More on the Topic of TWITTER . . . .

I guess I'm about a week-long veteran of TWITTER now, and I'm slowly getting the hang of how it works.

As suggested in the article I referenced in my previous post, from the Etsy Greetings Blog, "An Introduction to Twitter" I've used search.twitter.com to seek out some fellow "tweeters" (I have NO idea if I'm using that term correctly!) with similar interests as mine.

For example, I've typed in a variety of my favorite topics, such as "handmade cards, paper crafting, crafts, dogs, greyhounds" in order to find other TWITTER users who might share any of these interests. Then I've checked out their TWITTER pages, and started to "Follow" a number of folks whose previous posts, bios, websites and/or Etsy Shops piqued my interest. And, already I've had some success in getting acquainted with some really nice people, particularly fellow dog and animal lovers!

So far, I'm trying to do a little tweeting every day, interacting with some of my new found friends, and learning what I can about how TWITTER works. One thing I've learned is that there's a software product available called TweetDeck, that one can download free, and which allows TWITTER users to better organize their incoming "tweets" from their Followers. I haven't tried TweetDeck yet, but am thinking about it!

Admittedly, in my short time on TWITTER, I've had some frustration too . . . .For one thing, the 140 character limit to each "tweet" is tough for someone as wordy as me! Another frustration is that it's hard to keep up with the "tweets" when you're following a lot of people, and already I've taken folks off my Follow list that tweeted a little too often for my liking, and about things that didn't necessarily interest me. So, even tho' it was tempting at first to Follow a lot of people on TWITTER, I've decided that I'm going to try to keep my list of folks whom I Follow a bit more manageable.

I wanted to share a link to a VERY INTERESTING Web Article that my Dear Hubby (also a newbie to TWITTER) found today. . . . I've never heard of the MASHABLE Web Site before, but today there's an article on that site, by Atherton Bartelby, entitled, "FOLLOW FAIL: The Top 10 Reasons I Will Not Follow You in Return on Twitter." Although I'm very new to TWITTER myself, many of the points made in this article really hit home for me already!

If you're interested in TWITTER, please do take a few minutes to read Mr. Bartelby's article. I think you might enjoy it!

Until we meet again . . . . . Happy Tweeting!

All a TWITTER!

I have to admit, that where technology is concerned, I've always been a slow learner. I guess you could say that I'm a bit technology-challenged!

That, plus that fact that I'm naturally cynical and somewhat distrustful of new things, has not contributed to the speed with which I've caught on to various aspects of the Internet!

Case in point: TWITTER!

I suppose I've seen the word "TWITTER" mentioned many a time among Etsy Forum threads, but I never did quite know what it was . . . .nor was I quite curious enough to investigate it.

It was only last week, while I was perusing the Etsy Greetings Blog, that I happened upon a recent article entitled, "An Introduction to Twitter".

And having a few minutes on my hands, I actually took the time to read the article. . . . lucky I did, I guess, because the article piqued my interest about TWITTER enough that I FINALLY checked it out.

So, here I am, a week or so later, having joined the TWITTER community, and finding that I'm quite enjoying myself!

I suspect that I've only scratched the surface so far, regarding what TWITTER can offer . . not only in terms of meeting new people with similar interests, but also in terms of learning new skills, social networking, and discovering new resources and marketing possibilities related to my craft.

But I'm working on learning all about it! For the past few mornings, the first thing I do after I turn on my computer, is log into TWITTER to see what's new. And I'm constantly on the lookout for old and new friends to "follow" on TWITTER, so if you're there, please let me know!

If you scroll down on the right side of my Blog, you'll see that I have a new little Twitter Button listed there entitled "Follow Me on Twitter". . . . .feel free to click and take a look.

So I guess I've finally joined the group of minions out there in Cyberspace who are All a TWITTER!




Are YOU part of the TWITTER "family"?

I've been FEATURED in Another BLOG!

Happy Friday, Everyone!

I'm thrilled to say that I've recently been FEATURED in another Blog!

Jodi, over at her Multi Crafting and More Blog, has been kind enough to post a feature article on me and my Expressive Papers Etsy Shop.

Jodi, I'm sending a great big THANK YOU your way!

Please do take a minute to check out Jodi's Etsy Shop (Jodi's Craft Emporium) where you'll find an amazing variety of "crafts made with love."

Until we meet again. . .Wherever and however far life's journey takes you, may you continue to meet special people along the way.

From the HEART . . . . ..

Well, although I didn't meet my original crafting goal today, i.e., getting started on making some Valentine's Day cards, I still did make SOME progress!

I'm well on my way of sifting and sorting all my Christmas and Holiday-themed patterned papers and embellishments, getting them organized, and safely filed away for the next few months so I can FIND what I need when I'm ready to use them again!

And, I've begun to pull out my Valentine's Day and Love-themed papers and embellishments.

As a cardmaker, I think the two MOST FAVORITE themes around which I enjoy designing cards are 1) the Christmas/Holiday Season, and 2) Valentine's Day/Love themed cards.

There are SO many wonderful quotes and song lyrics written around the theme of LOVE, and although I have quite a collection already, I'm always on the lookout for more.

Much of the inspiration for my Love-themed and Valentine's Day cards comes from wonderful quotes, as well as beautiful embellishments and papers.

I don't yet have any new Valentine's Day card designs in mind for 2009. But, in hopes of getting my creative "juices" flowing, I've been reviewing some of my previous card designs. I keep photos of all of my completed card designs on my computer, and tend to draw from previous card designs from year to year, in addition to developing totally new designs.

The following photos are from my card design "archives". I suppose, like many artisans, I tend to like some of my old designs better than others.

And, as I look at my cards from year to year, I see that my style is continually evolving. . . . I think that's a GOOD thing, yes?


Although I made this card (above) a few years ago, it's one of my favs. I was in a phase of using tiny beads and threading them over spiral clips for an unusual embellishment. The outside text was pulled from a commercial card my hubby gave me one year . . . . . . .I know, I know, some might consider it a little sappy!

Here's another of my favs, done, I think a bit more recently. Yes, all the hearts are hand cut. I especially liked the metal and enamel purchased embellishment.

Here's another card with layers of handcut hearts . . . . except for the center one with the "Be Mine" on it, which was a purchased cardstock embellishment. The tiny flowers on each corner are punchies, but I hand outlined each with a fine point red pen and added a tiny acrylic rhinestone to each center.

Here's yet another variation of a handcut, layered heart. I loved the black, white and red heart patterned paper . . . I think I still may have some of that.

I'm not big on the color pink, BUT for Valentine's Day, I make an exception. And I actually loved this patterned paper. Once again, the card features a handcut and layered heart. (Guess I didn't get enough time as a child cutting out paper dolls!)

This was one of the FIRST Valentine's Cards that I sold a number of years ago. The saying is a famous line from the movie, "Jerry Maguire," which I loved! I'm not as fond of Tom Cruise as I was back then, but I still love the line!

Here's another of my first Valentine's Day cards that I sold (on eBay, I think) . . . .and yet another of my very favorite pieces of script . . . .I remember that song from when I was growing up. The lyrics are absolutely timeless!

And here's a bit more recently designed card, also with one of my favorite lines.

None of my fellow cardmakers (or my card buyers) would say that I'm into "vintage" designs. But, a client asked if I could do a vintage Valentine Day's card last year, and this was my best shot. She liked it, so I guess I did OK.

Now . . . .for a whimsical touch (maybe more aptly termed a "hoaky" touch!) . . . . .I can't remember if this dolphin card actually SOLD as a Valentine's Day card, or if I changed the text block to another occasion!

And, here's yet another of my favorites. . . . . This card was not designed specifically as a Valentine's Day card, but I definitely see possibilities for one.

OK, now that I've reviewed some previous designs, I definitely think I'm ready to start some Valentine's Day card designs for 2009 . . . . .

Do you have any favorites from among these that you think I might adapt for this year's designs?

As always, I appreciate your comments and suggestions!

Wishing You the Best that 2009 has to offer . . . . from the HEART.

What's new, you ask? I Joined ART FIRE!

I've been hearing some chatter about this new marketplace for handmade items, ART FIRE, so a couple of weeks ago, I went to the website to check it out.

I have to admit, I was a bit intrigued by the idea of a marketplace that allowed artisans to offer and sell their product without fees. As it turns out, there are paid memberships too, which charge a monthly set fee . . .but I gather there are still no final value fees when an item sells.

Discouraged by my low sales (and views) of my paper creations on Etsy of late, I decided to go ahead and sign up for a free membership on ART FIRE. I thought I'd check it out for a while and see how things go, before I decide if I want to upgrade to a "Verified Member" status (i.e., paid membership with an upfront monthly fee of $7).

There are indeed more benefits with the Verified Member status than with the free membership that I have right now. But, I'm still waiting a while before I make any more changes.

So far, I've been stocking my new ART FIRE Shop with a few items that I've transferred over from Etsy. With the free membership, I'm limited to 10 listings at one time.

If you'd like to take a peek at my ART FIRE Shop, you can click on my ART FIRE Shop window that I've added to my Blog side bar.

I can't say that the views to my ART FIRE listings are notable as yet, and I've had no sales since I opened my shop on December 19th, but I'm still hopeful!

I'd love to hear from any of you, as to any experiences you've had with ART FIRE yourselves. (And if you have a minute, please do pop on over to the CARD CHRONICLES Blog, read my other article about ART FIRE, and feel free to post any observations or comments there too!)

Hope your week is starting off well . . . . . As for me, I'm gearing up for some Valentine cardmaking!

Ciao!

All in a Day's Work . . . .OK, SEVERAL Days' Work!

Now that Christmas is over, I've been trying to get back into the cardmaking "groove."

And since I still have all my Christmas and Holiday patterned papers strewn about in my crafting area, I had the idea of making some holiday-themed blank note cards and thank you cards before I put all these colorful papers away for another year.

So, today and yesterday, I worked up a few designs, some blank notecards with a winter or holiday theme, and some with a specific "thank you" message on the outside.

I'm hopeful that there are some folks like me, who still like to send special Thank You notes via snail mail after the holidays!

At any rate, I've put several of these cards up on Etsy, so we'll see what happens.

Tomorrow is another day . . . .and I'm thinking that I'm just about ready to file away my holiday paper and embellishments, at least until next July, when I might do a "Christmas in July" promotion in my Etsy shop.

Even though I hate to see the holiday season come to an end, I guess it's time to start working on Valentine's Day cards . . . . . Who knows? I might even start on some tomorrow.

Ciao!

Yet Another SNOW Day!

Well, some of the excitement of the holidays is now over, and Lee and I are spending a quiet day here at home with our greyhounds.

I had toyed with the idea of hitting the local Hallmark Shop early today for some half-price specials on Christmas wrapping paper and ribbon . . . . . . .It's almost become one of my annual traditions to do that.

BUT, when I woke up this morning and looked out to see the driveway covered with around 8 inches of snow and more snow steadily falling, any enthusiasm I might have had for shopping quickly disappeared!

At this point, I'm content to stay home relaxing by our gas log fireplace and watch the wintery scene unfold through the windows.

I took the above photo of our front yard a few minutes ago, standing on our front porch. I think even our local birds are laying low today, staying dry in the shelter of our neighborhood spruce trees.

I'm gearing up to design some new handmade cards to put up in my Etsy Shop, although I haven't had any "inspiration" hit me quite yet. At this point, I'm not sure what kinds of cards I'll focus on. I may just pull out some of my patterned papers and see if I'm inspired by any of those. . . .sometimes that helps get me going.

OR, I might do a winter themed note card or two . . . . .This weather certainly could put me in the mood for that!

The winter scene right outside my window as I'm typing this Blog entry, looks very similar to this little notecard I created last year . . . . minus the polar bear, of course!

Well, I guess I'd better go get started on some cardmaking if I'm going to be able to take daylight photos before we lose the sun today.

Until we meet again . . . . .I hope you have a lovely day and weekend, spending time with those you love and doing the things you most enjoy.