We Have A Winner!!!!

 Thanks to everyone who participated in the Alphabet Soup giveaway.  It was lots of fun to do!  Each of the entries was entered into a random number generator, and out popped # 4! (I can't figure out how to get the little widget thingy to let me copy it for you all to see, but it really does say 4.)
 The winner of  a $10.00 Gift voucher to my Artfire shop or Etsy shop (your choice) AND Free Shipping for all of your purchases through the month of December is firedupladies on twitter.  Congratulations!  Please contact me with your email info (either here through my blog comments, or through a Direct Message on twitter.)  I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

November Giveaway

Alphabet Soup!

 I've spilled my soup all over the internet...letters EVERYWHERE!  Can you help me clean them up?  If you can find them and unscramble them, you could be a winner!  The prize for the November Giveaway is a $10.00 Gift voucher to my Artfire shop or Etsy shop (your choice) AND Free Shipping for all of your purchases through the month of December. Pretty Good Deal, right?

Letters are hidden everywhere that you find ceejaybags online. Here on my blog, on my Facebook Page, and in my online shops ceejaybags Artfire and ceejaybags Etsy. All you have to do is find them.  But the soup spilled everywhere!  You'll need to look closely to clean up this alphabet mess.  When you've found all of the letters (there are eleven of them, by the way) and figured out what the word is, come back here and post your answer in a comment as your Official Entry.  I will take all of the entries, stir them into the soup pot and randomly pick one as the WINNER (using random.org).  The winner will be announced on Friday November 13, right here.

So you get one entry for commenting with the correct answer. Great! Want to have a better chance of winning? Here's what you can do:

1 EXTRA Entry

• Tweet about the giveaway, and leave the link here in Comments (one entry per day)
• Become a Fan of ceejaybags on Facebook (comment here when you do.  Already a fan? Fabulous, just let me know!)
• Share this giveaway on Facebook, and post the link here or on my Facebook page (one entry per day)
  

5 EXTRA Entries (woohoo!!)

• Blog about this Giveaway, with links to ceejaybags on Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Etsy AND Artfire. (Share the post here in Comments to be eligible)
  
• Anyone who makes a purchase from either online shop DURING THE GIVEAWAY (Nov. 8-13, 2009) will be entered 5 times.
  

Ooooh, almost forgot.  Here's a letter, to get you started.  Have fun, and Good Luck!

Lessons In Networking: Facebook Page for your Indie Business?

How can a Facebook Business Page (some call them "Fan Pages") help get the word out about your Handcrafted Items? Think of Facebook as Word of Mouth for the Digital Age. You know the old commercial with the catchy phrase "...and they told two friends, and so on, and so on"? Well, when someone on Facebook becomes a Fan of your Business Page, that information is broadcast out to all of THEIR friends, and so on, and so on.

But where do you start??
Facebook can sometimes be a bit confusing...no worries! Here's a bit of a tutorial to walk you through it.

The easiest place to start is to go to any Business Page on Facebook. Check out the ceejaybags Page here
Go to the bottom left of the page and click "Create a Page for my Business".

• Select your Category from the dropdown 
• Name your page with your business name (BE CAREFUL! Check to be sure you are happy with your name, and your spelling is correct.) 
• Click on the Create a Page button and there you have it.

(Once you have created it, copy the URL for future reference. You'll need it to promote your new page, as  you'll see in a minute.)

TIPS:
If you have a PERSONAL PROFILE on Facebook, edit your profile to include that URL as one of your websites.
Include your Facebook Business Page URL on your business cards, on your online shop pages, and in your email signature.
Make sure YOU become a fan of your page! :-) Then hit "Share" so every one of your friends knows you've created a business page for your creative endeavors.

When you become a fan of someone's page, you will show up as yourself, NOT your Business Page.

Feel free to comment here, or post on my FB Page if you need any help!
Good luck!

I'm a Winner

Yay Me!

Lately I've been on a bit of a "Giveaway" hunt, searching for fun, interesting blogs who are hosting giveaways. There are two reasons, really.  It's a bit of a research mission, on one level, because I'm thinking of hosting a giveaway here at ceejaybags.  Checking out other giveaways is a great way to get ideas.  AND, who doesn't love free stuff, right?

So during one of my (...ahem...) missions, I headed over to The Handmade Artist , a brand new blog that features gorgeous handmade items from talented artisans who offer their wares online.  It was my great pleasure to have a ceejaybags wristlet featured on The Handmade Artist just a few weeks ago and I wanted to go back and check out the newest features and giveaway.

The giveaway last week was so cute! The sweetest little fairy, just right for tucking on a bookshelf. That would be a very cute teacher present, so I commented on the post, which entered me into the random weekly drawing. Just found out that I won!  Yay Me!

To celebrate this little fairy coming to live with me, I thought I'd show you all some of the work of her artist, viridian muse. All of these handmade goodies can be found by visiting viridianmuse on Artfire.  Please check her out, and then head over to The Handmade Artist to enter their latest giveaway!

Kids Activities for a Rainy (or sick) day

Ahhh, tis the season.  Between rain, shorter days and the flu,  my normally active kids are spending more time stranded in the house with "Nothing to Do".  A better-prepared, cooler hipper mom would surely have surfed the net to find just the right indoor activities to keep her little ones happily occupied for hours.  Unfortunately that's not me (haha), but let's pretend for a moment that it is...Imagine, if you will, the precious little angels spending their days with these great handmade finds:

lil b designs

lolly bop baby

 

pretty dreamer

 

neskita

 Or for the very ambitious, why not have all the kids in the neighborhood over for an evening of fun.  Check out these supercute Coloring T-shirts - an awesome idea from M & E Graphics and Gifts!!

Inspiration comes from the strangest places (and things!)

Earlier today I was lamenting my lack of inspiration.  It's been quite a dry spell for me, creatively speaking, and I was beginning to worry that I'd never create anything ever again! (Please pardon the "woe is me" moment...)  So I set out to break out of this rut.

I've been toying with the concept of a new Upcycled bag collection, whereby I rescue beautiful pre-loved fabrics and create something wonderfully new and chic. Today, I thought, was the day to begin this new journey in my creative adventure. I decided to take "before" pictures of all of the amazing treasures that my Mom (aka Mamaramadingdong) has gifted me from her never-ending stash of drapery and home decor textiles, as well as some luscious suede jackets that I came upon.  At the very least I would enjoy the gorgeous fall weather, and hopefully have some pix to include when I finally start listing new items in my Artfire shop.

Little did I know that inspiration was hiding in one of the many bags of goodness that I hauled outside!  Finally, I felt the familiar creative juices starting to flow through me again.  It has been way too long!!

Here's a peek at the "before" life of my soon-to-be created XL Tote:

Ooooohhh...I'm in LOVE with the grommets!!

In the house I went, my head full of ideas.  Before I  knew it I was cutting and pressing (and turning a deaf ear to the cries of "What's for dinner?")  I was so excited that I had to take a few "in progress" pictures, to commemorate the return to my studio.

Who knew that a bag full of drapery samples had the magic ingredient that I was missing?