Chromasmear

There are rumors running ram pet through Etsy right now about Uleen aka Chromasmear. The rumors are true, Uleen passed away yesterday in a rafting accident.

My heart goes out to her family and her husband. She was a very funny lady with an awesome sense of humor and a talented individual. She will be missed by all of the people who's lives she has touched...........

Food Genes

Well apparently the food gene is like any other gene, it runs through my family! My little sister Stephanie has quite a talent for cake decorating! My dad emailed me photos of her talent at work! She did an anniversary cake for a co worker and it came out awesome!!

Heheheh she is in FL far far away from me here in AZ....hmmmmm maybe we will have to start a little something something together! I can do all the main dishes and she can handle dessert. I think she needs to switch up and go to pastry school. LOL.....shhhh don't tell my dad that....he probably won't be to thrilled with that idea. However I am the big sister and I can say what I want. Which in this case is follow your heart and do what u love!

Aren't those rosettes awesome!! I am very impressed!! Which is what this blog post is all about! Way to go little sis!!

Hugs!

Angelica

This and That

Well there are some interesting happenings going on this month, so I thought I would pass on the info to my peeps!

For those of you looking for a great way to promote your shop and also to give a helping hand to a Charity then you need to take a look at Chromasmears Blog. If you look on the right hand side of her blog you will see all of the shops that are already participating. So spread the love and get your shop viewed!! If you would like to get to know Chromasmear you can read all about her on a previous Blog Post.

Ok so this next item is a little self serving, but I am excited about it so I have to tell someone who will get it! LOL, I told my BF and I basically got the nod....u all know the nod ...the one that says I really don't care.....but I am acting like I do.....yeah that one!

So I was contacted by James, from Blockhead Radio who does a show called Chocolate Cover Bacon ( yes I said chocolate covered bacon...its real...I saw it on Food Network on one of Bobby Flays shows). Chocolate Covered Bacon is about all things food, James shares with you the best finds in artisan foods. I am proud to say that my shop A Thyme To Bee comforted will be featured on James show this Thursday, July 16th at 6pm Est (for those of you on the West cost like me that is 3pm). I hope to see you guys there! If you ever wanted to ask me a question about myself or my shop now is the time! I will be in Blockheads chat as the show airs to answer any burning questions that you all may have!

Well I hope to see you all at the show, and go donate something to Chroma's box for Charity you will be helping out some darling animals!

Be Safe, and Be Happy!

Hugs!
Angelica

A Team Eeat Christmas N July

Team Eeat is doing an AWESOME giveaway in coordination with Etsy's Christmas in July!! If you have a favorite Team Eeat shop, I suggest you take a hop, skip and a jump to our blog for details!! http://etsyedibleartsteam.blogspot.com/2009/07/christmas-in-july.html

Bring the spirit of the Holiday to your home early...hehehehhe REALLY early! Hey but it is NEVER to soon for some tastey treats!

Enjoy and have a blast!

Angelica

Chromasmear Your One Stop Shop for Promotional items!!

For those of you that frequent chat on Etsy you may have seen that smiling face that is Chromasmears avatar. Which really does reflect her personality very well! Behind that smiling face is a pretty awesome shop! She is a very talented graphic designer, but what I like most is she can handle all my needs in one stop shopping. By this I mean that she can design my labels, business cards etc and also print them out for me!! What a time saver and a headache reducer!! Before I was going to two different shops, and one could do anything with out the other! It was all very time consuming!

So if you need magnets, business cards, banners etc I suggest you give Chroma's shop a peep! You will like what you see and she is AWESOME to work with!

For all of you curious cats I did a little recon on Chromie!

Tell us a little about yourself.

When I'm not working in Etsy orders or chatting with my friends on the puter I'm working graveyards as a support worker with adults who have extra needs.Sometimes I don't sleep much because of my double life, some people think I don't sleep at all, they aren't far from wrong, I hear the word Vampire a lot.

How did you get started on Etsy?

Originally I had a different store 2 years ago, but I was not a great start. I sold jewellery and I found out quickly not only was I not very good at making it, I didn't enjoy it that much either. I turned that store over to my mom and opened this store for my artwork.Chromasmear developed from paintings to what you see now. A friend helped me come up with the name, and I think the word Chroma ( color ) suits me well. I love color to use it heavily in anything I create to give impact, more so then just the images or patterns that you might see.

What advice would you give new peeps trying to venture into opening a online store?

Don't assume just because you make a wonderful project it will sell out over night. It takes time to get noticed and time for the sales to start rolling in too.Do not rely on Etsy traffic to bring in the sales. Get out there with your product and sell to other places. Buy ad spaces off Etsy, and do not forget about local opportunities to advertise too. Get creative with your advertising too. Business cards are good, but people tend to throw those away. Use items that have use outside of your product so people who do not know you will keep them around. Magnets that offer information that people use for daily living is always good. Bookmarks, a mini calender, etc, might cost you a bit more up front but in the long run it could end up making a bigger difference in your sales. Opening a business is not easy, and some people have to wait a long time for things to kick off for them. I waited about a year for my sales to start happening and I still do not get a sale a day which was my goal when I first started selling here.

What are some of your favorite websites or other online stores?

Here's where every person I know holds their breath to see if they are one of the ones I mention right ? LOL OK that's not fair so I am going to say that I buy from those I really like, so if you want to see who I shop from go look at my feedback.There are others that I wish I could shop from but the shipping is too high because of where I live. Shipping to Canada can be painful.I do want to make special note that if you own a shop that donates to animal charities, I do tend to look at those shops a lot because I have a huge soft spot in my heart for animals.Aside from Etsy shops I also like surfing the web at random to discover new things. Sometimes that's how I find my inspiration for a design. I don't mean I copy something just that I see an idea I like and I adapt it to suit my style and color preferences. Sometimes a piece is made up of several ideas all blended together.

GO NOW and take a trip to Chromasmears store, you won't be dissapointed and your shop well it will look great!!!



Be Safe, Be Happy!



Hugs

Angelica