Handmade Mania week 64

Hiya, good day, and welcome to a fresh week of Handmade Mania! What is this post you ask? This is a weekly link up for handmade products within your online shop to help them be seen by a whole new group of people! By you linking up and sharing others, others share your products on their social medias, putting you in front of new group of people. And by doing so, you are building upon your crafty network of exposure with minimal effort.

I love indie shops as much as I love handmade goods and wish to grow my crafty indie network, I do my best to share all of the shops that link up. Last weeks link up had 33 links, 163 clicks, and 357 views!  That is awesome! Thank you all so much for joining and sharing. You all make this link up work and grow. ☺

Car Door birthday Sign by Adore By Nat

 Bitten Chocolate Chip Cookie Earrings by Mizziexoxo

Teal and Gold Burlap Wreath by Rustic Romance Crafts

Moroacan Mint Soap - vegan with aloe by Thumbprint Handcrafted Soap

My "STAFF" this week was an awesome crafting group of ladies, I adore and aspire to be as craft as, in a friend group on Facebook. They all have amazing taste! They helped me choose from all the wonderful product links from last week as I loved every single one! I am so excited to see new shops joining in and love featuring their amazing handmade products. Make sure to visit the featured shops, there are some amazing things within their shop walls! I hope to see more new indie shops join in the fun. Now onto a fresh week!

What can you link up? If you make it with your own hands, you may add it, including designed items. Please, do not link to your Facebook page or Blog posts. All other platforms excepted. 

Here are the RULES as nothing works right without a few good rules. 

You can link up to TWO individual products from your shop below for some networking/sharing fun! Select TWO products from the collection to SHARE via social media using #handmadelove.

Please share in a comment what two products you share and where. I will do my best to respond timely. Thank you! ☺

(Do not share to Pinterest without the express permission from the shop owner. Thank you.) 

By doing this, you'll be able to share EPIC handmade goodness and build your handmade network! Please share this link up with someone else this week. The more people we have join in, the more our items will be shared and seen! I am super excited to share some EPIC Handmade Goodness this week!! Make sure to use the #handmadelove so I can find and share what you share easily. Thank you.  ☺

How to link up:
Click "add your link"
Box 1: add the URL to your Individual product hit tab
Box 2: will add product details - edit those as you wish
Box 3: put in your email address
then select a thumbnail photo and hit DONE! ☺
Share it if you wish too! They make it very easy with buttons for the main sharing platforms. 

Your item has 4 chances of being featured this up coming week! Make sure to link up, share, and share the link up with someone else! The more we share this link up, the more people are viewing our shops, and the more potential of turning a browser into a buyer. I am so excited to see what #handmadelove links you post! ☺  

An InLinkz Link-up

Pretty Spring Crochet Hat Pattern...in Russian - yeah - Let ME try that

I am an avid crochet person. I love it. I am self taught and I do it because it helps out my brain remember things(Read more about that HERE & HERE). I am so honored when someone comes to me and asks me to create something for them.

Just recently a dear lady of my church found out she is fighting stage 4 cancer and her daughter approached me via my facebook to make her Mom a few of these hats(only two pictured below). They are beautiful spring hats and crochet. I can do that. I'm very honored to make them.

 Sweet aren't they? Even greater is the pattern is free...so off I go to the site: HERE . It is in Russian. I don't speak Russian. DRAT! So have Goggle Translate it...yeah...that really didn't help much. But praise the Lord...the original designer used a bunch of photos to show each step to her creations. I did my calculations to make the hat bigger for an adult and began the hat adventure.

So my first attempt was a flop. It didn't cone to make a hat. It looked like a saucer. I totally frogged it. But I really want to encourage my friend in the battle she is fighting so I decided I'd try again. I found this English version at Trifles and Treasures that encouraged me more. And it was more of a blessing that it was again a free pattern. But as I got going with it...it didn't look the way I wanted. So, what do you do when you can't find a crochet pattern you like?  Yep, you write/make up your own.

Here is what I have so far. A few more rows on the brim and then I will start making some flowers to add to it. Should I write down my version of this beautiful spring time hat? Would you try to make it too?

♥Kelly

#Happyhandmade 100 shares

After all the pink of the last few weeks, I turn to my favorite purple products this week. Daft Crafts had an awesome link up for her 100th link up! It was a hard to choose but figured a color theme was best.

Weird Unicorn Plush - Kawaii Monster by Wonky Critters

Girl Felt "Paper" Doll - Olivia by DeBoop Shop

Chase Your Dreams Hoop Art room decor by Violet's Buds

♥ Kelly

Talk to Me: Wilde Style

Hi! It has been a bit since I had the privilege to interview and feature an Indie shop and it was an honor to meet, Beth, a geeky Texan. She is a multi-talented wife and Mother. I love her Big Bang Theory and Twilight products! 

Welcome Beth! Thank you so much for talking with me. 

Tell us a bit about you!

My name is Beth Howard. I'm a geeky graphic designer from Texas with a husband, a son (he's three) and three puppies. I work as a designer full time, then I own a small business and do freelance graphic design in what I laughingly call my "free" time.

Please, tell us about your shop. 

My main shop is Wilde Designs. I do art, prints and handmade/up-cycled jewelry, most with a weird or geeky vibe. I've honestly been making random jewelry and other things since I was a little kid, and in 2007, when I was in college, I finally started doing it "for real" and selling online. Now my shop is a real, honest-to-god business. I have to file taxes and everything.

What is your Favorite thing to make?

 I love making domino pendants with pictures on them, mostly because it's a really good excuse to go through a bunch of dorky pictures and select my favorites. I'm also a designer because I really do love the work, so doing prints and selecting fonts and colors and making things pretty is a good time to me.

What is the hardest part about owning an online business?

Finding "extra" time with a full time job and a child is difficult. It's also flat out hard to get the word out. There are a lot of people selling a lot of things, and finding YOUR spot in the marketplace can be a rough road - but so rewarding when it happens. Every little sale is a big, big deal, and that's kind of beautiful. 

Do you have any advice to share with the rest of us indie online shop owners? 

Always have a back up. Selling places like Etsy, Storenvy and Artfire is amazing, but I really do recommend having all your product descriptions, pricing, etc. saved at the very least in a spreadsheet. Ideally, having your own stand alone domain is also fabulous. Shops can get shut down, things happen, and it's always, always, always best to be prepared.

That is so true! You never know when your computer may crash(lol happened to me) or when a site crashes, loosing all your data. It was so wonderful to meet you and learn more about your shop and craft. I am so glad you helped expand my craft community. Thank you so much for coming and talking to us today. You can find and follow Beth and her Husband at their SHOP |TackyFabShop | FACEBOOK  |INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | PINTEREST    |BLOG|

Make sure to visit her and tell her a crafty 'Hi!' 

♥Kelly

Handmade Mania week 63

Hiya, good day, and welcome to a fresh week of Handmade Mania! What is this post you ask? This is a weekly link up for handmade products within your online shop to help them be seen by a whole new group of people! By you linking up and sharing others, others share your products on their social medias, putting you in front of new group of people. And by doing so, you are building upon your crafty network of exposure with minimal effort.

I love indie shops as much as I love handmade goods and wish to grow my crafty indie network, I do my best to share all of the shops that link up. Last weeks link up had 48 links, 151 clicks, and 455 views!  That is awesome! Thank you all so much for joining and sharing. You all make this link up work and grow. ☺

Luella Lion & Me set by Kiser Krafts & Violet's Buds

Pastel Heart bobby Pins by Buttons & Paintbrushes

Felt Girl "Paper" Doll by DeBoop Shop 

 Mermaid Tail blanket by Hats and What Nots

My daughter was my 'Staff" this week. She added both of these to her birthday "wish list". I am so excited to see new shops joining in and love featuring their amazing handmade products. Make sure to visit the featured shops, there are some amazing things within their shop walls! I hope to see more new indie shops join in the fun. Now onto a fresh week!

What can you link up? If you make it with your own hands, you may add it, including designed items. Please, do not link to your Facebook page or Blog posts. All other platforms excepted. 

Here are the RULES as nothing works right without a few good rules. 

You can link up to TWO individual products from your shop below for some networking/sharing fun! Select TWO products from the collection to SHARE via social media using #handmadelove.

Please share in a comment what two products you share and where. I will do my best to respond timely. Thank you! ☺

(Do not share to Pinterest without the express permission from the shop owner. Thank you.) 

By doing this, you'll be able to share EPIC handmade goodness and build your handmade network! Please share this link up with someone else this week. The more people we have join in, the more our items will be shared and seen! I am super excited to share some EPIC Handmade Goodness this week!! Make sure to use the #handmadelove so I can find and share what you share easily. Thank you.  ☺

How to link up:
Click "add your link"
Box 1: add the URL to your Individual product hit tab
Box 2: will add product details - edit those as you wish
Box 3: put in your email address
then select a thumbnail photo and hit DONE! ☺
Share it if you wish too! They make it very easy with buttons for the main sharing platforms. 

Your item has 4 chances of being featured this up coming week! Make sure to link up, share, and share the link up with someone else! The more we share this link up, the more people are viewing our shops, and the more potential of turning a browser into a buyer. I am so excited to see what #handmadelove links you post! ☺

An InLinkz Link-up

Get to know the MAKER - Q & A #2

image by http://www.kimiwho.com/category/questions-answers/

Kimi Who is currently hosting a monthly link up party that focuses on getting to know the people behind the blogs. And I personally think it is genius. I mean there are blogs out there that I wished I knew more about the "man behind the curtain", so to speak. I am hopping on the 'the Get to Know Me' train with my first Q & A post. The questions are hers and I am excited to answer them. 

Do you celebrate Valentine’s Day?

Yes...I do...my husband doesn't. He has never had a "good or enjoyable" Valentine's Day. Something I am trying to change for him, every year. I love to make pink heart pancakes, make handmade cards, and send sweet treats to those I love. It makes my heart happy to add a touch extra to the love I try to show every day of the year.

If you knew you couldn’t fail, what would you do?

This question is not so easy to answer…there is SO many things I would LOVE try to do in this life. I think I would go on the Voice or American idol. I love to sing but I do not feel that it is to the talent or trained voices that appear on that show. But if I knew I couldn’t fail, well, by Jove, I’d be on that stage, singing my heart out.  

Do you collect anything?

The better question would be – What don’t I collect? I am not a hoarder, promise, but I save things to keep them out of the landfills, while having formal collections. My largest collection is my Sock Collection. I have the higher side of 600 character and holiday themed socks. These are the ones that may or may not be worn. Then I have the Sock Animal/Creations collection. These are cut and sewn to make the lovable, ecofriendly, sock plushies.  I love them so much! I have a small collection of funny unique pens and pencils. My favorite one no longer writes but it is the game ‘Trouble’, so do not really care. And finally, I have a collection of handmade dolls. Most of them are creations of my late Grandmama but there are a few newer ones from crafters I have met in the last 4 or 5 years. I do have a few other things that I collect like antique blue glass, wooden angels, craft supplies, but they are minor in the larger picture of life. 

Where do you find Inspiration?

This is a question I am adding as it is one my followers ask often. Inspiration is always around me. A giggle from my son or daughter, a bird singing outside my window, or even a good cup of coffee inspire my creative brain. I draw my creative energies from everything around me. I love music, nature, snuggles from my kids, coffee, and, always, a call to/or from my Mother. There is so much positivity out there and all of it helps me create 'my world'. I always look for the silver lining and within that is inspiration. 

  So, how about you? Will you join in the Q & A link up over at Kimi Who?

 

♥Kelly

Will You be MINE, Valentine?

I have HUGE NEWS! Storenvy is hosting a site wide #SALE for Valentine's Day!!

Kiser Krafts is part of this awesomeness!!

Will you be my Valentine??

20% off over 15,000 products, Be Our Valentine Sale http://nvy.gd/172murM

I do hope you will be my Valentine! 

♥Kelly♥

#Happyhandmade 99 shares

Okay...so last week's shares were 'LOVE' themed...but I cannot help it...this week is too. February is full of 'Love' for me personally. It has my anniversary (celebrated 5 years ♥) and Valentine's Day. I was excited to find some amazing‘love' themed products in #happyhandmade week 99 on Daft Crafts. Let me share them with you! 

Love Art by Caitlin's Amazing Pottery

Art Print - Don't Go Through It, Grow Through It by Be You Not Them

Valentines Zippy Pouch by SewVeehoo

Pink Chevron Pencil Case by Bally and Lis

Are you an indie handmade shop online? You too can join in this weeks #happyhandmade link up - HERE. Your shop may be featured!

♥Kelly