October Mid-Month Sponsor Love

Please take just a few minutes to check out some awesome shops, blogs, and products from my amazing sponsors!

Edi of memoriesforlifesb

 Why haven't I picked up a set of Edi's new pumpkin buttons yet? Too cute!

Angela of AngleAh

 I'm dying over Angela's little sailboat button necklace.

Valerie of additionsstyle

 Valerie's neutral bib necklace will take you straight through fall into winter.

Tiffany of Ribbon Lane Supplies

 Are you crafting for Thanksgiving? Pick up some of Tiffany's cheerful turkey ribbon.

Kristen of Milo and Molly

 Kristen discusses making some important choices in her shop that apply to virtually anyone who runs a creative business.

Paige of Little Nostalgia

Paige shares a great technique for decorating cute little pumpkins with glitter without making a mess.

I hope that you found some useful resources here today!

Are you interested in advertising with me? Click here for more information!

October Mid-Month Sponsor Love

I'm celebrating the middle of the month with a shout out to all of my lovely blog sponsors!

Edi of memoriesforlifesb

 Edi has unrolled so many fabulous new items the past few months like these wooden stacking rings.

Jamie of ForLoveofCupcakes

 It seems like everyone is looking for new slow cooker recipes as the weather gets cooler. Check out this awesome stuffing chicken recipe that Jamie's whole family enjoys.

Linda of PruittCreations

 Who doesn't want some cheery fall coasters this year?

Angela of AngleAh

 I love Angela's brand new charm necklace. It has such an eclectic mix of items.

Valerie of additionsstyle

 Treat yourself or someone you love this fall with a pair of industrial post earrings. They are so versatile!

Deb of storybeader

 I'm so excited that Deb is making jewelry again! Check out her new Union necklace.

Tiffany of Ribbon Lane Supplies

 It took every ounce of my self control not to order a few yards of this pink and green polka dot ribbon as I was writing this post. Polka dots in one of my favorite color combinations! What's not to love here?

Paige of Little Nostaglia

 Speaking of color combinations, Paige recently wrote a fabulous post about color scheming in which she used a color palette from a photo to design a room scheme. I look forward to more of these posts.

Kristen of Milo and Molly

 I can't believe that I'd never heard about the Humans of New York project until Kristen wrote a post about it this month. It really appeals to both the writer and the photographer in me.

I hope that you found some useful resources today!

Are you interested in advertising with me? Click here!

What's Up for October

 

That title should really be where is fall going? It's so hard to believe that another month is here already.

Happy October! What's going on this month?

• I'm doing a lot of writing. At least that seems to be the plan based on how the last few months have been going. I've been scrambling just to find time to keep writing blog posts and new HubPages articles in between all of my client work, which is a good problem. We had a bit of an expensive September with a large unexpected car repair for my car, and extra income is more welcome than ever right now.
• I'm working on creating inventory for my holiday shows and stocking my Etsy shops. I have a hard time working this far ahead, but I don't want every single day in November to be completely crazy. I'm trying to stay ahead on making multiple quantities of best selling items and keep adding new stock to the Etsy shops. If you haven't already visited my new photography shop, get over there, like the shop on Etsy and share it around to a few of your favorite people who love photography.
• I'm making the jewelry for the girls in my brother's wedding party. Remember how I shared some of the beads that I bought for my wedding piece? That's exactly as far as I've gotten with this not so little project (again, struggling to work so far ahead). My goal is to have these pieces done by the last weekend in October (again, trying to keep November from being a melt down month).
• I'm planning my future sister-in-law's Chicago bridal shower. You all know how much I love to host parties, and I'm so excited to be co-hosting THE Chicago shower for my future sister-in-law with my mom. I got my handmade invitations into the mail at the end of September and have already received some RSVPs. I'll be sharing some more shower planning fun during the month.
• I'm purchasing some new photography equipment and making a fall photography "to do" list. The new photography equipment thing was supposed to be a September "yay, it's fall, and I'm still going to be excited about taking pictures even when it's cold outside" thing. But we were blessed with amazingly beautiful September weather, and I still got outside a lot. I also didn't feel justified buying those sort of things after the big car repair. It will happen before I'm spending time in Chicago this month, though. As far as the "to do" list goes, the summer places to photograph list was a big success so I want to keep that kind of thing going. It may end up being more of a "cold weather" list for fall and winter that I won't use quite yet, which is fine.

Think about joining my blog sponsors!

I have a great round up of blog sponsors! These lovely ladies all have Etsy shops and/or blogs. Check them out on the left hand side of my blog under "Private Sponsors." Would you like to join them? It's only $3 per month or $10 for 4 months to advertise with me. Check out all of the details about it right here.

Finally, THANK YOU to everyone who stops by here regularly, reads what I have to say week after week, and leaves me comments either on the blog or elsewhere! Here's to another great month!

What are you up to this October?

Voting for the October EBW Challenge

Voting is up and running for the October EBW Challenge Misty Winter's Dawn!  Voting takes place on the EBW blog through October 15.

I got an entry into the challenge this time.

The challenge for myself with this piece is that I created it entirely from my current bead inventory. I didn't purchase anything new to make this piece. I started with gray cube beads and built from there to include touches of yellow, blue, and cream. I hadn't worked up this design in quite a while and am very happy with the result.

This piece is available for purchase right here. If you're a beader who would like to make this pattern yourself, it is also available over here.

As always, there are so many stunning entries. Here are just a few of my favorites. Please make sure to check out all of the entries and vote for your favorite.

Green Moss Bead Embroidered Necklace EBWC by ConniqueJewelry

Misty Winter's Dawn EBWC by SashaSi

EBWC Misty Morning Walk Bead Embroidered Cuff OOAK, "Misty Winter's Dawn" challenge by AngelqueCreations

 

Newest articles:

National Holidays in October: The Food Holidays
Halloween Math for Kids: Free Candy Corn Activities, Worksheets, and Printables

Where I Linked Up Today:

No More Entrecard, September Top Commenters, and October News

I hope that October has gotten off to a good start for everyone! Can you believe that it's October already? It feels like summer just ended a few days ago. Now we're well into the middle of fall.

No More Entrecard

One of the biggest pieces of news this month is that Entrecard is gone. In typical function, they jumped ship without any notification to the users. If you haven't heard what happened to them and our interested, you can read more about it at Dave Lucas. There were a lot of issues with Entrecard over the years and I often wondered if it paid off, but I stuck with it because I continued to meet great bloggers. That was true from late 2008 right up until the very end.

There are way too many awesome Entrecard bloggers to name. Whether you used it once upon a time a couple years ago or were still dropping every day through August of 2012, you know who you are. For those of you who are still stopping by every week, thank you! That means so much to me. I'm doing my best to add newer bloggers to my blog roll so I don't forget to visit anyone.

If you are still looking for ways to advertise with me, consider becoming a private sponsor (more information about that below) or join Project Wonderful. Project Wonderful is free and so easy to use.

TOP COMMENTERS:

If you're new to this blog, you can check out my Top Commenters widget on the right side of my blog.  It's under my blog roll.  I will feature an item or give a shout out to everyone on that list in this monthly post.  I really appreciate those of you who take the time to leave me feedback!

Thanks to Ann of Ann's Snap Edit Scrap for stopping by and commenting regularly!  Here are some lovely items from the ladies on my list who have Etsy shops.

1) Orange Sunset Artisan Lampwork Glass and Crystal Sterling Silver Earrings - Fall Sunset by BeadedTail
2) Red Hair Accessory Bobby Pins Hardware Lock Washer by additionsstyle
3) Sweetheart Sleep Mask. Red. Novelty by PeriDotbyDuni
4) Custom Name Photo Album Scrapbook for 4x6 Photos - 7 to 9 LETTERS by memoriesforlifesb
5) Owl Baby Mobile Eco Felt Softie Plushie Embroidery Red Black White by iHartFelt
6) Geisha Sketchbook Journal Moleskin Red Black White by clockworkghOst
7) Handmade Halloween journal by storybeader
8) Tie Dye T SHIRT, Youth, Halloween costume, long sleeve, heavy cotton, hand dyed, rainbow by SplendidLittleStars
9) Knit Coin Pursue Zipper Pouch Wallet - red and yellow color blocks from NFallonDesignStudio

Blog Sponsors and October Advertising:
I have an awesome round up of blog sponsors!  These lovely ladies all have Etsy shops and/or blogs.  Check them out on the left hand side of my blog under "Private Sponsors."

Would you like to join them?  It's only $3 per month or $10 for 4 months to advertise with me.  Check out all of the details about it right here.

Bring it on October!

• I got my fifth Hub of the Day early in September with my How to Make Cupcake Toppers article. I got 11 articles written on HubPages, which is on par for my usual publishing rate there. I am happy that I got that much done with as much writing as I'm doing elsewhere these days and hope to keep it up this month.
• I still have a couple strong freelance client opportunities going, which is great. It makes it a lot easier to keep writing regularly when I don't have to search for most of my assignments.
• We are through the crazy social schedule of the summer but are still finding time to do plenty of fun things on the weekends when Jake isn't working (which is most weekends). I have been blessed with the opportunity to join a new Bible study, which has been great. We've been floating the idea of hosting a Halloween party for Jake's co-workers. More on that as it develops.
• I have my first fall show in a couple weeks! I just have one this month and then have a bunch more in November. Does anyone ever feel ready for a show? No matter how many shows you have done, it seems like there are always so many last minute projects. I'm getting there, though. If you live in the Milwaukee area, please check out my show schedule that I linked at the top of my blog.

What's going on with your business and/or blog for September?

New article:

3 Ingredient Recipes: Slow Cooker Crock Pot Dinners

Where I Linked Up Today:

October Bead Trends feature

I am proud to announce that I have an item featured in the October issue of Bead Trends magazine!

I am really excited that they chose to use my item as one of their featured pictures in the table of contents.

They did an awesome job with the photos for the feature. Sometimes the photos are really artsy and don't show off the entire item, which can be troublesome if people actually want to follow the directions and make it themselves. But they did a perfect job this time showing off the whole earrings in an artistic manner.

I didn't take a picture of it this time, but Bead Trends features come with a $20 gift certificate to Fire Mountain Gems. Awesome, right?

I made these earrings back in the early spring as a companion piece to my Tropical Destination wrap bracelet/necklace.

I don't like to make a lot of overly matching pieces, but it's fun to make another piece with a bead combination that already works well.

These earrings are now listed in my Etsy shop. They're the first pair of tubular square earrings that I've done. There may be more in the future. As always, you can require a custom pair at any time, too.

Does anyone else have a magazine feature this fall?

Where I Linked Up Today:

October Top Droppers and Commenters and November News

It's a new month, which means that it's time to thank my Top Droppers and Commenters once again and let you know what's going on with my shop next month.  Thanks to everyone who made October a great month for me!  I had steady sales all month and a record number of shop views.  I have many of you to thank for that!

I'm sure that it's no surprise that with Christmas less than 2 months away, there is a lot going on with my shop.  I am not going to include it all in this post, but I'll give you an overview and will post more details later.

As always, I appreciate everyone who drops by my blog regularly, especially those of you who comment.  My favorite blogs to visit during my daily blog reading and Entrecard dropping/Project Wonderful ad hunting are those blogs that 1) are updated regularly (at least 1-2 times per week) and 2) are blogs whose authors stop by and comment on mine sometimes.  Whatever your reason is for visiting a blog regularly, please take the time to leave me a message once in a while.  Thanks!

TOP DROPPERS
Here are the Top 10 Droppers for October:

TOP COMMENTERS
I now have a Top Commenter widget on my blog.  If you're interested in seeing where you rank, scroll down and look on the right side of my page.  It's right under my blog roll.  I will feature an item or give a shout out to everyone on that list or who has commented regularly (even if not within the last week) in this monthly post.

Thanks to Grace of Dragon's Alley and Catherine of Living the Gourmet for stopping by and commenting regularly!  Here are some lovely items from the ladies on my list who have Etsy shops.

In clockwise order from the top left corner:
1) Great Hair Clip: Purple & Blue Argyle Owl by ForLoveofCupcakes
2) Weekly Planner - Christmas Cookies and Tea by SherHastingsDesigns
3) Knit Coin Purse in Pink and Purple Triangles by nfall2rt
4) Crochet headwarmer with flower, pumpkin orange, adjustable width by JNOriginals
5) snowman socks, hand dyed for children, flower socks, too by SplendidLittleStars
6) Classy Beaded Bracelet in Purple, Teal Green, Slate Blue, and White Beadwork by AsteropeBC
7) Red and Jasper Golden Shadow Swarovski Crystal Beaded Niobium Earrings by BeadedTail
8) Italian paper beads, 30 count by storybeader
9) Custom Destination Scrapbook Photo Album - XLarge Double Word Album by memoriesforlifesb


REARRANGING
I did a major overhaul of my blog organization this past month.  I hadn't touched my organization in way too long, and my one sidebar was very cluttered.  I widened the entire blog, added a left side bar for advertising, and moved several things into their own tabs.  You can now find my Hubs in the Crafty Articles Tab, my Etsy related links in the Etsy Seller Resources tab, and my PDF Pattern links in the PDF Patterns tab.  Eventually I would like to create a method for purchasing patterns directly from my blog, but I haven't tackled this yet.

REARRANGING Part II
I also completely overhauled a large portion of my Etsy shop sections this past week.  Check it out and let me know what you think.  After the holidays, I'm planning to mark down all of my beaded beads, get rid of that section, and make a "New for 2012" section.

ADVERTISING
The other thing that I've been working on for the holiday season is advertising.  As much as we all love Entrecard (haha), I've been seriously contemplating other means of advertising for the last couple months.  During a recent BBA discussion, I was inspired to check my blog stats, which honestly I never do.  I've always been more focused on my Etsy shop views.  I was shocked to learn that I've averaged a little under 200 views per day for my blog for the past month, which equals just over 6,000 views for the month.  Thanks to a couple of high traffic days this month, my total has jumped to 9,200 for the past month.  Thus, advertising is another thing that is way overdue for my blog.

The first thing that I did is that I finally joined Project Wonderful.  You can now advertise with me on Project Wonderful on the left side of my blog.  Thanks so much to those of you who are already doing this!  I have been and will continue to be placing my own bids on other sites, too.  If you aren't part of Project Wonderful already, you can join here.

The second thing I did is that I added a method for accepting private sponsors.  All of the information about this can be found in my Advertising tab.  A number of blogs offer this now so you may have seen it before.  How it works is that for a small fee, I will advertise your blog, shop, or other web site on my blog.  I will include information about your site in this monthly post and will promote it on Facebook and Twitter throughout the month.  You can contact me any time about advertising via e-mail or by ;leaving a comment on a blog post with your contact information.  For those of you who also offer private sponsorship on your blog, I am happy to trade for ad space.

I am looking to all of you for advice about advertising, too.  Let me know where you have advertised or currently advertise regularly and what does or does not work for you.

SALE
I will have lots of Christmas, red, and green items marked down all of November and December.  Christmas items are 15% off and all red and green items are 15% off.  Check out sale section here.  I will post more about everything that's available later this month.  I have a few brand new Christmas items that I'll include in the sale, too.  Stay tuned!

leafy feature: October random edition

Here are my random leafy picks for this month.  Enjoy!

Sunflower Beaded Brooch Corsage by beadn4fun

Wisteria (set of 2) by TessaAnn

Beaded ceramic leaf choker by KewlbeansJewelry

Falling Leaves - Greeting Card by dickandfranny

This shop has lots of gorgeous leaf headbands.
Oak Leaf Headband - Sunglow Yellow with Maize Embroidery by TheFaerieMarket

15mm to 8mm Opaque Miracle Green Mixed Shapes and Sizes Czech Glass Bead Strand from beadsandbabble

Autumn in New York Beaded Necklace by VanBeads