Online Jewelry Making Classes

 I usually run the opposite way when I see a blog heading that has FREE something in it. Like you, I have a limited amount of time I can spend on the web - and wading thru spam "free offers"  is not how I want to spend that time.   Speaking of SPAM...  Karen over at Sew Many Ways posted a great article about reducing spam posts in the comment sections of your Blog this last week. Her post had solid, useful information... check it out while you are still thinking about it or bookmark it for later so you don't forget!

Free Classes Online at CraftArtEdu

This one is for real though - they really are FREE and the classes at Craft Art Edu change from time to time in each of the media types for which they are offering instruction.  Check out their class list by clicking on their logo. They also offer paid/fee-based classes, with quality group on Instructors.

I have been finishing the notes for our workshop next week on Crafting Your Web - we'll be hosting at our local Meetup group in Santa Clara.  We'll cover basic things to consider when starting your own website, Blog or Social Media feeds to promote and sell your own handmade crafts. Some basic do's and don'ts, etc. The changing nature of the web is so fluid that there are always new considerations to add to the content of this brief overview workshop.  Next week's session filled up fairly quickly, so we may be offering a repeat session soon if there are enough folks expressing interest. 

In case you missed it - FABMO's new event calendar is posted for March and so is the SEWING CAMP Calendar for CampFashionista for this summer's sessions in San Jose.  More on these later... but I thought you might enjoy browsing through their online calendars for ideas.  We recently posted our Handmade Guilders Calendar  as well. As we get spare time, we are listing events and classes, shows and marts local to the SF Bay Area.  If you would like to submit your event for listing, send us an email and be sure to include your contact info so we can reach you if we have questions or need more information.  Happy Crafting!

More Pennies To Think About

Wow!

D-I-Y Copper Penny Floor

Springtime is almost here

Spring is so close! 

See the Bird Nest pendant collection here 

http://yourinnermagpie.com/catalog.html

A Penny For Your Thoughts....

View Jen's whole Tutorial on how to do it here

It's all Jen Yates' fault 

 Jen is curator of the EPBOT blog   and http://cakewrecks.com  and on Twitter as  @cakewrecks


<----This is her lovely table and she is the one that planted the idea (of making one of my own)  in my head a few years ago!   

This is one of the best tutorials I have ever seen, so I am re-posting the link to it here so you can enjoy it as well.

Speaking of  Pennies and Thoughts...

April's Etsy store PennyAnnDesigns 

is another lovely find!

She creates original card designs in sets for children's birthdays, weddings, thank-you cards... and more. Extremely unique and well done handcraft! Browse at her shop here http://www.etsy.com/shop/PennyAnnDesigns?

Writing Habits

Debra Johnson of www.liveinnanny.com  as featured as guest blogger on Jeff Bullas's blog at http://jeffbullas.com with her 8 Essential Habits for Effective Writing today and for the most part, I agree with her perspective.

A lot of crafters are trying to work out a livable balance between the time they devote to working on whatever they are creating, and taking a decent amount of time to "promote" their craft activities. It's hard to do both. While you are surfing the net or reading others' blogs, take notes when you see something that sparks your creative interest.


Develop a routine to save your notes in some sensible order. I use an Android App named
G-Tasks that just creates a "post-it" type note with all the pertinent info using the "share" button on many sites and pastes into your phone or tablet memory for later reference.  If you have a wireless printer at home, you can print your notes straight from your Android device, or  you can download them to a USB stick and print them via your computer. I also take photos wherever I go and save them in a file folder on the computer named "writing."  When I want to use a photo to illustrate something on my blog or website, this is where I look first as I know I own the original photo and I can use it wherever or however I need to when I want to post something to the web.

Do's and Don'ts: Social Media

Here's a pretty good list from Jess Brown's blog  on her list of  Social Media "Do's and Don'ts"

While she lists what not to do, I would add a few ideas of my own:

Using Social Media can really benefit you if you pay attention to your account on a regular basis - but keep it brief and stay to the "point" of whatever Crafting Topic (brand) you are working to develop a following about. 

In your Tweets, your Blog, or your website - try not to be "all over the map." 

It is better to focus on one or two things well rather than several things with a half-baked effort.  

You don't need to be "plugged-in" to Social Media all the time, or even daily, if you make sure to do it on some regular basis and if the quality of your posts or projects or how-to's are well done. As you browse through your favorite sources of info about jewelry making, stamping,  paper-crafts, handwork, and other creative areas of interest - start keeping track of which blogs, twitter feeds and websites that you read and spend more time on than others. Track it for a week or two and then ask yourself - why these places attract you to return week after week.  

Think about: Design. Content. Clarity. Ease of Use. Who is your target audience?

Carefully review which ones are good sources of info and inspiration, and start skipping the ones with a lot of visual clutter or rambling text. Use some of your browsing time with a targeted focus, it amazing how much time you can blow through on sites like Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook.  If you use these sites to promote your own creations, make sure you spend some time there working on your own posts instead of just looking at others. Learn how to link your pins and posts back to your own blog or website.  Ask friends of yours to use their pins and posts to link to your blog or website as well.  The more sources of link-backs to your own material, the better your rankings become over time.

B-I-P: Scheduling

Blog Improvement Process: Why schedule your blog posts?
Here are a  few ideas about getting better coverage and promotion of  your blog or website. A lot of "experts" suggest involved ways to get your blog a lot of readers in no-time.

C'mon! Think about it. If it sounds too fantastic - what is the catch? Often it is expensive, sometimes involves hiring an expert, it is time-consuming, and with dubious results.   Many people read the blogs they like on their smartphone while waiting in line and/or doing other tasks, so make it easy on your readers. Use short posts and smaller sized photos in the blog. Eliminate word clutter. Pretend you are reading your own blog on your own smartphone, even if you don't have or use one. Place larger detailed articles and larger photos belong on your website instead.

Here's my formula: 

1. Keep it simple, see if you can read it out loud  in 5 minutes.  Reading it out loud to yourself catches a multitude of errors as well.

2. Block out a regular amount of time daily to devote to your "blog-effort."

3. Make your blog writing time brief so you can do it every day. Try 15 minutes of daily blog-editing for starters. If you cannot do it daily - try weekly. It is helpful to identify your blog as a weekly blog if you will only update it weekly, either in the "Intro or Header"  section, the Title section, or the Footer section.

4. Make an appointment with yourself that you can keep - daily.  Example: 10:15am-10:30am.  It helps to target the work session during the daily time when you are most alert and sharp. Avoid choosing the time slot at the end of your regular work-day when you are already fried from the pressures involved with your job. This includes stay-at-home moms, who work harder than most any office workers.

5. Make a spot to work on your blog in the same place at the same time each day or week. This reinforces the process in your mind and your commitment to keep the appointment, and makes for better results. Once you have done it for a month - you will have begun a habit that will help you more than you realize. If possible, choose a space that is free of other distractions, not while you are watching TV or others are demanding your attention.

6. Include a photo or illustrative graphic with most posts. This is the hook that entices folks to keep looking the next time. Size your photos as "medium" so it will display well on most people's smartphones without making the page load so slowly over a phone-type connection.  Test what your blog looks like on your phone and ask friends to test it on their phones for consistency and page-load times. In Blogger, enable the "mobile" view when you are setting up your blog template.

7. Check your spelling and grammar usage - one thing bloggers really dislike is getting corrected on spelling or grammar by their readers in the "comments" section. Blogger has a spell checker and here is a good Grammar checker that will do it in a browser window: http://www.grammarly.com/handbook/

Further reinforcement:
Read other blogs and Twitter accounts that feature similar subjects or products to yours. Look for inspiration in their use of adjectives and specific phrasing. Short is better - so hone those word-smithing skills!

Writing and creating, even taking the photos that you will include in your posts, can be done in longer time-spots than your initial 15-minute appointments.

The idea is to establish a regular routine.

Even if it gets set in stone at only 15 minutes.

Sometimes you can use up hours working on it, depending on your availability and creativity.

15 minutes is generally a realistic goal to start with. The more realistic you make your goal, the more likely you will succeed with the plan.

Tell yourself the truth - no one is going to check on you if you did it wrong!

If you are on Blogger, you can schedule your posts to appear in the future so you can knock out a few of them at once.

Scheduling your posts helps with time management, and can reinforce the process in your own mind and life.

Lorens World has a great, brief  list on improving your Blog readership/viewing here: http://www.lorensworld.com/business/get-more-people-to-read-your-content/

Some further reading on scheduling your blog posts and free, downloadable worksheets:


This link features a really basic worksheet - written in MS Excel   http://www.webpronews.com/blogger-editorial-calendar-is-here-2006-01 - Once you download this one, it is also usable in any of the free open source spreadsheet programs like Google Docs  or  Open Office,  It helps to keep you mentally organized when you make briefs notes on what Keywords you will choose for each post.

If you want to use it the spreadsheet above,  on your phone or tablet this is a great app for purchase:

Dataviz Documents To Go for Android or iPhone  which enables you to use and edit spreadsheets on your phone or tablet.

A few more reference articles and free download Blog Scheduling templates:
http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2012/08/editorial-calendar-template/

http://www.savvyb2bmarketing.com/blog/entry/572231/save-time-stress-%E2%80%93-blog-editorial-calendar-template

Ok, this entry took more than 5 minutes to read... once in awhile you can run over - but you get the idea!