Friday, August 28, 2009

ArtFire Kiosk for Facebook

After the great Rapid Cart, now ArtFire has come with another ground breaking marketing tools!

Introducing: ArtFire Kiosk.

What is ArtFire Kiosk?
Shop for items and checkout through ArtFire.com without ever leaving Facebook. | No Account Needed | Encrypted Secure Checkout.



Sounds awesome huh?

As described above, ArtFire Kiosk is an application for Facebook, like Etsy Mini only WAY much better! The application can be installed in BOTH of your personal AND fan pages! It's like having another outlets without having to manage yet another accounts! ArtFire Kiosk will show all of your items and buyers can buy straight from Fracebook. They do not need to register to purchase anything as long as they have Paypal or major credit cards, they're good to go. I know several people already got sales from it so it's definitely working!

This is another reason to join ArtFire and/or Facebook if you haven't yet! This awesome feature is exclusively for Verified Members of ArtFire. If you're seeking to upgrade your account, click here. Kindly mentioned "popnicutesupplies" as your referral member.

Install ArtFire Kiosk Now

How to Install ArtFire Kiosk on Facebook

See It on My Fan Page


UPDATE!
As of September 9, 2009 ArtFire has tied the facebook kiosk into Google Analytics. You should be able to see some indication of traffic there now via your existing GA account. They are working on a tie in with the Artfire server side stats as well.

Sounds great to me!

-K-
~ popnicute - imaginative handcrafted jewelry
~ popnicutesupplies - quality jewelry supplies and cocoon beads original

ART THEFT ON ETSY

ATTENTION SCRABBLE TILE PENDANT ARTISTS!

DO NOT PURCHASE FROM THIS ART THIEF!

http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=18788481

www.eettssyy.etsy.com

EETTSSYY'S NEW SHOP IS DOWNLOADANDPRINT!

www.downloadandprint.etsy.com

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7970688

EETTSSYY or alias Aleksandra Kinshina alias Alex, SOLD MY IMAGE AND OTHERS WITHOUT OUR PERMISSION! AND ONE CAN ONLY SUSPECT THE OTHER IMAGES ARE STOLEN AS WELL. Eettssyy claimed that the artworks in the store are made by her. So please take a look to see if your artworks and photos are being sold without your permission! And now she comes back as DOWNLOADANDPRINT !

ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY ME Sara Sixblades

As you can see she carefully cropped out my signature!! I will have to use offensive watermark on all of my artworks from now on!


EETTSSYY profiles:

Her Flickr Account
E-mail: alex_florenc@yahoo.com
This is her website My Etsy Treasure.
If you do not want to be associated with an Art Thief,
kindly ask your Etsy Minis to be deleted from the site.
Eettssyy Blog
Twitter: GraphicForCraft


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UPDATE: As of Friday, August 28, 2009, this fraudulent shop has been put in a VACATION MODE by the seller. You can watch when she's coming back and see if she's back for a fair business or not. Thanks to everyone who has helped spreading the words!


This matter was kindly brought to my attention by a fellow deviant who pointed me out to this journal post. A quote from the original journal post can be read below

>>>original post:
It was just brought to my attention that this person:
[link] is selling images of stolen artwork in "high-resolution" printable packs over Etsy. She claims the artwork as her own, and gives all purchasers rights to use and reproduce the images for their arts and crafts. I have recognized work from several artists in her listings, as well as my own.
This is a good example of something that has already been sold, containing artwork from myself and many other artists. [link] If you recognize any of these artists, please contact them so we can get this collectively reported and stopped immediately.


This is where the seller claimed that these pictures are original artwork by her/he. Which actually were a compilation of stolen arts many of them are popular artworks in deviantArt.


And according to the same journal. Etsy only removed the listing and didn't ban the seller! Well, isn't that upsetting! I hope ArtFire will do better than Etsy regarding this matter if it ever occurred.


She sells/sold Klimt, Twilight, Disney images as well as from other independent artists.

This is the list of Independent Artists whose works had been stolen and discovered. So if you happened to have bought or about to buy some of the digital collage sheets that didn't come from the original sources, please contact these artists to gain their permission before you sell or make any products out of them!

• Kry1 » Website | deviantArt | Online Supply Store
• Saimain » Website | deviantArt
• Faboarts » deviantArt
• Twosilverstars » Website | deviantArt
• Anathematics » deviantArt
• Messtor » Website | deviantArt
• Magnusti178 » Website | deviantArt
• Vyrl » Website | deviantArt
• Genzoman » deviantArt
• Daekazu » deviantArt
• Begoth » Website (mermaid paintings, various artists)
• Runswithwind » Website

Please inform me if you have more information about the original creators of the images eettssyy has stolen. I will add them on this list!!

Irony at best; quoted from her listings: like she had the rights to do it in the first place! This disclaimer shows that the seller was fully aware that she was infringing copyrights by selling other people's images!

"Purchase of this collage sheet entitles you to use the images for crafts and artwork, but does not entitle you to reproduce the images in original form for resale or redistribution to others."


In this digital collage sheet she had the nerve to say that these are her original artwork. I recognized the first painting was by this artist and several others are popular deviations in deviantart.

Click on the images to see the real size. They will open in a new window.


You will see the highlighted parts where she claimed that these paintings were her original artwork!


+++ an active listing

art theft



+++ sold items

art theft


art theft

... yeah right.



Imagine the damage she'd caused for these artists as to this date she has sold 998 digital collage images! Update, She ended up with 1,011 sales before she put her store in vacation mode.

Help the true artisans and spread the words. Please contact the original creators of the images you see at eettssyy's store and report the images to abuse@etsy.com

-K-

Last updated: Sept 3, 2009.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Spun Sister Designs


SpunSisterDesigns is having a summer end sale! Everything is marked down 20% until the end of August plus free shipping to US and Canada. Get these elegant handcrafted jewelry at a fraction of the original price while they last! :D


More handcrafted jewelry from SpunSisterDesigns..
Other unique gifts at Artfire..

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

How to Get A Sale

As we all struggle to make a living, we can't help noticing that some people do really good in their businesses. We all wonder [and so jealous we want to kill them to steal their customers] what their secrets are.
• Why didn't they buy from me?
• Their items are not better than mine but what made buyers chose them and not me?


What do they do that you don't? They must be doing something different, right?

These are a few naive thoughts why do they succeed:

- They've been around longer than you.
Even though their ArtFire or Etsy shops are new, doesn't mean they hadn't been around way before that. Once I contacted an artisan friend to ask what was her secret. How could she generate so many sales in such a short time being new at Etsy. She told me that she'd had an established customer base already before she joined Etsy and only redirected them to purchase her creations from her brand new shop.

- They advertise a lot.
We all hate people with more money than us, right? But truth be told, you can't make money out of nothing! You need money to make money. Being a home crafter like me with no real budget to spoil, I used a part of my deposit to get a kick start in my jewelry business. First I bought cheap materials to practice, after I was confident enough, I moved onto better materials and start selling them. The money I earned, some are used to buy new materials and so on. Same with advertising. I always in the look out for free advertising opportunities. There are a lot of handmade shopping directories that you can find all over the internet. Google it! Once I had enough money, I purchased cheap advertising spots I could afford. That's much better than not having one at all.

The point is to get seen often and a lot. More often you're seen, the better chance someone would buy from you. Word of mouth is also good advertising. Give really good service to your customers and words shall spread. :D How to get seen more? One of the many ways is to list a lot.


Here are a few things i could think of as of to get sales online:

1. Passing out business cards / postcards / fliers (or a combination of all) is always a good idea.
Don't be a stranger. Pass these advertising tools in your local stores, friends, family, previous customers, on the streets if you have to. Promotion is very important!Don't forget to include your business cards in every order.

2. Offering discount and other specials help your business going.
Take Victoria's Secret online for an example. Once you're subscribed to their store, you will always get different discount codes all the time and daily reminders to the subscribers sent via e-mails. I think that's a good business practice. Something is always happening in VS and they'e not shy letting people know. That will keep you in mind of many readers. I have found myself several times falling to their "trap" ;) Guilty as charged!

REMEMBER:
When offering specials, make sure your sale price wouldn't get you broke. There's absolutely no point in getting sales if you wouldn't get something from it. Value your own time and talent!

The malls over here always have something for sale. So rotating your items for a discount could be a good idea.

Hosting giveaways also worked for some sellers.

3. To make profit online or offline, you need to set a realistic goal.
Here's a good software for pricing Jewelry Pricing Calculator Software | Jewelry Software . I love it because it covers everything including annual profit, overheads to subscription, and postage. Everything!

4. Take a peek at several articles that I have written in the past.
A collective ideas, thoughts and tips that I gathered, that I learned online and offline. They might help you get around ArtFire specifically.

Tips on Tagging - Tag like crazy, seriously. ArtFire kindly gives you 10,000 words for tags. So use it!

Tips on Creating Ads

All About ArtFire That We Love

Successful Referral Tips - Get verified and invite people to get verified too for a free ride!

Jewelry Photography Tutorial - Good photography always help boost sales. Use attractive models and set up. If you're selling shawls or fashion products, show your buyers that your shawls will look good with what wardrobe. You don't need to be a fashion guru for that but just dress yourself or your mannequin/models for the occasion before you take photos. Don't wear ugly faded t-shirt that look more like a floor rug under your beautiful handmade shawls. That will surely turn buyers off. We all love to see eye candy not sore to the eyes. Freshen yourself up before taking pictures. Put on a little make up if needed. Don't look depressive. Be happy on camera as you're promoting your great handmade [with love] products!

••• This is a good listing example and more than 4.500 buyers agrees with me. The target market is obvious by the way the model dressed up. This product is for the young, the hip and funky individuals. Also gives you idea what outfit would look good to be worn under the shawl.

••• This photo below makes you wonder about the product's hygiene and ...smell. Sure old and worn out mannequin can look awesome in the hands of the right photographers but certainly not this one.

••• If you can't find a good model, get yourself a good mannequin to represent your store like this one below.

Bright and clear photographs are very inviting. If you want to make money online, invest a bit of your time to learn how to use your camera and photo editing programs as the weather and camera sometimes wouldn't cooperate. Gimp is a good software and free to download. Always try to photograph your items under natural light when the sky is bright and clear. Find a good shaded place to take your pictures, like in your porch or next to a window as direct sunlight can be distracting too. Read your camera's manual to get the appropriate settings specified to your needs.

Uploading Image to ArtFire Forum Posts

BHR Artisan Shop Directory for low fee advertising! Always in the look out for advertising that you can afford. Make a budget for advertising and place your ads where you think your market is flocking. Join the forums, or other social media to advertise yourself for free and be a part of the community. Join challenges, guilds, teams, etc. Interaction is important. Also there are a lot of places that offers free plugs. Like shopping directories and such. Just Google them! There are quite a handful out there.

Let me ask you this question:
When you Google yourself and your store, how many pages of results do you have? If you only got one page with 2-3 results, then no wonder no one buys from you. You're not really OUT there. your products maybe buried in the bottomless pit of Google searches. Make yourself heard! Create a blog and/or posting a lot in the forums will help boosting your page count. Make sure to create quality posts too among the chit chats.



Last but not least, sign up to my latest Top 9 Featured Friday post to get extra exposure next Friday. I have weekly spotlights exclusively for ArtFire artisans.



Internet is an amazing place. We learn something new everyday! Google is your friend ;)


<3


~ popnicute - imaginative handcrafted jewelry

~ popnicutesupplies - quality jewelry supplies and cocoon beads original.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Faye Farms Soap


Every bar of Faye Farms soaps is made with wholesome milk from their dairy herd of Ayrshire cows as well as lard or tallow from their naturally raised livestock. All of Faye Farms soaps are made from scratch using only the highest quality ingredients. A variety of vegetable oils and butters are also used to make a beautifully balanced bar of soap with lots of lather. If you would like to learn more about Faye Farms, please visit their website at www.fayefarms.com

More handmade soaps from Faye Farms..
Other unique gifts at Artfire..

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Woods N Goods


WoodsNGoods is a very talented wood carving artisan who resides in Michigan, USA. Many of their items have no coloring added, just the grain and natural color of the wood species. At times leather dyes are used along with the shaping of the wood to provide depth and interest. I love this studio! The prices are very attractive too. Are you looking for Christmas or Halloween ornaments? Want to decorate your house with amazing hand carved wood art? Make sure to visit WoodsNGoods studio!

More from this talented artisan..
More unique gifts at ArtFire..

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Top 9 Featured Friday 08/21/09

Wonderful collection of teal and orange unique gifts found around Artfire.

Pick a favorite and leave a comment with link to your Artfire Studio to be included on next Friday's featuring.


All items have been submitted to Vote Handmade and Twitter as well :) Vote please!




Other unique gifts at ArtFire..

Broken Hallelujah


Broken Hallelujah specializes in cute, one-of-a-kind crochet items handmade with love. I love her items! They're so cute, colorful and useful too :D Check her store out. You will find a variation of crochet items like crocheted slippers, coin purses, shawls, hairbands, bookmarks, and other cute accessories!

More crocheted items..
Other unique gifts at ArtFire..

Monday, August 17, 2009

Noveenna


Noveenna specializes in handwoven seed beads jewelry. I admire her patience and dedication. She loves colors and that shows very well in her creations. She has a ton of jewelry listed in her ArtFire studio I dare you to not find something you love. I already found a few favorites myself :) Missed an issue of Bead & Button magazine? Try browsing Noveenna's gallery as she's also selling the previous issues of Bead & Button.

More handwoven seed beads jewelry..
More unique gifts at ArtFire..

Sunday, August 16, 2009

A Jewel Gift


Aa a dog lover, A Jewel Gift may have an over-representation of dogs in her creations but that doesn't stop her from having a wide variety of stuffs in her studio at ArtFire. You can find various hair barrettes, cute earrings with dog paws on them, candle holders and dishes, they are all unique and handmade by her. Her style is eclectic, from the whimsical to elegant. Take a peek and you won't be disappointed :)

More from the eclectic A Jewel Gift..
More unique gifts at ArtFire..

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Peruvian Thread Earrings Tutorial String Art Jewelry

I have another tutorial waiting to launch! It's still in the making. I have finished taking the pictures about a month ago but life kind of gets in a way. Two of our beloved dogs died within weeks, a very saddening experience for me and family. Also I was a bit stressed out about my fiance was getting back to America. It was all a bit of emotional wreck.

Enough about me and let's talk about this exciting new tutorial.

What can you expect from this Peruvian Thread Earrings Tutorial?
- Learn how to make traditional Peruvian Thread Jewelry.
- Learn the perfected technique how to hide the end of the threads.
- Learn how to create a cute bail for it.
- There is no such thing as a shameful back part and/or sides after you learn from this new tutorial.
- Neat outcome is bound to happen.
- Learn how to keep the tension equal.
- Learn how to make your own coiling gizmo using cheap tools and materials.
- Easy scaling up and down your jewelry.
- Get everyone confounded and in awe with your newly obtained skill.
- Overall, this tutorial will be filled with great pictures and diagrams to make it easy to follow!

Use it as a pendant or make a pair for earrings. This kind of jewelry will certainly draw attention! Especially with the unlimited color combination you can choose from!! Make them bold, make them subtle, make them big, make them small, anything you want! Did I mention that this would be great [affordable] Christmas gifts for your friends and family? I know my friends loved them :D

˚˚˚ Save the date! AUGUST 22, 2009 ˚˚˚
----------------------------
Peruvian Thread Earrings Tutorial now available in Popnicute Supplies


Thursday, August 13, 2009

Top 9 Featured Friday 08/14/09

Wonderful collection of unique gifts found around Artfire.

Pick a favorite and leave a comment with link to your Artfire Studio to be included on next Friday's featuring.


All items have been submitted to Vote Handmade and Twitter as well :) Vote please!



Other unique gifts at ArtFire..

Krafty Lady


You should visit this lovely store! KraftyLady got a lot of goodies for the upcoming Christmas! Cute miniatures, christmas stockings, children clothing, and she even teamed up with her 89 year old dad who makes beautiful fiber rugs. Perfect for holiday decoration for your home. Find everything handmade at this lovely little store :)

More handmade goodness from KraftyLady..
Find more unique gifts at ArtFire..

Sunday, August 9, 2009

All's Well, Ends Well

If you've noticed, I've been a bit vacant from the online world for a few last days. The reason for this was that my fiance was going back to America so we tried to spend as much time together as we could since the next meeting would be in another 9 months. God, I miss him already..

His flight took off at 8:20 (Indonesia West Time) this morning. We didn't get much sleep last night considering we had to wake up at 5 in the morning because he'd need to be at the airport about 2 hours before the flight. Fun times :P Despite the lack of sleep, his flight was on schedule and we talked a bit online while he was in Hong Kong before his next flight to San Fransisco. He'd be arrived in Chicago at Sunday midnight, US Central Time. About 27 hours long a$$ flight.

Somehow, we managed not to burst in tears this time. Unlike last year. Maybe it was the exhaustion, maybe it was the great time we had together, maybe it was the great expectation.

I love him so much and the next time we see each other again, is to become husband and wife :)

EDIT: oh yeah, I just found this little note he left on my imac's desktop yesterday..

"Hi Kharisma,

I love you, and you're the most wonderful girl in the world <3

-Steve"

I made me all teary again ;_; That little punk! <3

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Jennuine Candles


Jennuine Candles is a store that's specializing in 100% Palm Wax Candles. She only uses 100% natural palm wax without artificial stabilizers. The beautiful crystallized appearance is a natural occurrence with palm wax. Every candle is hand crafted and hand poured with 100% natural palm wax, high grade liquid candle dyes and the premium quality fragrance oil available on the market. Now featuring wood wicks as well. She claims that you can now enjoy the subtle crackle of a fireplace within your candle. These all natural wooden wicks are made from an organic hardwood and provide a clean burn, a quicker wax pool melt and an outstanding scent throw which complements the Palm Wax very nicely.

Click here for more Palm Wax Candle goodness...
Or here for more unique gifts for your loved ones..

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Mea Culpa Bath and Body


Mea Culpa Body and Bath provides a wide range of body and bath products. In her store, you can find hand cream, tattoo healing balm, hair treatment, after shave for men, etc. Mea Culpa delivers handmade quality bath and body products to your house. If you care for natural ingredients to take care of your beauty, then pay a visit to Mea Culpa Body and Bath.
She also hosts a bi - monthly prize drawing with announcements on her blog:

More natural goodness..
More unique gifts on ArtFire..