Friday, January 30, 2009

Valentine's Sale!

Valentine's Day is right around the corner. Did you know that the U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas? The association also estimates that women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines. Who knew that there was a U.S. Greeting Card Association??

In honor of the love-filled holiday I'm having a sale in my shop; my little Valentine to you. I don't have any cards, but I have a wide variety of wearable original art. The sale applies to all wearable art in my shop, which includes pendant necklaces, brooches, rings, and bobby pins:

**FREE SHIPPING on all wearable art orders!
**FREE SHIPPING and 10% off all wearable art orders over $40!

Type in the code "LOVE" in the 'Note to Seller' upon checkout, pay for your order so Etsy gets its fee, and I will send you a refund within a few hours. The sale ends on February 14th.

So whether you are looking to buy something for a loved one, or simply treating yourself, check it out!

Thursday, January 29, 2009

How To Install A Social Bookmarking Tool On Your Blog

Last night I posted a question in the Etsy forums about social bookmarking and blogs. I wanted to know how I could add a button or some sort of tool to the end of each post that would allow someone to socially bookmark and share my posts with other sites. I received a few different answers, but my favorite response was from Joanna of JoannasPhotography. She introduced me to "Add This," which helped me install exactly what I was looking for.


Here's a brief tutorial of how to add a social bookmarking tool button to each post in your blog using "Add This." Click on any of the images in this post to make them larger.

Go to http://www.addthis.com/ and click on the big orange "Get Your Button" button. :) The button you will want will be the "sharing/bookmarking button." Choose how you want your button to look and choose "on a blog" for the "where." Next you can choose your blogging platform; TypePad, Blogger, WordPress, or Other. I chose Blogger, so the rest of the tutorial is specific to Blogger. Finally, click "get your button code."

Next you will want to scroll down to "Blog Post Button" to insert the code into your blog template that will create a button at the bottom of every post. Go to the "Layout" part of your blog, and click on "Edit HTML." At this point you will want to backup you Blogger template just in case something wacky happens while you are editing the HTML. Click on "Download Full Template" (1 - see image below). Your computer may handle it differently, but mine opened the download with Internet Explorer, which I then saved to my desktop as an xml file. Once you have saved the template, go back to the blog layout and click the box next to "Expand Widget Templates"(2 - see image below).

Then, hold down the "control" button and the "F" button at the same time. This will open up a search toolbar at the bottom of the page (3 - see below). Copy and paste the text "Add This" asks you to look for. The text you are looking for will be highlighted in the html (4 - see below).

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Workshop Wednesday - McCoy Toys

Today marks the third installment of a new weekly blog series titled Workshop Wednesday. Each Wednesday will feature either a tutorial by yours truly or another talented artist or artisan, or a snapshot of an artist's creative process. This week's Workshop Wednesday features John and Emily of McCoyToys, a husband and wife team who create items that are both practical and attractive. They value the quality of their products and are passionate about what they do; their motto: “No batteries are required to operate our toys, just imagination.”


Today McCoy Toys will take you through the process of creating one of their fantastic hand-crafted wooden toys.

First we start with a piece of wood; then John marks his pattern & begins cutting.


Next it goes to Emily for finishing…


An application of Gesso prepares the wood to accept the color…..necessary for lighter colors.

After at least 2 coats of Gesso; sand the surface until smooth..


After the paint has dried over night, we are ready to put on either natural or black wheels that we also paint. Need wood glue, axles & a hammer.


The finished product…


Ready to tag & put on the stock shelf!


Thank you McCoyToys for sharing your artistic process with us! Be sure to check out their shop for more great handmade toys.