Win a beautiful pendant from 'Rock Ribbons Jewelry'

I'm doing something a bit special this month for the competition since I'm a bit late in May's giveaway and showcasing one of the 'Rock Ribbon' pendants from my latest collection 'Blossoms'. 

Featuring a deep gold and dusky pink solid silk adjustable necklace, white jade bead clasp and Murano Lampwork Glass teardrop flower pendant. 

To be in with a chance to win this beautiful pendant all you have to do is to become and fan/liker (if you are not already) of my 'Rock Ribbons' Facebook page and leave a nice comment below!

I will pick the lucky winner in one weeks time on the 9th June.

I'm a slow 'Twit'! Better late than never!

I always thought I didn't really need yet another social networking page to worry about what with two Facebook pages, 'DB+A Design' and 'Rock Ribbons'  and a blog!

But thanks to a great tutorial on 'Handmade Spark' I figured out how to link all my social networking pages in together and do the one post! 

Also now when I add a new item or renew in my online Etsy store 'Rock Ribbons Jewelry' it automatically lists the new item in 'Twitter'.

It's all done through 'HootSuite', I'm still trying to get my head around it but I'm having a great time and my visibility for both my businesses is up and that's what it's all about!

Rock Ribbons Jewelry on 'Handmade Spark'. Find the people making great handmade things!

Handmade Spark delivers useful and innovative information to handmade buyers and sellers. Their key goal is to introduce buyers and sellers to each other. Additionally, they aim to inform people about the latest handmade trends, showcase the people and work that make up the handmade community, and educate sellers about promoting and buyers about finding great handmade goods all across the Internet.

They have a great blog with fantastic articles and tips, ranging from 'Handmade Spark fans spanning the globe' to 'The realities learned about running an Etsy Business' and fun things like 'How to make your very own stuffed woodland creature'!

So if you are looking to purchase a beautiful gift, something for your home or a unique item for yourself then look no further than 'Handmade Spark' and 'Etsy'. There is everything you could possibly want including 'Rock Ribbons Jewelry'.

Completed logo and identity design for Green & Bloom Wedding and Event Flowers

I thought you might like to see the completed logo and identity I created for Green & Bloom.

Creating this identity came about through a competition I ran on my DB+A Design Facebook page, I wanted to see who was paying attention so I ran a little comp to reward the first person to respond! Roberta Moberg of Green & Bloom was the first and fastest and she was awarded an logo and identity created free of charge from DB+A Design.

I had alot of fun creating this identity and it was liberating not to be constrained by time, I could create something quite artistic with alot of detail.

I may even run another contest when I get to 500 fans on my DB+A Design FB page! 

Green and Bloom Flowers is a Brisbane based wedding floristry business providing simply beautiful bridal bouquets and wedding flowers at a competitive price for brides in Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast. Beautiful wedding flowers for all budgets.

How to make money on Etsy

Etsy is the ideal marketplace for artists to sell their hand-made goods. Here are tips from many of the site's profitable sellers on how to boost your visibility and number of sales.

Last year, Etsy sold $180.6 million-worth of goods. The Brooklyn-based team behind this online marketplace for handmade crafts is helping many sellers profit handsomely by offering them a platform to sell their merchandise. Some aspiring entrepreneurs have even quit their day jobs to pursue their Etsy "store" as a career.

In April 2010, the number of items sold on Etsy totaled 1.3 million, and the statistics have been increasing exponentially since its inception in 2005. Though Chen and other profitable Etsy sellers believe the site isn't for everyone, they offered these tips to help you boost both visibility and number of sales on the popular website.

How to Make Money on Etsy: Be Different

Etsy currently boasts 400,000 active sellers, which they define as individuals who have sold goods on the site within the past year. With such a high volume of goods for buyers to choose from, it's crucial that the product is high quality and most importantly, unique. 

Ryan Aydelott and Josh Saathoff, owners of the Etsy store Isotope, have sold almost 9,000 of their quirky t-shirts on the site since they joined in June 2007. They too stress the importance of having a different product that really stands out. "Find a niche, even if it's rather esoteric," says Saathoff. "Don't try to cater to everyone. From a design perspective, whenever I try to design for a specific audience it doesn't work."

How to Make Money on Etsy: Killer Photographs and Detailed Descriptions

Like any e-commerce site, Etsy buyers are generally purchasing items sight unseen. They'll be shelling out money for the product before they get the chance to try it on, touch it, or smell it – which means photographs and product descriptions need to be spot-on.

Elle Greene, who runs AustinModern, a Texas-based vintage furniture store on Etsy, says photography and descriptions are a crucial part of her business. In Greene's experience, catalogue-style photos, which may work well on some sites, aren't met with much success on Etsy. "Etsy is very focused on photography. I've learned more about editorial-style photography from my experience on the site than I could have ever imagined." 

Greene says photo and prop stylists frequently peruse the site and look for not only a beautiful photograph, but also as much information about the product as possible. AustinModern's descriptions include the product's dimensions, weight, materials, condition, history, and more. Greene must have the right idea – her pieces have been featured in magazines like Elle Décor and Architectural Digest.

While many Etsy sellers can't afford to hire professionals to shoot their products, there are a ton of great resources on the site itself. Etsy's blog features sections like "The Seller Handbook" and "Your Shop 101," in addition to hundreds of forums that provide sellers with photography tips and tricks. Some sellers even recommend bartering goods in exchange for the services of a photo-savvy friend or Etsy member.

How to Make Money on Etsy: The Art of the Listing

A lot of strategy goes into the way items are listed, how often they're listed, and the number of items an Etsy store has at any given time.  

Ryan Aydelott of Isotope says that the item's title is of the utmost importance. When an item is listed, it can be marked with up to fourteen search 'tags' that allow the item to be searchable for potential buyers.  "The tags have to be relevant. If you try to cast a huge net, you get bad results, but when you're very specific and descriptive, you'll have better luck," Aydelott says. In his experience, shorter titles are better than longer ones.

Elle Green of AustinModern agrees. "Rather than naming the product, such as calling a hand-crafted peice of jewerly the 'Elizabeth Ring,' describe what the product actually is," she says. "Think about how people would be searching for it. There are so many incredible things on that website that are not being found just because of the way they are named." For example, a good title might be 'Purple Gemstone Ring Set in Sterling Silver.'

Both Greene and Aydelott say that the number of listings, and how often you list, really depend on what type of product you're selling. According to Aydellot, having 50 to 100 items in your store at a given time is optimum. "Statistically, people browse through two to three pages of listings (each page features about 20 items)," he says. "So 60 items is about all you'll have the chance to get their attention with. If you don't give them what they want within the first 60, you've lost them." Sellers have also found that if you only have a few items in your store, people won't stay to click around.

Greene says that the way Etsy's search function is designed, the most recently listed items show up in search results first. "If you listed something three months ago, it will be at the very back of the search results, even if it's the exact thing that someone is looking for," she says. Greene tries to list two or three new items each week, though that number might be more ideal for a furniture store, than say, a jewelry designer.

How to Make Money on Etsy: Get Involved

Many Etsy sellers find it beneficial to become a part of the Etsy community. Chen receives a flood of messages from eager new sellers every day asking for advice. She says that the majority of questions she gets can be answered by simply browsing though the forums, blogs, and threads on the site. Aside from offering a wealth of useful information, forums and blogs help new sellers gain exposure to their peers. 

There are even self-organized groups of sellers, or Etsy "teams," that are formed based on geographic location or a common interest. They facilitate things like taking out joint advertisements or attending local craft shows, and also provide sellers with a sense of community. Here are a few examples 'Down Under Street Team' (DUST) and BrisStyle Etsy Street Team.

Aydelott and Saathoff, in addition to thousands of other Etsy sellers, say their Etsy experiences have been incredibly positive. "It's a great springboard and an incubator to test out a concept. Small crafters are going to learn customer service, business management, photography, and so much more," Saathoff says. "It's truly an entrepreneurial bootcamp."

This article first appeared in Inc. Magazine May 11th 2010 and is written by Lindsay Silberman 

About two weeks ago I was in a creative and very generous mood and I ran a competition on my DB+A Design Facebook page where the first person to respond to my post would receive and identity design created for their business free of charge.

Roberta Moberg of 'Green and Bloom' was the lucky person who was quick off the mark.

Green and Bloom Flowers is a Brisbane based wedding floristry business providing simply beautiful bridal bouquets and wedding flowers at a competitive price for brides in Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast. Beautiful wedding flowers for all budgets.



Roberta sent though some of her favorite beautiful images and I was inspired to create using the antique colors and elegant organic style that she loves.

I've had so much fun with this competition, keep a look out on my blog I may be running another one in the next few months!

Rock Ribbons featured on 'Crafty Mumma's' Blog

'Rock Ribbons' is very pleased to be the 'Crafty Mumma of the Week'! Once a week 'Crafty Mumma' dedicate their blog to one random page with photo's and an about you section. Yippee, this week it was my turn!

'The Crafty Mumma's' blog & Facebook fanpage was designed to appreciate hard working Mum's or Mum's-to-Be that have come up with unique and crafty designs for other people to enjoy and purchase.

Three fun Etsy Treasury's featuring 'Rock Ribbons'.

Tangaroa's gift

I have been working for 'Rock Ribbons' lately with N.Z Paua, which I have always loved and I thought I would share with you Maori Legend about Paua

Many centuries ago a sea snail named Paua had no shell to protect itself. One day, Tangaroa, the god of the sea, found out about Paua's problem and made him a a unique type of overlay. Tangaoa said: "I will take from my domain the coolest blues of the ocean. And ask of my brother Tane the freshest greens of the forest. From the dawn you shall have a tinge of violet. From the sunset a blush of pink. And overall there will be a shimmer of mother of pearl".

So happened and the god of the sea had created a marvelous coat that sparkled and dazzled with its beauty. Other sea creatures however, were jealous of Paua's new looks and since Paua's new overlay was fragile it was soon demolished.

Of course Tangaroa soon found out and reacted by consolidating Paua's shell with additional layers. These were of the coolest blues of the ocean, the freshest greens of the forest, the violet of the dawn and the pink of the sunset. He completed the shell with a camouflaged coating. This way Paua could blend in with the drab browns and grays of the rocks.

Tangaroa then instructed Paua with the life-long task of adding layer upon delicate layer, each with a different color, hue and blend. So it was that Paua got his shell.

He keeps the secret of his inner beauty to himself and only at the end of his life, when his empty shell washes ashore, his artistry is revealed.

I'm here and it's all very exciting!

Well, I've been wanting to do this for ages and here I am late at night trying to work it all out! It's going to be a very steep learning curve but I'm really excited about adding creatively to this very blank canvas.