Sunday Showcase - Summer Splash

1.yourcharmedlife2.WhatItSeams3.SixSkeins4.merriweathercouncil5.LoveMeAmberLee6.rtisan
After many months of hiatus, Sunday Showcase is back! *tosses confetti*

Each Sunday Showcase features one item from six wonderful shops based on a predetermined theme.

I had serious trouble picking a selection this time around. I had 4 different compositions that I had to choose from! Thank you SO much to everyone who participated for making this a challenge and for providing me with GORGEOUS items!

Want to have a chance to be selected for a Sunday Showcase? It's really simple!

♥ Check out the current Sunday Showcase thread running in Promos on Etsy to find out the theme for the following week♥ Comment in the thread if you feel you meet the criteria (or if you want to bump it up for others...;)♥ Comment on this post and tell me which of the six items is your favorite and why. Don't forget to post your shop URL so I know who is who!♥ ONLY SHOPS WHO COMMENT IN BOTH LOCATIONS WILL BE CONSIDERED!
Here's the current thread!
That's all there is to it! Simple, right?

I cannot stress enough the importance of leaving your shop URL and posting in both locations! I see BEAUTIFUL things that end up left by the wayside because those criteria are not followed! Links to your items are fine, but not at the expense of your shop url as they don't tell me right away who you are.

The thread will be open for participation until the Friday of the given week.

All items will be tweeted on my Twitter page and the link to this blog entry posted on my Facebook Fan Page.
Twitter
Facebook

Please feel free to follow me/fan me/ to keep up with my Features and all I have to offer!

All types of artisan crafts, vintage & supplies are up for consideration (unless stated in the Theme section) so don't be shy!
♥

Hidden Treasures - Sunset Lights

Welcome to the new format for Treasuries! Before, I used to separate treasuries into the ones I made, mine, and the ones you all made, yours. Now I will be putting them all into one post once a week starting with my weekly Treasury at the top of the post. I'm hoping to have treasuries by you to post every week as well, but it may happen that I won't depending on how well I kept up with my new item postings...;)

MINE
Sunset Lights
A treasury inspired by the lovely sunsets I've been seeing from my balcony at home. It's amazing how much the setting sun colors the sky. Like God decided to take out His watercolors and dance across the sky...:)

It's possible that there are a few treasuries that I am in that I have not yet shared. I'll be sure to double-check and if I am correct, I'll update the Yours section in this post.

UPDATE!
I knew I'd missed at least one!

YOURS
Cerulean? Electric blue? Persian blue? Air force blue?
Definitely all of the above in this one! The vibrant blues were just really fun. Mammamiaeme is really sweet to have included me in this!

Enjoy!
♥

Mini Marvels - Bomobob

It's Mini-Marvel time once again! Nothing like starting fresh with some amazing artisans!

I've always loved photography and I was pleased to come across the work of a fellow Montrealer. Bomobob has been around the block some and is a well known photographic entity in our fair city...:) Not only is he a talented gent, he's also a hilarious one and I have been privileged to get to know him.

I asked him to give us a little perspective on what makes him tick:

Somewhere there’s a photo of me at the age of about 5 or 6, at Upper Canada Village. In it, I have a 127 camera hanging from my wrist on a strap. It may be a Kodak Brownie, but I seem to recall it may have been green, which would probably mean it was an Imperial. I know that photo is around here somewhere, because it was always hanging in the stairway when I was growing up.


I guess that’s when it began. I was always fascinated by the idea of being able to freeze single moments in time and save them to look at over and over. Not just people, but places, events. Sure, that’s what photography is all about, but I caught the bug early on.

The local supermarket used to give out bonus stamps, and you’d stick them into booklets until you had enough to trade them in for something from their catalog. For me, it was Kodak Instamatic X-15, which I still use regularly.


I sometimes feel like I’m still back in that era, as most of my 60 or so cameras are from that period. I like the bad optics, the vignetting, the false colour…what’s referred to now as “vintage look”. And yes, I’m obsessed with carnivals, as they also take one back to a time of innocence and false colour and faded memories.


I tend not to travel light when it comes to cameras. There’s almost always one old twin-lens reflex camera for doing TTV photography, a Polaroid, a Holga, an Instamatic, and usually any one of a number of small 35mm rangefinders, along with either a film or digital SLR. And a tripod.

I hope you enjoy his gorgeous photography as much as I do. I have a calendar at home which I LOVE flipping through...:)
♥

I haven't disappeared...:)

Hello everyone. Be prepared for a LONNNNNG post. I hope you'll find it worth reading!

As many of you know, it's been a few months since I last posted on my blog. This isn't because I lost interest. It was more because I was trying to figure out what exactly to do with myself and where I would go while doing it.

I've been very much considering Etsy and if I want to continue to sell there. The reasons for this is because Etsy has been having issue with both visibility and seller tools and in delivering on the things they've been talking about. Despite these issues, I have decided to continue selling on Etsy for now but I have also chosen to diversify as well.

CARGOH.com

I recently discovered this beautifully designed venue, Cargoh. It's BRAND NEW and in Beta and so it's got bugs and the poor admins have had a huge influx of Etsy sellers and are scrambling to keep up with us all...:) I am hopefully that this market will end up being an interesting competitor for Etsy. It's one of the few sites that doesn't just deliver on content and customer service, but on design as well. I've already set up my shop and I'm going to be listing some things as soon as the photos are ready to list...:) What's cool about it is a buyer doesn't have to sign up to purchase from it and my Twitter and Facebook page are linked right there for quick and easy following. The images are also super big and you can put up more than just 5 of them.

Here's my shop: http://www.cargoh.com/store/gifted-designs

Tell me what you think of it...:D

WHERE I WANT TO TAKE THIS BLOG

My blog is also something I've been giving a lot of consideration to. I wanted to figure out exactly what I wanted to do with it and where I wanted to go. I decided that I want this blog to be a mix of self-promotion and promotion of others. I was doing that in the past, but I was only really promoting my jewelry. Very little of MYSELF was here. I feel it's important for people to know ME, not just my jewelry and artistic endeavors.

I took a good chunk of time to just right down some of the things I want to do whenever an idea would pop in my head and here's what I've got for you.

WHAT'S SHA UP TO? (personal side)

-Monthly Giveaway: I will be giving away an item with a 20-40$ value. Each month will be a different item. This is not your typical giveaway. People will be participating to enter and then a voting system will be in place once entries are given. The total time spent to run the giveaway will be two weeks, one week for entries and one week for vote. The winner will be whoever has the most votes. The inspiration for this is from the lovely Lillyella, someone who inspires me in HUGE ways...:) I'll be going in further detail when I host my first one! I would be starting this on the 15th of every month.

-It's Personal: Once a week, I will highlight something I have been doing. It could be a recipe I tried, artwork I'm working on, jewelry I'm working on, sharing some new supplies I received, a tutorial to make something, sharing my thoughts on books I'm reading, sharing photographs of things that happened (be prepared for kittie pictures or vids!) or just thoughts and observations for the week. I really want to personally connect with you and I think one day a week devoted to that is a good thing...:) I was thinking this could be on Thursdays.

-Gemstone Spotlight: This is a segment I started with my Amazonite column. I LOVE stones, I always have...even before jewelry was ever a thought and I am looking forward to sharing my favorites with you once a month. I'm hoping that people will also share with me and bring forth suggestions for the following month. Amazonite, BTW, is my favorite stone, thus why I started with it...;)

PROMOTING MY SHOP

-The Market: Anything new listed in shop during the week would be showcased and talked about. I'm hoping to list 2-3 pieces a week and so I would talk about those pieces and I would show them off too...;) I do a sneak peak 3 days before on Facebook so if you follow me in both places, you'll know before others what's coming! If a piece sells before I can post it, I will still talk about it here...:) I will be posting this on Fridays.

-Announcements: If I have special news concerning my shop, news such as the Black Friday Event I participated in last year or perhaps craft fairs I'm attending, or features I may be in, I will be announcing them, if I can, on Saturdays before the events occur. If the event or feature happen before, I will make a post about them ASAP.

PROMOTING OTHERS

-Mini Marvels: I will definitely continue to promote individual shops and people that I love or have a wonderful connection with. These people could be on Etsy, on Artfire, on Cargoh or be actual stores with an on-line presence. As with the other examples, sellers will be asked to write a short blurb about whatever they would like. Links to their stores will be provided. This is a weekly post on Mondays. I'm open to suggestions for this as well!

-Sunday Showcase: I will also definitely be continuing the showcase! I have FAR too much fun making these! Six shops are featured based on a predetermined theme posted the week before. This is a weekly post on Sundays.

-Style Exchange: This is inspired by Lillyella's Style Swap. I wanted a way to showcase my fellow EtsyQ teammates and so I think this would be a great way to do it. I would basically choose one of their items and place them in two different situations. This could either be decorative or fashion in nature depending on the teammate! This will either be a bi-monthly or monthly segment on Wednesdays.

-Treasuries: Though my love affair with Treasuries has cooled a little, I still make them and people still include me in them for which I am eternally grateful...:) As the treasuries function in a different way now, I have considered showcasing them in a different way. Instead of separating treasuries into 'yours' and 'mine'. I was thinking more of making this a specific column weekly. I would feature the one treasury I made for the week as well as anyone else who included me in a treasury that week. This would do two things, A) Encourage me to make a new treasury every week and B)Localize them in one day rather then spreading them out. Tuesdays would be a good day for this...:) I may make this a bi-monthly column. I have not decided yet.

So all this basically makes my blog half about me and half about others. I think that's a great balance.

I would greatly love your opinions and I hope this was worth the read for you all. I really want to push myself to run my business more efficiently and in a much more planned manner. I think this will definitely help me get going with that! I would LOVE to hear any suggestions you all may have. Please feel free to share them!

I want to take the time to thank you all for being around and being patient with me. I hope this blog will become something you truly love to check out and read!
♥

My Treasury - Blush

I have a friend on the Whiner's Thread on Etsy who makes gorgeous, elegant, timeless treasuries and she inspired me to actually try to make something muted and classic. I think this turned out quite well...:)

Check out Jewelryvixen's gorgeous treasuries here: http://www.etsy.com/treasury/people/jewelryvixen

Blush
This so makes me wish I was getting married so I could buy everything!
♥

Your Treasury - Hand Made

I so love color! I opened a convo this morning to discover that I am in this bright, fun curation by jewelrybymichal.

It's got a really playful feeling and the vibrant items had me smiling...:)

Hand Made
Have a great Sunday!
♥

Your Treasury - On a Whim

This sweet little grouping was made by the lovely Sarahkdesigns

I love how random it is but everything still goes together so nicely!

On A Whim
Have fun exploring!

Stay tuned for a very important blog post. I want to take this blog further and I'll be looking forward to your feedback!
♥

Your Treasury - Red Meets Blue

A lovely collection full of brightness and fun created by Lisaburkin.

I wasn't feeling so hot today and so this was a lovely surprise and totally appreciated!

Red Meets Blue
Have fun exploring this one!
♥

Treasury - Playful

I may just make this a regular part of my blog seeing as we can now make treasuries whenever we want and there's no time limit....:)

Playful
Enjoy!
♥

Treasury East

Mellow Yellow
As many Etsians now know, Etsy has chosen to revamp the way the Treasury works.

In the past, the Treasury was Flash based. You had to wait for a specific number of slots to be freed up and then you had to pounce on a spot. You were also only allowed one Treasury at a time. Because Treasury West was open as a testing ground, people, if they were quick enough, could have two treasuries in the two locations.

There was a sense of excitement in getting a Treasury slot. You had to time it and wait. It was like waiting for your favorite team to score. Craftopolis.com even made a Treasury clock to better help people schedule their treasuries. It took a certain level of love and dedication to sit there and wait.

Soon, Treasury Main and Treasury West will be closed forever as we bring in the new generation of Treasury creation.

Treasury East

Daddy's Little Girl
There are pros and cons to TE (as I will refer to it from now on).

Pros
1- It's no longer flash dependent.
2- There are three prominent thumbnails to wet peoples' appetites visually before we ever get into the Treasury.
3- The new format is lovely and you see all 16 spots right away instead of only 12 (though only 12 show on the FP, the bottom 4 items being alternates).
4- Easily and quickly sharable through many websites.
5- All your treasuries are compiled under your user name so you can manage them easily and so people can see everything you've made.

Cons
1- Not searchable yet (they are supposedly working on this)
2- Only Hotness and Date Created are clickable to generate the top listings.
3- Views, clicks and comments are not being counted properly which skews data.
4- Items do not open in a separate tab which can be annoying and time consuming.

On top of those, we have things that people can't decide are pros or cons.

Unlimited Treasuries.
That's right, you can make as many as you like as often as you like. That means you can have half-finished content just floating uselessly in cyber-space.

Unlimited Time.
Treasuries no longer expire...even when they've long out-grown their time. It's now been put on the curators to maintain and/or delete old treasuries. Except that the unlimited TE thing means that people aren't really going to care about maintaining or deleting old content.

In my book those two things are cons but in many others' minds unlimited treasuries is great.

Regardless of sentiment, they lead to two more Cons:
5- It's IMMENSE...there are over 1600 pages already!
6- Your new Treasury doens't last long on the first page of 'Created'.

Bright Insanity
We've been told that Etsy wants TE to be searchable on Google and so that means they can't expire. Basically they'll be a great way to generate links for SEO.

There are a lot of things Etsy needs to do to make TE really great though. They need to make it searchable ASAP. They need to either eliminate or define Hotness because the old algorithms just don't work with an unlimited format. We've already noticed that 'Hot' Treasuries stay at the top FAR too long making TE look boring and static. They need to offer more sorting options than just Hotness or Created. They need to add a 'Skip To Page' box below the page numbers so that one can go to any random spot. Perhaps they even need to make Categories for TE now that there are so many to look at.

As a person who loved the Old Treasury it's taken me a few more weeks to come to terms with this rather boring, static TE. There's no more 'thrill-of-the-chase' in TE. Thankfully I can see the possibilities for how this could be a fun data-base and I can see how this could be a fine companion to Favorites.

So basically, I'll have to get used to it and maybe eventually even embrace it...:)

I leave you with the four TE treasuries scattered throughout this little article to peruse. Clicks and comments are still very much sought and appreciated! Three were made by me and one was made by the lovely Juliejongleuse, a fellow EtsyQ teammate...:)

Made in Quebec
See TE for yourself and think of the possibilities!
♥