Effective Use of Social Media

I've been thinking a lot about how to best use my time via social media lately. In this relatively new world of online selling and production I am trying to break through and engage people in my world... virtually. Essentially, I'm attempting to connect my life to others via online avenues of my Etsy shop, email, facebook, twitter, and this very blog. However, EVERYONE is trying to do the same thing. It's easy to be bombarded by tweets, facebook posts, blog entries, etc., often several times throughout the day by the same person. How can I compete with that!?!

Since so much of my success is dependent upon what I do online (the photos in my Etsy shop, offering promotions on Facebook, letting others know via Twitter that their item has been featured in my treasury) I need to use social media as effectively as possible. In fact, so much of what I do off the computer is reliant on what I do ON the computer.

It seems that there's so much out "there" online that it can be challenging to break through and get noticed. There also seems to be limitless opinions, strategies and recipes for success with using online social media. However, instead of crafting strategies for getting more followers I choose to just be myself. Online, I connect with people who care about the real me: what I have to offer and what my interests are - and that is reciprocated with those I connect with. We share ideas, thoughts, opinions and find ways to support one another. Our interactions are fueled by the passion we have for our products and ideas.
Being genuine in life - online and offline - is the key to my success.

These are my goals to keep connecting with people:

• Join in and start a conversation: Everyone loves talking about who they are and what they know. Answer questions and respond to ideas.

• Ask questions. Just as important as providing answers is asking real questions and expecting real answers. Try to find others with similar obstacles or experts who seem to be successful in certain areas that I find I am struggling with.

• Share my mission. Conversation is great, but in order to attract real people I need to communicate my message and let people know what I'm about.

The least "real" part of social media is just how easy it is to connect with real people. Outside the online world it can be more difficult to connect with others and find people we share interests with. I know that I can't rely on tips, tricks and strategy to grow my online network. My business won't prevail if I don't convey my genuine interest and talents. It's about getting real and forgetting the false barriers we put up between our real lives and our online lives. I need forget the false barriers that are put up between my online and offline life. I need to incorporate ways to make sure it's ridiculously easy to connect with me and learn what I'm about.

So, find me! Etsy, Facebook, Twitter, my blog, email. Feel free to give me your info so I can find you as well :)

Weekly Favorites: March 8

Things that make me happy this week!

Gorgeous mid centruy modern chair by Grey Maggy:

Whale Love organic fabric by Dan Stiles from Lola Pink Fabrics:

Sterling Cuff by Tara Hutch Designs:

Shut the Front Door cozy by KnotWorkShop:

Upcycled glass jars with chalkboard fronts by Braggin Bags:

Paper Crafting: Save the Dates!

Paper. Who knew you could do so much with it!??! I certainly didn't but my friend, Alyson, at Rust Belt Love knows A LOT about paper and graphic design.

Alyson took a class in letterpress printing and used that opportunity to make Mike and I the most gorgeous Save the Dates! I was incredibly touched that she would do something so thoughtful for our wedding. The letterpress printing style is exquisite. It is crisper than offset litho because of its impression into the paper, giving greater visual definition to the type and artwork. The outcome was, quite frankly, impressive. Alyson chose beautiful fonts for the antique colored paper and I love the design of the ampersand behind our names.

 I had every intention of making our own Save the Dates, invitations, and other wedding-related stationary as a way to minimize our expenses. I will definitely be seeking Alyson's graphic design expertise for the remainder of the paper tasks! There is also just something so special about handmade items that it's hard for me to pass up any opportunity to incorporate items that people have made individually. I had asked for a paper cutter for Christmas to help complete the upcoming paper-related wedding tasks. Mike's mom got me the BEST paper cutter! It's heavy duty with interchangeable blades and a solid work surface, yet compact in that it easily folds in half for storage.

My brother and Mike's sister and her boyfriend also gave us gift cards to several crafting stores and I used some of these to buy the paper (which was on sale!) for the Save The Dates :) I found light textured green, dark brown, and damask metallic cardstock to coordinate with the lovely letterpress foundation Alyson made.

I set up all of my supplies and tools and began to measure the dimensions for each layer of the Save the Date.

Once I determined the appropriate measurements, I cut each style of paper in an assembly line fashion. That helped me to avoid mistakes in measurements as each layer was completed independently.

I ended up with four stacks of paper:

1. The letterpress design Alyson made
2. The textured light green cardstock
3. The metallic damask cardstock
4. The dark brown cardstock

I used a glueglider adhesive that I purchased in a local craft store. It was so easy to use!

Additionally, I only had to place the adhesive near the corners of each sheet of paper. This definitely limited the amount of product necessary to secure the paper together.

I found it made the most sense to secure the back two layers first (i.e., 3 and 4), then the front two layers (i.e., 1 and 2), and finally glue the two remaining stacks of papers together (i.e., 3,4 to 1,2).

two back pieces

two back pieces adhered

two front pieces

two front pieces adhered

two double-layered front and back pieces

completed 4 -layered Save the Date card

It was imperative to be meticulous when layering the cardstock to ensure even distances between each corner so that the paper was centered properly. I think the different textures of each paper gives a really nice look.

I love the way these Save the Dates turned out! Alyson did an amazing job and I could not have imagined a more perfect design!

Vintage Bridal Clutches

My friend asked me to help her with some vintage bridal clutches for the bridesmaids in her best friend's wedding and I am soooo excited!
The most important aspect of creating custom orders is determining exactly what the customer is looking for. This step is imperative because the finished product should not only meet their needs but exceed their expectations. Also, it's important to remember that people inquire about custom items because they're wanting something specific. It's amazing how the word "purple" can mean 10000 different things! So, communication is key during this process and often times pictures can be the best way to convey style and color options.
My current mission is to create a vintage style clutch in spicy orange, chocolate brown and turquoise.
First, let's start with the clutch style options.
My friend found this fabulous photo of different vintage purse styles that she likes.
This was incredibly helpful because just looking at the photos I can tell that she is wanting a clutch that has a clean and classic shape. I found the following for clutches with similar styles:

Vintage 1

Vintage 2



Vintage 3



Vintage 4

Vintage 5

Vintage 6

Vintage 7

Now on to color!
Spicy Orange, Chocolate Brown, Turquoise.... How FUN!!!! As with every color, there's various undertones that dictate the actual shade it will be. Here's some swatches I found when googling these colors
"Spicy Orange"


Spicy Orange 1 - definitely yellow with a slight orange undertone



Spicy Orange 2: True bold orange with slight red undertone




Spicy Orange 3: Matte orange with rust undertone


"Chocolate Brown"


True brown



Milk chocolate brown



Brown with red undertone



Matte brown



Espresso brown


"Turquoise"
 

Light turquoise

 

Turquoise with blue undertone



Turquoise with green undertone



Dark turquoise


I thought doing a two-tone clutch with orange and brown on the exterior and turquoise on the interior would be a bold and sassy twist on these elegant styles! The great thing about any of these clutches is there's so much variety in how to implicate the two-tone look and still keep the classic style of the clutch itself.
For example, any of the envelope clutches could have an all orange fabric exterior with chocolate brown adornments such as buttons or ribbon strip. Or, the clutches could have an exterior with brown fabric on the lower portion and a spicy orange flap (or vice versa).

One example of an envelope clutch with button

Envelope clutch with ribbon strip. The flower can easily be omitted for a more classic look

It also gives an interesting look when dividing the upper and lower portions of the clutch with a middle contrast strip. This type of clutch could easily be done with orange and brown fabrics... oh! and maybe even a turquoise key fob! This is a more "modern" look, however, and might not fit the clean, classic style that my friend is going for. But, sometimes showing options of what one does not want is a good way to identify what they do want :)

Contrast envelope clutch

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this project develops! I know that the finished product will be this amazing marriage of classic elegance and bold colors for some outstanding and FUN clutches :)