Colors of Fall Artbeads Challenge

As a Design Partner for Artbeads.com, I was presented with a challenge to create a piece using Pantone's fall color palate.   The choices were difficult as there were so many to choose from.  I ended up choosing Kimora Lee Simmons' interpretation of "Chocolate Truffle".   This palate is characterized with plums paired with bitter green and midnight black.  To tie in with the fall theme, I added luxurious copper.

The main component of my piece was hand blown furnace glass beads from Fire Designs in Purple.  These beads were so smooth, uniform and deliciously yummy to work with.  The inside holes vary and the purple stripes are very bold...the perfect bold statement to your piece.  Keeping with Ms. Simmons' interpretation, I added fire polish faceted beads in olivine and matte black.

To add my own interpretation of the color palate, I added copper.  Lots of copper.  I began with copper plated chain, which is a copper plated base metal chain.  I selected the Big, Medium, Small oval link chain for this piece to add texture.  Then, I wired all the beaded components with copper wire, sprinkled copper beads, copper bead caps and Swarovski 5000 crystals in Copper (which have a fabulous, fiery aurora to them)  in with the "charms" and added a couple hand wired copper loops over the chain for more texture.  For the clasp, I used a copper plated toggle and while wiring it to the chain, added a few more olivine fire polished beads.

For the final touch, as you can expect, I took a vintage button from the 1950's and wrapped it with natural brass filigree (so as not to hurt the shank).  This component was added as the focal point in the piece.

This piece will be offered in my shop just in time for the holiday season, so keep updated!

Disclaimer:
As a blogging Design Partner, Artbeads.com has furnished these supplies to me free of charge for my honest review purposes.  I have not been paid or compensated by Artbeads.com in any way, shape or form.

The Soap Seduction: Patrice...Gimme that Soap! AKA "A Soapy Review"

I hate commercial soap. I haven't used commercial soap in years...except when I run out of my handmade soaps and have to use slivers of commercial soap until my next soap orders comes!

Handmade soap is so much better for your skin:
1) It is made with all natural ingredients...soap artisans don't use alcohol and chemicals
2) Your skin is so much softer with regular use...no need for a moisturizer unless you want it for fragrance.
3) You are supporting the handmade revolution...and that's a good thing :)

My supply of handmade soap ran out recently and I thought I would try some soap from my dear blogging friend, Patrice of The Soap Seduction. Our package arrived yesterday and when I tore the envelope open, a wonderful array of yummy scents wafted up to my nose. Bad news: Tayelor was at school and I promised her I would wait for her to get home before I pawed through everything. Well, after anxiously waiting for her to come home from track, we finally got to paw through our goodies! She's lucky...I almost didn't wait!

Patrice enclosed such a sweet Thank You card which Tayelor is getting ready to read...


and she had the soaps all wrapped up in pretty pink tissue paper...

One of the things Tayelor was really waiting for is the Skin Softening Balm we ordered for her.

She's half Native American and has the tendency to get ashy skin on her arms and legs. Patrice assured me that this balm would squelch that little problem...


She anxiously opens the balm and twists it up...(how did Patrice get it in there?!)


and Walla! No more ashy skin! You can actually see the natural oils in the lotion penetrate her skin. And it smells out of this world to boot!

So...it's time to dig into the soaps...


Ooooh, La La! Savon Lavende....


Tayelor's Milk & Honey...I thought she was going to eat it for a minute there...


And Tayelor's Favorite...Winter Wonderland!


You know, Tayelor raided the snack cupboard after inspecting her soaps....she said the soaps made her hungry!

I also got Chunka Chunka, but ran for the shower before we could photograph it! And, yes, it was wonderful! Super-creamy lather, wonderful Chunka Chunka scent of cocoa...it was dreamy! I would have shared pics, but you really don't want to see that! I was thinking of a jingle for it while I was washing...

to the tune of "Hokey Pokey"

"You wash with Chunka Chunka
and your lotion will pout....
That's what it's all about!"

Ahem......

The results? No dry skin...no itching...Yay!!!

So I asked Patrice a few interview questions....let me indugle:

Alterity: Soap? Why Soap?

Patrice: "Why not soap?! LOL...Soap is such an underrated luxury. If you're buying your soap from Wal-Mart, the grocery store, or the 99 cent store, then you are doing your skin a disservice! Handmade soap is not only cleansing, it's ultra-moisturizing, and with continued use, you won't be reaching for that lotion bottle as much. I have the ashiest skin on the planet, and using handmade soap has made such a difference in the look and feel of my skin-no more tightness and itchiness after using handmade soap."

Alterity: Couldn't agree with you more! So, where do you dream up the soapy names? Do you set out with the name in mind, or does it sort-of happen after they are made?

Patrice: "I think the naming of my soaps is just as important as the actual soap itself. It's definitely the most fun part of the entire process. Not only do the wacky names set me apart from the competition, but I want to bring a smile to your face every time you use one of my bars. Most often, the name comes about after I un-mold and slice the soap, but then there are a few that just come to me, like Loofahpalooza, and I just have to make a soap to go with the name."

Alterity: Well, you certain accomplish that! Some of your names kill me! What do you like best about making soaps?

Patrice: "The best part about making soap is the not knowing how it will all turn out. Soap is a science. You can follow a recipe to the tee, but if you pick a fragrance that sets up too quickly, it could all be shot to sh*t (sorry.) I even turn my disasters into best sellers, like Ucking Fugly and Verbena Bobbitt. I think the names kinda helped too."

Alterity: Ucking Fugly? Verbena Bobbitt? Back to the awesome names! Where does your inspiration come from in creating new scents?

Patrice: "My inspiration definitely comes from my love of food. While I'm trying to gradually branch out into using more natural fragrances like essential oils, my true love is bakery scents. I find them comforting and inviting, and they make me wash my hands a lot more often, lol. I am branching out because I have to constantly remind myself that I'm just not making products for myself, but for everyone! I also solicit the advice of my customers. I trust and respect their opinions."

Alterity: Okay...here's an idea for you: Black Forest Cake!! Super-rich dark chocolate with dark cherries and whipped cream. Oh, and Tayelor wants to inspire you to do a Twinkie soap!

Thank you, Patrice! You have another repeat customer!

If you haven't tried using handmade soaps as a rule yet, scoot on over to Patrice's Etsy Shop: The Soap Seduction.

I promise you, you won't be disappointed! And, don't forget to pick up on her sales!

Chunka Chunka, You're the one...
You make washing lots of fun...
Cocoa bubbles and no need for danged lotion.....
Boop Boo Bee Doo!

The Beauty of Spring - May Flowers Vintage Button Charm Bracelet

Artbeads .com enlisted their partner designers to interpret "The Beauty of Spring" in a jewelry design. Immediately after I learned of the challenge, charming visions of pink, purples, blues and yellows with a little twisted wire danced in my head. Oh, and of course, you knew I had to throw in a few vintage painted glass collectible buttons in the mix!

Miyuki Delica seed beads in Peachy Coral, Turquoise Green and Light Lilac were used to create the vintage button bead woven charms as well as the bead woven beads. Every bead weaver knows that Miyuki Delica beads are the beads of choice for techniques such as peyote as the sizes are very uniform which makes your rows line up perfectly every time. However, Miyuki Delica's prove to be perfect for other bead weaving techniques. The large holes accommodate for many more passes of the needle than other seed beads, which can only accommodate several. If too many passes are made, the bead breaks forcing the designer to start the piece all over.

After creating the beaded components, I used pressed Czech bell flower glass beads to create the remaining dangles. They were hand wired with 22 gauge artistic wire in rose and random beads. The chain of the bracelet was hand wired using 18 gauge artistic wire in rose, also. I was dying to try this wire as a lot of craft and jewelry wires prove to be too soft to hold up to the demands of a bracelet. I was quite pleased to find the 18 gauge wire to be sufficiently hard enough to make jump rings and a hook clasp without fear of the wire stretching and thus leading to the components to fall apart. The 22 gauge wire seemed a little softer than other 22 gauge wire brands, however, the wire worked well for the purpose of charm components. I would be afraid of the wire bending out of shape in using for ear wires or other components that need a stiffer wire to hold it's shape, but the 18 gauge was surprisingly stiff enough to ensure to me the shape will hold. The color quality of both the wires really impressed me. With many colored wires, the color scratches off when using hand tools. In both cases, the color did not scratch off at all. The package states that the wire is silver coated; perhaps this is the secret to good color quality. I plan on using this wire much more in the future as it turns out the wire was my favorite material out of all those used in the creation of this piece.


One final part that deserves mention is the vintage glass leaf brass head pins. I absolutely love working with vintage beads and components. They have that old-fashioned flair that is so hard to reproduce. Upon doing a search for "vintage" on the Artbeads.com website, the search turned up a whole slew of vintage beads and components. Since my piece was tied around spring and I knew flowers were going to be involved, I simply had to incorporate some of the vintage head pins into the design. I was impressed with the quality of the head pins. The wire was a little thin, maybe 26 gauge, but the wire was certainly brass and parts of the wire had a great patina. They were great to work with and as you can see, added the perfect icing on the cake.

I have offered this piece to the public and it can be found in my Etsy shop, Alterity Button Jewelry and Gifts. What a great addition to your spring ensembles! And you will love the jangle of the whole charm concept, too!

I also want to mention that Artbeads.com is currently offering a Tax Relief Sale, where the more you buy, the better your savings! Be sure to stop by the website and check it out!



Disclosure: Artbeads kindly provided, free-of-charge, the materials reviewed above within the frames of Artbeads.com Design Partner blogging program. The review of the materials in this article is based on my own honest, personal opinion of working with them. I, the author, have received no payment from Artbeads.com for this review.

Tunisian Crochet

click pic to find on Amazon.com

I was tickled to see so many commenter's interested in Tunisian Crochet. I did not learn this from a website, however, if you Google it, you might find something worth looking at.

I learned from the book, Tunisian Crochet: The art of Knitting with the ease of Crochet by Sharon Hernes Silverman. Mind you, I didn't pay full price for it. Why should I when there are 50% off coupons floating around!

I seriously recommend this book if you want to learn to knit but can't for whatever reason. I didn't buy the book for the patterns, I bought it so I could learn the stitches and must say I am so glad I did. I will probably never use the patterns in the book. I'm more of a take-the-technique-and-design-my-own-stuff kinda girl!

I think some commenter's misunderstood why I cannot knit. I have what is called (are you ready?) Task Specific Severe Focal Hand Dystonia. I know, what a mouth-full! Basically what is going on is the area of my brain that controls motor function sends signals to my hands and forearm muscles to uncontrollably spasm while I am doing certain things (hence, task specific). You don't see the muscles spasming, I don't feel them spasming, I only feel pain for a few minutes and then the muscles lock up and don't move. I am choosing not to undergo treatment for the condition. When you read them, you will understand why!

Treatments:
1) One treatment is Botox injections into the muscles every 3 months, but the dystonia is so severe, I would need large quantities of Botox which would take 2-3 hours to inject and would greatly increase contracting botulism in my brain. Not an option.

2) Another treatment would be to have a pacemaker surgically implanted in my brain to stop the spasm signals. Okay, brain surgery is not an option for me unless it is to save my life.

3) The final treatment is narcotic muscle relaxers. Okay.....no!

So, I either don't do the things that aggravate the dystonia or learned to do things a different way or for shorter periods of time.

So far, the only things that aggravate it is:
- knitting
- writing
- holding a book while reading
- holding the phone
- driving for long periods of time
- hand sewing
- stringing beads by hand
- bowling....bowling of all things!
- long photography sessions

This will never become more severe than it is nor will spread to different areas, thankfully, but I am learning all the time things that I can no longer do, especially if I haven't done them in a long time. The good news is that you know me...I refuse to let anything get in my way of doing what I want to do. I will find a way to make lemonaide with any lemons that fall into my lap!!!

BTW...I did not get paid for this review. I am simply sharing this book with those interested in Tunisian crochet!

Entre - Adgi-CFM-Wonderful!

What?!

Okay, as you know, I have decided sticking around EC for a little longer. However, I want to explore other advertising venues: Adgi-CFM-Wonderful.

I have advertised through Project Wonderful before, but usually just to host ads on my site. I don't even have a clue how much I have earned in ads on my blog in the last 6 months! I started with PW because I thought I could take the money I got for hosting ads to pay for my own ads. Win-Win situation. I currently host Adgitize ads on my blog, but never really looked into using them for advertising. Something I always wanted to do, but never got around to. I want to look into other paid advertising such as the one's above, and I will be linking my online shops to the ads. Over the last month or so, I have been reviewing what things I have done for my business over the last two years. I may be a little premature, as I usually do this every January when I write my updated business plan (yes, I update them every year...keeps me on track!). As you can tell, the focus has been on advertising. I spend almost no money on advertising, however, it tends to cost me a lot of time. I have been wondering if it is worth that.

Here is where I need your help:

If you have ever used any of the above-mentioned ad venues, how did it go? Was it worth the money spent? If your ads pointed to your online shops, did they bring you sales?

But, before you answer in the comments below, I just have one thing to say. This little 'situation' has become quite a journey. I want to thank every single one of you for taking this journey with me as well as responding and sharing your opinions as well as frustrations. I shall want to repay you for your opinions and advice some day! If you have previously done a blog post regarding the above-mentioned advertising venues, please put the URL for the page the post appears on in your comment.

EC Free Ads...Is It Worth It?

Okay, with all the talk going on about EntreCard with the high click rates and the forced paid ads, I finally took a look at my EC stats with Google Analytics. Here is the data. Maybe you can help me decide where to go next. I also hope this prompts you to take a look at yours, too.

There is no surprise I am seeing a high bounce rate. In fact, for my EC referral hits and EC ad hits, I am showing an above average bounce rate. However, my direct, Google searched and blogger hits show a below average bounce rate. This shows me that people getting to my blog through following, Google searches and blogger surfing actually spend time on my blog reading it. Thank you to those that make the time I take to write posts worth my while :)
However, those hits coming from EC referral and EC ads are (I am postulating) staying long enough to drop a card and move on. Most of them stay on my site for between zero seconds and 30 seconds. Some of you do read my blog, and I thank you for that, too. But the one's who just drop and go shows. If you dig deeper, it will tell you how much time and how many hits each EC member has. Some of them are consistently zero time. These must be the click farmers. Right? Is this what you are evaluating, Oriental Lodge? Smart guy!

Now, as for total page hits per day, I am getting anywhere between 150-250 page hits a day. 48% of those come from EC referrals, 15% come from ad clicks and the rest are direct, Google, Blogger and other various ways. This tells me that a little over half my visitors are EC visitors which is good. However, as you may recall, EC hit bounce rates are higher than average whereas the rest are under average, so this is bad. Hmmm.

Now, lets figure if it is worth it monetarily for me to have my "free EC ads". Say I think that my time is worth $10/hour (gee, my step-kids get a better pay rate without a college education, making between $12 and $14 an hour at HSBC and $11 an hour at UPS). It takes me about 2 hours a day on average to drop my 300 cards to gain points for advertising. I know this because I start my drops at 7:30am after dropping the kids off at school and get done to start my real work about 9:30 - 10:00 am. This works out to about $100 a week. Therefore, I am spending $100 a week to have ads on a small amount of blogs that only drive my bounce rate up. I do gain some sales from my blog, however, but this doesn't happen very often.

In contrast, I also periodically advertise with Project Wonderful. However, I don't do it often as the money in my account tends to run out pretty quickly (faster than I get money from advertisers). This makes me wonder if the people who host my ad through Project Wonderful create false clicks to drive their payout up. I don't know if you can do this, I have never tried it before to the PW ads on my blog. I haven't had an ad campaign on PW in quite some time, so I don't have the statistics to see those bounce rates. I could dig them up, but that would be time consuming.

So, I guess the question I am asking is "Is it really worth it to get free advertising from EC when time is money?" Consider the high bounce rate where people are not even reading the blog. What is your opinion? What do you think when you look at your own stats? Anyone have experience with CMF (or whatever it is) or any other avenue?

In defense of periodic quick-clickers...I admit that sometimes I do engage in click and run. When I drop, I use the EC toolbar to open up 10 pages at a time. I always read the blog in the first tab while it is loading. After I drop, comment (if I feel necessary) and close the tab, I look at the next blog. Did I already read the post yesterday? I drop and go. Did I get terribly bored after the first 4-5 sentences? I drop and go. If neither of the two apply, I read the post, comment if necessary, drop and go until all tabs are done. Rinse, repeat. If your blog is in my favorites with EC, you can bet I spend time on it. Why else would you be my favorite? Whether you drop on me or not. If I like your blog, I will remain faithful. I figure I spend on average about 2.5 minutes on each blog. However, this is not very accurate. Some blogs that I already read, I drop and go. The rest of them may take me more than 2 minutes to read and comment and then there are the times I go back into our archives, especially if you just became my favorite and I want to check out what I missed. And I also admit that if I have a doctor appointment or some other thing that is going to cut my day short, I drop and go on all of them. I hate doing this because then I have to spend twice as much time the next day to catch up on my reading, especially if a post was written since the last one I read. And there are some days I just simply don't have time to drop. There are so many variables to this.

Okay. I am sorry this post is so long, but if you made it this far, please share your thoughts, experience and advice. I really hate to leave EC. I really want to try to stick it out for the long haul. But we need to ask ourselves if we are getting the most bang for the buck with the free ads we do get, because the bottom line is, nothing is for free.

Inglourious Basterds....

So, I finally had a chance to see the movie. My son (Jay) and I were waiting for months for it to come out. You see, we are lovers of all things World War II , and since there isn't too many World War II movies that come out, when one finally does, we have to go! Especially if it offers any humor to it. World War II movies and humor is not a very likely pair.

Anyway, we were supposed to go see it with my father when he was in town...he was here on opening day. The problem? My father strongly dislikes Brad Pitt. So, we didn't go. "I refuse to spend money to see an actor I can't stand." Jay and I were devastated! After all that time we waited! Well, that's okay, because we went yesterday after school shopping. Now, I'm not too fond of Brad Pitt myself, but I didn't let my lack of fondness of Tom Cruise keep me from seeing Valkyrie either!

The consensus? We loved it! It was a little long, but it was hilarious, full of action with tons of giggle-factor and the ending was worth the wait. Brad Pitt was surprisingly funny with his southern-drawl sarcastic way of talking - had me busting in giggles every time he was on screen. I have to say that I'm glad we didn't drag my father to see it as he would have hated it. Despite the bad reviews, I still enjoyed it. If it wasn't for my son, I probably would have waited for it to come out on DVD. However, the money spent for the theater was worth the wonderful day that my son and I spent together. He's 13 you know, and my time with him is slipping fast. Before you know it, he will be packing his things and dumping a whopping case of empty-nest-syndrome in my lap.

One word of caution: if you are not really into World War II, you may not like this movie. Oh, one more word of caution - my son begged me to stop at the hobby shop to pick up yet another German tank model, so be prepared for it to cost a little more if your kids are into World War II! Where will I be today? Working in the studio next to Jay working on his model!

Etsy, Artfire, 1000Markets....A Review.....

A little while ago, it was asked of me my opinion on the comparison between the three wonderful online selling venues for handmade things. I'm ready to give my opinion, but please keep in mind that this is simply an opinion and there is not scientific evidence backing this!

We'll start with a positive note: the pros of all three venues. Etsy has certainly been around the longest and therefore, has the most traffic. Definitely a plus! Shopping experiences are easy and search options are equally as easy. You also get a decent amount of tags for your items. Now, Artfire is in it's beginning stages, but believe it or not, I am getting a fair amount of traffic to my Artfire shop. What's better is that Artfire has integrated Rapid Cart so you can put it on your blog. Don't laugh, I got a sale last week in my Artfire shop using Rapid Cart on my blog! The fees are super reasonable ($7 a month, no more, no less), it is impossible to get lost in the shuffle because items come up at random, whereas on Etsy, they come up in order listed/relisted. Artfire also doesn't seem to favor certain sellers, every one is treated equal and you get unlimited tags. One thing to keep in mind about Arfire's $7/month deal: I purchased my spot several weeks ago when there were still 1600 out of 5000 slots open. There is now only 205 slots left open. If you do not lock into the $7/month, it will rise to $20/month. You can still have your free account, but you can only list 10 items on it. More items = more exposure. 1000Markets also just began and I get very little traffic to the site, but it is very upscale. The administrators actually "jury" your pieces. If you don't have what they are looking for, you don't get in. Kinda like Trunkt (they even have a section for 1000Markets members who are also Trunkt members!). I prefer the total look and feel of this site compared to the other two.

Now for the cons...I'm not trying to trash any venue, I am just giving my honest opinion. While Etsy does get alot of traffic, it is so very easy to get lost. There is so many sellers to compete with and items come up in order they were listed, so you have to keep yourself very visible which can be very expensive. At $.20 a pop, it tends to add up by the end of the month. In fact, my highest fees when I did my taxes were my Etsy fees! I also tend to notice that certain sellers are brought into the spotlight over and over. Favoritism? Who knows, but the bottom line is that I am getting consistent sales there, so I can't complain. Artfire, as I said before, is still in the beginning stages, so the con is not as much traffic as Etsy, but I am getting more hits and sales than at 1000Markets. Another "can't complain". However, even if I don't list anything and don't sell anything, I'm still charged $7/month. Cheaper than Etsy, but worth the gamble to see if they become more popular like Etsy. 1000Markets is still in beta mode, so there is barely any traffic at all and no sales. But when you consider the fact that I didn't pay anything to list there, I have nothing to lose. I only pay if I sell. You also get very few tags. This may be something they will change in the future, remember, this is only in beta mode right now. The other con is that 1000Markets doesn't do their money exchange through PayPal, you have to sign up for Amazon. I've never used them before, so this experience is new to me. If 1000Markets gains some momentum and I turn sales there like I do on Etsy, 1000Markets will certainly be my preferred online venue!

I do need to mention that I have accounts on DaWanda and ShopHandmade also. They have been there for about six months: barely any hits, no sales. Sure, it didn't cost anything to list on either site, but I took all my items out of the shops so I could stock Artfire and 1000Markets. Oh, a word of caution: If you sell one-of-a-kind items, don't list the same item in two shops. If it sells in both shops at the same time before you catch it, you will certainly be in a pickle. It's just bad business. Suck it up and make sure you have made enough items to stock all your shops. I'm not speaking from experience, but I certainly don't want to experience it, either!

I hope this has been helpful...now....get selling!

Taking Flight...

The perfect cure for the creativity block....

Taking Flight: Inspiration & Techniques To Give Your Creative Spirit Wings by Kelly Rae Roberts

I love books...I am actually building quite a library in my family room. I admit that most of my books are World War II books (I'm such a WWII addict!) with a little bit of fiction, a little bit of gardening, my Christian library is growing....

But one of my favorite books is crafting books. Books to teach me something new. Books to refine my current skills. So, as I was out this past weekend shopping for crafting books, I came across this fabulous book. The book does have a few crafts in it, several techniques I have never tried before, but the beauty of the book is the journey the author takes you through to help you push your creativity to a new level. There is room for journaling also, as the author challenges you to break out of your current creative bonds as well as jump start your creativity should you be facing the proverbial 'creative brick wall'.

I found this book at Joann Fabrics (my favorite store!). The list price was $22.99, but I used my 40% off any one regularly priced item coupon, so I paid $13.79 for it. I probably would have purchased it if I didn't have the coupon! You can order a signed copy direct from the author, Kelly Rae Roberts, and you can also find it new and used on Amazon from $9.62 to $15.63.

If you happen to see this book while you are out, be sure to pick it up and leaf through it. I can pretty much bet that before you know it, this book will be part of your creative library also!

Stop Pulling Your Hair Out......Feature Software

I will admit...one of the hardest things in creating jewelry to sell on Etsy is the paperwork, inventory and pricing. I have found this great software to help you with all these daunting tasks!


This fantastic program, available at BEAD MANAGER PRO, eases the tasks required so that you have more time to design and create. This software allows you to input all your bead inventory...all the way down to wire, thread and clasps. When you design and create a piece, input the materials you used, set your labor cost, and this software automatically comes up with three suggested prices for that particular piece (wholesale, direct and suggested retail). This is so fantastic because pricing pieces has to be one of the hardest parts of running your business. What are my creations worth? With this software, you will not have a shadow of a doubt. Not only that, but you can insert a picture of the finished piece for permanent record, as well as a tab to include your assembly instructions. Now you will never forget how you created that awesome piece! Now, you can be sure you offer fair prices and at the same time, be sure you charge what the piece is actually worth...no more underselling. The above picture shows a sample of the inventory screen where you input your supplies as you purchase them. I will admit that it took a couple weeks for me to get my existing inventory in the program, but as long as you enter them as you get them from there, it is quite managable!


Taking care of paperwork is another daunting task that Bead Manager Pro simplifies. With this software, you can keep customer lists, create invoices, create labels and catalogs of your pieces, and even keep track of pieces you have out on consignment.

The price is quite reasonable and well worth it....and the best part is that if you are a legal business, this software is a tax write-off! No need to wait for a CD to install, this program is an instant download so you can get to work right away inputting your inventory! With your download, you also get several free e-books to help your business.

Click ***HERE**** for more information about this great software. How lucky us beaders' are that someone took the time to develop this amazing software! I have sworn by it for the last year...it's one of the best investments I've made for my business!

All Things Handmade MiniBlog

I found this cool blog (and I'm sure alot of other people already know about it :)

It's a MiniBlog for Etsy sellers. The cool thing about the blog is that it is broken down into sections, or categories, just like on the Etsy page. The cooler thing is that when you click on each section, you will see Etsy minis from Etsy Artisans with links to thier shop. What a cool way to zero in on some fabulous artisans!

If you have never been there, you have got to check it out....and if you are a seller on Etsy, get your mini involved (directions are right on the blog as to how to do that).

Just follow this link:

http://etsymini.blogspot.com/

and you will be on your way to checking out some great artisans! Isn't it a beautiful thing that the world has so much talent?