iDesignDreams Custom Photo Cards

Friday Finds... iDesignDreams


Interview # 52
With Christmas now just around the corner, you may be considering the perfect greeting to send to your loved ones that has that little bit something extra. I have featured some brilliant cardmakers on my blog before and today is no exception, iDesignDreams offers fantastic designs throughout the store and offers a great personal quality to the cards for the ability to customize each step in the process of ordering. Not only do you have the option to have your card file available to print at home, but you can ask to have the design professionally printed which you can be invoiced for. I mentioned the Christmas holiday approaching of course, yet there are other options available to you such as birth announcements, and save the date. I think if you want to find the perfect digital printable cards this year that use your images then a visit to iDesignDreams is a must. Check out their interview for today!

(Just click the images to go direct to the listings)

-- Tell me a bit about you! (Name, Age, Location, and give us a random fact whilst you're at it.) My name is Jamie Dennis (age 24) and I live in Greeley, CO (about an hour north of Denver, CO). I also happen to be a vegetarian of two years!




-- What is your business about then? As of now, I make custom holiday photo cards that are modern and fresh. Because I just opened up shop and it so happened to be right around the holidays, that was my main focus. Soon, I will be designing photo baby announcements, save the date cards, birthday party invitations and more! You won't find any generic photo cards here!


-- How did Etsy come into your life? I discovered Etsy awhile ago when doing some personal shopping. I never thought I would actually become a seller. When I decided to start designing custom photo cards to sell, I remembered Etsy and thought it matched well with my personality and style.



-- Are you working a day job too? Yup! I work as a full-time Graphic Designer in the corporate world and have been for almost 5 years now, even during the time I was still in college getting my Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design.


-- How long has the artist in you been 'unleashed' for? Corporately, quite some time as I've mentioned. I've always done wedding invitations, my own holiday cards, logo design, etc on the side. It wasn't until a couple months ago that I decided I might actually be able to design photo cards to fit other people's personalities and styles as well. So, I started designing some cards here and there, as I continued and ideas came easy to me, I decided that maybe I had a "nack" for designing photo cards and then I just went for it, listing them on Etsy!



-- What has been the inspiration behind your business? Never being able to find anything online that fit what I was looking for. Being a designer, it's hard to buy a photo card someone else has created without NOT wanting to change something about it. It's just engrained in us designers. :) I also find it freeing to be able to design outside the corporate world, without having limitations or rules to follow or someone else to have final say. Now, that final says is ME!


-- If you could describe your products in three words, what would you tell me? Beautiful. Modern. Fresh.


-- What would an average working day for you be like from dawn til dusk? Stroll into office at my full-time day job at 8:00pm and get off at 5:00pm. Go to CrossFit (gym) right after work, get home around 7:00pm. Cook dinner for the hubs and I. Shower. At 8:00, if I'm lucky and the hubs isn't using the computer, design a couple photo cards and list on Etsy. Then, it's time to "take care" of my social networking accounts on Facebook and Twitter and try to maintain a marketing presence. Crash around say 11:30pm, any later and I'm worthless the next day. :)




-- What's your favourite material and techniques to work with? I absolutely love paper and printed "things." However, because I only design and sell digital photo cards, the only material I use is my computer. I design in Illustrator and edit photos in Photoshop.


-- What is your ideal vision for the future for you and your work? I'd like to have a full line of holiday cards, baby announcements, save the date cards, birthday party invitations and possibly even creating some "frameable" artwork as a spin-off of the card designs. For instance, creating baby announcement posters for a baby room using the baby's name, date of birth, weight, height, etc that can either match the announcement card or the room decor. Same thing for the save the date cards, etc. So many ideas and only so much time; it's good that the possibilities are literally endless. I'd like to have a consistent customer base, creating a "hub" if you will for all things photo cards that customers look at first before going anywhere else.


-- Away from work, what do you like to do for fun or to wind down? My husband and I are addicted to CrossFit. You can find us there most nights after work and on the weekends. We also love to play outdoors; snowboard, bike, run and hike. We do live in Colorado after all. We attend a lot of concerts and movies and are always trying out new Vegetarian places in Colorado. We love to travel (or should I say I love to travel and take the hubs with me) and are into modern home decor (go figure, right)? :) We are blessed to have great families, friends and a wonderful life!




-- What are you likely to search for on Etsy? Unique clothing, design inspiration, modern wall art and the next new thing!


-- Any last words? Of course, I have a Facebook and Twitter account that I'm on regularly. Like me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greeley-CO/I-Design-Dreams/140885742625843 Follow me on Twitter @i_Design_Dreams You can find me on there promoting my products, keeping you up to date with the newest designs and interacting with my followers. I try to keep the self-promotion contained and help promote other unique finds on Etsy as well.

And of course, check out my Etsy shop. www.iDesignDreams.etsy.com

Friday Finds... FabricGreetings

Friday Finds... FabricGreetings



This is my fourth interview of the amazing not-so-well-known artists of Etsy.

My new find for this week had actually contacted me before I actively searched for new artists to feature in a convo on Etsy, so when it came to it I was blown away pretty early in the search and couldn't resist in asking for an interview. It took me ages to contact them however!
As I'm constantly documenting at the mo, I am SHATTERED beyond belief... Could do with a good nights sleep, that would do the trick! (prays that son will behave himself lol). Anyway, I love the concept of this sellers work. Innovative, very trendy and SOOOOOOO colorful! I was delighted that she agreed to work with me this week, so I give you Alyce from Fabric Greetings...



(Just click the images to go direct to the listings)









-- Tell me a bit about you! (Name, Age, Location, and give us a random fact whilst you're at it.) My Name is Alyce Templeton and I live in Elkton, Maryland with my hubby of almost 43 years. I was not a child bride, so you do the math!

-- What is your business about then? My business deals with fabric postcards. They are very mailable works of textile art done almost entirely on the sewing machine. They came about because of severe hand problems which prohibit me from making and stuffing the whimsical dolls I did for years. But something good always comes from something bad. I had seen some postcards at the Houston Quilt Market many years ago and decided I could figure out how to build a better mousetrap – namely making the cards mailable without an envelope.

-- How did Etsy come into your life? Etsy came into my life because a customer at a craft show asked me to open so she could see my items without having to travel long distances to get to me. I am not real computer savvy. So it was a very stressful decision.

-- Are you working a day job too? Fortunately, I had the option to be a stay at home Mom many years ago and never went back to a full time real job. I do teach sewing and related classes at several quilt stores in the area.

-- How long has the artist in you been 'unleashed' for? Sewing and fabric have been important to me forever. I can’t imagine not being able to sew everyday. I love combining colors and textures as well as the unexpected. That is why these postcards are so unique.

-- What has been the inspiration behind your business? I guess what I really would like people to understand is that a friend is a special and unique person. There isn’t another one in the world like him/her. So why buy a card that has been mass produced and is not unique and special. I love what I do and I would like people to be able to enjoy the experience of receiving a unique card.

-- If you could describe your products in three words, what would you tell me? I think the three words that describe my products are colorful – fun – unique.

-- What would an average working day for you be like from dawn til dusk? My average day is pretty relaxed. Once my knee is fixed, I will be back to walking 3-5 miles early in the morning, doing as little housework as possible and spending hours at the sewing machine, fixing an evening meal and reading. When my hubby retired, I made it clear I did not do lunch unless he was taking me out!

-- What's your favourite material and techniques to work with? Who says you can’t sew paper or plastic to cloth – or paint it. Once I had received one of these cards, I became aware of just how they can brighten a day. They are truly keepsakes. With a string, ribbon or cording, they make wonderful luggage tags. You can find your suitcase immediately. You can sit them on a table easel or frame them for wall art.

-- Away from work, what do you like to do for fun or to wind down? This probably sounds funny, but for me, sitting at the sewing machine is winding down. We are off soon on a long vacation to Maine. And in the back of the car will be my sewing machine and the makings of my Christmas cards. I will sew a bit everyday and really feel like I am having the greatest vacation in the world.

-- What are you likely to search for on Etsy? I am not a real shopper. But I have prowled the shops looking for unique gift items. And I have found some great supplies for my cards.

-- Any last words? Thanks again for this opportunity. I will be looking for it on Friday.

Alyce

Sunday - Coffee And Cake!

New Greeting Cards and Prints On Etsy - Click Images to Visit Listings




Sunday - Coffee and Cake



Hello again :)

Had a bit of a crazy week as usual. It's been a couple of weeks since I have managed to just write a normal blog post, and I'm not trying to be lazy I promise! Time has just really been my enemy, which I am hoping should change in the following week, what with the other half going back to work and me being back to my full time duties exclusively! Should have plenty to talk about besides the features which'll be nice, considering all that I've been doing lately is work work work on Etsy. I've already written out a plan of what my son and I are going to get up to from tomorrow... aren't I organised! ^_^



Anyway today I want to discuss Social Networks. This is nice and easy so don't worry about me boring you to death lol!!!



Networking Part 5 : Social Networks Like I've said, this is easy as pie. A bit time consuming to set up but once they're going you can really intergrate yourself into the handmade community outside of Etsy, which so far I find is a great way to meet like minds and to also get your name out there. Like with Twitter and Blogger, Social Networks also allow you to link up all of your web efforts into one place, so any visitors will know of all the other places they can find you! A great thing if say someone who hates Myspace, but loves Facebook would rather link to you on there :)

I think one thing that puts people off Social networks is the security side of things. At least it did for me with all the scaremongering you get about them. With Facebook for example, I would never link my business to my personal page... the same way i dislike the idea of mixing work life and home life... you get the picture.
Facebook allows businesses to use their services without the need to mix in their personal profiles. It's simply, Facebook Pages as opposed to Facebook Profiles. I'm not sure if you need to have a normal Facebook profile in order to have a "page", as i was fortunate enough to already be an avid Facebook user prior to creating mine, but once up and running I think it's a create way to network with fellow handmade artisans.
It has a system on there which allows you to create ads that link to your page (at a cost however), and obviously it gives you presence in the searchable world that is Facebook.
It allows people to "become a fan" of you page, which once done allows you to update them as you update your page, without having to go through reams of email addresses to manually update them on your endeavors. A bit like a mailing list, but a little more snazzy. Users will see your updates on their own Facebook homepages in real time. They can also interact with you by leaving comments on your page or message you direct, so it's a great way to keep the communication flowing.
You can use various applications to make your page more interesting. I use Networked Blogs which pulls the feed from my Blogger Blog into my page without me having to go back and forth copying and pasting links. Facebook is one of my favourite methods of keeping people informed of what I'm getting up to.

If you want to be able to have something that you can tweak a little more, that uses templates or HTML and looks a little less plain like Facebook, you can join lots of Ning social networks like, Indie Public, We Love Etsy and Twittermoms (obviously one for mothers!). They all use a similar kind of interface, but you'll find the communities on there are vast and there are plenty of opportunities to communicate with these communities. All of the networks I mentioned give you access to a blog, of which when used gets updated at the top of a list similar to the way listing an item on Etsy works. This can be viewed in the "blogs" tab, where your updated blog will be at the top, along with all other blog users. Like with Etsy, if someone else updates a blog, then you'll get bumped down the list. Not one to be abused, you should only ever update when you genuinely have something relevent to say or announce! They all also have forums which are great for meetings other artists and for promotion. You can personalise your homepages too by uploading photos, RSS feeds, and various other things. Another place that I've already mentioned that could be used, if you like the idea of controlling how your page looks is Myspace. This may take a little more time, but if you're tech savvy in anyway you can make beautiful pages, completely personal to you that will look great if you want to establish a name for yourself. If not there are HTML editors now intergrated into Myspace that walk you through the steps of creating a look from scratch. Once up, you can link to your shop by using your Etsy mini, various other widgets if you like, and have a lot more flexibility than any other of the Social Networks when it comes to sharing everything that you want to and having that sort of control.

Mixxmade.com is a place I'm new too myself, but the one thing that is fab about it is that it allows you to link items into a sort of classifieds ad, in the Marketplace section. You have to write your listings out from scratch mind you, and type in links for people to visit (as your ad won't link to your item directly). But it's just another Idea... I think it's relatively new, but it's a community that is growing and definitely worth checking out.

There are loads of social networks out there besides the ones I've mentioned, but I do think it's worth giving it a go. Particularly for ones that you think your potential focused group is larger (ie: Facebook & We Love Etsy). If you're worried about security, then just don't make it personal and keep it solely for business. (You can still be friendly lol!) Also, change your passwords regularly and make sure they're not one's you'd use all the time. These kind of things always have the potential to get hacked, the same way any other site would do so for piece of mind I'd keep a log book of your passwords incase you forget, and regularly change them so you're always in control.

That's all that I'm familiar with anyway. Until next week!


moonangelnay x