New items and a giveaway!

IN WITH THE NEW - OUT WITH THE OLD

I have two new items in my Etsy shop that I'd like to introduce and then, in order to make room for more new creations, I'd like to offer a giveaway.

The New

The first is a wall basket decorated with mixed pink dried flowers and seashells.

Wall Basket with Dried Flowers and Seashells

It is decorated with fragrant eucalyptus velvety pink celosia and delicate pink larkspur.  It measures approximately 8" across so if you need something to decorate a small spot this would be perfect.

The second one is a bow shaped grapevine wall hanging with a spray of mixed dried flowers.

Bow Shaped Grapevine Spray

Celosia, pink larkspur and lavender along with silver tones make this a very pleasing wall piece.  This is also perfect for a small wall - it measures 15" tall by 9" wide.  A bow could be added upon request.

Now for the giveaway

I'm going to try to keep this simple - 

 Do all three of the following: (or do what you can if you don't have accts for all)

        Like my facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/AngelsNEverlastings

        Follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/judyrussi 

        Follow this blog.

Choose one of the three pieces below that you would like to win -- leave a comment stating that you followed and which one you would like to win.  If you already follow me I thank you -- just leave that in the message.  Please also leave an e-mail address so I will be able to contact you if you win. 

If you would like to leave a comment but arn't interested in the giveaway - just let me know when you comment.

Swag with Dried Flowers and Seashells

Heart Twig Wreath

Garden Trellis with Angel and Dried Flowers

Entry deadline is 7/30 at midnight.  I will use Random.org to select the winner.  Winner will be selected on 7/31.

Making a front door wreath

http://www.etsy.com/listing/77541944/silk-grapevine-door-wreath

Here is my latest wreath which is available in my etsy shop.   Kindly visit my shop at AngelsNEverlastings and check out my other wreaths and wall hangings.  If you like this wreath or something in my shop but would like something different, just send me a convo and tell me what you would like and I will design something for you.

Here are some tips if you would like to create a pleasing wreath of your own:

1.  Carefully choose colors that complement one another.  Two or three colors works well.  Light and dark shades of the same color family work well and look harmonious together.

2.  Choose one or three larger focal flowers.  Not two or four - odd numbers work best

3. Choose two or three stems of smaller accent flowers depending on how generous the stems are.   Repeat the focal flower color and add another color.

4. You will need something long to create structure.  I have used eucaluptus here staggering the lengths-some shorter and some longer.  Anything long and stemmy will work.   Pussy willows, sprigs of wheat, any long straight branches.

5. A good wreath looks balanced.  In other words one side doesn't look like it wants to fall over.  You can see that I added a small cluster of flowers across from the main floral cluster.  While this is optional it gives the wreath a balanced appearance.  

6.  You want to mirror nature where some flowers are placed so that they look straight at you and some are seen from the side.  

7.  Use all of the greenery that comes with the silk flower stems -- separate them and work them individually around and under the flowers.  

8.  Now, one last tip,  before you begin take a small amount of spanish moss and glue it to the wreath where you plan to attach the flowers.  This acts as a filler and provides a more secure surface to glue the flowers to.   (see picture below)

Start with the focal flowers in the center, then clip the accent flowers to separate so that you can attach each flower separately around the focal flowers at staggered lengths.  Glue the accent flowers, to each side with hot glue, then fill in around all flowers with the silk greenery and long stems.


I hope this is clear enough to follow, please let me know if you have any questions or plan to make your own wreath. 

My Greeting Card Organizer

I have had an Etsy on-line shop for almost two years selling my handmade floral home decor called Angelsneverlastings. While it's a thrill to be able to list and sell your handmade items on the internet, another great thing about having a Etsy shop is that there are such interesting handmade items to discover and buy.  If you are looking for something unusual or unique head over to Etsy.com and search through the many talented artists and shop owners.  If you find something you like, you can contact the creative shop owner and ask for something made to order.  Usually they are happy to accommodate.

I recently wanted to find a greeting card organizer to be used at church.  I wanted to have everything organized on Sundays so it would be easy to send cards each Sunday to those in need.  I couldn't really find what I was looking for but Angel from Bamcraftymommas volunteered to create one for me.  Her specialty is scrapbooks, party banners, & chalkboard mats for kids.  This is what she came up with.

I told her exactly what I wanted which was a booklet type organizer with pages for encouragement, special events and get well.

As you can see the pages are decorated beautifully with decorative scrapbook paper.

  I chose scriptures that I wanted used on the pages and each page had a pocket to hold greeting cards.

I then needed to stock my organizer with cards so I purchased these beautiful cards on Etsy.

This beautiful photo card is from  Mysavior on Etsy.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/MYSAVIOR

http://www.etsy.com/shop/NewCreatioNZ?ref=ss_profile

These are from nzcreations from New Zealand. 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/NewCreatioNZ?ref=ss_profile

    So when you have a few minutes -- check out these shops and others on Etsy.  You'll be glad you did. 

CAST Promo Blitz -- Cards

This Saturday the CAST team once again hosted a Promo Blitz Thread where many of us pitched in and promoted each others listings.  Those of us who participated had fun.  I know I enjoyed seeing the listings and familiarizing myself with more of the many talented CAST team participants.  If you are interested in joining the promo blitz and getting your item seen, the next promo thread will open on Tuesday evening through Wednesday evening.   These cards are some of  the listings from this weeks thread. Check out these creative and unique greeting cards by CAST team artist and crafters. 

Teacher Appreciation Card by KashaRunner on Etsy

Watercolor Bird Note Cards by SusanWindsor on Etsy

Pink Azalea Mother's Day Photograph Card Magnolia Plantation by Mysavior on Etsy

Doilie Art Cards Set of 4 with envelopes by mycreativebrightside

Square encouragement handmade cards and envelopes by NewCreatioNZ

Gift Card Holder (Recycled Cardboard) - Graduation by kpdesigns07

CAST Promo Thread Favorites

The CAST team has been hosting weekly promotional threads where anyone on the team can post a item to be promoted if they are willing to promote others in return. There are two threads scheduled - one midweek on Wednesday and the weekend one on Saturdays.    Those that have participated have gotten lots of views and even some sales.  It has been fun and I know I have enjoyed viewing all the featured posts and becoming more familiar with the many cast shops.

Here are some of my favorite items from the past promo threads:

Walker Helping Hand Pocket Pouch by JCsSewingroom on Etsy

This Walker Bag Helping Hand Pocket Pouch is made to attach to walkers, scooters or the back of a wheelchair with hook and loop fasteners on the straps.  It's great for carrying stuff while  
maneuvering a wheelchair, walker or scooter. 
If you need to get the mail or newspaper, take your book or magazine with you to another room, or just keep the phone close by, your Helping Hand Pocket Pouch can give you the extra pockets you need to free your hands.

Beauty Botanical Heart Pendant by CROSSyourHEARTau

The pendant is made from a painted wooden heart (H5cm x W4.5cm), decorated with paper with vintage botanical flower drawings and handwriting. The word 'beauty' has been added. It is finished with a clear glaze and hangs from a silver finding. The silver colored ball chain measures 46cm (approx 18inches).

10 Photo Black and White Photo Ruffle Bag by SewEndless on Etsy

 How great would this be for a new mom or even a proud grandma. 
The photo images are printed onto photo fabric, cut out and sewn onto coordinating blocks of cotton fabric.  The strips are then gathered into ruffles and sewn onto black bottom weight fabric, and made into a box-style bag. The lining is cotton and the scarf is removeable

These are just a few of the talented CAST team artists who have participated in the promo threads.
Join us for a future thread - either on Wednesday or Saturday. 

CAST Team Promo Blitz 4/1 to 4/3

By now you may have heard that the CAST team is having a "Promo Blitz".  Look for the promo thread to begin on 4/1.  The blitz dates will run Friday 4/1 through Sunday 4/3.  There will be a running list in the thread where between 4/1 to 4/3 you can add the item you want promoted. So visit the thread on 4/1, add your item to the list, then promote at least the three previous items on the list.  You can do the minimal, which is three items one time or return later and promote them again.  You can also promote more items on the list if you have the time.  You can also continue to promote the list during the following week but there will be no obligation to promote anyone added on the list after 4/3.   How should you promote?  Any of the following are good ways to promote:

BLOG:  If you have a blog - create a blog post featuring your three items or three shops.


FACEBOOK:  Share the three items on your facebook page.  I usually go to the etsy item page, copy and past it onto my facebook business page and I might add something descriptive that will encourage someone to click the link like "this is so pretty". 

TWITTER:  Share the items on twitter.  (The easiest way is to use the share button on each item's etsy page.)
Click the share button, the post will show in the  "what's happening box" on your twitter -  you can then make a few changes if you'd like to add something like "Check this out"  "beautiful item"  "You gotta see this" before posting it.  You should also add hash tags if you have room.  #castteam #etsybot #handmadebot are good choices.  etsybot and handmadebot may retweet your tweets and castteam will make it easier for some of us to find the tweets and retweet.  

Bookmark the items on your STUMBLEUPON or KABOODLE.  Once you have an account, you can do this from the "share button" on the Etsy item page.  You can also bookmark your blog post or someone elses blog post or your treasury.

Create a TREASURY including your 3 items or others from the thread.  If you have Stumbleupon, Kaboodle, Twitter and Facebook, you can also post your treasury to those sites.  

You don't need to do all of these but I would challenge you to try something new.  If you don't have a Stumbleupon or Kaboodle account consider starting one.  Those of us more familiar with using these sites will be available in the thread if you get stuck and need some advice. 

I'm looking forward to this because it is an opportunity to become more familiar with the shops on the CAST team and am hopeful for views and ultimately sales for those who participate.   The CAST team is made up of a great group of shop owners who care about helping one another succeed so I am hopeful that many of us will promote as many items as possible as often as we can.  I know that I plan on trying to promote all the posted items at least once. 

Coming soon - CASTteam Promo Thread

Faith Cross Pendant by CROSSyourHeart on Etsy

One of the best decisions I have made since starting My ETSY shop was to join the CAST team  (Christian Artists Street Team)  It's a great place to meet and share with other like minded Christians.  The threads are always full of love and support.  If you are in need of prayer you can post your request and instantly other members will pray.  For many of the members, business is secondary to ministering to one another.  But we would like to promote our businesses too so the CAST Etsy team is going to host a weekly promo thread!  With well over 1000 members, I think that a thread dedicated to promoting our shops on ETSY could be a great success.

Peace Garland by JJspeakman on Esty

THIS PROMO THREAD WILL BEGIN ON 4/1 AT 8PM.

Would you like to get noticed and produce more traffic to your shop? Then plan to join with us by visiting the thread, posting your item on the list and then promoting at least the three previous post on the list.  I would recommend that you use a social media site like Facebook or Twitter.  These are good sources since Facebook has 500 million users and Twitter has 140 million users.  Another idea is to use a bookmarking site like Stumbleupon or Kaboodle.   These sites allow you to bookmark and share your favorite sites from around the web.  I plan to devote more time to support and promote others' shops at the beginning.  I hope others will too.   I know that many of us are busy with family and other responsibilities so we don't want anyone to feel overwhelmed. Even if everyone just does a little, it will go a long way.
If you have any promo questions or suggestions for the thread, kindly leave a comment.  ALSO IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE SENT A REMINDER MESSAGE WHEN THE THREAD IS OPENED LEAVE A COMMENT HERE. (leave your e-mail or etsy shop address)