Seaglass, Anyone?

I've always loved seaglass, and I can literally spend hours looking through all the gorgeous seaglass jewelry on Etsy, without getting the least bit bored. That's how I came across today's featured shop, newsprout.


I admit it was difficult to narrow it down to featuring just one seaglass shop today (and I may have to remedy that with more seaglass posts in the future), but what really set this shop apart is that I wanted to favorite just about every item in the shop!


I love the simple beauty and elegance of these pieces. The glass itself is so beautiful, it pretty much stands on it's own, and I love that the artist allows it to do that.


These earrings catch the light so nicely.


In addition to seaglass, the artist sometimes uses vintage sea-smoothed pottery pieces, as in this bracelet.


I really like this style of two coordinating pieces of seaglass together as a pendant, and it's not something I've seen in any other shop.


Again, with the simple, elegant beauty!


These earrings are just gorgeous, and the excellent photography shows them off so nicely. As someone constantly struggling to produce presentable photos of my own products, I really appreciate good photography when I see it!


There are many, many more beautiful items in the newsprout shop (I didn't want this post to go on forever, so there were LOTS that I wanted to include but didn't). If you like what you've seen here, then be sure and go take a browse around for yourself. I've also linked each photo to its corresponding page in her Etsy shop, for your quick-click convenience.

More Pretty Jewelry

For someone who doesn't really wear jewelry, I sure do blog about it a lot. Here are some more pretties I came across on Etsy.

These are from the Etsy shop SusansJewelryDesigns, and are not only beautiful, but appear to be very well made. They're also quite affordable; most of the items in Susan's shop are around $16, with some earrings priced as low as $11 a pair.

These would be lovely to add just a bit of sparkle to an outfit.

I think these Tuscan sun earrings would look especially nice on someone with dark hair. There is also a ring in Susan's shop with this same design here.


Striking, while still being simple and classy


These look good enough to eat!


As usual, I've really focused on earrings in this post, because in any jewelry shop those are what tends to most catch my eye, but Susan also many lovely handmade rings, necklaces, and bracelets. You can take a browse by clicking here.

Winners!

My Great Cell Phone Case Giveaway ended today, and the winner is.... drumroll... Mommy Kennedy! I'll be sending her the below cell phone case; the one she chose as her favorite.


Funny thing happened while I was getting the entries organized to randomly select the winner. A new message popped up in my inbox from Sadee at sadeeschillingstudio, saying I had just won her giveaway! I don't enter very many giveaways, but actually winning one really makes me want to participate in more! I got to choose any pendant from her store, and I chose this one:


Nice, right? I can't wait till it gets here! She's got lots more beauties in her shop, along with a variety of lovely art prints.

A Treasure Trove of Beautiful, Unique, and Affordable Jewelry

Now, I just spent all my recent Etsy earnings on a big box of new yarn, but if I hadn't then I would be sorely, sorely tempted to spend it all in this wonderful jewelry shop, nicholasandfelice. There are just so many gorgeous, unique pieces here, and each one is so very reasonably priced.


This is one of those shops where I had a really hard time choosing which photos to include in my post. There are just too many I wanted to include but couldn't, so be sure and check out their shop for lots more beautiful and original work.


I love what they do with metal! It must really take a lot of skill and artistry to bend it just right like that, with such a beautiful result. Most of their earrings are between $10 and $15 a pair, by the way, so in my opinion these are some really great deals.


These are some of my absolute favorites. I love beach glass, but being a bit of a nutty perfectionist, I've never actually purchased real beach glass, because the chunks are never perfectly symmetrical. I know, I know, it's part of the charm; it's uniquely shaped by years and decades of tumbling in the ocean. I appreciate that. But like I said, I'm a nut. Anyway, these "frosted glass" earrings and pendants are perfect for me; they have that beautiful, frosted beach glass look, in a smooth, symmetrical shape.


I also love the way the wire is wrapped around them, just around the edges, really showing them off, rather than caging them in.


Another example of gorgeous metal-working. Simple and elegant!


This is lovely; I've always loved marbles, the round smoothness, the small but dense weight, and the glowiness of them, but I never knew what to do with them once I got too old to play with them. This is a beautiful solution!



I just thought these earrings were so striking and sophisticated! I've included a lot of earrings in this post, as they are usually my favorites, but Nicholas and Felice also have a huge selection of beautiful pendants, shawl pins, and other ornaments. This was a really fun shop to browse through and I really enjoyed writing this post.

Bought these gorgeous handmade earrings for $5!

I rarely buy things on Etsy. Not because I don't want to. Far from it! Mostly because there are just so many things I'd like to buy, I can never narrow it down to actually making a purchase.

So last week, when I was taking a look through the beFreedesigns shop, I had no intention of actually buying anything. Again, not because I didn't want to. I had hearted a number of items in the shop before and was coming back to pick some out for a blog feature. But, lo and behold, one of the sets that I had hearted had been put on sale... on sale for only $5! I couldn't resist!


The earrings arrived yesterday, and I just love them! I actually bought them with my sister-in-law in mind, because she has these beautiful bright blue eyes, and I do not. But when I saw them I just had to try them on, and you can't give away earrings once they've been worn, right? Like, it's some kind of rule, right?


These earrings are actually much prettier in person... for some reason neither my photos or the shop listing photos really do them justice. I especially love the way they swing; and that the inside stone swings completely independently from the outer hoop, which also swings nicely from the hook. So all in all, very swingy! This was an unbelievable deal and one that I am very happy with.

Here are a few more of my very favorite items from the beFreedesign shop. Be sure and check out the actual shop; there are lots more beauties, at excellent prices too!

Essence of Seas Earrings... just $15!


A Night in Bombay Earrings... only $10, and free shipping too!

Thanks for reading!

Mealy Monsters

Sometimes, while I crochet or work on some other project, I like to watch Flickr slideshows. I do a search for a particular term, depending on my mood (landscape, nature, crochet, crafts, etc) and then turn the results on slideshow. Put on some music, pick up my crochet, and I'm entertained.

That's how I came across these beauties. I had to learn more about them, so I followed the links to the MealyMonster shop on Etsy. These hand-sculpted art dolls are just so unique and funny, and strangely cute as well; I just love their expressions! The artist also writes short, humorous stories about each creature in her descriptions; something I always appreciate.

Here are a few of my favorites, but be sure and check out her shop for more!

Marvin and his Jack 'o Lantern:
























Marvin has a pumpkin friend, lately his friend had gotten a little rotten and his attitude, well let's just say, not so good.


Ace and his Dog:






























Ace found a dog
he had been looking for a snack
would go good with a side of frog
and maybe a six pack


Poor puppy! I guess even monsters have to eat though... Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Felt Sew Good

When I stumbled across this lovely shop a few weeks ago, I probably spent 20 or 30 minutes Skyping links back and forth with my sister (we do this a lot) saying things like "oh, look at this one" and "ooh, I want this, too" and "and this one" and "Christmas is only 3 months away..." I admit that I tend to be partial to felt (you may notice this in my past and future posts) but even in the world of felted goodness, these beautiful items stand out!


Now that the time has come to write this blog post, I'm finding it difficult to choose which items to include. I love so many of them! So I've chosen just a few of my favorites from this shop, just because I don't want this post to go on forever (I really could go on practically forever, but I won't. I do have a few other things to do today). If you like what you see here then I really encourage you to check out the Felt Sew Good shop and take a little browse around.


Cheryl, the artist behind Felt Sew Good, uses mostly upcylced wool sweaters for her craft, so her products are not only beautiful, but are eco-friendly as well. Wool sweaters are felted, then cut apart and sewn into soft, durable accents for yourself and your home.


I just love the look of quality to her products, the patterns and color combinations that she chooses, and the soft, luxuriously comforting texture.


I can just imagine my little nephew with this stegosaurus! I think they would be instant best friends.


This bunny is actually made from upcycled cashmere sweaters. Cashmere! I can only imagine the soft, bunny-like silkiness.


And here are a few more bags that I just had to include.




You'll also find felt brooches and pillows in Cheryl's shop, along with lots more beautiful bags and toys. All of the above photos link directly to her corresponding shop pages, for quick-click convenience. Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Increasing Traffic to Your Site with Linkreferral.com

If you haven't heard of linkreferral.com yet, you might want to check it out. I have been using it for a few weeks now, and, according to my Google Ananlytics, it is definitely sending traffic my way. Whether that traffic actually translates to sales, I don't know, but I figure increased exposure is always a good thing. Oh, and did I mention that it's free?

The way it works is this. You set up an account, and list your shop. This alone can help you get a little bit of traffic, because it puts you in their listings. In order to move up the listings (improve your ranking and therefore get more traffic) you have to visit the sites of other members, leave reviews, mark favorites, and participate in forums. The more of this you do, the higher you move up in the rankings. The higher your are in the rankings, the more views you are likely to get from other members. And, of course, the other members are trying to do the same thing, so they visit your site, leave reviews on it, etc.

Now, some will say that these other members are only visiting your site because they have to, in order to improve their ranking and get people to visit their site. Of course this is true. This is exactly what I do. But at the same time, I always take some time and look at the sites I visit, especially if they are Etsy shops. I have found many new favorites this way, and hearted or bookmarked them to visit again and possibly buy from or feature on this blog. There is a search option when looking for sites to visit, and I usually type "Etsy" in mine so that the sites that come up are mostly Etsy shops, with a few Etsy-related blogs thrown in there was well.

Also, in terms of views translating to sales, let me as you this: how many times have you gone to the store and purchased items that you had never intended to, just because they happened to be there, in your eye-line? It's the whole reason that stores put candy bars in the checkout aisle. So that is what linkrefferal.com tries to do; put your site in other people's eye-line. And who knows; they might see something they love and make a purchase. Or show your site to a friend. Or blog about your site. You just never know who's going to come across your site and like what they see, or what that could develop into.

Like I said, I don't know if these views will ever translate to sales. But if I spend 15-20 minutes a day visiting other members' sites and writing reviews, I get anywhere from 20-30 visits in return. To me, it has seemed worthwhile so far, so I just wanted to pass on the information and you can decide whether it is worthwhile to you.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Now, just to be funny, and to see if it works, I'll put some of my favorite items from my shop in your eye-line, and see what happens...

For the Love of Etsy

I spend a lot of time on Etsy. A LOT. Like so many people who have discovered this delightful handmade marketplace, I would definitely be classified as an Etsy addict.

I check my shop (Donido Designs) at least a dozen times a day (and that's being conservative) to see if I've made a sale. And it's not even about the money; I'm just as thrilled to sell a little crocheted cell phone case as I am to sell a big, beautiful baby blanket (well, almost as thrilled). I also check compulsively to see how many new views and hearts I've gotten on my items. From what I hear, this is normal for most Etsy shop owners. As a side note, here's a very funny music video on YouTube about Etsy addiction: Etsy Addicts Anonymous

I also spend a huge amount of time browsing through other shops and hearting anything that catches my fancy. I tell myself I might buy these things someday, once my own sales start picking up and I have some "free" money in my Paypal account. But in reality, I'll probably spend most of that money on new yarns for my own crafting endeavors, despite the fact that I have an excess of yarn overflowing through almost every part of my house already.

So, I've decided to try doing something useful with some of my hearts. Rather than simply hearting these items, I'm going to share some of very, very favorites. So, without further ado, today's favorite Etsy find:

Zootla Pocket Pally
The first time I came across this little cutie I had to immediately Skype my sister with the simple phrase "I think I'm in love" and a link to this adorable yellow Zootla Pocket Pally.

Cheerful, fun, unique, and small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, these joyful little guys just bring a smile to my face.

From the top of the head to the tip of it's feet it is 4" tall, plus the wild, crazy hair, which to me is the very best part. These are made with cuddly polar fleece, and come in many colors, and each has it's own unique adornments. All this for a mere $11.50! To me, that's a pretty good deal!

You can find this Zootla Pocket Pally, along with it's many cute and colorful friends and relations, at http://Zootla.Etsy.com. I have to say this yellow one is my favorite, but I like the purple (below) almost as much.
Thanks for reading my feeble attempt at blogging! I'm really new at this, but promise to get better as time goes on, so be sure and check back soon! I'll be blogging about my current projects, marketing ideas, things I've learned, things I'm trying, and a lot of stuff in between. And, of course, my favorite Etsy finds! I can't afford to buy everything I love, but at least I can blog about them!