VOTE in the Fire Diva's Tide Pool Challenge

The Fire Divas have done it again. It's time for the Monthly Themed Challenge! July's theme is "Tide Pool" and the FABULOUS entries all reflect the ocean and it's changing tides.

Please vote for your favorite entry on the right side of the Fire Divas blog and leave a comment there to be entered to win a $20 gift certificate from Patrice at Shepherd Creations! Please include your email address with your comment so that we are able to contact you about your prize.

Now, let's check out the incredible glass bead eye candy!!!

Please don't forget to vote! And do leave a comment cause you could be the lucky winner!!!

24/7 Availability

So sorry to write another rant on heals of my last one but, somedays, I feel like I'm going off the deep end. And this subject has come up several times in the last MONTH for me.

WHEN did our society come to expect 24/7 availability from everyone all the time?  I'm an artist for Pete's sake! I need down time / quiet time / create time!

I know I complained about this on one of my 87 blogs so forgive me if you heard this before. But just a few weeks ago, I lost a class that would have put around 450 bucks in my pocket (and when you live well below the poverty level, as I do, that's A LOT OF MONEY!)!! WHY did I lose the class opportunity? I was in the shop organizing for said class and away from my computer for just less than three hours! I was by both my cell and shop phone but heaven forbid the college CALL ME!

When you order custom work, you still have to WAIT for it to be MADE!

When I complained on my Friend Facebook page (as opposed to the Fan Page, an old colleague of mine joined in. She had gotten a number of her recent film production jobs from people posting on her wall or emailing her through Facebook! Even old / former employers who have her direct email AND her cell phone number!

Then this past Friday, I was in major prep mode for my weekend class and again, away from my computer for exactly three hours. Someone had popped into my etsy and requested I put together a custom order for her of my silicone rubber necklaces. Now, I sell these on Etsy and Artfire so that someone buying one of my hearts has an option for easy display. I sell them for a darn cheap price (and even cheaper on my glass bead website). If someone doesn't figure that out, I'm fine taking extra money cause, hey, I gotta pay the etsy piper, right?

Because I felt guilty being off line for SO LONG, I immediately created the listing and THEN contacted her. No reply. I worried about it a bit over the weekend and tried to remind myself... people don't need to be online all the time. People have lives. I sent her a friendly reminder last night. This morning I hear from her...she "got tired" of waiting and purchased them for a higher price elsewhere!

Gee lady, it would have been nice if you TOLD me before I listed the custom order like YOU ASKED FOR! So... my lesson is your win! Mention this special, TODAY ONLY and get free shipping!

I really just wish everyone had a little more patience. If you need to order something special, remember, artists NEED time to create. If you haven't heard from someone you know in real life, CALL them. They probably feel grateful for the sound of your voice.

Marketing Rant: Music on Blogs

On a personal level, music on websites annoys the ever loving crap out of me! It annoys me on MANY levels.

• I'm either looking at beads or dogs. What about those topics screams "needs a sound track?" 
• Who decided YOU (the blogger) should be the DJ for MY life?
• What if I'm already listening to my own music? I often have my tv on. My dog is making noises and I'm usually on hold for some annoying dreaded service with hold music. Why add to the riff raff of my life???

I feel so strongly on this topic that I readily admit that during the whole One World One Heart Blog hop, if there is music, I'M OUTTA THERE! But all that is just me being a curmudgeon.

Since is this a blog about my handmade bead business...let's look at this from a marketing standpoint. First of all, what if even a few of your customers feel the way I feel? You've already pissed them off. And for what? So you could be all cool and have music on your site?

 

"Notes"  - Made to order focal by Abigail Lyn

But the one that gets me is... I always think my average customer is somewhat like me. Middle-aged, stressed and doing too many things at once. When I had a 'real' job, the only time I had to shop on line was... during down time at the office....waiting on hold for a client, waiting for all the troops to show up for a meeting, or killing time until I could walk out the door. NOTHING gives away the fact that you are surfing while at work faster than some lame arsed music suddenly blaring out the computer! And now, you've pretty much guaranteed that user will NOT visit your website during business hours again! And if that's the only time she surfs... GOODBYE POTENTIAL CUSTOMER!

And what if your viewers' musical taste differs from your own? Let's face it. Musical tastes vary widely. My three closest friends could never stomach so much as a car ride together with each having a different musical ear that would drive the others nuts (Chopin, show tunes and Eurotrash club music).  Do you really want your customer's to know of your love for British punk? You might think you're cool but your customers might think you're a dork!

If you still feel inclined to have one of those annoying gadgets on your site, at least give your viewers the options to turn them ON.

Cool Collections

OK... it's been a crazy morning in this Creek hiker's life. No...I didn't get confused and post to the wrong blog again. It's just that the subject matter of my other blog is a bit more important and time consuming today!

So I'm going to beg off by sharing a cool Artfire Collection put together by my friend Rose of Spawn of Flame:

Cool Summer Blues from the Fire Divas

Curated By: spawnofflame

ArtFire.com

Handmade Gifts

+++++++++++++++++++
And here's a cool Treasury curated by Fire Diva's Co Leader Kathleen of Ugly Duckling Beads

'The Glass Says It All!' by UglyDucklingBeads

Handmade lampwork beads to oogle, enjoy, and "chill" out......

Clio Handmade Lampwork ... Lutrick $25.00	Notes- Music Handmade G... abbielyn $47.00	Little Sirona Velvet Gl... spawnofflame $14.90
Made to order, pink, or... KittyLampwork $13.50	Handcrafted Lampwork Gl... Lutrick $35.00	Zebra Lentils - 6 Lampw... AshlynDesign $42.00
Champagne Floral Focal ... FenG $49.99	Electroformed Real Acor... giapet $30.00	Sari Silk Tesoro Handma... SunDoorBeads $24.99
Lampwork Boro Focal Bea... uvanomos $10.00	Solar Flair - Organic B... Julsbeads $25.00	Big Hole Glass Beads Pi... HollysFollyGla... $35.00
Hornbill Pendant Lampwo... BethKnappTyner $87.00	Purple and Green Waves ... RiversEdgeGlas... $16.20	Green Man and his Frien... rightturnartwe... $16.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Thanks for giving this duck foster mom the day off!

Crochet Project

I never came back to show you my in class crochet project. I love this pattern because You just chain how ever many you want (I kept this one small - 32 - because of time limitations in class.) You single crochet down the chain and then along the backside of the the original chain and keep going, round and round. As I showed you in the first post, it just turns in on itself! Pretty cool, huh?

You can seam it up the sides or on the diagonal as I did. I like the diagonal because it makes it thicker where you grab the hot pot and it adds a little something to the plain potholder. It's made from cotton - best for the kitchen. You don't want potholders made from something that melts like rayon or poly!

Of course, I had to make something glassy to go with it: a cupcake button!

And naturally, I had to make a few more. In typical Holly fashion... they kept getting bigger! These should be up on the glass bead website later today.

Just a Howdydoo Today

My apologies for going all MIA on you last week. I started a job... and got laid off within hours. I've been wanting more work as a content manager and was so excited to be working freelance for a HUGE beauty company (and freaking out over roots that are so long, they could be called "tan lines!"). But their backend wasn't ready for the front end. (Think of it as Blogger having a massive brain fart when you just HAVE to get a post up!) So... I spent more time commuting on the 405 than working. But money is money!

By Thursday, I was in major freak mode over teaching kumihimo... I had forgotten to package student kits and...in my effort to always give my students maximum info (info overload???), I decided to preload a few looms to teach them different stitches. All in all, in spite of no a/c on a hot day, it was hands down the BEST CLASS EVER!

Teaching at a community college is much different than teaching in a store. A store attracts a certain clientele; a community college attracts...the community at large. There are often language barriers, skill barriers and... intelligence barriers that you don't always encounter on such a large scale in a store setting. But this class, ALL got the concept, hunkered down and did their work and were all excited over their "homework." It was most exciting to witness!

Anyway, it looks like my job may be restarting this week and my schedule will be nutty as the website I will be working on has a huge "premiere" scheduled.... But I didn't want to leave you without any eye candy  for another week! These are all recent additions to the glass bead site. I'm gonna rustle up some lunch and hit the torch for a few hours and enjoy our cooler weather!

Have a great Monday!

Better with Time

Years ago, I set out to make a focal using my favorite transparent purple and silver plum... one the only reactive colors on the market way back then! (That should tell you how old this set is!) I made a rather abstract focal and some spacer beads; I cleaned them and wrapped them and somewhere between my work station and photo table, decided I didn't like them!

Not only were the relegated to the bead bowl, they were placed in a bowl that kept getting shoved from one area to another and I literally forgot about them. Last week, I found them and took them out. I like the silver plum so much but those old negative feeling lingered....until my bestie popped by for a cup of joe. She picked them up and declared them so cool!

And so, I sort kinda like them now... Does this happen to anyone else???

Hope you have a wonderful 4th of July!!!