BEST BEAD GIVEAWAY EVER!!!

This is such an awesome giveaway, and I hope I win! (not to be selfish or anything) but I am sharing it with you so that you may also have a chance. (And so that I get 10 more entries.) Hey- at least I'm honest!

http://deniseyezbakmoore.blogspot.com/2010/06/best-bead-give-way-ever.html?showComment=1277421202405_AIe9_BGiZo5ZIGPSXHk43nOBPF-9n9b_J3GkXr-PHvjiee6MZ0JF-DFZECcyp5oQib8m2oKohCeN9YbsKRuGxhfoi6b2yXEuNqzOYCz1Cz7SgO9WXM4gkt8ciAwuClVlshwQThh_DKX4K9CJVN3NMwnHMQYGlmxQEBqGbrOuiAwCN3yP9HemJEsNMzERIP7p-LhIBOk_8xC3YgtOazjsQ0BpzMJPLDEMyIhyoCeIdkpmrijsBWBtFHFHXNhz4Rj0NS1lbTvUkDC5#c7144819537607413057

And The Winner Is...

Janil! Congratulations and thanks for reading my blog! Thank you so much everyone for all of your compliments on my bracelet! It has been so fun doing this giveaway, and I hope you will all enter my June giveaway as well! Katie of mkmclark on etsy is offering 5 art photographs of letters to spell any word of your choice!

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me what word you would spell with her letter photography!

So I Started a Dating Blog...

Yes. I did. I started a blog about dating, and relationships. I'm so excited about it, it's been a lot of fun so far! You can check it out here, and I'd love to hear what you think! I also have a section where you can write to me with a problem or dilemma you are facing, and I will anonymously write my response to you in a blog post! I plan to make it both light hearted and serious. I will offer advice for those of you in a relationship, as well as great tips for you single gals. Once I have more followers I plan to have guest writers from all over the place, including tips and advice from guys. Move aside Dear Abby! Check out Great(ish) Expectations and let me know what you think!

Beginner's Craft Course: Facebook Ads Completed

Ok, so to get you up to speed on my latest venture in advertising, I've put out two ads on Facebook. I created a local one that ran only in targeted cities in Ohio, and another that was international. The ads ran for 11 days. They brought me a total of 132 clicks. Worth it? I think so.

I spent a grand total of $49.18. That's a lot of money, but that's also 132 new people who know about my shop. I also made about $100.00 in sales during this time, so I would say that the risk was worth the benefit on this one. I can't say for sure however, that these sales came from the Facebook ads. I only had one customer take my Paypal survey, and according to that buyer, she found me on etsy.

I am personally willing to pay for visits to my shop once and a while. I probably won't take out another ad until Christmas shopping season though. I think overall I can say with confidence that the Facebook Ads were beneficial to creating awareness of my shop. I'd love to hear what you think! Have you ever, or would you take out an ad on Facebook?

June Giveaway Reminder

Just a reminder, if you haven't already signed up for my June giveaway, you can enter here. Also, the May giveaway is still going until June 15th (I got a bit of a late start on that one!). I will announce the luck winner on June 16th for the May giveaway and on July 1st for the June giveaway!

Vintage Thursdays: Father's Day

Here are some cool father's day gift ideas from the vintage section! Enjoy!

1. "Old School GPS" Compass Pin from Eido.

2. 1961 AGFA Optima 35mm Camera from corrnucopia.

3. Vintage leather flask from samandchris.

Love Giveaways?

For all of you who (like me) LOVE giveaways, here is an awesome one to check out! Fashion In The Forest is giving away three items, a Zombee candle, Flower Pin by Aux Belles Choses by Mllevaleur, and a Flexi-8 Hairclip! To enter, become a follower of her blog, and blog about this giveaway yourself! I checked out her blog after becoming a follower, and liked what I saw! Fashion In The Forest is very PR friendly and has tons of etsy product reviews. I especially love the photo of all the dresses hanging from trees lit up like lanterns! That was enough for me to decide that there was going to be some awesome content here. (I'm an admitted impulsive, but I am seldom wrong).

I definitely recommend checking it out for yourself, following her blog, and entering this giveaway on this fine Wednesday afternoon.

Local Shop Like: Darbynwoods

Just in time for father's day, check out these amazing works of art in the form of cutting boards, bottle stoppers, and many more practical objects that make great gift ideas for dad. These wooden treasures are made by a self-taught local artist. David uses a combination of exotic and everyday woods to create his pieces. Pictured below is a beautiful cutting board made from everyday, and exotic woods, a Maple and Redheart Bottle Stopper, and a Brazillan Cherrywood Pen! Check out Darbynwoods shop for more great gift ideas!

Fortune Cookie Wisdom

Yesterday I got a call at work from my mom, telling me that my dad was in the hospital. He is an alcoholic, and has fallen off the wagon this past month after five years of sobriety. He had been having chest pains, and was coughing up blood.

My immediate emotional reaction was to be angry with him. His drinking is responsible for ruining his body. He has been told by doctors that if he ever starts drinking again, he will die. So I just rolled my eyes and said to myself, there's nothing anyone can do if he doesn't want to help himself. This is something I've said to myself for a long time.

I got his room and bed number from my aunt, and decided I'd better give him a call on my lunch break. Downstairs in our office basement, we keep all the coffee, snacks, etc. I went down there to get a little privacy to make my call. I picked up a fortune cookie that was laying on the table with all the sodas and snacks. When I read my fortune I actually got teary eyed.

It was like God was sending me a little message. It said: "You need to forgive that person today. Believe me. "

I decided to forgive him for his drinking. The fortune cookie told me to; what other choice did I have really? I went to see him last night, and he looked good. He was up walking around, and he said he was feeling fine. It was good to see him in good spirits, and sober. We ate dinner together and chatted about life. I stayed until visiting hours were over; I don't think I'd have gone to see him if it wasn't for that fortune cookie.

In other news, my laptop charger is completely broken, so the battery is dead. I ordered a new charger on Ebay, which should arrive this week. Forgive me if I don't keep up with my posts- it's a little difficult without a computer! I'm writing this at work and my boss is giving me the evil eye, so that's all for today!

A Cute Design by Acute Designs on Etsy

Scouring etsy's forums for hot summer accessories to feature, I came across these oh so pretty hair accents created by Acute Designs on Etsy. The flowers are about 1" in diameter: the perfect size to add that little touch you need for any outfit. After checking out her shop, I found something that excited me! Flower bobby pins in Mint Green and Pale Pink!

For those of you who haven't been reading, I just did a post last week about how much I love this color combination, so naturally I was happy to see it taken up by another etsy seller. Check out her pretty little shop and while you're at it, you can also see what she's up to on her cooking blog!

Beginner's Craft Course: How Do Your Buyers Find You?

Thanks to a great tip from one of my readers, (Thanks again Creative Sprinkle!) I was able to find great advice for finding out how my customers are finding my shop. Its a simple survey that you set up through Paypal, that automatically comes up during the checkout process. What a relief!

I was really leery about sending an email to my buyers asking them how they found me. The last thing I want to do is bother them. I want my buyers to come back; I don't want them to feel like they're going to be hounded with questions every time they purchase something. Customers should leave your shop feeling excited, not annoyed. An annoyed customer will not come back, I don't care how great your stuff is.



This paypal survey is very easy to set up, and is not intrusive like a personal message. Check out the Etsy Business Tips blog for a step by step on how to set up your survey.

Vintage Thursdays: Lockets From The Past

I'm starting a new weekly post called Vintage Thursdays. I've noticed that not a lot of people do anything for Thursday (possibly because nothing much rhymes with Thursday) so I decided to spice up your Thursdays with a few of my favorite Vintage finds! This week's theme is Lockets. Lockets are such an awesome trend right now, and a great way to keep your love close to your heart. Enjoy!

Victorian Monogram Locket

1920's Black Locket

Retro Circle Vintage Locket

The Georgina Necklace

Color Inspiration

Yesterday I was at CVS buying a fan. I walked out with a fan, a hair straightener (a ceramic CVS brand straightener that was on sale for $4.99- score!) two nail polishes, a Gatorade and a pack of gum. Another forty dollars surrendered to impulse shopping.

I just had to write about these awesome new nail colors by Revlon. I have been inspired by these two colors, mint green and soft pink, since the first sign of foliage this spring. The funny thing is, I didn't see these colors trending anywhere else, so I thought I was the only one. I bought two tee shirts at Charlotte Russe in Mint and Pink, but that was the only place I've seen them.

I'm currently working on a couple necklaces featuring mint and pink briolettes on a gold chain, so I'm super excited about owning these hot new colors! I think it would be a little overboard to wear the shirt, necklace, and nail polish all at once though, so I will try to resist. Color is the primary source for my inspiration in my jewelry. These two colors are my absolute favorites this season. I'd love to hear what colors inspire your creations!

P.S. Off topic, but please don't forget to enter my JUNE GIVEAWAY!