great blog, especially for those serious quilters out there..so go and check it out jsut for that..the giveaway is a bonus! Here's the link to the giveaway post. http://debiquilts.blogspot.com/2008/08/200th-post-giveaway.html

Today's the day!

Ok folks!!!! Today (8/20) is THE day that my donated items to onthedotcreations blog are being featured. They are giveaway #17! So get on over there and enter (it's SOOO easy) to win, win, win!!! If my items don't strike your fancy..and I don't see how they wouldn't-they're so cute...then do yourself a huge favor and enter one of the many already lited other giveaways. This celebration has been ongoing now for three whole days and there are 16 other giveaways prior to mine that you can enter into..I'm positive that something if not everything over there will get you excited at the possibilities of wining and owning them. Better yet, if there are items that you personally can't use (ie: a crib blanket) you should still enter that giveawy as th holiday season will be upon us before you know it and these gorgeous handmade items are sure to please someone on your list! What are you waiting for? Show me some love peeps! I am getting so self conscience over this as it is plainly written under each giveawy just how many people have entered each giveaway so it's almost like a high school popularity contest...Thus far, 16 wonderful and interested ladies have entered into my giveawy and I'm hoping for lots more...help a sister out will ya? That's it for now..oh, and don't forget to check back in at onthedotcreations blog for many more items slated for the giveaways...At this point, we're only at the halfway point of beautiful items...see you there.

Here's the link again...

http://www.onthedotcreations.typepad.com

CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES!

WOW! The kickoff to On the Dots Creations blogiversary celebration has been met with overwhelming response. Yesterday, 8/18 was the 'official' beginning of the weeklong party. Julie's day began with a morning post welcoming in the day's events. Immediately following that she began her 1st in a series of 6 giveaway posts for the day. Beginning at 9 am with the 1st post Julie posted giveaways every two hours throughout the day with the last one ending at 7 pm. Everyone visiting the site is allowed to enter once into each of the giveaways. It is merely a simple reply to the post in the comments section. Julie does ask that you visit the shop in each post and comment on a favorite item from it. She provides a quick link to each and really, it is only appropriate to take a peak at the places behind the people who have so generously donated a handmade item for this event. Be sure to leave your email address too so that you can be contacted if/when you win one of the great giveaway prizes. Anyone can participate and winners will be chosen on the eve of the last day of the celebration (8/22). When I tell you there are fabulous prizes involved..I mean it. I am continually blown away at the generosity of many etsy sellers. There's a lot of talent out there. At present time, Julie is on giveaway # 9 so get on over there and get in on the action. No need to worry if you missed yesterday's events..all giveawy posts will be open for the week and your chances are equal to those who have already psoted since Julie will be using random.com to pick the winners of each giveaway. I too have participated in both the giveaway with a few specially made polka dotted items for the event and I have left my entrance in a few of the giveaways too. So, what are you waiting for..get on over there NOW. http://www.onthedotcreations.typepad.com/ Enjoy all the fun and the rest of your day!

A Thank You goes a LONG way!

It has been brought to my attention that people don't say thank you nearly as much as they should and even not at all in some cases! It saddens me greatly and it pisses me off at the same time. This is basic stuff people! I am sure that all of our mothers have taught us to say thank you and some were even more insistent, making us kids actually hand write thank you notes! Sure I may have bitched about it then but it is something I have grown to appreciate over the years and try to instill in my own brats. Even, dare I say, reminding my kids to thank ME when I do things for them. Sure, maybe motherhood holds many 'expected' things but a simple phrase, 8 wee little letters, two syllables, one breath and voila! I am rejuvenated to go on and do more things for them. The same holds true for others. This is even more so when someone is actually doing a lot of work for you and they don't even really know you very well. I bring this up because recently there has been a generation of etsy blogs popping up. Most blogs are for pure self promotion while others dedicate their pages and posts to promoting OTHERS! Blogging is hard work. You have to know your way around a computer and be willing to suck up many hours of your time to getting everything just right. I have links here on my blog to others that participate in such selfless ideals. These individuals have taken it upon themselves to seek out and offer 'free space' on their sites to fellow etsians and some who are a direct competition! How incredible is that? The downfall to this is that when seeking out other etsy shops one must usually advertise their blogs on the etsy forums. The immediate response to these posts are overwhelming and the poster is usually inundated with interested takers! Most of the time the blog author just requests a minimal amount of info from the shop owners and then they take that ball and run with it. One would think that the etsy shops involved in these blogs would be so thankful and grateful to the blogger for giving them such free advertising. Not to mention all of the invested time the blogger has taken away from other things to do this. But, the sad truth is that many of these shops just hit and run so to speak with never a thank you uttered. Even some loyalty to that blog..like just clicking and visiting even if just for a minute?! How about actually reading the posts on the blog or the emails generated by the blogger? NOPE..they just get discarded, ignored or deleted...unless of course such things are relevant to the shop...maybe they are being featured or one of their items were picked for an article..then their loyalty isn't in question! The bottom line here and it think there are a few..First, don't pretend that you are interested in something just to get some advertising..the person on the other end o that transaction is very invested in the whole thing! Second, spend a few precious minutes of your time LOOKING at the blog....the person on the other end has spent much time on it and has taken their time away from other things they could be doing. Third and most important, if you are going to be a shit about the whole thing and let your true colors show..then at least have the decency to extend a written 'thank you'..because the person on the other end isn't doing it for the thank you, they are doing it for every reason but, however a little, teeny, wee, puny thank you goes a very looooong way! Come on people..really...be selfish somewhere else.

Oh...and on a very personal note..a big fat thank you to Amber at http://www.naturalamber.wordpress.com/

to April at http://www.etsyhandmadenetwork.blogspot.com/

http://www.thehandmadenetwork.com/

to Julie at http://www.onthedotcreations.typepad.com/

to DZ at http://www.dzfantasy.blogspot.com

to Erika at http://www.tryhandmade.com/

and to ALL of those dedicated bloggers committed to daily selfless acts of random kindness in promoting others! It is much appreciated by me.

On The Dot Creations Blog-iversary!!!

I wanted to share this news with everyone. I may have mentioned this site in another of my posts but since the time is quickly approaching I will share it now. There is a great blog penned by a wonderful woman named Julie. The blog set on the page with the celebration info thus far is.. http://onthedotcreations.typepad.com/onthedotcreations/2008/08/one-week-and-counting.html Just click on it and it will take you there. Julie began this great blog approximately 6 months ago and she has decided to celebrate it with a 6-month 'blog-iversary!!! Let me tell you a quick bit about her site to begin with. Julie is a mom to a darling son and she runs her own Etsy shop. Her blog has been dedicated, since day one, to showcasing other Etsy shops and their owners. Each day Julie highlights an item from 5 shops. Typically her posts and highlights of items are based on a particular theme...like cupcakes or pink or trains etc..you get the idea. Julie also dedicates some posts to featuring various Esty artists with a series of interesting questions geared toward their craft, mediums, sales, successes etc. A very interesting read and it helps tremendously in getting to know different artists on a more personal level. I suspect many people frequent Julie's blog where these features enable a buyer to get a great sense of whom they are dealing with when making Etsy purchases. It is also a fantastic feature for us other Etsy sellers to draw inspiration from and to get a sense of community as many of us will never actually meet in person some of the people we have grown to know from the site. Julie's blog is extremely eye appealing as well. Her layout is very user-friendly and she has quite the talent at picking gorgeous and visually stimulating pieces. There is one common theme to Julie's blog..can you guess what it is? The hint should be in the name itself. There is only one requirement to having one of your items picked and featured on her blog..YUP! Your item has to be some sort of polka-dot themed, in one way or another...I am continuously enamored by Julie's daily ability to find such items and to then take it one step further to have these chosen pieces also fit into a themed category. Trust me...navigating through Etsy for such is not an easy task by any means! This alone tells me that Julie LOVES what she does and puts all of that into her blog..take a peek and you'll see what I mean. My biggest reason for this post is to let you all know that Julie and her beloved Onthedotcreations blog are partaking in a very big Blog-iversary beginning on August 18-22. Many Etsy shops are participating in this celebration by donating handmade items from their craft so that Julie can host daily giveaways during those dates! She has stated that there has been such an overwhelming response from shop owners that it has enabled her to put together 6 or 7 giveaways EACH DAY of her blog-iversary week (5 whole days!)!! I, and my Etsy shop are personally participating in the giveaway too. Of course I have created some items that follow the blog's polka-dot theme. I don't know every detail of the giveaway's yet but will keep you posted and/or you can follow the link to keep yourself up-to-date on the festivities! I'd say with the amount of participation that there's a good chance you could be the lucky recipient of one of these special gifts..so be sure to enter . Julie is extremely efficient with her site and will be sure to share all of the details, rules, directions and just down right fun with her readers..but please, mark the date(s) and get ready for oodles of fun and join in with celebrating and wishing Julie a very Happy Blog-iversary!! More to come...

Getting There

Ok...My darling, sweet, smart and very computer-literate daughter has spent the better part of her Sunday afternoon changing the layout of my blog. The original layout was very scrambled and not conducive to good reading or viewing. It was one of those pre-programmed templates provided by this site. It was OK to get me up and running with my blog but I think I've just outgrown it. Which, I suppose, is a good thing. This means to me that I am getting the hang of this and that I just may be, dare I say, a blogger?! Blogs to me were always something someone else did and I read....certainly not something I would ever partake in personally. Like I said in my previous post, I am far from a computer enthusiast...as far as understanding all those codes and letters and links and whatnots..as far as I knew..links were something I cooked with eggs and layout is something my friends and I did when we were teenagers in order to get that golden tan! And widget..well isn't it that girl from those 60's movies that hung out with surfers? I really could go on and on with this banter but I'll spare you somewhat from my humor! The point being is that I never would have thought at age 40 I'd be so old as to not be 'up to date' with the things my kids were in to and knew how to do..Having a lesson from my daughter makes me feel like...yes..here goes..my mother! UGGH! Point in case right there with taht one word..UGGH to my daughter is a great boot from Austrailia and to me it is reminiscent of something Charlie Brown would say after missing that damn football one too many times! I never would have thought that I'd be squeezed in , feet dangling, eyes popping...in that huge 'ol generation GAP! Screw the wrinkles..sagging boobs, unexplainable gas and the like...it is this sort of thing that makes me feel old! Not more than what I think was just a few years ago, I was wiping my kids' asses..now..well I feel like they will soon be wiping mine! Imagine, all of this ridiculous thought because I felt the need to change the layout of my blog! I can't even begin to comprehend what I'll be feeling and going through on the day I decide to get my own website! Watch out world... Well, as of now, all is looking pretty good with the blog...my daughter picked a very nice layout for me and really did work hard at restoring all of the links that had magically disappeared when she was renovating this today...there are a few more that I have to and can add myself but other than that..all is right with the world! A big fat and juicy 'thank you' to my beautiful girl, Sammie!

Blog Overhaul!!!

OK!!! So, last I wrote I was ranting about being computer savvy and all that entails. I have joined so many different networking sites to help promote my etsy shop and other crafters shops. With all of this comes a very big jumbled cloud of information and confusion for me..adding links, page elemnts, script, java whoosey-whatsies...html? I haven't a clue and really have been faking it for some time now and somehow getting away with making the correct settings etc. BUt this blog and its layout is not even close to being user-friendly or easy to navigate. Every piece of information contained here just lines up in a row and creates a very long viewing page. In my mind, I have great visions of how I want my blog to look. I think part of the reason I have not consistently kept up with it is because I hate the look and feel of it and as it is currently is not even close to a reflection of me. I liken this tositting in a dirty and cluttered room while trying to relax or craft..sure, you'll most likely be able to get something accomplished but we all know the process would have been much more enjoyable had we taken some extra time to rid ourselves of the mess. Same thing holds true with this blog..sure there is info to be had here and it is accessible but who the hell wants to sit here in the confusion? If I don't then certainly you don't! So, here's my plan...I have thrown in the towel of belief for myself. Belief that I do know what I am doing and that I can personally create the blog I am looking to have. I have gotten over the idea of pretending to know the difference of computer speak...it's a hard pill to swallow but I have hung my head low, in three-toed sloth-like movement and a very weary and cracking voice have approached my 21 year old daughter and asked for computer help! Embarassing as this may seem, and yes, it is for me...I do this and accept the humiliation for all of you...Because this blog has great potential and I have to at least exercise the possibility of it..I feel that after all is said and done..this will become a place that I enjoy visiting and participating in..plus, I have compiled some really great links for many of us..ther eis a wealth of information spewed among the hecticness of this blog..so, fingers crossed that this can get up and running at some point tomorrow provided I catch my daughter before she engages in a World of Warcraft marathon with her boyfriend..so stay connected and see what's in store..until then..