CottonColors Is a Lovely Etsy Find of the Day!

CottonColors is featured as the Lovely Etsy Find on the blog, Lovely At Your Side! There are some beautiful dresses featured today as well. Visit this blog for some handmade loveliness!

CottonColors in The Design File!

The Design File is a wonderful and informative blog, highlighting unique, contemporary interior design. CottonColors was a featured Etsy pick this week!

Ready For Take-Off!

I made my first sale on 1000Markets today! It turned out to be a buyer from right here in my local area although not someone I know.
1000Markets is a beautiful, handmade site that is quite new, but I am really looking forward to watching it grow and develop. I think it is going to take off soon! As a seller there, you can apply for membership to various markets within the site that are geared toward your types of products and buyers. This makes for small “communities” of sellers within the larger overall community. I think it is a brilliant concept for creating a supportive network of handmade artisans and crafters!


One of the markets I belong to is called “The Village” It is based on the idea of an actual village with shops, homes, etc. There is even a map of this virtual village that shows a lake and a shopping promenade!

It's such a fun concept and the community on the site is very positive and supportive! The site owners are accessible and professional. I love being in on the ground floor of a brand new handmade shopping site! 1000Markets is affiliated with Amazon and transactions are processed through Amazon Payments.

Stay tuned for future developments at 1000Markets. I think we will see great things happening there!

Just Doing My Job, Ma'am!

A sweet Etsy seller named GladRaggz decided to feature one of my pillow covers today after we "met" in the Etsy forums! Visit her blog, http://www.carpetbaggercreations.blogspot.com/ !

CottonColors in Exemplify Magazine!

My Etsy shop has been recommended in the Christian Women's magazine "Exemplify" in an article titled "Creating a Sanctuary With Personality". The article gives advice for decorating your home with beautiful, unique fabrics that inspire!

For My Crafting Buddies: Remembering How We Got Here!

If, like me, you are a crafter trying to run an internet business, you may have already thought about this. But, it just occurred to me that if I'm not careful, the business part of my business will soon take all the fun out of the creating part of it! I don't want that to happen.

When I first started selling my handmade items on Etsy, I went into it with an open heart and wide-eyed innocence about the whole handmade internet community. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is a wonderfully friendly and supportive place to be! I loved it then and now! My attitude was that I would make what I loved to make out of the textiles that I loved to work with. I would share them on my Etsy site and if someone found that they loved them too and I made a sale, wonderful! Well, great news! People did like them and people did buy them.

Fast forward a couple of months and I find myself spending inordinate amounts of time on the computer, reading all the advice I can find about building my business, all helpful and useful! Before I knew it, my fun adventure in crafting had become a race to the finish line! Making treasuries, getting put into treasuries, getting on the front page, getting a spot in the gift guides, checking heart counts, page views, google analytics results, and of course feedback! And don't forget the social networking. Had I twittered enough today? Checked facebook? Added photos to flickr? Every day, there is a new site to join, and sometimes I can't remember if I've already joined it!

Enough!

Time to step back and sew something! Isn't that what I started this for? Oh, yeah.... making things.... that was what I wanted to do!

So, I will be spending more time sewing and less time socializing/marketing and I'll see how that works. You may not see me around as much where the cool crafters hang out. But, I'll be checking in occasionally. And, hopefully, I'll have some new stuff to show off!

Use It Up Sewing!

I hate to waste anything, especially my fabrics. I have been saving the scraps from my pillows and bags for a long time, especially if they are of a size that might be useful.

I decided to use some of them to make a throw for my family room, mostly to use as a cover for an ottoman that has seen better days. I think it is turning out great! I love the color combination and the sophisticated damask patterns all sewn up in a funky patchwork design!

And I love using up all those lovely bits of fabric that have been sitting in my scrap basket!

So, This is What My Shop is Saying!

I think this is so cool! This is what I get when I enter my Etsy shop name into Wordle. I read a lot and I love words and quotes, so this is really fun! Try it with your website or blog, just to see it in a different way!

These Birds Really Get Around!

What a nice surprise it was to have my Happy Birds pillow cover featured on Pfeiffer Photos' blog! Tina Pfeiffer is a very talented photographer and her blog is just beautiful. How I would love to be able to take pictures like that! Stop by to see it here:
http://pfeifferphotos.blogspot.com/

Starting All Over Again!

I apologize to my readers for all the confusion with the deleted blog. I was unable to retrieve my original blog, but the URL, or blog web address, became available again after the blog had been gone for a couple of weeks. So, I decided to reclaim it and here I am, starting over again.

I promise to be more careful from now on about deleting inactive email accounts and whatnot. But, after all, it's a learning process, especially for those of us who are technologically challenged!

Welcome to my new and improved blog. I hope you'll come back often!