Featured Etsy Blogger of the month - Mama's Magic? BFbeads or Domestic goddess? Hmmm....

Need a little magic in your life? A little mommy care? Well look no further! This month’s featuered Etsybloggers is Mama’s Magic or should I call her BFbeads?! With either shop name, she is an exceptionally creative mom who makes Baby Friendly Beads that make breastfeeding easier and has a magically creative talent to make unique pieces like those in her shop called Mama’s Magic! Now how creative and original is that niche?! Here is one of her baby friendly necklaces!

Featured Etsyblogger of the Month -September

The featured Etsyblogger of the month is our amazing leader Joey and Aleethea! The work she does for our street team is phenomenal! She makes it so easy to be a part of this team! We wouldn't BE the EtsyBloggers we are without her!!


She's having a HUGE Sale Sept. 1st & 2nd with 20% OFF everything in her shop PLUS she's got 2 Giveaways going on too!

Here's the link to the Give aways!!
http://joeyandaleethea.typepad.com/blog/....-giveaways.html

Link to give away button
http://joeyandaleethea.com/SALE/SALE_joeyandaleethea_sept1_sept2_GIVEAWAYS.jpg


blog: http://joeyandaleethea.com/blog

shop: http://joeyandaleethea.etsy.com/

Blog Carnival - In Summery

In summery"
This was one of my best summers! I have a new grand daughter and she is 11 months old. This summer my daughter, grand daughter and I went to Orlando, FL for vacation to visit one of my best friends! We had a blast! We made jewelry, stayed up all night laughing and talking, went to the water park, shopped, and got our nails done! We even bought rings that were alike (mine has turned colors though..LOL) It was an incredibly fun time! Below is a picture to show it!

April's Featured Etsy Blogger

So excited about Etsybloggers first new Featured Etsian of the month - Stormydesigns! I looked at her shop and was excited to see so many unique designs! Check her out

Here are the links to where you can find StormyDesigns:

Etsy: http://StormyDesigns.etsy.com

Site: http://StormyDesigns.biz

blog: http://StormyDesigns.biz/blog

6 Ways to Have and find More Jewelry Making Time

by Charlene Anderson of Unravelings http://charleneanderson.typepad.com/unravelings/

1) Delegate as much as possible around the house. My husband is a great grocery shopper…he finds bargains, uses coupons, and does a far better job than I do. (He recently purchased 40 boxes of Kleenex at our local supermarket for 20 cents a box versus the regular price of about $1.25 - we won't run out for a while and we saved a lot of money). Guess who is responsible for keeping the fridge and pantry filled? Not me. I have more time to make jewelry.

2) Have projects lined up so when you finish one you'll have another one ready to go. I use small altoid-sized tins to set up projects in advance. I usually have about a dozen going at once. Spending the time to set up projects in advance will save time when you can sit down to work. It's also great for traveling as you can just pick up a tin and go.

3) Make sure you always have a good supply of the basics that use you on a regular basis. Nothing is more frustrating than running out of something simple, like crimps, when you are ready to work on a project. As you start running low on a regular item, order more.

4) Put away tools, equipment and supplies when you are finished with them. Have a regular place for everything. You'll save time if you know your pliers are always in the top drawer of your workbench rather than hunting all over the house for them.

5) Try listening to audible books while working so you kill two birds with one stone - reading and beading! Audible.com is a great source for audible books. I love to read but can't bead and read at the same time (though I can knit and read at the same time) so I use audible books to get my reading fix. I play them on my iPod while I work.

6) The last but most important tip is to learn to say NO! Don't commit to anything unless you truly want to do it. Don't bake cookies for school unless you really want to. Don't volunteer for that committee unless it is really important to you. Eveything you say yes to means less time for jewelry making. A friend taught me years ago to say to myself "what part of no don't you understand: N or O"?

Unique's Jewelry

Dare to Share – Time Management tips from Brandi of Caties Blue

-- What activities are important to you?
Creating, photographing, listing, in that order. Then, once I've got photos on the computer, I'll post them in Flickr and maybe do a blog post, too, depending on time.

-- How often to you list?
Not often enough! But when I was regularly listing, it was at least 3 times a week. I try not to go more than four days without listing, but that doesn't always work.

-- Do you re-list items for increased exposure?
Nope. Jewelry is so saturated that it doesn't seem to make a difference, really. I do relist in my destash shop, but those supplies sell faster than finished jewelry.
-- Do you blog? If so, how often?
Yes. I used to blog pretty regularly, every other day or so, on two blogs, but time is limited these days, so that's gone by the wayside.

-- Do you ACTIVELY participate in any groups, such as this one? If so, how, and how often?
I only have one street team, this one, and yeah, I'm pretty active on these Google pages. I hardly go onto the Etsy fora anymore, so my participation here involves the Google group, the Team blog, team meetings, and mentoring. Besides etsyBEAD, I am a member of a couple other jewelry making groups off Etsy, so I post occasionally on those.

-- How do you support others so they support you?
I have a blog called ThisRocksMySocks solely devoted to featuring others, via interviews or other posts. But I'm probably going to have to give it up (no time!). I also exchange blog links with people, make contacts through Flickr, and try to be as open and supportive as I can with my fellow etsyBEADers.

-- Do you pay to advertise your Etsy shop? If so, in what venue?
I'm really bad at self-promotion (one of the things I'd like to work on this year), but I have used Project Wonderful. I didn't see a big increase in views or sales, but I have a feeling I didn't put enough effort into it.

-- If you were to recommend just THREE networking activities, what would they be?
Flickr, a street team, and joining a blog ring.

-- And maybe most importantly, what have you eliminated because it just didn't seem to be beneficial?
Besides housework, lol, I'm cutting back on the time I spend online. I have profiles on a lot of different sites, like Indiepublic, We Love Etsy (which I deleted after a while), TalentDatabase, DaWanda, but I don't do anything with them and I rarely check them. Without advanced shop statistics, it's hard to tell where people have found me, but when I was active on every single site, I didn't see any increase in views or sales, really, so I don't put a lot of effort into them anymore.

-- If you dare to REALLY share, how about providing a glimpse into your weekly schedule (basics) and any tips or tricks for time management you have learned along the way.
I do create full-time, but I don't really have a set schedule since my life is kind of hectic and I need to be flexible. But I start my days the same way; get up, turn the computer on, go through my emails and convos, read replies to posts, respond if needed. Then, I'll do a mail run, eat something, and get going on whatever tasks I have planned for that day. While I don't have a set schedule, I do have what I call "Photography Day", "Creation Day", etc. Those are days where I first focus my attention on getting things made or photographed, and those days can change based on what my personal schedule is at any give time.

Basically, I try to group doing a bunch of similar things at once, and I'll wait till I have a bunch of pieces made before I photograph. Once those pieces that have been photographed, I'll sit and work on pricing and bookkeeping for all those pieces at one time. So, ideally, I'll photograph once a week (Photo Day) for the upcoming week(s), and I'll plan out when I list my finished jewelry. When I go to list, everything is already done (from the price to the description and measurements, etc,), so that cuts down on my listing time. I find that's the best time management thing that's worked for me; rather than spend half an hour photographing every day, I'll group it together so it'll maybe take just an hour once a week instead since I only have to set up the camera and arrange everything once.

Creation Days are days when I just ignore everything else and make pieces. I do create whenever I can, but it helps me to have specific days where I don't let anything interrupt me. I'm also really patient with myself, so if a particular piece isn't working, I'll start a new piece or do something different altogether and let it sit.
When I take a break
from doing whatever I'm doing, I'll pop online and check everything again. Once the day is done, I'll go through and print any orders, get those packaged and ready to ship in the morning. I'm a night owl, so chances are I'll work some more at night before I go to bed.

-- Any tips or tricks you have learned?:
Go slow when signing up for things, and make sure you've got time for them. You do need to be visible for people to find you, but you still need to find what works for you balance-wise. Time is precious, so price your work accordingly.

Brandi http://catiesblue.etsy.com/

Fresh Start

Well here I go creating a blog and focused on figuring out my vision for this site and my future endeavors. I have always been told it is important to have a"Mission Statement". So here is a stab at mine.

So much of my life I have struggled financially. I see so many others that I love deeply with the same financial and emotional strife. My mom at retirement age is still feverishly working and trying to "just keep her head above water". It aches my heart that after raising us and working hard to meet our needs she still does not have some of her most basic needs meet. God made me to be a dreamer, a visionary, a goal setter, a woman of unyielding determination. I want to use my strengths and gtalents he gave me to get out of debt, live with financial abundance and to motivate and teach as many that are willing to do it form themselves. "Give a man a fish - feed him for a day! Teach a man to fish and feed him for a LIFE TIME!"

I am about helping myself first and consequently through my experiences (good and bad) share with those who desire it how to reach theier business, personal and financial Goals.


Always remember "It is not where you start, but where you finish!"

www.uniquecommodities.etsy.com