Easter Egg Inspiration

Happy Easter! Here are some fun ideas on how to decorate your Easter eggs.

This eggs on the left use geometric patterns made with sharpie and filled in with black and gray watercolor. The eggs on the right use chalkboard paint.



Here is another use of watercolor and markers to create designs.

These creative eggs are inspired by the Pantone color matching system. The eggs on the right use thread wrapped around them.


Use fabric on your eggs. The eggs on the left use old ties while the eggs on the right use lace and bows.


Turn your eggs in to creatures, such as ladybugs and birds, with this Martha Stewart tutorial.

What do you do to celebrate Easter?

Easter Items

Easter is tomorrow. These are some Easter items in my shop.

Basket of Eggs Easter Greeting Card



Pink Bunny Easter Greeting Card



Gold Bunny Easter Greeting Card


Do you celebrate Easter?

New Sketches

These are some new sketches I did in my sketchbook:




Do you like to draw?

Photography Tutorial

This is a guide to taking photos for Etsy or other items you want to sell online. Next week, I'll have a tutorial on how to edit photos and the week after that I'll have a tutorial on how to organize photos on your computer.

Choosing a Camera
Choosing the right camera is important. If you're taking photos for Etsy, you'll want to use a digital camera to easily upload photos to your computer. I started off using a Kodak EasyShare digital camera for under $100. I had to buy the more expensive Canon E0S Rebel XS digital camera for school so I use that one now to take all my photos. I find that both work well for taking Etsy photos and I wouldn't recommend getting a super expensive camera if you're just starting out.



My Set Up
I use a white poster board for my background. I used to have a lightbox set up, but I found a white poster board laid on the ground works just as well for me. I have a set of lights I shine above the white poster board as my lighting. I've read that it helps to have lights on both sides of your set up to avoid shadows. Some people like to use natural light, but I find that this way works the best for me.

I have my camera set up on the macro/close up setting. When I first found out about the close up setting, it made my photos improve a lot. Make sure to try this out if you're taking photos of smaller items.

Taking Photos
When I set up to take photos, I usually wait until I have a few Etsy items I want to take photos of. I usually take about 20-30 photos per item, depending on the item and how many details there are to it. Once I have the photos, I go through the photos on the view finder quickly and just delete any really bad (out of focus, bad lighting) photos. I keep the rest and wait until I edit them on the computer to really go through them.

What are some of your best photo taking tips?

Magazine Scans Inspiration

I recently went through some old magazines and scanned some articles and photos I liked for inspiration. Here are a couple scans:





What do you look to for inspiration?

Thank You Greeting Cards

These are some thank you greeting cards I updated the photos of:

Crayon Hearts Thank You Greeting Card




Blue Flower Thank You Greeting Card



Do you like to send thank you greeting cards?

Figure Skating Stocking Tutorial

I made this cute ice skate stocking for Christmas using this tutorial. Even though it's a stocking, it's great to make any time during the winter months.

1.) To make it,  I used the basic stocking pattern (found on the tutorial) to cut a boot shape out of black and white felt and the blades out of gray felt. I didn't have any fleece so I just used black felt on the inside with white felt on the outside.

Using white floss, I whipstitched the stocking together around the edges with the top edges unsewn. You're supposed to just fold down the top to make a cuff but I ended up sewing that on with black floss to hold it better.



I didn't do all the decorations suggested in the tutorials, but I added some of my own. I used sequins on the blade and for the holes for the laces. To make the holes, I made four small circles out of sequins. Then I laced black floss through them to make them look like laces. And that's it! You can write or sew a name on top if you want.



I like how my ice skating stocking came out. It wasn't too hard to make and it's great to have a unique, fun stocking.

Have you ever made your own stocking? Let me know if you try out this tutorial.

International Customers on Etsy

Making your Etsy or small business easy for international customers to use can grow your business and help you get more customers. Here are some tips on how to make your Etsy more accessible to international customers:

Where are people coming from?

First, you can look on Google Analytics or Etsy Stats to see where a lot of viewers are coming from. Then, see where your past buyers have bought from. Is there a certain international place where a lot of customers are from? Research more about this country and where people from that place go on the internet. Is there a team on Etsy for that country? Maybe you'll find a website or message board for arts and crafts for people in that country. Choose a few countries you want to target..

Translate different tags

Since international viewers might search in different languages besides English, it is a good idea to have some of your important tags in other languages. Translate tags in languages for places you want buyers to come from. You can also translate words in to popular languages like Spanish, Italian and French. Put these words in extra tags if you have room of them.

For example, I sell greeting cards in my shop. "Greeting card" in different languages is:
French - carte de vœux
Italian - biglietto d'auguri
Dutch - wenskaart
Spanish - tarjeta de felicitación

Shipping

Offer international shipping. There is an "Everywhere else" option on Etsy where you can set a flat rate for international places. You might also want to include specific shipping for a few countries (like Canada and Mexico which are usually cheaper than other international places). These are my shipping rates in my shop:

Cards and Small Items
United States $2.00 USD
Canada $2.50 USD
Mexico $3.50 USD
Everywhere Else $5.00 USD

Journals and Larger Items
United States $4.00 USD
Canada $6.00 USD
Mexico $10.00 USD
Everywhere Else $12.00 USD

Use a shipping calculator, like the USPS Postal Price Calculator, to get exact rates. If you're shipping small or light items, try to use a cheaper option like First Class. 

Translator Widget

If you have your own website, have a translator widget or section for international viewers. If you can speak another language fluently, that is a great way to connect to international fans. In Etsy, go to Shop Settings > Info > Apperance > Languages to opt in to another language on Etsy. You can also hire a translator or use a free translator if you're not fluent. Make sure to write at the top "Translated by..." (and then whatever translator you're using) so people know you're using a translator. Sometimes, translators (especially free ones) don't get it completely right so you want to clear up any confusion. Even though a lot of people know English, talking in someone's foreign language can make a better and easier experience for your customer.

If you run an Etsy, do you have a lot of international customers?  Are you an international customer? Get 15% off any purchase in my shop if you enter the code "INTERNATIONAL" on my Etsy or Storenvy. 

Wedding Photography

I love looking at wedding photography. Here are a couple wedding photos that inspire me.







What type of photography do you like?

How to Make a Blog Graphic Tutorial

         
This tutorial will show you how to make a graphic for your blog. This technique can also be used for your website or wherever you'd like. It's pretty simple to do and all you need is a basic photo editor (I use Adobe Photoshop, but almost any photo editor will work for this tutorial).

Sizing

The first thing to do is figure out the size you want your graphic to be. This might depend on what blog service you use or how your website is set up. To find what size would work best for my layout, I took a screen capture of my blog. I selected the area I estimated my image would look nice in with the Rectangular Marquee tool in my image editor. I then selected copy and paste.

The size of my blog image for this blog is 900 (width) x 222 (height). Play around and see what works best for you.

Icons

Next, you want to choose some images to put in your blog graphic. Choose about 10-20 images. Later, we'll narrow them down. You want to choose images that fit well with your blog or website and represent what you do. For example, look at stats for your blog or website and see what your most viewed entries are or entries with the most comments. You might look at images in those entries and choose your favorites of those images to put in your blog graphic. If you own an Etsy blog, you could look on your Etsy stats and see which of your Etsy items are viewed the most. Use images from those items in your graphic. You don't just have to rely on what's popular. Use images you think look best and work well with each other.

I made a folder called "Icons" on my computer where I put all the images I considered using. For my images, I chose images from my favorite and most popular blog posts. These are some examples of images I considered:



Next, you want to resize your images in to icons so they are small enough to fit in your graphics. I made my icons 150 x 150 pixels. 6 icons make a 900 pixel width altogether which is the size I wanted my graphic. Choose a size for your icons that fits in to your overall graphic.  For example, you could do 5 icons that are 150 x 150 pixels if your image is 750 pixels wide. The important thing is to experiment and see what works best for you. You might decide you want to change the size of your graphic once you play with icons.

Once you decide a size for your icons, copy and paste the icons in to a new image the size of your blog graphic. Play around with different icons and see what works best. The good thing about icons they're easy to replace so you can change the icons in your graphic later if you want. For my blog graphic, I decided on these 6 icons. I chose a mix of my Etsy items and photos I had on my blog:



Text and Title
You need to add some text now. Pick a couple of fonts you really like and think would look nice with your graphic. You might want to download some new fonts.

I ended up choosing a font called Ahnberg for my graphic. I just wanted to put the title of my blog above the icons. You might want to add some other info such as a logo or caption. Once you have your text, flatten the layers in your image editing program and save it as a JPG, PNG or GIF file. You've just made a blog header graphic!



Putting it Together

Now you just have to add your new graphic to your blog or website. You might want to take a screen capture of your blog first and paste your blog image in to see how it looks. How you upload your blog graphic will depend on the service you are using. To add your graphic to Blogger, click on "Layout". On the header box, click edit and upload an image. I put the placement "Instead of Title and Description".

Let me know if you find this tutorial helpful. I'd love to see your blog header graphic.

Favorite Music Related Websites

I love looking at music related websites. These are some of my favorite music sites:
8Tracks - 8Tracks is a mixtape website. You can make mixtapes with any theme you want and listen to other people's mixes. I love finding new music on this site and seeing how people put songs together to form interesting mixes.

Songkick - Songkick lets you see upcoming concerts for your favorite artists. It's a good way to keep track of what concerts you've been to and want to go to.

Last FM - Last FM allows you to keep track of the music you're listening to on your computer or iPod. You can also find recommended artists/bands to listen to.

What music websites do you like?

Help Move the Needle Raise Money!

I started a new project on a site called RocketHub where I am trying to raise money for my shop. RocketHub is a crowdfunding movement that allows people to raise money for their business or idea. You can click here to donate to my shop or use the widget below.



The money earned from RocketHub will be used:
*To buy new materials so I can make new items
*Web hosting so I can launch my own website
*Money might also be used for Etsy fees, advertising and other costs

Some ideas I have for new items are:
*An illustrated children's book
*Planners and calendars with more own photography or artwork
*Greeting cards for more unique holidays and events like Mother's Day, Chinese New Year and prom

If you donate, you can get prizes like:
*Donate $5 - You will get a personalized, handwritten thank you note from me, as well as a mention on my blog, Facebook and Twitter.
*Donate $10 - Greeting card of your choice from my shop as well as all of the rewards above
*Donate $20 - You will get a $10 gift certificate to my shop
*Donate $50 - You will get a $30 gift certificate to my shop
*Donate $100 - If you donate $100 or more, you will get a custom item as well as a $50 gift certificate

If you can't donate, you can always spread the word (e.g. on social networking or your blog) about it. Have you ever used a crowdfunding site like Rocket?

Advertising in March

I am accepting ad swaps for March and April. If you would prefer to pay to have your ad up, you can do that too. You can learn about advertising on this blog here.

I did 5 ad swaps in February. I also got a feature on Eyelah's blog (one of the blogs I swapped with). You can read it here. It was my first time swapping this many ads at once. I got some clicks for each site, but not a whole lot. I dont know if it'd be worth it if I paid for the ads, but I like doing swaps. Its also a good way to promote other businesses and find new blogs.

For this month, I have some new sponsors and some of the same ones from last month. You can see ads on the right side of this page. I might do a feature later where I go more in to depth about each sponsor.