New Sold Items

I sold a few items. I sold this New York City Wavy Map Greeting Card:



I also sold this Spring Garden Journal to my sister:



Have you bought anything on Etsy lately?

Fire Inspiration

I love looking at photos of fire. Here are some finds of fire photographs:








What do you like to look or take photos of?

Favorite Etsy Apps for Social Media

Etsy has a page where it lists a bunch of applications that are Etsy related. These are some apps I like to use that are related to social media.


Facebook


I use an Etsy, Storenvy and blog application on my Facebook page so those sites are directly connected to my Facebook.

I use Etsy Theme to showcase my Etsy store on my Facebook page. I use the Storenvy application so it links directly to my Storenvy. There is no direct Blogger application, but I use Networked Blogs which posts new blog updates.

I also use IFTTT to set it up so every time I renew an item on Etsy or write a new blog post, it posts a Facebook update. IFTTT is a really useful site that automates tasks for you and there are a variety of websites and things you can do with it. I recommend checking it out.

Twitter 

Hootsuite lets you schedule tweets in advance. It's my favorite Twitter application to schedule tweets and check my @replies. You can also connect your Facebook and Google +. Etsy Fu lets you post random items from your shop.

FriendorFollow allows you to easily unfollow people on Twitter that don't follow you back and see who's following you that you're not following.

What Etsy apps do you like to use?

Favorite Authors

These are some of my favorite authors.

Nick Hornby has written a lot of books that have turned in to movies like "High Fidelity", "About a Boy" and "Fever Pitch". I like the way he writes about relationships and music.



Audrey Niffenegger wrote "The Time Traveler's Wife". She's also from Chicago and I like that she uses Chicago settings in her book.


Nicholas Sparks is the author of "The Notebook" and writes a lot of romantic novels that I like.



I like Chuck Palahniuk's style of writing. He wrote "Fight Club" and "Choke" which were turned in to movies. I went through a period where I read a lot of his books.



I wanted to include a children's author too. Dr. Seuss is one of my favorite children's author and I love this photo with a quote by him.

Who are your favorite authors?

Art Supplies Wishlist

I recently bought some items at Dick Blick. I mostly just got sketch paper and glue, but they have a wishlist section on their site and I thought I'd post some items on my art supplies wishlist:

Speedball Composition Gold Leaf Kit



I love playing around with gold leaf. I used it once as makeup for a fairy Halloween costume. I might try to make a journal or card with it. I'm pretty sure this is imitation gold leaf and not the real thing.

Tube Wringer


The tube wringer is meant for paint, but you can use it with other tubes too. It helps you get the last bit of paint (or whatever) out of a tube.

Sakura Pigma Micron Pens



These pens are acid free and archival. I like to use them from anything from drawing to writing notes.

Spectra Sparkling Glitter



I love using glitter especially in my greeting cards and art journaling. I like this brand because it's affordable and comes in different colors.

What art supplies do you like to buy?

Make Money by Searching the Web

I found two websites you can use that will give you money or gift certificates for searching the web.

Bing Rewards is a program from the Bing search engine that gives you rewards, such as Amazon gift certificates, for using their search engine.

A similar program to this is SwagBucks where you can win money for doing searches. On SwagBucks, you earn points for a variety of tasks such as taking polls and watching videos. If you do searches through SwagBucks, you have a chance to win points (I've won a few times so it's not that hard to get extra points this way). You can redeem points for various items such as money through PayPal, gift cards and more. SwagBucks just uses the Google search engine so it's the same results as Google. You can have the SwagBucks toolbar installed to make it easy to search.

How do you like to make extra money?

Back to School

It's back to school time. Whether you are a student or teacher, these items are great for back to school:

Mini Math Journal



This cute mini journal uses math script decorative paper. It's perfect for sticking in your backpack for quick notes or doing math problems.

Yearbook Graduation Greeting Card





This graduation greeting card is perfect for somebody planning to graduate. Also check out the Black and White Yearbook Coptic Stitch Journal.

Vote Black and Red Flat Greeting Card



Autism Awareness Journal



This journal helps promote autism awareness. The puzzle theme makes this item good for children or special education.

A is for Apple Greeting Card



This greeting card would be great to give to a teacher.

Of course, all journals would be good to use for school. Journals are good for either taking notes or sketching for an art class.

Enter the coupon code "BACKTOSCHOOL" to get a 30% discount (minimum purchase is $10) in my shop (ends Oct 1). Do you shop for back to school?

Places I Want to Visit

These are some places I want to visit from around the world:

Paris

I'd love to go to France. My mom has been and I have learned a little French because of her.

Asia 

I'm not sure exactly where, but I'd like to explore Asia someday like Japan and China.

Italy 

I've already been to Italy, but I'd love to go back there and explore it more.

Canada

It's not that far from the United States, but I've never been to Canada. I've always wanted to go. I'm not sure where in Canada I would like to go, but I'd just like to visit some day.

Las Vegas

I've been to most major cities in the United States, but I've never been to Las Vegas so I'd want to go someday.

What places do you want to visit?

Ways to Promote Your Blog Posts

I have been trying to promote my blog posts more lately. These are some ways you can promote your blog posts after posting them.

Social Media
For both Facebook and Twitter, I use IFTTT so my blog updates post automatically. You can add tweetables that will help promote your post on Twitter. Use the Pinterest browser extension to pin images from new posts. Also, have your blog connected to Google+ (if you use Blogger) so you can share posts automatically.

Etsy Teams
Etsy is a good place to promote your blog posts. I usually look for threads in my teams such as the Etsy Blog Team. You can also post big updates, like giveaways, in your shop announcements.

Bookmarking Sites
Bookmarking sites, like StumbleUpon, Digg and Reddit, are good for promoting individual entries. I post one of my entries on Reddit and it got a bunch of comments through the site.

SEO Optimization
Another way to promote blog posts is through SEO optimization which makes it easier for people to find you through search engines. Before making a blog post, use the Google Keyword Tool search to find low competition keywords or phrase for your blog and image titles.

Blogging Community
Join a blogging community like Bloggers. Leave your link when you comment on other people's blogs. Have a link to feeders, like Bloglovin and FeedBurner, on your blog so people can easily subscribe to it and get updates when you post new entries.

If you have a blog, how do you promote it?

Sunflower Photography

I recently took some photos of sunflowers that grew in my garden. These are some of my favorite photos:











You can see more photos I've taken on my Flickr. I made a new 2013 set. What do you like to take photos of?

New Coptic Stitch Journals

I listed two new journals. Both use the coptic stitch method.

San Francisco Coptic Stitch Journal



This journal uses a map of San Francisco. It is bound together using the coptic stitch method.

Black and White Yearbook Coptic Stitch Journal



This journals use a yearbook decorative paper. It would be a good gift for graduation.

Let me know what you think.