ArtFire Group Deal is a STEAL!!!!!

ArtFire, a fabulous place to sell handcrafted or vintage goods, or supplies to make handcrafted goods is running a most WONDERFUL deal right now!

Here's the deal:  If ArtFire can get 20,000 shops to sign up for this deal, then we all get the deal.  Have a basic shop you want to upgrade?  Sign up and when we reach 20,000, you'll go PRO!  Have a Pro shop that you're paying a higher rate on?  Sign up, because that counts too!!! 

ArtFire is wonderful, fun selling venue that reaches all over the world! 

You can set up a Facebook kiosk on your Facebook pages, and everything that you list can go directly to Google base for added advertising.  One of the most recent, really cool things they've added is being able to add your favorite goodies to an Amazon wishlist!!!

And the tools available in Pro shops are AMAZING:  set up coupon codes, create gift certificates, join artisan guilds, sort your shop so that it looks exactly how you want it to,  add promo labels to your pictures, the convenience of ONE PAGE for adding pieces, personalize your shop in the colors of your business...

I could go on, but the list really is endless. 

The link for cashing in on WONDERFUL deal is:  http://www.artfire.com/groupdeal

Take a look, sign up.... You will NOT be disappointed!!!!

The Compost Pile and other random thoughts

Well, the masses have voted.

Okay, 43 people voted.

And the winning name for my new destash shop on ArtFire will be (drum roll, please.....):

(sigh).....

The Compost Pile

This poll leads me to believe certain things about my friends:
1) They are odd, but in a good way.
2) They have FABULOUS senses of humor.

And I'm thinking they all think I won't do this.  But I will.  It won, hands down. 

Actually, what I will probably wind up naming it is: TBB's Compost Pile. Hopefully, I'll have the new shop set up by the end of the weekend.  We shall see.  And giggle. A lot. 

In honor my boys starting preschool, I'm having a 10% off sale! TheBeadedBranch Artisan Studio http://www.artfire.com/users/TheBeadedBranch

A New Shop Needing a Name

After much thought and consideration, The Beaded Branch is going to be expanding out a little bit.  I've come to realize several things:

1. I have waaaaay too many crafting supplies.
2. I would really like to have the new "Certified Handmade" badge to proudly display in my ArtFire Studio.
3. I have waaaaay too many crafting supplies.
4. A little extra cash would be nice.
5. I have waaaaay too many crafting supplies.

Here is what I'm planning on doing.  I'm opening up a de-stash and supply studio on ArtFire.  By doing this I will be able to still sell my tutorial on ArtFire (just not in my main shop) and I will be able to clear out some of the crafting supplies I never use. 
Here's the catch:  I have NO idea what to call this new venture.  In my sleep-deprived brain, the best name I could come up with was "The Compost Pile".  Catchy, but I don't think too many people would want to shop there.  The idea is good, taking what is old, and turning it into something new, but the connotations of a compost heap are just not pleasant.  The smell for one thing...
At any rate,  I've gotten a plethora of suggestions from my friends on Plurk, and with those great suggestions, I'm going to set up a poll, so people can vote. 

Here are the names that have been suggested:

• Beadless Branch
• Beaded Branch Destash
• Beyond the Branch
• From the Branch
• De-Beading the Branch
• The Apple Never Falls Far
• The Beady Apple
• Branching Out
• TBBDestash
• Beads from the Branch
• Branch of Opportunity

I'll set up the poll soon.  Vote now.  Vote often.  Otherwise I'll be stuck with a shop name like "The Compost Pile"

There Are Just Some Days...

Some days, when you have kids, when you have to let the work go by the wayside and have a little fun. This was one of those days. As I gathered up paints, paint brushes, paper, and a LARGE sheet of plastic, my kids kept asking "Mommy, what are you doing???"

I laid the plastic down on the dining room floor, got out a styrofoam tray, and had a great time with my kids. We explored a couple of different painting techniques, mixing colors, and basically getting down and dirty with a lot of paint, and having a wonderful time. Clean up was kind of a chore, but so well worth it in the end. We have some fabulous works of art now, to liven up our rather bare walls.

Have you ever had one of "those" weeks?
This week hasn't been one. This has been one of those "other" weeks. You know the kind. You're cruising along at top speed, everything is falling into place, running smoothly, going great!
But what you don't see is that HUGE patch of black ice in the middle of the road. In fact,you don't even expect it, because it's sunny and 80F.
Okay. Enough with the imagery already. It's only Wednesday of this week, and up until yesterday, I was cruising at top speed, business wise.
For the past year, I have been consolidating all of my business records into one piece of database software, and I was FINALLY starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. For all intents and purposes, I was going to be able to finish it this week. After a year of data consolidation from three (yes, THREE) databases in to one, seeing an end in sight was nothing short of a miracle. But, I digress.
Yesterday morning, I got up, turned on my desktop (an old behemoth of a machine), and turned on my laptop (only slightly less old, but it has seen me through many papers in college). I opened the software that I was transferring data from on my desktop, and slowly but surely, it opened. I clicked on the icon to open the software on my laptop, where I've been transferring data to. And I waited. And I waited. It finally decided to open. Sort of. Basically, it was a blank screen where once (just Monday night, in fact) hundreds of pieces of data danced. (Gasp!)
Okay, trying to keep the panic down, I closed out the program and reopened it. Same thing. Rebooted the computer. Opened the program. Same thing. (Panic is now coming on full blown, and sweat is breaking out on my forehead) I try some other programs. Pretty much the same thing is going on. I try a system restore. Okay, that took care of some of the problems, but not, of course, the database problems. One last option. I go back onto the website for the software, download the latest update and and reinstall it. I restart my computer, and bingo. It's all there, back again, safe and sound.
I wiped the sweat from my brow, but realized that yes, while a new desktop would be nice, I'm going to need a new portable computer much sooner. My laptop just isn't longed for this world. I guess the white cheddar flavored rice cake crumbs that one of Da Boys dropped into the keyboard kind of ticked the computer off and was the last straw.
What is the point of this long-winded blog? After weighing all the options I have (the most extreme included closing my business altogether, and totally giving up) I finally decided that the least extreme is to have a sale in my ArtFire shop.
So, here's the deal: I'm having a sale in my ArtFire shop This sale is 20% off everything in the shop, with free shipping, domestic and international. ;-) And I'm going to keep the sale going until I raise enough to buy myself a new netbook.
Since US Mother's Day is right around the corner, here's an opportunity to get a great deal on a present for your favorite mom. Shop soon. Shop often. I'll keep you posted on how it's going.

Until my next update, remember
Sand Is Always Blue!!!!

If I Could Be....

If I could be a month I’d be May
If I could be a day I’d be Monday
If I could be a time of day I’d be sunrise.
If I could be a planet I’d be Venus

If I could be a sea animal I’d be a sea otter
If I could be a direction I’d be north east
If I could be a piece of furniture I’d be a big comfy bed
If I could be a liquid I’d be hot cocoa

If I could be a gem stone I’d be Emerald
If I could be a tree I’d be an oak

If I could be a tool I’d be a hammer
If I could be a flower I’d be a rose

If I could be an element of weather I’d be sunshine
If I could be a musical instrument I’d be a dulcimer
If I could be a color I'd be forest green

If I could be an emotion I’d be comfort

If I could be a fruit I’d be an apple
If I could be a sound I’d be waves crashing on the shore
If I could be an element I'd be earth

If I could be a car I’d be a station wagon

If I could be a food I’d be clam cakes
If I could be a place I’d be the beach
If I could be a material I'd be cotton

If I could be a taste I’d be sweet

If I could be a scent I’d be rose

If I could be a body part I’d be hands
If I could be a facial expression I'd be contented
If I could be a song I’d be a great 1980's dance tune

If I could be a bird I'd be a seagull.

If I could be a gift I'd be handcrafted by a child
If I could be a street I'd be a street along the shore

If I could be a city I'd be Boston.
If I could be a door I'd be unlocked, ready to open.

If I could be a pair of shoes I’d be a kickin' pair of bright red patent leather stilettos.


And what would you be? How do you see your inner self? Thank you Ruth for the inspiration. You can read Ruth's blog here.