What's Coming Up In July

More, more, more...

• features of indie artists and crafters.
• new Etsy, Silkfair & DaWanda listings
• Soaper Stars street team challenge for July
• product sample giveaway (limited quantities-first come, first serve)
• my first newsletter will be going out

Speaking of my newsletter...

If you'd like to receive the Blossoming Tree Bodycare newsletter sign-up using the form on the sidebar. All newsletter receipients will get first notice of new products BEFORE they are listed, with the opportunity to purchase at a discount.

And The Winner Is...

KATE!!!

random integer selected: 4

Congratulations Kate on winning a Tranquil Waters room spray!

However...
it is a party and I can't let folks go home empty handed, so I will also send a little gift to all who responded. I will be getting in touch to get mailing information! Thanks for playing along!:)

It's Raining Today

It rained yesterday. It rained 2 days ago. It rained 4 days ago. Not much I can do outside at the moment but my celosia seem to love it.

To get things going around here in celebrating Vanessa's 200th post over at A Fanciful Twist we have a comment contest!

The first giveaway for the party!!!

Leave a comment with a song title that contains the word "RAIN" (ex. Singin' In The Rain).

The contest ends at 8:00 PM ET and the winner will be selected using random.org. Comment as many times as you'd like with the song titles. The winner will receive a "Tranquil Waters" 4 oz room spray. Fresh, clean, oceanic scent, with a hint of sweetness.

Will You Be In Attendance?

I will be joining A Fanciful Twist this Saturday, June 28, in a virtual tea party. Be here throughout the day for lots of chatter and a few surprises! For more info, click the image on the sidebar.

Etsy Etsy Etsy...

Over the past 2 weeks I have received a few items offered by Etsy sellers. In the post below I mentioned the cards I won from Moonbeam Arts in a giveaway. The others are these wonderful items:

3 artwork pieces by Kendra at teamzvonik.etsy.com










Fused Glass Coasters by Karen at giapet.etsy.com

You Win!

That was the subject to the message I received from Moonbeam Arts informing me that I was the winner in her blog giveaway. What a nice surprise. All I had to do was comment on her blog about items in her shop moonbeamarts.etsy.com and I would be entered into the drawing to win a $20 gift certificate. There are so many beautiful cards offered, but looky-looky at what I got and how nicely packaged it was!

click on images to enlarge

Thank You Roxana

Inspiration comes in many forms and I want to give a great big thank you to perfumer Roxana Villa of Illuminated Perfume. I had been reading Roxana's blog and commented on one of her posts. Just out of a casual exchange she has inspired me to learn more about native plants where I live. All I can say is that what I've learned so far is FASCINATING and EXCITING!

A Coincidence?

A few weeks ago as I was shopping for herbs to plant in my mini garden (lol), I came across Bee Balm. I had never heard of it before and decided to purchase one plant. This was all before my exchange with Roxana. Days later after reading Roxana's response to my comment, I went to the library to check out books on native plants of Michigan and lo and behold, Bee Balm is a native. How cool is that? Hmmm...just a coincidence?

Olfactory Training Begins Again

I've stepped away from my studies of natural essences for a short while. Now it's time to get back to work, continue to train my nose to become familiar with and be able to detect the wonderful scents of nature. Today I made a list of the oils I'll be studying over the next week or two. I'm already familiar with, and have blended with, each one but I feel the need to start back at the beginning. That's just something that I do.:)

The essences I've chosen to work with:
-Bergamot
-Vetiver (I love this stuff lol)
-Cloves
-Anise (fresh)
-Geranium
-Rosemary
-Tonka Bean abs
-Jasmine Sambac abs
-Elemi
-Citronella
-Peppermint

I'll add my notes as I go along.

Feature Artists Promo and A Giveaway

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

This is a comment contest similar to those you may have seen on other blogs. Basically, a winner is selected at random from the comments to this post. But because I like to help promote other independent artists/crafters I'm not going to ask you to check out my shop. What I'd like for you to do is look at the shops I've featured so far and comment on your favorite item(s) from those shops. As a plus THERE IS NO LIMIT ON COMMENTS. The more you comment the more entries you get. Also if you comment on any featured artist's post you will receive another entry (please indicate that you did so).

So what do you win? A "Neat Feet" mini gift set from me.:)

Includes:
Foot Soak
Foot Scrub
Cooling Foot Cream

All scented with a peppermint essential oil blend.

Contest ends on June 30, 2008 at 11:59 PM ET. Winner will be selected by random.org on or around July 3, 2008.

Features artists include:
Callidora
Anhoki
Patti Flynn
Camias
Pegleg Deer
Cerapersa
Repsychoed Artist
Stacy M Smith
Tisa's Creations
Maicen
Ancient Game Cupboard
Around The World
Team Zvonik
Purple Rhino
Skybye Jewel Craft
Nosey Nest

Stay Nosey With Nosey Nest

How long have you been crafting and what made you decide to sell?
I've always been a creative person but never dared to share my creations with other people. The last couple of years I've been making little birthday presents for family and friends. All the positive reactions and the joy of making things made me decide to share my creations with the rest of the world.

What inspires you to create?
Fabrics, stories I read on the internet, childrens books, other blogs and.....lots of the little things in life.

How do you organize your time?
I try to do all the other things first and use my spare time for making toys..... However reality is that I sometimes just can't wait to finish (or start) something when a pile of other (more important) stuff is waiting for me....
Because creating is the thing I love most !

How do you promote your work and where can we find it?
I mainly promote my work via my blog : www.noseynest.blogspot.com
I also have a Flickr account http://www.flickr.com/people/noseynest where I contribute to groups. I took part in the Softie Awards contest, am a member of theNeedle, European Etsy Street Team and Plush Parade and my Piggy Bank freebie was mentioned at several sites ( Craftzine for example ) !

What are your business plans for the remainder of 2008 and into 2009?
I've just started and I have to find my way in the internet selling and promoting thing. I hope I can introduce a lot of people to the members of Nosey Nest this year. I also hope to develop my own style even more. But above all I want to have lots of fun !!!!

Meet...Skybye

How long have you been crafting and what made you decide to sell?
I’ve been crafting for as long as I can remember. My first selling experience was when I was about 14. I would go with my parents to motor home rallies; and, at those rallies they’d have a swap meet. My parents published a magazine and always had a table at these swap meets. One time my mom suggested that I bring my earrings with and sell them at my parents table: so I did. My mom and I spent hours making earring cards out of index cards and pricing my earrings. I don’t remember how much I sold at those rallies, but I was hooked and did it a few more times.

As I was selling at the motor home rallies, I was also selling a few friendship bracelets at school. I loved making them, and the kids around me loved wearing them: so, I had a small market going there for about a year. Then I moved on to High School and grew out of the friendship bracelets.

During high school and College I didn’t sell much, if anything. I got too busy with school and teen social life. After College, I started playing online games and lost myself in those realms, where I also met my Husband. We got married and I moved to a small tropical Island with him called Kwajalein. We lived there for 4 years, where I didn’t do much jewelry; but, I had fallen in love with the pottery shop. I would go down there every week (sometimes daily) and make various items -- either ceramics or thrown on the wheel, ect. I didn’t sell any of the pottery, but it did often go to family as presents. At the end of our stay on Kwajalein, a friend of ours introduced me to chainmaille,and I had found my passion. I started working on Chainmaille, and I loved it immediately. I had planned on selling in the biannual craft fair on Kwaj, but we ended up moving before the next one. So, I took my chainmaille supplies with me to our next destination... Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, I explored chainmaille more in depth and became more familiar with the weaves. One day, I was sitting at work playing with a necklace I had made for myself when a co-worker asked where I had gotten it: I replied that I had made it. He then asked me if I could make him a hatband for his Indiana Jones Fedora. I decided to take on the challenge. I looked up some weaves I thought he might like and that could work well for a hat band, and then sent them to him. He picked a Helm chain weave, which I began working on. I was able to finish the project in about 3 weeks, as I was working 60 hours a week plus maintaining myself as a full-time college student. My friend ended up bringing me more business, as he ran the Base karaoke every Friday night, where he always wore his hat with the hatband. Everytime someone asked him about the hat band, he gave them my name and where I worked. I got even more requests for jewelry after that, and made a fair profit. I realized in Afghanistan that I had a talent that I could market, so I began researching online marketplaces where I could get started and decided on Etsy. I made my account and that’s about as far as it got because we moved again. So when we got to Kuwait, I decided to pick up where I'd left off in Afghanistan. I started taking pictures of everything I had already made and shipped them back to my parents in the United States so items could ship to customers from there. I officially opened up my Etsy shop April 2nd 2008. Business isn’t booming yet; but, I still have high hopes.

What inspires you to create?
Everything! I find inspiration from friends in little things they do. Inspiration comes from my enviorment and nature. One of my biggest inspirations for my chainmail, though, is books and movies coupled with my imagination.

How do you organize your time?
I wouldn’t call my time organized in the least bit. I try to find time each week to do some promoting and some creating; but some weeks, I end up being heavy on one side or the other. Then there is daily life chores I need to get done, as well.

How do you promote your work and where can we find it?
Well so far, I’m mostly promoting through my blog and using a little bit of StumbleUpon. I am an Indiepublic member. I sell on Etsy and Silkfair, and I just joined Flicker, where I am both posting pictures and descriptions of my jewelry. I’m currently working on getting my own website up and running though, so I won’t have to depend as much on other websites to sell my wares. In addition, I have my blog and Etsy Shop setup as part of my signature on emails and many of the forums that I visit. My mother and sister also have spots on their blogs where they link to my Etsy Shop.

What are your business plans for the remainder of 2008 and into 2009?
My First and most important goal for the remainder of the year is to get my website at http://www.skybyes.com/ up and fully operational. Right now, all that’s there is my Blog and a lot of potential.

After the website, I want to start a new to me line of hand flowers. I’ve always loved hand flowers. In my opinion, they are among the most beautiful and unique jewelry forms that I have ever seen. I also plan to move into Sterling Silver and more precious metals. My hope is that by Mid 2009, I can offer most of my designs completely in Sterling Silver or other precious metals.

Five Senses

The thought of how our five senses drives our creativity came to mind today as I realized that much of what I do creatively is based on scent. At some point all five come into play but from the beginning stage it is fragrance that really starts the ball rolling. Are you a visual artist? Photography, painting, drawing, someone driven by color. Do different textures cause dozens of ideas to dance in your head? What about the feel of clay taking shape between your fingers? Are you a culinary artist? A musician?

Which of the five senses dominates and brings out your creativity the most?

Greetings...Purple Rhino Crafts

How long have you been crafting and what made you decide to sell?
I've been crafting most of my life. I remember being fascinated with the gimp cord weaving and enameling copper squares at summer camp when I was about 7 or 8. And to the horror of my father I begged my great grandmother to teach me how to crochet! Creating has always been a part of daily life for me since. I enjoy a multitude of crafts from fiber arts, paper crafting and stained glass, but finding pottery has opened a new world of crafting for me. To take a mound of clay and form it into usable art is a spiritual experience for me. Working with earth is always soothing and meditative.

I decided to sell because we were running out of places to put things! Also friends and family were always asking to buy things so selling at fairs and on Etsy was a natural progression.

What inspires you to create?
Nature and history are the two things that inspire me the most. Reading is another favorite pass time and I find ideas popping into my head that way as well.

How do you organize your time?
Poorly! I need to set a schedule and stick to it. If I ever do I'll be sure to let you know.

How do you promote your work and where can we find it?
Mostly on Etsy purplerhino.etsy.com and at some local craft fairs.

What are your business plans for the remainder of 2008 and into 2009?
To get organized in time and product firstly. Then to work on sets of items rather than just individual ones. I've started cross promoting with the Pagans of Etsy Street Team and hope to work more with them to learn and grow as a seller.

Say Hello To Kendra Zvonik

How long have you been crafting and what made you decide to sell?
I have been a canvas painter and decorative house painter since 1997. I also work in glass with my husband. I studied fine metals and printmaking in college. I decided to sell online because I have several creative friends who sell on Etsy and they have been encouraging me to give it a try. I also have a new body of work that I need to promote.

How do you promote your work and where can we find it?
I am promoting my work on Etsy @ teamzvonik.etsy.com and online @ www.teamzvonik.com

What inspires you to create?
Painting is a form of meditation for me. I am inspired by my deep desire to be free and to free others from suffering.

How do you organize your time?
First things first . . . breakfast is very important! Next, walk the dog in the forest. The first half of my work day consists of business matters: listing items, networking, website repairs, etc.. The rest of my time is left for the studio. I usually leave myself set up for work the night before, so I can walk in and get right to work. At night, I work in the studio with my husband.

What is your favorite item that you create?
I love painting in oils. My newest, large canvases are very interactive in person and I am extremely excited to be creating work that is so professional and serious.

What are your business plans for the remainder of 2008?
I would like to get a show for my new work. I would like to find some collectors for my work! My new work deserves a loving home.

Do you have a blog so that others can keep in touch with you?
Yes, on Indiepublic . . . http://www.indiepublic.com/profile/KendraZvonik