Mamasakio Handmade Jewellery

What's Going On?

2011-06-12T01:41:00.000-07:00

It's not all doom and gloom as the 4 Non Blondes sing... but moving house has brought a couple of major changes in my personal life which made finding rest, time and space to create a great challenge.

For that reason I have decided to close all Mamasakio's online shops for the moment until further notice.

Occassionally, I will be attending craft fairs with all available jewellery (all on Clearance Sale).

Everything must go. Availability items online: earrings and necklaces.

Please visit my Facebook Page if you can not attend the craft fairs, and wish to order.

How to order on Facebook: comment with 'SOLD' on the picture of the item you wish to purchase.

I will then contact you on Facebook how to pay for the item.

Polymer Clay Pendants

2011-03-16T04:26:00.000-07:00

I am still working on a couple of fine jewellery collections.

In the meantime, sharing with you... a couple of pictures of new polymer clay pendants. Some are still available in my Folksy shop:

Celebration

2010-12-23T23:23:00.000-08:00

What a great way to celebrate our speedy move (read more in my previous post): Mamasakio's Folksy Shop is NOW open!
I will not be listing more until we are properly settled, but there are a few new listed items in Mamasakio's Folksy Shop.

Here are more of my favourite creations so far from different shop sections:

Bracelets:

This is a silver plated elasticated watch charm bracelet with metal charms and beautiful semi precious Black Onyx stone beads. You might have read a previous post why I created this black beauty. Onyx is the gemstone of Self Mastery and Self Control. Perfect for people born under the sign Leos!

Bookmarks or Book Thongs:

The picture of the beaded, wire wrapped, silver plated bookmark above is called 'Rock Crystal Teardrop Book Thong'. The teardrop is made out of glass and the round beads are semi precious Rock Crystal stone beads. Rock Crystal is known as the gemstone of Power and brings harmony, clarity and balance.

Conventional Necklaces:

This is a silver plated wire wrapped briolette pendant with the gemstone Amazonite, The snake chain is also silver plated. Amazonite is the gemstone of the four c's: Confidence, Communication, Creativity and Calm.

Earrings:

Can't choose between:

the Green Raindrop Beauty Earrings and

the Red Sponge Coral Earrings!

The first pair of earrings are made with gorgeous glass raindrop beads and silver plated wire.
The second pair is made with black plated findings and precious Red Sponge Coral beads; the precious material Red Sponge Coral symbolises Life.

Rings

How cute is this semi precious adjustable silver plated Blue Ring with Cats Eyes stone beads? Wonderful and very comfortable to wear. The gemstone Cats Eyes stimulate awareness and intuition.

Adorable Snow White adjustable silver plated ring with white glass beads.

Mamasakio's Scarf Lariat Necklaces

And of course more very popular versatile Mamasakio Scarf Lariat Necklaces. This one is completely in black!

Look for the 'SALE' marked items in the shop: up to 50% reduction until the end of January 2011.

Due to UKs Bank Holidays, purchased items between 24 December 2010 and 29 December 2010 will be send to you on the 30th of December 2010 and purchased items on 30/12/2010, 31/12/2010 and 01/01/2011 will be send to you on the 2nd of January 2010.

CLOSURE AND START

2010-12-20T02:34:00.000-08:00

All shops are temporarily closed and Mamasakio's online activities are limited due to moving house and relocating studio.

Re-opening of Mamasakio's Shops will be announced on this site.

This post gives me also the opportunity to wishing you readers a very healthy and happy start of 2011.

May all your wishes come true.

I raise a glass!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-19T23:00:00.000-08:00

Sharing with you: a very very unique snowman....

... oh how I love snow, especially at Christmas time. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Plan? What plan? Business Plan!

2010-12-19T00:17:00.000-08:00

Do you recognise this?

You started crafting. Your handcrafted products were piling up so you decide to sell online. You jump up and down when you make your first online sale. You advertise and you use all possible ways to market your items on the web. You join craft communities and forums. Members advice you about how to make better pictures, how to get more sales and the list goes on. You set up a Facebook Fan Page and gather hundreds of fans. You sign up for Twitter and now have thousands of followers. Great.
And then there is a moment that you think you should find other ways to sell your goods. Join more online handmade communities? Craft Fairs? Approaching retailers?
You google for tips on how to go about things. You maybe buy yourself 'how to sell your handcrafted items' guidebooks and ask fellow artisans to share their experience.

I started making jewellery as a hobby and I came across these issues. What to do next?

Time for a weekend away with one of my best friends.
My friend and I studied together. She decided two years ago to start up her own business. In the country she lives, she is obliged by law to have a business plan before starting a business and advised me to write mine.

A business plan is not something we crafters initially think of when we decide to sell our handmade products. Nor once we are already selling our goods and thinking of broadening our horizon.

Business plans are usually written to attract investors, to describe your customers, competitors and strengths. Other good reasons to write your business plan:

A business plan is a great way to direct yourself: where you are now, where you would like to be and how you want to get there.

A business plan is personal. I also use mine as a plan for years ahead (long term planning). That way it is easier to set yearly, monthly and weekly targets. Here is another post I wrote about planning your daily / weekly activities.
A business plan helps to boost your energy and to help reminding you of your initial goals, especially when sales are going slow.

There are plenty of free examples available on the web. You just need to personalise a plan. It might help you too.

Craft Fair Tips & Artists at Craft Fair

2010-12-18T23:44:00.000-08:00

On Saturday the 11th of December I had my first Craft Fair, organised by Cinnamon and Silk Crafts Market.
It went extremely well.

This is a post for artisans planning for their first Craft Fair with a couple of tips and sharing with all you readers the wonderful work of the great artists I met at the Fair.

TIPS TO PREPARE FOR YOUR FIRST CRAFT FAIR

Only two weeks before the great event I decided to join the fair so I had little time to prepare. Of course I had to think of ways how to display my creations as you might have read in a previous post. But there are other unusual useful things you can think of when you are getting ready for your first Craft Fair.
How did I prepare for my first one?

Earrings Bracelets Necklaces
Just before the Summer Holidays you voted on 'What is your favourite piece of jewellery?' poll on this blog. According to your votes you like wearing earrings and bracelets the most. Necklaces were on number three.
That was the reason why I made a lot of earrings and was planning to make more charm bracelets. I was not planning on showing a lot of necklaces.
Unfortunately my bead supplier could not get my beads and charms delivered on time. I only had five (watch) bracelets with me and one got sold.
I decided to focus on my scarf lariat necklaces instead: I took my laptop and saved pictures of this type of necklace as a screensaver for passers by to see the versatility of this piece of jewellery.
And it worked: the most sold items were earrings followed by the unique Mamasakio Scarf Lariat Necklaces.

Blue Purple Green
I blogged about Colours a couple of months ago. Blue, purple and green are very popular colours. I had more blue and green coloured jewellery pieces at my first Craft Fair and only one or two were purple.
Result: most of the sold items at the fair were blue or green. People even asked for more different shades of blues and greens.

Economic Climate
Whether it is a recession or not, people love bargains. It is worth it to have some of your handcrafted items on sale. Putting your items 'on sale' does not mean you make a loss. Click here for more information about pricing your jewellery.

ARTISTS

I also met great artists and craftsmen. Showing you their incredible work...

To Vee Or Not To Vee
I simply love Vee, her work and her wonderful site. Vee is a designer of 'buildings and spaces' and she also creates jewellery you will love:

Islington Writers for Children
Islington Writers for Children is a group of writers and illustrators of childrens books. The group has regular meetings in Islington since 1995. They were also represented at the fair. These artists create 'great stories to entertain, enrich and inspire young minds'. How lucky was I standing close to them with my unique bookmarks. Mamasakio book thongs were also bestsellers that day!

Collabow Couture
Collabow Couture designs cool jewellery with bows. They create beautiful owls cushions and we were lucky to have a taste of their delicious cakes!
Check out their UK Folksy Shop and Etsy Shop. Please visit and follow their blog. Their designs:

Have you got any other tips on how to prepare for Craft Fairs? Please comment.

Facebook Shop Closed

2010-12-18T23:38:00.000-08:00

I have closed Mamasakio's Facebook Shop today and deleted the application. There were several problems with payments and the problem still has not been solved. Ashame, because Mamasakio sales via Facebook went well.

All items are now transferred to Mamasakio's Folksy Shop. Some items are still available with 50% reduction until 31 December 2010.

Giveaway for Number 100 follower on blog

2010-12-08T06:07:00.000-08:00

A while ago Jenifers Designer Closet was number 100 following this blog so I decided it was time for a giveaway and I let Jenifer choose an item in one of my shops.* Jenifer blogs and has a Facebook Page too.

Jenifer loves the bracelets and watch charm bracelet in my Facebook Shop:

Because she is a huge University of Georgia sports fan she prefers a charm bracelet or watch charm bracelet in red, black or red and black.

Jenifer can choose now:

An elasticated black watch charm bracelet with silver plated findings, metal charms, semi precious Black Onyx beads.

An elasticated red watch charm bracelet with black plated findings, metal charms, semi precious Red Agate, semi precious Red Agate nuggets and semi precious Red Carnelian beads.

An elasticated red and black watch charm bracelet with black plated findings, metal charms, wooden beads, semi precious Red Agate and Black Onyx beads.

*In the meantime two bloggers or people with a Google account either stopped blogging or deleted their accounts which makes Jenifer now blog follower number 98.

#handmade on Twitter

2010-12-08T00:53:00.000-08:00

Almost everybody tweets and most of the fellow artisans I know use Twitter.
I tweet sometimes. It is not my favourite medium to market my work so I attached my Facebook Page to my Twitter account. My Facebook Page updates show automatically on Twitter.
And because I attached my blog to my Fan Page on Facebook new blogsposts show up automatically on Twitter too.

Even though I am not a Twitter fan, I did meet great people, fellow artisans and artists, on Twitter! Here are just a few I met. People I also connect to on Facebook if they have a page or an account and their blogs if they do blog.

Here are some wonderful artists and artisans, their work (click on their piece of art to either enter one of their shops or website).

Don't forget to follow them on Twitter:

Judy from @graffitibuttons creates buttons and graphics, very active Zibbet member and initiator of Zibbet Group on Facebook:

Monique from @voleurdebijoux creates romantic chic and avant garde jewellery:

Jen from @Miss_Bohemia creates wonderful jewellery pieces 'where dark fantasies meet fairytale romance':

Eva from @BHBKidstyle is a very talented artist and designs t-shirts you and your children both love:

Lily from @L_Owusu makes wonderful mens and womens beaded, leather and waxed cotton cord adjustable bracelets, button rings and wire wrapped gemstone jewellery:

Monique from @dutchfeltart is an amazing Dutch fibre artist, a very active Twitter member, Etsy member and initiator of @teamwwes (Team World Wide Etsy Sellers retweet your Etsy tweets):

Stacey Ann from @Creativesque is a versatile watercolour artist and illustrator. She also creates handmade greeting cards, gift tags and laminated bookmarks:

Marjorie from @whskr creates wonderful pendants and unique art dolls:

Alice from @mimiandcolette crochetes handcrafts items especially for you, your pet and your home:

How to make Earring Cards

2010-12-03T23:48:00.000-08:00

Showing off my Earring Cards for Craft Fairs to come. All handmade!

You can order customised Earring Cards, but I made my own with a business card template on my word processing program. Use thick craft paper for your earring cards.

How to make your own earring cards:

Look for a business card template on your word processing program.

Add your logo or avatar on the business card. Leave enough blank space to show your earrings.

Cut the cards into business card sizes or smaller.

Pierce two holes on the card with a headpin or a tool to make holes in beads ... and there you are: your handmade earrings are dangling on your handmade earring cards!

Behind the scenes

2010-11-30T01:21:00.000-08:00

What is going on behind Mamasakio scenes? A lot.

Here is just a quick overview: an update for followers, fans, fellow artisans and future customers:

How all the busyness began
During the Summer Holiday we were getting ready for builders to come to refurbish our home, including my studio. All packed and at the last minute our landlord decided not to go through with his plans this year.
Great!
But it gave me a moment to rethink Mamasakio.
While evualuating (and unpacking!) I couldn't help my hands from creating so I started making beaded Book Thongs, now available on UKs handmade marketplace Folksy.
This is my favourite so far, Red Alert Book Thong: a black plated beaded bookmark with black plated chain and findings, precious Ruby gemstones, acrylic red beads and red glass pearl bead:

Changes
You might have noticed some small changes.
This site is converted into a custom domain (www.mamasakio.com instead of www.mamasakio.blogspot.com). Visitors entering the last link will be automatically directed to mamasakio.com. Something I have planned to do for a long time, but I got caught up in creating!

My beaded wire wrapped Turquoise Ring avatar:

has changed into:

to cover the whole range of Mamasakio Jewellery (Jewellery Making Skills).

I use this site as the heart of my creativity where visitors can enter my online shops on Zibbet, Etsy, Folksy and Facebook. There are more changes to come and I will blog in different posts about it.

Jewellery Making Skills
I always wanted to create jewellery with precious metal clay and polymer clay from the first time I decided to make jewellery. While I was looking for tutorials on the web, two years ago, I came across Debbie Carlton's website. This is one of the many beauties she created:

This Autumn I finally followed her courses. She is a fantastic teacher and a brilliant artist. Please visit and follow Debbie's blog: 'Polymer and Metal Clay Heaven'.

Here is a one of my new creations with precious metal clay, made during my course, 999 Silver earrings with synthetic gemstone CZ or Cubic Zirconia (imitation diamonds):

I made these into earrings for myself:

My PMC (Precious Metal Clay) Guild Membership has been confirmed. Mamasakio is now member of PMC Guild under the name Shirley Amatsakio, business name Mamasakio:

Mamasakio Shops
My Zibbet and Etsy Shops will be filled with fine jewellery from the beginning of 2011. An exact date will be announced on this site.
I am obliged by law to hallmark my precious metal jewellery work. Silver Jewellery (925 and 999) weighing more than 7.78 grams and gold jewellery weighing more than 1 gram need to be hallmarked.
My registration has just come through last week.
You as a customer can expect the highest quality of precious metal jewellery and you are sure to purchase genuine fine designed jewellery in the shops mentioned.
You can read more about Hallmarking here.

Mamasakio goes local. Based in the UK I have chosen to be part of the online handmade marketplace Folksy.
My Folksy Shop is especially dedicated to my beaded, wire wrapped and gemstone jewellery. Most of them are plated, some are made with 925 Sterling Silver findings.
New beaded, wire wrapped and gemstone jewellery will be added on Folksy.

There is a Clearance Sale on Facebook (50% reduction) for fans until 31 December 2010. Don't miss out!

Other Activities

I am preparing for local Craft Fairs and finally arranged my Craft Insurance for the year coming! On the page 'Where to find Mamasakio Jewellery' upcoming events such as Craft Fairs attendance will be announced.

The first upcoming event is at the

Craft Fair on

Saturday the 11th December 2010

12:00 - 16:00 :

Cinnamon & Silk Christmas Fair

Christ Church Highbury

155 Highbury Grove

Islington London N5 1SA

Keep posted for more Mamasakio activities.

Autumn Holiday

2010-10-26T11:26:00.000-07:00

Mamasakio Shops on Facebook and Folksy are closed during Autumn Holiday from Wednesday 27 October until Wednesday 3 November 2010. The shops are open again on Thursday 4 November.

Enjoy your holiday :-)

Results Favourite Jewellery Poll

2010-10-06T20:33:00.000-07:00

While I was on vacation from Mamasakio, visitors of this site have voted for their most favourite piece of jewellery.

Results:

Earrings on top of the list
followed by Bracelets,
Necklaces
and Rings.

Less popular are Anklets and Bangles. None of the voters are fans of Bangles.
More fun and for me useful Polls to come...

Mamasakio dot com

2010-10-06T02:06:00.000-07:00

Having taken several technical hurdles, I have finally changed my blog into a custom domain.

H ttp://www.mamasakio.com is the heart of my creativity. I will continue creating new items for my Zibbet and Etsy Shops. To be opened soon. Keep posted!

Connect with Mamasakio on Facebook. There is a Clearance Sale on from 11 October 2010. Fans will get 50% reduction!

Jewelry for Book Lovers

2010-08-20T09:51:00.002-07:00

One of my best friends from the The Netherlands visited me a while ago and brought the most precious gift for me: a book in Dutch! I do miss reading Dutch.
As a little 'thank you' I handcrafted a wire wrapped beaded book thong or bookmark with olive green heart charm, silver plated metal flower and leaf charms, semi precious olive green Cat's Eyes beads, black fabric cord and silver plated findings for my green eyed friend:

And now I am hooked. This can be such a nice project when you have jewelry findings and beads left from other jewelry creations. This is one of my Summer Holiday projects, especially for book lovers: beaded book thongs.

Here are a couple of pictures to show you some of my creations. I already gave some away and some are already sold.

SeaHorse Book Thong for readers like me. This bookmark has a cloisonne seahorse bead, gold coloured bells, wooden beads, semi precious Cat's Eyes bead, acrylic beads and has a double cord. One cord to mark where you have stopped reading and one cord to mark your favourite part of the book. I usually read my favourite part each time I want to continue reading the book.

Lady Book Thong. This bookmark is especially made for the lady who enjoy the finer and natural things in life with silver plated metal flower and leaves charms and glass beads.

This blue and green flower bookmark with blue and green glass bead, silver plated metal flower charm, green and blue leaves is for young smart focused girls with a clear goal in life.

Absolutely adorable book thong from copper plated findings, semi precious Turqoise beads, semi precious Cat's Eyes beads, handmade copper bead (from a wonderful bead artisan), glass beads and blue leaf charm. I made this one especially for my hard working, witty, 11-going-on-110 year old daughter.

Bookmark with glass beads and semi precious Agate bead for the straight forward, sophisticated reader.

Asia inspired bookmark. When I think of Asia, I think of great combinations of colours. The gold plated findings suit really well with shades of orange, red acrylic beads and gold coloured glass beads. For readers who like a bit of spice in life.

And a last one for Doctor Who fans (including me):

Keep the telephone box with you at all times, especially for male, female, young and older Doctor Who fans.

Beaded book thongs or bookmarks are a perfect gift for that special someone regardless their gender or age and it is a great gift for yourself. You can use it for the book you are currently reading to mark where you have stopped reading, but you can also use it for your notebook or diary.

Even though books are holy for me, I do have to admit that I used to turn down a corner of a page to mark where I finished reading the last time. And I am blushing now. Shame on me! I am leaving another bad habit in the past with this wonderful accessory for books. Bookmarks or book thongs are the answer to keep your books for generations.

Here is an article about the history of bookmarks.

Mamasakio's bookmarks are available in my online shops from October 2010.

Work in Progress

2010-08-20T09:51:00.001-07:00

I have to share this pretty picture 'Work in Progress' before we go on holiday:

Seriously thinking of taking a 'survival kit' with me to do my work while we are away from home. How else am I going to relax? :-)

Spreading The Love

2010-08-20T09:51:00.000-07:00

Ooooh I wanted to share this with you. A lovely song while I am creating:

Kina Grannis is a beautiful, young, talented lady discovered on YouTube. Like everybody else I wondered where her roots lie: she is half Japanese and has English, Irish, Scottish, French, Dutch and Welsh blood.

I can listen to this song over and over again and feel the love, love, love.... putting all the energy I feel into my jewelry making :-).

Did you spot her gorgeous massive ring?

Versatile Blogger Award

2010-08-20T09:44:00.000-07:00

One of my last blogposts before we head off for a short deserved break: passing on the Versatile Blogger Award which I received from Christina who runs and owns Ume Origami.

Christina has also recentley been featured on Zibbet. Read more about her and Ume Origami on Zibbet.

Versatile Blogger Award received from Ume Origami

Here is the post Christina wrote about the Versatile Blogger Award.
Thank you very much for the Award, Christina.

By accepting this Award I agree to pass it on to 15 other Versatile Bloggers, thank the blogger who I received the Versatile Blogger Award from as well as mentioning 7 things about myself.

7 Things About Me

You will get to know me better and better receiving these Blogger Awards :-). I had to think really hard to give you details about myself which I haven't mentioned before ... well, here we go....

I am roughly one and a half meters 'tall'.
I like to wear sarongs in and around the house.
I am hooked on making pretty book thongs / bookmarks at the moment.
I wear glasses from the age of 11.
I am Number Three in my family and have two elder sisters and three younger brothers.
My whole family including my parents wear glasses, we are The Spectacles or Jam Jars Family :-) LOL.
I miss cycling here in the UK which I used to do a lot in The Netherlands where I grew up and spent most of my time. A bakfiets is one of my dream vehicles (in orange of course): kids, shoppings and beads at the front and ready to go:

A BakFiets :-)

Versatile Blogger Awards go to:

I have subscribed to more than three hundred blogs. Yes, I do read them all in my 'blog-time'. So it was really hard to choose only 15 versatile bloggers. The blogs I have chosen are blogs from artists and artisans. They either write articles about various subjects or they are multi talented. The Versatile Blogger Awards go to these fantastic bloggers, please follow them:

Summer Holiday: Mamasakio Shops Closed

2010-07-19T01:45:00.000-07:00

Due to major refurbishment of Mamasakio's studio and home and start of the Summer Holiday, Mamasakio shops will be closed from 24 July 2010 until 30 September 2010.

While I am 'offline' you can still vote for your most favourite piece(s) of jewelry in my previous post until 30 September 2010.

Enjoy the Summer :-),
Shirley

Favourite Jewelry Poll

2010-07-03T22:46:00.000-07:00

While I am working on new pieces of jewelry, why not take the 'Favourite Jewelry Poll' on your right hand side?

Thanks for your vote,
Shirley

Mamasakio's Facebook Shop launched

2010-06-16T05:13:00.000-07:00

On Monday 14th of June I opened my Facebook Shop and I will gradually add more items. I just added the shop as a page on this site.

Mamasakio Facebook Fans get 10% discount. And items are priced in GB pounds.
Currently for sale in Mamasakio's Facebook Shop:

'Silver Plated Green Mother of Pearl Ladybirds Charm Bracelet' for £19.99, but £17.99 for Mamasakio Facebook Fans

'Sterling Silver Red Coral Heart Charm Pendant Lariat Necklace' for £15.00, but £13.50 for Mamasakio Facebook Fans

'Semi Precius Amazonite Wire Wrapped Pendant Necklace' for £24.99, but £22.49 for Mamasakio Facebook Fans

'Wire Wrapped Blue Mother of Pearl Pendant Necklace' for £29.99, but £26.99 for Mamasakio Facebook Fans

'Adjustable Sterling Silver Cream Freshwater Pearls Cluster Ring' for £39.99, but £35.99 for Mamasakio Facebook Fans

SOLD: 'Wire Wrapped Ring UK Size T 1/2' for £10.00, but £9.00 for Mamasakio Facebook Fans

'Adjustable Orange Peach Mother of Pearl Cluster Ring' for £35.00, but £31.50 for Mamasakio Facebook Fans

'Adjustable Amethyst Cluster Ring' for £19.99, but £17.99 for Mamasakio Facebook Fans

'Adjustable Turquoise Cluster Ring' for £19.99, but £17.99 for Mamasakio Facebook Fans

'Adjustable Hot Pink Mother of Pearl Cluster Ring' for £33.76, but £30.38 for Mamasakio Facebook Fans

SOLD - MY FIRST FACEBOOK SHOP SALE: 'Red Coral Cluster Ring' for £8.76, but £7.88 for Mamasakio Facebook Fans

Do you sell your handmade items online? Read other blogposts about setting up a Facebook Fan Page and Facebook Shop.

Advantages of a Facebook Shop:

You can use Facebook's promotional tools (paid advertising).
There are currently (2010) more than 400 million active users worldwide.
Setting up a Facebook Shop is free.
You don't pay a fee to Payvment (the application is still in development: beta) when you sell an item.

You are welcome to comment if you can think of more advantages of having a Facebook Shop :-)

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Tips from home based business owners

2010-06-13T00:15:00.000-07:00

People who know me personally ask me regularly how I manage to combine a household and four children with my creative business.

Maybe it is because I consider what I do fun and creating ME-time? I call it Mamasakio-time.
I experienced working from home with my previous day job, but running your own business is a slightly different story. You definitely have more freedom, you decide the time you spend into your business, whether it is parttime or fulltime, you decide when you work and decide your own pace, your deadlines.

For this blogpost I approached parents who own a business with an office or studio at home to give us at least one tip how to run a home based business combined with a household. I also included mine:

Tip 1: Create Quiet Time

Mamasakio

I run Mamasakio from home in the UK, London. I create beaded, wire wrapped and gemstone jewelry and sell them online on the handmade marketplaces Zibbet and Etsy.
My husband and I have four children. They are 11, almost 7, 4 and 3. My partner works on a freelance basis and is not always around to help. Sometimes he is away for work for months in a row.

Even though I have only been selling online for a year or so, I had to learn in a very fast pace how to deal with everything that is going on around me. In order to keep doing what I love doing, I introduced quiet time.
I usually get up at least an hour earlier than the rest of the family. Just to start the day at my own pace, quietly, and in peace with my coffees before everybody else gets into their routine and proper madness starts.

Tip 2: Household Chores: Splendid Breaks from Work

Marco Kunst lives in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, with his fulltime working girlfriend and their primary school aged daughter. He is a philosopher, an amazing artist, photographer and advisor. Marco is also a well known Dutch author of children books. His wonderful imaginative stories are translated in English and German. His turn pagers 'Wiped' ('Gewist' in Dutch, see picture) and 'Isa's Dream' are must reads and his new book will be published next year.

Marco's main tip: household chores, i.e. food shopping and preparing meals, are moments to take a break from work. He considers daily food shopping as a welcome, perfect and necessary break from work. His day of work ends when it is time to prepare an evening meal. In addition Marco mentions 'not to mix household chores with work' (i.e. don't tidy up during work time).

Tip 3: Stay positive and keep your good mood
And an extra tip from Marco - a very vital one to keep you going: always keep your good mood under any circumstances.

Tip 4: Plan Realistic Weekly Production

Jane Poh is owner of 'Projects by Jane'. Her business is based at her home, in Singapore. She has a daughter of 11 and a son of 13.
'Projects by Jane' offers you gorgeous handmade fabric bags, totes, purses, pouches made with cotton, linen, Japanese fabric, calico, duck, drill, batik and silk.
Jane sells her handmade beauties on local craft markets as well as online on the handmade marketplaces Zibbet and Etsy. She shares her creative journey plus her amazing bag making tutorials on her blog.

Her tip is to plan a realistic weekly production and stick to it. She can easily create five items, but she plans a realistic weekly production of three bags a week. On your left you can see one of my favourite bags she designed and created.

Tip 5: Never underestimate the value of five minutes

Stacey Ann is Mum to two gorgeous little ones and is owner of Creativesque.
Creativesque offers a range of unique handmade greeting cards and other handmade paper goods including bookmarks, gift tags, art and stationery. You can find Stacey Ann's work on Not On The Highstreet and Zibbet.

Stacey Ann's tip: never underestimate the value of five minutes.
She breaks down larger tasks into tinier ones and whenever she has 5 minutes she works on one of the tasks and makes some progress. 'I've learned that there is rarely the perfect time, place or setting to devote entirely to larger tasks so I do what I can when I can.'

Tips 6, 7 and 8: All About Balance

No one is better than Edith Lindhout from the company: 'Edith Lindhout Life and Work' who was willing to give us great tips concerning balance.
Edith’s company coaches managers, management teams and employees / individuals in their personal and professional development.
She lives with her partner in the wonderful city of Utrecht, in the middle of The Netherlands with their two young sons.

Balance Tip 6:

Edith emphasises the importance of taking time for the different roles in your life: as a parent and a partner. She also notes not to forget to take time for yourself.

Balance Tip 7:

Keep up the balance by practising a kind of sport. Edith practises yoga on a regular basis.

Balance Tip 8:

And last but not least: coach yourself! How? Please visit Edith’s website here for advice and guidance.

Edith also highly recommends parents to read the book ‘The Secret of Happy Children: A Guide for Parents’ written by Steve Biddulph, an Australian author, activist and psychologist.

It is not a surprise that the tips given are all about managing your time, planning and organising.

Have you got a home based business which you have to combine with a busy household and children?
You can leave your tip below by commenting or you can e-mail me ('Contact Me' widget on your left hand side) to add your tip to this blogpost with links to your site(s) and a picture of you, your workplace or your work.

Happy planning :)
Shirley

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Another Beautiful Blogger Award and passing it on to fifteen bloggers

2010-06-12T03:38:00.000-07:00

I received another Beautiful Blogger Award a while ago from Gallerie Suze. Thank you, Suze.

Received from Gallerie Suze

Here is a post with the rules. One of the rules is to mention seven things about myself.

More things about me:

Love wearing huge rings.
Enjoy picknicks.
Like eating out.
Love traveling.
Don't like swimming too much.
Not really a drinker, but I can't resist Belgian beer. Favourites: Hoegaarden and Kriek.
Crazy about sandals.

Passing the Beautiful Blogger Award on to:

This time I chose for creative bloggers, members of the Creative Bloggers Group on the Zibbet Community:

Enjoy the beautiful blogs.

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BHB Kidstyle on Zibbet

2010-06-12T01:07:00.000-07:00

I have to show you the very quick delivered t-shirt I purchased for one of my daughters who will turn seven in a couple of weeks time. The t-shirt is meant for her birthday.
My daughter Robyn chose her present on the online handmade marketplace Zibbet, a very buyer and seller friendly online handmade marketplace. Robyn was instantly drawn to the designs of BHB Kidstyle t-shirts.
She chose this fantastic top quality Three Babuschka Dolls pink t-shirt from BHB Kidstyle on Zibbet:

The owner gave her this wonderful Colorful Leaves with Caterpillar t-shirt as a birthday present:

My daughter was over the moon with her tops and asked me to send the owner a message on Twitter to thank BHB Kidstyle personally.

Designs from BHB Kidstyle are designed, handpainted or handprinted by owner Eva. You can read more about BHB Kidstyle on Zibbet Love's blog.

The rest of my children are lining up now: they want a BHB Kidstyle t-shirts too. Their choice:

Rocket Ryan our youngest one chose the Marching Zebra's. He loves the colour green:

'Childrens T-shirt with Marching Zebra's' by BHB Kidstyle

Smiley Rylee, our youngest daughter, and animal lover, has this Red t-shirt with Two White Cats on her wish list:

'Red Children T-shirt with Two White Owls' by BHB Kidstyle

Our sunshine Robyn wants the Green Owls on Orange t-shirt:

'Green Owls on Orange Children T-shirt' by BHB Kidstyle

And our eldest daughter Jumping Jamilla, lover of t-shirts, chose this gorgeous t-shirt Blue t-shirt with Satisfied Owl:

'Blue Children T-shirt with Satisfied Owl' by BHB Kidstyle

Waiting for the four t-shirts to arrive...
Thank you, Eva, for making my children super happy!

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Gemstones

2010-06-02T02:11:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago I had my 'blog'-time, reading through the posts of blogs I follow and subscribed to. One of the blogs I read regularly is the blog 'Fulltime Etsy Crafters Team'. The jewelry artist Molly from Elizabeth Jewelry wrote a post 'Jewelry for a Target Market' about popular gemstones and popular jewelry items and styles for certain age groups on that blog. She experienced that men for an example like buying red jewelry for their wife or girlfriend for an example, Peridot lovers are women in their 40's, younger people prefer 16 inch chains and older people tend to go for 18 inch chains, late teens up to the age of 35 prefer jewelry with clusters of charms.

Molly's article inspired me to look into popular gemstones. I love working with gemstones and semi precious stone beads. I usually use wire for my beading and they don't get scratched whilst trying to make a jewelry. Molly mentioned the precious stone bead Peridot and precious Red Coral beads in her blogpost.
I was wondering how popular other gemstones are.

Charlotte Kuchinsky wrote an article in October 2007 about popular gemstones, she mentions fifteen most popular precious and semi precious stones used in jewelry:

Diamond;
Pearls;
Emerald;
Aquamarine;
Tourmaline;
Opal;
Garnet;
Sapphire;
Topaz;
Peridot;
Ruby;
Amber;
Amethyst;
Tanzanite;
Tiger's Eye.

Amazon also has a Gem Guide with 15 most popular gemstones, but they didn't include Kuchinsky's Tanzanite, Tiger's Eye and Amber. The other three most popular gemstones Amazon listed are:

Cubic Zirconia;
Moissanite;
Turquoise.

I already use some of the semi precious and precious stone beads of the eighteen listed above: Pearls, Ruby, Amethyst, Turquoise and Tanzanite. Amethyst is my most favourite stone. But I will try and use the other listed stones for future pieces of jewelry.

My recent work with Creamy Freshwater Pearls on Zibbet:

'Teardrops of the Moon White Pearl Earrings' for $12.49

Giant Ruby ring on Zibbet:

Sales item: 'Large Ruby Ring' for $24.99

Sold and relisted Ruby Lariat Necklace on Etsy:

'Sterling Silver Precious Ruby Necklace' for $21.95

My love for Amethyst:

'Amethyst Ring' available in my Facebook Shop - Facebook Fans get 10% discount

'Amethyst Necklace' available on Zibbet

Sterling Silver Tanzanite ring on Zibbet:

'Violet Lavender Sterling Silver Tanzanite Cluster Ring' for $44.99

I will take Molly's advice and offer chains in 16" and 18" where possible, use charms to get more younger potential buyers interested and I already offer a range of jewelry in red to attract male buyers looking for a gift for that special lady.

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Jewelry Top Sellers on Etsy

2010-06-02T00:43:00.000-07:00

With more than almost one and a half million registered members, including more than roughly two hundred thousand sellers (figures from November 2008),Etsy is the biggest online marketplace for handmade goods, craft supplies and vintage items.

I am relatively new to jewelry making and selling online and I am always looking for ways to improve in what I do: jewelry making and getting my shops noticed.

While I was going through Etsy Wiki's site ,set up by members of Etsy, Craft Count and Yaami, I was wondering what Jewelry Top Sellers on Etsy have in common and what I can learn from the ones who make a living out of crafting, so I compared the first thirteen Top Sellers from the sites Etsy Wiki and Craft Count.
The facts mentioned on the websites are based on numbers and amount of sales only.

A couple of similarities I noticed:

Most of the Jewelry Top Sellers on Etsy started four years ago, in 2006.
The majority of the sellers has more than 250 items listed. One extreme seller has almost 2,750 items listed. On average sellers have almost 500 items in their shops.
Obviously these Top Sellers are all fulltime in business and busy concentrating on (re)producing their handcrafted items. Most of them run their business on their own and concentrate on their Etsy Shop only (or don't mention other venues?). Given that fact it is needless to mention that they do not have time to engage in social networking or use social media. Three out of the thirteen Top Sellers have a Facebook Fan Page and or a Twitter account, one is active on Indie Public, a network for Etsy sellers, and only four out of the thirteen Top Sellers have a blog.
Most of the Top Jewelry Sellers are either specialised in one type of jewelry or use one type of material (pendants, necklaces, Sterling silver jewelry or bridal jewelry only for an example).
Notable as well is that prices of the items are either priced all the same or the price range starts from below 10 USD (from $ 1.99 to $9.00).

Some of the Jewelry Etsy Top Sellers have also tagged their own shopname (four out of thirteen). They have established their brand and it is, I guess, a logical thing to do.

I started roughly a year ago selling online and was evaluating my crafting and which direction I would want to go. Reading through the articles about Jewelry Top Sellers on Etsy: what does all the information imply for me, and maybe also for you, as a relatively new seller on handmade marketplaces? Is it realistic and achievable to set these long term goals:

eventually go fulltime;
concentrate on one shop and decide which shop I will go for (I have more than one shop);
produce, reproduce and list as much as possible: spend all available time on working on my USP (Unique Selling Point);
shy away from other relevant activities, i.e. social networking and social media;
from now until 2013?

Basically, the question I should ask myself first is whether I would want to go for mega sales for reasonably low prices or for more unique one of a kind, higher priced items? Time to contemplate...

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Items for Children on Zibbet

2010-05-25T01:53:00.001-07:00

In one of my previous posts I looked into colours: popular colours and colour association. I ended that post wondering how popular pink is and which age group prefers pink above other colours? I looked into it a bit more and came across a subject 'Pink - why feminine?' on a forum on this site. Apparently pink used to be a colour for boys and blue for girls. Did you know that? I didn't. Interesting...

I chose the colour pink to show you handmade items for children on the wonderful seller and buyer friendly handmade marketplace Zibbet. Please click on the titles underneath the pictures for descriptions of the items. Enjoy:

'Munchkin Hat - Dusty Pink - or any color' by Charbridge Knits for $22

'Pink Camouflage Minky Diaper Burp Cloth - Set of 2' by Baby Bee Trendy for $9.99

'Nostalgic Gymnast Short Sleeved Crew Neck Tee' by Graphic Tees for $12.50

'Ballet Slippers Applique T Shirt or Onesie - Newborn' by Daidy Doodle for $18

'Too Too Cute Tutu for Infants and Toddlers' by Texas Eagle for $18

'Baby 2 Strap Mary Janes' by Heathers Hobbies for $16

'Kids' T-shirt with Animal and House Design' by BHB Kidstyle for $14

'Pretty in Pink Handstitched Baby Floral Bootie' by Jo and Jimmy for $24.95

'Lollipops in Pink... Eco Peasant Shift Dress' by LilliPops Designs for $48

'Sack Hat - Rose, Pink, Cafe - or any color' by Charbridge Knits for $22

You can find more than 1,400 handcrafted items for children on Zibbet here.

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Hot on Etsy Treasury East

2010-05-25T01:53:00.000-07:00

At the end of last month I joined the madness, showing work from artisans and artists selling their handcrafted work on the handmade marketplace Etsy, on Etsy Treasury East. People make Treasuries with a topic. It is addictive to go through products with a theme in mind. It doesn't surprise me that the popularity of making Treasuries through Treasury East grows and is still growing.

I left it for a while, because it kept me away from doing what I like best: making and concentrating on my own handmade products.

When I went back, last week, to have a look at the latest Treasuries, the 'atmosphere' had changed.
Treasuries on Treasury East are arranged by most viewed: from super 'hot' to 'not hot' at all.
And guess what?
Curators (makers of Treasuries on Treasury East) took the term 'hot' very seriously: the only way to get top hits is to show 'sex'-related items from Etsians (sellers on Etsy). I couldn't help it: I had to take a look at the 'hot' Treasuries myself. Well, some people are very creative, I have to say...

Etsy also has a forum on their site. Some forum threads were closed by Etsy admin staff members, because Etsians were communicating about their sexual fantasies. And admin staff is right. There are plenty of other sites where people can share their naughty dreams. The forum is meant to share and exchange other type of information...

Will Treasuries on Treasury East with adult content get rejected in the future as well?

I better go back to my handmade marketplace Zibbet, showing you handmade items for children in my next blogpost.

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Recent Work

2010-05-23T01:35:00.000-07:00

One and a half year ago I started making jewelry. First beading with single loops and now wire wrapping the beads. I am constantly learning and developing and the last couple of weeks I have been focusing on wire work with my jewelry making.

Waiting for more jewelry findings to arrive to complete some pieces, whilst I show you my recent earrings and pendants:

Sterling Silver Long Earrings

Twisty Sterling Silver Jade Hoop Earrings

For the pendants I used the beads I bought the last time I went to the beadshop. I purchased gorgeous unique shaped Mother of Pearl beads in the colours gold, copper, green, blue and pink. The picture below are the gold coloured ones:

You have probably noticed that I use a watermark for the pictures of the jewelry I make. I used Picnik's very easy to use program. There are other programs you can use. I used Photo Bucket before.
Gradually, I will watermark all pictures showing my designs to emphasize copyright. Read my blogpost about copyright.

Enjoy your SUNday, Shirley.

Copyright (C) Mamasakio 2010

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How to set up a Facebook Fan Page?

2010-05-22T03:25:00.000-07:00

People approached me a couple of times and asked me how to set up a Facebook Fan Page or Facebook Page. This blogpost is especially meant for small businesses.

This is not a complete tutorial. I am not an expert and learned by trial and error myself, but I can surely guide interested readers through the first steps.

Most of you are familiair with Facebook. Facebook has millions of users worldwide.
I started using Facebook to stay in touch with family and friends, with a personal account.

You can also create a Facebook Page for a business, band, celebrity or a group. Here are two ways to create a Facebook Page:

Separate from a personal account: a 'stand alone' Facebook Page;
Linked to your personal account.

If your company is well known, yes, you can create a 'stand alone' Facebook Page. Fans of your brand will be able to find you.

But if you have a small business I suggest you set up your Facebook Page via your personal account. Some external applications, not developed by Facebook, will not work when you set up your Page the first way.
The 'My Etsy' application for an example, for artisans selling their handmade goods, supplies and vintage items on Etsy, will NOT work on 'stand alone' Facebook Pages, Pages not connected to a personal profile. With a 'My Etsy' application you can add your Etsy shop to your Facebook Page. This is how I lost my previous Fan Page by trying to add the Page to my personal account after I created it. The external application might have worked if I had added my personal profile to my first Page at the start, I don't know. Anyway, back to the present, back to creating your Fan Page.

I will show you the first steps of how to create a Facebook Fan Page via your Facebook personal account.

Facebook Personal Account
If you haven't got a personal FB account yet, You can sign up for a personal account here. Below is the screen where you should enter your details (circle). The arrow shows you a link to sign up for a 'stand alone' Facebook Page (which I don't recommend):

Facebook Fan Page via your personal account
Once you have signed up and followed the instructions and procedures you can sign in to your personal account. To get to the screen shown below, you need to follow these steps:

Go to 'Account' on your right hand side. It is a drop down menu.
Choose for 'Help Centre'.
At the bottom of the page you can read 'Pages for Businesses'. Click on that link and follow the instructions.

A couple of advantages of a Page attached to your personal account is that:

you can access your Page from your personal account by typing in your Page name so you don't have to switch accounts;
you can suggest your Facebook friends to your Page - you don't have that possibility with a 'stand alone' Page.

Here are some articles you might like (and on my to-read list):

Facebook's blogpost 'Difference between Facebook Page and Group', Facebook Page Strategy from All Facebook;
Optimizing your Facebook Fan Page from Mashable;
Mashable's 'Elements of a Successful Facebook Fan Page';
Another from Mashable is 'How to Build a Facebook Landing Page';
'10 key SEO strategies for Facebook Page Owners' from Inside Facebook;
KABI33 wrote this post: '10 FB Fan Page Tips for Creative Entrepeneurs';
'How To Create Friends Lists on Facebook' by Sly Marketing, especially if you are going to set up your Page via your personal account you will have your business and personal contacts on one account. And Facebook's Help Centre on how to create Friends lists.

You might also find my blogpost about Facebook Store useful.

I also came across a company called Odeleya. Odelya can help you with a customised landing page for your Fan Page and more. For more information please contact Odeleya or via their recently opened Zibbet Shop.

Good luck with your Facebook Page!

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Colours

2010-05-14T01:12:00.000-07:00

I have arranged my handmade jewelry by colour in my main shops on the handmade marketplaces Zibbet and Etsy.

It was possible on Zibbet from the start with a Premium Account. Now you can arrange your items on Etsy as well.
Your shopfront has to look appealing. Apart from keeping your shop announcement short, interesting and informative and your pictures clear, you can also choose to arrange your shop by colour.

Arranging your online shop by colour is a great tool. While shopping is one of the highest ranked activities online, arranging your shop by colour is a way to encourage visitors to look at your items into detail.

Red Black and Blue

At first I placed my most favourite coloured jewelry at the first pages of my shops: red, black and blue.

In my experience, first time visitors will browse through your shop the way you arranged it and if your items are what the seller is looking for they will then arrange it to their choice (i.e.: by size - only Zibbet-, price and - for loyal customers - by recently listed items).

Popular colours and Colour Association

Colour preferences are, apparently, not universal (in some languages they don't even have names for certain colours), influenced by culture and vary depending on location and historical period.

As a jewelry maker it would be wise to keep updated with the forever changing fashion and dominating colours every season, but I don't keep up with trends. I like to make a design and either offer it in different colours or people can contact me to make it in the colour they like.

I looked into the meaning of colours for this blogpost and what people associate colours with.
I will not get too deep into Colour Psychology. I recommend you read Joe Hallocks very interesting article 'Colour Assignment'. He only mentions the basic colours. The results of researches Hallocks looked into can help you decide what is best for you. I use the facts of Joe Hallock's article in this blogpost.

First: the colours of my shopfronts.

My shopfronts should be inviting for women, preferrably women from around 25- 30 and older. According to the information Hallock has gathered, I should go for blue, purple and green. Women from all ages prefer these colours: 35% like blue, 23% like purple and 14% of all women like green. Women above 50 dislike green though.

The colours I use for my handmade jewelry are bright. Bright colours are associated with 'excitement'.

My unique designs are affordable.
The colours orange, brown and yellow are associated with 'cheap and inexpensive'. Thirty percent of the population thinks orange looks cheap, 23% for brown and 13% for yellow.

Again, keep in mind that fashionable, trendy colours 'rule'.
I personally associate orange with the '70s, brown as a safe alternative for black and when I see yellow it makes me think of warmth and the tropics.

Now, I mentioned before that my love for red, black and blue has made me decide which items go on my first pages. The colours red and black are associated with 'expensive' and blue is the most favourite colour for both men and women from all ages.

Blue Purple Green

Looking into these figures have made me decide to go for the popular colours. My shops are now arranged in this order: blue, purple and green first, followed by red and black and items in the colours orange, brown, yellow, white and grey last. This will attract women of all ages.

I might go back to my Red, Black and Blue because I always want to do things my way and maybe just raise my prices :-).

You can also use Colour Psychology by arranging your items by colour for your Etsy Showcase. Etsy Showcases are a way to promote your items from your Etsy shop.

Question Marks

I also wonder how popular pink actually is. Pink for me symbolises femininity. Young girls wear pink. And after a certain age girls don't want to wear pink anymore, because it is 'too girly'.

And I would like to know if there are any differences in colour preferences in different cultures, like Hallocks stated. I think so as in some languages names for certain colours do not even exist.

It is interesting to look into colours and I hope you can take the time to read Hallock's article.

And my questions for you:

How did you choose the colours of your avatar and banner?
Have you arranged your shop by colour?

Back soon with a tutorial.... enjoy your day!
Shirley

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SEO friendly images

2010-05-07T06:37:00.000-07:00

How do you make your images on your blog 'SEO friendly'? SEO means Search Engine Optimisation. Making your site more SEO friendly means that you optimise your site 'properly' (in a language that search engine spiders understand) so you can gain more traffic from major engines (Google, Yahoo, etc.) in order to get higher search engine rankings. One of the things you can do is to use the 'proper' keywords. I use the Google Adwords Key Tool to choose my keywords.

I checked how this site was doing compared to other sites in a previous post. One of the main issues I had to deal with was to describe the contents of my images on this site with an alternative text by using the Alt attribute, so search engines can 'see' the images I post here. Wikipedia gives you an explanation what an ALT attribute is and how to use it. You might find Net Mechanic's post about how to use ALT and TITLE attributes useful too.

That is what I am going to do the next couple of days.

'Everything's coming up Roses' Treasury by Vampire Kisses

2010-05-07T01:05:00.000-07:00

One of my rings has been included again in a Treasury on Etsy. You can read more about Etsy Treasuries here and here. Yesterday my Pink Cat's Eyes Gold Plated Wire Wrapped Ring was featured in Vampires Kisses Treasury called 'Everything's Coming Up Roses':

'Softness' Treasury East on Etsy by Monarch Dancer

2010-05-07T00:57:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since one of my items was included in someone's Treasury. For people who are not familiar with Etsy Treasuries: Treasuries are handpicked items on Etsy by sellers on Etsy. Etsy is an online marketplace where buyers and sellers can find and sell their handmade goods, vintage items and arts and crafts supplies.

Last week Monarch Dancer featured my Purple Pink Cat's Eyes Ring on her Treasury called 'Softness':

Facebook Store and Blog Shop

2010-05-06T13:53:00.000-07:00

Facebook Shop?

Something completely new for me (and maybe for you too) is to sell your handmade items online: on a Facebook Store. I have just added my 'Shop Now'- tab on my Facebook Fan Page. The shop will be filled in the next couple of weeks. If you purchase jewelry from my Facebook Shop you will receive a free gift.

You can add a Facebook Store for your fans so they can buy your items directly via your Facebook Fan Page in your preferred currency. You can choose from twenty different currencies.
My jewelry items on my Fan Page will be priced in GB Pounds - my creations in my main shops on Zibbet and Etsy are currently priced in US Dollars. I know Zibbet is working on multiple currencies. I will let you know here when it is up and running.

Payments and Fees Facebook Store

Payments of items on your Facebook Store are made via PayPal through Payvment (beta, in development). If you want to set up your own, you can go to my Shop Now tab and go to the bottom of the page where it says 'Launch your free storefront' when my shop is filled. It is still empty, so another way to create your own store is to go to 'Mamasakio's Favourite Page's' - yes, why not fan me while you there? :-) - and then click on the application called 'Payvment E-commerce Storefront'. You will see a tab on their page saying 'Install App' and just follow the instructions.
Setting up your Facebook Shop is for free.

If you have any questions, please comment below or send me an e-mail and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

It is just another way of getting exposure and showing your products without paying any extra fees apart from PayPal fees.

Blog Shop?

Other people selling their handmade goods have blog shops which is another alternative. You can add a PayPal button to your handcrafted items on your blog, maybe as a separate page, which are for sale or you can use Payvment. A Blog Shop is a good choice if your blog is ranked high. I would think about opening a Blog Shop if my blog is ranked higher than 80 out of 100 compared to other sites. At the moment this is not the case. I still need to work on using attributes for my images on my blog. Check you ranking with Hubspot'sWebsite Grader for free if a Blog Shop is something for you.

My Zibbet shop is ranked highest of all my sites and I don't pay any fees with my Premium Seller Account. And I can add up to four pictures of an item which I do need, because some of my items are versatile.
I suppose you can use more pictures on your Blog Shop. As far as I can see the application for Shops on Facebook only allows you one image per item. So Zibbet is still my first choice to list my jewelry pieces.

This Facebook Shop is one of my try outs and I will let you know how I get on and will eventually evaluate it, especially because Facebook is planning to charge a fee for using Facebook.
A Facebook Shop is certainly recommendable for people with Facebook Pages with hundreds or thousands of fans. Unfortunately, I lost my entire Fan Page earlier this year and most of the people who 'liked' Mamasakio while I was fiddling about with an application. I have to build up my fans again with my new Facebook Fan Page.

Well, have fun and I am here to help too. Just comment below or use the contact button on your right hand side to e-mail me with any questions. I can learn from you too. So, do let me and the readers know if you have more detailed information.

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Blog Hopping with Creation|Collaboration

2010-05-05T11:11:00.000-07:00

I have just joined Creation|Collaboration with their blog hopping.
Creation Collaboration is a group of eight women with their own small home based businesses. They started a Women Wednesday Blog Hop to get in touch with other women in business.

What is a Blog Hop?

'A blog hop is a linky list that is SHARED ON MULTIPLE BLOGS.

When several blogs put the same linky list code on their blog, the

exact same list appears on each blog.

Blog visitors can submit their entries on any blog that contains the list.

The entries will appear on each blog where the list resides.

Blog readers see the same list on each blog, and can "HOP" from blog

to blog seeing the same list of links to follow: BLOG HOP!'

Here are the rules for joining, if you want to join.

Rain in the UK - Sunshine on Zibbet

2010-05-02T01:30:00.000-07:00

The rain was pouring down when I went to bed last night and when I woke up this morning it was still raining. We have been spoilt with good weather the last couple of weeks in the UK. I was hoping for a bit of sun this Sunday to do some outdoor activities. Here is a virtual substitute: sharing the summer joy on Zibbet with you with a collection of ten summery items:

'Chandeliers for Summertime' by Bead Wizzard for $12

'Yellow Agate Silver Earrings' by Splurge for $18

'Sunshine Pillow Case' by Crafts Cafe for $25

'Mr Sun, Sun, Mr Golden Sun' by The Purple Rat for $6

'Haslia Yellow Summer Dress' by Kamishade for $25

'Yellow Rose Bud Note Cards' by After The Photo for $13.95

'Golden Petals - Bridal Hair Piece' by Sibo Designs for $42.50

'French Toile in Yellow... Eco Tiered Sundress' by Lillipops Designs for $52

'Pretty Blank Note Card (You Are Yellow) 4x6 Card' by Hugs With Smiles for $1.20

'Mellow Yellow' from AF Photos for $5.50

Hope these wonderful handcrafted items - all available on Zibbet - brightened up your SUNday! It certainly brightened up mine! For more handmade and vintage products and supplies please visit Zibbet or visit Zibbet Love's blog. 'Zibbet Love', featuring Zibbet sellers, is an initiative of Deon from Zibbet shop Poocheze. You can find original home made dog treats in Deon's shop.

Zibbet Community

2010-04-23T05:41:00.000-07:00

If you sell your handmade products, vintage items or craft supplies on Zibbet, you can join Zibbet's Community.

Visit Zibbet's Community

Try Treasury East on Etsy

2010-04-22T02:29:00.000-07:00

If you are selling your handmade items, vintage products and arts and crafts supplies on Etsy you can handpick your favourite items and put them together in a 'Treasury' for other people to enjoy.
My first Treasury on Etsy via Treasury East. It is called 'Gorgeous Greens'.

Treasury East (beta, still in development) on Etsy is a new way of sharing lists. Sellers on Etsy can create as many Treasuries as they like showing items from other sellers. You can also comment on treasuries. These Treasuries do not expire.
Try one too! A couple of tips:
* Copy and paste the URL of your chosen item up until the listing number.
* Don't forget to use CTRL + ENTER after you added an item.
* Hit the SAVE button.
Read more about Treasury East Beta.
Treasury East will gradually replace the main Treasury. Read the announcement here.

Warning for Etsy sellers: making Treasuries is addictive. I will not show you all the Treasuries I made, but I have to share you at least another two which I made recently (May 2010).

Happy Queensday Holland:

And another one called 'sUnday hUnks':

The 'Beautiful Blogger Award' goes to...

2010-04-14T12:54:00.000-07:00

Miss Bohemia has awarded me with a 'Beautiful Blogger Award' and now it is my turn to pass this award on to fifteen other bloggers.

These suggestions were made by Miss Bohemia which I will happily follow:

Thank the person that gave you The 'Beautiful Blogger Award' linking back to their blog.
Pass The 'Beautiful Blogger Award' on to fifteen bloggers.
You contact the listed bloggers and let them know they have won The 'Beautiful Blogger Award'.
Share seven things about yourself.

Step Number 1 completed.
Step Number 2:

Fifteen Blogs Receiving The 'Beautiful Blogger Award'

I love reading what other people share with the online world. And it was hard to choose from so many blogs I regularly read. In no particular order, The 'Beautiful Blogger Award's' go to:

Muza Chan's Gate to Japan
Absolutely love the Japan Photo's per Day on Muza Chan's blog. I don't know what it is, but I feel connected with Japan. Not only my surname sounds Japanese, I love sushi too =). Just wish to visit Japan one day.... Muza Chan's blog keeps my wish alive.
An Englishman Abroad
I enjoy travelling and when I see Ian's pictures and the stories he adds to it, it brings back times that I used to travel a lot more.
Gallerie Suze
Suzie's FUNTASTIC blog. Her work is brilliant, she makes me laugh out loud and she is an absolute joy to communicate with. Suzie also blogs about other crafters and artists.
ZibbetLove
Poocheze shows work of Zibbet Sellers. Great initiative.
World Wide Etsy Sellers
Dutch Felt Art shows work of Etsy Sellers worldwide. Great initiative.
Arona Every Day
Diederick shares brilliant pictures on his blog. Some of the places he visits and has captured in a picture are familiair to me. He brings memories and pictures to life.
Artmind's creative blog full of tutorials. A great artist and very helpful.
Moms of America's blog 'Never Underestimate a Mother'.
Simply love Debra's thoughts supported by her amazing photo's.
A Bead A Day
Lisa's blog is a must read for bead addicts. The way she writes about beads can make you go up and run to the nearest beadshop! She features artists, crafters and designers. She always manages to find people who design unique items.
Peachypops < 3
Very nice retro girl's blog. Nikki loves the 50's, pink, sparkles, everything Japanese, make up, fashion and more.... It is a relief to read Nikki's thoughts: enjoying life.
2 Worlds
Jana has video tutorials on her blog and shares her creative processes live!
Jacqueline's Blog
I enjoy reading every single blogpost of Jacqueline. She is an artist and works with yarns, fabrics and paints.
December Girl
An Australian born jewelry artist living in Greece keeps us updated with her 'December Girl' blog. Lou writes not only about her jewelry making, but also about daily routines I can relate to.
Life of Cattoo
An English artist. Love her illustrations and subjects on her blog.
Home Made Cuisine Among The Clouds' blog: if you are up to try new recipes. It will make your mouth water...

I will contact the winners after I publised this post (step Number 3).
And now a little bit more about me, step Number 4:

Seven Things About Myself

Eating, preparing and talking about food makes me happy happy happy! I Cook with a Confused head, combining Asian and European ways to prepare meals.
I like old cars.
Reading books makes my life complete.
Sun Lover.
Missing green fingers but love gardening, flowers and plants.
I like walking around in jeans.
Suffering from Bad Hair Day Syndrome.

Now you know a tiny bit more about me.

Please visit the blogs I mentioned. You might like them too.

Welcome New Followers

2010-04-13T05:16:00.000-07:00

Just a small post to welcome new followers. You - 'old' and new followers - can introduce yourselves here and add your links by commenting on this post.

Have a nice day!
Shirley

Introducing 'Guest Blogger'

2010-04-11T03:20:00.000-07:00

I would like to introduce you to one my new blog labels: 'Guest Blogger'.

So once in a while I will ask a Guest Blogger to write a blogpost.
I will determine the subject with the Guest Blogger.

Enjoy your Sunday,
Shirley

'Beautiful Blogger Award'

2010-04-09T07:33:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning, made myself some coffee, gazed at the garden, thinking of things to do today and a new tutorial to post on my blog. Just looking forward to another beautiful day, especially with the sun shining so bright here.

I turned the computer on to check my e-mails, and there it was: a message from Miss Bohemia who awarded me with a 'Beautiful Blogger Award' for this blog. Aww, fantastic! Especially because I came across a website SEO tool which didn't ranked my blog very high. So it was a welcome surprise to receive the award from Miss Bohemia.

Website SEO Tool

A couple of days ago I checked the Website Grader by Hubspot for a free report of how my sites were doing amongst million others. Like everyone else, I do check Google Analytics so once in a while, and even though I dealt with figures and statistics in my 'former life' with a day job, I was never bothered looking into Google Analytics details.
The Website Grader of Hubspot gives you not only figures of how your site is doing compared to other sites, but it also gives you information about how you can better your site to higher your rank.

My scores - by the way - are 87 out of 100 for my Zibbet shop (nice to know as Zibbet is my favourite), 84 out of 100 for my Etsy shop and 45 out of 100 for this blog.

To rank this blog higher Hubspot recommended me for an example to add the 'ALT'- attribute (whatever that may be, I have to look into this) to my pictures so so called search engine crawlers can 'see' the images I post and Hubspot doesn't recommend Blogger to promote my 'business'. Mmmm, is it wise to change my blog into www.mamasakio.com, a custom domain name? Questions I need to deal with.... still...

Are you interested in how your site is doing? Check it out here.

Miss Bohemia

Anyway, Miss Bohemia, this blogpost was supposed to be a 'Thank You Very Much' post and I got carried away there...

Readers, Miss Bohemia creates jewelry, uhm 'jewellery' in English (!), and is based in London, UK. I might bump into her one day! She creates wonderful pieces of jewelry 'inspired by love, life, fairytales, fantasy, gothic glamour, a touch of supernatural ... geekery and a dash of magic!'
I am still in a 'RED MOOD' and chose one of Miss Bohemia's beautiful rings to show you here (please click on the picture or the title for a description of this gorgeous ring):

'Vampire Blood Lust Red Faceted Silver Ornate Ring' by Vampire Kisses

Now it is my turn to give away fifteen 'Beautiful Blogger Awards'. Check back, please. It will be announced on this blog soon.

Enjoy your day. And for more useful links, please click here.

Copyright (C) Mamasakio 2010

Shopping on Zibbet

2010-04-04T14:10:00.000-07:00

One of the nice things when you shop on Zibbet is that you can search items by colour.
Red is one of the colours I like:

'Red Hot Knitted Toque' by Yarn Constants

'Carnelian Ring' by Scape

'City and Suburbain Fairy Door' by Sunny Side Up Studio

'Red Fabulous Two Strap Red Jersey Dress' by Kamishade

'Precious Red Coral Bracelet and Necklace in One' by Mamasakio

'Vinos Sagasta' by Tomascastano

Enjoy shopping on Zibbet!

Bye Bye Black Beauty

2010-03-19T00:27:00.000-07:00

Remember our Black Beauty?

Our Black Baby is past. Our Beauty gave up on us. Bye bye Black Beauty....

No more strangers waving enthusiastically at us, thinking we are cab drivers.
No more admiring looks from old men: it takes London Cab Drivers at least four years of studying the streets of London.
No more bipping from young people in their fast cars, laughing at me: I am very tiny so you can just see a head popping out when I am driving the car. Sorry, when I used to drive the car.
No more ladies putting their thumbs up nor strange ladies looking away laughing.

We have had some fun times with you. A huge 'Thank You' to Black Beauty.
You served us well!

Tutorial: how to make mosaic with polymer clay

2010-03-09T22:47:00.001-08:00

I was planning to make Christmas decorations last year with polymer clay mosaic with our children. But it is Easter now and we usually paint boiled eggs. This year we will be using polymer clay to decorate the eggs.

This tutorial is about how to make a polymer clay mosaic Easter egg, also meant for our lovely neighbour Marie who works at a primary school.
I inspired Marie with my polymer clay pendants. She used this idea to do some arts and crafts with the children at her school.

Thanks for everything, Marie! And thank you Karin Robberse. More about Karin later.

The Easter decoration in this tutorial will look like this:

You can make a design on paper first if you want.

What you need:

Polymer clay in the colours you prefer:

A, preferably non-stick, roller, especially for claying:
A set of sharp knives (I use the ones you can find in any shop selling DIY tools). I also use knives especially for claying (the ones you see out of the box shown on the picture below):
Non-stick baking paper:
Baking tray:
A pasta machine which you only use for crafting or a deck of playing cards:
Grout:
A boiled egg (if you only want to keep the egg for this year's Easter). If you want to keep the decorated Easter egg for longer you can make two holes in an egg (holes opposite each other) and blow the egg-white and yolk out. Make sure you leave it to dry. I used the latter for this tutorial:
I also use a glass top which I cover with non-stick baking paper as a work top.
A gas oven.

1. Condition the clay
Take each colour clay out of it's packet and 'condition' each colour separately which means that you keep moulding the clay until the clay is soft and manageable.

2. Make sheets of each colour
Once the clay is soft, you can use a pasta machine to make sheets. Make sure you use the same thickness for each sheet.
If you don't have a pasta machine, just use a deck of cards and the roller: place the same amount of cards (depending on how thick you want the sheet to be) on each side of one bit of polymer clay and roll the bit of clay flat.
You will need to use one sheet (in any colour) for wrapping up the egg first. Make this sheet thinner than the other sheets otherwise your Easter decoration takes a long time to harden in the oven. I used yellow clay in this example but it can be any colour. You will not see this sheet because it will be covered later on. The egg needs to be covered in clay first so your mosaic design will stick on to the egg. Make sure the sheet on the egg is smoothened out so the surface is flat enough to stick other polymer clay parts on.
See the pictures below for this stage of the tutorial:

3. Cut the sheets straight
You want to have the same thickness for every piece you will use for your mosaic design (see the first picture of the end result). To achieve the same thickness simply cut the edges of every sheet so they look like this:

4. Make smaller pieces for your design
Use a sharp knife to make smaller pieces for your design. The stage we are in now:

5. Decorate your Easter egg
Now use the small pieces from step 4 to decorate your Easter egg:

After you finished decorating your egg, roll the decorated egg carefully to make sure each part stays where it is.

6. Your Easter Decoration in the oven
Place non-stick baking paper on the baking tray and put your mosaic polymer clay Easter egg on the tray. Put it in the oven. For temperatures please advise the instructions given on any packet when you purchase polymer clay. Turn the egg occassionally. Leave the egg to cool down after the time it needs to bake before you continue with step 7.

7. Finishing off your Easter Decoration
Once your egg has cooled down, cover the egg with grout to fill up the gaps. You can use a filler knife, I use the back of a knife and my fingers to fill the gaps. I use waterproof grout available in DIY shops. This is how your egg should look like now:

8. Final Step
The grout I use dries in 4 hours and is waterproof. After 4 hours I cleaned the Easter decoration by putting it under a streaming luke-warm water tap and I dried it with a clean cloth.
Please check the description and instruction of the grout you use for drying time.

Here is the same picture I used at the start, the end result:

More information

Karin Robberse

Karin Robberse, a Dutch Master in polymer clay, inspired me using polymer clay to make mosaic. She has her own website accessible in Dutch, Englisch and German, with tutorials. Some are for free. Karin is great and is always willing to help you if you get stuck. Please visit her site here if you are interested in her tutorials.

You can also purchase polymer clay tutorials, polymer clay beads and canes, polymer clay jewelry and other polymer clay decorations from Karin. If you are interested in her jewelry, canes and beads, please click here. This site is in Dutch. Please find sites to translate this website here.

Karin does more. She partnered with Pan de Vida and two other organisations and set up Rejeweled. Rejeweled creates recycled jewelry and all the profits go to Pan de Vida, which means 'Bread of Life' in Spanish, to support children in need in Peru.
I would like to ask you to donate the jewelry you don't wear anymore to Rejeweled instead of throwing it away. You can send Karin an e-mail for a postal address: karin@robberse.eu.
Visit Rejeweled here for their products.

Other sites
Here is a very nice video on YouTube about mosaic with Polymer Clay.

Mosaic Polymer Clay Jewelry
And I made a couple of jewelry pieces which are ready for step 8 (cleaning with water). Some of the items will be available soon in one of my shops:

Happy Easter and enjoy your weekend!

Copyright (C) 2010 Mamasakio

Featured Zibbeter: Mamasakio

2010-03-08T05:32:00.000-08:00

Just when I posted the last blogpost 'Exhibiting Work from Zibbeters' my interview with Zibbet went online. Fantastic! Read the interview here. Enjoy!

Exhibiting work from Zibbeters

2010-03-08T02:32:00.000-08:00

I would like to share some wonderful items I found on Zibbet.
I will exhibit Zibbeters work regularly on my blog, so keep checking back.

Silver Faux Fur Vest by Astridland $118.00

Clean Cotton 9oz Candle by Delightful Scents for $7.04

White as Snow Venetian Masquerade Ball Mask by TheeClecticNest for $25.00

Power of Perforation by Tomm68 for $30.00

Baby Pod Cocoon Photo Prop, Oatmeal Cream by WeeBeeUniques for $25.00

Nash in the Grass by Carol Thompson for $45.00

Dancing Goddess - Bone earrings by A Garden of Magick for $7.00

'What the heck is Zibbet?'

Buttons by Portable Graffiti for $1.50

Zibbet just celebrated their first anniversary on the 5th of February 2010.
Zibbet is an Australian based online marketplace. You can find handmade products, fine art, supplies to make your handmade goods and vintage items. If you want to know more about Zibbet, please go to the posts labeled with 'Online Handmade Communities'.

Jonathan Peacock, founder of Zibbet, Andrew Gray, co-founder, and Jess Telford, lead developer, have done a terrific job to offer artists and crafters an excellent alternative to exhibit and sell their work.
Zibbet is growing tremendously fast and have amazing features for sellers. Zibbet is the best place to buy and sell handmade goods, fine art, vintage items and crafting supplies. And this is why:

With a Basic Account you can sell up to 25 items for free. And most importantly: you don't have to pay sales fees. Click here for more advantages of being a Zibbeter with a Basic Account. You can also choose for a Premium Account for 7 USD per month.Just to let you know that there is only 21 Premium Accounts left on Zibbet at this discounted rate of $7/month (d.d. Friday 26 March 2010).
You can customise your shop with a Premium Account and you can even put your Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Etsy mini widgets on your page. For more fantastic features click here.
AND this is the best part of being part of the Zibbet Community. If you refer a friend to sell on Zibbet with a Premium Account your monthly Premium Account fee goes down with 1 USD a month. So if you refer 7 friends you don't have to pay any fees for the rest of your life! How does that sound? What are you waiting for? Join Zibbet here.

Meet Ethel

2010-03-04T02:29:00.000-08:00

Ethel is my assistant. She works hard, never complains and is always there when I need her. An ideal employee. I give her my old clothes because she came here at my studio naked, in a box and she looked very grey. I can cover her body, but I can't change her skin colour. Sorry Ethel. She is very thankful for my giveaways but she is getting bored now with her latest outfit, so I checked my wardrobe to see if there is anything that suits her. She shows her different outfits here with my necklace creations.

Wooden Purple Bracelet and Necklace in One

Red Purple Silver Bracelet and Necklace in One

Green Bracelet and Necklace in One

White Mother of Pearl and Cat's Eyes Scarf Lariat Style Necklace

Thanks for assisting me, Ethel. What would I do without you?

And a special 'thank you' to my brother-in-law Warren who made Ethel feel at home, and named her.

Copyright (C) 2010 Mamasakio. All rights reserved.

Pretty Pictures with my DIY light box

2010-02-21T10:43:00.000-08:00

If you sell jewelry online or sell small items online, you have to get your pictures right.

Here are pictures (below) of some of my jewelry. I think they look okay...but they can always look better...

These pictures are taken in day light, outside, in the Summer, without using photo editing software tools. I only cropped the pictures on my camera.

I have an affordable camera with macro and light balance options. That is basically what you need to make pretty pictures.

I like using wood as a background, because it goes with some of the natural materials I use for my jewelry: wooden beads and semi precious beads.

The semi precious Tanzanite Cluster Ring on the left is taken outside on our picnic table in the garden. And the right picture of the semi precious Aventurine Silver Sterling Hoop Earrings is taken indoors on the dining table located next to a giant window. I placed the Hoop Earrings on a piece of wood I found in the park and put a white A4 paper underneath for the reflection of the light. That works quite good.

I don't use flash by the way.

But Winter and dark days came. And there I was waiting for good weather or at least bright 'normal' natural light!

Because I also work best in the late evenings blipping away and early early mornings surrounded by silence I can not always make pictures straight after I finished a piece of jewelry. And sometimes my creations are just lying there, forgotten, waiting to be captured in a picture.

Eventually, I found a solution: a light box. And I made my own. These are instructions I got off the internet. The only difference is that I used 60 Watt day light bulbs instead of 100 Watt. And I didn't use clamp spotlights because the ones I found at Ikea were too heavy. I was afraid my foam board light box would collapse!

Now this is how my super simple DIY lightbox looks like:

And a close up:

I make pictures like these with my DIY light box:

Bit aqua-ish I have to say. Even though I have edited them (cropped the pictures and adjust the brightness). These are the best results I get. Might be useful one day, but I am not too happy with it. I might have to try and find 100 Watt day light bulbs or maybe try fluorescent light bulbs. In the meantime, I just have to make time during the day to make almost perfect pretty pictures.

Here are other useful links if you want to know more about jewelry or small objects photography.

And here is a list of free photo editing software programmes. I used Photobucket in the past. And currently using Windows Live Photo Gallery already installed on my computer when I got it. I only use the programme to crop the pictures and sometimes adjust the brightness of pictures. You can do a lot more with it though.

Any other tips are welcome, just comment. To prevent my blog from being spammed (and it happened a couple of times) I read the comments first, so clicking once to publish your remarks is enough. I publish it as soon as I read it. Thanks!

Beads

2010-02-11T22:07:00.000-08:00

When I go to my local beadshop I can spend hours in that tiny space (seriously, you can hardly move!) stashed with jewelry findings and beads, beads and more beads. I can pick up a bead, touch it, turn it, twist it again, keep it against the light, hold it in front of my chest or wrap a string of beads against my wrist and imagine what it would be like to create and to wear. Sometimes I buy beads and keep looking at it for days and weeks before I 'attack' it.

I was absolutely thrilled to read Lisa Crone's blog, 'A Bead A Day' and I was constantly smiling - of course. She makes beads come to life. I was sure I was not the only one that can get all excited about beads, but Lisa's descriptions are top, loaded with enthusiasm and passion. She is definetely my Bead Master and I am waiting to receive her book 'A Bead In Time' which I just ordered. I am sure it will become my Bead Bible. Her journey to write this book is as captivating as every single blog post she writes about a bead.

Inspired by Lisa I went on a bead hunt online at Zibbet. I am in a pink mood today. So pink beads it is for today. If you click on the name of the suppliers shop beneath each picture you enter their shop on Zibbet.

Mrs Supply guarantees Value, Quality and Trust with her lampwork beads. Here is a description of the pink with grey lampwork bead above.

Miabella Collection offers a wide variety of Pretty Bead Things. The beads shown (above) in the picture are semi precious pink Rhodonite ovals. Rhodonite is called 'the stone of love'. Click here for a description.

Supplycloset shares Beading Addiction. The beads shown above are Disc Czech Glass Beads.

Enjoy your beading! And please visit Lisa's blog. You can find more beads suppliers on Zibbet here.

How to make earwires

2010-02-11T02:00:00.000-08:00

If you start making jewelry, you will probably buy all the necessary jewelry findings: jumprings, earwires, headpins, etcetera. When I ran out of earwires and the order of my supplier didn't arrive on time for a custom order, I started to try and do it myself. And you can do it too.
I will show you how to make two types of earwires.

Earwires number 1

You can purchase tools in your local craft store or online.

Tools you need:

Round Nose Plier

Flat Nose Plier

Wire Cutter

Marker Pen(s)
I use marker pens for this example, but you can basically use any object if you like the shape of it.

Materials you need:

Wire

You can use craft wire available in different colours, silver plated wire, Sterling silver wire, gold plated or gold wire. I prefer the more manageable silver plated wire. Gold and Sterling silver wires are more expensive. If you want to practise and keep it affordable then I suggest you use craft wire.

How to make simple earwires:

Cut a piece of wire with your Wire Cutter. An approximate length of 8 cm / 3.1 inches will do.

Make a loop at one end with the Round Nose Plier.

Bend the end where you just made a loop using a marker pen (see pictures above). Make sure you bend the wire in the opposite direction of the loop you just made. You can always straighten the loop afterwards with a Flat Nose Plier.

Result (picture below):

Cut the excessive wire (straight end) with your Wire Cutter (first picture below):

And use your Flat Nose Plier (second picture above) to bend the end a tiny bit. This should be your end result (pictures below):

Earwires number 2

Tools: You will need the same tools: a Round Nose Plier, a Flat Nose Plier, a Wire Cutter and a marker pen.

Materials: Wire. Same length as in the previous example.

How to make wire wrapped earwires:

Hold the wire like shown on the picture with your Nose Plier. You should pinch your Nose Plier roughly a third from the right end.

Twist the shortest end of the wire around the Nose Plier to make a loop. Keep pinching the plier while you twist the short end of your wire around the long end of your wire. Do this with your other hand.

Keep twisting the wire with your other hand. When you are almost at the end of twisting the short end of the wire around the long end of the wire, use your Flat Nose Plier to tighten the end.

Like shown here (above).

You now have a wire wrapped loop.

This loop is not straight. Use a Nose Plier to straighten the loop.

There you go. And the result should be looking like this wire wrapped loop:

Use a marker pen to shape your earwire just like you did with the first example and make sure your loop lays flat against the marker pen.

Wrap the wire around the marker pen.

Shape it by hand until it has the form you desire. By now your earwire should look like this (picture above).

Now use your Flat Nose Plier to bend the loop inwards.

Your earwire should look like the picture above.

A close up of the earwire at this stage.

And bend the end of the wire with a Flat Nose Plier.

This is how the earwire should look like now. Picture above.

You can close this earwire and attach your beads to the loop.

You just made another earwire.

Good luck.

Tutorials

2010-02-10T22:03:00.000-08:00

At first I didn't know where to begin when I started blogging. And I wasn't sure if the subjects were interesting enough and worth reading. But I just kept writing about everything I could think of that had to do with my jewelry making (also everything that excites me really) and noticed in particular that the only post about the process from turning pieces of clay into jewelry items brought me more traffic on my blog.

Also a couple of people in my direct environment and via Twitter asked me how I started making jewelry and where they have to start making jewelry themselves.

So here we go. It is nice to be able to share techniques with you. Every person has different ideas and designs in mind. I decided to use 'Tutorials' as one of my labels and have more 'how to make'- posts on this blog. The tutorials are just basic techniques for you to get you started.

Just go to the labels 'Tutorials Wire Wrapping' and 'Tutorials Polymer Clay'.

Featuring Fantastic Artist Margreet Ledelay

2010-02-05T05:41:00.000-08:00

I would like to share Margreet Ledelay's Art with you. She is an amazing Artist creating sculptures, clips, images, paintings and drawings. She blogs about her creations and creativity here.

This picture is one of her pieces of Art that touches me the most (Untitled, 2005):

Other work of Margreet are a Daily Sketch ('Dagelijke Schets A5') and one of her impressive paintings ('z.t.') (below):

I contacted Margreet and asked her to describe her work and what inspires her the most:

'I like to draw complex organic shapes and forms in my pencil drawings, which I do now most in this time period.

These complex organic shapes and forms are a metaphor of wounds and scars. This I can find in nature structures. In this time period ( 2009- 2010) I meticulously study this as a daily discipline, and my drawings develop in a special way.

I dream to make sculptures as good as these drawings.

Two examples of these drawings you can find om my website, these drawings wil be available through twitterauction @140hours.'

Thank you for sharing your work and your thoughts with us, Margreet. This is Margreet Ledelay's website with some of her wonderful work. Do visit her site.
She also uses Twitter (@artstate).

You can view more featured artists and crafters on my blog here.

Creative Customer

2010-01-29T23:16:00.000-08:00

A customer saw the post of Mamasakio Scarf Lariat Necklaces on this blog and asked me if I could make her one in black and brick red. There are endless possibilities with this particular variant of Mamasakio Scarf Lariat Necklaces below (see video).

The creative customer showed me another way of wearing this type of Mamasakio Scarf Lariat Necklace:

Thank you, Marieke!

I made a similar one for my Etsy Shop. See the video below:

Click here to read a description and to purchase a slightly different Mamasakio Scarf Lariat Necklace in my Etsy Shop.

These Scarf Lariat Necklaces are also wearable as bracelets. Below are pictures from a Scarf Lariat Necklace with white glass pearls and black plated chain, another custom order:

And how to wear it as a bracelet:

Lay the necklace flat and put the ends together (above).

Wrap the chain around your wrist et voila... you just changed your scarf lariat necklace into a bracelet :-)

My Jewelry Gift Box

2010-01-22T08:02:00.000-08:00

All my handmade jewelry came in a gift pouch. Now it comes in a gift pouch or a jewelry gift box especially designed for my handmade jewelry by Daintie Designs. It just arrived this week.
I love the colours of the ribbons. They match with my logo and the brown 'Thanks' tag is a superb finishing touch.

The other boxes has arrived as well. I have three different types of boxes now:

Your own website

2010-01-18T22:09:00.000-08:00

Did you ever wanted your own website or create your own website? Well, I did.
I wanted to have my own website as a central point for all my activities. I had several online shops. I use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Photobucket and more for Mamasakio.
The only inconvenience is that I don't know anything about building sites, nor did 'webhosting' and 'domain names' or 'custom domain' make any sense to me.
Oh well, yes, I have a Dreamweaver Website Builder Certificate which I gained ages ago while I was working at my 'day job' in my 'former life' :-).

Anyway, 'Google-ing' all these terms to find out what I need to do to create my own website didn't get me any further, because everybody on the world wide web is throwing with more technical terms and abracadabra solutions that made me even more dizzy then I already was!
I just thought: I sign up for a webhost who had an easy to use website builder programme and then I will see what is possible.
No need to create headaches. Please read this post if you want your own website too.

'Webhosts', 'domain names', 'custom domain'

Let us just start from the beginning. I am sure I am not the only one who is or was struggling with all these terms.

A webhost is a company that provides a service so that companies, organisations and individuals can create their own website and others can access it on internet. For more information visit Wikipedia.

A domain name is the address you put on your address bar, for an example: http://www.mamasakio.com.
Here is an explanation of 'domain name'.
A 'custom domain' is just the name you want to use so people can type your chosen custom domain on their address bar to find your website. Here is a useful link how to choose a website domain name.

Your domain name is registered by your 'Domain Name Registrar'. Find an explanation here.
Now if you sign up, like I did, with a webhost, and you choose your custom domain, they will usually registrer your chosen custom domain with a Domain Name Registrar they partnered with.

I would like to focus on the possibilities you have when you are already blogging.

You already use Blogger to blog and you didn't register your custom domain yet

If you already blog on Blogger (www.yourname.blogger.com) you can change your blog and change it into www.yourname.com? That is if www.yourname.com is still available. Just follow these steps and check if it is available.

How do you change www.yourname.blogger.com into www.yourname.com?

Go to 'Dashboard'.
Go to 'Settings'.
Go to 'Publishing'.
Go to 'Custom Domain'.

On that page you will find instructions. It only cost you 10 USD for a year. Your domain will automatically be registered through a Google-partner.

Here is video on YouTube on how to purchase and set up a custom domain through Blogger.

And look at this example: Kara and Brooke Designs changed their blog into a custom domain.
Thanks for your advice, Kara!

More free Blogger Templates are available here.

You already blog with Blogger but you already have your custom domain registrered elsewhere

Please go to this page first and then read 'Your free website' on that page before you continue reading.

Your current webhost and your current domain name registrar can help you transfer your webhost to Blogger as your free webhost, because that is the only thing you need to do. Seek for their advice before you cancel your membership with your current webhost.

Wordpress

It is also possible to change your www.yourname.wordpress.com blog into a custom domain. I refer to Wordpress for instructions. And here is a helpful article from Belajarbanyak's blog.

Yola

It is also worth to take a look at Yola. You can sign up for free, create your own website and publish it. Yola provides free tools and free hosting. BUT, don't forget that you need to pay almost 20 USD a year when you buy / register a domain name.

What I have learned

I chose to stay with Blogger with my blog because www.mamasakio.blogger-visitors will be automatically re-directed to my future site. And I am, of course, more familiair with Blogger.

One of the positive side effects during this very frustrating couple of weeks is that I decided to focus on my Zibbet and Etsy shops only . The other online shops are empty at the moment until I reorganised Mamasakio or until I am ready to let the other online shops go.

Hopefully you will have less headache...

Please leave a comment if you have any other useful tips or if you have something else to add.

Mamasakio Scarf Lariat Necklaces

2010-01-15T20:53:00.000-08:00

Mamasakio Scarf Lariat Necklaces are necklaces you can wear just like you wear your scarves. The type of Scarf necklaces I create are also known as lariat necklaces. Lariat necklaces are necklaces you can wear in different ways. Mamasakio Scarf Lariat Necklaces are at least wearable in five different ways. And some of the versions are long enough to wear around your waist.

Below you can see two video's of the Scarf Lariat Necklaces in my Etsy Shop.

Special thanks to Mademoiselle Prisca for her music piece 'Noa'.

The item shown on the video is sold on Etsy.
I relisted a similar item. For a description and to purchase the slightly different necklace, please click here.
Go here for more Mamasakio necklaces on Etsy.

The same type of Scarf Lariat Necklace with the same red beads is available in my Zibbet Shop.
Here is a link for a description and to purchase the item.

This item shown on the video is sold. A similar item with difference in size is available here on Etsy.
More Scarf Lariat Necklaces are available in my Etsy Shop.
There is also a slightly different one available in my Zibbet Shop. Click here.

And here is a link to my Zibbet Shop with other Scarf Lariat Necklaces.

Copyright (C) 2010 Mamasakio. All rights reserved.

Working on my website

2010-01-08T01:30:00.001-08:00

Hello there,

It seems a bit quiet in Mamasakio Land, but behind the scenes it is busy busy busy.

I am working on my website, a central place where I can link all my relevant activities.

Be patient.... www.mamasakio.com will be online in March 2010 :-).

In the meantime you can keep updated here on my blog and on Facebook. Why not tweeting me on Twitter?

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2009-12-24T23:42:00.000-08:00

Christmas Shopping

2009-12-11T23:35:00.000-08:00

HELP

You probably have done your Christmas shopping.

Usually, I am very organised. Well, I have to be with Four Fantastic Creatures surrounding me and a usually 'Absent' Superman. But this year I haven't even started yet! Even though we are planning to avoid the Christmas madness, we will celebrate it with the whole family when we come back.

Well. It is 12 December. I'd better hurry. Thank God for internet!

Now here are Gift Guides from Etsy if you have the same hurdle to overcome:

Gift Guides under 25 USD
Gift Guides under 50 USD
Gift Guides under 100 USD
Statement Gift Guides.

Wow. I am blinded by the work of so many gifted artists while I go through the Guides. Look what an unusual piece of work I found by ArtByWinona on Etsy:

I definetely can't afford it, and I wouldn't know whom to give it to, but it is a fantastic piece of art!

And DO NOT forget to check out Zibbet! Blue Jane created this mysterious face:

Isn't this a nice gift for an art minded family member or friend?

Anyway, enjoy your weekend and good luck with your Christmas shopping! Wish me luck too!

Copyright © Mamasakio 2009

Quietness in Mamasakio Land

2009-12-06T00:06:00.000-08:00

We had a little break, My Superman and Our Fantastic Four.

Away from Cyber World, beads and jewelry findings.

The break was good for the flow of my creative juices as you most probably have noticed: new items in mainly my Zibbet corner, Etsy corner and exploring other online exposures (YouTube and more ways coming up soon).

We fled to Morocco. It was our third visit to that lovely country.
If you ever decide to visit Morocco, please go to Essouiara. One of my most favourite places on earth where artists get together. Every year, in June, the Gnaoua World Music festival is held in Essaouiara.

This time we went to Agadir where the Fantastic Four enjoyed the sun tickling their skins, the sand playing between their toes and the sea water making their hearts beat faster. There are lots of other things to do in and around Agadir.

I could not pass the near by city of jewelry makers of course and came home with a couple of beads: green and blue Mother of Pearl beads and brown beige Cat's Eyes beads:

Agadir has changed since we visited it the first time, eight years ago.
Back then the beaches in low season were empty except for a couple of orange sellers. Now it is has been discovered by Westerners. Investors and pensioners from abroad have settled in Agadir.

But also the present King Mohammed VI who reigns since 1999 made it possible for the country to bloom by creating work especially in the area where we have been. One of his palaces is in Agadir by the way.
He obtained his doctorate in Law (PhD) and granted women for an example more power, into effect in February 2004. Cheer cheer for King Mohammed VI.

Inhabitants of Agadir applaud the efforts of the King, but at the same time they made us aware that to get a taste of Moroccan culture we should get away from Agadir.
Luckily, we experienced and visited other parts of Morocco before.
But I do understand the concern of the people and their changing country. Even though change and the influence of the Western world is not always negative as developments for an example in the Moroccan film industry show.

We only went for a week but we all did enjoy the peacefulness of the beautiful country, the

tagines, couscous and oh my God the fish dishes (!), the change of environment, a different pace, the child friendly people...

Now. Back to the Rat Race....

Copyright © Mamasakio 2009

YouTube

2009-11-30T20:55:00.001-08:00

With millions of visitors YouTube is one of the most important popular mediums online.

For us, crafters, it is a brilliant way to show our products: I have uploaded three Mamasakio BraceLaces (bracelets and necklaces in one) yesterday. I usually mention uploads on YouTube on my Facebook Page and tweet about it which I will do today.

My first uploads:

You will get more hits on YouTube if you add tutorial video's (the 'how to' video's). In my case with the handmade jewelry making business it would have a title like 'how to make earwires'.
For now I will publish my unique handmade jewelry for sale in my online shops and different ways of wearing the BraceLaces I designed and made.

It is worth it. Read more about using YouTube as a tool:
an interesting article from Ryan and how it helped his business, here is a useful article on how to get started and an article about how to use YouTube for Business.

Copyright © Mamasakio 2009

Winner of the November Giveaway

2009-11-30T20:49:00.000-08:00

The silver plated Mamasakio Joy Earrings with freshwater pearls, the November Giveaway...
... will go to... Jennifer!

Congratulations Jennifer.

I will post the December / January Giveaway as soon as possible, a Mamasakio bracelace, a bracelet and necklace in one, or earrings. I don't know what to give away yet. And because of the Crazy Season I might post a giveaway and announce the winner at the end of January next year.
Sign yourself up as a follower of this blog to get a chance to win.

Enjoy your day!

Copyright © Mamasakio 2009

Results Project Wonderful

2009-11-09T21:01:00.000-08:00

I blogged about Project Wonderful, an advertising broker, before and how you create an Advertising Campaign with Project Wonderful.

I have tried it myself for my Zibbet Shop. In the four days that I have been bidding on advertisement spaces online I had more visitors in my shop then I would have without advertising through Project Wonderful. The amount of people stopping by exceeded my average number of visits in a whole month! It trippled! So it does work.

I still think though that the best way to get yourself known is:

to create as much as possible
list your items on a daily basis
announce your new items as status updates on your Facebook Fan Page
announce your new items as status updates on your Facebook Personal Account
updates on your Twitter account.

November Giveaway

2009-11-09T19:44:00.000-08:00

The November Giveaway are Mamasakio silver plated Joy Earrings with Freshwater pearls. Go to my post about Custom Orders and scroll down to 'Rain Pebbles Desire' for information about pearls and go to Instructions how to wear Mamasakio Joy Earrings on my blog.

Measurements of this month's giveaway:

2.7 cm long
1.5 cm widest part
beads measurement: 6 mm.

If you want to enter this competition, write me an e-mail (mamasakio@hotmail.com) with the subject 'November Giveaway'. The winner will be announced on Monday 30 November.

Good luck everybody!

Copyright © Mamasakio 2009

More new beads...

2009-11-05T14:13:00.000-08:00

I bought some lovely beads today and I have to show them to you.

The picture above is a picture of freshwater pearls in the colours gold and peach. I am planning to make Mamasakio BraceLaces with the pearls.

Below is a picture of wooden beads in the colours dark red, purple and grey:

Don't forget my green acrylic beads. Green is one of my favourite colours:

And I love the massive silver coloured beads below:

I am thinking of making earrings and necklaces with these. And I am not entirely sure what to do with the rest of the beads, but a design will come up, as long as I stare at the beads, put them away, walk around the block, park or forest, getting busy with other things and start all over again until I've got 'it'.

Keep an eye on my shops: available as pieces of jewellery soon.

Don't forget to smile today :-)

Copyright © Mamasakio 2009

Promote Your Shop With Project Wonderful

2009-11-04T21:11:00.001-08:00

Winner of the October Giveaway

2009-10-31T12:52:00.000-07:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEEEEEEEN EVERYBODY! My two youngest daughters, Robyn and Rylee, in their pyama's helped me this evening to pick the winner of the October Giveaway, a Sterling Silver adjustable ring with disc shaped grey Mother of Pearl Beads.

And the Winner is: Carol. With special thanks to Robyn!

Congratulations Carol. The ring is on it's way!

I will post the November Giveaway next week on this blog. Don't forget to tell your family and friends they can join by following me on my blog :-)

Copyright © Mamasakio 2009

Project Wonderful

2009-10-31T08:37:00.001-07:00

The first time I heard about Project Wonderful, an advertising broker, was through Zibbet.
Zibbet encourages Zibbeters to promote their shop through Project Wonderful.

If you have a tight budget this could be an affordable way to advertise your online shop(s).
Instead of paying a fixed amount for advertising, you bid on advertising space on the site(s) you prefer. And the cool thing about this system is that you decide what to pay and when you pay.

Read more about it here and here.

And especially for Zibbeters, here is a link with a clear explanation of how it works.

I will give it a try and report my results on this blog.

Copyright © Mamasakio 2009

Mamasakio Shop on DaWanda

2009-10-27T01:28:00.001-07:00

I had to make a decision concerning my DaWanda shop this weekend.
Even though I had almost 600 views of my items since I joined DaWanda, five months ago, I didn't manage to get one sale.

Because I still want to be part of an European site I will keep my DaWanda account and leave one item in my shop. I might change my mind in the future.....

If you are looking for other (European) communities where you can sell your work, please read this post from Modish Biz Tips.

ArtFire

I will delete a couple of items from my DaWanda Shop and add it on my ArtFire Shop until I reached my maximum of 12 items at a time with my Basic Account on Artfire.

Copyright © Mamasakio 2009

Mamasakio on Photobucket

2009-10-16T13:15:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share my first slideshow on Photobucket. Because of limited space for pictures in my shops, you can add 4 to 5 pictures at the most, I joined Photobucket. You can put pictures, videos and make slideshows on Photobucket and put a link to Photobucket in the description of an item in your shop(s).

Here is a slideshow from a Mamasakio BraceLace in Red Coral available in my Zibbet shop:

Mamasakio on Artfire

2009-10-15T22:28:00.001-07:00

Just added some of my Mamasakio Creations on Artfire:

Artfire is what Zibbet would be like once they get going.

Artfire is a similar handmade online community like Etsy, DaWanda and Zibbet. And they have started less than a year ago, but doing really fantastic!

At the moment Artfire is offering free listing for unlimited items this holiday! So join Artfire.
Usually you can list 12 items at a time with a Basic Account for free.

You can upgrade your account from a Basic Account to a full feature Verified flat rate account at any time. An upgraded account costs you 12 USD a month. These are some of the advantages of joining Artfire with a Verified Account:

Unlimited products in your studio / Artfire Shop
Up to 10 images per product
No listing fees
Access to verified only forum rooms
Customizable Studio
Studio Stats Page (track views and URL's that link to your studio and products).
One of the newest features I like is that you can add your Artfire items on your Facebook Page Account and people can directly buy your items via this social networking site.
Check Artfire out, please for more detailed information.

What I also like about Artfire is the fact that you can choose to be added on their database for Google Merchant.
You can also use the new Etsy Import Tool and add your Etsy items onto their Google Merchant database for basic members soon (end of October is the plan).
AND when you open the webpage to purchase an item it is priced in the currency of your country. For more information, please go to my post about Google Merchant Center.

Worth a try...

Copyright © Mamasakio 2009

Joining Online Communities and their terms and conditions

2009-10-08T22:39:00.000-07:00

In my previous posts I blogged about joining different online communities.

I joined Zibbet, Etsy and DaWanda.

Please do make sure that you read their terms and conditions before you join.

As far as I know DaWanda for an example will not permit you to mention your other shops on other online communities.

Etsy will not allow you to list the same items listed on your other online community shops, but they think it is OK to mention your other shops.

Zibbet allows you to mention your other online community shops too AND you can even place widgetboxes on your homepage from your other online community shops with a Premium Account! Zibbet is my favourite ;-)

Copyright © Mamasakio 2009

San's Retro 80s Jewelry

2009-10-03T00:46:00.001-07:00

San is a friend of our family and she is totally mad about jewelry in the style of the 1980s. It was her birthday and I wanted to give her my unique handmade piece of Mamasakio jewelry especially designed for her.
San has two jobs. She runs a pedicure salon and works in a theatre. She definetely can't wear rings when she treats people in her salon.
That is why I made San a piece of jewelry which she can wear in different ways. I made her a wrap around bracelet with Rock Crystal which she can also use as a necklace. She can wear the necklace in four different ways, depending on her mood and her choice of clothes.
I call this design 'Mamasakio BraceLace', a bracelet and a necklace in one.
Rock Crystal is a semi precious stone. It helps to strenghten your consciousness and is ideal for meditation. Rock Crystal helps you to get a clear outlook on life.

And this is the result:

As a bracelet during the day while she is working in her pedicure salon (picture above).

As a choker when she is busy in the theatre (necklace way number one).
See picture above.

Very chic with a dress when she goes out (necklace number 2 way).
See picture above.

Very different wearing the clasp from the side (necklace number 3 way) so the beads dangle from one side, on the left of the picture above.

And as a long necklace with dangling beads at one side (necklace number 4 way).
See picture above.

Rosaries

2009-10-02T03:07:00.001-07:00

I went to Catholic schools when I was younger. And because our family moved about a bit we attended a couple of them. Some schools were very strict and I was taught by Nuns. I still remember one particular Nun. She taught me to enjoy nature and taught me how to do my laces up ;-). I forgot her name, but I will never forget HER. Anyway, one of the things I do recall is that My Nun used to wear her wooden Rosary necklace. I can still picture her and her dangling Rosary around her neck while she was busy in the Monastry patio.

When Leticia, a teenage daughter of my friend, suggested to add Rosaries to my collection it obviously brought back memories. After creating my first Handmade Mamasakio Rosary Necklaces I decided to make some more. This is my Mamasakio Rosary Moment.

Most of my Rosaries are different from the traditional ones. Some are more traditional in size and in design; others are more designs derived from the originals.

Like I wrote before. Rosaries are very popular amongst young people at the moment, both men and women.
Did you by any chance see X-Factor's contestants at Boot Camp at the Judges Houses? Lloyds Daniels and Jamie Archer are wearing Rosary Necklaces and my favourite Danyl Johnson is wearing his on his wrist.

And here is suitable background music from Sinead O'Connor's 'Make Me A Channel Of Your Peace' when you watch the slideshow below.

Here is a slideshow of the rosaries I have made recently.

Mamasakio October Giveaway

2009-10-01T12:33:00.001-07:00

Yep. My first giveaway, my Mamasakio October 2009 Giveaway.

There is a similar ring in another colour in my Etsy shop.

The description of this Grey Mother of Pearl Cluster Ring Mamasakio October 2009 Giveaway:
The disc beads are Mother of Pearls and grey with tiny bits of darker grey on the edges. The sterling silver ring base is adjustable from roughly size 6 but the beauty of the beads come out better when you have US size 8 to 10. The ring would not feel comfortable if you have a larger than 10 US ring size. You can determine your ringsize and convert the US ringsize in your preferred size here.
The ring weighs 23 grams and the diameter of the beads is 1 cm / 0.4 inch. Thanks to Mother Nature the beads are not entirely the same ;-)

Only followers of my blog can have a chance to win this gorgeous ring. I will also add a copy of this ring in one of my shops soon if you don't win the ring. You can still purchase it ;-)

For a chance to win, please send an e-mail to mamasakio@hotmail.com with the subject October Giveaway. The winner will be announched on 31 October 2009 on my blog.
Good luck everybody!

Copyright © Mamasakio 2009

More traffic using Google Base or Google Merchant Center

2009-09-27T00:31:00.000-07:00

It is a nice Sunday. The sun shines as it is supposed to shine on a SUNday, birds are singing.... and I am thinking of Google Base and how to get more traffic to my shops...

Google Base or Google Merchant Center

Have you ever heard of Google Base? On Wikipedia Google Base is defined as 'an online database provided by Google into which any user can add almost any type of content, such as text, images, and structured information in formats like XML, PDF, Excel, RTF, Word Perfect.'

Google converts your data into Google Language. So if people look for unusual handmade earrings with ruby gemstones (fellow jewellery makers) your earrings should come up, higher ranked, in the Google search engine if you submit your data to Google via Google Base.
By the way, Google has changed the name Google Base recently into Google Merchant Center.

How do I work with Google Merchant Center?

Let's start with getting you signed up for a Google Account if you haven't already have one.
Then follow the instructions given here.

Google Base / Google Merchant Center for Etsians

If you have an Etsy shop, simply follow Letsets steps to promote your Etsy shop.
Also a very helpful tool, Etsians, is Etsy Seller's Guide to Search Engine Optimization. And do read Etsy Technology Help blog from MagnetGames, also a seller on Etsy. She is absolutely brilliant!

I uploaded my bulkfile for Etsy with Letsets help.
That is done and we will see what happens.

Google Base or Google Merchant Center for my Zibbet shop

But what if you haven't got an Etsy shop, how do you 'get' your file with information about your handmade products into Cyber World?
How would you be able to use the Google Merchant Center?
Would it work for my other shops, i.e. Zibbet and DaWanda?

I am currently more active selling my handmade jewellery on Etsy and Zibbet.
It is quiet on DaWand a - the English platform is very low profile :-( . So I will have a try out with Zibbet.

Another thing is as well that you can specify your target country with Google Merchant Center BUT the website you give in the General Settings should be in the language of the target country and your items should be priced in the currency of your target country.
Google Merchant Center would not allow my DaWanda data base with Germany as my target country because the site is in English and my items are priced in Euros.
Google Merchant Center (in their - experimental - Beta stage as they call it) offers limited target countries at the moment: UK, US and Germany (d.d. October 2009).
Thus, for now I can only target the US with my Zibbet and Etsy items because they are both priced in USD and the sites are in English.

I contacted Zibbet by the way about using Google Base and they told me that they are busy to get their data 'Google Merchant Center' - ready. So Zibbeters: you don't have to worry about uploading your data manually onto Google Merchant Center in the near future. Zibbet will automatically put details of your items through Google Merchant Center! I will keep you updated.

As you might know, Zibbet has just started. They are also working hard to price your items in different currencies other than USD on their website. Pricing in different currencies makes the number of target countries in Google Merchant Center larger.
Your Zibbet corner is in English. So your target countries could be the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada and your items should then be priced in US dollars, British Pounds, Australian Dollars, New Zealand Dollars and Canadian Dollars to get the maximum out of Google Merchant Center's free services. We just need to wait for Google Merchant Center to make all this possible.

I really recommend to get on the Zibbet-wagon, because there are more exciting features to come...
Again, we still do have to wait until Google is also ready to add more countries AND sites in other languages not necessarily connected with the different currencies, allow several ways of paying for products and services. Yes, there is so much more to add and improve....

Back to creating your data base... You can keep it very simple.
Go to this Google Merchant Center page to create your file.
Make sure the description of your items does not contain promotional text or Google Base will ignore you.

I used an Excel file. Don't forget to save it as an Excel file first and save it again as a .txt document. You can use this .txt file to upload your data in Data Feed.
After a while you will see if uploading was successfull. If your upload failed Google Merchant Center gives you suggestions to change or add data.
Make sure you follow the instructions correctly. Click here for Google's instructions on how to make an Excel bulk opload file.

My handmade file for Zibbet is now successfully uploaded.

I will let you know the results.

Good luck and if you have any questions e-mail me: mamasakio@hotmail.com. I might be able to help.

Copyright © Mamasakio 2009

I AM YOURS

2009-09-26T06:20:00.000-07:00

Turn up the volume, Jason Mraz' and his 'I'm yours' is one of my favourite songs. So nice to have as background music while I am creating... '... open up your mind and see like me...'... '... open up your plans and man you are free'... 'look into your heart and you'll find that the sky is yours'.
The song opens up my heart, and hopefully yours too... just scroll down at the rhythym of the music pe-lease... wait wait wait with scrolling down when the music starts... and have a look at my latest handmade jewellery creations which I made with Jason at the background. I am one of the ladies in the audience by the way ;-) LOL... More information after the pictures....

Russell Grant, a well known astrologer, inspired me. You can watch his video horoscopes online. I love to watch him.
He also has a monthly (paper) newsletter. In the September 2009 edition he predicted that Leo's (yes, I am one of them) will enjoy their creativity including jewellery making and writing and that Leo's would be very satisfied doing this ;-) ...
Well Russell... you couldn't be more accurate!

You can find these Zodiac Sign Necklaces inspired by Russell in my Zibbet shop!
Zodiac Sign rings coming up soon....

Have a very lovely day and hum his song along with whatever you do today ;-) !

Copyright © Mamasakio 2009

My Black Beauty

2009-09-24T01:20:00.000-07:00

Now something completely different! Just wanted to share my Black Beauty with you. My husband and I are lovers of public transport but with a big family like ours we do need a car even if it is for doing food shopping only. We chose for this Black Beauty, a London Cab. Brilliant spacious from the inside, perfect round shaped forms and THE ideal maximum (50 miles an hour) speed I need in a 24/7 economy (yes I know I am different!).
WOW look at it, it just screams to be hugged!
Next year in preparation of the Olympics 2012 in London you will not see these Fairways operating as taxi's anymore. The Mayor of London wants to change all of these types into newer versions. What ashame! My Black Beauty is already a classic.

Don't forget to smile today ;-) Copyright © Mamasakio 2009

Tops!

2009-09-22T00:37:00.000-07:00

Tops. I love my tops, don't you????

The top picture is made by AstridLand, a black long-sleeved wrap top, available in her Zibbet corner. Astridland creates dresses / clothing, bags and jewellery.

Green, any colour green, is most definetely one of the colours I would like to be seen in.
Check this top out (picture below) from TopsyCurveyDesigns. Just amazing!

Go for more fabulous creations to Etsy's TopsyCurveyDesigns!

And, see picture below, a something completely different stylish DaWanda's Idea2lifestyle wear, Missing You.

Copyright © Mamasakio 2009

Getting Organised

2009-09-21T22:41:00.001-07:00

Working from home is great. The best thing about it is that you can decide whenever you want to work and also where (computer work, sofa, your work table if you have one or kitchen table). Above is a picture of my work table.

Whether you have other obligations or not, you still have to get organised! This blog post is more a reminder for myself then anything else.

What do I do at the moment apart from creating to get myself known in Cyber World?

I blog, I use Facebook Fan Page, I Twitter if I have time, I try to list on Zibbet, Etsy and DaWanda as much as I can. Well 25 pieces on Zibbet is a maximum for me now. I am focusing on listing on Etsy and DaWanda.

Why do I put so much energy in other activities besides creating?

Blogging

I consider blogging as the core of my online activities. And as you can see I stopped writing my blog in two languages because it is time consuming. Blogging keeps me motivated. I blog about other artists and artisans (they are in the same boat) and I blog about my own work (wow, am I not wonderful creating all this ;-)) and the business side of getting yourself known online.
Blogging is rewarding, no one else will pet your back. You have to do it yourself! Like I said, blog about your favourite creations and wow other artists and artisans because that's how great you want to be!
Here are other tips from Modish Biz Tips.

Even though social networking or networking in general are strange to me and online marketing too, I jumped into using Facebook and Twitter as marketing tools.
I get a lot of feedback from Facebook Fans which is great.
I am not entirely sure about Twitter, but maybe it is because I am not constantly twittering, tweeting? Whatever term they use to chat to each other...

Zibbet, Etsy, DaWanda

Now why three different shops? The reason why I didn't start my own website is that I have to put more effort in online marketing and find the proper tools to let people all over the world know that I exist.
I mentioned a couple of reasons when I opened my shops after the Summer Holiday why I joined three different communities.
Zibbet is Australian based, Etsy is American based and DaWanda is European based. That is reason number one. I want the world to know me.

Etsy

Etsy is established and therefor, for me, a must to open an account.
Etsians are fantastic helpers when you have questions, and I find that they are very loyal to Etsy.

Zibbet

I love Zibbet's features and their personal approach to sellers and buyers.
You watch Zibbet. They are going to be absolutely great. Join Zibbet! You will be part of a pioneer group. They listen to what you have to say.

DaWanda

Now DaWanda. The English Platform for DaWanda is a try out, like joining DaWanda is for me. We will just have to see how it goes. They have fantastic sellers and products.
And if you just type your shop name in your search engine, your DaWanda shop will most definetely be on the top of the list.
I use the same wording in my profile and shop in the three different shops, but DaWanda is always first on my search engine list.
Now, there is more to say about keywords (see Google and keywords for more information), but DaWanda's SEO (Search Engine Optimizer) is fantastic.

There are a lot of articles out there about online marketing and the three communities I have joined have their own tips and tools:

Zibbet - tips from Zibbet
Etsy - this is a Etsy thread - thank you Etsians!
DaWanda - this is a link to DaWanda's forum and their helpful people.

Back to organising...

Got a bit carried away there... Yes, back to organising....
I usually do my online activities during the day and create in the evening and sometimes late at night. I am trying to swap these activities.

Once a week I post pictures of my updated albums Zibbet, Etsy and DaWanda showing Mamasakio creations for my fans on Facebook.
I will Twitter on Friday and Monday.
I make custom orders usually on Tuesday to Thursday in the day time.
I try to list as much as possible from Thursday to Tuesday.

Will this new schedule work? I will get back to you....

Writing this... an Etsian was featured not so long ago using none of these tools. She just worked hard. Created, listed, created, listed, etc....

Copyright © Mamasakio 2009