Sunday, June 6, 2010

Blog Party Sunday, Show Us Gifts For Dads and Granddads

Since it will be Father's Day real soon, June 20, show us what you have for sale in your shops or on your website suitable for a gift for Dad or Grandpa.

I have some printables for father's day. This one is a gift card envelope and it's available in my ArtFire studio. www.ewenmeprintables.ArtFire.com


Show Us Yours:
So, now it’s YOUR turn for the party this week! What do you have listed for Father's Day?

Our guidelines:

1. Just click on the Add Your Link button below, and add your Etsy, Artfire, Blog or website url for the link.

2. Add a picture of your item.

3. If you are a blogger, please add our button to your blog and invite your readers back to join the party.

4. Family friendly items only, please.




Saturday, June 5, 2010

Handmade Sampler Giveaway ---Firecracker Kid ---DONE----

Welcome to another handmade sampler giveaway.   This giveaway is sponsored by Firecracker Kid.
www.etsy.com/shop/firecrackerkid

                         Primitive Farmhouse Soap Stand


Carol says, "This is what Tim and I do with our small leftover wood pieces. We make small woodcrafts. I'm after him all the time to make me small woodcrafts with our leftovers. It's on his "Honey Do List".


This Primitive stand for your old homemade farmhouse soaps is topped with punched copper that has been nailed on. The legs are held in place by dowels and nails. Handmade by hubby and finished by me in Ohio Cupboard Rust milk paint. Measures 5 inch x 5 inch x 1 3/4 inch.   A simple little piece that would add a lot of Primitive charm in your home."


The giveaway is for the soap stand only.  The other items in the pictures are for demonstration purposes only.

You can earn up to four entries by doing the following...

1. Visit www.etsy.com/shop/firecrackerkid and come back here and post a comment with your favorite item on the website. Be sure and leave your email address so we can contact you if you win.


2. Earn one extra entry by becoming a follower of this blog. Already a follower? Just let us know so we can give you credit.

3.  and  4. Earn TWO extra entries by posting this giveaway on your blog along with a link to this blog. Be sure and let us know you have done this.

(USA and Canada entries only, please)

The giveaway will start today, Saturday, June 5, and the winner will be announced on Friday, June 18. We will announce it here and contact you by the email address you have left. Final day to enter is Thursday, June 17, 2010.


Have fun and good luck!

Friday, June 4, 2010

We Have a Winner for the Pattern Giveaway

Congratulations to Tammy from Illinois on winning the Pattern sampler giveaway.

Meet Tammy on her blog A Primitive Place 


We would like to thank all these wonderful designers for donating their patterns to this great giveaway.
1 - www.twodancingcrows.com
2 - www.mamawscreations.com
3 - www.homespunfromtheheart.com
4 - www.catandthefiddledesigns.com
5 - www.saveourhooters.com
6 - www.myprimraggedies.net
7 - www.tennesseeridgeprimitives.com
8 - www.bettestomorrowstreasures.com
9 - www.whimsicalendeavors.blogspot.com
10 - www.snugglebugprimblessins.com




The winner was picked using the true generator on Random.org.    We want to thank all of you who took the time to enter and for all the wonderful comments.


Be sure and come back again tomorrow as we will have a new giveaway starting that you won't want to miss. 

Bette Shaw
www.ByYourHands.com

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Today's Featured Craft Business Owner is Kelle Arvay


Today we are featuring a craft business owner, Kelle Arvay.



Kelle is the owner of Patternmart, Instant Printables, IPMPro, and Two Dancing Crows.

Kelle started out 9 years ago as a designer of doll patterns and was very successful at it for a number of years.

Six years ago, her innovative mind led her to coming up with a way to automate the sale and delivery process of epatterns.

Paypal solved the problem of receiving payments but she wanted to offer a way where customers could receive their pattern instantly after they made their purchase.
She also wanted to help designers free up some of their time by creating the automated system so they didn’t have to email patterns to customers. Thus, Pattern Mart, Instant Printables and IPMPro became a reality after a 2 year research and development process.

Today Patternmart is the premier place to buy and sell patterns. There are thousands of patterns from almost 200 designers available for your crafting enjoyment. And of course, there is no waiting to start crafting because you will receive your patterns as soon as you make your purchase.
Instant Printables,  offers all kinds of printables for instant download,  too.

Kelle is always looking for ways to grow her business. And continuously looks for ways to improve features on all of her business sites as well as promote Creative Times magazine, another of Kelle's sidelines, in more creative ways.
Kelle's mind is always working and she has a new business idea she is working on and hopes to have ready to launch by early 2011.

Kelle is a WAHM business owner and her work day begins at 8am and while she tries hard to end the day by 6pm, she does find that she checks emails after that time and occasionally will work on less urgent things such as updating her blog. There is a lot of flexibility in being a work at home mom and the type of businesses she has.
She has a wonderful assistant and 95% of the time the websites themselves run on autopilot so that adds to the flexibility of her schedule. For example; things like dentist appointments or simple errands are easy to accomplish.

The things she loves about her work is the freedom it affords her and she really enjoys working with designers which comes from her own passion for doll making and pattern designing.

She also enjoy challenges and is constantly looking at new ways to improve the function of her business websites.
She feels one of the most important things to consider before starting any business is that if you aren’t passionate about it you will quickly burn out.

Each of her businesses has something to offer craft-minded people, whether they are customers looking for patterns, printables or online classes.
At the other spectrum, Pattern Mart, Instant Printables and IPMPro affords designers the ability to automate their pattern business.
Creative Times Magazine also offers readers artistic inspiration and companies an affordable advertising venue to reach their target market. Essentially, Kelle has something for everyone that is in the Arts and Crafts industry.

Here are a few pictures of some of Kelle's own designer patterns where it all began for her.



Kelle Arvay may be found here.
http://www.PatternMart.com
http://www.InstantPrintables.com
http://www.IPMPro.com
http://www.EcraftClasses.com
http://www.CreativeTimesMagazine.com
http://www.TwoDancingCrows.etsy.com 

Thank you for visiting us today.
Bette Shaw
ByYourHands.com

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Handmade Spotlight - Poppytalk Handmade

Ever hear of Poppytalk Handmade? I hadn't, until today.

Poppytalk Handmade is a monthly online street market curated by www.Poppytalk.blogspot.com to showcase, buy and sell handmade goods of emerging design talent from around the world.

Check out some of these neat items I found...