No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth ...

... but it sure feels like it!

We are updating our house. Our living room, dining room and entry way, along with the landing at the turn of the stairs AND the landing at the top of the stairs which is almost a room to itself, are all getting new floors and new paint. The ceilings in the living/dining/entry areas also are having the popcorn texture scraped off!

Ugh. I have been living in a construction zone for almost a month.

I do have pictures, but I don't know where I put my camera. Nor do I know where I put the cord to attach the camera to the computer. Come to think of it, I don't know where ANYTHING is. We even lost a cat for a couple of days.

The numbnuts who flipped this house back in '95 (from what I understand, this house was foreclosed by the VA and was left empty for a while so the neighborhood kids used it as a flop house!) decided to glue down the vinyl floor as if it were being tiled. This means every square inch of the vinyl in our entry way was glued. It took two solid days to remove the floor ... it was only about 50 square feet. I so dread pulling up my kitchen floor. My wrists still hurt and it's been more than a week.

Eventually we will get to the rest of the house ... 4 bedrooms, two baths and a kitchen/family room are that is open to each other. I am hoping that the updating process is like labor for childbirth. It's agony while in process, but after it's over, one is happy and content enough to do it again.

But for now, all I can say is "UGH!"

The jewelry business is basically on hold during the updating, but the economy sorta knocked it on its rear end anyway. I do have a home show next Saturday, however, and looking forward to it!

Anyone in the D/FW area who would like an invite, drop me a line.

Guess it's the computer ...

I see the widget just fine on my laptop.

It's my desktop that the widget does not show. I wonder if it's the Verizon security. My FIOS service gives me all the typical internet security at a reduced fee which I use on the desktop, but not the laptop. I opted for the service after the desktop crashed, which wasn't too long ago. So now I need to troubleshoot the incompatibility between the widget and the security software.

I'm going to have a massive headache.

Something broke my Entrecard Widget

And it wasn't me! For some bizarre reason, the widget is not showing even though it is there in the layout. I don't have a clue. Entrecard doesn't have a clue. If someone does have a clue, I would be grateful for a fix!

This is the code:

< script id="ecard_widget" src="http://entrecard.s3.amazonaws.com/widget.js?user_id=21950&type=standard_200" type="text/javascript" >< /script >

Without the space after the < and before the >, which I had to insert to show the code.

Tweet, Tweet

Twitter is quite the animal. I recall seeing a prediction a while back that Twitter would prove to be a major component in a fundamental shift in how the internet will be used. I'm not 100% convinced of that, but it definitely is a movement that keeps growing. Not everyone understands it, but they'll still play with it. Those that do understand it do more than play with it.

I'm not going to bother defining Twitter ... if you're reading this blog, you've probably already have it in your head what Twitter is all about. I find some opinions about how to use Twitter to be very interesting. I've read several comments for very web-savvy folks that if someone uses Twitter only for promotion, they would tune out (stop following) that person. They want to see some of the personal behind the person. But I'm not too sure about that ... most of us are living in the moment (even though we are aware of our past and planning our future, we still live in this moment) and most of our moments are rather mundane. No matter how exciting life can be, most moments are still mundane. I couldn't care less if you just washed and dried 3 loads of laundry. Even if you're my mother (Hi Mom!) or a good friend (Hi Jenn!) I couldn't care less. Now if your washer or dryer broke down and you found a great service guy who came to your house in less than two hours and charged you an unbelievably low price for an excellent repair job ... THAT I would care to hear about, IF you can talk about it in 140 characters or less.

So I won't bore my followers with my mundane life stuff. I will tweet, when I remember, about going to a local network meeting. I will tweet when I find something intriguing on the web. I will tweet when I made an amazing discovery (that hasn't happened in a while). But my usual forms of tweets are promotion and they happen automatically because of the beauty of TwitterFeed. You can feed anything that has an RSS feed to your Twitter account. Both my blog and my Etsy shop have RSS feeds. Blogger makes setting up an RSS feed really easy, nearly automatic, just be sure you have your "Site Feed" which you will find in your SETTINGS section turned on to either "Full" or "Short" ... not "None."

After you set up your account with Twitterfeed, you can add any number of feeds to automatically post to Twitter. All you need is the URL of your feed, and each one is different. That was the most confusing part for me, but I fumbled around and found out what they are.

After you click "Create new twitter feed" you'll be given a new page with a form to fill out. The user name and password are where you will enter your Twitter info, and be sure to click the "test twitter authentification" to make sure you've entered the correct data.

If you are a Blogger/Blogspot user, your RSS feed URL is as follows:

http://yourusername.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

You'll need to replace your actual user name before the .blogspot part.

I found my Etsy RSS feed URL by clicking on the RSS widget, as if I were going to subscribe the the feed. The URL displays on the browser, just copy and paste the address in appropriate box in the Twitterfeed set up. You can find any of your RSS feed URLs this way.

Another way to determine the RSS feed URL is to right-click the link and select "Properties" from the right-click menu (this is how it works with Windows, I don't have a clue about Macs!) and find the link address (NOT the image address!) which you can then copy and paste.

Go ahead and hit the "test RSS feed" to make sure it's going to work.

You'll have a few more things that are preferences you'll need to fill out to finish up the feed set-up. Give some thought to the update frequency. If you do a lot of listing in your Etsy shop at any given time, you may want to experiment with the frequency so that you don't send a feed for every single listing which could be considered spam by the Twitter community and your followers. You do not want to lose any of those precious followers! Keep in mind that this feed cannot tell the difference between a new listing and a relist.

Also give some thought as to what you want in the "prefix each tweet with:" box. I simply say "Just listed:" for my Etsy feed and "Blog update:" for my blog. The form only allows up to 20 characters, but each one counts towards the 140 maximum allowed. I use the "Tiny URL" option.

The tiny URL link generated for the Twitter feed is a "no follow" so don't get your hopes up that this will help in search engine optimization. In fact, it appears that all links in Twitter are "no follow." Oh well. Guess we still need to get our coveted links the old-fashioned way ... beg or buy.

Hope this is clear and understandable. Let me know your thoughts.

*************

Now for the LinkyLuv for those taking the time to read and comment:
Getpalmd * Storybeader * Leah * Anna * Meekiyu * FeeFiFoto * CassieMarie * BlackFeatherFarm * Kerri Slade * Lynne * Abigail * Leslie * Angie * Michelle {{hug}} * Laurie B * Casto Creations * Avenue 7 * Shinade * Zen Ventures * Fidget * Swapna * Terrie * Raymond * Lois Lane * Jenn {{{{big hug}}}} * Petula * Lily * Elizabeth * Annette {man, I miss Skwiggazine!} * KML * Rachel (I hope I got the name right!! Memory ain't what it used to be...) * Tammy * Duni * Michelle * iWalk (love the cow graphic! How y'all manage to draw pictures with a keyboard amazes me.) * And last but NEVER least, Leet!

Whew ... this post took forever!! But may all your page ranks rise because y'all helped my bounce rate to fall. I should take a lesson from The Turnip and concentrate on getting the bounce rate down. Which could mean "bye bye" Entrecard. But that's another meditation. My eyes are really tired now.

Just a quickie ...

... because I haven't updated in, like, forever!

My page rank rose back to a 3! Woo hoo!

Been super busy, which is why I haven't updated. Jewelry business is not paying the bills so I got a part-time, flexible "day" job to help make the ends meet. So I'm back to dabbling in bookkeeping which has always been my forte. I like working with numbers. Clear, concise, honest ... well, in the hands of an honest person, that is.

I'll still be working the jewelry business, but now I can relax a bit. Not getting enough to make the ends meet was making me a tad uptight. Uptightness stifles creativity. Juices are flowing better now.

My next post will be about using Twitterfeed. And I'll give some much deserved link luv to all my commentators from the prior post.

Everyone be safe!

Not bad for an amateur

Running an on-line jewelry shop on a shoe-string budget forces a person to stretch their limits in many avenues. The starving artists that we are, we cannot afford professional photography, and yet quality photos that are inviting, compelling and functional are essential. So we read and apply, read more and try, and practice and read even more. There is so much that goes into the making of a good photo. I've worked with enough professional photographers in my many decades to know that they discard 90% of their photos because they don't measure up to the photographers standards of "good."

Unfortunately for jewelry artists, we don't have the time to shoot and re-shoot a piece 100 times to get those 5 "good" shots. But with enough trial and error we find a method that works for us so we can get our decent entries to use in our shops somewhat expediently.

Every once in a while though, it's fun to push the boundaries. I'm a wee bit proud of this photo ... the focus on the lovely bead and all the wonderful "bokeh" in the background to take the mundane out of the photo of a simple necklace.

You'll find this listed in my Etsy shop here.

On another front ... I got my Etsy shop's RSS feed linked to my Twitter! So now when I list something, it'll get tweeted with a link. Happy dance!

I'd like to thank a couple of recent folks who left comments, UniqueNurseGranny and Kim, with some link luv!

It's Sunday ...

... and time to feature a good buddy from Skwiggazine! This week's featured artist is Corinne Sullivan of Daydream Art Studios! Corrine also has the sweetest blog. While you're checking out her Etsy shop, be sure to visit mine, too.

I'll be providing FREE SHIPPING for all Cyber Monday sales! I'll be furiously stocking overnight. Here's a sample of available prettiness:



Oh, and some linky luv for my recent commenters!
Storybeader Take a stroll through her lovely blog.
Beadsme aka Mandy Harvery, a very talented jewelry artist.
Savey Spender ... you'll save a buck or two!
Leslie of Unique Charm and another fellow Estian!
Always Amy ... always da bomb! (BTW, I signed up for ArtFire and mentioned you as the referral, but I signed up with the wtong e-mail so I have to get my registration straightened out! Here's to our mutual success!)
Anna of A Rose By Name and one of the phenomenal beadweavers. I so admire your skill, patience and talent.
Viv of Creative Minds is another fellow talented Estian. Etsy is stuffed full of talented people!
Kala Pohi Studio ... another talented Estian ... I'm feeling extraordinarily humbled.
And last, but never least, my two partners in the Skwiggazine madness, Michelle of Michabella Creations and Annette of Under the Loupe.

May all your page ranks rise!

Oh boy ...

Two back to back shows.
One major computer crash.
One nasty cold virus.

The last thing I've felt like doing is blogging.

I had an on-line show scheduled for today, my first ever, but the thing got canceled by the organizer because of lack of support by other vendors. We are trying again this Wednesday evening. But I got lots of new items posted to my Etsy shop and more to come in the next couple of days. I figured a way to more efficiently take photos, prep them and list.

Here's some of the latest entries:

These are listed here.

These are listed here.

This is listed here.

Good Morning, Autumn!

It's about time! Crisp and cool weather that is hopefully saying bye bye to the buggies that bug our poor pooch.

As I am welcoming Fall, my friend from down under is welcoming Spring! Annette Piper, who I have featured before, is enjoying her spring although she is quite busy down there!

Annette's blog, Under the Loupe, is back in rotation for our Skwiggazine Blog-Ring. I always enjoy featuring Annette, her work is stunning! Her craftsmanship is exceptional and because of her knowledge of minerals, I always learn something from her.

Speaking of the need to wear earrings, check out Annette's latest earring entry:


Copyright Annette Piper.

She featured them here. Aren't they gorgeous? Did you know amethyst comes in green? I didn't! These lovelies would work in any setting.

Why Business Women Should Wear Earrings

The following is a true story. It happened to me. It came back to the forefront of my memory because of my recent networking experience. When networking, one has anywhere from 30 to 60 seconds to give a "commercial" about their business. It's also known as the "elevator speech" in some networking circles.

When one does a lot of networking, one recognizes the need to change things up in order to sound interesting. I attended a meeting a couple of months ago where Jeff Klein, a local network marketing guru, gave us a presentation on making our elevator speeches more memorable. Most people give their name, company name, what it does, what they do, and ask for your business. After a few of these, the yawn factor sets in. The collective mind of the room begins to wander. Hence the need of giving an effective elevator speech and that often begins with a story.

Here's my story that I used the other day (although 30 seconds is simply NOT long enough to use this story effectively ... I needed 60!):

Once upon a time in a land far away, I was the manager of information systems at a Beverly Hills CPA firm. It was April, a busy time for CPAs, a very, very busy time. Not only are the 1040 tax returns due on the 15th, the first quarter payroll tax returns are due by the end of the month. Needless to say, workers in CPA firms put in a lot of long hours during the month of April. And because of the long hours, workers at CPA firms dress for comfort during that time.

We're talking jeans and t-shirt comfortable. There are some periods of time when even appropriate business casual has to fly away in the face for the need of comfort. Comfort = productivity, productivity is the single most important goal for CPA firms in April. But I digress (which I did NOT do in my elevator speech).

A guy comes in to sell us a computer thingmabob. I don't remember exactly what it was, but it was something in which the firm was interested enough that I took the time to talk to the guy. Unfortunately, he spent his entire elevator speech time, which was much longer than 60 seconds, talking to my boobs.

He did not make the sale.

There are two lessons to learn from this real-life story:

#1. Gentlemen, if you want to sell to a lady, look her in the face! Don't talk to her boobs. And trust me, guys, I was NOT provocatively dressed.

#2. Ladies, no matter what the setting, no matter what is going on in the office, dress in a way to focus attention to your FACE. And of course, the single best tool you have is a pair of noticeable earrings. Noticeable, not extravagant. But even with jeans and t-shirt, there are earrings that are appropriate that will keep the focus where it belongs.

These particular earrings sold a long time ago, but they are a good example of what you can wear with business casual. They are understated but pretty. And they will do the job of keeping the focus on your beautiful, intelligent face.