My shop is being featured on a website!! (:

<<< Click on the image for the full view!

Hello everyone! I was browsing through the threads on Etsy and I found an opportunity to be featured on Beadsbloom's website, http://www.mamaneedscoffee.com/! She has a sidebar section on the left of her website where she encourages people to buy handmade. She has a list of linked screenshots of a variety of sites! I am number one on the list (: I am really thankful of this opportunity! I really hope in helps bring in some sales! If you guys are featured somewhere, please share the link! I'd love to take a peek!

Thanks for reading!
XOX ~ Mannie

Handformed Earwires and Headpins

So I ordered a wire sample from Beadeux so I could play around with the idea of making my own earwires and headpins. Well, I received the package a couple days ago and just today had the time to play! I made the holiday earrings you see to the left. I am quite proud of myself to have actually made those earwires (: Those earrings are up for sale; you can purchase them here. I can't wait to order more & more wire to play with! I plan to experiement with wire wrapping some stones to use as pendants, too. Wish me luck (:

I finally made a flickr account today (: Click here to view. Not much is up yet, though. Expect more in the future!

I made a custom banner and matching avatar for Hildeguard's Lair. Please comment here to let me know what you think about it?? I really enjoy making custom banners and avatars for people. I like that I can help spice up their shop, and hopefully help them bring in more customers. Also, when a shop has a sale, I can make a banner and avatar set to go with their sale! When they are posting around etsy, people will see their sale avatar and get pulled in... then when they go to thier shop, the sale banner looks appealing, and they read on to learn about the sale. Sounds good to me! I plan to make a listing for this service today.

As in my previous post (about finally getting some little promo tags custom made), Susan finished my tags and says they'll ship Monday. I am excited to see them in person! I'm sure they'll be perfect! I plan to take photos of them once received to share with you all!

Speaking of promos, I would loveee to exchange business cards! Most people who order from me really enjoy see gettings the cards I send to them! They love finding new shops all about buying handmade pieces! If you are interested please leave a comment here or convo me through Etsy (:

Bye bye for now! Hope everyone is doing great! XOX

My Promo Items

I have a few great opportunities coming up to promote my shop! A few shops I've spoken with are going to shows in Oct/Nov and are collecting promo pieces from other etsians to make swap bags out of! As I make jewelry it's not possible to make 20 pairs of earrings to just give away(sorry I am a student, I can't afford that, lol). I played with the idea of cellphonecharms/zipperpulls, but that doesn't really showcase my shop which is all about jewelry right now! One of the members on my team does rack cards from vistaprint. Rack cards are like one page the size of a brochure that can include pictures of your work, some text, etc. I played with that idea, too, thinking I could get them printed and then add a little string of pretty beads for decoration.

I was just browsing through the promotion threads on Etsy and came across Susan's Greetings! I am currently working with her on getting 50 tags similar to ones she has made in the past (see picture)! I really liked the swirl pattern around the initals and the back can be any color or pattern she has available. Right now we are talking about a dark purple! Please check out Susan's shop; She has lots of creative and beautiful paper goods!

Thanks for reading! Leave comments (: xox

LynLloydDesigns Featured Me!

The picture to the left is an example of work done by the wonderful Lyn Lloyd Designs. She has decided to feature me on her website this week! Please make sure to check out the interview, and all the other great things on her website and in her shop! She works in graphic design and also has a lot of experience in video software/editing. If you are looking of ways to spice up your banner, or even have a custom promotional video of your shop, check her out for sure! And thank you again, Lyn for featuring me; It really means a lot!

DOUBLE FEATURE! ~ Heavenly Baubles Pt2 and Carapace

Be warned... The two shops in my feautre today are amazing!! I've previously wrote about Heavenly Baubles and I'm back for part two since now she's had a few days of being opened! And Carapace included me in her Friday Five EtsyFriends Team Feature, so I am returning a sweet very justure (:

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Heavenly Baubles ~ Reminded of His Love through Beauty!

This is Nikki's new shop which just opened Friday night. Her BOGO Grand Opening sale, which is buy one, get the second 30% off, is going on until 9/28. Participate in that sale before it's over! She's made beautiful pieces with a lot of meaning & symbolism. She definately isn't one to push religious views on anyone; You can read her reason for opening this shop in this post from her blog. Here are a few of my favorite pieces of her shop (in no order)...

(1) This bag is soo cute & original! As Nikki says, "Think cellular phone signal bars...so, Can you hear Him now? How is your signal with Him? Do you wish for a clearer, stronger signal?"

(2) This charm bracelet has so much symbolism! It's tells the story of Christ's life. Each bracelet is custom made to order, but will include all the pieces to re-create Christ's journey on your wrist!

(3) I personally love this piece because (a) it's simple, it's radient and (b) it's my favorite color! This purple quartz necklace is a reminder of His grace and forgiveness.

(4) This is probably my most favorite thing in Heavenly Baubles! She did an amazing job creating the nest! This "Bird of Heaven" necklace is inspired from Matthew 6:26 "Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them."

To see and learn more about Heavenly Baubles, please visit her Etsy Shop and her blog. I'd also like you to visit her other shop, KaleidoscopeKorner, where she just unveiled her KaleidoscopeKids, which are available right now, 2 for $10!

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Carapace ~ armor against a grey day!
Cara's shop offers some of the most beautiful, original illustration I've ever come across. It's flowy & fun, and her descriptions are the best (: Each piece has a story that she tells quite eloquently! She also offers very unique, handmade pendants! Here are a few of my favorites from her shop...

(1) This gorgoues pendant, is handmade from a real sunflower leaf, cpatures the "fall colors" perfectly!! It's it's super unique!

(2) Another unique, but smaller pendant. Her description for this one is lovely (: Here's an excerpt, "She's very light and shy, and would like to make it clear that she won't get in the way. But she would like to see a bit of the world, and love to read any good books you might happen to persue while wearing her.And if she should happen to be used as a bookmark, that would be fine with her, too."

(3) This is my favorite Original Illustartion from her collection. It's the "portrait" of Aegir's oldest daughter. Through this piece, Cara & I were about to discover our love of the Norse Mythos was shared (: I may just have to buy this from her! You must read her description of this for yourself; It's fabulous!

(4) This Original Illustration portrays laughing sunflowers! This piece is so fun! It instantly makes me smile everytime I see it!

To see and learn more about Carapace, please visit her Etsy Shop & her blog.

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I really hope this shows you the true talent of these two fellow etsians! I am still trying to decide how I am going to do this, but I'd really like to do a few features a week on other Etsy shops. It helps get there shops out there, and it's fun for me to do! If you've got any ideas/suggestions, I'd love to have them (:

Also, please comment & let me know how you like this double feature! I really appreciate the feedback!

Halloween

First of all and most importantly, I want to thank Cara from Carapace for choosing me as part of her Friday Five EtsyFriends Feature! She's the first to write up about my shop and I really appreacite what she's done (: Thank you Cara!

I made a few pieces yesterday, but ended up only listing one. My creative writing juices aren't flowing; I can't see to write any good descriptions. The Halloween piece, which you see to the left, was the only one I could write. I mean comon'... It's easy when the piece has a theme like Halloween! Special Note: those earrings are usally listed as $12 + shipping, but I've decided to have them on sale for $9 + free shipping so go get them!! I am going to try to design and make up some other Halloween pieces soon. Halloween is my most absolute favoriteeeee holiday ever! Yes, it even beats my birthday(which is close to Halloween anyways; October 28th) and christmas! I've always enjoyed the opportunity to dress up like something I'm not (or, in some cases, something I am, but in the extreme form)! Last year I was a Alice In Wonderland. She's my obsession, no lie. I love the books, the movies, everything. I go to sleep with the Disney version very night; my boyfriend's just come to deal with it (: My costume was a "sexy" style Alice; I had a killer time! This year, my boyfriend and I haven't decided if we're going to stay here in Temple Terrace for Halloween, or go back home(it's only about an hour and a half drive). I think it might be nice to stay here are the apartment, get dressed up, and hand out candy to all the kids, but we both have younger siblings, so being home with them might be fun too. Needless to say, I haven't decided what I am going to dress up as!

Tomorrow I will have a double feature of two fellow EstyFriends Team members, Heavenly Baubles and Carapace, so make sure to come back and read all about them!

Thank you!

xox ~ Mannie

New Ventures

So, I didnt' play the trade game last night; I needed some time with my boyfriend. We watched a James Bond film, "The Spy who Loved Me." I must admit, we are both big Bond lovers, haha! I signed back in etsy after the movie (about 10pm or so) and caught up with Nikki, Jenni, and Amanda. They shared what they traded and then we discussed new ideas for eachother! I think it was Jenni who brought up a site called Cut Out + Keep. It's a "Step-by-Step Crafty Community" with all kinds of how-to's and photos! We spent quite sometime purusing the site for ideas. I came across a tutorial for pasties!!! I think they'd be quite fun to make. The girls kept telling me sex sells, so why not? Who knows what I'll do so keep your eyes open for a new shop from me, hahaha! Nikki said I could call it Nips Tips! hahaha! It was late; I was crazed. I also came across some tutorials that gave me ideas for unique pieces. Next time I'm in the craft store I plan to find this thing called Fimo. It's a bakable, moldable clay. I see lots of people making cute little cupcakes and lollypops, but the possibilities are endless! Also, I've played around with shrinky dinks and I've found some better ways to work with them, so expect to see some new style of things in my shop!

Completely off topic, but I wouldn't mind having some feedback from you guys now (:
I made a custom banner and avatar for Nikki's new shop, Heavenly Baubles. Do you think I could start to offer this service(custom banners and avatars) in my shop? And how much should I charge? I browsed around on Etsy and found most sites charge around $15. Your thoughts?


I may be back to add more later, but now I'm off to try new ventrues! xox

Featured Shop ~ Heavenly Baubles!

Listen up everyone... There's this super nice, totally taleneted Estian out there who goes by the nameNikki! She already runs one shop, KaleidoscopeKorner with lots of really cute merch that you should most definately buy, but is opening another new christian inspired gift shop tomorrow! That's right, folks... GRAND OPENING for Nikki's new shop, Heavenly Baubles, is tomorrow (Friday)!! Her Opening Sale is buy one item at regular price, get your second 30% off!!

Well, along with a new shop, comes new worries. Like having a banner and avatar that will draw people in. Nikki and I are both a part of an Etsy team called EtsyFriends. We work together to come up with ideas about promoting our shops, and we just chit chat! Nikki put up a post on our group's thread and asked if someone would make her a new banner and avatar. I jumped at this offer, as I love working in graphic design. I made a custom banner with matching regular avatar and a sale avatar. Take a look! The banner, the regular avatar, and the sale avatar! What do you guys think? In return for making her banner and avatars, she gave me $15 credit towards her shops (: Now isn't that just the sweetest! I totally appreciate it, especially since I've been eyeing these three bags from her shop (Bag One & Bag Two & Bag Three)!!

I am considering putting up a listing in my shop for a custom etsy banner & matching avatar. Do you think it would be a good idea? Do you think it would sell? As always, I loveee feedback!

Well, my team's trade game is at 9pm/EST tonight, and I'm still not sure if I'm playing, lol. The boyfriend and I are supposed to watch a movie together tonight, but that all depends on how much of his coursework he can complete. I ended up not making anything new for my shop today, oops! I shall try to make things tomorrow!

Bye bye for now, I may be back (: xox

Results

Okay, so I didn't come back and edit my last post after the trade game... but hey! I came back this morning and I'm writing a whole new post (: The pictures to the left are the things I got in the trade game last night from Jenni at MondrysYKnotShop! You should definately check out her shop! The shop who traded with me, AllegraeCollage, selected these earrings from my shop! There is another game tonight, but I'm not sure if I'll be playing or not. If I do, I'll of course come blog about it (: I've listed a few new things... two pairs of earrings and four cell phone charms, all of which are $5 each... affordable right? So take a peek!! You can follow these links for the specific new listings.....

the cell phone charms:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15354845

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15354119

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15352445

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15341281

the earrings:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15352845

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15340681

Whatcha guys think? And I should be making some more new pieces today!

My Frist Trade Game Experience

So my Etsy team has the really cool trade game (: Everyone gets on at a certian time and is assigned someone else's shop to look at. You just find something in their shop that's equal to the dollar amount said, and someone is assigned to your shop. No money in exchanged, just the goods (: It's pretty neat. I didn't actually play today's game at 5pm/EST since I don't have anything in my shop that's equal to the $10 amount said, but there is another game tonight at 9pm/EST. I must get off my laptop, and get busy making some things for tonight's game! I'll edit/update this blog after the game(if I can actually pull off making 5 or more pieces) to show you want I got and what I traded (: Back tonight!

& ps (everyone is welcome to add my yahoo messenger id: manniemandible)

FINALLY!!!!

Hello readers (: I've just recently moved out of my parents house in Central Florida and into an apartment in a suburb of Tampa with my boyfriend(Austin) of three years. We hadn't been able to get the internet up until now.. FINALLLYYYY!! It makes everything so much easier! Before, I would ride along with Austin to his college campus (USF) and go online there. It made selling my jewelry tough, along with making his school work harder. We'd make little trips over to the campus just so he could input answers for one of his classes and to check his school email. Blah blah blah... I'm just totally glad to have the internet up, finally! I'm going to try and check my EtsyFriends Team thread and team blog everyday. As well as, getting to know the memebers better!

As for my shop (MVincent.etsy.com), I've been having some trouble taking the photos for my jewelry. No matter what I've tried as far as lighting and background, it all turns out crappy! I consider myself good with a camera. I've always taken great photos of people/places/things, but trying to find a good lighting in this apartment is tough... I don't know why; I'm quite irritated! I've tried natural sunlight, lamps, etc. I've tried white construction paper, a page from a book, my boyfriend's wood desk, etc for a blackground and it's just not the best quality! I am going to try and figure out something different for taking my pictures. Hopefully I can get up some really good pictures, and make some sales! Also, I have so much I want to say on my main shop page... I know, I need to just put it all in my shop policies and have only a short and sweet welcome message, lol.

I've set up a mailing list. If you sign up, you'll get to know about shop updates, special (and sometimes secret) sales, news, and more. Just e-mail me at MannieMandible@yahoo.com saying "Add me to this mailing list!"

First Blog (:

Hello Everyone!
I decided to start blogging about my business, MannieManible. I'm twenty years young and living with my boyfriend in South Florida. I handmake and sell my jewelry at http://mvincent.etsy.com/. Here at this blog you can read all about my creations... jewelry and otherwise. Please check out my shop & come back soon for more news!