Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Attempting To Build My Own Site While Suffering From The Michigan Winter Crazies

(Imagine me looking like the woman in that pic)

I live in Michigan. The winters usually last a really long time, but for a number of years it hasn't snowed too much, so they were somewhat bearable. Not This Year... It has been so cold (wind chills way below zero) that you don't want leave the house, but then you start to relate to Jack Nicholson in "The Shining." How can you not get a little off-kilter when you never see the sun and can't
breathe when you go outside?! Add that to the summer/fall/end of last year
being spent on crutches, and I am more than a little stir-crazy.

I figured that I needed an intellectual challenge to keep my mind from running away from itself, so I decided to build a new website. I know I have one, but I am not all that happy with the layout options, plus I want a shopping cart. I am very happy with my sales on etsy, but I really want a "free-standing" site as well. Not everyone belongs to etsy, plus I can make it my own style. DIYestores came highly recommended from a few artists I know, so I checked it out and signed-up.

Believe me, I can be a bit of a technophobe (is that a word?). I tried to build my own site a couple of years ago, and the results were panic attacks, crying jags, lots of wine, and an ok site. Needless to say, even the idea gave me anxiety. Hire someone, you say? But why? Can't I figure it out? I became determined to do it.

So, I started from scratch over the weekend, made some headway, hits some snags late yesterday that almost pushed me over the edge, but I did it! I only have 3 items listed so far, but believe me, that's the easy part. I think my plan is to sell my handmade goods on that site and sell supplies on etsy, at least for a while. I do want to sell supplies on my main site, too, but I am very happy with etsy, so that's going to take some planning.

I feel really good that I figured-out how to do it and went WAY OUT of my comfort zone to learn it, and on February 20th I will have my Grand Opening and you can judge for yourself. Please, don't really judge...

Trust me, if I can do that, anyone can.


(Now imagine me looking more like the woman in this pic)


Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Nearly Forgot About Becoming A Pink Artist


OK, this is a great collaborative project I'm going to tell you about!


I am a member of ZNE , and I found this through the blog of a fellow member, Shabby Cottage Studio. It is a group of artists joining together to create one art doll to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure.When the doll is complete, it will be mailed in to Art Doll Quarterly™ before finally being auctioned off on eBay at a later date, and all of the proceeds will be donated to charity.


Each artist participant will create 1 or more 2"x2" cloth-based squares that will be made into the doll.


Please see Girl Gone Thread Wild for complete details.




Cake Toppers for Your Party!

I've been busy lately, FINALLY having time to create what I've been dreaming of for months: Cake Toppers. They are made of mainly vintage components, and I am thrilled with how they are coming out. What do you think?



I've also been stocking lots more vintage treasures and supplies in my Esty store, as there's no way I could ever use everything I find and just have to have! Check it out for newly added vintage printing stamps.