My apologies

Hello, and welcome. If  you have linked to ceejaybags from Where Bloggers Create, I apologize for the "Construction Mess".  My studio is still not fit for public viewing! I apologize for the inconvenience.

Blog... Interrupted

Hi

What's that?  You thought I was gone? No... 

Life, as it is prone to do, has decided to throw me a whole BUNCH of curveballs, all at once. The loss of my full-time job...The end of my beloved Daddy's long fight with emphysema and the pain and struggle of coping with his passing...The challenges of single parenthood...The excitement of a new and beautiful relationship with an amazing man.

But I'm back. Back to blogging, back to creating, back to Life. 

The first step I'm taking is a complete revamping of my creative space.  I'm claiming the entire (former) dining room as my own, and making it into the Studio that I want...need...DESERVE.  And I am so excited to share the experience with all of you!  But I can't take credit for the idea.  I was looking through the pages of Where Women Create and came across a story about artist Karen Valentine.  In the story she mentioned that she had hosted a blog party last year called "Where Bloggers Create", and it was so successful that she is planning another one for June of this year. It featured stories of other creative souls and pictures of the studio spaces where they make all the magic happen.  Hmmmm....that sounded pretty interesting!  So I  hopped over to the blog.  One look and I signed up to participate.  How cool is that? This was just the kick in the pants I needed to get my studio put together in a real, purposeful way so that I have my own space to create whenever inspiration hits.

So stay tuned.  "BEFORE pictures (aka "The Nightmare") will be posted here soon, and I'll be blogging and sharing photos as the transformation takes place.  The BIG REVEAL will be June 19th!  Can't wait!

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!