It's time for a beach getaway

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ArtFire.com

Handmade Gifts

I hope you will check out some great ideas for a beach get away on my ArtFire Collection.

Exploring Handmade Holiday Shopping Event-Day 6 Jewelry Designers

Today is the day that I'm part of the Holiday Shopping Event!

I hope you will have a chance to check out all the artisans in this Holiday Shopping Event. To celebrate my addition today I'm offering a special offer: Free Shipping to the US and Canada. It's for today only and all you have to do is enter the coupon code FREESHIPPING when you checking out and paying for your items!
So be sure to check out my studio.

Happy shopping everyone!

Exploring Handmade Holiday Shopping Event-Day 5 MIxed Media and Personalized Gift Artisans

Happy Holiday shopping everyone! Today's artisans are mixed media and personalized gift artisans. The holidays are the perfect time for personalized gifts. Be sure to order soon, to allow the time for your custom pieces to be done. These ladies are seriously multi-talented and can make you great gifts for any occasion and anyone on your gift list! 

Here's an example from  Christy Carroll of Taylor June Gifts:

Sometimes talent does run in the family. Yesterday you met Kae's daughter, Yasuko. Yasuko originally started her online shops to promote her mother's work. Kae, born and raised in Japan, has been a Japanese Calligrapher for over 40 years. She creates beautiful calligraphy artworks, Shodo and Sumi-e paintings.  

 

This piece is very lovely:

I hope you are keeping up with all the Days on the Shopping Event. Just a heads up, tomorrow I'll be one of the featured jewelry artisans. I hope you'll stop buy and take a look!

Happy Holiday Shopping!

Exploring Handmade Holiday Shopping Event-Day 4 Quilters and Seamstresses

We're off to another great day of shopping today! Today's featured craftspeople all are make sewn items. Whether you love the look of hand made quilts like this one by Sieber Designs:

 

Or perhaps you're in the mood for a new purse? Just like shoes, you can never have too many purses!

 

I love the vibrant colors in this bag by Yasuko of KaeArtworks.

There are more crafts people to meet on the event blog. We've got a week to go, so I hope you are checking back in every day. I have to say Debi has put in a lot of work, selecting and doing all the write-ups and promoting. Just think about it, if every person bought just ONE item handmade this year, what an impact it would be. 

In these economic times, wouldn't it feel great to support local crafts people and artisans? I know I'm going to be shopping hand made this year. I hope you will join me.

Exploring Handmade Holiday Shopping Event-Day 3-Jewelry Designers

I hope everyone is enjoying the Handmade Holiday Shopping Event.
Today's featured artisans are Jewelry Designers, but wait where am I? Not to worry, my turn will be coming up soon! Can you believe all the different things  that are available out there?


This kumihimo braided necklace really caught my eye.

 It's from the Etsy shop of Kim Stewart. I've tried  kumihimo braiding-it's not that easy. Her necklace is very well done.

I hope you've had as much fun looking at some of these talented artisans. I can hardly wait for tomorrow. I think I need to start buying some items.  Be sure  to let me know if you have taken a look at the shopping event. I hope you have liked it on Facebook.

Exploring Handmade Holiday Shopping Event-Day 2 Crocheting and Knitting Artisans

I hope you had fun exploring the lampwork artisans on Day One of this Holiday Shopping Event! Today's featured artisans of Textile Artisans-also known as Knitters and Crocheters! We're having so much fun showcasing craftspeople and bringing you a handmade shopping experience.

Here's just a sample of what 's in store for you!

Shopping handmade does so many things, first you're dealing directly with the artisan or crafter. You get to meet and find out a little about who created your purchase. If you need customization, they right there to help you out. Also, small craftspeople tend to continue to spend and buy in their local communities. I know that when I source my materials, I try to shop local.

You can follow the Holiday Shopping Event on Facebook to hear about the latest shopping news.

I'd love to hear your comments!

Happy Shopping!

Exploring Handmade ~ Holiday Shopping Event ~ Day 1

 Exploring Handmade ~ Holiday Shopping Event ~ Day 1


Here's a way to explore a myriad of gift selections for the Holiday period. From today until November 28th over 75 Artisans will be showcasing some special gifts for the Holidays. Think about it, no driving to the mall, no hassling with parking, You don't even have to get out  of your pajamas to shop!

Occupy Wall Street this Holiday Season AND Get Great Gifts

Need gifts for loved ones? Want to send Congress, Wall Street and Corporate America a message loud and clear? Want to do both at the same time
I'm sure everyone's heard about the "Occupy Wall Street" movement and others like it around the world. Well, I'm hoping to start an Occupy Wall Street movement of my own to aid in global economic recovery... yup, BIG dreams :) How, you ask?
Well, we know Congress, Wall Street and Corporate America are NOT going to get us out of this mess. That's for sure. It's SMALL businesses like mine and those of other artisans and entrepreneurs that are going to do it.
We're all doing more with less so make the most of your hard-earned dollars this holiday season...let them do TRIPLE duty!! No matter what gift-giving holiday you're celebrating, you can Occupy Wall Street AND help our economy by shopping with handcraft artisans online and locally.
When you buy from individual designers, artists and other crafts people, you're supporting small businesses. You're supporting the business of the individual designer AND all the businesses...usually small businesses...that they do business with. And growing these small businesses is what will get our economy back on track and be instrumental in keeping it there! This applies in any country around the globe.

AND at the same time, you'll get truly unique and precious gifts for your family and friends that will make your holidays more meaningful. It's a win-win-WIN :) And I'm going to help you!

Todays featured artisans are lampwork bead makers. Oh their work is so pretty! This is just a sample of one of todays featured artisans.

I'll be part of this unique shopping experience too! I'm not sure what day my work will be featured, so keep checking back and as soon as I know I'll let you  know to! To find out more about this event and to get all the current info-like this on FaceBook! I'm asking all my followers to pass this on to their friends.

Happy shopping!

Is there such a thing as work life balance?

I've had my shop active on Artfire for a while. Admittedly, I really haven't put much effort into it in the last few months. It got to be a bit overwhelming. I really enjoy creating my jewelry, but I'm not good at marketing it. Do you really expect people to be beating down door with sales if you don't try to get some exposure? Yes, I've had sales. Mostly I think I've been found through searches. So I decided it was time to figure out what I wanted to do for my business and how much time and energy I wanted to put into this. Since I have a full time career outside of Artfire, work life balance is something I really struggle with. Do you feel this way too? Life seems to tug at me in all directions at once!

After laying "dormant" for a a while-was my last post really in July?I decided it was time to try to figure out how I could fit in my jewelry business in with the rest of my life. One of the first things I came to realize is that when we try to allocate X amount of time to everything we do, life gets in the way! Work life balance needs to be just that. It doesn't mean that I have to have a rigid schedule everyday. Life happens.

I decided to sit down and figure out what it is I REALLY want to do. And I came to the conclusion that I really do enjoy making jewelry. In fact, I want to further my craft. I took a beginning solder class and I want to pursue that further. As far as business is concerned, I've decide that it is something I like to do. I'm going to work a bit harder to promote my studio, and to get onto a schedule and habit of posting new items and blogging and promoting.

Do you have have any suggestions on how you balance your time? I'd love to hear about your challenges.

In the mean time,  have a wonderful day!