Fun Friday Find #2 - Creative with Clay

I love coming across unusual finds for table/kitchenware... recently I stumbled onto some really cool pottery with a modern flare and bright colors! This work reminds of the Southwest - rolling with tumbleweeds... rich hues of the soil.... and heading into Mexico - cantinas on every corner....

Shake your money maker with this sweet pair for $34 - ready for your table - match with your Fiesta Ware!

If you ever have wine left after you uncork a bottle - jazz it up with one of these bright and fun wine stoppers for only $18 each!

Wouldn't this gal look stunning on your Adobe wall? You can have her hanging around for $115 - I think she would fit right in!

If you haven't seen the work of Creative with Clay - I recommend you do so! Check out the following places below to shop and read more about this Fun Friday Find:

Creative with Clay Website

Creative with Clay Etsy Store

Creative with Clay Blog

BH Member Vintage by Crystal on Martha Stewart Recap

Fellow Boston Handmade member, Crystal Hanehan, of Vintage by Crystal, was on the Martha Stewart Show yesterday demonstrating how to create her needle felted bird's nest with spun cotton stand... and old German technique that she has mastered.... just in time for Easter!

The video will be up shortly online at Martha Stewart and you can read about it there and download instructions on how to make one yourself!

And, I have to say - thanks to Crystal - Martha is now privy to the endless shopping that can be done at the Dollar Store... after all "They are on every street corner in America!" dontcha' know!

Check out Crystals Shops and Blog at:

Vintage by Crystal Website

Vintage by Crystal Etsy Shop

Vintage by Crystal Blog

16 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Blog By Denise Wakeman & Patsi Krakoff

I don't usually post full articles to my blog - however, I thought this was excellent, useful information... including resources for bloggers to drive traffic to their blog. After all - great content = higher search index = more traffic = return readers and if you host advertisers = revenue! Enjoy!

16 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your BlogBy Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff

You've got your blog set up and you've started posting pithy, useful information that your niche market would benefit from and enjoy. Days go by, you keep publishing, but no one comments and your traffic stats are barely registering. What do you do?

Like any website you own, you must do some blog promotion to start driving traffic to your site. Here are 16 steps, in no particular order of importance, that you can start doing now to get traffic moving to your blog.

1. Set up a Bloglet subscription form on your blog and invite everyone in your network to subscribe: family, friends, colleagues, clients, associates.
Http://www.bloglet.com

2. Set up a feed on MyYahoo.com so your site gets regularly spidered by the Yahoo search engine (see tutorial on http://www.biztipsblog.com)
http://www.my.yahoo.com

3. Read and comment on other blogs that are in your target niche. Don't write things like "nice blog" or "great post." Write intelligent, useful comments with a link to your blog.

4. Use Ping-0-matic to ping blog directories. Do this every time you publish.
http://www.pingomatic.com

5. Submit your blog to traditional search engines: http://www.submitfire.com

6. Submit your blog to blog directories. The most comprehensive list of directories is on this site: http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/
Tip: Create a form to track your submissions; this can take several hours when you first start so schedule an hour a day for submitting or hire a VA to do it for you.

7. Add a link to your blog in your email signature file.

8. Put a link to your blog on every page of your website.

9. If you publish a newsletter, make sure you have a link to your blog in every issue.

10. Include a link to your blog as a standard part of all outgoing correspondence such as autoresponder sequences, sales letters, reports, white papers, etc.

11. Print your blog URL on your business cards, brochures and flyers.

12. Make sure you have an RSS feed URL that people can subscribe to. The acronym RSS means Rich Site Summary, or some may consider its meaning as Really Simple Syndication. It is a document type that lists updates of websites or blogs available for syndication. These RSS documents (also known as 'feeds') may be read using aggregators (news readers). RSS feeds may show headlines only or both headlines and summaries.
To learn how news aggregators/RSS readers work, see this site: http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-readers.htm

13. Post often to keep attracting your subscribers to come back and refer you to others in their networks; include links to other blogs, articles and websites in your posts

14. Use Trackback links when you quote or refer to other blog posts. What is TrackBack? Essentially what this does is send a message from one server to another server letting it know you have posted a reference to their post. The beauty is that a link to your blog is now included on their site.

15. Write articles to post around the web in article directories. Include a link to your blog in the author info box (See example in our signature below).

16. Make a commitment to blog everyday. 10 minutes a day can help increase your traffic as new content attracts search engine spiders. Put it on your calendar as a task every day at the same time.
Tip: Use a hit counter to track your visitor stats: how many unique visitors, how many page views, average length of visit. You can get a free hit counter at http://www.sitemeter.com

Denise Wakeman of Next Level Partnership, and Patsi Krakoff of Customized Newsletter Services, have teamed up to create blogging classes and marketing services for independent professionals. You can read and subscribe to their blogs at http://www.biztipsblog.com, http://www.coachezines.com and http://www.bizbooknuggets.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Denise_Wakeman

Daylight Savings... Warm Weather... Spring... Summer... Bring it on!

One thing my family and I try to do a lot of in the spring & summer is sea kayaking. I love to explore the islands and inlets you can't normally access by foot. We got my older daughter a brand new single kayak for her 14th birthday last year with all the bell and whistles.

When she was in 5th grade she purchased a top-of-the-line 2 person inflatable from West Marine in Marblehead. So she got a real "upgrade" last year. We have been using the 2 person inflatable with 2 adults and one child.... however, to be able to explore to the fullest and really make day trips possible - we need to upgrade as well.

We are looking into a 2 person (with additional child seat and storage) Hobie that you sit on top. We figured it would be the safest for the sea and with a 4 year old on board. I can't wait for the good weather - we turned the clocks ahead this morning - the sun shines longer each day... our moods brighten and we feel better.... bring it on!

Momma... Do I Really Look Like a Turtle??

Let's start March 2009 off with something cute and funny - People who look like animals...

OK... this is meant to be cute and funny - not harsh. So - I have selected a picture of my 4 year old daughter when she was about 5 months. I remember when she would smile and make her funny, excited face - thinking..."what does she remind me of..."

Low and behold it came to me - a turtle! When I was showing this to my daughter she said "We don't look alike - I don't have paws!" You have to admit this is too darn cute and man do they look alike!

Well, I have to say - she looks nothing like a turtle anymore...

Stock up for Summer with Beautiful Coastal Pieces by Bancroft Studios!

Oh heck - these pieces are not just for summer - they are just delightful to use all year long!

Brooke Pickering of Bancroft Studios - and fellow Boston Handmade member - has become a good friend of mine over the past months. We live a stones throw away from each other on the beautiful North Shore, MA coast in Salem & Marblehead. I first discovered Brooke's work on Etsy - and was so impressed by her workmanship - she just had to join Boston Handmade... and of course she was accepted!

She uses the love for the coast in all of her work - as each collection is "ocean inspired". All pieces are hand poured in a slip cast method, hand painted and hand finished in her Salem, MA studio. Besides her stunning pottery - she does these amazing wall plaques that can be viewed & purchased here!

The following collections can be viewed and purchased directly from wwww.bancroftsudios.com - The Marblehead Collection, The Chesapeake Bay Collection, The Cape Cod Collection, The Blue Star & Green Shell Tableware, The Coral Collection and the Seaweed Collection. The Cape Cod collection particularly takes her a good deal of time with all the detail that goes into the hydrangeas. They all are so different, detailed & vibrant that you can't go wrong with any.

Bancroft Studios deals heavily in wholesale - so if interested drop her a line! Check out Brooke Pickering's work at her following shop locations: wwww.bancroftsudios.com ~ Bancroft Studios on Etsy ~ Bancroft Studios on 1000 Markets.

*All photos used are the sole property of Brooke Pickering of Bancroft Studios

Visit Sea Glass Things at SOWA October 12th!

Sea Glass Things will be at the South End Open Market (SOWA) this coming Sunday, October 12th ~ From 10am-4pm... along with more than 26 members of the Boston Handmade Team in which I am a member. Come check out fantastic talent from local crafters and artisans this Sunday!

Sea Glass Stitch Markers Now Available!

New offerings at Sea Glass Things this fall! Sea Glass stitch markers are now available in my Etsy store with more to come!

The stitch markers are a fun accessory for yarn enthusiasts and also make great gifts for the holiday season. Each set of 6 stitch markers also comes with a row marker... be on the look out for sea glass knitting needles as well! Check out Sea Glass Things for great holiday gift ideas.

North American Sea Glass Festival

Some great news for Sea Glass Things! Since I can't attend the North American Sea Glass Festival this year - Jodie Pastor, from Lake Erie Beach Glass, will be taking 2 of my custom made sea glass tank tops with her as display backdrops for her jewelry! The two tanks pictured below are the ones that will be for sale at the festival for $58 each.

Get "Witchy" With Sea Glass Things This Fall

Sea Glass Witch Earrings for Halloween...



I have created a bunch of these cute sea glass earrings with lead free pewter witch charms for the upcoming favorite holiday of Salem, MA - Halloween!



All a little bit different they have been a big hit so far and look adorable! I have three pair available in my store now with more on the way - so keep checking. Oh, and custom orders are always welcome!

Where Am I? Some Great Press...Check it out....

I am in the Artisan Magazine, published by Artisan Impact of Etsy, which is scheduled for an 80,000 distribution in the US and Canada in late May and early June.

You can also find me in the sponsorship section of the Underdog ResQ brochure, regarding the upcoming BBQ fundraiser in June, in which I donated a set of my work.

Mother's Day Out - Gloucester, MA

The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day to live by the coast... a nice meandering ride up through picturesque New England towns, dinner at a well liked spot downtown and sweet goodness for the ride home - what could have been better!



My mother, two daughters and myself went out for Mother's Day this year. We left on our adventure up the New England North Shore Coast to Cape Ann... Gloucester. Known as a fishing port, Gloucester is a diamond in the ruff... and there is a lot to see and do without spending money!

We first went to visit Rocky Neck - the Artist Colony... it was a beautiful day to meander through the galleries... the ones that were at least open. After that we took a ride through the town along the coast to the breakwater - we parked and walked out on the slabs of granite watching the waves crash against them until we reached the end. Then turned around and hurried back as the waves were now crashing and coming over the breakwater because it was nearing high tide.

We took a nice ride out and along the coast yet again to Rockport and then back into Gloucester stopping at Halibut Point for an early dinner. An ice cream at Captain Dusty's in Manchester by the Sea was a perfect finish to a wonderful day as we headed home!

Sea Glass Tank Tops Are Here!

I have just completed my first and original sea glass tank top now available for sale on Etsy! There are more in production in different colors, sizes, styles and various shades of glass. These are a perfect addition to any wardrobe - dress it up or down, wear it alone or under a jacket or linen shirt - you will be sure to impress!

Product care instructions: Hand wash, lay flat to dry and warm iron if needed.

I recently had someone reivew my blog and comment that they couldn't understand why am I promoting a tank top and what relevance does it have to sea glass.

Let me clarify - these are the first ever sea glass tank tops - meaning they are adorned with sea glass (the tank top themselves... on the strap or where ever else I dream up) I have collected - they are like jewelry, wearable art.

"Summer In Sepia" Etsy Treasury In the Buried Treasury Blog

Check out my "Summer in Sepia" treasury in Timothy Adam Designs new blog Buried Treasury and feel free to drop comments!

I love the warm vintage feel of these items.... I am so glad summer is around the corner!

Check out his blog and the stores featured or click the links below!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9025812
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9419052
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11306245
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=7268108
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11168130
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9107175
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8385623
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11190136

How To Make Your Blog Header Background Transparent

When I did my blog redesign and imported a new template, I wanted to give it my own personal touch. I loved my new template design but loathed the big yellow header box. I knew there was a way to maniuplate the HTML in order to make the background transparent to show the image I had added to my blog body background. Thanks to Vin of Beta Blogger for Dummies and the Blogger support group I was able to find the direction I needed. By no means am I advanced at HTML - so here it is in layman's terms!

**It is alway best to dowload a copy of your full template to your computer before making changes to the HTML**

Also, you can select "Preview" to view edits as you make them before "Saving".

Navigate to the following area when editing your blog --> Layout Tab ---> Edit HTML Sub Tab

How to add a new image to your blog body background:
1. Decide on an image you would like to use
2. Add the following code before your: body {
** For what ever reason I am unaware - I had to import this code as an image for you to see as it was not showing up when I typed it in here...

3. Add the following code or change the code to your selected image here: (You will be changing the whole url string in background: to source your own image you are going to use.)

body {
background:#fff url("http://1.bp.blogspot.com/YOUR IMAGE GOES IN THIS SECTION.jpg") no-repeat $endSide bottom;
background-attachment:fixed;
margin:0;
padding:0;
color:$textcolor;
font:x-small Georgia Serif;
font-size/* */:/**/small; font-size: /**/small;
text-align: center;
}

Now that you have done that it is time to make the back ground header transparent so that you can see your blog body image through it.

4. Find the /* Header section in the HTML of your blog

5. Find the header-wrapper section and add the following code for "Opacity". The opacity, filter and -moz-opacity lines must match. So, if you change the opacity to .950 - then you have to change the filter to opacity=95 and the -moz-opacity to .950. I found that .850 gives the blog a great transparency without loosing the ability to read the text.

#header-wrapper {
background-color: #FFFFFF;
opacity:.850;
filter: alpha(opacity=85);
-moz-opacity: 0.850;
width:925px;
margin:15auto 10px;
}

6. Now you need to add the opacity to your outer-wrapper as well. Let's find the section under the outer-wrapper called main-wrapper and make the following additions to the code.

#main-wrapper {
background-color: #FFFFFF;
opacity:.850;
filter: alpha(opacity=85);
-moz-opacity: 0.850;
width: 450px;
float: left;
padding: 0;
margin-right: 10px;
word-wrap: break-word; /* fix for long text breaking sidebar float in IE */
overflow: hidden; /* fix for long non-text content breaking IE sidebar float */
}

7. You must also change your side bar wrappers adding the opacity code as follows. Find the section sidebar-wrapper and add the code.

#sidebar-wrapper {
opacity:.850;
filter: alpha(opacity=85);
-moz-opacity: 0.850;
width: 220px;
float: right;
background: $sidebar2bgcolor;
word-wrap: break-word; /* fix for long text breaking sidebar float in IE */
overflow: hidden; /* fix for long non-text content breaking IE sidebar float */
}

8. Depending on your blog layout - you may have multiple sidebars - in that case you need to edit each one and add the opacity code as follows in this example:

#right-sidebar-wrapper {
background-color: #FFFFFF;
opacity:.850;
filter: alpha(opacity=85);
-moz-opacity: 0.850;
width: 220px;
float: right;
padding: 0px;
background: $sidebar1bgcolor;
margin-right: 15px;
word-wrap: break-word; /* fix for long text breaking sidebar float in IE */
overflow: hidden; /* fix for long non-text content breaking IE sidebar float */
}

Hopefully this has helped anyone that was getting a bit stuck on how to make these changes. Feel free to email me with any questions or if you need additional help - I will help if I can! I will be adding more tips in the future, so keep checking back!

Etsy Product Review #1 - Logo Design by Curious Ink

I have decided to do product reviews of items and/or services I have purchased on Etsy. I find it helpful for customers to know quality and the total ins and outs of customer service when purchasing an item and/or service.

The first product review will be Curious Ink. I put in an Alchemy request on March 14 , 2008 for a professional logo design. I had decided to change my branding image and get everything professionally done to have a more unified and streamlined look to my shop and blog. So first things first - I wanted a logo - one that represented me and what I do. I also needed a logo for advertising purposes and to be of high quality and resolution to be reproduced into print work as well. I received 16 bids on my Alchemy request. I carefully went through each bid - inspected the work of each bidder and made my choice - Curious Ink. That same day, Amy (from Curious Ink) accepted my request and contacted me. We were off! I had originally but my bid at $15 - basically just ball parking. Her bid came in at $30 - however, you totally get what you pay for. I was impressed with her work from the start - her attention to detail was astounding - she has insane talent! She was on the ball and I was a part of every step in the process. I felt like I was the decision maker in how my business "image" was going to be developed.



In my Alchemy request I stated: "I need a logo designed for my shop that I can use for advertising purposes.. print and Internet. Must match the mood of my store - be timeless and fresh." and with Amy that is exactly what I got.

From initial acceptance of the Alchemy bid, to delivery of images the process took 13 days... every bit worth the wait. I didn't have a time stamp on when I needed this done - so I am sure if time were an issue she would make every effort to meet specific deadlines. Check out the process via the pics. I highly recommend Curious Ink for all your graphic needs!

Check out her work at two different sites below and click here to email Amy regarding custom graphic needs for your business or self:
http://www.ifreelance.com/pro/35489
http://www.jonahstudios.com

A Sad Farwell To American Idol Carly Smithson - WHAT! Can America Not Hear?

Again - I get sucked into watching this mindless show - only to be let down. I mean Carly Smithson - she - is the best female signer of this season! I seriously can't believe Jason Castro is still squeaking by... mainly because of all the young girls voting for him - ack... Brooke - very nice and classy girl - but sorry folks - no where NEAR the talent of Carly - and so sick and tired of Syesha's ego... I seriously don't think the stage is big enough for it... again good singer but sorry not NEAR the talent of Carly... I will also address that it's not the first time Brooke and David Archuleta messed up (or forgot) their lyrics! OK - enough of this random rant - I really am just sick of these "talent shows" not being about the "talent" - but about how popular the person has become to the viewers.

It should have been Carly and David Cook in the end... Well - at least when the ones that ARE the "stars" are let go early - they are the ones that make it big... unlike... Ruben... Taylor Hicks... who? who? Not that they don't have talent - but let's see - last time I checked it was Chris Daughtry that has sold millions of albums.... I have said enough...

I will be tuned in next week only to reel in disappointment again.

I would love people to share their opinions - however, in sharing let's keep it kind and clean for everyone!

Critiques and Reviews Has "Critiqued and Reviewed" Sea Glass Things

I was lucky enough for Tim, from Timothy Adam Designs and owner of the blog Critiques and Reviews, to be picked for the April 22nd Etsy shop/blog review.

Tim also used me as his first video review - which was very exciting to see. I thought the video brought so much more to the table as you see and hear him as he navigates my Etsy store and this blog.

Tim has dedicated this particular blog of his to helping his fellow Estians promote, polish and drive traffic to their Etsy stores and blogs.

He was so quick to get my sites reviewed and he sent me a convo with all the information as well as a link to where I can view the review. Come check it out here to leave comments.

You are bound to find a lot of useful information and may be able to extrapolate pieces fitting to your needs.... after all... there is ALWAYS room for improvement!

Please leave comments here as well - ideas, opinions... all I welcome!

If you haven't done so already - contact Tim to get on his blog roll, sign up for his newsletter and start to particapte in the FREE information sharing that is taking place on his blog - Critiques and Reviews.

I also want to thank Cassandra of Cassandra Russell

Design for posting something about the critique on her blog and making a new avatar for me - I am trying it out now!

Check out her blog!

So tell me... am I "click" worthy???