was it a success?
was it a disaster?
did you bring enough inventory?
did you make new friends?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Saturday, May 26, 2012
7. Tophatter - Just My Experience...
I'd heard about Tophatter ( http://tophatter.com/ ) here and there. It's a live auction site that a lot of handmade sellers use (although it is not just for handmade/vintage/supplies).
I scheduled an item for sale there. It was for a higher end (for my stuff, anyway) item that I thought might do well for Mother's Day (retail would be around $60), plus I am not going to make that style of jewelry anymore and thought it might be a good way to sell off some of my already made pieces. I have seen some items sell for a good price there. Even low quality stuff. I guess it's really unpredictable.
My item went up for auction and had lots of views/watchers. After the day of bidding passed, it sold for $9. Yes, a sterling silver locket necklace with a wire wrapped AAA pink tourmaline gemstone charm sold for less than $10.
Ugh. My advice is don't bother. I lost pretty badly, and to add insult to injury, I owe Tophatter $1 for their fee, not to mention Paypal fees.
Friday, May 25, 2012
20. How do I give feedback?
wow, I like hearing that a buyer comes back for feedback!
go on you Zibbet page and find your purchases on the right side, should be in green.
click on it, then you should see pictures of what you have purchased on the right there is a drop down with leave feedback, contact shop owner etc. click on the feedback and then you can fill it out.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
5. Zibbet's ACEO Challenge
Who's up for a new challenge?
This Challenge has no particular theme to follow and allows for all Zibbeters to participate. Simply make an ACEO in any medium you want. Oil painting, acrylics, watercolors, charcoal, fabric, fiber, wood, metal, leather, anything goes. However they must be this size: 2 ½ X 3 ½ inches
Wikipedia describes an ACEO as:
Artist trading cards (or ATCs) are miniature works of art the same size as modern baseball cards or 2 ½ X 3 ½ inches (63 mm X 89 mm), small enough to fit inside standard card-collector pockets, sleeves or sheets. The ATC movement developed out of the mail art movement and has its origins in Switzerland. Cards are produced in various media, including dry media (pencils, pens, markers, etc.), wet media (watercolor, acrylic paints, etc.), paper media (in the form of collage, papercuts, found objects, etc.) or even metals or cloth. The cards are usually traded or exchanged. When sold, they are usually referred to as art card editions and originals (ACEOs).
Today April 16th starts the challenge.
You have 28 days until May 14th at midnight EST to enter.
One entry per Zibbet ID.
Five winners will be chosen by a panel of judges.
The five winners will appear in the Fantastic Five on Monday May 21st.
NEW prize: The First Place Winner will also be in the Zibbet Newsletter and become a Featured Zibbeter.
Items must be listed in your Zibbet shop for sale.
Post your item here and I will pin it to this Pinterest Board (giving your item even more exposure).
http://pinterest.com/graffiti/zibbet-aceo-challenge/
If your item sells on Zibbet before the end of the challenge it will still qualify.
If you choose to list the same item on another venue and it sells there before the end of the challenge it will be disqualified. Reason is simply because when it gets featured the link to the unlisted item won't work.
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If you would like to be one of the judges, speak up here, first 4 volunteers will be accepted.
Judges may not enter the challenge.
UPDATE:
Judges who volunteered below are:
Rhonda of Spanky Luvs Vintage 2
Rebecca of Raige Creations
Kelly of The Purple Rat
Rebecca of RWest Designs
The judges will grade the submissions using this official ballot.
Instructions for Judges:
A. Is the submitted work pornographic or derogatory to any group?
If yes, eliminate.
B. Is the work original and done only by the artist? (Clarification about "original" which only refers to whether the artist submitting the work put it together. It does not have to be an original painting. Using found images, patterned papers, book pages, purchased embellishments, etc and put together in the artist's own original creation with those components does not disqualify a submission. Some might be made combining wood, metal, leather, fabric and might incorporate some sort of found images or embellishments.)
If not, eliminate.
C. Is the work ACEO size? 3.5 x 2.5 or 2.5 x 3.5 inches.
If not, eliminate.
Jurors, please vote on the following criteria:
Make a checkmark for the score you select: 1 is worst; 5 is best
1. Attractive (gets your attention)
1 ( ) 2 ( ) 3 ( ) 4 ( ) 5 ( )
2. Engaging (holds your attention, has an inherent meaning)
1 ( ) 2 ( ) 3 ( ) 4 ( ) 5 ( )
3. Well executed (the artist's skill and techniques in using their medium)
1 ( ) 2 ( ) 3 ( ) 4 ( ) 5 ( )
4. Original (unique, unusual and you never saw anything quite like it)
1 ( ) 2 ( ) 3 ( ) 4 ( ) 5 ( )
5. Quality of photo(s) (Clear photos, shows all angles, easy to see detail)
1 ( ) 2 ( ) 3 ( ) 4 ( ) 5 ( )
Total score ________
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
15. New Sneak Peek: Item Details Page!
It's time for another sneak peek! We're excited to reveal this one to you all as it's one of the most important pages on the site - the item details page.
This is the page that shoppers will arrive at to learn more about your item when they're shopping at Zibbet, OR they may just end up on this page randomly when they find it through Google and other search engines or a link their friend shared with them etc. That's why we're excited about the many improvements this page has over the current design.
Improvements:
This page has a lot of information that needs to be given to the seller, therefore we've cleaned this up using 'tabs' so that the buyer can toggle through the 'description', 'shipping and payment' information and your shop 'policies'. At the bottom of each of those is a clear "Contact This Seller" option."Shoppers who liked this item also like..." is a way to match up similar items and what others have 'liked' to keep the shopper exploring Zibbet longer. We realize you want to keep shoppers in your shop, so we'll be allowing Premium sellers to only show items from their own shop in this section.
As you can see there's lots of improvements! Check out the design...
[click image to see larger/clearer. You may need to click on it again to zoom in on it properly]
Shoppers won't leave the page when they add the item to their cart...
We have also made a couple of other improvements to the main navigation:
1. When you are logged in as a seller the top was filled with options for My Zibbet, My Shop and Logout (see below). 
We've put this into a drop down now (inspired by Google) which helps to de-clutter this section (see below).
2. We've improved search usability. Currently we have the word 'Search' in front of our drop down where the shopper can choose which section of the site they want to search in. Remove the word 'Search', like we've had to due to space issues and it suddenly isn't as clear for a new user. Therefore we've changed it from this:
To, this...
Connecting them makes it clear to the user that they are related to each other and avoids any confusion.
We look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
18. draft listings easier to sort out
I am in the process of importing all my etsy listings from two full shops.
Since it imports them all as drafts, it'd be awesome to be able to choose "show draft listings" in the dropdown, so I don't have to page through everything to find them all...
that or some sort of bulk editing feature. Going through three hundred listings to add categories and shipping, one by one, after finding them in the pile, is starting to tire me out!
ps I am loving everything else here so far. you guys rock
19. Etsy Suspended My Shop!
I debated for two days whether or not to post this on Zibbet. I figured I needed that time to clear my head before I fired off some heated words that were more emotion than fact. Here's what happened.
Saturday evening I was scheduled to moderate a forum trade event my team had organized. About fifteen minutes before I was scheduled to take over the trade event, I logged into Etsy and went directly to the forums to read a few of the pages so I'd be up to speed. I'm a team leader so it struck me as odd that at the top of each page it said, "You don't have permission to participate in this discussion." So I started clicking through my shop and when I clicked on the "listings" link I got the message:
Your account is currently suspended
Etsy has suspended your account privileges. Please check your email for more information about your account's status.A check of my email did indeed show an email from Etsy's Marketplace Integrity Team telling me my shop had been suspended because my items didn't appear to meet their criteria. I was so totally floored by this that it took a few minutes to sink in. Of course they offered me an option to prove that my items are indeed handmade and I'm currently doing that. But I wanted to point out a couple of things.
First, I was highly upset that Etsy suspended my shop BEFORE they contacted me. I had heard other sellers say that Etsy shut them down without warning but I thought surely a site as huge as Etsy would exercise due process first. Boy, was I wrong!
Second, the item that has been flagged is clearly described as a pair of vintage earrings. I never claimed to make them. (As a matter of fact, those earrings are listed right here on Zibbet with the EXACT same description I had on Etsy). You can see them here: http://www.zibbet.com/UnexpectedTreasure/artwork?artworkId=830233
When I sent Etsy an email asking them how I could possibly submit step by step photos of me producing that item when it's a vintage item and there was no production process involved, they replied within a couple of hours and sent a photo of another item from my shop that they wanted me to reproduce with step by step photos. (I have done so.)
The inquiry process is very involved. There's a 3 part questionaire to complete and return with TONS of photographic evidence. Oh yeah, and each photo must include a piece of paper showing my username and the date. This will show Etsy that the photographs are current and taken by me.
I guess I'll wrap this up by saying that I thought my shop was my own but have since discovered that Etsy can do whatever they want with it. I'm not upset that I have to prove my stuff is handmade by me. In fact, that was the part that least concerned me. What I am upset about is that I feel Etsy should not have shut me down until AFTER I submitted whatever evidence they required and only then if they were still not satisfied my items are handmade. I always thought in our society it was "innocent until proven guilty" but, again, I guess I was wrong.
So, AFTER I get my shop reinstated, I'm saying so long to Etsy for good. I never again want to be convicted and found guilty without a fair trial. But I want my shop, and my good name, reinstated first. I've had over 1,000 sales on Etsy and not a single negative feedback. And that's the image I want to leave people with when I leave that venue.
OK, I'm done venting. :)
Sunday, May 20, 2012
3. What is your new listing for the day?
Hey Laura,
Something that would get your link noticed by more people is if you included a picture, and a little bit of an intro of what the item is. On the reply box, just above the place where you type text there's a picture icon you can click on that will allow you to add pictures.
yours,
Joyananda
A Different Kind of Pretty - by Joyananda - http://www.zibbet.com/Joyananda
12. Listing question - choosing colors
For some reason I'm having trouble choosing four colors in the edit images function. Even though I've only highlighted 4 colors I always get an error message telling me I'm only allowed 4 colors when I try to save my choices.
I'm new so maybe I'm missing some crucial detail? I'm only seeing the four colors I've selected highlighted by the broken lines around the boxes... but no matter what I do I'm only allowed to select 3 colors.
Tags: choose, colors, edit, images ? Reply to This
Saturday, May 19, 2012
13. Shop Hop Saturday
Inspired by another blog elsewhere, I'm starting something new on my blog. It's called Shop Hop Saturday. The idea is to post your handmade shop and visit the others. More exposure for everyone!
Unlike the one that inspired me, I've decided to go with a theme each week, asking participants to match the theme in the item/link they post. To get the ball rolling, this week's theme is "May Flowers".
Come see! http://breathofthedragon.blogspot.com/2012/05/shop-hop-saturday-may...
And yes, these are open to all handmade shops, Etsy, Artfire, Zibbet, whatever. So share with everyone you know to fill it up!
The Linky is open for exactly one week, and closes one minute before the new one is posted, 9am Pacific (noon Eastern) Saturday.
I'll post the link for the new one in here as I go along.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
14. Happy Mother's Day!
To all my friends and co sellers here, staffers, everyone. I wish you a very happy Mother's day even if you are just a mom to a dog LOL
Tags:? Reply to This
Fantastic Five: New Guys in the Hub
If you hang out at the Zibbet Community Hub as much as I do, you might have noticed we have a lot of new guys in the hub with some very fine crafts. And the guys are mighty fine, too. Let’s welcome them by checking out their shops, helping to promote their items or just send them a welcome message and offer to help if they have any questions.
With Father’s Day next month you’ll want to check out crafts made by men, because they just might know what your man would like to have. All these guys are new to Zibbet and the Community Hub. Please support them. Use the share tools provided to spread the Zibbet love!
1. Totoro - Studio Ghibli - Hand Cut 3D Paper Craft by Willpig $100: Will’s description made me smile. “100% handcut with blades, time and really loud music!” This is a fantastic shop you need to spend some time in. The 3D artwork comes to you framed in a shadow box. When my daughter saw this shop she exclaimed “WOW!” and found at least 3 artworks she’d love to own.
2. Cheese Knife and Spreader Set in Maple by The Loose Nut Woodshop $18: What a pretty knife set this would be to own. Hand turned Maple, and never any items the same. James makes one-of-a-kind wood products: knives, clocks, pens and beautiful kitchenwares in the beautiful wooded state of Wisconsin.
3. Original Hand Drawn Cartoon Art - Ritual at the Pillar of Tears by Weirdsville $12: This original artwork is part of a series “Welcome to Weirdsville Cartoon Art.” Lee joined Zibbet and the Community Hub recently and has been a positive, active Zibbeter. He calls himself an “old hippie living in the world of weird.” He is a published author, music fanatic, and strange artist.
4. Primitive Style Box by jdwallingtons $69.99: Ridiculous low price, yes, but it is a Grand Opening Special, so be quick. Made from seasoned recycled pallets and twisted nails, this wood chest can be a toy box, a storage place for your special linens, tool box or an awesome entrance piece for use as a boot box. It is stained, numbered and signed. You’ll be blown away as you check the other items in JD Wallington’s shop.
5. Bicycle Saddle Bag Black Leather by Studio 45RHM $79.95: More and more people are saving gas by bicycling to work and for pleasure. This a great leather accessory for your ride. All of Fred’s leather products are vegetable tanned, no chemicals, and his dyes are eco-environment friendly. So check out this new shop for bracelets, cuffs, guitar straps and don’t miss his woodworking section.
very top image - Justice Tshirt by Sketched Soul $20
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Judy writes the ‘Fantastic Five‘ column where she features 5 Zibbet items every week. She is the owner of four Zibbet shops: Portable Graffiti Graphics, Portable Graffiti buttons, Proofreader, and Wild Goose Chase vintage, crafts and supplies. You can follow Judy on Facebook.
Tags: Fantastic Five, New Guys in the Hub
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Featured Zibbeter - GalleriaLindaLoft
This week Zibbet is delighted to feature Linda Harrell from sunny Lakeland, Florida. Linda’s shop GalleriaLindaLoft, is a wonderful eclectic shop filled with handmade and vintage jewelry, home decor, accessories and vintage shabby chic.Linda keeps another shop on Zibbet strictly for jewelry supplies. If you need beads don’t miss her other shop GalleriaLinda.Please enjoy the interview, leave Linda a comment, and then use the Share Tools so others can read it, too. Please spread the Zibbet Love!
Originally from Indiana, I have lived in Florida for 25 years. I miss my hometown but not the winters! I grew up in the Purdue University environment, as my dad was a professor there. I met my husband at Purdue and now have a son at Purdue.Growing up, my mother was always trying new crafts and was a master at crewel needlework. Although I tried, I did not take a shine to needlework but always had an interest in jewelry. While in college, I truly wanted to pursue jewelry design as a degree, but veered off to the more practical career of commercial interior design. Even though I did not pursue jewelry originally, being in the art departments of Purdue gave me opportunities to explore and experience the vast array of thought and culture relating to art and design. I often made my own jewelry to match my wardrobe.As a young girl, I spent three years living in Brazil, South America, where gems were plentiful and everyone of every economic level sported the great Brazilian jewels from the ground, like amethyst, topaz, and others. I will never forget the excitement of these gems.
I work as a marketing communications consultant for small businesses and my job keeps me busy. My free time goes into jewelry design and even in my thoughts, I am mentally going through my bead stash and thinking up new creations.The sheer joy of creating something beautiful is my simple motivation. For some, it is paints, for others it is fiber, but for me it is beads of all kinds. Currently I am very inspired by vintage acrylic and Lucite beads and charms and love to incorporate them into my designs. My handmade jewelry designs are created organically through sorting through beads and materials for a striking moment of inspiration.Finding and purchasing such fabulous beads for my own designs inspired me to open a bead shop, whereby I could deflate my stock somewhat and share my discoveries. The problem is that I set aside much more than I list! Likewise, I so admire vintage jewelry so I have a shop for that too!
I have great appreciation for artists and designers who are able to develop a full-time business from their craft as their full-time career. It is hard to do and takes long hours. As an independent artist/crafter, one has to study and read about everything from business to accounting, SEO, seasonality, shipping, international regulations, and more. In addition, to make that all successful takes a lot of passion. Those are my heroes.I love cats and have Hamlet as a part of our family. Also, I very much enjoy helping other artists and crafters with their street-smart marketing strategies. I run the blog http://indieceo.blogspot.com/ specifically for offering a strategic look at how to market your crafts. I approach this marketing from a big picture perspective, which can help with understanding why you get the results that you do. I have had several artists contact me to say this marketing information was very helpful.
Definitely, without a doubt, the friendliness and transparency is what I love about Zibbet. First, the sellers and buyers are so great and helpful. Then, the admin are tremendous supporters of sellers. I love the open communication. As a professional communications person, I know that corporations who communicate frequently create a thriving atmosphere for their people. They have created a healthy community of creatives. Kudos to Zibbet is all I can say!The process once an order has been made could be expanded - printable invoices, searchable order list, sorting, plus having the “relist” record from a sale be an independent record so when you change something it does not change the record for the original sale. I know that Zibbet is coming out with upgrades and will be excited to see what they have in store for us.
I blog when I can, use Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. I use TwitterFeed.com to feed to Facebook and Twitter the items I add, relist, or refresh. That is automatic. I have tried Google Adwords a few times too and I use Entrecard for my blog traffic, and, of course, word-of-mouth. One of the best and easiest promotional-supporting tools is to keep up with your SEO tweaking of your listings so people will find your shop through Google and Bing searches. In addition, I will be trying my very first local artist show. After selling online since 2006, I am stepping out to try new things.Work on getting your own traffic through promotional methods. Keep up with SEO. Be active in the Zibbet community to get to know others, and keep your shop interesting, full, and beautiful at all times!Working towards becoming a full-time jewelry designer of handmade – fully utilizing all the opportunities for selling handmade, such as art shows, trunk shows, home showings, online, etc…. I want to bring affordable contemporary beaded jewelry designs to the world - every woman should have this privilege!Tags: Fetured Zibbeters, Galleria Linda Loft
Monday, May 14, 2012
Zibbet Q&A: Why can’t I find my shop in a ‘Sellers’ search?
New sellers love to conduct Zibbet searches looking for their shops. They also ask their friends and family to come to Zibbet and search for their shops. This is a very normal and fun thing to do. However, sometimes new sellers aren’t so happy because they’ve not been able to find their shops using Zibbet’s search engine. There are several reasons why a shop may not be found in a search:
There are no items listed in the shop yet. In order to be found using Zibbet’s Sellers search, there must be at least one active listing in the shop.
The seller’s Username was misspelled. Zibbet’s Sellers search looks at Usernames only and requires that your search query begin with the first few letters of the seller’s Username. For example, if the Username for the seller is ‘astitchandaprayer’, a query of ‘astitch’ will find two shops: astitchandaprayer and astitchintime. However, a query of ‘a stitch’ will not find either shop because of the space.
‘Sellers’ wasn’t selected from the drop down Search menu. If ‘Sellers’ isn’t selected, Zibbet’s search engine looks for a listing, not a Username.
However, if you’ve included your Username or shop name as a tag for some (or all) of your items, your shop can be found by way of an item search. For example, an item search for ‘astitchandaprayer’ will find items listed in this shop because the Username ‘astitchandaprayer’ has been included as a tag. An item search for ‘a stitch and a prayer’ will find other items in the same shop because the shop name ‘a stitch and a prayer’ has been included as a tag in some items. You may want to consider including your Username and/or shop name as a tag in some of your items to help people who are searching specifically for you and your shop find some of your items. By finding those items, they’ve found your shop.
Best wishes for much success on Zibbet!
Vicki is committed to assisting her fellow Zibbeters improve their shops for successful online selling. She is the owner of five Zibbet shops: LOC Design Studio, Denim and Pearls, A Stitch and a Prayer, Black Creek Crossing and Think Like a Fish. You can follow Vicki on Twitter and through her LOC Design Studio blog.
Tags: Seller Search, tags, Username
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Zibbet Q & A: Why aren’t my items showing up in a search?
Hardly a week goes by that I don’t receive a support ticket from a new seller wondering why their just listed items aren’t showing up in a Zibbet search. In every case, I can find the seller’s items. Let’s take a few minutes to review how Zibbet’s search engine works and why your titles and tags are so important.
Several processes are involved in a search. First, a query is compared to the item titles and tags indexed in Zibbet’s database, looking for items that match the query. Next, the ‘found’ items are ranked based on a relevancy calculation. The list of found items is then presented, twenty items per page, in the order determined by the relevancy calculations. If you search for keywords that you’ve included in your titles and tags, Zibbet’s search engine will ‘find’ those items. However, those found items may not appear on the first page of search results. Only twenty items will appear on the first page and those items are determined by the results of the relevancy calculation which sorts the search results. If you change the sort order to ‘Most recent first’ you’ll see your just listed items.
When naming your items, it’s recommended that you use descriptive titles. For example, ‘Precious Sweet Little Baby Girl Bonnet’, although descriptive, contains several adjectives that are subjective in nature and that most people probably wouldn’t search for. Perhaps a better title would be ‘Pink Gingham Baby Bonnet’. Because titles are also used by search engines such as Google, it’s a good idea to use Google’s Keyword Tool when selecting title text. The same strategy should be applied to the selection of tags. Although someone may describe your baby bonnet as ‘precious’, ’sweet’ and ‘little’, it’s unlikely that they would conduct a search using those words so don’t waste tag (and title) real estate with these subjective adjectives. Buyer intent is what you need to have foremost in your mind when naming and tagging your items. Choose objective adjectives that describe item attributes such as color, shape, material and style.
‘Most relevant first’ is the default sort order for keyword searches on Zibbet. Relevancy scoring is a complicated process. However, understanding a few basic concepts will help you maximize your item’s relevancy score potential related to title and tag selection. Keep in mind that relevancy scores are dynamic. That is, they are calculated in relation to the current query.
Items containing matches for rare words will score higher than those containing matches for common words.Items containing a query match in both the title and tag will score higher than those containing a match in just one of those locations.Keyword density affects relevancy scoring. For example, a search for “red” finds an item titled “red apple” and another titled “rotten red apple”. The item titled “red apple” would be favored because “red” is more dense (1 of 2 words) compared to “rotten red apple” (1 of 3 words).Relevancy scores of items from Premium sellers are boosted by 2 points.It takes time and concentration to write effective titles and select search-worthy tags for your items. However, the investment is worth the effort and over time the process will become easier for you and will take less time.
Best wishes for much success on Zibbet!
Vicki is committed to assisting her fellow Zibbeters improve their shops for successful online selling. She is the owner of five Zibbet shops: LOC Design Studio, Denim and Pearls, A Stitch and a Prayer, Black Creek Crossing and Think Like a Fish. You can follow Vicki on Twitter and through her LOC Design Studio blog.
Tags: Relevancy, search, Success on Zibbet, tags, Titles
Friday, May 11, 2012
Featured Zibbeter - JennyLee
This week we took a virtual trip to Honolulu, Hawaii to interview Jenny Lee.Jenny has been painting since 1974 and continues to learn and work on her full-time career of painting by attending fine art school. She devotes 100% of her time to her art work. Living in Hawaii, she certainly has beautiful subject matter all around her. All her oil paintings are framed and ready to be hung. You are looking at a very small sampling of her original paintings, so be sure to spend some time in her shop where you will find almost 100 original works of art. Please enjoy the interview, leave Jenny a comment, and then use the Share Tools so others can read it, too. Please spread the Zibbet Love!
I am mostly a self-taught artist and have been interested in art all of my life.I relocated to Hawaii from the East Coast 25 years ago and have found great inspiration in the beauty of the islands. I paint with oils and love bright colors. The islands provide these bright colors.I have been taking art lessons here for four years.I am an avid gardner and I love to create gardens in every spare space in my yard. My rose garden has provided me with many roses for my paintings.I also help my husband with keeping books for our custom furniture business. My husband and I have also built three custom homes here in Hawaii and finishing the interiors is an aspect of art that I love.I see beauty in nature throughout the year in my beautiful Hawaiian home. The weather is always nice and there is always something blooming. I love to put my oils on the canvas and watch them flow out.
The more I paint, the more I want to improve the next painting. Color for me is an exciting aspect of painting.I look up to traditional artists and their work inspires my painting. In particular, Pino, an Italian artist, does great art work. His work is soft impressionistic and his figures are quite beautiful.As I mentioned before, gardening is a number two passion of mine. I cannot stay out of my garden and am constantly thinking of improvements to make. Growing things is very satisfying.
What I like most about Zibbet is that you can post as many art pieces as you want and constantly change and update.New areas that I think would improve Zibbet is to see where your viewers are coming from. What city, state and country.I have a few sites that I show my work and I attend a few local art showings.I meet quite a few people on my lunch and shopping outings at Ala Moana Center on Oahu and have given out quite a few pictures on cards that I have made on my iPhoto on the computer.
To other Zibbeters, I would recommend they would pay attention to their most viewed items and concentrate on them to improve them and perhaps provide more of these items.In the future I would like to be able to broaden my painting subjects to include more difficult subjects that I have not tackled in the past.Tags: Featured Zibbeters, Jenny Lee
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Fantastic Five: It’s All About Mom
It’s all about Mom because she really is always there when you need her and her extra special day is coming up. Treat her well with a handmade or vintage gift from Zibbet this year.
You can also make her a gift with the easy-to-follow pattern samplers like the one in the main photo. I’ve never known a mother who did not treasure a handmade gift.
Search for more items with the key word “mom” or “mother” and you get well over 2,000 items. Mothers Day brings up over 1,000 wonderful items. Be sure to check the Mother’s Day Gift Guide and get a good running jump by shopping with the Father’s Day Gift Guide on Zibbet now.
1. Special Day for Mom Handmade Card and Tag by A Penny 4 Ur Thoughts $5: Start off your Mother’s Day surprises with this special Mom’s Day card. And if your mother lives far away make sure the card you mail is extra special like this one that can be displayed all year long. This card comes with a matching tag for your gift.
2. Special Pillow Cover for Mom by Visual Imaginaries $12: Your mom will gush over this elegant handmade pillow cover sewn with a beautiful embossed cotton fabric with flowers and leaves. The embroidery was all done freehand and I can imagine made with lots of love. The tulle bow is removable. Visual Imaginaries sells the pillow inserts as well.
3. Gardening Theme Cross Stitch Fridge Magnet for Mum by Butterfly Crafts $4.75: More and more mothers are getting into gardening to grow their food for their families to assure safe healthy produce. If you know a mother who gardens this magnet created with cross stitch would be a really sweet and very affordable handmade gift, whether she grows flowers or vegetables.
4. Mom’s Diner Open 24 Hours Sign by Mama’s Insanity $22.95: Oh Mom would love this! Described by the artist: “Who with a family can’t relate to this sign!” Perfect for Mom’s kitchen! This awesome wood sign is a nice big 19 1/2 inches long. Painted with an off white background, bright red letters and black trim (or you can choose the colors). The signs are antiqued for an antique look.
5. Set of three Custom Hand Stamped Jewelry Cuff Bracelets by Always A Memory $42: These aluminum cuff bracelets caught my attention because as a mom the one thing I always hope to be to my grown up daughters is to also be their friend. Bring happy tears to your mom’s eyes on Mother’s Day this year with a special message of your choice on a bracelet.
very top image - It’s All About Mom Redwork Primitive Sampler by HS Embroidery $4
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Happy Mother’s Day to all the Zibbet Moms, Mothers, Mums, Mamas,
Grandmas, Grandmothers, Nannas and Nannys.
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Judy writes the ‘Fantastic Five‘ column where she features 5 Zibbet items every week. She is the owner of four Zibbet shops: Portable Graffiti Graphics, Portable Graffiti buttons, Proofreader, and Wild Goose Chase vintage, crafts and supplies. You can follow Judy on Facebook.
Tags: Fantastic Five, It's All About Mom
Featured Zibbeter - AllAboutTheButtons
This week we have another long-overdue feature for you. If there is anyone who has not yet met Barbra of All About The Buttons I will be surprised. Friendly, upbeat, helpful and of course very creative.In Barbra’s shop you will find a wide variety of crafts but there is a singular theme going on there….look closely at each item….buttons… Barbra incorporates buttons into most of her creations.Please enjoy the interview, leave Barbra a comment, and then use the Share Tools so others can read it, too. Please spread the Zibbet Love!
It’s never been easy for me to ‘talk’ about me but I will answer all questions openly and honestly, maybe with TMI…too much information! My father was a leather designer and my mother sewed a great deal & had an artistic leaning. My brother tinkered and built things and still does today. He is just about ready to sell his photography work which I think is extraordinary. We were a creative bunch. I taught myself how to knit at 8 and shocked my mother and her mah jongg friends. My loving to create continued as I was an art major in college. I sold many things from cards and scarves, to posters for fraternity parties and sporting events. After college, I chose to go into elementary school teaching and did so for 33 years while still creating on the side and even in my classrooms. In 1993, I inherited my mother’s/grandmother’s cookie tin of buttons and I just sat and played and imagined and All About The Buttons was established at my kitchen table. I now have a dedicated studio. No more cleaning up just because someone wants dinner!
I retired from teaching in 2002 and moved with my husband from New York to South Carolina. My son, daughter-in-law and 2 grandsons are here and I do not miss the snow and the cold at all. Being so close to them is a gift. I actually ‘work’ for my son 3 days a week. My title is “Purchasing Coordinator” which means I shop with someone else’s money…not bad! I buy everything from apples to zip drives and keep the office stocked with supplies, treats and other necessities. I love to garden and read and there’s always another book to start or a weed to pull.
Three things inspire me…I love the basic supplies-buttons, yarn, paper and ribbon-which are often purchased with no goal in mind. They started out as someone else’s creations and I make them mine. I don’t make buttons, or spin yarn but taking them from a kind of raw state to a useful and beautiful item is so enjoyable. Often a material will sit for months but eventually will get used somehow. Actually, that’s not true! My button and yarn stash could keep me and several others busy for years! I also love to recycle and repurpose, whether it’s for sale or my private use. There’s a great feeling in NOT throwing something out. And finally, I am inspired by special orders. The ideas start swimming and the creative spirit of others is inspiring. A favorite special order resulted in my having 2 projects featured in a book titled, what else?, “Button!Button!”The “can-do” attitude of my parents is still a constant in my life even though they are no longer here. They passed along the creative genes and I am blessed by that. My brother and I, although separated by great distance, have some uncanny creative connections and seek each other for ideas and suggestions. Unknown to each other, we both started making clocks at the same time and then were able to share techniques.
He began taking pictures of doors and windows not knowing I have a sizable collection of the same! The standard, pat, usual answer is family and it’s true. My son has grown into a wonderful husband, father and business owner and once again he’s my claim to fame! My husband is very supportive and I’d be lost without his help at shows. Of course, when I tell him about a show that we’ll be attending, his first concern is the availability of food concessions!The ease of listing, the beauty of the shops and the support of the administration attracted me to Zibbet almost 3 years ago. I’m still here for those reasons. There is an atmosphere of cooperation, warmth and knowledge that is outstanding from the administration down to the newest member. I feel I have made lifelong friendships here and I am so grateful for that.
The items being worked on for the re-build are going to continue to make Zibbet a premier site. Individual item and shop stats need some tweaking and I’m confident of the future.I joined the Facebook, blog, Pinterest and Twitter bandwagons and can’t say I would have if not for the business. I do think it’s necessary, as well as being active in the forums. It’s all about getting your name and product out there. I do know of some direct sales due to them, especially the forums. I have tried Project Wonderful many times with mixed results. It is worth a try. I also read many blogs and comment a great deal. I participate in groups like LinkedIn as well specifically to learn, not as much to promote. But the more you’re around, the more your name becomes known. I also try to be a bit of a mentor and help others. Kindness counts!
The ins and out with selling online can be overwhelming but the Zibbet members are so caring and knowledgeable, you should take advantage of their expertise. Sadly, many believe that all that is needed to sell online is to list your item and sit back and wait….not so! Be prepared to work harder than the effort of your creation took! Be active in the forums, the best one around. Answer inquiries in a reasonable amount of time. Help others. Do not jam your work down everyone’s throat. Ask questions, be positive and play nice! healthy, wiser and have a smaller yarn stash so I can justify shopping for more!Tags: All About The Buttons, Featured Zibbeters
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Fantastic Five: ACEOs with a Beach Theme
What is an ACEO? They are works of art that measure 2 1/2? x 3 1/2? and can be created in any medium: fiber, wood, fabric, paintings and more. They make collecting original art affordable. You’ll find original paintings and numbered prints. ACEO stands for Art Cards, Editions & Originals. They can be addictive to collect.
I have been collecting them for a few years and have my collection on display here to get one idea of what you can do with lots of them. Let’s take a look at a few of the wonderful ACEOs on Zibbet. This week’s Fantastic Five is Beach Themed ACEOs. You’ll find more ACEOs on Zibbet in a category all their own here under fine art. I found more by searching ACEO here.
1. Tropical Beach Original ACEO by Crafty Moose $6: Crafty Moose describes this ACEO so well, I am sharing the words of the artist: “Can you hear the ocean? Can you feel the breeze? Can you smell the suntan lotion? Relax and enjoy Tropical Beach, an original ACEO painted with acrylic paints. It measures the standard size of 2 1/2? x 3 1/2?.”
2. Aceo Original Watercolor Painting - Maine Lobster by Maine Artist $8.99: Bright and beautiful lobster painting is an original using Van Gogh watercolor paints on 140 lb cold press acid free canvas. What a fabulous way to obtain an original artwork by this very talented Maine artist. As all ACEO art trading cards are, this work of art measures 2.5? x 3.5?.
3. “Seahorse” Original ACEO Watercolor Painting by Enchanted Craft $19: This beautiful watercolor ACEO is painted on heavy weight watercolor paper, inked in acid free ink and signed/dated on the back. A certificate of authenticity is included with this original work of art. It will arrive in a clear plastic hard case.
4. Teamwork Photo of Men in Virginia Beach VA Pushing a Vehicle by Becky Hayes $5: Want to make your own ACEO? This is a very funny digital download of an ACEO that you can print as many times as you want and create ACEOs for your own use or to sell physical ACEOs made with the design.
5. New Zealand Paua Shell Spiral Aceo by NewCreationNZ $9: Oh how I would love to go to New Zealand but in the meanwhile this Aceo made with New Zealand paua shell and acrylic paint would be lovely to look at and dream of the beautiful waters there. Original 2.5? x 3.5? on canvas. Add this one to your collection of Aceo’s.
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very top image - Original Wooden Acrylic Painted Walrus Greeting Card ACEO by afreistore $6There is also an ACEO Challenge going on now on the Zibbet Community Hub. All are welcome to enter. Entry deadline is May 14th at Midnight EST.
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Judy writes the ‘Fantastic Five‘ column where she features 5 Zibbet items every week. She is the owner of four Zibbet shops: Portable Graffiti Graphics, Portable Graffiti buttons, Proofreader, and Wild Goose Chase vintage, crafts and supplies. You can follow Judy on Facebook.
Tags: ACEO, ACEOs with a Beach Theme, Fantastic Five
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