Favorite Inspiration: the May BBA Challenge

Sharla of BeadedTail came up with our May Challenge: Inspirations.  She writes, "Your challenge is to incorporate your favorite inspiration into a project of your choice."  I'm sure it's not a surprise that I'm frequently inspired my color.  I'll see neat color combinations anywhere...in a clothing store, in nature, etc., and I'll immediately start thinking about how I can incorporate them into art.

Most of you already know how much I love turquoise and red.  I also really love pink and green.  Pink is not one of my favorite colors, but I love it paired with green.  Here are a few ways that I've used this color combination in my jewelry making in the past.

For the most part, when I write craft articles, I pull ideas from lots of different sources.  I do use my own photos as I can, but I often use photos from others, too.  After I wrote my junk mail crafts article, I started thinking about other recycled papers to use for crafting.  I was in the middle of doing a big magazine purge and decided it was well time to create my own art for an article and to use my own photos exclusively in the article.  The pink and green color combination seemed like a good fit for graduation, Mother's Day, and spring cards.

Recycled Magazine Craft Project: Greeting Cards

I'm really happy with how both the cards and the article.  My recycled craft articles have done well so far.  Hopefully this one will, too.

Do you ever use the green and pink color combination in your crafting?  What are some of your favorite color combinations?

Newest article:

Father's Day Free Printables: Cards, Coupons, Coloring Pages, Cupcake Toppers, and More

Looking for older articles? Click here!

I included this post in Michelle's Delicately Constructed Friday - 5/18/2012 and Erika's It's a Wrap Link Party - 5/21/2012.

Great offer from SocialSpark!  Take advantage of it while you can.

December EBW Challenge voting and 2011 EBW Challenges in review

I did not have a specific goal for the number of EBW challenges that I wanted to complete in 2011, but I am really proud of the fact that I completed 9 out of the 11 challenges this year, especially with everything that was going on this year.  Among other things, it really pushed me to develop the high-end price selection for my shop, including a brand new product line and pattern for it.  I'm not sure that I ever would have done this on my own, but as an artist, I think that it's important to have this high-end work as part of my repertoire.  I have put a lot of hard work into these challenges this year.  It's high time for a little review.

Before I get to that, here's my entry for the December EBW Challenge Arabesque Style.  You can read more about this piece right here.  It's part of my brand new line of wrap bracelets/necklaces that I will officially release next month.  It's available for sale here.

Voting for the EBW Challenge takes place on the blog today through December 15.  Please check out all of the entries and vote for your favorite.  If you can't see the clickable mosaic, click here.

Here's a look back at my other entries from this year.  Click on any of the photos to see larger versions of them.

 

As part of the challenge aspect, I also created two brand new PDF patterns.

PROS

• While some get a lot more than others, in general, my challenge items get tons of views and hearts.
• Regardless of the complexity of my pieces, participating in challenges always brings a lot of traffic to my shop.
• Every challenge that I've participated in has helped me to grow as an artist.
• As already mentioned, these challenges push me to create higher-end pieces that I most likely would not make on my own.  They are a wonderful showcase for my shop and for my inventory selection at craft fairs.
• For 2011, I created a new line of right angle weave cuffs from this challenge.  I also created two of the first pieces for my wrap bracelet/necklace line, which was a great sneak peek for my customers.
• While patterns are a lot of work initially, especially on top of creating the challenge piece itself, they are lasting products for my shop.  Having two new patterns is a great asset for my Etsy shop.
• In August, my Strawberry Fields Forever Cuff placed 10th in the popular vote and 2nd in the private team vote, which was a huge ego boost.  I have many of you to thank for that popular vote placement!

CONS

• While my higher-end pieces get a lot of views, they don't sell very quickly.
• I have had a couple sales from these new patterns, but not nearly as many as I hoped that I would.  At least they aren't going anywhere and may take off at any point.

What's the plan for 2012?

• My goal is to participate in at least 6 challenges in 2012.  We start the BBA Challenges in January.  BBA members have to participate in 6 of those per year so I don't want to burn myself out with too many challenges.
• At least 4 out of those 6 EBW challenge pieces have to fit into current shop lines or must fit into my current shop style and average price point.  One of my biggest goals for 2012 is to continue to narrow my shop focus.  I will be growing my new wrap bracelet/necklace line and want most of my other new inventory to fit into existing lines with just a few one of a kind pieces in the mix.  My challenge items have to fit into this equation.
• While my EBW challenge items obviously have to have large portions of beadweaving, my BBA challenge items can be any medium.  I may use some of them for shop pieces, but I will most likely be using many of them for other projects.  While I love jewelry making, I don't want to burn out on it.  Also, I will be expanding my craft fair inventory and craft fair display options in 2012, which will include many opportunities to meet BBA challenge themes.

I appreciate everyone's support with all of the EBW challenges this past year and looking forward to sharing my EBW and BBA challenges this next year!

introducing the Blogging Business Artisans

I'm really excited to announce that I've been spending the last few weeks starting a brand new team on Etsy with five of my favorite ladies from Etsy: Blogging Business Artisans.  No, it is not a secret that all of us founding it are from the EtsyBloggers and will be much less involved with that group now.  If you want to know why, please feel free to e-mail me or send me a convo.  It's not a secret, but it's also not really something I am going to discuss in an open forum like this either.

With that being said, we started this team because we want a team that is focused on business, blogging, and promotion as well as challenging each other and still having fun.  We want to grow our businesses, crafting skills, and friendships.

The team has the following requirements for members:
1) Complete and blog on at least six of your own entries for a non-judged, monthly, themed challenge during the course of one year.
2) Complete one team treasury each month.
3) Participate by promoting social activities and team events even if (when) not directly participating in them. 4) Take part in the weekly thread.
5) Have at least 20 items listed in your copyright infringement-free etsy shop.
6) Have an updated family-friendly, copyright infringement-free blog with posts at least once per week, totaling at least eight (8) per month.

We will receive all memberships four times per year in an effort to maintain our professional status as a team.  We will give warning notices to members who aren't meeting these requirements.  Will we kick people out sight unseen for missing one treasury in a year?  Absolutely not.  We will consider exceptions on a case by case basis for things like family emergencies, vacations, etc.

Hopefully this doesn't just sound like rules, rules, and more rules because we are still going to have a lot of fun.  We have some other things in the works as well like Secret Santa, giveaways, and blog hops to mix things up, have fun, and further promote our group.

I have contacted a handful of blog writers I follow who meet the shop and blog requirements and who I think would be good assets to this team.  Anyone else is welcome to apply, too!  We are already reviewing new applications.  If you don't currently meet the requirements but are interested in the group, please make sure that you've made adjustments accordingly before applying.

You can find us in the following locations:
Blogging Business Artisans - Etsy Teams
Blogging Business Artisans Team Blog
Blogging Business Artisans Facebook Page
Blogging Business Artisans Twitter

Please let me know if you have any questions about anything.  I'll be launching my first team treasury later this month, and our first giveaway will be in November, so I'll have more about the team in the next few weeks.