Often luking in shadows, behind closed doors, and in mysterious twitter posts dwells a STALKER. They are mysterious, magical, and myth???? Nope. They are a great bunch of Artfire Artisans devoted to choosing a "VICTIM" studio and plurking, tweeting, facebooking, myspacing, blogging another artisan's shop contents.








This week it is time to stalk the stalkers. Browse through our stores for the following picture :










Participating Studios
TAK Unique Jewelry Designs
Grah-Toe Studio

The Chain Maille Lady
Jewelled Trellis
PinkCloudsandAngels
She’s Batty Designs
Meant 2B Cherished
Rose Works Jewelry
Il Mare
Unique Garden Essences
Bad Ink Clothing
Huckleberry Arts
Glasstastic Treasures
Jennuine Candles
essensu holistic skincare
Cutthroat Designs
The Copper Cauldron


To see the details on what fantastic prizes you can win by stalking the stalkers check out our Guild blog here:
http://thestalkersguild.blogspot.com/
Happy Stalking!

You Are a Mosaic

You are worldly and cultured. You draw inspiration from many sources. You appreciate vivid colors and busy scenes, but you like a bit of order too. You believe that art should have many layers. It should be beautiful up close and from afar. The best art gets more interesting the longer you look at it.

What Type of Art Are You?

Blogthings: Cheaper Than a Therapist

The search continues....

So I went looking for some fantastic stocking stuffers for Christmas and I found some that are fantastic!

These lump of coal guest soaps from Allegheny Hearth are awesome. I used to be able to find black liquorice candy that looked like coal. This is even better.

This cute little crab would look adorable peaking out of a stocking. EddysPressies did an outstanding job on this little cutie!

I have a real addiction ot scented candles and I love this one for a kitchen. kickinskreations did an outstanding job...you should check out her root beer ones too!

I'm off to continue to search out the best of the best for stocking stuffers this year.

Featured!

I was featured at my favorite suppliers online catalogue today. She is a great inspiration to me. I shared with her what brought me to my designing and jewellery making.

Here is my story:

When I was fourteen I was diagnosed with PCOS. This disease left me with an endocrine system that barely functioned and little hope of having a family. We beat the odds and have five children. They range in age from 7 to 15 years old. We are a close knit family due in part to the fact that I have homeschooled them all (10 years now) and the trials we have overcome as a family. Thirteen years ago ,after the birth of my second child, I was taken to the oncologist with a large lump in my breast and armpit. I was scheduled for surgery and given the comfort that there had been great strides made in the treatment of cancer. Judging from the location and the size of the lump the doctor was certain it was cancer. I was only 21 years old. The lump was benign. I was very lucky. Five years ago I began to have severe health problems. After 72 days of uncontrollable bleeding I was scheduled for surgery yet again with the council of my doctor to “put my affairs in order”, and a kindly inquiry as to weather or not I had made out a will and given a standing appointment for chemotherapy the morning following surgery. This time uterine cancer was suspected. I was terrified. When I went in for surgery the doctor reminded both me and my husband that if cancer was found he would perform radical surgery to remove any affected tissues. I was in surgery for hours. When I awoke in the recovery room I was stunned to hear that there was no cancer found. The doctor had burned away a large amount of tissue and that it would only buy me a few years before I would need more invasive surgery again. After this second brush with cancer I decided to change how I viewed life. I grew up. Quickly. I stopped waiting for tomorrow and decided to live for today. I found the strength to work with my doctors and to get healthier. In December of last year I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. Many things that I wanted to do I now physically couldn’t do. One thing that was a dream for me I could do however. I had always wanted to design jewelry. I was what my mother called an ”old soul” I watched black and white movies, read historical biographies and was fascinated with ancient history. It was then that I found you ( my mentor and filigree supplier). Suddenly here was someone who had done the research and found reputable suppliers and manufacturers and was willing to share their knowledge. I was hooked. I could recreate the stunning jewels worn by famous women, black and white movie stars, historical figures, and ancient legends. I may no longer be able to travel to far away places or scuba dive or even drive some days, but I could make beautiful things that made other people smile and perhaps dream. I now sell some of my work online but most has gone to adorn my daughters, sisters and mother and my sons already have jewelry for their future wives. Thank you so much for a beautiful site that allows me to create small works from the heart. You have helped me fulfill a life long dream.

She decided to share my story with the rest of her clients and sent me this message that made my day:

Dear Robyn,

Your story is such an inspiration to me. That is one email I will always keep. It makes me so happy when I learn that the decision to share my experience with making jewelry has enriched someone's life. Thank you very much for taking the time to write your story. Your strength and dignity shows through in the way you've managed your life through all your trials. I'm so glad that you have your children and husband to share your life with. A family is such a precious gift.

May I use your photos and some of your story on my web site? I know that there are many other people who would also be lifted up by your story and the beautiful jewelry you have created.
I admire you tremendously.
Susan

With Christmas approaching I find I am looking more and more for unique gifts. I have blogged in the past about our family's desires to make this Christmas a handmade Christmas. So shopping for handmade gifts for my immediate family has been fairly easy. Shopping for my siblings and my parents not so easy. They require unique gifts as different and colorful as they are. I am the oldest of 8 children. There are 5 boys and 3 girls. We are all so different from each other. I have a brother who is very creative artistic and musical. He has a gift with the piano and a voice that makes angels weep. I have a sister who is a gifted hairdresser with the most loving open heart. She was a lifeguard and is a remakable athlete in her own right. I have another brother who is very intelligent and driven. He reminds me of what I was like when I was younger. He will succeed. By sheer force of will if necessary. My other sister the youngest girl is a dental hygenist by day gifted painter by night. She does amazing things on canvas. She hasn't begun to sell her work professionally yet but I'm sure she will in the future. My youngest brother who is the baby of the family is 17 years younger than I am. He is loving and sweet, though he tried to hide it, and shows promise on the basketball court. I have another brother who is dynamic and full of life. He has an aptitude for drama and the arts, a lovely voice and a beautiful soul. He has yet to realize himself all that he can do if he only applies all of his talents. When he does the world will be his oyster. My brother closest to me in age was my confidant as a child, fellow mischief maker ( along with a beloved cousin), and dearest friend. He is a kind a loving soul. His courage and determination to take care of his son is humbling. Add to this mix my Father, an exceptional teacher whose ability to touch lives continues to be far reaching. He can build houses and mend a broken heart with equal skill and love. He is a rock for the whole family. My mother is a fireball of energy. She will giggle with you into the wee hours of the morning and still be up at the crack of dawn ready for a new adventure. She will laugh or cry with you and always be just a phone call away. This is my remarkable family. Now I have to find unique gifts for them for Christmas. This is a daunting task but an adventure too.
Stay tuned for the rest of the saga.....

So last night I worked into the wee hours of the morning. I woke up tired and a bit cranky then I got my email and it made the whole day a little brighter. Andrea of AndreaWDesigns featured me in her blog
http://http://andreawdesigns.blogspot.com/
She does her promotions for free, just because she wants to pay it forward.
What a great gal.
Thank you Andrea. You made my day!!

Artfire.com is rolling out the "Holiday Free For All" promotion.

Here is a sneek peek of the Monday press release:

ArtFire Gives Away Free Unlimited Listings for the Shopping Season

Everyone gets free unlimited listings for the holidays on ArtFire.comTucson, AZ – ArtFire has just announced that they will be giving away unlimited listings completely free for all sellers during the holiday season. This means that everyone can sell and list as many items as they wish for absolutely no cost or fees. When they first launched, ArtFire revolutionized the handmade marketplace by making it completely free for users to sell online. Site members were able to list and sell up to 12 items at any point on the site, and could have unlimited listings with customizable features for the flat rate of $12/month. However, due to the current economic situation and the upcoming holiday season, ArtFire has decided to remove this 12 item limit for the shopping season, giving everyone on the site the option to list unlimited items for sale. To make things even easier for sellers, ArtFire has also launched the Etsy Importer, allowing members to import all of their Etsy listings onto ArtFire quickly and easily. To help manage these imported listings, ArtFire is allowing free access for the month of October to their Global Product Editor, which gives sellers the chance to make batch edits to hundreds of products in their inventory at once. “Regardless of marketplace or venue we’ve found that sellers who list more items have a much greater success online,” said Tony Ford, COO of ArtFire. “We want to give everyone the chance to be successful, and free unlimited listing will help our artisans obtain more sales during the fourth quarter.”“Many of our sellers are concerned about the shopping season due to economic issues, and cannot afford to promote and advertise as they had last year,” said John Jacobs, CEO of ArtFire. “This Holiday Free for All will allow them to sell more items than ever before completely free.”This Holiday Free for All Promotion is the first ever of its kind, and expected to completely change the craft marketplace.

For more information, please contact:

Tony Ford, COOArtFire Inc.

1-877-688-2323

1-877-688-2323

http://www.artfire.com/

To quote Tony Ford COO and EVP Marketing, ArtFire.com

"For the holiday season all accounts (both Basic and Verified) will have the ability to list unlimited listings. There will be no listing fees, no final valuation fees, no commission fees, and no catches. We have decided that the economy is too tough for artisans and we believe our Verified accounts are worth $12 per month regardless of the number of listings.

As a Verified member you have access to all unique site features such as:

+1 search weighting (verified members always win a relevancy contest where the tie is with a basic member)

The Facebook Kiosk (worth $12/month all by itself by monetizing your fan page)

Coupon codes and gift certificates4) Free featured spots for every verified member on the category, trend and gift guide pages (randomly selected)

Artisan Guilds

Artifacts

Sticky Cart

Global Product Editor

Multiple quantity listings

Fully customizable colors and layouts for the Fusion Studio

The Gallery on your Fusion Studio

Larger Super banner

Advanced Artisan Bio with multiple pictures and links

Studio widgets capability for ads, video, or other html and flash widgets

10 pictures instead of 4 on items.

No advertising in your studio or items.

No promotion of other (verified) sellers items on your item listings.

Up to 99 studio categories

We have even more Verified features that will roll out throughout the 4th quarter. We will continue to make this deal even better for Verified members. But here is why we want to make listings free and the secret every other venue does not want you to know. Listings have value. The act of listing adds value and reduces costs for Artfire.com. You see the cost to host and transmit a listing is almost nothing ( a fraction of a cent). But for every 2 listings on Artfire.com we get more than one google visit per month from a buyer. We have worked hard to optimize our Google SEO and that means tht with about 400,000 listings on Artfire.com we are getting over 250,000 Google visits alone (out of nearly two million total unique visitors this month). These Google visitors are highly convertible buyers. These are people who go multiple pages deep, spend time on the site and move throughout the site (mostly landing on verified items because of the exposure bonuses mentioned above).In order to get 250,000 targeted quality buyer visits from advertising we would have to buy an additional 50,000,000 ad impressions (assuming a.5% Click through rate). The going rate for targeted ad impressions is between $5 and $10 CPM (cost per thousand impressions). That means the listings on Artfire generate monthly traffic equivalent to an advertising budget spend of $250,000 to $500,000. More items = more buyers. Every site that charges you a listing fee is asking you to pay them for the priviledge of giving them free advertising. At Artfire.com we believe Listings should be free for Artisans. We will subsidize the fraction of a cent via small ads or verified members who get exposure on the page. If it costs you time and work you should not pay us. If we save you time and effort or give you tools and features that add value to your business you should pay us. In order to test this theory. We are going to run the "Holiday Free For All" promotion. We believe we will lose some verified accounts who will downgrade. Although those folks will miss out on a lot of extra features, promotion, exposure and the new things we will continue to add for verified members. However, this will create the maximum possible chance for the most artisans to be successful for the least amount of risk.We have always said we want you to be a successful seller. Our research shows that a lot of listings is the critical key to selling. We are going to put our money where our mouth is. We are going to tell the secrets of the marketplace and start a revolution to reject the 1990's model that a seller should pay to have the privilege to give us free advertising. We are going to partner with each of you to give you fantastic tools for verified accounts and a no risk business opportunity for those getting started.

Happy Holidays Sellers - Our gift to you came early."

Go Artfire! This is the best venue around!!

http://http//www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=power_up&refuid=14988