Last Day for the $5 and Under Sale!

Today is the last day to take advantage of the $5 and under sale at Kawartha Beads. If you are looking for other great finds also be sure to check out the Tradeaholics $5 sale by typing TRADE5 in Etsy's search.

Red Hot at Artfire!

What's so red hot about Artfire? If you sell on Etsy you have probably seen postings in the forumns about Artfire and mixed opinions. However, if you are in business you are there to make money (hopefully) and its always a good idea to explore your options. I personally ADORE Artfire and have been a part of the community with my mom's shop Bijoux Designs For You and our supplies shop Rouge River Beads since 2008. In that time I have had a chance to watch the site change and grow and the recent revamp of the front page and Collections launch (similar to Etsy's treasury) are both beautiful and extremely user friendly.

If you haven't heard the buzz yet Artfire is offering a special group deal which will kick in for those who have signed up by October 1st. The group deal will offer a lifetime pro account for just $5.95 a month and there are no listing fees and no commissions. NOW THAT'S A DEAL! You can learn more about the group deal here. And yes, I have too have decided to try out the deal for my Kawartha Beads shop!

As with my weekly Etsy feature I thought it would be nice to share some of the Collections that made it to the front page of Artfire over the last week. Here are just a couple:

• One Last Look at Summer
• A Little Birdie Told Me
• Moons Glow
• Ethnic Treasures
• Baby Face
• Momma needs some RED HOT ROMANCE
• Emerald

And using the super easy Collections Widget from My Artfire Studio I hope you will enjoy the first Collection I created.

From the Pumpkin ...

Curated By: Rougeriverbeads

ArtFire.com

Thinking of giving Artfire a try? Think no longer. Now's your chance. Check out the group deal TODAY!

Etsy Front Page Tags/Themes

Sorry for the delay on this post! I haven't been feeling very well the past couple of days so now that I can function again here goes:

• Sand & Stone (beige, grey, muted, fall, autumn, cozy, jewelry, accessories, art, soap, undiscovered, pounce, brown, handmade, vintage, furniture, journal)
• Sunshine and Slate
• Cloudy with a chance of Pretty (grey, gray, muted, pale, pastel, soft, cream, white, light blue, cool)
• Juicy Purple (purple, grape, violet, mauve, romantic)
• Foxy Chocolate (chocolate, brown, coffee, autumnal tones, undiscovered, September, fall, autumn, richer earth tones, woodland, natural colors, rusts, foxy, fur, October)
• AHOY! Tis Talk like a Pirate Day (pirate, treasure, chest, silver, brass, rust, boots, pirate speak, blouse, clothes, dresses, romance, ship, Halloween)
• Charcoal Roses (charcoal, rose, flowers, grey, gray)
• Scarlet & Peppermint
• Fall Festival (fall, autumn, chilly, harvest, camping, outdoors, cool, cozy, gray, green, red, rust, coffee, camp blanket, perfect weather)
• Chocolate Covered Cherries (undiscovered, pounce, new, cherries, chocolate, red, burgundy, berries, deep, brown, fall, autumn, food, chocolate covered cherries, cookies, cupcake, fruit)
• Aqua huses mixed with wood (aqua, blue, seaglass, woodgrain, feathers, natural, twigs, branches, soothing, grey)

Tidbits Thursday

Thanks to all those who sent warm wishes following my post on the jewellery party. I did have a couple of questions asked via email so here is a quick follow up:

How many people attend the party and of those how many bought? About 20 guests attended the party and of those 18 made purchases.

What was your price range on items? Prices ranged from $5- $40 with the majority of guests spending about $15, although there were afew who had their Christmas lists in hand and were definately ready to do some major shopping.

Hope that helps those of you planning on doing your own jewelry parties. I have done parties with only a couple of guests as well that also led to more sales down the line and have helped get my name out there so any party is a good party!

I also wanted to mention that I am having a SUPER SALE in my Etsy, Artfire AND Zibbet shops from now through September 30th. Everything $5 and under! Happy shopping!

Jewellery Home Party Fun!

I want to thank everyone who came out to the jewellery home party last night and to my great friend Darlene for being such a wonderful hostess. The continued support of the girls I work with at the restaurant (as well as those who used to work with us but have moved on to bigger and better things) never ceases to amaze me and warm my heart! For everyone else here's a quick recap of the evening:

* I arrived early to set things up before the guests arrived. When the party/craft show season is in full swing it usually only takes me about an hour, but since I hadn't had a show since the spring I needed a bit of extra time. If you are having your own party and can't go more than an hour early to set up try practicing your display on your own table to give you an idea of how/where you would like things to go. This tactic also works well for craft shows.

*Door Prizes- I had several door prizes to choose from and we did draws every half hour. On the door prize ballots there was also a place for the guests email address and a box for them to check if they wanted to sign up for my newsletter.

*Munchies- Not everyone agrees that you need to have a bunch of munchies to have a successful party but Darlene put out quite the spread and people stayed a LONG time. Some of them even shopped a second time after they had refueled! It also gave the guests and myself a chance to chat about the business if they wanted while they enjoyed their tasty treats!

*Relaxed atmosphere- The party was open house style so people could arrive and depart as they wished. I find that this system works best, especially for those that can't make it right from the start and feel that if they arrive part way through they will be "interrupting" so then they don't come at all.           

*Inventory- This is another point on which opinions may differ but I find that people enjoy being able to purchase and take home their new goodies that night. I offered a variety of price points so that even those on a limited budget had something to choose from.

BONUS**** Of course every great party has its own surprise. Last night we had put balloons out on the railing so that guests could easily figure out where they were going. A group of college guys (who had perhaps had afew beverages) came to the door asking who's birthday it was because they were there to sing. Of course it wasn't a birthday party but we couldn't resist so one of the girls went to the door and they sang to her! It was definately a good giggle for us!

For those of you who have been thinking about doing a home party with your own handmade goodies I hope that this answered some of your questions about how to go about it. If you would like to host your own Kawartha Beads home party just send me an email at kawarthabeads@gmail.com and I would be happy to set something up with you!

Front Page Etsy Tags/Themes #17

Hope that everyone had a great week! While I didn't list them here, I definately saw several Halloween related treasuries featured with wonderful hues of black and orange and witches and goblins! Can you believe its that time of the year already? Here are some of the other themes/tags that appeared on the front page of Etsy this week:

• Home is where the heart is (home decor, pottery, cozy, colorful, heart, handmade, vintage, orange, red, blue, green, plaid, fox, chai, house, tea, modern, fall)
• Peachy Keen
• Turquoise and Yellow
• Did Someone Say Coffee (coffee, brown, warm, mugs, personalized, winter, candy, creamer)
• Nature's Neutrals (natured, fall, natural history, brown, beige, taupe, leaves, September, autumn)
• It's Apple Pickin Time (fall, apple, yellow, rust, red, green, fruit, picking, food)
• Equestrian (equestrian, horse, butterscotch, yellow, camel, gray, black, beige, olive, riding)
• Rustic Romantic Fall ( art, fall, rustic, romantic, wedding, farmhouse, cabin, vintage, sepia, red, harvest, autumn)
• Autumn Nightblooms (fall, autumn, harvest moon, full moon, blooms, red, orange, flowers, silver, vintage, acorns, feminine, green, blue, gray, melancholy, dark romance, woodland)
• Fallen for Orange...
• Charm and Sorcery (halloween, autumn, orange, black, brown, creepy, natural history, bone, crow, yellow, feather, witch, apothecary, haunted)

Local: MAP Photography

I love to support handmade and small businesses but it's even better to share stories of those you grew up with! Melissa and I have known each other since grade school and I am thrilled to be able to share her story with you:

Map Photo ... aka ... Melissa Arnold Photography started out as a hobby that grew in to a passion to capture life's special moments.

Melissa is a busy mom of 3 and a full time nurse. Her photography business began out of a love for the medium and turned into a way to help supplement her family's income. Melissa provides photography services for families, engagements, weddings, and has most recently added themed shoots to the mix, having just finished up a Trash the Dress shoot, proving to be the most fun so far. She is currently in the planning stages of creating a 1920's themed shoot, which should prove to be a very exciting moment for her business.

Currently booking fall family shoots, it is a wonderful season for photography with the bright colours, families look beautiful dressed in layers, colourful sweater, scarves, hats etc. She is looking forward to a successful fall season and 2011 Wedding Season.

You can view her Photography on Facebook or on her website.
She can also be contacted by e-mail at marnoldphotograph@hotmail.com

or by phone at 705- 742-3952 or 705 -772-7983.

Are you a small business or handmade business in the Peterborough or City of Kawartha Lakes area and would like to share your story? Just email me at kawarthabeads@gmail.com

Kawartha Beads....Have you had your eye on something?

If you are a frequent reader than I'm sure that you know that I have a big home party coming up on Monday. I had wrestled with taking my Etsy shop products or leaving them at home but of course, as with a craft fair, you never quite feel that you have enough stuff! Also, I did put my Etsy shop link on my posters/party invites for guests to view a sampling of the types of jewelry I create SO I will be putting my shop in vacation mode starting at noon on Monday Sept.20th and will reopen on Tuesday morning. If you have had your eye on something special now is the time to jump before the ladies at the home party saunter home with your treasure!

My Christmas Wish List!

There are so many great handmade items to be found online and of course I want them all!!!! I thought I would share my Christmas wish list with you (and hopefully some of the "right" eyes see it too!) Perhaps you will find a perfect gift for the holidays for someone on your list or a new fav for yourself!

Handbag in Fuchsia and Black Floral

French Vanilla Handmade Solid Perfume

Crafty Lady Scissors T-shirt

Local: Call for Vendors- Lindsay Ontario

One of my favourite shows to participate in every year is hosted by the local newspaper Kawartha Lakes This Week and is held annually at the Moose Lodge in Lindsay. This year the show will be held on Saturday November 20th from 9-2 and setup is usually around 730am. The call for vendors is in today's paper and when I spoke with the event co-ordinator this morning she let me know that spaces are already half filled! If you are looking to book your spot at this high traffic show call 324-8600.

Have a great weekend!

Getting Ready for a Home Party!

Hope everyone is enjoying having the little ones back to school! I have slacked a little on the blog posts lately as I have been super busy getting ready for a home party on Sept.20th. With a little under 2 weeks to go until the big event I thought I would share how I have been getting ready for the event in case you wanted to have someone host a party or have an open house in your own home.

1) Inventory: Of course I never feel like I have enough stock ready. The bonus to a home party/open house is that there is no other competition. People are there to check out your wonderful array of goodies and hopefully go home with their bags loaded with lots of your treasures. I am super lucky that I also have an incredibly talented mom so I am going to bring some of her things along to help fill up the space. If you don't feel that you have enough product or if you are looking to expand your market invite a crafty friend to do the home party/open house with you, especially if they make a different product than your own. This would be an especially great option for an open house and then they can invite their friends/family/customers as well.

2) Choosing a date: Sometimes choosing a date is the hardest part! For this particular event we didn't want it to be too close to back to school or Thanksgiving so we chose a date in between. Given that both myself and the hostess are in the restaurant business we also wanted to choose a day when the least amount of fellow employees would be working (thus a Monday). Of course your perfect day will depend on your customers and your own availability but it is something to think about when planning your party.

3) The Invites: This may vary depending on how close you and the party hostess are. In this case my hostess is a good friend and a complete computer "dummy" if you will so I sent out Facebook invites to all of our mutual friends on her behalf. I will send a reminder a couple of days before the party as well. If your hostess has her own Facebook account encourage her to send out an electronic invite and she can even link to your website as a "preview" of some of your items. You could also send out old fashioned paper invites which is a nice touch. Be sure to note accepted forms of payment for the event. I also made a couple of posters to post on the staff bulletin boards at the restaurant we work at, especially for those that will be coming from work and want a reminder of her address. Invite as many people as possible. There are always those who say they are coming and then can't make it for one reason or another.

If you haven't tried a home party or open house I highly recommend it, especially if you have never sold your work in person. It's great to see people's reactions to your items and which products are of greatest interest to them...oh and some extra $$$ is always a bonus! Check back on September 21st to find out how the party went!

Front Page Etsy Tags #16

Hope that everyone had a great week! Here are some the tags/themes that graced the front page of Etsy over this past week. Have you been working on revamping your tags in preparation for the holidays? They will be here before we know it!

• Rose Dust: Fall Color Trends (dusty rose, rose dust, champagne pink, beige pink, warm neutral, fashion colors, pantone, 2010, fall, autumn, mauve, pink, neutral)
• Turquoise and Red
• Pretty in Pastels (softs, pastels, light, pink, yellow, blue, lilac, vintage, colorful)
• End of Summer Green (green, harvest, end of summer, romantic, autumn, fall)
• The Moss Gardens are Overflowing with Love (moss, white, garden, nature, earth, organic, green, floral)
• It's Never Too Late For...Seafoam Green
• Grandma (grandma, kitchen, retro, nostalgic)
• Ivy League (green, gray, forest, fall, autumn, grey, college, university, back to school, dark, library, campus, books)
• Chevron (chevron, yellow, blue, red, black, white, stripe)
• My "new" home office...sigh..(office, workspace, aqua, blue, cool, soft, clean, pretty, feminine, light blue, white, cream)
• Autumn Fox
• Shelter...refuge...haven
• All About Love (birds, heart, green, wedding, love, necklace, ring, friends, french, xo, gold, silver)
• Soft (soft, pastel, blue, pink, green, shabby chic, romantic, floral, cottage, feminine)
• tumble dry (laundry, wash day, clean clothes, vintage, clothesline, clean, clothespin, apron, ironing basket, chores, soap, sunny day, lavender sachet)
• Too Late for those Green Leaves (red, orange, trend, leaves, nature, fall, rustic, harvest)
• Woodland Fawn

Some Fav's from the Etsy Shops of my Blog Followers!

Last week I shared some Fall Fav's from Etsy with you. There are SO many great items to be found on Etsy and I thought this week I would share some of my fav's from you...my blog  followers! I think that I am going to make this a weekly feature, as I have found so many new favourites featured on others blogs and I hope you can find some new beauties to add to your wishlist or for your holiday shopping. Enjoy! 

Poppies Fall Print by chanyeevon

Pumpkin Patch Button Bracelet by Clever Crafter

Vintage Stacking Tupperware from Modred12 Vintage