Saturday, June 20, 2009

handmadefeed.com

Tim Adam has a new site linking all of your handmade shops, blogs and social networking sites in one place, handmadefeed.com check it out and link away! comes with a descriptive button too.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

seo and etsy

if you are seller on etsy this issue of etsy changing meta tags in your shop may have affected your exposure on google search and impacted your sales and you may have been completely unaware of it.

this is a posting from sara hicks on etsy, SEO Announcement - 6/18/09 it's of great interest to all sellers on etsy and i urge you to read it.

off to find another seed bead artists ;)

boreal





just a few photos from a hike i took this afternoon.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

changes

i have sold my jewelry on etsy for two and a half years and have done well. i love the site and i want to continue selling there. but in the end it all comes down to business is business. since the infusion of 27 million dollars from investors and the change in business leadership etsy has shown that etsy will do what is best for etsy and i can respect that. i do what is best for my business too.

since the new search change and now with etsy adding meta tags to our shop title, many seller's sales have dropped dramatically and no longer show up in google search. a couple of sellers noticed that change in April of this year and have spent considerable amount of time and great determination to figure out why such a change in the views of items, google alerts and outside sales that originated from google search had dropped so dramatically.

well, what was discovered was that since April of this year etsy had inserted additional meta tags into our shops. the insertion of "handmade" was placed before every item description or name we had listed in our shop. we protested, many of us were very upset to learn that there was a "handmade" tag inserted in front of everything! finally etsy saw the error of their ways and removed the handmade meta tag on June 11th after the uproar in the forums. but what remains is the meta tags that etsy inserted in our shop titles.

the "archaicdesign on Etsy" was inserted into my shop title without my knowledge or consent. it takes up considerable real estate meta tag space. nor, did etsy ever inform any of it's sellers that this was done back in April of this year.

i think i can speak for many sellers that are protesting this change because we really want etsy to succeed, when etsy sellers succeed etsy in turn will succeed. the etsy admin have not said one word in regards to our forum threads, they only seem to want to close them. here are a few threads and a petition that is happening now on etsy. i can't guarantee that these threads will be open if you chose to read them but i will try to post relevant threads in case these are closed too.

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6186413

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6189887

Saturday, June 13, 2009

the art of bead work




Darcy Horn of The Jade Dog Designs

i knew that when i started featuring and writing about seed bead artists that i wanted to feature Darcy Horn of The Jade Dog Designs her work is so diverse and interesting that it shouldn't be missed, i love her combination of metal and her seed bead art work within her jewelry. the top and bottom photos are from embellished bags the middle photo is of an intricate necklace, please take a closer look at her beautiful pieces. when looking through her shop i hadn't realized just how diverse and beautiful her work truly is, it's gorgeous and her photos tell all!

please be sure to check out her shop, thank you Darcy!

adding a third column on blogger

want to add a third column to your blogspot? this site is the best i've found, I am severely html impaired and only took about 2 hours for me, but for you? probably fifteen minutes! I have to admit that I am not sure I like it but will give it a whirl, I like a cleaner simpler look to a blog. I am thinking of offering advertising spots on my blog, thus the third column. here is the site, three column bogger.

just a quick note on banner size, it needs to be 928 by 100 px to fit within the outline for the 'minima' layout.

Friday, June 12, 2009

metals class



it looks as though Addie is about to be bopped on the head, not true! she was wonderful throughout the class, so was Jesse! and can't forget the class photo ;)


susan lenert kazmer



i took two classes from susan lenert kazmer, a patina on metal class and an ancient metal weaving class. here are a couple of photos, i wish i had better images to show you, if you ever get the chance to take a class from her, do it, you will not regret a minute of it!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

master class with alan revere




the bead and button show classes and shopping where a blast. i wish i had the energy of someone a few years, ok, a lot of years younger than my 51 years! what a frenzy!

the first three days were with alan revere, what an incredible teacher! ask him any question relating to metalsmithing and he is so willing share his 30 years of experience and knowledge with you! a total technique person :0 thanks alan! i learned a so much in his class!

the next two days were with susan lenart kazmer in a totally opposite perspective with technique, almost anything goes! susan is limitless when it comes to getting a desired result. always creative taking her classes.

i will post more photos of both classes within the next day or two.