Want to Be Reviewed?

Do you have a company with a product you want me to review? I am doing product reviews on this blog. Some examples of products I will review include:

• Handmade products from Etsy
• Vegan companies and products
• Art and art journaling supplies
• Business tools
• Digital products

I also do interviews and accept guest posts. Contact me for more details.

Custom Items and Mailing List E-Mail Courses

 

 

I have some shop updates. In my Etsy shop, Move the Needle  I changed the decorative paper for custom items. Before, I had a bunch of listings for each topic of decorative paper (maps, watercolor, etc.), but I thought it would be easier to make it all one listing. If you want a different decorative paper other than the one listed, you can just contact me. I also added different colored card stock for greeting cards.

I think I will add some Halloween items in my shop soon. I do not think it is too early to list Halloween items. I am going to do custom items so I will just make items to order.

I am also working on a couple e-mail courses that will be free. I started a new mailing list under my name, Anna Leehey, where you will get updates on all my projects including my shops and blog. The reason I started a new mailing list is because I use different names for my shop and blog and I thought that would make it easier. You can sign up for my mailing list on the right side of this page. 

I think I will have one course for my craft shop, Move the Needle, where I give art journaling tips. The course for my new mailing list will be on how to start and grow a handmade business on Etsy. Let me know what courses you think I should do in the comments. 

Iridescent Collection Lookbook

Check out the new iridescent collection in my shop on Etsy, Move the Needle. You can check out the lookbook for this collection below:

You have a choice between 8 beautiful iridescent colors. Iridescent paper displays reflective, rainbow colors that change when seen from different angles. The paper is made in Taiwan. It has a glossy finish, with a vinyl like feel texture. 

 

All items are custom and made to order. You can get a Custom Iridescent Wavy Greeting Card or Custom Iridescent Rounded Greeting Card. If you prefer a collage look, the rounded card is available for collage. 

You can also get custom volant moleskine journals. If there is another style of Moleskine journal you want, I can take other custom orders.

The items are also available in gift sets. The Iridescent Greeting Card Gift Set comes in a set of 8 wavy or rounded greeting cards. You can also get a set of 8 of the Custom Altered Iridescent Soft Cover Volant Moleskine Journal

Use the coupon code IRIDESCENTSALE to get 10% off any order using iridescent decorative paper. 

Items for Sale in Move the Needle

For a limited time only, these items are on sale in the new Sale section of my shop:

Rounded Zebra Greeting Card




Cow Grazing in Grass Journal



Yellow Dalmatian Photo Frame



Most of these items I made a while ago so I decided to put them up for half price before I retire them. Do you buy items on sale on Etsy?

2014 Planners

Want a custom planner for 2014? Click the "Request custom order" button in my shop. Here are some examples of custom planners I have done in the past:







Do you use a planner?

Shop Statistics in 2013

These are my shop statistics for 2013.

Visitors

I had 2,357 shop views, 10,507 listing views, 305 favorites and 6 purchases on Etsy. Popular countries were United States, United Kingdom and Canada. Overall, I had more views and sales this year.

Top Referrers

Most traffic was from direct traffic and Etsy. Second was RebelMouse, Google and this blog. Some other referrers were Pinterest, Craftster and some blogs I advertised on. The Etsy home page, New Year's and Home and Living sections were popular traffic sources on Etsy. Planners and cookbooks were popular keyword searches.

Most Viewed Items

Custom alter planners were viewed a lot early this year.  Some other items that were viewed a lot were:


Pumpkin Harvest Coptic Stitch Journal



Red and Gold Marbled Journal



Oversized Envelope Sketch Book



Top Favorited

These items had the most favorites this year:

Green Leaves Coptic Stitch Journal



Multicolored Hearts Greeting Card



Wavy Feel Better Blue and Purple Paisley Greeting Card




 You can see last year's statistics here. How were your statistics this year?

New Business Pinterest

I made a new Pinterest specifically for Move the Needle here. I have a personal Pinterest here where my blog is linked, but I wanted to try making a business Pinterest for my shop. I am trying to pin paper and journal related items.




Here are a couple boards I created:

Paper

Edible Books

Writing



Feel free to follow me!

Happy Birthday Giveaway!

I'm having a giveaway to celebrate my 25th birthday (today!). One winner will get a $25 gift certificate to my shop, Move the Needle (25 represents turning 25 years old). With $25, you can buy a variety of items in my shop including journals, mini journals, boxes and greeting cards.

To enter, just leave a comment with one thing you wish for (could be anything, doesn't haven't to be physical) and let me know any extra entries you did. Also, make sure you leave your e-mail or some way to contact you. The giveaway ends on October 20th (12 midnight eastern time) so you have about 2 weeks to enter. I will announce the winner shortly after.

Extra entries:
*Like Move the Needle on Facebook
*Follow Move the Needle on Twitter
*Follow Move the Needle on Google +
*Follow me on Pinterest
*Follow me on Flickr
*Follow or subscribe to this blog
*Post about this giveaway on another site such as your blog or forums (up to 2 entries)
*Post on any social media site with hashtag #mythreadofthought (up to 2 entries)
*Favorite my shop on Etsy or Storenvy (up to 2 entries)
*Favorite an item in my shop on either Etsy or Storenvy (up to 3 entries)
*Open a store on Etsy with my referral link
*Like Move the Needle on StumbleUpon
*Purchase from my Etsy shop and use the coupon code GIVEAWAY25 (you'll also get 10% off your purchase)
*Subscribe to Move the Needle's mailing list

Good luck!

Shop Updates and Labels

I bought a new domain name, movetheneedlepaper.com. My old domain was movetheneedlecreations.com, but somebody bought the domain before I had a chance to renew it and didn't respond to the email I sent them so I had to change it. movetheneedle.com is also taken so I chose movetheneedlepaper.com,

Since I changed the domain name, I decided to update the labels for my items. Before, I had some of my items labels and others weren't. I made new labels on printable sticker paper with my new domain on it and used it on all my items. I think it's better that everything is labeled now.

Here are some in the process photos of cards I put labels on: 

 If you have the old domain bookmarked, make sure to change it!

Move the Needle's Fifth Year Anniversary

It was Move the Needle's anniversary/birthday on June 5th. I actually forgot about it until now. Move the Needle has been open since 2008 so that makes this year its 5th year. If you want to get 20% off any order in Move the Needle in the month of June, enter the code "ANNIVERSARY" at checkout. I thought I'd do a post on some recent updates at Move the Needle.

I added custom tabs to my Facebook fanpage. You can check it out here and like me if you haven't already. I like the way custom tabs look and they were fun to make.

I've sold wholesale/consignment a few times, but I want to try to get more in to wholesale. I'm currently contacting shops and learning more about selling wholesale. I made a line sheet for my business which is basically like a catalog you give to shops you want to sell your product in. Here is a page from my line sheet. If you buy wholesale, you can contact me here to see my full line sheet.

I took a while to do, but I'm glad I made a line sheet because it will make it easier for shops to buy things from me. A line sheet is also good for people who want to bulk order products from Move the Needle.

I still have to finish my Etsy eBook. It ended up being bigger than I thought and is taking me longer to finish. I hope I will have it finished and published by next month though.

I also sent out my mailing list for June last week. If you are not subscribed to my mailing list already, click here. You will also get free art journaling ideas for subscribing.

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?

New Photos

Here are some photos I retook for my shop.

Circus Dots Photo Album



Chinese Lady Yang Journal



Black and Gold Marbled Journal



You can see all updated photos here.

8 Year Anniversary on eBay

One way I like to make some extra cash is on EBay. I think it's a good way to get rid of old items and also find good deals. 

Today is my 8 year anniversary on eBay! I got this image on my homepage today. 

I find that books, electronics and beauty products usually sell pretty well. I also decided to list some of my Etsy items. Hopefully some more of my items will sell. You can see my listings here. Do you use EBay?

Updated Thanksgiving Items

It's almost Thanksgiving! Here are some Thanksgiving items I updated the photos for in my shop:



Watercolor Pumpkin Harvest Thanksgiving Card




Pumpkin Harvest Coptic Stitch Journal




Autumn Leaves Thanksgiving Card



Autumn Acorns Greeting Card



 For more Thanksgiving items, check out the Thanksgiving section. Do you shop for Thanksgiving?

Top Rated Seller on EBay

I became a top rated seller on EBay! I've been using EBay for a while now and it feels good that I became a top rated seller. eBay's Top Rated sellers consistently receive highest buyer's rating, ship items quickly and have earned a track record of good service.

 

You can see my EBay profile and buy from me here. 

Do you use EBay?

Oversized Envelope Journal

I updated the photos for this Oversized Envelope Journal:




Let me know what you think.

Move the Needle September Newsletter

I sent out my Move the Needle Newsletter for September 2012. The newsletter comes out once a month and has short updates about my shop and blog. You can read the September issue here.

To subscribe to the Move the Needle newsletter, use the box on the right hand side of this blog or click here. You also get 10 free art journaling ideas just for subscribing (as shown in the screen capture above).

Do you subscribe to mailing lists?

Updated Boxes

These are some boxes I updated the photos for:

Autism Awareness Box



This Little Piggy Box



Let me know what you think. Do you like to use boxes?

Updated Greeting Cards

I updated the photos for these greeting cards:

Congratulations Gold Sequins Greeting Card



Yearbook Graduation Greeting Card



Do you like to give out greeting cards?