ShesSoCrafty

I've Moved!

2010-02-09T19:08:00.001-05:00

I decided to switchy over to Wordpress... where I will now have all of my info in one place... If you are a follower here please feel free to catch me over there! I have google friend connect so it is super easy to follow a blog just as you would here! Just look for it in the left column!
Thanks for reading and I hope to see you around soon! :)

http://shessocraftygoods.com

It's Felty Friday Time!!!

2009-11-20T11:18:00.003-05:00

This week I am presenting you with a Felty Friday

featured artist with a cool shop name:

fullenstar and her magnificent fiber arts! Her scarves are amazingly bright and unique. I love the soft look of them and the punched up colors! Fashionable and so artisticly concieved with a slight flair for drama this is felt dressed up in it's finest!!!

Here are fullenstar's Felty Four!

Why Felt?
Felt is so cool because it is art, craft, function, science, and magic all rolled into one piece of pretty amazing material. Until you have actually went through the entire felt making process it is hard to understand how a few loose fibers and hot soapy water can create this fabulous fabric.

If you could make anything out of felt not restricted by cost or design what would it be?

I would love to felt a really big piece of furniture, like my sofa. I can't imagine being able to make that much nuno felt yardage, not to mention sewing it all into a cover. Maybe I'll start with a throw pillow!

What is your Creative Process?

When I take a seat in the studio I am surrounded by all of my hand dyed silks and gorgeous hand blended rovings, that is all the inspiration that I need. I simply pick out a beautiful colorway and a piece of silk and felt, felt, felt.

If you were stranded on a desert island with only three craft items what would they be?

Wool, silk, and bubble wrap, of course! Has anyone ever felted a bikini?

A felt bikini NOW there's something

I'd like to see!!! Make sure you give our

Felty Friday Artist some love! Happy Shopping!

30 on 30!

2009-11-18T12:04:00.009-05:00

A wonderful idea emerged on the Etsy Forums yesterday... anniepoo of http://www.etsy.com/shop/anniepoo asked what if everyone spent $30.00 on handmade on just one day? Hence the 30 on 30!
We want EVERYONE to spend $30.00 on handmade on November 30. Don't have 30? I know times are tight... spend what you can! Etsy is a vibrant community of handmade goodies and vintage at all different price ranges! Get a gift, buy a spluge for yourself. Most importantly you will be supporting handmade and vintage craftsmen and sellers. You can search for local artists to put the money right back into your community or you can just support lovely artists from all around the world!   Tis the season to give and give back, so support handmade! It only takes one person to start a movement!
Scroll down for a list of participating shops!

Go to Etsy and search the term 30on30 and get your shop on!

If you are a seller and want to participate sign up on the forum here HERE and view the informational thread HERE! And your shop info will be added to this post!

Happy shopping and spread the word!!!

Participating Shops:

anniepoo:
Stop by Annie's Powder Room for totally unique soaps that are perfect for gift giving and stocking stuffing! We TRULY have a soap for ANYONE!!!

OhMyCupcake
Handmade vegan soaps, candles, cute jewelry & household items.

Gemstoneandwire:
Handmade custom Jewelry and accessories.

trucdart:
Check out my shop for colorful, small format original artwork and gemstone jewelry.

ferozasjewelery:
Check uot my shop for handmade jewelery.

kitchenstichen:
Cute AND functional kitchen linens for the descriminating chef.

FernHollowFinds:
Fern Hollow Finds offers useful products for everyday living; hats, scarves, jewelry, jewelry travel organizers, fabric napkins & more.

michellenstamps:
Quality handmade cards for all occasions. I have many cards to choose from.

momomadeit:
Where there are lots of Everyday Housewife™ aprons to choose from - for everyday, every season and any reason!

FabricGreetings:
One of a kind fabric postcards - mailable textile art

sunflowerexpress:
Fine Felt Jewelry and Accessories

Fiberfads:
Hand Knitted and Felted Fiber Gifts

craftygurll
Stoneware pottery & soaps...soap ships free if you buy a soapdish too. :)

KayzKreationz:
Unique, useful and decorative Stained Glass, Mosaics and Fused Glass items for your home and garden.

AptNo5:
Come vist Apt No 5 for modern jewelry with an edge.   Real 14k goldfill charm necklaces for just $30!

Amievoltaire:
Clothing and accessories available here and Great stocking stuffers.

leeesgal:
Vintage clothing and accessories

cottontailquilts:
Hand quilted memories and treasures, kids wear, winter accessories, hand quilted fiber art.

quiltingcafe:
Featuring a wide variety of handmade quilted items, specializing in personalization and custom quilts.

kitkit96:
Jewelry that everyone will love! Look no further that is just what you will find! Wide variety of materials including glass, pearl, solid sterling silver, silver plated. Something for everyone!

BlueForestJewellery:
Unique, colourful, beautiful, handmade silver creations

ArtheliasAttic:
knit and crochet items made from vintage patterns

HandmadeBySandi:
Crochet items for the whole family, even your pet!

KnitterScarlet:
All things knitted...get your wooly winterwear here and also gorgeous beaded jewellery for that Christmas present.

starbabyonline:
One of a kind jewelry finds, mostly in sterling silver and gems!

wellspringcreations:
Lovely sterling silver accessories starting at $12.99. A quality gift for a low price!

funnyfuser:
Safe to wear anodized Titanium and Niobium earrings. I also only use nickel free findings. Fused glass art to wear. Barrettes to beads.

tracydesigns
XL Veggie Diva hot pads for cookie sheets and baking dishes (hot item), wristlet key fobs (hot item), quilts, bags, fabric coasters, duct tape stuff by my daughter, and much more!

kimbuktu
Tissue cozys and quilted round coin purses available in my shop, plus, for 1 day only I will adjust the price on my placemat sets to $30 for four beautiful quilted placemats. That is a savings of $6 per set.

FoxyGknits
hand knit scarves, shawls and wraps for today's women.

Quiltedbabe
My shop has a nice selection of sewn, quilted, hand knit and recycled items.

YellowBlack
bird a variety of fun, fashionable, and inexpensive jewelry. All earrings come in a both pierced and clip on. Shipping is free in the U.S. and Canada and is only $1 for international shipping!

vintagegirldezigns

Handcrafted jewelry, bags & ornaments with vintage flair make great gifts. Take a look!

Tokyoinspired

Fun and colorful screen-printed and embroidered pouches.

whimandfolly
Owls, butterflies, buttons, and ribbons are just a few of the delights that you will find featured on my handmade paper goods.

FashionablyChic
Check out Fashionably Chic for original handcrafted jewelry for all occassions.

openheartcreations
Handmade jewelry, greeting cards, frames and more. Perfect stocking stuffers and gifts!

QuiltSewCover
Paperback book covers, checkbook covers and lace Christmas Ornaments. Nothing over $10.00

underoakstudios
Organic Jewelry in Silver and gold. Some dirty word necklaces too!

HeatherScent
Stop by my shop for some great stocking stuffers and gift packs. Everyone loves my Sinus inhalers -- they are a perfect gift this cold/flu season!

fiberpuppy
Quirky felted hats and lovely textured scarves.

blackcatmima
At Black Cat Mima you'll find, vintage hairpin sets, handmade gift tags, vintage holiday decor, felt brooches, magnets and tree ornaments, and coming this weekend, handmade toss pillows, Christmas stockings, Hanukkah Hoots (owl plushies).

SuzyQQuilts
Visit Suzy-Q's for great gift ideas under $30 including purses, re-useable items and drawstring backpacks.

metropolisbody
Shocking tales of soapy scandals! Our products are 100% vegan and great for stocking stuffers!

desertgarden
Stop by desertgarden for luxurious spinning fibers and yarns.

lostmitten
Stop by Lost Mitten for handmade geekery, including my original Nintendo and video game housewares made out of Perler Beads and needlepoint! I also have knit wear and cute pinback buttons!

threepeats
carries long, light, easy to wear necklaces and earrings made from recycled vintage beads, chain, ribbon and lace. Each piece is UNIQUE!
ARTISANNE
Scottish Sea Glass and some other wee creations, everything under $30!!!!

UpandUpcycled
Upcycled jewelry, decor and accessories- all items made from repurposed materials! Good for your wallet and your soul, items as low as $3:

ChellaBellaDesigns
fantastic shipping rates and marked down items. Fabulous gifts for everyone, including your pets!

CutiePatootieBeads
Wonderful Handmade Jewelry

2MuchYarn
Lots of crochet items that are perfect for gift giving either to your self or others! From hats to slippers and everything in between

MomNMiaQuilts
designer quilts and baby gifts for modern moms and kids. (Plus, take advantage of our 10% OFF sale 11/27-11/30)

kimwhitecreations
You will find gifts for everyone on your list! All my $10 Coffee Cozies, Slouches/Berets, Scarves, Care Shawls and Lap Wraps are on SALE and ready to ship!

MiniMade
I make a variety of sewn items from coasters to quilts!

CuteNation
Handpainted wooden dolls that are the epitome of cute!

A little Bit about Why I Create and Design in Felt

2009-11-16T12:20:00.003-05:00

For those of you not familiar with the wonderfulness of Wool Felt, let me go ahead and break it down as to why this is one of my FAVORITE mediums.
For all of my jewelry items I use exclusively Genuine Wool Felt. Genuine Wool felt is a blend of usually 35 percent wool and 65 percent polyester or 20%wool and 80% polyester. This blend makes a super durable lush and smooth felt. This felt maintains it's shape, when blanket stiched around it does not stretch at all.
It can be layered and accented with sequins and beads.
Everyone has sterling silver or gold jewelry. My goal is to throw my own spin at the jewelry market, with designs that are elegant and fun and most of all play off of current trends. My goal is to create jewelry that creates a statement and is completely unique.
I enjoy creating peices that will wow and create a conversation. The Metal jewelry market is so saturated, my aim is to present an alternative that is just as beautiful and just as wow worthy. I love having a soft and light piece of felt hanging from my ears or around my neck...
My jewelry is created using original free form embroidery techniques and the layers are first glued together using industrial strength felt glue and then each layer is sewn toghther. This creates jewelry that is not only durable but virtually indestructible.
Each peice can be lightly cleaned using a damp cloth... It's not advisable to submerge the peices in water. It is totally preferable to remove the jewelry when washing your hands.
I love taking such a simple and durable material and transforming it into something beautiful and unexpected.

Felty Friday The Thirteenth

2009-11-13T10:09:00.002-05:00

No need to dive in corners or be extra specially careful of ladders and black cats.

How could you possibly be scared while looking at this?

ShesSoCrafty Is Proud To Present today's

Felty Friday Artist: fiberpuppy!

fiberpuppy works with felted wool and makes the most adorable felt hats and lush scarves.

Her choice of colors is amazing and her designs have a touch of whimsey and who could possibly resist a cozy hat with an owl, cat or dog staring back at you?

Here are fiberpuppy's FELTY FOUR!

Why felt?
I love making felt because there’s an element of surprise. It’s like shrinky-dinks. You think you know what it will look like but when it comes out , but it’s always a little different; maybe more lofty or thicker or longer. You kind of never know.
Also there is a structural element to felt that I love. To me it’s much more 3-D than plain knitting. I love the texture I can create with the shibori process, and when it's still moist you can give the felt shape by putting it over a form or stretching it.

If you had to describe your work as a song what would it be?

The Manamama song from the muppet show. It’s quirky and the hippie muppet keeps trying to go off on tangents but the cows keep reigning him in. He does finally get the last word though.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8czf_muppet-show-manamana_fun

What is the one thing you hate about your work?

The little bits of fluff everywhere. Felting has nearly killed my washing machine. The machine got so clogged with fiber it wouldn’t drain. Finally enough pressure built up and a huge fiber poop came shooting out.

Greatest Crafty Accomplishment?

This didn’t win any awards but I was pretty proud of myself. I knit the seats to our lawn furniture using mop handles and clothesline. I learned that one from the Manly art of knitting (which is unfortunately out of print). If featured a pattern for a hammock using boat oars and clothesline.
(shessocrafty wants to see a picture of this LOL)

Click on any of the images above to be taken to fiberpuppy's Etsy shop or just click right here!

fiberpuppy on Etsy

Thanks for reading and make sure to give ALL of our Felty Friday Artists Some Love!

Extended Info Or the Way to totally Optimize your Facebook for Search Engines

2009-11-12T18:29:00.001-05:00

This is part of our Facebook fan page tune up section.

Ok so previously we talked about search engine optimization... And I told you that the easiest way to do this was to utilize two things on your fan page... The box below your profile picture and another facebook application called Extended Info.

Let's start with the Box.

That handy little box under your profile is for much more than links. It's a traffic gold mine... put in a killer description of your business when people are googling your keywords wouldn't it be awesome if your etsy shop didn't come up at least your killer fan page with all of your info would????

Next using the Extended info application http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2374336051 you can customize your info tab and make that an awesome boon of information. Again remembering to use words that describe your business and a little about yourself if you want.I'm still workin on mine...
As with most things home business based... There ain't enough hours in the day!!!
But since using this boxes to my best advantage when someone googles my shop MY FANPAGE comes up before even my Etsy shop. So it is definietly another door into your shop... granted its a bit more complicated a door but a door nonetheless and I think all of us can use a few more of those!

Oh Where oh where has Ms. Crafty Gone

2009-11-12T13:30:00.000-05:00

Ok so I'm on a making binge... of epic proportions... Stay tuned later on tonight for an Extended info Tutorial for Facebook and Felty Friday for tomorrow! Meanwhile Here is the latest peice I am finishing...

Hundreds of hand stiches here on this bib Necklace! Almost done hopefully listing maybe today but definitely by tomorrow! Post some links of your Works in Progress!

Felty Friday Artist FeltLikeStitchin

2009-11-06T10:16:00.004-05:00

Felty Fridays is a new feature That we will be running every Friday On the Blog and on the ShesSoCrafty A&D Fanpage Here . Felt is such a Wonderful Material, I want to bring to light ALL of the wonderful Artists working in this diverse, durable and fantastically wonderful material.

ShesSoCrafty Is Proud To Present today's Felty Friday Artist: FeltLikeStitchin!

ShesSoCrafty Presents FeltLikeStitchin's Felty Four:
FeltLikeStitchin Answers four questions about her love of felt and her shop on Etsy!
(click any of the pictures to visit her shop! )

Why Felt?

For me, the best thing about felt is the wonderful range of colours. It's so bright and cheerful I can't help being inspired to create! I love that it's so versatile too, and it doesn't fray making it great for kids to learn how to sew.

Greatest Crafty Accomplishment?
My best and most exciting accomplishment so far has been seeing my work in print. My Russian Dolls have appeared in a craft magazine and in the Sunday supplement of a national UK newspaper, my Cross Patch Kits were featured in another UK craft magazine and four of my DiDi Dolls appeared in the Crammed Organisms book.

How do you work are you sloppy sue or neat nelly?
I'm a neat freak in my head but in reality my sewing stuff tends to gradually take over the house. Only yesterday I heard my husband muttering that our living room is starting to look like a sweat shop but I just buried my head in the felt and kept on stitching!

If you were stranded on a desert island with only three craft items what would they be?
I'd definitely need needles, thread, felt, but then I'd need some scissors too so that makes four! I guess if I had a pack of needles, a box of threads and some sharp scissors I could try stitching leaves and tree bark - if I was lucky there might be goats or some other woolly creatures on the island and I could have a go at making my own felt!

Her shop is a wonderful collection of wonderfully Bright and Charmingly

Cheerful Items for your shopping Pleasure! I really love her Matroyshka dolls and her super playful gingerbread houses and ornaments, all perfect for Christmas!

Visit her shop here (or click any of the images listed above!)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/FeltLikeStitchin

Happy Shopping!

SEO Optimization for Face Book Fan pages

2009-11-02T11:31:00.003-05:00

Ok so I'm really digging the customization for facebook fan pages and I just wanted to share with you a few more optimizations to get some links back to your Etsy Shop.

I've been checking my Google Analytics and have realized that traffic from my fan page has increased a hundred percent since implementing some changes, including the Custom Landing Tab.

I just wanted to discuss here a few ways to optimize your page for Search Engines.

Make sure when you are filling in the Info tab or the box on your profile directly beneath your profile pic with keyword dense text. Think about your business and use keywords that people would use to search for businesses like yours... If you have already optimized your Etsy shop use those Keywords to build a really very accurate description of your business.

There is also a really great application called Extended info which will allow you to add custom fields to your info tab. I will post a tutorial on this shortly and that will let you add a rich description of your business the Search Engines will pick up on directly to your info tab.

Many businesses are starting to use their fanpages as a second home on the web and pulling in as many people thru searches is very helpful to driving traffic to your site... I started out on Wednesday with 37 fans, I now have 98... and I'm only halfway done running my ads.

Rich content andd lots of info will help draw people in and keep them coming back for more!
I do not think I have yet gotten a sale straight from facebook but people are coming and that is a very good thing especially in this holiday season to bring in as many people as possible!!!

Custom Landing Page Part 2 or DUST OFF THAT PHOTOSHOP!

2009-10-30T14:42:00.035-04:00

Prerequisites:

Photoshop (IF YOU DO NOT Have PHOTOSHOP, SCROLL DOWN to the bottom of the page and I will put the code to copy past and some instructions to get you started!)
Some basic familiarity in working with images on Websites Specifically how to upload images to your webserver or photo sharing site (I highly recommend using your website for this).
Basic Html knowledge if you went thru part 1 you should be good to start.

Ok so for step 2 Open up your Photoshop... I am using CS4... so things may look slightly different if you are using older versions of photoshop. But the layout is BASICALLY the same.
Make sure you have gone thru and read Part 1 FIRST!!!
Ok so open up your photoshop.
Click New.
You need to set up your dimensions to be no bigger than about 750 across. Length wise you can add as many boxes as you would like but I'm going with this:

Click Ok.

Create your boxes. You want to keep them aligned vertically and horizontally. If you wanted to create boxes on one side and columns on the other that is fine play with this all you want.
But I just created some basic boxes for this excercise, like this:

You can find some great badges on the web just by searching around... or create your own using your images and text. (If I went into how to create custom images this would be A VERY long tutorial) you can find some great photoshop tutorials on creating images for websites just google it!!! you can drop pictures on these boxes which I created using the box tool. It's pretty simple once you start working with it. I tried doing this with a background but because of the way that facebook renders slices I ended up with lines where the slices were so for sanity's sake just keep your background white.

So once you have your boxes with images, text, badges whatever you like we are going to go to find the slice tool. I BELIEVE for most versions of photoshop it is grouped with the Crop tool... (Refer to google: where is the slice tool for CS3 if you are having trouble with finding it)
in my version I find it here:

A little backgound on the slice tool... this allows you to cut up a design for rendering with html and allowing you to create images that can be linked for use on websites... It's really simple and easy way to create the custom fanpage with out having to worry about positioning because you can basically lay this out exactly the way you want it.

Ok so you have your slice tool selected using this tool you will select your images. You will basically just draw a line around your boxes (works just like the box tool) You will notice something like this:

When you create slices... you will notice that it breaks your images into peices make sure you leave enough white around your images AND that you keep them aligned in a reasonable manner both vertically and horizontally.

MAKE SURE YOU MATCH UP YOUR SLICES AS IN THE PICTURE BELOW... THIS WILL TAKE SOME FANAGALING... IF YOU MESS UP JUST CLICK UNDO AND START OVER!!! IF YOU SERIOUSLY MESS UP GO TO VIEW ON THE MENU BAR AND CLICK CLEAR SLICES!

For the purposes of this excercise we will be dividing the image into four quadrants (notice that once you create your first slice that the box directly beneath it is created so now we have 3 peices but we have four boxes that we want to link out.
To create the fourth quadrant line up your slice tool with the top right node of the first slice and create a box around your top right image.
You will end up with something like this:

Now we have four equal quadrants that we are going to link out in the next step.

Go to File
select Save for Web and Devices.
This will let you create not only your images BUT also an HTML file.
This is the screen you should see:

Now we're going to create some links... Double click your first image... Mine is the Twitter badge... a box will pop up that looks like this:

Step one Name the image.
Step 2: in the URL box add the url you want the image to link to
step 3: Target select blank
Step 4: Message put something here like Go to my blog or Follow Me
Step 5: Select ok
Should look something like this:

Repeat this step by double clicking each of your quadrants and filling in your link information for each image slice or box if you will...

When you have completed these Steps we need to save this so we can get the HTML and Images to use.
So click save.

Next we need to make sure that we will be saving both and the images and the HTML.

For the SAVE AS FILE TYPE use the drop down to select HTML and Images.
Make sure you name your file something you'll be able to find easily The images will be saved to a file called images and the html file will be called whatever you typed into the box when you saved.
Save it to your desktop to make it easy to find.
This will save an HTML and an Image file folder with your four images.

Now we need to upload JUST the four images to your web server or photo service.

In part one I told you that we would need to Upload your images to your website. I can't tell you how to go about this since everyone's website is different. You could use Flickr or a photo sharing site but they really don't like this. I use Microsoft office live for my website. I am going to gloss over this part a bit if you have questions specific to a web service contact me and I can help you figure it out.
I have an image folder on my website already (MOST DO have a spot for you to upload images to, that is usually an image folder the URL folder for my website is this: http://shessocraftyartanddesign.com/Images/
This is very important to know the location for your images for this next step... if you are doing this using photobucket or any other site you will still need the url for the individual images to edit the html.

Now we will Edit the code.

For the next step open up the notepad or other word processor tool if you want.
Next open the HTML file we created in photoshop by double clicking it, It should open in your web browser. In your browser menu bar click View then Page Source. Copy the HTML on the page there. (I am using firefox)
Paste it into the notepad.

We will need to remove everything ABOVE the Table Id tag at the beginning and everything below the table id tag at the end.

What you will be left with is this:

Here is a brief breakdown of what THIS is.

There should be 4 image sources and 4 links. If you are not familiar with HTML this picture should break it down for you... (My 3rd image above IS NOT linked but yours should be!)

Next we will need to Replace the image tags with the url location of the images you uploaded where ever you see an img src tag:

Whew!
Still with me We're almost there.

Once you have done this we need to COPY this CODE and go BACK to Facebook and follow the steps in part one to add a Static FBML Box to your page.
Once you have the box open DROP IN THIS CODE. Name your Tab and click SAVE.
Next go back to the Page Manager for your fan page.
Click the pencil icon next to your Newly created FBML box (remember you renamed it).

Select Application Settings.

Where it says Tab, it should say Available... Click on Add to add a NEW tab to your page... you can also at this time REMOVE the Box option.

Okay so we've got the tab. Now how do we make this the default tab for our NEW visitors???

Here we Go.

On the Page Manager screen Navigate to Wall Settings.

Click the Pencil

.
Default View change this to the Name of your new tab and click save.
Give it a few minutes to update Logout of facebook and google your fan page... Your new landing page should come up. Test your links to make sure they work.
This is just a basic framework for what a fanpage can be. Play with it have fun and post links to those fanpages I wanna SEE! Um just don't clone my page and we'll be all good. With a little imagination anything is possible!!!

PS. There are much easier ways to do this I know but this is the simplest and least complicated for me to figure out how to do this without having to figure out how to position the images WITHOUT writing code from scratch... Facebook has some limitations and is a bit wonky, I tried this several different ways without any luck but this worked!!!

If you have any problems feel free to comment and I will get back to you!!!!!
FYI... I name my images curse words when I have been working on something for days and it is driving me crazy... This slightly did that hence the up at 3 am thing and the cursey words in the file names... I have to amuse myself somehow. :)

NO PHOTOSHOP??? Here is the code for the basic image layout... I have used which is for four boxes... if you know html you should be able to build off of this nicely.

Scroll above to the part where we modified the code you will still need to modify what I am providing here, but you will also have to modify the link portion as well.

This is the code I have used...




<table id="Table_01" width="750" height="600" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">

<tr>

 <td>

  <a href="link location" target="_blank"

   onmouseover="window.status='Shop The Fall Line';  return true;"

   onmouseout="window.status='';  return true;">

   <img src="image location url" width="426" height="311" border="0" alt=""></a></td>



 <td>

  <a href="link location" target="_blank"

   onmouseover="window.status='Follow Me';  return true;"

   onmouseout="window.status='';  return true;">

   <img src="image location url" width="324" height="311" border="0" alt=""></a></td>

</tr>

<tr>

 <td><a href="link location" target="_blank"

   onmouseover="window.status='Follow Me';  return true;"

   onmouseout="window.status='';  return true;">

   <img src="image location url" "width="426" height="289" alt=""></td>

 <td>

  <a href="link location" target="_self"

   onmouseover="window.status='Shop SSC';  return true;"

   onmouseout="window.status='';  return true;">

                                <img src="image location url" width="324" height="289" border="0" alt=""></a></td>

</tr>

</table>

Ok you will need to replace link url with your link destination... you will need to replace image location with with the url for your images! This will create the quadrant formation... If you want columns or anything more you will need to modify this code MANUALLY!

If this is beyond your grasp... I am thinking about adding this as a service (RE NOT EXPENSIVE) as I know not everybody can decipher this. Contact me if you need that kind of help and I can see what I can do. I Really just wanted to share this info to get it out there!

Custom Facebook Fan Page Part 1

2009-10-30T12:34:00.015-04:00

Ok so I'm gonna go thru the preliminary steps... I'm gonna break this up into 3 parts this first installment will teach you how to add a clickable image to your profile side bar on the Left this is the first step in working with the Static FBML Application on facebook.

Prerequisites for this Excercise is of course a Facebook fanpage
Some basic knowledge of HTML... (Copy Paste is what I call basic for this excercise)
Some familiarity with Photoshop and creating images for when we get to the custom landing page part. (I will be adding instructions that will be as basic as possible but I do this for a living so I may take for granted or gloss over some things.
I will try to provide screen shots of what I'm doing for a visual reference

First things first go to your fan page. Depending on where you land:
If you are on the ads manager page click on pages this will bring you to the page manager...
for the majority of what we will be doing this will be where you will add widgets and applications.
I will refer to this from now on as page manager.
If you are on your actual fanpage click edit page to bring you to the page manager.
Scroll all the way down to the bottom and you will see the More Applications Box. Click the pencil in the right corner select Browse More.
(click images to make larger and not blurry!)

Next on the application screen you will see a list of applications
We want to find the Static FBML APP
Type that into the search field.

When you reach the Static FBML Page
Directly beneath the icon on the left you will see the option to add to page

Click to add to page and this box will pop up:

Your page should be listed here (as I've already added the app to my page mine isn't there) but click add to page directly across from your page. Then hit close.

Now we will return to the main page manager window. Follow the steps above to get back to the page manager.

Now here is a simple simple example of just adding a linkable image to your sidebar. From which you can build upon to add custumization to your page.

Open up a new tab: Go to etsy.com and then go to the community tab and then resources
Find the big orange circle that says find me on etsy. Click on it. A code window should open up.
Copy the code.
Now return to your facebook fan page Page Manager.
Scroll down until you see this:

click the pencil Directly across from the FBML 1 application.

Select Edit.

That will bring you to a screen that says Edit FBML...
Take the code that you copied from etsy and paste it in the LARGE BOX.
The small box at the top will be what this box will be labeled I kept it simple and put Find me on Etsy there as the tittle of my box. You can always come back and change this later.
Now the Etsy code will link out directly to ETSY. We want this to shoot out to YOUR shop.
So we will need to replace the www.etsy.com with your shop url.

Click Save at the bottom.
Then click on your page name in the upper left hand corner of your page.
Click the Boxes Tab on the tab bar on your fan page.
Your Etsy button should be there.
To move this to your profile sidebar you need to click on the pencil to the right of the button and select move to wall tab.
And TADA you have created a button that links out to your page and successfully moved it to your sidebar where it will be EASY Peasy to find.
You can do this with ANY image.
A blog badge a twitter badge anything. (check out my item of the week Badge Using this same code and just changing the img src, and the link info as we did earlier.)
You can pull in images from your blog... from your shop and link them out using the steps we just used. OR... you can create an image and upload it to your website (If you don't have one you need to get one for STEP 2 (photo sharing sites DON'T like you using their sites to upload for websites so it's best to use your own web service. Get the url for your images and replace the img src"http://team.etsy.com/images/downloads/buttons/findme.jpg" with your images url and then replace the link part with whatever you choose to link it to. This Adds so much customization to your page in just a simple step.
This same principal can be used for creating the custom Landing page for the fanpage. For that we will be using photoshop to create some simple boxes and slicing them up in photoshop and inserting all of the links there and then inserting the html code generated when you save for web and devices and dropping that in the FBML box.
If you have no idea what I just said Stay tuned Tonight or Tomorrow I will be putting up the Steps for the next half of the Lesson!
But now you know how to add custom badges and buttons to your page!!! And how to work with the FBML application.
In case you want to go crazy with this and add more go to the Page Manager and click edit on your FBML box (remember you renamed it so it won't be FBML 1 any more) scroll down to the bottom and you will see add another FBML Box click edit to add to that box. Take the steps we did earlier to add more stuff.
Cheers and have fun and I would love to see what you come up with!!!

MORE MARKETING MADDNESS

2009-10-30T00:51:00.002-04:00

Hi Guys... In case you missed it... SSC made it to the front page of Etsy. It was a grand moment for me, like my official craft badge... It was amazingly validating especially since the item that was chosen was something that I personally LOVED. Those items are the most fun to make for me.
So on to our post topic... The little front page thing kinda made me kick it in gear in terms of marketing MADNESS. As in how can I kick this up a notch...
So I'm doing Twitter.... and Facebook.... (I pretty much live on facebook personally so this is not so difficult for me.) I use Tweetdeck to manage my personal/business stuff cause its easy...
Then one day I got bored got on facebook and started looking up companies...
I started with Victorias Secret... Cause I had heard on several blogs that their fan page was BadASS.
So I checked it out...
http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=victorias+secret&init=quick#/vspink?ref=search&sid=1304828206.1150368635..1

I was like thats cool and unboring... I hate the boringness of the Facebook fanpage...
and I was like I'm all graphic designerish... This can't be that hard to figure out...
Well it kinda was... but i think the result is WELL worth the trouble.
Check this out. The new improved ShesSoCrafty Fanpage for Sunflower Express: http://www.facebook.com/shessocraftyartanddesign

And how praytell did I accomplish this???
Well it all goes back to this wonderful application called Static FBML...
Search for it in applications and when it comes up click the text that says add to page...
This wonderful little app lets you use HTML on your fanpage for anything...
That's how I got the etsy shop badge on the side of my fanpage and how I was able to link out the images...
So I was wondering... If I could build a whole page, in like photoshop or illustrator and then using images and slice it up save it as html upload the images to my web server and then drop the html in the page and TADA. Custom linked out facebook fanpage. It makes it a little more interesting and WAY COOLER TO LOOK at... I will be hoping to add a full fledged tutorial for this shortly...
If anybody sees this and has any questions FEEL FREE to contact me and I will be glad to help you out... See Branding is your vision and I think its way cooler and funner to have that vision be interesting and make someone want to stay and hang out...
I'm currently running a facebook add (re you should add the visa business app to your page to get the hundred dollar add credit I'm hoping by the time all is said and done I will have like a hundred fans.) I plan to seriously use facebook to market my business and now I think this new format reflects and consolidizes my info in a more cohesive manner. Which is TRES AWESOME. Ok I'm gonna go eat some tacos now.

OOOOO new stuff...

2009-10-12T16:28:00.006-04:00

I find that sometimes when I have the craft blues I need to challenge myself... Push myself a little bit further and a little bit out of the comfort zone... after all that is where you stagnate and become dull and nobody wants to be a boring crafter (think Great Aunt Tina and her crazy socks).
So ShesSoCrafty is taking a test drive in the floral facinator market... granted this is a hot market on etsy but I'm trying to add my own little spin on it and make it just a little bit Lisa. So just thought I'd share some pics of what I am working on!

Remember nothing beats Craft Ennui better than a challenge... self initiated or otherwise.

31 Things I've learned in 31 years

2009-10-09T20:03:00.006-04:00

That's right folks ShesSoCrafty is turning 31! Does this freak me out? Not so much. I think I've finally gotten to the place where I am comfortable in my own skin. I have finally embraced being a generally more healthful person.
So I'm totally owning 31. After reflecting for some time I have realized that I have gained alot of knowledge about living in my humble years.
So here it is Lisa's 31 things I've learned in 31 years:

1) Say No. If the idea of doing something or being something that you don't want to be, just put your lips together and say NO.

2) Remember that not everyone's family is created equally. Sometimes the family you make is better, more nourishing and welcoming than the one you were born into. Being born is kinda like a crap shoot.

3) Come to terms with the fact that I will never know EVERYTHING.

4) There is no cure for the blues than a good tube of lip gloss and a hot dress and some cute shoes.

5) You will turn into your mother in some ways... If this idea petrifies you modify the things you can and deal with the crap you can't.

6) If you are a parent the only thing you can do is cross your fingers and jump off the bridge and pray you won't screw up your kid in the same ways your parents screwed you up...

7) & Accept the fact that you will screw them up somehow but hopefully it will be a good screw vs. a bad screw

8) Find Something you love passionately and find a way to make that your career or at least incorporate it into your life on a major level.

9) Stand up for yourself. If you don't no one else will.

10) Doormats are household accessories, and not something I will ever be.

11) Realized that Perfect is the most boring adjective EVER.

12) To love the quirky parts of myself, like the mole on my baby toe, the scar on my hand from climbing a fence when I was 12, my addiction to hotpink nail polish, my aversion to creamy salad dressings and mayonnaise all help to make me me.

13) To realize that my attractiveness in no way corresponds to my dress size...

14) Creativity is and always will be an integral part of my life. Without it I am bound to wither on the vine.

15) Men come and go but your girlfriends will be there to hold your hand when you cry, and hold your hair back when you puke.

16) That the ability to speak your mind with force AND tact is a very valuable skill.

17) Kenny Rogers said it best "You gotta know when to hold em, Know when to fold em, Know when to walk away, Know when to run."

18) That everyone needs to take time to take care of themselves, myself included.

19) Bubble Baths are the answer to world peace.

20) That I will never be normal... or want what everyone else wants, this is the beauty of being me.

21) That Love is only as strong as the risks you take to make it and the easier you make it to recieve it.

22) When it comes to work my self worth is worth MORE to me than any dollar amount anyone can ever give me.

23) A path untaken is a regret waiting to happen. So make sure to consider all of the options carefully.

24) All men are not created equal. If he makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up sometimes it might not be for a good reason.

26) LOVE MY BODY! From which a 9lbs 14 oz son was pulled, has climbed mountains, walked hundreds of thousands of miles, lifted the heaviest of objects and can open the tightest of jars all by myself.

27) Fear is stupid.

28) Change is exhiliarating.

29) Trust my insticts. If something gives me pause there is usually a reason for it.

30) The man that loves you for your mind is usually the one who will love you even more for your body.

31) That speaking your mind is the equivalent to a loaded weapon, when you aim, aim carefully and aim precisely...

So what have you learned?

Crafty Marketing: or My Weekend of Marketing Madness

2009-08-12T20:10:00.005-04:00

Ok so most Etsy Sellers have heard that the secrets to success are off Etsy marketing. Well this is a daunting task... I know for me I would personally rather stick a knife in my eye than spend a whole lot of time marketing my Shop, when I could be spending that time creating.
So I have taken a few steps into the Marketing Wilderness. I will chronicle some of that journey for you now!

Step one... I'm one of those troublesome etsy shops now where the username doesn't match the shop name DOH! I've kinda started to establish my shop. I kinda like where it's going and the awesome feedback. So I want to keep it at least temporarily. So I worked out a way to standardize all of my marketing materials. I developed my SSC logo last year and use it extensively for my Graphic businness... A strong imagery is important to branding. So I wanted to use the cool logo (see below as to how I created that), and use it as the distinguishing and recognizable brand piece. I love the idea of textures and I didn't want to just throw the logo on a background, so I put it in a frame threw up a very nice textured linen background and used a classy but modern font called advent (found for free on the internets) and Voila. Branding Material. Next I figured lets carry this imagery onto a business card. Opened up photoshop designed a custom business card using all of the afore mentioned elements, went on over to Vista Print and ordered up some cards.
Next I needed to address the website. I wanted a site that was fun, decorative and me, and yet with a simple interface. So I WIPED my old SSC site that was graphic related all flashy and illustratored out and started redesigning the site. I still need to add my graphic business to the site which will come in a few weeks when I have some down time. BUT the site presents all of the information on the Craft business and how it works and is handled. I hope to be adding more content and more detailed information on the individual products as well, BUT for now it serves it's purpose well. I highly recommend Office Live... It has GREAT features once you get familiar with how the system works... I've tried both ways and I HIGHLY recommend not using the third party design tools... I know right??? A graphic designer says to use the crappy templates... Ha Ha I took a basic element and with a bit of java and html turned it into something sweet in the SSC style! It worked out well... You just need to figure out how to trick out the Office Live templates and pretty much anything is possible... feel free to email me and I will tell you how I did everything including hooking the site up to analytics!!!
Next step was hey lets do some marketing... So I had this facebook fan page just kinda hanging out... my first step was to locate a facebook ad promo code (yes they have them and you should search for them right now) I found a code for 50 dollars in free advertising... Awesome I got my page some fans and a nice base to start with.
Next I figured generating some hits on my webpage might be kinda awesome as well, so remember earlier when I told you that I ordered business cards from Vista Print??? They have a promotion when you order you can chose to recieve a promo code for Google Ad words... which was for 50 dollars as well. I signed up all my info and ran an ad... The Ad words credit got eaten up in about 5 hours you must watch this one to make sure it doesn't go over. But I got some traffic to the site AND the Etsy Shop... Because the shop tab on my website redirects directly to my Etsy shop. Eventually I plan on having a shopping cart on my site, but for now I'm redirecting anyone interested in seeing products directly to the shop from my website. Now I can market the crap out of the website which is a url I own and I can manage traffic, tweak things as I see fit and I can control my SEO. In the Etsy forum someone once said I have my own URL that I market with a redirect to my site and I don't have to worry about what Etsy is doing cause I don't market my shop I market my website. This sounded like good advice and it makes sense! So, so far so good. Feel free to take any of these tips and run like a crazy person with them!

Hello Again!

2009-08-11T18:51:00.002-04:00

Ok so it's been a hot minute... so I apologize for that... But I had lots of stuff going on! So lets update from where we left off... Sunflower Express the Show seems to be headed towards hiatus-ville for the indefinite future and I have decided that instead of letting all that hardwork go to waste, I would keep the shop open and EVENTUALLY (as in when it seems appropriate) merge Sunflower Express with ShesSoCrafty on Etsy. For now the shops are seperate and doing well.

I have just completed the first straight etsy wholesale order and it went very well!

I will say this much... Think about your pricing hard core before you dive into wholesaling make sure the money is worth the time and effort, and remember unless you are a seller who has gobs of stuff hanging out all the time to just choose from, you will be making stuff and that takes away from time you could be making other stuff like for your shop or for shows. Pricing is key and it keeps you motivated if you know that you are getting paid decently for your products.

I posted in the forums on Etsy as to how to handle an on Etsy Wholesale order as they were foreign to me. I got lots of helpful information but I think the decision on how you handle things is completely up to you. For this first order I chose to go thru E. If this ends up being a return order I will definitely then consider going off Etsy and conducting this my self thru invoicing. Some people are very leary of being scammed, I on the other hand like to be a little bit flexible in determining my terms depending on the order and the customer. All in all this was a delightfully pleasant experience. I hope it leads to loads more!

Back to the blog front.... I will be trying to get myself back into a normal grove with this.... I will also be trying to migrate my SE handmade content over here as well so I don't loose those posts either! So regardless if you are a reader thanks for stopping by and I look forward to lots of crafty bits in the future!

Cheers

NEWY McNEW NEW...

2009-07-12T20:25:00.000-04:00

So what have I been up to for the last month???? Making stuff. Of course :). I have been experimenting with colors and different techniques. I'm approaching this like play time (which it is). Felt really truly is one of my favorite mediums to play with. I am preparing for the Philadelphia Buyers Market which will hopefully help me rake in some wholesale accounts and hopefully some CASH. Hopefully Etsy sales will start trickling in again...
Sunflower Express has also begun two other shops. We have one on ArtFire called The Felted Underground, and another on 1000markets called that as well. I am still adjusting to the managing the multiple venues deal. Tricky, Tricky.
I have been doing alot of reading lately about trends.
I mean seriously is anything really new? Is there really an original idea to be had? When it comes to colors, and shapes and styles isn't the designers job now just to regurgitate all of those things into something that doesn't resemble day old bread? I spend alot of time looking at pictures for inspiration of not just felt stuff but clothing and "real" jewelry (don't forget shoes, they are my favorite peice of architectural accessories). I fully realize my style vacillates between kitch and uptown girl but I'm doing that with felt so that (at least in my mind) still makes it cool. I think of it as a little hippie chick with a dash of gypsy and a pinch of bohemiana (I SWEAR TO GOD IF I START MY OWN LINE THAT IS What i'm calling it.)
Preparing the line for The wholesale show has gotten me really thinking about the details of it all the small things, the prepping, the making sure everything is just right and just so. It's nerve wracking and exhilarating at the same time... I'm like this all the time but for this I want it to be spectacular... I want it to be special. So I work my ass off lol... Here you can see some of the current work.

Things I'm learning Thru Our Etsy Shop

2009-06-22T21:27:00.000-04:00

Ok so when I opened my first shop concentrating on my fine art and illustration it was tough... I didn't know how to market it, I was just kinda thowing coins in the air and seeing where they lay. It took me a year to get 6 sales on etsy. When we started the Sunflower Express shop Knowing what I have learned in Marketing the show and running that business on a completely different level, I think I started to approach the new etsy shop in a completely different way.
Marketing is key. I use all of my social skills to market sometimes it is completely overwhelming how much time I actually spend marketing. Of course this takes some of the fun out of the whole creating for a living thing but IT WORKS.
I love seeing what other people are working on and how they interpret life thru what they create... You can tell A lot about someone based on what they create. I'm drawn to the quirky stuff on etsy... I can spot a fellow quirkster a mile away.
Our intention was to create lots of stuff for kids but the whole CPSIA nonsense kinda killed that. I create stuff for adults mostly now... kids really love our cuff bracelets and button rings. Hopefully if the stupid law can get changed or repealed I can go back to doing that in the future. But the line is taking off.
We got some of our notecards in a boutique in Berlin Maryland called A Perfect Touch on Main Street. Its the cutie little town where they shot the movie Runaway Bride. Which is very cool if only for the fact that I love that movie.

I'm learning to branch out. To not be scared and to just get out there and mix it up. I know alot about alot of things just thru my experiences in graphic design and illustration thru SSC A&D. I don't mind sharing and I utilize etsy's forum to share my knowledge and also to draw from the knowledge of everyone else in that very diverse and knowledgeable community.
Most importantly I have learned that I've got good taste and if you work your ass off and are slightly anal retentive you can put out a whole lotta work! AND you can start to sell.
Our shop got off the ground for real in the beggining of May I now have 3 sales. Not bad in a month and a half especially with a line that is very different from most jewelry out there. I hope to continue to find out niche market and capitalize on the cool, unique factor of our stuff.

Sunflower Express will continue to get out there and do the whole craft circuit and I'm seriously persuing wholesaling now. I also would love to approach other blogs about doing a feature. I'm no media whore by any means... I'm waiting for the show to take off so we can hire a Ms. Crafty... (I'm joking, Maybe not joking lol...) But exposure is a plus!

New Products and New Demensions or why I love Felt!

2009-05-19T13:38:00.000-04:00

Ok so felt used to be relegated to kindergarten arts and crafts projects but I have always had a lust for its vibrant colors and shades, it's durability and the sheer fun factor. So when sunflower express wanted to branch out into handmade products to support our mission I imeadiately turned to felt because it's wonderful qualities.

I started with pendants. I love the fact that people don't know that they are felt when they look at them... They are substantial statement pieces that are totally affordable and with everyone selling off their gold and silver why not have a blinged out textile piece that says fun or elegant, that also can't be pawned in a moment of deperation!

Since the pendants I have started to move on with the addition of bracelets or felt cuffs with fun and sophisticated patterns for adults and kids. Currently I am designing earings and even rings embellished with buttons and beads. I primarily use wool and eco fi. I realy enjoy the wool felt as it is way more durable and the colors a bit more subdued than the lollipop kaleidescope of Polyester felt!

Felt is such a luscious material it deserves better treatment and to be moved from the bottom of the craft food chain.

visit my etsy shop to see what I mean!

www.sunflowerexpress.etsy.com

Modern Networking or this Crap really does work...

2009-05-03T16:53:00.000-04:00

So I've always wondered about ways to draw more attention to our little show and shop... but how do you do that without being chained to a computer 24/7 and still have a family a life outside yourself and still get your craft on?

Ok so I've read alot about setting up a facebook fan page. That was step one. It's pretty simple just make sure you follow facebooks instructions and click on the linky poo for the create a page for a business. It's pretty easy after that... you upload a few pictures and put some content up there and there you go!

The second step which is equally helpful especially if you are craft fairing this season, Mix and Mingle and slap that business card and/or flyer in that bag! We have gotten some really great business leads just from talking to customers and fellow crafters about what we are doing. Being social is key! Make sure you have a mailing list for people to sign up on and hand your flyers out to everyone who stops by... yes this is marketing in real time vs. webtime... BUT... people who see your work and like it, but don't have a need for something you are selling, might come back around later on if they stumble upon your card or you signed them up for a mailing list and are regularly sending them information. Even in this modern era this still works!

Ok so I read some really great information about twitter on Timothy Adams blog, It was basically about how to get followers.... Seems simple right???? But this can be daunting... It's pretty simple just find people who's things you love or who have businesses you like to get started add some of their followers. I basically searched for etsy and went thru some of those... Get your friends, look for people who do what you do or who do something similar. Initially might take you a few minutes of searching and following people but most of the time those people follow you right back! Most people do have twitter and post your twitter feed info on your facebook... Post your twitter follow me button or feed on your blog, on your website and tell everyone you can follow me on twitter. In a few hours I'm up to 88 followers... in a few hours! I'm hoping this will lead to more traffic here and to the sunflowerexpress website and eventually to sales popping off in my etsy shop.

Break the marketing down in to phases and set yourself some acheivable goals and if you are anything like me you will only have to spend a couple of hours online a week devoted to managing your "networking empire".

I'll post updates on our progress!

Notes from the Montpelier Festival of Herbs, Tea and the Arts

2009-05-02T11:44:00.000-04:00

Greetings!
I figured our first post should be from a Craft Fair! We survived the threat of rain and the turn out has been better than expected. It stayed cloudy and cool and It was so fun to meet other crafters and just being outdoors in the beautiful Montpelier Setting was amazing!

Well as you know we are relatively new to the craft fair circuit and thru trial and error have realized that picking great fairs has alot to do with your target audience. We have been to a few bummers that had us doubting our confidence... But the trick is to remember that your products are not always going to be a right fit for the fairs you are attending and even careful research can yeild a hit or miss.
Our Strategy is that generally we sell products that appeal to adults and we sell lots of kid stuff but our market is a more indie, city dwellers than country market. Our goal for our Craft fair scheduling this season is to stick to what we know and stay in the DC Metro Area. For the remainder of our craft fair season we will be mostly in PG County and then a couple of stops near the chesapeake.
Another tip we learned in tweaking our display this week was to dial back on the table cloth motif... we went with a crazy display last time that had way to many colors and distracted from the colorful nature of our product line. I love light blue and thought that light blue would be a subtle color that would help our stuff stand out but not be too busy. After a quick trip to Joanns where we settled on an okay color... we got to the cutting table and realized that the fabric would cost us 50!!! dollars... I was like okkkkkkk lets go to target and get a sheet. Cynt and I picked out the most perfect minty blue and I really think that that change made people linger longer over our table.

We had some really great conversations and the one product we didn't think we'd sell that much of, our logo T shirts for kids we actually sold 3!!! Since our TV show is new and noone has heard of it we didn't know how it would go over. It just goes to show how far a good design will go! We've had several adults ask for big people sizes and we are mulling it over...

I will be a busy girl this week replacing stock and I am very much looking forward to the Main Street festival in Laurel next weekend. This week you may see several posts on products for the upcoming fairs!!!

Lots of art on the horizon

2009-04-29T17:22:00.003-04:00

Ok so Sunflower Express (the kids TV show I have been working on for almost a year now) has debuted episode 2. We are currently on Tour so to speak, hitting the local craft fair circuit. It is ridiculously exhausting yet fun at the same time... to take a look at the new Sunflower Express product line please visit www.sunflowerexpress.etsy.com... to view episode 2 visit www.sunflowerexpress.com . I'm currently getting ready for the Montpelier Herb and Tea fest on Saturday and its a slow crawl until June where we end in Ocean City. Sunflower Express also has a facebook fan page (search for sunflower express). Coming soon is the Sunflower Express Handmade blog where I will be blogging about crafting, building a brand and our craft fair experiences and tips!

A Double Sided Business Card Mini Brochure

2009-03-17T11:38:00.000-04:00

A Mini Brochure

So I was needing to update my promotional materials and I thought this would be a good time to use a really cool technique to Create a mini brochure Business Card size.
Let's go thru the process.
Personally I'm an instant gratification type of girl and I like to be able to print my stuff myself and not wait until I've sent my docs off to the printer to see how it works, so I test drove some of the new features in Illustrator CS4 to Set up the card and print it.
In the newest version of Illustrator it is very easy to set up double sided printing because they give you the use of multiple artboards on your screen.
For this card you need to set up the document to have multiple Artboards and you do this from the New Document screen.

Where it says number of Artboards change that to 2. In the width and height change that to 4 inches wide and 3.75 inches high. This will create two art boards that are double business card size. You can size these up a bit to fit your purposes.
Inside of Illustrator you will find two art boards side by side that are constrained to your specified size. The next step is to start on your design. Turn your rulers on and set up your guides for bleed and for the fold at 2 inches on both boards and begin laying out your design.
The front of your document should be on the left artboard with the front cover actually on the right and the back cover actually on the right. On the second Artboard the text for the left inside should be on the left and the right inside text will be of course on the right.
Complete your design and then go ahead and print it out using the illustrator print options.
You need to have some knowledge of how your printer handles double sided prints. For me it was easiest to print the cards one at a time and flip the paper each time to get the print on the back.
When you are ready to get really fancy you can create a new document and layout multiple cards using copy and paste but your placement needs to be precise. Use your rulers and remember to place each front and back in exactly the same place on each artboard, re sizing each artboard when finished to remove any dead or negative space. Your finished product will look something like the finished product below. If you are sending to a printer to print the rest it is best to convert all of your text to outlines to avoid text issues and save as an EPS and then distill it to a single PDF document. I hope this helps anyone who designs on how to get a proof printed at home with double sided printing

The Anatomy of a Logo

2009-03-16T10:30:00.002-04:00

Ok so I have gotten a few comments on the Logo and I figured this would make a really good blog post. Some people find text based logos overdone and boring but I would like to just say pish posh. You know all those really cool decorative fonts that are just lingering on your computer that you've horded looking for the right place to use them? This would be the time to dust those bad boys off and have a go at creating a refreshingly simple logo.

For the Shes So Crafty Logo I started with a sketch of intersecting Ss and a looping scripted C that ties them together. I think the sketch is the most important part, granted you could just sit down and fiddle with your letters till you get em right but, starting with a basic sketch lets you know where to start and streamlines your process. Once I had the sketch done I spent some time in my font viewer software hunting. I wanted a very ornate font for the intersecting Ss and a pretty simple scripted C to tie them both together.

I contemplated several choices for the Ss and finally decided on VTKS Revolt, For its nifty flourishes but simple easily readable letter styles.

Next step was the layout in Illustrator. I decided that the second S should be reversed, which gave it a kind of quirky feel. Now I needed a Scripted C that was less ornate but still fit with the flourishy touches of the S.

I settled for an oldy but goody AT Mahogony Script with its simple curves and the loop on the scripted C which gave the logo balance. I centered the C in the middle of the two S Coverted it to outlines so that I could further manipulate the C to intersect in the right spaces. I kept the C in just outlines to balance the heavy color of the flourishes in the Ss. And Voila. A fresh take on the standard Text based Logo. Most of the time when you think text based logo you are thinking of something more utilitarian, but as you can see this result is fresh and elegant yet simple in its conception. Dust off those fonts and give this new take on a graphic design classic a whirl!

So We Joined Facebook Last night

2009-01-29T10:41:00.002-05:00

That is a really freaking scary thing. I keep a low profile most of the time cause I don't need anything else that keeps me on the internet for a ridiculous amount of time. I do enough of that on my own. But its funny to see people you know and how they've grown up. You forget all the time that We're all like really adults now, following my theory that you aren't fully an adult regardless of what the law says until you are thirty.
Lee doesn't remember anybody which is funny. I was like so when I'm 34 my memory will start to dim good thing I did this now...lol...
Ok so Sunflower Express's 1st full length episode is nearing completion we go into editing phase as soon as I finish my GD animation. There has been so much stuff going on that it is really hard for me to dig in but my goal is today.
Me and Cynt. will be heading to Mayorga Cafe on FEB. 7 for an art fair so I will be frantically making products for that in the very very near future. Gobie Keychains anyone????
Life has been a bit hechtic lately but I am very glad that I have a husband like I do. He really doesn't care about all the bullshit stuff and is mostly happy when I'm happy. So I give him mad props cause I'm hard to handle sometimes. The mom thing is exhausting and working the show is like a full time job in and of its self, on top of all the other things like the shop and the business. But you know I like to be busy, keeps me out of trouble and my mind engaged.
I hate the winter so its easy for me to drift until the temperature hits something remotely normal.
Ok enough procrastinating... time to get back to work.

Ok so I'm double posting

2009-01-25T20:26:00.003-05:00

I have been hella busy in the last few months, so much so that i didn't get a chance to revel in my near brush with celebrity. So I had heard tell that a certain celebrity widow whom I have always adored for being wicked cool and not really caring what anybody (and I mean anybody) thought was loose on etsy and purchasing lots of pretty pretty handmade things.
Well after months of neglect I recieve an email that I actually sold something on my etsy site. Well low and behold who should it be but my favorite Rocker Girl Courtney Love. I was awestruck and freaked out. Here is here-to-fore known CL card. It's not much but it totally made my 2008!

Inspiration Strikes

2009-01-25T20:12:00.003-05:00

These are new Felt Charms I whipped up this afternoon that are currently for sale at my etsy shop. I've been experimenting with Felt stuff cause its fun and there are so many cutey things you can make with it. These can be used as pendants or keychains, even zipper pulls they are tres cute for the big VDAY

These are by Little Felt Tribute to the best friend necklaces I used to wear as a kid. These are super cute and fun! Check out my etsy shop for other cute felty goodness now on sale with more to come!

Stumble Upon lead me to Stumble upon the Rights Never Ending Racial Bias

2009-01-22T13:31:00.003-05:00

So I hit the stumble upon, haven't done it in a while and low and behold what do I find but loads and loads of Republican loony toons bitching about how everything is Obamas fault. The stock market is his fault, they lost their job and its his fault, He had a big party to celebrate and they didn't like it, How stupid black people are and why didnt he just have a barbecue and eat some chicken.
See we forget that a very large portion of the country has not evolved to follow the lofty ideals of the Left. We can't just start to think that things changed overnight. The work really has just begun. Though everyone is entittled to their own opinion, I don't know why some people think that its ok to say things like negro and blackie in regard to our president. Dude he's just as white as most of you and many of you down the line will find that you have a few darker skinned folks in your background. The color of your skin doesn't mean you will be a bad president and really we've already done this old white guy thing like 43 times already... Real Change means doing something different.

What if the mightiest word is love?

2009-01-20T14:06:00.006-05:00

Ok so I knew today would be emotionally charged. Hell change is never easy. It's never the easiest thing to do or make. Change is painful, and Forceful but in the end usually changes are for the better. I think that Barack Obama will be the best thing to happen to this country in a very long time. I love the fact that he refuses to let us off the hook. Before it was always I now its WE! We must not ever become complacent again. I think it is the one thing that has driven me insane. If you don't like something get off of your ass and scream it and help when you can help!
And to love each other and ourselves most of all. Nothing will ever change if we can't see the love and value in each and every person in this country and on this planet.

I love the fact that he included so many musicians and creative people in his Celebration.
I highly suggest everyone sign this petition http://www.petitiononline.com/esnyc/petition.html for the creation of a secretary of the arts. I am signature numba 159969.
Arts should be elevated to a higher level in this country and not just music. I'm talking about potters, jewelry makers, illustrators, painters, sculptors, mixed media artists, anyone who lifts a hand to do anything out of intent to beautifully communicate a message!
on a side note We did not go into DC though I really wanted to today... Number one its freaking freezing, My son is like 3... and hubby is at work so I'd be by myself... My Friend Cynt was gonna go with me but she lucked into tickets and took her dad. I really think today was super important for the older generation of folks. Hey I'm 30 I'll catch him in 4 years!
I am block printing some cards today for VDAY... and I hope to work on some felt stuff later. Will post picks!
Happy Barack Obama Day!

This is Funny

2009-01-20T00:45:00.002-05:00

Educating your customers

2009-01-19T22:18:00.003-05:00

Ok so for the most part the average small business owner has no idea what goes into good design. Including the process, the target, and the implementation. This is the Designers main job to educate the customer as to what is effective and what is not. Now dealing with this is one of the hardest jobs of the Graphic Designer.
How exactly to you effectively communicate what is and is not Good Design.
Most customers will have no clue as to how a pallete is chosen. Or how thoughtfully to arrange text to formulate a cohesive message.
Many Customers have seen ideas that they like, but do not know how or if the samples they like will effectively communicate their message.
Things to remind clients:

Your marketing materials are your business. If your business is Dog Care. Your images should correspond with Dog Care. This is simple but you will inevitably find the client who wants to use ambiguous photos or graphics that do not fully communicate the fact that you run a Dog care business.
The most effective design strategy is to quickly engage the consumer in what you do. Studies say that you have approximately 2 seconds to grab someones attention. Your cover design should encourage a potential customer to read your materials.
The average consumer skims and does not read. Your headings should be well crafted with pertinent information that they will in some capacity retain.
The overall look and feel of the brochure should correspond to the type and style of business that the client operates.
Many clients will say things like I would like a bold vibrant design when in actuality this is not what they like or desire. Clients can be confused as to what they actually like and sometimes it becomes tricky when you are knee deep in a layout for them to decide that what they actually want is a very subdued layout. Take a deep breath, bang your head on your keyboard and start over.
The average client usually can not communicate effectively what they want. I said average because I have dealt with some very creative and knowledgeable clients in my graphic design business. This makes our job easier.

If your client wants something that you are not comfortable with feel free to direct them to one of the many P.O.D services that will print what ever they want. Don't feel as though you have to put your name on a product that is not of a quality you believe in.

Hey really Graphic Design is an art. You go to a doctor when you are sick, You go to an artist when you need art. When your company requires the incorporation of Art and text in artful way you go to a Graphic Designer. Any old person can slap a bunch of images into something and call it a design. Doing it well is a designers job.

Welcome to Shes So Crafty Art & Design

2009-01-17T17:07:00.001-05:00

Art, Politics and Mommydom

Ok so this blog is going to be a little bit about everything from a creative perspective. ok so like what inspired me today you ask??

At this present moment in time to very important things are going on in the world. One is the inauguration of Barack Obama, the second is my 35 month old son finally voluntarily going to the bathroom!!! I've been working non stop in the last few months so I really thought it would never happen and then all of the sudden presto! So tip to all you moms killing yourselves thinking that it's your fault and if you weren't so busy and that your kid is going to be five wearing diapers take a deep breath and have a glass of wine cause seriously its gonna be alright!

The Previous thing I mentioned was the inauguration. I'm so excited and happy and I have been wondering for a while if this was all really happening. But it is and It really is inspiring. I think for along time as a country we have been pretty depressed and not really all that hopefulI. Right now I'm feeling kinda depressed. You know how it feels when your really bad boyfriend all your friends hate and you know is bad for you breaks up with you and you still cry and miss him that's kinda how I feel about George Bush right now. It was really really bad but who are you going to laugh at? There will be no knowing wink at the cute french guy at the paper stand when you wear your Bush WMD t shirt.

But I am excited and encouraged by all the positive energy and Yes I have been considering changing my plans to stay home on Tuesday (NO STROLLERS!!!) and might be braving the ridiculous cold with my tot monster, for a few pics to add to the Obama scrap book.

On the Art front this weekend I am finishing up some animation for Sunflower Express. Hopefully that will be done very soon so I can get back to doing some fun art... It's pretty hard when you have so many ideas and not enough time to do it all. I have notebooks filled with all the stuff I've wanted to do but never got around to yet. Plus I never took pictures of all the stuff I made for people for christmas... I was basically prototyping for my etsy shop.
Who knows you guys may see some of it for sale real soon!