Peace, Baby! Batiks, Say It With Me

Just about every time I work on a new batch of T-shirts, my son Q, who is nearly three and a half, places an order. First, it was a purple dump truck. Easy enough. Then, it was a gray cat. Yep, I can do that.

Now, I don’t know what he’s thinking: he wants a Mars rover T-shirt. Luckily, he wants it for his fifth birthday. I mean, I love a good challenge, but I’m glad I have a year and a half to work on that rover! (For birthday No. 4, he wants a rocket. Pink, I think.)

My son is the reason I started my business, Peace, Baby! Batiks. I am a stay-at-home mom, and I adore it, and I want to be able to stay home after my son starts kindergarten in a couple of years. I want to remain flexible for my family for holidays and vacations and sick days. So, I get up early to melt the wax I use to make my designs, and I cram as much work as I can into naptime/quiet time each day. I drag my poor kid to the post office to mail packages. He’s started to ask, “Do we have to go in?” Thanks to buying postage on PayPal, most times I can say no.

At craft fairs and markets, Q is my best billboard. My husband always makes sure they’re both wearing one of my batik tees when they come to see me. My son will sit behind my table and smile at passersby. He’ll browse my inventory and pick out things he likes, often placing more orders for shirts he wants. Then, he’ll take Dad’s hand and go do a little shopping. (That’s my boy buying handmade!)

And, he’s my guinea pig. He gets all the prototype shirts when I am trying out a new design or color combination. The advantage to this? He’s got a batik shirt for just about every day of the week. Great for marketing!

Q is the original peace baby, and he’s the inspiration and driving force behind Peace, Baby! Batiks.

-Written by Cori, of Peace, Baby! Batiks

Tweet

This Is Show Business, Not Show Fun

In 1989, I got my undergraduate degree in Speech Communication, which doesn't really explain how two years later I was touring the country on a bus and truck production of The Sound of Music, as the Wardrobe Supervisor. We opened in Frederick, Maryland, and when the curtain came down at 10:30pm on the last performance, all the scenery, props, lighting, sound equipment and costumes would be loaded into two tractor trailors, for the first time.

Have you ever packed for a long trip, laying all your things out on the bed, then piling them in the suit case, only to find that no amount of jumping on the lid will allow you to close that zippper? Roadboxes and scenery littered the parking lot in the moonlight, waiting their turn to get loaded onto the trucks. The trucks would fill up, equipment left forlornly standing still waiting to make it into the pack. Empty the trucks and start again, and again.

The night sky turned to early morning sky while I stood with the other members of the road crew, watching the loaders wrestle roadboxes. We were new, our first tour, and from my old photographs we looked like twelve year olds. The Technical Director, Cliff sauntered over. He was not new, and he was a cowboy from Colorado, giving him sauntering rights. He barked at us to go help the loaders. The Audio Engineer, new, complained that 'was not going to be any fun'.

The Technical Director cut him off but directed this at all of us, "This is show business, NOT show fun! Now get to WORK." We did.

The parking lot was finally empty and the trucks packed. We zombies finally climbed into our tour bus. Cliff popped open a round of celebratory beers, and quietly admitted, "You've got to make your own show fun.

Call it a mantra. Call it a motto. I keep coming back to those lines "This is show business, not show fun. You have to make your own show fun." Alright yes, I have enjoyed a twenty year career in theatre, but that doesn't mean it isn't appropriate in other settings.

I've used it quite often this past year in my Etsy business. Filing sales tax returns are definitely not fun. Neither is entering 6 months of sales receipts. I like to make pretty things, why do I have to have a business plan? I hear Cliff's words again. It's all about perspective. I will learn to love Quicken Accounting software as much as pink satin.

Tweet

Treasury Thursdays!

Treasury Thursday will be a new addition to the Etsy Kids Blog. Every Thursday a new randomly picked treasury will be selected to be featured.
We will be featuring reported treasuries curated by our members who are not participating in the EtsyKids Treasury Team

I love the many colors in this rainbow of all Etsy Kids Team Items.

It reminders me of summer full of life.

Enjoy!

'Rainbow Brite and Starlite' by MulberryShop

ChirpAndBloom $32.00	applenamos $7.00
fategoddess $8.00	MamieCo $19.00
thenook $21.00	AllThingsGirly $4.25
applenamos $14.00	woolies $28.00
elisehooperdes... $72.00	DucksInARowBou... $4.50
BabbidgePatch $15.00	LifeInTheSassL... $22.00
yirtikpirtikan... $20.00	snugglymonkeyc... $7.00
woodponddesign... $18.00	TagAlongAdvent... $14.99

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Tweet

I'm Featured, You're Featured

Do you want your Etsy shop and/or blog to get featured on some amazing and popular blogs for free? I've been scouring the internet to get my shop and my blog featured and I want to share what I've found with you!

Here are my features from this past week:

OnePrettyThing

TotallyTutorials

EtsyStrut

Cupcakes & Corsets

HGTV.com Forum (no idea who posted this link to my blog, but I got 58 visits from it)
and one more from a few weeks ago: Handmade Top 10

These features have improved the visibility of my shop and blog noticeably. To prove it to you, here are the stats from Google Analytics (total views for my shop and my blog combined):

Week of March 28th - April 3rd:

430 visits

Week of April 4th - 10th:

1,277 visits

Free advertising really works! Now I want to share with you a list of high-profile sites I've found that will feature you for free. I did the digging for you, so the links will take you directly to the page where they're taking submissions (click on the button to go to the homepage). This list is sorted by category but there is some overlap here, so check out every category:

Craft Tutorials:

OnePrettyThing (one of my favorite blogs!) features several craft tutorials a day--just send Rachel an email with your url and description.
http://www.oneprettything.com/?page_id=19



Tip Junkie tells 23,000 Facebook fans about your craft tutorials, party ideas, decorating tips, printables and more.
http://contact.tipjunkie.com/




Totally Tutorials features one craft tutorial a day for their 3,500 followers to read.
http://totallytutorials.blogspot.com/2009/03/submit-your-tutorial.html




The Crafty Crow shares with 4,500 Facebook fans your kids' craft tutorials.
http://www.thecraftycrow.net/submissions.html




Tatertots and Jello posts your crafty tutorial for almost 12,000 followers to read! (You can also add your link to the linky parties and get some exposure that way, too.)
http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/p/get-featured-on-tatertots-jello.html

Today's Creative Blog features a new crafty blog each day. Just email her to have yours considered.
http://todayscreativeblog.net/about/




Craftbits will show off your crafty tutorial for 60,000 newsletter subscribers to read!
http://www.craftbits.com/crafts/submissions

How Does She? shares your ideas, from craft tutorials to fashion to cooking to family life, with their 12,000 Facebook fans.
http://www.howdoesshe.com/submit-an-idea-2

Mod Podge Rocks shows off your Mod Podge-y projectcs with 5,000 followers. Just send her an email.
http://www.modpodgerocksblog.com/

Celebrations at Home has over 1,700 followers and features craft tutorials and party ideas.
http://www.celebrationsathomeblog.com/p/guidelines-for-submissions.html

Craftaholics Anonymous will feature your craft tutorials and printables for over 5,800 followers to read.
http://www.craftaholicsanonymous.net/2011/01/my-bloggy-new-years-resolutions.html



Dollar Store Crafts features (you guessed it) inexpensive craft ideas for over 8,200 Facebook fans.
http://dollarstorecrafts.com/submit/




Childmade has a "perpetual linky party" going on! You can upload your newest project any time you want and the favorites will be posted on the Childmade blog.
http://childmade.com/add_links.php



Crafterminds is full of great resources for anyone who has a craft blog and is put together by some of the other bloggers on this list.
http://crafterminds.com/contact/




IShareCrafts will (guess what!) share your craft tutorials in a pictorial directory. The only catch is that you'll have to register to submit yours.
http://www.isharecrafts.com/submit-new/

Ucreate features craft tutorials, recipes, home decor and party ideas for their 9,500+ followers.
http://www.u-createcrafts.com/p/submit-tutorial.html

Etsy Shops/Products:

Craft Gossip shares your favorite Etsy shops, products and/or craft tutorials with their readers.
http://craftgossip.com/suggest-a-link/

Heart Handmade blogs about your Etsy shop.
http://www.hearthandmadeblog.com/get-featured/

Handmade Top 10 is a fun site where you list 2 of your Etsy shop items in each category and then people vote on them. It helps you get free publicity and tells you how your item compares to others in a category (Select Type, then Open on the left margin to see which categories are currently open for listing/voting).
http://www.handmadetop10.com




The Handmade Gift Guide features Etsy treasuries full of handmade gift ideas.
http://www.thehandmadegiftguide.com/2000/10/submit-treasury.html

Parties and Events:

Hostess with the Mostess has beautiful photos of every kind of party, as well as recipes, tutorials and printables.
http://www.hostessblog.com/contact-us/#real-parties




Design Dazzle shares your party photos/ideas, crafty tutorials and room designs with over 4,500 followers.
http://designdazzle.blogspot.com/2008/11/share-your-awesomeness.html

TomKat Studio shares your parties with over 23,000 Facebook fans.
http://www.thetomkatstudio.com/contact/

Birthday Girl features your gorgeous birthday party photos.
http://www.birthdaygirlblog.com/2010/05/birthday-girl-party-submissions.html





There are so many great blogs out there... If none of these are in your niche, here's how to create your own list of places where you'd like to be featured:

1. Check out a blog you love.
2. See if the blog has a sidebar or a page with all the places they've been featured, then click on each of those sites that has featured them.
3. Look around for a "contact me" or "get featured" option on the featuring blog.
4. Submit your project and see what happens!

Another option to get featured is to join up with linky parties, blog hops or contests. You never know who will find you that way... Just find a linky at one of your favorite blogs and join in!



Any other great high-profile sites that you know of that I can add to this list?

Tweet

EtsyKids Design Challenge: We have a Winner!

Congratulations to the winner of this month's challenge 57. Itsy Bitsy Spider Dress by sewmuchmichellee!

"The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout.

Down came the rain, and washed the spider out.

Up came the sun, and dried up all the rain,

and the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again."

Sew Much Michellee specializes in pillowcase dresses, handmade shabby gift tags and other unique items, all made with great care. Please make sure to visit this lovely boutique!

Tweet

Photo Makeover Series Part 4

EtsyKids Photo Makeover Series Part 4: Photo Editing, Props, Styling and More!

TwoLittleBluebirds continues her Photo Makeover Series on the EtsyKids Treasury Team Blog this week with her fourth installment filled with styling tips to enhance your product photos and entice buyers! She also discusses free photo editing software programs along with tips for editing your photos. Jump on over and see what improvements you can make to your product photos. You've got a month to put TwoLittleBluebirds advice into action and enter your new product photos in the final photo makeover challenge. Contest details and how to enter are found on the EKTT blog.

Tweet

EtsyKids Design Challenge: It's time to Vote!

It's time to vote for your favorite item! Voting will be open through midnight EST, May 27th. This month, EtsyKids members were challenged to create an exciting new item based on a theme "Mother Goose". We received a bunch of fantastic entries from some talented people. Each participant was assigned a unique random number. Please note your favorite from the list below and place your vote. You can also view each entry in detail by clicking on links provided at the bottom of this post or HERE.



(If you can't view the voting poll above, please follow HERE to vote.)

1. LIMITED AVAILABILITY-Made to order-- Cottage Rose Apron Dress for sizes 6-12, 18-24mos, 2T, 3T, 4T by BunnyLaneDesigns
2. High Tide: Custom Birthday or Flower Girl Skirt by PetalPetal
3. Monkey Booties Size 0 to 6 Months Ready to Ship by bisongirl
4. aries sleeveless hoodie vest - baby - natural/grey by marissav
5. Purple City Kitty, American Apparel Tshirt for Toddlers and Adults by kendrasred
6. Rain, Rain creeper or t-shirt by roseprintsonline
7. Modern English/French Print of Nursery Rhyme Baa Baa Black Sheep (Bee Bee Mouton Noir) 11 X 14 Khaki by gracehesterdesigns
8. Mary Had a Little Lamb Baby Gift Basket For New Mom/ Shower Gift for the new baby by bibsblanketsandmore
9. cotton daisy baby booties 6 to 9 months by ohbabydotcom
10. Little Boy Blue Smocked Bubble - Pique by gumdropgrove
11. NurseryBlox - 36 Wooden Alphabet Blocks with Classic Nursery Rhymes by StoryBlox
12. love ewe sheep hair clip by missmoptop
13. Custom Boy Star Birthday Onesie or T-Shirt by hounddogdesigns
14. Earrings Piggy by Tchoupuce
15. Frog Adirondack Chair by vivyscloset
16. Nursery Rhyme Set by ChickadeeVinyl
17. Rodeo Princess Monogrammed Hair Bow---Personalized---5 inches---Cow Print by belovedbows
18. LOVELY LADYBUG Onesie or T-shirt - EKchallengemay11 by thenook
19. Minky baby or toddler blanket, sage green and chocolate brown owls by yourloveyboutique
20. Childs Artist/Crafting/Baking Apron- Brown by MaxandMagnolia
21. Teddy Bear Hat with Ear Flaps Made to Order by PerkyBeanies
22. Cotton Blanket for Baby/Toddler Girl by fireflyblankets
23. Jungle Baby, Nursery Watercolor 1, 10in x14in signed print by MossyRockDesigns
24. LilyBug Pink Butterfly Minky Baby Blanket by LilyBugBoutique
25. Bib/Burp Cloth Set- Silly Monkeys by mypoplin
26. Mother Goose: A Wise Old Owl Handpainted Circo Love and Nature Owl Bedding Set Theme Nursery Wall Art Personalized Custom Canvas Name Painting 11X14 by InspirationsByJordan
27. Baby Girl Gift Set - Bird Design - Denim Bag-Burp-Bib-Baggie by TriedAndTrueDesigns
28. WELCOME HOME custom house number fabric art framed art by looploft
29. Annie the Owl Amigurimi by KungFuCupcake
30. Opihi hunting ankle biters from Happy Honu Maui BOYS barkcloth lavacloth SHORTS sizes 6 months to 5T by tikitales
31. Yellow and Gray Bird by tzburps
32. Hand Sewn Blue Monkey Onesie by WallcoJr
33. Pretty Pink Piggy Amigurumi by HooksNLoops
34. Give the Dog A Bone -- Dog Bone -- Set of Four -- Color Creations Crayons by DucksInARowBoutique
35. WATERPROOF Carseat Canopy -Rain Resistant- Many Designs to Choose From-Made from Laminated Cotton by RIandPI
36. Custom twinkle twinkle little star pillowcase dresses by DarlinDetails
37. Tangled Inspired Rapunzel Polymer Clay Bracelet by MonkeysNMunchkins
38. Pink or Gray elephant ribbon sculpture hair clip - U pick by soCuties
39. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Baby/Toddler Deluxe Hooded Towel and Washcloth Set by SweeterThanSweets
40. Upcycled Pink and Green Gardening Apron by MysticMoor
41. RAINBOW STAR BEANIE- Newborn Size- Made to order only-Pleae visit my frontpage for current turnaround time by NinisHandmades
42. This Little Piggy Went Wee wee wee Hat PLUS Diaper Cover with Tail Photo Package by Bethanys5
43. Let's go Fishing Infant, Toddler, Child Bodysuit and Tee by petitefish
44. Custom Felt and Fabric Happy Birthday Banner The Very Hungry Caterpillar by lorisavage
45. Upcycled Cashmere Baby Sleepsack by studioluvette
46. Laundry Line Sugar and Spice Wall Art by claraclips
47. Monkey Applique Short Sleeve Shirt - Free Personalization by littlebittledesigns
48. Girl Puppy Painted Canvas Lace Up Shoes by tickledtoes
49. Personalized Spider Applique Shirt -Spider Alphabet - Girls - Personalized - Custom Boutique Tshirt Child Toddler Baby by SugarPlumFairyBows
50. Little Peanut Burp Cloth - Teddy Bear Teddy Bear take a bath - contoured by thecrazyelephant
51. Watermelon Ruffle Tank Dress by kangacoo
52. The Cow Jumped Over the Moon Applique by sugarbumpscreations
53. Three Little Kittens, Memory-Tac-Toe Game by MamieCo
54. Set of (2) Pretend Play Baby Doll Diapers by MyLovebugBaby
55. Stackable Counting Bowls- 20 piece set by applenamos
56. Summer Jacket for Girls Size 7 FREE SHIPPING in USA by msliesenfelder
57. Itsy Bitsy Spider Dress by sewmuchmichellee
58. Girl's Apron - Colorful Glittery Butterflies on Light Pink Cotton Print with Hot Pink Trim by SnazzySnugglies
59. 3 Little Kittens and Mother Cat - Mother Goose Rhyme Stuffed Animal Mom and Child - Eco-Friendly Environmental Green Gift - Safe Lead-Free All Natural Toy - Naturalkids Etsymom SHETeam uwibteam handmadeMN by harvestmoonbyhand
60. Donut First Birthday Set- Size 12-18 months by BaaBaaBabyBoutique

Tweet