Here's a sneak peek of some of the goodies you'll seen at my ArtFire shop soon! Be sure to keep checking up on the shop to see what goodies pop up!
Want a treat that looks sweet enough to eat but wont go straight to your hips? If you said yes, than this candle is for you! It looks like a yummy cupcake but it's really made out of wax! This candle is unscented and is under 1/2 pound of wax. It's super cute and would be a unique gift that will be eye candy for everyone who sees it :)
Want to know more? Check out the ArtFire listing here.
The weather is really warming up. I'm so excited that it's nice enough (and dry enough) to wear my crocs! I love my crocs because not only have they been everywhere with me (including Ukraine), but they are personalized with Halloween gems from the dollarstore :) he he.
Now you can help The Animal Rescue Site choose which eligible Petfinder.com animal rescue organizations will receive special funds to help animals! Participating is simple. You can cast one vote every day for your favorite rescue.
Eligible organizations with the most votes could receive a weekly prize and/or one of the other grants below! More than 60 grants will be awarded for a total of $100,000 going to eligible Petfinder.com members by the end of July 2009.
Voting begins on April 13th, 2009, and ends at midnight (PST) on July 26th, 2009. The more friends you can rally to vote for your favorite rescue organization, the better its chances of winning. Get people involved! Your favorite rescue organization is counting on you!
CLICK HERE VOTE!!!!
*Please forward to all your friends and share on facebook
*We have until until July 26th, 2009 to get our votes in!
*The shelters will the most votes will win grants - including the top 2 Canadian shelters!
*ALSO, we can vote EVERY DAY!!!
*Please bookmark the site and visit it each and every day until July 26th
How to Search for the shelter I work at:
Type "renfrew" in the shelter name spot, select "CAN", "ON", and click search.
Here are a few of my fav flickr finds for today. The top left and the bottom right are by Gege_Crochet's and the top rigth and the bottom left are by diffraction.etsy.com. Please go check them out because their photostreams are full of inspiration! I'm in love with NES as well as psyhcology (I'm almost finished my university psychology BA!) so of course I had to share these finds! Enjoy!
1. koopa coin purse in action, 2. Ink Blot Pillows, 3. PB&J Pillows, 4. Crochet Mario blanket whole
1. koopa coin purse in action, 2. Ink Blot Pillows, 3. PB&J Pillows, 4. Crochet Mario blanket whole
(Above) Pickles AKA "Rock Star" and I at work last week (I work at an animal shelter). Pickles has been adopted and will be in his forever home for easter! :)
And now for some more cute Easter pictures.....
After finding out that I had been given a "Free Ride" by ArtFire I quickly requested a list of the shops that had used my referral link so I can thank them. I'm extremely grateful that my referral link was used by the following artists to check out ArtFire. I want to extend a thank you to them from the very bottom of my heart! It always brings a smile to my face when artists support each other - especially in such a new art community like ArtFire. I hope other people will find as much support as I have and that we will all continue to grow and flourish.
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Here's a list of all the supportive people that have used my referral link (up to the date of this post) and helped me earn a "Free Ride" on ArtFire. Please support them by checking out their shops. Also, for some you can click their referral links to check out ArtFire as well (if you haven't already). To learn more about the Free Ride and ArtFire please click here.
Fringe - In the works
Julieanneg - In the works
LoveToSparkle - In the works
ItsaFairyWorld - In the works
BubboDesigns - In the works
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Mini Bio: This artist is following dreams that started at the age of 4 at her grandmother's kitchen table.
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Mini Bio: This artist LOVES custom orders and personalization is a specialty.
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Mini Bio: This artist loves paper, anything purple, pink or deep green. Shan Shan Times Two is also learning to love yellow
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Mini Bio: After wearing many "hats", Linda started creating after her friend died of breast cancer. Her friend had challenged her to do whatever she could do to do what she wanted with her life. Creative Artwork was born.
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Mini Bio: This artist is a happily married mommy and interior designer who crafts original handmade accessories made from felt, wool and vintage findings.
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Mini Bio: Sharon is a pharmacy technician who recently started creating jewelry.
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Mini Bio: Davida is the face of Lydia's Spa Collections. Her shop features products using natural butters and oils extracted from plants, trees and seeds.
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Mini Bio: Moody and Sanguine met 12 years ago and become instant friends. One is a painter and the other is a writer. Both are avid creators.
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Mini Bio: Caroline is the creative force behind Pink Lemonade Bags. She works from home and is the mother of two children. Please visit her bio for a very special story.
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Mini Bio: Amber is the artist behind this vegan bakery. She is based in Denver and shares her home with two wonderful kitties. She tries to squeeze yoga practice in a few times a week, somewhere between spreadsheets and cappuccinos.
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Thanks again for all your support everyone! I can't thank you enough!
Here's a few of my other blog posts that might interest you:
Free For Life - includes tips to get your own
P.S. There's only 13 days left to qualify for the free ride! There's no time to waste!
Hello Cat Nappers, Minou here! I’m a cat who’s looking for a second chance at a good home. While I wait at the shelter for my forever family to find me I thought I’d do something productive! I can’t cat nap all the time after all! I know how desperately the Ontario SPCA needs support to help cats like me and I’m so thankful that the Ontario SPCA was there to take me in when I was no longer wanted by my family. It was a really sad day but the staff at the Ontario SPCA welcomed me with open arms and told me how sweet and pretty I am! I felt loved again! To show them my thanks I started the Cat Nappers Team for the Ontario SPCA Friends for Life Walk-a-thon! I hope that other cats and cat lovers will join me in supporting the OSPCA! Just because the dogs will be getting all the attention the day of the walk doesn’t mean we can’t show our support. Besides, who wants to walk around when you could be having a cat nap?! Join with me by CAT NAPPING the day of the walk while helping homeless animals like me! Together, the Cat Nappers Team can ensure that the Ontario SPCA will be able to care for other felines like myself that find themselves in a sticky situation. What would I have done if the OSPCA wasn’t there to take me in? A scary thought indeed! Rather than thinking about that, let’s think pledges! I’m determined to put the FUN back in fundraiser – between my cat naps of course! Join me wont you?
http://ontariospca.akaraisin.com/t/catnappers.aspx
“Paws”-itively Yours,
Minou
Good day everyone! I had to share the fabulous news I got today! I signed up for ArtFire a while back and instantly fell in love with it and quickly upgraded to a verified account. With a verified account you can list as much as you want and only pay one low monthly fee (which total helps me budget for my monthly expenses). Verified members also get lots of perks and can be involved in "Guilds". I'm the guild master of the Ghouls Guild. Another feature of being a verified member is referrals. ArtFire currently has a promotion going on for verified account members. Once they refer 10 friends to verified membership their account is free!!! It's called the free ride! When I heard about this I was so excited! I was already in love with ArtFire because the monthly membership fee was already 1/3 of my Etsy fees, but now the chance to have it all for FREE?! What could be better? Since that time I have been letting my friends know how much I love ArtFire and all the perks I've enjoyed. Some of them have used my referral link to sign up themselves! Since a basic ArtFire member is free for life there's no reason not to try it out! That's what I did. I tried it out for free and realized that ArtFire was the place for me! I noticed that I quickly had 4 referral points. Now I only needed 6 more to get my verified membership for free! I continued to chat to people about how much I loved ArtFire and a few let me know that they had signed up and quickly upgraded as well! I was stoked! I raced over to check my referral points but noticed that they didn't change. I thought "just be patient". I was but the number still didn't change after a couple weeks. I headed over to the ArtFire forums because I've always got a super quick response to my questions and concerns. With in a few hours, a helpful ArtFire member suggested I email the ArtFire support crew (service@artfire.com). I did so late last night. By the time I got around to checking my email today I had my response! That's another thing I love about ArtFire! Speedy helpful service! No waiting or surfing threw a million help pages to get a straight answer. There was something even more awesome than the speedy service though..... The email included this sentence:
"Wow! I double checked your referral count and you have 17! Congratulations on earning your FREE RIDE! J"
FREE RIDE?!?!? REALLY?!?! WOOHOOOOO!!!! I'm so excited!!!!!
ArtFire has already set up my membership as being free for life and now I'm cursing along on a FREE RIDE!!!!
Since I want my fellow ArtFire artisans to succeed with their quest for a "Free Ride" too I thought I'd list a few tips:
1. Get yourself familiar with ArtFire. Find out if you really do love it as much as I do. Know what's great about it and why someone else might want to join. A few of the things that have won me over are:
*Ease of use - I love being about to make a new listing on just ONE page
*Random Search - There's no need to relist (and spend more money) to try to get on the stop of the search pile. Your items never get buried (never to be seen again) because the ArtFire search and front page make sure everyone gets an equal amount of exposure. I'm so much happier now that the stress of relisting is gone!
*Unlimited Listing - I love being able to list as much as I want with out the guilt of having to pay for it in my monthly bill later.
*Shop Sale with One Click - I love that when I have a sale in my shop I can just go to "edit studio" and set up a sale that applies to all the items in my shop - no need to worry about reimbursing buyers later or changing each listing individually. Before I would dread trying to have a sale because it was so time consuming. Not anymore though! One click and everything is done! It's also just as simple to turn off the sale!
2. Once you know your stuff (why you love AF and why others will too), spread the word! I let my twitter followers know each and every time I found out another perk or something else I realized I LOVED about ArtFire. They asked lots of questions and were super supportive! They are the main reason I'm getting a free ride now!!! I LOVE YOU TWITTER FOLLOWERS!!!! I also added a link to my email signature and chatted up ArtFire to my flickr arts & craft group people. I also added a post to my blog that included the reasons why I love ArtFire.
3. Do not spam people, do not lie, do not trick people, ... basically don't be mean!!!! Be genuine, be honest, if you don't know the answer to their questions find out, and have fun! Let your referrals come naturally and you shouldn't go wrong. ArtFire is really easy for me to chat up since ArtFire is the largest growing art community on the web and is quickly closing in on Etsy for traffic - ArtFire doubles it's traffic consistently every month! If you love ArtFire as much as I do, you wont have a problem chatting it up naturally either :)
I hope this helps! Good luck my ArtFire honeys!
P.S. I also got another email a few hours later which said:
"Congratulations! Your product "Easter ABC's" has been randomly chosen as item of the hour. Your item will be featured on the ArtFire.com Home Page from 04/03/2009 @ 1:00 PM until 04/03/2009 @ 2:00 PM MST. Thank You for being a part of the ArtFire Community!"
Could today get any better???? What a great way to start the weekend :)
Below you will find a recent interview with Heather! If you would like to be featured check out this link.
Name: Heather Hertziger
Location: Watertown, Wisconsin
Shop Name & URL: Heather Designs, http://heatherdesigns.artfire.com
Tell me a bit about your shop: My shop currently features lampwork beads and jewelry handmade by me. Soon it will also include some oil paintings I have done as well.
Tell me a bit about you: I am a hot glass artist, jewelry designer, and oil painter. I am also a licensed esthetician and do facials, bodywraps, and body waxing.
What kinds of arts and crafts are you interested in? I think this would be a shorter list if I told you what I wasn't interested in :) I currently am in love with all forms of glass art, from making beads and fusing, to painting with glass enamels. I love metal clay as well. I also do some sewing, wire work, bead weaving, oil painting, encaustic painting, and mixed media art.
What inspires you? I can be inspired by anything. The muddy tracks my puppy leaves on the kitchen floor may inspire a painting, while a bolt of fabric at the store may inspire a set of beads.
Name a few of your favs (can be food, colours, movies, etc): My favorite colors are jewel tones, I use lots of bold blues, greens, and purples in my art. I also love things that are fun to touch. I have hanks of seed beads just hanging around my studio so I can touch them and feel them slipping and sliding thru my fingers.
What are your goals for the next year for your shop? As of yet, I have had no sales, so that is obviously a goal for my shop :) My other goal is to add some of my paintings to the shop and maybe even prints of some of my art.
What marketing and promotion do you do? I have an email list that I will send special sales notices to (to sign up email me at heather@squareonebeads.com). I also announce sales on my blog and twitter. I am currently running a $5 off sale on all earrings in my ArtFire shop.
Do you get mostly online or offline business? Most of my business is online.
Tell me about a typical day in your life: I typically get up, after breakfast and a shower I will read some forums and twitter. After that I will get to work and either paint, make beads, make jewelry, or work on photographing and listing items made previously. Then I take a break to make dinner and will often work on some sort of jewelry design or marketing after dinner.
Are you in any guilds? I am in the We Love ArtFire, ArtFire Glass Guild, BlogFire, SRAJD Members, and Social Marketing Artisans/Esmarts on ArtFire guilds.
Where can we find you around the web?
My personal site - http://www.squareonebeads.com
My ArtFire - http://heatherdesigns.artfire.com
My 1000 Markets - http://heatherdesigns.1000markets.com
My blog - http://squareonebeads.blogspot.com
My skin care blog - http://skincarebyheather.blogspot.com
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