Kicking Off September With A Huge Photography Giveaway!

I'm so so excited announce the grand opening of my new Etsy photography shop today!

http://roseclearfield.etsy.com

Hopefully you're just as excited as I am and are ready to shop and promote! A lot of people have encouraged me to sell my photography, and I need your support to get this off the ground.

I'm kicking off the new shop opening with a huge giveaway. The prizes are as follows:

1st prize - 3 8x10 Photos (a $90 value)

2nd prize - 2 8x10 Photos (a $60 value)

3rd prize - 1 8x10 Photo (a $30 value)

All prizes are the photos of your choosing. Of course anything currently in the shop is available, but I can print anything that you've seen here or elsewhere (Instagram, Facebook, etc.) that you'd like, too.

I won't be holding another giveaway like this any time in the foreseeable future, so take advantage of it while you can! As always, if you have any questions about anything, let me know.

Are you writing a blog post or looking for an easy way to share this giveaway on Instagram? Grab a graphic!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

September BBA Giveaway: Custom Tennis Bracelet

Sharla of BeadedTail is giving away a custom tennis bracelet on the Blogging Business Artisans blog this month! You'll get to pick the colors, length, and other details. Here are just a few possibilities.

For more information about these pieces and other tennis bracelets currently for sale, check out the tennis bracelet collection in Sharla's shop. Someone is going to be a very lucky winner!

The giveaway runs through September 21 at 11:00 a.m. CST. Please head over to the giveaway post to leave your entries. I cannot accept entries on this post. Thanks!

August BBA Giveaway

The Blogging Business Artisans have brought you another fantastic giveaway for August.  This giveaway is from Kaili of clockworkghOst.  She is very generously offering a $50 gift certificate to anything in her shop.  Her shop includes original art, photography prints, art prints, gift tags, bookmarks, and more.  Many of her items are $10 or under so your $50 can go pretty far.

Here are just a few of my favorite items from her shop.

Greyhound Dog Photo Black White Matte Fine Art 8x10 Portrait Pet

Original Acrylic Painting Blue Jay Bird Art

Air Plant Nature Photography Print 4x6 Epiphyte

Woodland Deer Bookmark Original Art OOAK

You can enter this giveaway through Wednesday, August 22 at 11AM CST.

Head over to the Blogging Business Artisans giveaway post to get all of the giveaway information and to enter.  Please don't leave entries on this blog post.  Thanks!

Newest article:

How to Make a Fabric Headband

July BBA Giveaway: Win a hand decorated jewelry box!

This month, Jenny of A Bird in the Hand Art is giving away a beautiful jewelry box on the Blogging Business Artisans blog!

Jenny painted and stamped the box.  She also added the dividers and the fabric ring holder.

The box measures 8.25" x 8" x 1.75."  It is such a versatile color combination, size, and design.

To enter this giveaway, head over to the Blogging Business Artisans giveaway post.  Please don't leave entries on this post.  You can enter through Thursday, July 19 11AM CST.  Thanks!

Do you have a jewelry box?  If so, what does it look like?

Newest article:
How to Get Rid of Clutter: Decluttering Tips
DIY Wedding Favor Ideas

Where I Linked Up Today:

May BBA Giveaway: Gift Certificate to NFallonDesignStudio!

The Blogging Business Artisans have another exciting giveaway for May!  This one is from Nancy of NFallonDesignStudio.

Nancy has been one of my blog sponsors for quite a while so hopefully if you are a regular reader, you have checked out her shop on at least a couple of occasions.  She has a wonderful variety of items.  There is something here for everyone, and your gift certificate money will go a long way.

That's just a small sampling of what she has available.  Head on over to her shop to check out the rest of her goodies.  Then head over to the BBA blog to vote!  Please don't leave your entries here.  They have to be on the BBA blog giveaway post to count.  You can enter through the 20th.

Are you interested in joining the Blogging Business Artisans?

Check out our team requirements and think about it!  I'm happy to answer any questions that you have.

Newest articles:

Father's Day Greeting Cards: Free Printables, Homemade Ideas, Funny Sayings, and More
Teach Photography to Kids: Ideas, Tips, Projects, Lessons, Skill Sets, and More
Homemade Fortune Cookies: Recipes, Paper Patterns, Fabric Tutorials, and More

Looking for older articles?  Click here!

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

April BBA Giveaway and the Memories Software Giveaway Winner

Erika of ArtfulRising is hosting the April BBA Giveaway.  She's giving away a prompted journal, handstamped keychain, and a workshop.

The journal has 25 prompts that are designed to help you focus on purpose and passion.  All of the pages are lined, and there are additional blank pages at the end.  The front cover is made of green heavy weight paper.  The back cover is chipboard.  The journal measures 4.25"X5.5", which is a great portable size.

Erika's brother handstamped this keychain with the word "Dream."

Finally, the winner will have the chance to participate in a future Artful Rising workshop that is going to debut in late May.  You can learn more about Erika and the workshops that she offers on her web site.

Head over to the BBA blog to enter!  Please don't leave me entries here.  They must be on the BBA blog.  Thanks!

The second topic for this post is the winner of the Memories Software giveaway.  I used a random number generator to pick the winner.

The tenth entry is Judy of JNOriginals. Congratulations!  I have contacted Judy and will be sending her a code for her software download shortly.  Thanks to everyone who entered and promoted this giveaway!

Do you have a giveaway going on right now?  Leave info about it in the comments so we can check it out. 

Newest article:

Handmade Beads: How to Make Beads Out of Clay, Paper, Plastic, and Glass: Supplies, Techniques, Tutorials, and More

Looking for older articles?  Click here!

My Memories Software: Giveaway

I was recently contacted about hosting a My Memories software giveaway on my blog. Of course I accepted.  I actually won a copy of the software from a different blog giveaway a while back.  Honestly I have only played around with it a few times, but every time, I turn around, I see another awesome project that someone has made with it.  Even if you are not into scrapbooking, there are so many possibilities for it.  Here are just a few great options.

Edi created a neat Christmas greeting.  This would be perfect for a Christmas card or simply as a photo to display in a frame or on your fridge.

If you're looking for a different technique for creating a cover page for Facebook's new Timeline, consider using your software.

Source: Uploaded by user via Gwen on Pinterest

Make just about any kind of labels that you like.  Check out this example from Laura.

Create promotional materials for your business.  Check out this neat layout that Mortira put together.

Victoria created some neat promo materials, too.

Make an important dates sign like this one that Laura made.

I have also found templates and ideas for bookmarks, candy wrappers, other greeting cards, and so much more.  What you cannot find, you will be able to design from scratch very easily.

The Giveaway Details:

You can enter any time between now and midnight CST on April 11, 2012.

Required Entry: Go to mymemories.com and choose one scrapbooking kit that you could like to use.  Leave a comment here with the kit you picked and why you want it.

You can gain 1 additional entry for each of the following that you complete:

•  Favorite my shop on Etsy
• Favorite one of my items on Etsy and say something that you like about it in the comment (you can only do this with one item for one additional entry)
• "Like" my Facebook fan page
• Follow me on Twitter
• Follow me on Pinterest
• Follow me on Google +
• Follow MyMemories's blog, Twitter, OR Facebook page.  Of course you can follow more than one, but it will only count as one entry.
• Promote this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, or Google +.  You can promote it multiple times, but I will only give one additional entry for promotion.

That means that you can get up to 8 entries for this giveaway.  Simply leave a comment for each one that you completed.  If you are already doing any of them, leave comments telling me that.

If you enter, please make sure that I have a way to contact you.  Let me know if you have any questions about anything.  Best of luck to everyone!

January BBA Giveaway: Win one of my wrap bracelet/necklace pieces!

Every month, one member of the BBA does a giveaway.  In honor of my brand new line of wrap bracelets/necklaces and charms, I decided to do the giveaway this month.  I'm giving away a neutral mix rope that can be wrapped twice for a bracelet or worn as a single strand short necklace.

More information and all of the details about the giveaway can be found on the BBA blog January giveaway post right here.  Please don't leave entries on this post for the giveaway.  They must be left on that BBA blog post.  I'm not planning any other giveaways for quite a while, particular one that is worth this month, so enter while you can.  Entries will be received through Jan. 19.  Good luck!

what I've been working on this week and a preview of my new wrap bracelet/necklace line

Here's my new listing for this week.

I sold a handful of these button bracelets at my final 2011 show.  It's a good thing that I'd made a few brand new ones, including this one, and have several more button sets ready to be made into new bracelets, too.  This one is available here.

I took a lot of pictures before my final show and am still editing and organizing them so I can get items that didn't sell up on Etsy.  Check out these beautiful pieces that did sell before they made it on Etsy.

I actually made two versions of the silver bells charm bracelet, both of which sold.  I also made two versions with gold bells, which did not sell.  I am rapidly running out of steam for Christmas listings this year so unless someone is dying to have one, I will wait until Christmas in July to list the gold.  As the silver is so popular, I will be bringing that back for 2012.

This week I've also been finalizing the last details for my new line of wrap bracelets/necklaces and the detachable charm listings.  I really appreciate everyone's feedback with this entire process!

There will be three different length options: single strand, double strand, and triple strand.  Prices will vary slightly depending on width, length, embellishments, and charms.  The general price range will be $22-$35 with a few higher end pieces anywhere from $40-$70.  No, I did not make all these this past week.  I have been working on herringbone pieces from time to time since the summer.

 

I'll also have a few three strand herringbone pieces.  Edi, yes, you were my inspiration for this color set!

Most pieces will include one charm, often something special like a large glass bead or lampwork focal.  I will have some with simple silver charms or no charms as well.

I've had a number of thoughts about my extra charm sets for quite a while and am now finally putting them all together.  I'm planning to release at least four charm sets within the first month and then keep adding more from there.  Yep, I did use regular paper instead of a card stock or scrap book paper for the third one and the glue did bleed the back a little.  This is a special one for a gift and will not be for sale.

Most charm sets will have one silver charm and one glass charm or other special focal.  I am trying to keep the listings as simple as possible.  However, all listings can be mixed and matched (i.e. one silver charm from one set, one glass charm from another), and I'm happy to do custom sets.  I'll have a BRIEF note about that in the listing to try to keep customers from getting too overwhelmed.  Some of my sets will include custom options, such as initials.  I have 17 ideas for charm sets right now and am open to suggestions, too.  As for an extra chain, the general consensus is that it can be listed separately so I will have a chain only listing.  It will have a jump ring attached to the end so that the charms can be easily attached.

Finally, I had a sudden inspiration that my giveaway piece for the January BBA giveaway should be a piece from my new line.  Of course I didn't have one ready for this so I got to work.

I will most likely be making another one in this color palette to add to my shop, too.

I used this post for Michelle's Delicately Constructed Friday 12/16/11 and Erika's It's a Wrap Link Party - 12/19/11.

November BBA Giveaway

Before I get to the giveaway, I wanted to follow up about my homemade pizza from yesterday since several people commented on it.  Thanks for all of the feedback!  Nope, I don't have a recipe for it and am not planning to write one up any time before Christmas.  If there is enough interest, I will write it up at some point.  As for the cheese, I usually use whatever shredded cheeses we have on hand.  For this last batch, I used mozzarella, Colby, Monterey Jack, and Parmesan.

Moving onto the main topic of this post, one of the things that the Blogging Business Artisans is doing as a team is a monthly giveaway.  Each month a different team member will offer an item or set of items for a giveaway on the team blog.  We are hoping that these giveaways will gain followers and general interest in our team as well as the specific team members.  So far, it definitely seems to be successful.  We are up to 33 Facebook Page followers, 22 Twitter followers, and 52 GFC blog followers.  I know that those numbers seem small but considering that we just formed the team last month, we've done pretty well.  There are also currently 85 comments on the first giveaway post!  Don't let this discourage you from entering, though.

One lucky winner will receive two of these personalized glasses from Edi of memoriesforlifesb.  Anyone who has been following my blog for more than a couple days knows how much I love Edi's work.  You will not be disappointed with this prize!

All of the details and entry information can be found right here on the blog.  Please don't leave entries for it on this post!  You can have to do it on the blog for it to count.  Good luck!

giveaway winnings

I won a giveaway over at Amy's blog a few weeks ago.  I won a gift certificate for Amber's shop (kellen813).  Amber makes a lot of hand stamped, personalized jewelry, most of which is much more than the the gift certificate amount.  Aside from my wedding ring, which is engraved (on the inside), I really don't wear anything personalized and wasn't looking to spend a lot of money to get a gift for someone else.  So I chose one of her wire wrapped rings in blue and asked if I could have it and another one (I wasn't too picky about the color) in a smaller size.

I know that most of her work is made to order or requires extra time because of the personalization.  I didn't expect my pieces to be her top priority.  But the whole process was pretty slow, and her communication wasn't great.  She said that she'd send me a picture of some of the other stones she had...but didn't.  She finally told me that the rings were ready and that the second one would be olive green (still no picture).  It took over a week after that for them to arrive.  Again, I know that I wasn't paying for these, but if it were me as the seller, I would still give top notch service in hopes of gaining a new customer.

The wire wrapping is okay.  I wouldn't have requested the rings if the wrapping in her pictures weren't pretty decent, so I was a little surprised by this.  I am not crazy about doing wire wrapping, but I've done enough of it now to know that I could at least as good of a job as she did if not better.  If I had paid someone else to do this job, I would have been a little upset.  The green isn't as nice of a piece of stone as the blue, but I do like the color.  You can also tell that the two rings are not the same size.  The green one fits pretty well on a few different fingers, but the blue one is loose on every finger except my right thumb, which just looks odd.  This would be okay if the stones weren't as weighty, but the stone makes the ring lean if it doesn't fit snugly.

I knew that these rings would be bulky and thus not pieces that I'd wear on a daily basis, which is okay.  I have a couple dresses/dressy outfits that I can wear with the green ring.  Honestly I will probably end up giving the blue one away at some point.

Her hand stamped jewelry may still be of a good quality.  She's had a decent number of sales and has good feedback so I would imagine that it is.  But I would look elsewhere for wire wrapped rings.

leafy modern

I won digivickie's word art's giveaway for 500 business cards from Overnight Prints! I put my order in on Thursday. I can't wait to see them in person.

I listed my newest leafy design today. It's the leafy series - modern, as part of my new neutrals kick.



I used four lamp worked beads from Jen (blueseraphim). They're part of a whole set I got in beautiful shades of caramel. I still have some other rounds as well as a bunch of mini ruffled discs.

I'm pretty sure that I'll be remaking my purple/pink and turquoise leafy designs next. I'm not sure which one I want to make first.

I finally finished my red striped peyote cuff today! I first posted sneak peak pictures of the base back in early December. My original embellishment technique didn't work, though. It was too tight, and I kept breaking the base beads. I ended up taking the whole thing apart. I had a hard time coming back to it, but I'm so glad that I did. The new embellishment technique worked really well. Once I started the embellishment, I finished it in a few days. Hopefully I'll get some pictures of it tomorrow.

I'm going to delve into my green delicas collection next. :) I'd like to make another flower cuff like this one, and I'm going to finally bead up one of my Sand Fibers's patterns.

snow day, some Etsy goodies

I had another snow day today (4th one so far this winter). You can't see it this picture but the wind really picked up today and is blowing 20-30 MPH when I took the picture. It's still snowing off and on, and I'm a little worried for tomorrow. I don't think that the roads are going to be very good.


I completely forgot to mention that I won the giveaway on vermilionstarpress's blog back in December. I won a lovely set of coasters like the ones that you can find in their Etsy shop here.



They also included a couple free blank cards with envelopes. Thanks vermilionstarpress!

I got a couple new Lisa Peters Art ceramic buttons in the mail today that I'd ordered through Etsy. Lisa has been listing tons of new items in the past couple months. It's amazing that I've managed to restrain myself from buying more than just these two items.

I think that I'm going to keep the white and green one for myself and use it with a green cuff design that I have in mind. I'm thinking about using the yellow button for a remake of one of my autumn leafy designs. :)