Recent Items on My Wishlist

These are some recent items on my wishlist:

This reversible camera strap from Paisley Maizie is really cute. I love the polka dot fabric with the turquoise chevron fabric.

I'm looking for a new face cream. Sofar, I've tried some samples by Benefit and Bobbi Brown. I think I'm going to try some more samples before purchasing a full size product. I might look at some more organic face creams too. If you have any recommendations, let me know.

I keep seeing this decorative tape like this one from Iskay Boutique. I might experiment and try to make some myself with decorative paper I have.

I'm getting a new laptop soon and I thought it'd be fun to get some laptop accessories from Etsy like this Blue Star Keyboard Decal.

I love this clock that looks like a painter's palette from Cuteness Factory. I think it would be great to put up in an art studio.

What's on your wishlist?

Magi Market Day Craft Show

I went to the Magi Market Day craft show on May 26th. It was the first craft show I did this year. This was what my set up looked like:

I added a mailing list sign up sheet which I don't usually do. I also decided to make labels using chalkboard paint on premade labels and I think it worked nicely.

The event was pretty small and I think it was their first show so there weren't a lot of people there. I did sell 3 greeting cards though:

Just a Note Greeting Card



B is for Bird Greeting Card



I also sold this kite greeting card which I hadn't listed on Etsy yet:



Have you been to any craft shows lately?

Updated Handmade Journals

These are some journals I updated the photos for.

Silver Squares Coptic Stitch Journal



Cow Grazing in Grass Journal



Red and Gold Marbled Journal



Which is your favorite?

Magi Market Day Craft Show

Move the Needle will be vending at the Magi Market Day craft show tomorrow. There will be art, music, food, vintage items and more. The event will be in the Pilsen area of Chicago on May 26th (tomorrow) from 1-6pm.

Come visit if you’re in the area! Come visit if you’re in the area! You can learn more about the show here or RSVP on Facebook here.

Favorite Podcasts

I like to listen to podcasts on iTunes. These are some random podcasts I like:

Etsy - I love the official Etsy podcast. It's a video podcast with short videos which they also post on their blog. The videos usually feature a shop and they do a behind the scenes video and interview with the owner.

Etsy Conversations - This is a non video, unofficial Etsy podcast that interviews different Etsy members who run shops. I think it's a good podcast and it's nice to hear stories of other Etsy members in podcast form.

YogaToday - This is a video yoga podcast with nice videos that take place in beautiful outdoor settings. I try to do one of the short videos every day.

Vegetarian Food for Thought - This is a vegan podcast that talks about veganism and animal rights

Ask A Vegan - This is another vegan podcast focused mostly on health and nutrition.

Paranormal Podcast - This podcast talks about random paranormal topics like UFOs and ghosts. The stories are interesting to hear.

TedTalks - Ted Talks always has interesting podcasts with talks on various topics. They have both video and audio podcasts.

What are some of your favorite podcasts?

Product Review: Madison Nail Polish

I recently made a purchase from an Etsy shop, Madison Street Beauty. I found the shop because I was reading an Etsy business article that recommended looking at the top selling shops on Etsy and seeing what they do to get business. I ended up buying 4 nail polishes from them because they were 60% off for Mother's Day. I thought it was a great deal to get natural nail polish for only $2/bottle and I have been wanting to try handmade nail polish/beauty products from Etsy.

Madison Street Beauty was started to create affordable, all natural, vegan and environmentally friendly cosmetics. Besides nail polish, they sell other makeup such as foundation, blush, lip balm and eye shadow. The nail polish is non toxic, handmade and never tested on animals. It is 3-free which means it's free from the chemicals Formaldehyde, Toluene, and Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP). I purchased the colors Island Cove, Cosmic Girl, Venus and Platinum. Here's the nail polish packaging and the colors on my nails:

Here is more about each individual color:

Island Cove is a nice turquoise color. It's similar to a color from OPI  that I had called Catch Me in Your Net, but I like the color of this one better. The OPI polish had more glitter while the Madison Street Beauty nail polish is more shimmer-y.



Cosmic Girl is a sort of purple-ly pink color. I really like this color and it might be my favorite out of the ones I bought.



Venus is a pretty coral color. It's also similar to an OPI color I already had called Melon of Troy. Melon of Troy is a little more orange compared to Venus though.



Platinum is a silver color. I thought it would be more white, but it's a good bright silver color.

All the colors are really nice and have a shimmer effect to them. The only problem I had with them is when I first tested out a color without a base coat, my nails stained a little so I'd recommend putting a base and top coat over the colors so you don't stain your nails.

The size is also pretty small, but since the price was so affordable, I think it's a good deal. The size is 5 ml / 0.17 oz mini nail polish bottle with classic brush. I like that the brush is smaller than the OPI brush because I have small hands.

Overall, if you're looking natural, handmade cosmetics that are affordable, I'd recommend trying ou Madison Street Beauty.

You can get a 20% discount from their store if you enter the code "MOVETHENEEDLE" at checkout.

Have you ever bought handmade beauty products?

Nail Art Inspiration

These are some photos of nail art that inspire me:









You can see more on my Pinterest. I recently bought some nail polish on Etsy and I will have a review up on my blog next week.

New Personal Photos

These are some random photos I took from the past few weeks.

These are some magic wands I made with ribbon I had. I think I'm going to do a tutorial on how to make these. 

This is Vega, a dog I pet sit for through DogVacay. The second photo is of Vega with my sister's dog Marathon.

These are some photos from around my bedroom. I like using baskets to hold small things such as nail polish:

I like this photo I got of a cabbage while I was making dinner.

This is a photo of a flower from my garden. I love that everything has sprung up now.

Do you like to take photos?

Selling on Amazon Tutorial

Amazon is good website to sell used items online. You can sell all types of used items. I've founded used media items such as books, CDs and DVDs sell well on Amazon.

Signing Up

To start selling Amazon, click here. You can sell either professionally for $40/month (if you sell more than 40 items a month) or sell as an individual seller (you pay $0.99 per sale). You can also sell Fulfillment by Amazon which means Amazon will store and ship your orders for you. I chose the individual seller version because I sell less than 40 items per month and like to ship my items myself.

Listing Items 

To add a new item, click the "Inventory" tab and click add a product. Enter your product name or ISBN number. If it's not in Amazon's catalog, you can click the "Create a new product" button. Find your exact item and click the "Sell yours" button. Make sure you click on the right edition of your book.

For example, I had a craft book called "Glorious Crocheted Sweaters" by Nola Theiss in very good condition I wanted to sell (pictured above). I searched for the title of the book and clicked on "Sell yours".



You have to fill in the condition, your price and quantity. Above the "Your price" box you can see what the lowest price a seller is selling the item for. This is good if you want to sell your item at the lowest price to help it sell. The lowest price for this book was $0.33. Sometimes I match the low price or sell mine cheaper. In this case, I thought the lowest price was too low so I sold mine a little higher for $3.99. The price might change depending on the condition of your items and what it is worth. You can search on Amazon to see what your item is selling for.

Click "Save and finish" and your item is listed. You can see all your inventory on the Inventory tab under "Manage Inventory". You will get an email if your item sells. You can also check right on the Seller Central page. The buyer pays for shipping and you can print out a shipping label right from Amazon. 

Trade in Feature

Instead of getting cash, you can use the trade in feature to trade in items for an Amazon gift certificate. You can trade in electronics, books, movies, music and video games. Just search for your item. Print a shipping label and ship your items to free for Amazon. If they meet the product eligibility criteria, you'll get an Amazon gift card. They will send any items that are not eligible back to you. 

In general, you'll get more money for items by selling them than by trading them in for money in an Amazon gift certificate. The trade in a good option to do if you have a lot of items that you don't want to list individually or you would prefer a gift card. I also like to trade in items if I've had them listed on Amazon for a while (such as over 5 months), but they haven't been selling. 

Performance Page and Feedback

You can see how well your performance is under the "Peformance" tab. See your account health, seller rating and feedback. You can respond to any feedback you have. Amazon has a feature that shows how you can improve your rating. For example, it said I could improve my rating by shipping sooner, avoiding cancelling orders if possible and responding to messages in less than 24 hours. 

Overall, I've found Amazon is a great website for making some extra money. I like to sell my used books on Amazon instead of eBay because it is easy to list items and they sell better on Amazon. I also like that you don't have to take your own photos and the info on the product is already there. 

If you try selling on Amazon, let me know. Also feel free to share any tips for selling online in the comments. 

Wedding Inspiration

Here are some wedding inspired photos:







What kind of things do you like to see in a wedding?

Personal Art Journaling

These are some art journal entries I did:





I'm in the process about writing an eBook about art journaling. You can also get art journaling ideas if you sign up for my mailing list here.

Advertising in May

I'm currently accepting new ads for May. You can learn about advertising on this blog here.

Some new sponsors I have for May are:

Abi's Little Wanderings 
That L.A. It Girl
Jess is More
Rachel is Elsewhere
EveryDay Bloom
Floralled
Isn't That Sew

I have three ad sizes you can choose and you can also do an ad swap. I added a new feature so sponsors that buy (not swap) a Spotlight/Large ad or Middle Man/Medium ad get a blog entry featuring them. If you choose the Spotlight ad, you can choose to have a blog entry all about you/your shop with an interview, giveaway or other features you want. If you choose the Middle Man ad, which is a little cheaper, you also get a mention in a blog entry, but you don't get your own separate entry. Each spot also gets a Twitter mention about their entry.

Do you do advertising?

Magazine Inspiration

These are some scans from old magazines I found that inspire me:





Where do you like to find inspiration?

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Website Discoveries

I love looking on the internet and finding new websites. Here are some of my recent website/blog discoveries:

LearnVest - I read about this website while reading Cosmopolitan magazine. It gives tips for saving and earning more money. I'm doing all their bootcamps which are free lessons that last about 10 days for different money topics such as getting out of debt, cutting your costs and having a baby. The website also has a good feature for budgeting yur money and seeing where your money is going.

And Then We Saved - This is another money focused website. Instead of budgeting money, this blog has a technique called the "spending fast". You make a list of purchases that are "needs" (like housing and food) and another list of items that are "wants" (like clothes and movies). You only spend money in the "needs" list until you get out of debt. The person that started the blog did the spending fast for a year. The blog also offers crafty tips on way to save money.

Hukkster - Hukster is a bookmarking tool focused mostly on fashion. If you see an item you like at a clothing store online, you can "hukk" it and it will save it to your Hukkster wishlist. Hukkster notifies you when items go on sale. You can also seperate your list in to different topics such as dresses, shoes and accessories. It's kind of like Pinterest for clothes.

ZenHabits - ZenHabits is a blog focused on getting unnesscary things out of your life and being more zen. The blog offers basic, practical tips you can use to get rid of clutter from your life and focus more on what's important.

Meditation Timer - One of my goals this year is to try to meditate more. Meditation timers such as this one make it easier. You set a certain time to meditate such as 10 minutes. It's kind of like an alarm clock for meditation, but the alarm sound is soothing so it gently wakes you out of meditation.

What websites have you discovered lately?