Today's Featured Artists --- The Old Farmhouse Gathering Etsy Team

Today's featured artist is actually a group of artists that belong to an Etsy team,   The Old Farmhouse Gathering.

It is a talented, professional group of artisans who create everything from Primitive to Shabby Chic, with an old fashioned flair!

Here is just a small sampling of some of the team's handmade items you can find on Etsy.

Beautiful hand painting from the Fox Glove Folkart shop.     http://www.etsy.com/shop/foxglovefolkart

Adorable handmade mice from the Warmth shop.   http://www.etsy.com/shop/Warmth

Awesome handmade wood furnishings from the Firecracker Kid shop.   http://www.etsy.com/shop/firecrackerkid

Lovely handwoven baskets made by Rose.    http://www.etsy.com/shop/basketsbyrose

The OFG Team is having a Halloween celebration on Etsy right now.   Just search HCOFG under handmade on Etsy to see all the wonderful items for sale.

Here is a treasury I put together of some of the items in the celebration.  If you click on a picture it will take you to that artist's shop.

'Halloween Celebration' by HandmadeByBette

Halloween Primitive Spooky S... Primgal $12	PRIMITIVE GRUNGY HALLOWEEN C... VintageKeepsak... $33
Primitive Stitchery HALLOWEE... wvluckygirl $9.99	Primitive Folk Art Halloween... CaveCreekStudi... $25
Washcloth - Crochet- Purple,... tinsandtreasur... $4	By Pumpkins Fat Pillow Thecountrystor... $15
Wool Appliqued Pillow Pumpki... TeresasPrimTre... $14.95	Fall Floral (Terrye French) ... adorablecc $49.95
A Tiny Bit of Halloween barbsheartstro... $12	Handpainted Scarecrow -Harve... catsdesigns $21.95
Pumpkin Head Tucks Set of Th... RustyThimble $14.99	A Touch of Sunshine - Wicked... atouchofsunshi... $22
Primitive Red Rooster Poultr... YorkiesPrimiti... $10	Folk Art Halloween Witch Spi... raggedyjan $30.98
Mouse, Jack-o-Lantern, Bucke... MotherlodeToad $20	The House Of Spooks Sign, HC... icehousecrafts $16.99

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

Some places to find the Old Farmhouse Gathering.

The Old Farmhouse Gathering will soon be having their annual  Holiday Gift Basket giveaway.   Details will be available on the team blog in a few weeks.
http://oldfarmhousegathering.blogspot.com

You can visit most of the individual shops on the OFG Artisan Blog.
http://oldfarmhousegatheringartisans.blogspot.com/

There is also the team cooking blog with recipes from the members.
http://oldfarmhousecooking.blogspot.com/

Thanks for visiting today.
Bette
www.byyourhands.com

It's Kinda Corny...

For today's handmade spotlight I'm featuring candy corn... but it's not your traditional candy corn. Enjoy!!

'It's Kinda Corny...' by ewenmeprintables

Candy Corn Cookies peacelovecooki... $24	Candy Corn Coasters Orange Y... Lilena $9.5
CANDY CORN Twirl Skirt sandyland1955 $5	A dozen Candy Corn Lollipops MandiesCandies $15
Candy Corn Earrings on Sterl... helensadornmen... $14.5	Halloween Candy Corn Wood Ti... artyscapes $9.99
Crochet Village Halloween Gh... CrochetVillage $7.99	Candy Corn Halloween Tag in ... Kimbals $3.95
Halloween Candy Corn Embroid... petuniapetals $18	Corny Candy Clippie 2littlelovelie... $10
2 Crazy Candy Corn Melting T... Countryhomesce... $1.95	Candy Corn Hair Clip PrettyBowsBout... $5
Custom Boutique Halloween Ca... sweetsassybout... $49.99	Candy Corn Beads Handcrafted... BarbiesBest $6.75
Fancy Candy Corn Ring zebracakes $15	Plush Candy Corn with face H... mypapercrane $15

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

Tuesday Tutorial - Pets

Do you sew for your pets? Pet products can be very expensive and this is a good way to save a little money and pamper our furry family members.

How about learning to make a collar and leash. This tutorial is by Sew 4 Home.

Here is a cute dog bed tutorial on BHG.

Having 5 cats I know that litter boxes can be a real problem sometimes.    Here is one you can make yourself from a rubbermaid container.  Use it with or without a cover on it.   Pet Project Blog

Look at this unusual cat bed made from a couple of carpet samples.   It looks super simple to make.   I can see my cats having a great time scratching on this!

And lastly,   here is a cat toy I drew up.    Download the pattern HERE.

Cut the fish from doubled fabric and sew around in a 1/4 inch seam,  leaving a small opening in the tail.

Clip the curves and turn right side out.   Stuff with fiberfill and add some catnip in the middle.    Stitch the opening closed.   

 
You could also sew a piece of jute in the seam and tie it to a stick and play with your cats with it.   I know my cats love trying to catch anything you dangle in front of them.

Thanks for visiting today.
Bette Shaw
www.byyourhands.com

It's Labor Day...

...Enjoy the day! 

May it be spent with family, friends and good times.

Selling Online --- Selling From Your Blog

Blogs have become a very important resource for the crafting business.

It can also be a way to get started in the craft business on a shoe string.

Probably the most popular blog host is blogger.com It is free to use so you can set one up as a way to sell your handmade crafts.

The first thing you will need is a paypal account. It doesn't cost anything to join but you will pay selling fees when you sell a product.

You can make product buttons in paypal to add to the products for sale on your blog that will take your customer right to paypal to pay for their purchase. These can be added to your post or to your side bar depending on how you set your blog up to sell on.

If you have an etsy shop there are widgets you can add to your blog that will show your entire product line enabling you to make sales from etsy right from your blog. http://www.craftcult.com/shop_widget.php?userid

Having a selling blog is the same as any other worthy endeavor, promotion is the key ingredient to success.

It is not enough to add new products to your blog. That would be very boring to your readers. Blog about crafting, things that interest you, or a little about your life.
Free tutorials and free giveaways are a couple of worthwhile ways of generating traffic to your blog.

Other free ways to promote your blog is to post about your blog on twitter or facebook.

It is important to add fresh relevant content to your blog on a regular basis in order to be included in the search engine rankings.


Here are some examples of selling blogs.

Straight selling blog:
http://rustythimblesalesblog.blogspot.com/

Selling Blog/Sewing/Personal blog:
http://flossieteacakes.blogspot.com/
http://rabbithollowprims.blogspot.com/