Herban Luxe Giveaway Winner was Yours Truly!

What words come together to encompass the following responses – holy crap, OMG, gratitude, surprise, excitement and oh heck yeah! Thank you hardly seems like enough but that’s exactly what I’m saying to Myra of Herban | Luxe this afternoon. A big old, wet sloppy kiss kind of thank you!

I entered her contest after reading about it on Facebook. Not a fan of hers on Facebook yet? You should be! Myra frequently has giveaways and talks about all kinds of super cool business tips, both for her own successful business as well as hints and advice for the readers of the EcoEtsy blog. And you can always find out about the latest trends in makeup.

But not just makeup…handmade, eco-friendly, happy to put it on your face because it will never contain a bunch of nasty carcinogens or crap, makeup!

I was floored to win these amazing full sized Roller Babes eyeshadows – one in Sunset which is perfect on my lids, the other in Oriental which goes right on my brow line and makes my eyes really pop! On top of that I also received her newest item to her collection, the Moscato Lipstick. It goes on great, its smooth and soft, and really lasts.  Not to mention it looks perfect with my lighter toned skin and almondy brown/red hair.  But it is just one of those colors that kind of works on everybody!

Everything arrived in that reused package ^ there.  It was all wrapped up nice and neat so nothing would spill, padded to ensure against breakage, and there was even a little bonus mineral mascara in the bag! Woo hoo!

So thanks again for your enormous generosity with this great giveaway!

Myra you just simply rock and you’ve truly inspired me to start thinking about what kinds of fun items I could give away from my arsenal of eco-friendly accessories...

Maybe iPod cozy cases? A clutch purse? Perhaps a set of faux granite coasters?

What would you love to try to win that Chucka Stone Designs creates?  Would you like to see something totally different than the above mentioned items? 

Tell me about it in the comments then be sure to get out and follow Herban | Luxe, try the make up and fall in love with Myra's shop!

DIY Tutorial Series Making Cellophane Packaging

Today’s tutorial comes from Martina at Nature's Art Melbourne and in it she shares how to take those scraps from cellophane that we all come across and turn them into beautiful, custom packaging for your items.

Materials Needed

Leftover cellophane, cleaned and dried

Vacuum sealer machine
Item to package

Description of Materials
Cellophane can come from flower bunch covers - use the top bit which didn't get greased, covers of bought cards, chocolate covers, protective covers from all sorts... or you buy it in a roll and cut it in the right size.

The Vacuum bag sealer is normally for the household and used to seal bag before freezing - it sucks the air out - which we do not need in our case it just makes the noise of sucking it out but the sealing is the beauty of this little thing.

The Process

Gather your items - Cellophane remnants, little book to protect, vacuum bag sealer

Cut cellophane (if necessary) if not flat - in this case two sides are close anyway as it comes from a chocolate box I just cut the bottom off



Seal the bottom / one end closed - slip book in tight to the seal



Seal 3rd side - seal as close to the bookend as possible



Sealing in action - wait until green light turns off on the sealer ( few seconds)

Sealed - remove off the machine, note the extra cellophane above the seal will be removed (save for another small item!)



Cut 4th edge - The open end, leave around 1 inch to have enough to fold under




Bend edge over and close with sticky tape (you could also seal the fourth side closed, but I prefer sticky tape as the customer does not need sciccors to open the bag)




Packed neat, Upcycled, Green and ready to go!

The product I am packing in the tutorial is from my shop, I Am Happy to Be Me Zine

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Martina also notes…

• You can seal plastic as well - is a matter of having a try on the plastic (if it is thick enough or too thick)... there is nothing to loose, only to win.
• Even bought cellophane covers for cards can be resized - for example I recycle envelopes in funny sizes for handmade cards and I can seal them and they look professional.
• Happy cellophane hunting!

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Thanks for sharing your terrific tutorial Martina!

To see Martina’s insanely gorgeous jewelry and other fantastic handmade items please visit her shop – Nature's Art Melbourne

Interested in contributing a tutorial and having your shop linked?
Simply send a brief description of your process, photos of the steps, and captions to describe each step to chuckastonedesigns at yahoo dot com

Tuesday Tip of the Day -- Stay Focused and Stay Fresh

Post is going up quite late today as I am finally about caught up after being out of town last week.  Sorry for that but I won't make you wait another second for the Tuesday Tip of the Day.  Today's is "Keep it Fresh"

I was reading quite a bit of stuff lately on how often to update your website or blog for maximum effectiveness.  Readers want to know that you are active online, they don't love going to a blog or website in July and seeing the announcement that you're having a lovely winter.  Content should be current and relevant and the majority of places say that writing a daily blog is ideal while a website only needs updating every quarter. 

The blog thing sounds good, I'm trying to get mine back to 5 days a week right now in fact and that's my ultimate goal so I can pretty much work from anywhere everyday.  But the website suggestion seemed a little low where you'd only change the information every three months. 

Now I don't get over to my site daily or even weekly but if I create some new items I think its smart to post photos of them.  Sometimes the copy needs to get a mini overhaul too.  But with so much stuff to keep up with I don't beat myself up if I can only get to one or the other of those tasks each time I'm updating.  In my opinion, once a month is a far more realistic time between updates.

So in an effort to stay fresh on my blog, it seemed like high time to get an updated About page over here this morning.  Feel free to check it out when you have a second!  This information will eventually filter through to the website in the next week or so and I'm excited to have gotten a more realistic picture of who I am and where I started, not to mention how I've gotten here, shared with the online world.  The story is personal and I think it better represents me and my brand.

How long has it been since you've updated the copy or photos on your own website or blog?

The Results of the Social Media Poll are in!

And the winner by an ever so very slight margin was:

Having a blog / website!

So I started thinking about the result over coffee this morning.  I have been kicking around integrating my blog and website into one place in November when my hosting expires.  Everything filtering into one place is good for reduction of updating requirements.

Because my goal is to ensure my Etsy shop runs smoothly even when I take on additional responsibility of writing (either for my novels or for a couple blogs I want to guest post for, plus this blog and my personal one), the more that can be reduced outside of that stuff the better. 

I was pleased to get so much great advice on other locations like Facebook (a very close runner up at 2nd), twitter, LinkedIn, other.  Between participation in team forums, posting links, and the like, my social media investment was higher than the time I spent actually creating things.  And as far as I'm concerned, that ain't good.

Mary from Herban Lifestyle suggested that I have everything filter into each other.  I was already doing this with my blog posts but not everything else.  Now everything auto populates but I only have to post things once.  Curlymonkey commented that everything is tied to her website and not outside social media because its a place she could still have and approach brick and mortar locations.  That's a great point as I consider amping up my interest in consignment. Sonya at Kanelstrand felt it was a good idea to just have something and work it so it works for you, Bee at The Wooden Bee agreed that everything working together was a good call, and Fia at Fianaturals was in the majority voting for blog/website.

Thanks for the votes, comments and encouragement ladies!  For everyone else who voted under cover of darkness thanks so much to you as well.  This has really helped me to narrow down and prioritize.

Flickr stays but I am not active on there, truly I only have it so I can have a nice Gallery Page here on the blog.  I have decided not to join other sites that have no bearing on my creativity but still suck time (Pinterest, Google+, ) and a few other things had to also fall away.  Interestingly twitter only got one vote.  Updating that is mostly automated now so I'll keep it but likely won't participate very much more than I currently do.

So there it is, I'm just happy to know that what I was doing and how I was narrowing down was in the ballpark of smarter business sense!

Thanks to everyone who participated and now I'm back to regular posting!

New Poll at the Top of the Post Please Read this and Click Quick!

Good morning my friends and clients!  It has been a crazy whirlwind over the past week or so and my head is swimming and spinning with all of the ideas and business related goals I have set out for myself.  So here's the thing, I'm very torn on where I need to focus the most attention and am asking for your help to narrow it down.

As you can see I've inserted a little poll at the top of my page.  The poll only allows you to choose one response, the question is:

What social media is ESSENTIAL to all businesses regardless of product/service type?

Basically it comes down to this...
 
Over the weekend I had a little existential artist crisis over on my personal blog.  Now I need to SERIOUSLY DISCLAIM the link because Random Lunacy is the place where I get all snarky and bitter sometimes, I curse a lot and a some people might find that unprofessional.  So if that person is you, please don't read it.  But that site is also an honest portrayal of who I am, not just as an upbeat business owner, and I personally feel that we should all be able to vent and say what's on our minds without fear of repercussions from anyone.
 
This is the part where you learn about me that I live with no regrets.  I'm trying to also live fearlessly lately too, though that is much more challenging to achieve sometimes.
 
Anyway, that personal post on Saturday was me essentially spinning around trying to make sense of the fact that I have been going to school now with straight A's and loving the fact that I get to write all week for school, but missing the creative side that isn't just essay writing.  Something drew me to something else and before I knew it I had found a pretty cool looking agent that I submitted a query to for my completed manuscript.
 
I began tossing around my business, my dedication level to certain aspects of it, and I came to the conclusion that while I love to paint, I love to write even more so it was time to let some aspects of my business go.
 
On top of the fact that licensing is very complicated & difficult here in Arizona, I think that it is time to admit my business ventures outside my home have been less than profitable and not functioning the way I've wanted or strived for the past 4 years.  It is time to let go of part of the business and solely focus on my smaller items, my home decor line, and upcycled, repurposed, recycled pieces.
 
In flip-flopping my time, I will free up about 20 hours a week to focus on my writing while still maintaining a shop and my 4.0 GPA.  As for family who I've already told I'm going to do projects (for example my step-MIL's niche shelves) that's still happening, but for anything else...
 
Check out the wares in my shop!
 
Now, with this in mind and my part time dedication of time to my shop, I feel its important to get the most impact out of what I do while reducing the things I simply do not use at all.  The poll asks you to select one social media outlet where time is spent that is truly essential to any business.  My question relates to both networking for connections and increased views and sales.  I included a spot for 'Other'.  If you choose that option I ask if you could toss a comment here in the post as to the where and why.
 
Anyone who would like to share why the media they click has worked the best for them I'd greatly appreciate it!  I still intend to create treasuries and take an active role in the team forums as the people I've met have been vital to my sanity at times (I'm looking at you Karen, thanks!) and I know that networking is crucial to any smart business owner.  But in an effort to reduce my consumption of daily drivel that gets me no further ahead I'm looking to just be smarter about it all by nixing things that aren't crucial.
 
So this long winded post is going to stay at the top until the poll closes next Monday.
 
Be on the lookout next Wednesday, November 26, for our first DIY Tutorial submission coming in from Martina at NaturesArtMelbourne on how to use those cellophane wrappers everyone throws away as packaging.  You will not want to miss it!
 
Then next Friday its back to Feature Finish and I promise you're going to love that too!
 
Have a great week and get voting!  Thanks :-)