ptc with marketing: November 2010

It's Cyber Monday!

Happy Cyber Monday! I did my share to participate in Cyber Monday shopping, just ordered a new Laptop! Very excited! I also finally ordered my new Photo Shop software that I promised myself when I sold 50 pieces on Etsy. I am planning on staying in my PJ's and learning all about both over Christmas break.

I am having a bit of trouble getting back into the swing of things after Thanksgiving break. I am planning on making Silver Clay for my Christmas gifts today. Hoping that gets me back in the swing and in the Holiday mood too. I did a little shopping over break. Found some awesome felting and knitting yarns at a little yarn shop called the Yarn Vault in Meadville Pennsylvania where my husband's family lives. If you'd like to read more about the shop, check out their blog at The Yarn Vault. I really love the muted colors in the felting yarn and the brighter colors in the knitting yarn.

I also found this great Altered Jean skirt. I really love the artwork and design that the artist created. Her name is Jude Ongley and she has two great blogs that talk about her art, Notes From Straw Mountain and Jude Ongley Artworks. She is an amazing artist! I love her paintings and mixed media art. Her work was also featured in Altered Couture Magazine.

Don't forget about the Two's a Charm special promotion at Stacie Jewelry on Etsy. Today's the last day to take advantage of the promotion!

Well, I"m off to the studio, see you Wednesday for the Artist of the Week. Stacie

Happy Black Friday!

Hello everyone and Happy Black Friday! Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was wonderful. Ours was great, of course ate way too much!

Don't forget about the Two's a Charm Promotion at Stacie Jewelry's Etsy Shop.

Starting Today...for every two items (valued at $20 or more each) that you purchase from my Stacie Jewelry Etsy Shop you may select a free charm! Visit the charm or Holiday section of the shop, choose a charm and include the name of the charm of your choice in the note to seller when you make your purchase.

Enjoy your weekend & I will see you on Monday. Stacie

Funny Monkey Pictures

Funny Intelligent Monkey : I think this guy really knows a lot.

Funny Tech Monkey : I think they are using facebook !!!

Funny Monkey Couple : Romeo & Juliet .

Funny Model Monkey : Top Model

Funny Monkeys : Loading ...!!!

Funny Stupid Monkey : He is really a stupid !!!

Funny Monkey Smoking : Hey !!! Which brand ??

Funny Teasing Monkey : oooooooooo ...

Funny astonished Monkey : Whats up ??

Funny Biker Monkey : !!!

Funny and Cute Monkey Twin

NB: All pictures are collected using google image.

Time for Play!

I finally had some time to play yesterday and today! I am doing a Holiday gift tag swap that is hosted by Wishstudio. There is still time to enter, if you are interested follow this link WishStudio Gift Tag Swap.

I had fun...first I cut out my tags from my favorite grunge paper, then I painted a coat of gesso on both sides. When I painted the gesso on the front side I made sure to leave a few lumps and bumps to add texture. Next I used a paper towel to paint on several shades of blue.

I have this awesome paper that I found a way back that has an amazing waxy texture and finish. I cut out the same size tags from the awesome waxy paper and sewed the two together using a zig zag stitch. This allows for a blue cast to show through the cream wax paper.

My next step in the process was to stamp a Holiday greeting, distress the edges of some paper and glue it all on. I also used these great little trees that I bought from Art Chix Studio. I decided that I wanted the trees silver, so I used silver embossing powder and a heating tool to change the color.

I am entering a contest that they have on their blog using German Scrap materials, if you'd like to enter there is still time on that one too! Check out the post on My Artistic Life.

Next, I added a little sparkle with Swarovski crystals and a pretty white ribbon to attach it to a gift. Here is the end product.

I am excited to send them off in the mail and can't wait to see the tags that I get back. I will post photos of them when I receive them in the mail.

There will be no Artist of the Week Post this week because of the holiday week. I hope you all have a wonderful Turkey Day! Stacie

Funny illustrations of Serious Quotes

1. " Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and fu*k the prom queen" - The Rock (movie).

2. " Love is a mental disease" - Plato

3. " Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win" - Jonathan Kozel

4. " Think before you act" - Anonymous . If you don't think before act then.....

source: funnyfailpictures.com

5. " Do what you can, with what you have, where you are" - Theodore Roosevelt

Bathroom blogger and bookface !!!

Found a funny t-shirt in the store today called bathroom blogger ! The idea is not bad at all !! :p

Bathroom Blogger Funny T-Shirt by JaZilla
Use Zazzle's shirt designer

Another interesting t-shirt i found was bookface!

Bookface Shirt by glenndesigns
Design your shirt at zazzle

Clicking those links or pictures above you can check those t-shirts from different views and modify them as you like !

Two's a Charm at Stacie Jewelry!

Black Friday through Cyber Monday Promotion!

Two’s a charm at Stacie Jewelry…

For every two items (valued at $20 or more each) that you purchase from my Stacie Jewelry Etsy Shop you may select a free charm! Visit the charm or Holiday section of the shop, choose a charm and include the name of the charm of your choice in the note to seller when you make your purchase.

Here are a few charms that you can get Free!

To see all the charms that are available, stop by the Charm and Holiday sections of my Etsy shop. I will be adding more jewelry every day, so keep checking back to see what is new. Hope you have a wonderful weekend! See you Monday. Stacie

Emily Connell - Artist of the Week

Today it's time to meet the Jumble Bugs! Who are they you ask? Well Australian born artist Emily Connell is the inventor and creator of these fun little creatures.

Leilani the Hula Girl

Johnny the Punk

When Emily started creating her Jumble bugs she handmade each little bug, a process that takes her around 8 hours to make just one. When they became popular she knew she couldn't keep up with the demand, so she decided to have some of her designs mass-produced. In 2007 she found a company online that recreated the toys from her patterns. The Jumble bugs would be a great gift idea! They are safety tested for ages 5 and up. They are still hand sewn so they need to be treated more gently than a regular toy. The two Jumble Bugs pictured above are available for sale on her website Jumble Bugs. They are both available in the "handmade" style and are packaged in limited edition plastic bug jars. Emily said she is currently working on "new and improved" Jumble Bugs designs, that will be machine sewn with softer fabrics, so they are more durable, washable and look more like a "real toy".

Emily has big plans for the Jumble Bugs...she would like to bring them to life by writing stories about them. When I asked her about stories, here is what she had to say;

"This is a brand new venture for me! And something that I have been "talking about doing" since I made the first Jumble Bug in 2003. Over the years I have thought up different character traits for the Jumble Bugs. In my mind I know how they act, speak and their unique personality quirks. Putting this to paper has been a challenge, and my stories are still works in progress. Some recent encouragement from my sister and my husband has got me looking through old notes I have jotted down, and I am back thinking about and creating the world of the Jumble Bugs in written form. "

To bring them to life even more, she is also planning on producing an animated TV series or a Movie starring the Jumble Bugs! Emily works full time as a Creative Director for the "As Seen on TV" industry, so she does have some familiarity to the television industry. Here is what she has to say about these exciting plans:

"My overall dream is to turn the Jumble Bugs into more than just plush toys. Growing up in the 1980's I loved the Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, Thunder Cats - and I'd love the Jumble Bugs to be well-loved toys and a well-loved TV show. (Or a movie!). I spend most of my time at work animating in a program called Flash, so when I get home I am usually quite burnt out and the last thing I want to do is more work on the computer! That is one of the reasons I started sewing in the first place... I wanted to create something real and tactile. So I do have the skills to work on a pilot episode, it's the energy and time that is most lacking, but little by little I hope to make the dream a reality."

Emily has many different Jumble Bug characters. When I asked her how she gets her ideas, here is what she said:

I like to create different themes, or "sets" of Jumble Bugs, like the Halloween themed ones, circus, Christmas and so on. In my stories they would all live together - the Halloween bugs live in the creepy castle, the circus bugs would travel the land together. The rest are pretty random! The cool thing is that pretty much anything you can think of can be turned into a Jumble Bug! I have a long long list of new ones I plan to make!

Emily was born in Sydney, Australia and grew up in Wollongong, which is about an hours drive south of Sydney on the coast. She now lives in San Diego, California with her husband Kevin, and their adorable old poodle named Pierre. They adopted Pierre last year, he was a rescue dog who is 14, blind in one eye and completely toothless so his tongue hangs out of his mouth all the time which Emily finds very endearing. I think I see a future Jumble Bug design?

To look at some of Emily's other crafts, take a peek at her other website called Look What Emily Made. This site has other non-jumble bug craft projects like dolls for people in her favorite bands. She said that she made Vince ShamWow a doll and sent it to him and he loved it!

I hope you enjoyed meeting Emily and the Jumble Bugs! Make sure to stop back on Friday, I will be announcing a Great Stacie Jewelry Sales Promotion that will be starting on Black Friday and ending Cyber Monday.

More Felting! Sneak peek of what's to list on Etsy!

Had a bit more fun needle felting yesterday with my daughter, Madison. She did great! Here are the jeans that she felted.

Madison's jeans

I did some work on a jean shirt that I have had for a while, but never feel like wearing. I sort of borrowed the circle idea from my friend Whitney...she used the circles on her skirt she felted at the class last week. Then I sort of borrowed my daughters idea to use black circles and the opposite color polka dots on the other side of my shirt. Ok, so I borrowed a lot! At least I did the felting! I also cut out the pockets and stitched up the sides in my shirt to make it less bulky. It seemed to help a lot.

Stacie's felted shirt

Speaking of wool and yarn, my friend Allison just posted an article on her blog about knitting caps for babies in need. We did this last year and really enjoyed it. Take a peek at Allison's post to find out more and see if you'd like to get involved.

Working on more new jewelry for my Etsy shop this week. Here is a little sneak preview of a few pieces I will be posting this week.