Introducing... Sugarplumkinbaby!

1. What is your DaWanda Shop name? SugarPlumkinBaby
2. What is your DaWanda shop URL? http://www.en.dawanda.com/sugarplumkinbaby
3. When did you open your DaWanda shop? I opened this shop on January 21, 2008
4. Are you in the DaWanda shop directory? Not yet.
5. What category are you under? I am in DaWanda under Baby/Children category under Textiles.
6. What do you sell? I sell baby blankets that are made out of all minky which is a type of polyester and it is the softest fabric out there. I also sell baby blankets made out of 100% cotton or cotton chenille and almost always they are backed with minky. Burp cloths are another item that I currently sale.
7. Describe 2 of your curent products: Currently I have a several different blankets on display.

My favorite is the Mod Dot Baby Blanket. It is a minky blanket featuring mod dots in pink,brown and green on a white background and the reverse side is done in pink minky dot. I love how the pink and green look with brown. Here in the US, those colors seem to be in style.

The other blanket is a Paisley Blanket in Blue. This one has a paisley and pineapple design in brown against a light blue background and the reverse side is done in light blue minky dot. Again, I like the brown against a lighter color. The design on this blanket is sophisticated, but yet very modern and trendy.

Both of these blankets measure approximately 30 inches by 36 inches and are super soft. Babies love how the softness of this blanket feels against their skin, and no matter how many times these blankets get washed, they don't lose their softness.



8. Tell me about you: My name is Lucy and I live in Los Angeles, Ca. US. I am 28 years old and I have been making blankets for the last three years. As a child I was not very creative and I never liked art. As I got older I learned to become more creative and I even started making my own greeting cards and gifts. Whenever I had to give out a baby gift, I found myself lost in the teddy bear and rubber ducky motifs. That's when I decided to start making my own. I searched and searched for the right fabrics, until I found what I really liked. I learned that I am attracted to reproduction vintage and retro prints by Michael Miller, Alexander Henry, and Amy Butler, as well as minky and chenille. These types of fabrics remind me of my own childhood. I currently work as a nanny for a wonderful family with three girls and one more on the way!

I have been married for almost two years, but no children yet. I have Bachelors degree in Humanities with a minor in Italian. I took extra courses and got certified as a Forensic Specialist, but after working on my interniship at the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office for a year, I decided that working with children and creating pretty things that make people happy, was more rewarding than working there. Babies usually get attached to something and most of the time it is their blanket, whenever one of my blankets becomes a babies favorite, that just makes me feel so good inside.

9. Do you have a website or a blog? I do not have either one right now. I am planning on getting my own website, but first I must take professional pictures of my products.

How to Browse the Directory of DaWanda Shops

It's simple; use the link on the right hand panel of this blog, called 'DaWanda Shop Directory Links' and you will be sent straight to the directory. Once you are there you can view the shops in 2 different ways; firstly by category and secondly by scrolling through the posted shops. Once you have found someone you like follow the links to there store!

You can return to the Directory Blog at anytime by pressing the link on the top right hand panel.

Enjoy your shopping!

Sara x

I need to find a Helper to moderate one of the DaWanda groups!

Hi Guys,

I'm looking for some much needed help... Are any of you on Indiepublic regularly? If so can you spare a once a month trip to the DaWanda group there to help moderate?

What does that entail? Well I need someone to welcome new members, and reply to new forum threads, delete very old threads, delete negative or unDaWanda related posts by the occasional Spammer... In return I will add your page link to the introduction to the group, so that people know who you are and where to find you.

If you are interested can you please post a message at
http://indiepublic.ning.com/group/dawanda/forum/topic/show?id=946391%3ATopic%3A416186

Thank you,
Sara xx

Check out our DaWanda ‘How tos’

As a community we have already written a great number of guides and how tos to make you DaWanda experience a better one. If you would like to check them out, press this link… http://dawandashopdirectory.blogspot.com/search/label/How%20to%2Fguides

Written by Sara of http://en.dawanda.com/shop/sarastexturecrafts

Introducing... Maribel Made!

1. DaWanda Shop Name: Maribel Made
2. DaWanda Shop URL: http://maribel.dawanda.com/
3. When did you open your shop? Maribel Made was founded January 2008
4. Are you in the DaWanda Shop Directory here? Yep, http://dawandashopdirectorylinks.blogspot.com/
5. What Category are you under? Boutique (mixed product)
6. What do you sell? I sell stuffed animals, hats and earrings at the moment. Basically, whatever I make goes into my shop so it'll be a variety of work. I consider them my works of art. 7. Describe 2 of your current products.

Two of my favorite and most distinguishable products are a stuffed whale and a hat you can wear two different ways.

Jebby the Whale was painstakingly designed from the ground up. Trying to imagine a 3d figure in your head and applying it to a pattern was hard. I made about 6 iterations of the pattern and what I came up with in the end was a lovely baby sperm whale. He is sewn on a limited edition, vintage Scalamandré print called Pompeii. The fabric consists of 80% cotton and 20% silk. Materials used to make him are glazed satin, white acrylic felt, polyester fiberfill, glass eye and eye hook. Jebby the Whale is a Physeter Cathodon.

The second item is a hat I called the Britney Hat. This one took me a while to get just right. I was going for the sexy trilby hat you see so much on celebrities in Hollywood. To complement the contrasting color band I crocheted a flower called the Bourbon Rose, designed by Megan Mills (see rosehowto on http://megan.cc/). The hat serves two purposes. It can be worn as either a sexy trilby hat or a cute bucket hat! I personally love this hat and I'll definitely be making one for myself.




8. Tell me a bit about you...

My name is Maribel Castellanos and I'm an artist living in London. I began making stuffed animals, hats and earrings at the end of 2007 because I needed an escape from much work in graphic and web design. At the time, I lived in a small place in Seattle, WA in the US and I lacked the space needed to paint or do large-scale drawings, so I looked to the small things I could make in our living room. I moved to London soon after and I had the opportunity to dedicate myself to my art full-time.

My work is focused on "Small Things" and represents the things I can make with my hands. The items I have on display are only a few of the things I love to do. I'm very versatile, but the thing I love to do the most is draw. I also look forward to transforming some of my drawings into digital artworks and paintings.

Art, fashion and music are a huge influence for me and I can spend long hours contemplating new ideas and plucking away tirelessly to the sounds of the right music.

9. Do you have a website, or blog?

I just started a blog to promote my work. See, MaribelMade.com. It's still in the works, but in time it will look more like a real blog. I plan to update it with works in progress and thoughts related to design, art and possibly music.

Promoting Tips & Tricks Part II: Directories

Now that you've got your shop set up the way you like it, it's time to let people know about it! There are a number of directories out there providing inexpensive or free listings. Some are specific to DaWanda, some are general and will accept a shop regardless of where it's hosted.



DaWanda Shop Directory Links is associated with this blog -- but I'd rather tell you twice than let you miss it! It's a comprehensive listing of DaWanda shops by category. In addition to a place in their listing, by signing up you'll also get featured in a blog post.



Shoparama Marketplace is a huge directory of shops all over the web -- again, divided into categories for easier shopping. It also allows users to rank shops, so you get a better idea of what other people liked and didn't.



The Hand Made Product Directory, in addition to the directory itself, also provides lots of advertising opportunities -- but more about the advertising later. :)



For those concerned about the environment, Green Shopping gives a list of green and green-related sites to shop at.



Another Handcrafted Shopping Network here. Again, you can rank the shops.



I'm also in the Naturally Boulder directory -- this only applies to those in my local area but if you check around you may find something similar where you live.

I know there are more out there -- these are only the ones I've found. Simply typing 'craft directory' into Google will get you a lot, though you have to sort through them yourself to find out which are really worth it. Any more you've found useful?

I'll note (to continue the descriptions discussion from my last post) that writing the little blurb to go with the link to your shop is very important. Most directories only allow a line or two (and you don't want it longer than that anyway) so you've got to get a lot of punch into a little space. Again, I can't offer a lot of advice on how to do that -- I'm still working on it myself! So any tips you have on how to do that would be welcome.

Next up, blogs and mailing lists.

--

I don't need to be the only one writing this column -- I welcome your tips and tricks (and will credit you for them), and if you've got an article on business aspects of using DaWanda, please contact me and we'll talk about getting you a byline!

--

Written by Kate of http://en.dawanda.com/shop/omshantihandcrafts

Closed for Christmas!

We'll be back in the New Year, but before we go...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

From your Editors!

No SPAM please!

Now we all know that we are going to get SPAM, it's a fact of on-line life... but it does annoy us and can become upsetting when it comes continually from one source. Recently I have had a run of SPAM in the form of blog comments here on the blog, all of which I delete before they are published... but still they keep coming. I think someone thinks I will miss one and press 'publish'!

So here are my requirements for leaving comments, here on the blog...

1. Leave a comment related to the post in question, or a general 'this is a great place, thanks for sharing' comment... we all like to hear that!
2. Do feel free to leave discussion based comments... it's always good to hear feedback or work with new ideas.
3. Do feel free to ask a question... we are here to help.
4. Please do not leave comments that ask us to visit other sites unrelated to DaWanda... they will not be published.
5. Please do not leave comments that are HTML based... these will not be published.
6. Note that no negative comments will be published... it's unfair to the sellers who work hard to promote themselves and DaWanda here.

Ok... rant over!

OHh Fireworks

Woo it's the new year and that means a new year of fabulous finds! Hopefully you didn't get too festive on New Year's Even and found yourself face to face with this guy. The print from alyoisiusspyker is awsesome but the description is even better.

The night before the morning after, you know the one?
Where even the most unsuitable people create 'fireworks'.

Written by Andreanna of http://en.dawanda.com/shop/glamasaurus

Want to be a featured seller?

Please answer the following questions and send them with the original questions to me at DaWanda Directory - English Editor. You can also include 3 photos these must be .jpegs, no more than 700Kb and no bigger than 13cm in either direction. Please note that 1 of these photos must be your shop's logo or banner, so that buyers can easily recognise you.

Questions:

1. DaWanda Shop Name:
2. DaWanda Shop URL:
3. When did you open your shop?
4. Are you in the DaWanda Shop Directory here?
5. What Category are you under?
6. What do you sell?
7. Describe 2 of your current products.
8. Tell me a bit about you... (no more than 500 words)
9. Do you have a website, or blog?

You do not need to be listed on the directory attached to this blog to be featured and you don't need to list solely on the English site. This feature is for all sellers.

Introducing... Bia Sorao!

1. DaWanda Shop Name: Bia Sorao

2. DaWanda Shop URL: http://en.dawanda.com/shop/Biasorao

3. When did you open your shop? 24.09.2007

4. Are you in the DaWanda Shop Directory here? Yes.

5. What Category are you under? Baby & Children

6. What do you sell? Personalised hand painted artwork and wall decor for kids rooms and other handmade creations and gifts for children.

7. Describe 2 of your current products.

a. Me and my dog is an original artwork, hand painted with acrylic paint over mounted canvas. The canvas has its laterals (sides) painted in the same motif of the wall art, not needing any frame and being already prepared to hang. It can be personalised and it measures 30x30cm / 11,81"x11,81"

b. Skiing is another original artwork, hand painted with acrylic paint over mounted canvas. The canvas has its laterals painted in the same motif of the wall art, not needing any frame and being already prepared to hang. It can be personalised and measures 30x30cm / 11,81"x11,81

8. Tell me a bit about you...

My passion for crafting and painting started very early, and ever since I remember I have always made lots of little works that I keep finding in my parents’ home: crochet, jewellery, tricot, painting and design, sewing clothes, embroidery, tapestry, softies, you name it! I took some art and illustration courses and have since painted, already exhibiting in Portugal, Belgium and other countries. Recently I decided to focus my passion in art and handmade creations for children and start selling them. I’ve opened my little business some months ago, in August 2007, and since then every day is a fight to make my work known and sell enough to keep going. At the same time however, I have a wonderful excitement for doing something I really enjoy.

9. Do you have a website, or blog? I have a website http://www.biasorao.com/ and a blog http://www.biasorao.blogspot.com/

I am a bear woo!

Now for my final find before Christmas is a gift for me! If you love me you could buy it for me hehe! I may just get it for myself. I love this little Polar Bear Hat from SharaLambethDesigns! It is so cute and so fitting with this unbearable weather we are haivng in Switzerland. So I wish you all a great holiday and remember give the gift of handmade!


Written by Andreanna of http://en.dawanda.com/shop/glamasaurus

Introducing... My Little Magick Shop!

1. DaWanda Shop Name: My Little Magick Shop – Handmade Magick Items For The Discriminating Witch
2. DaWanda Shop URL: http://magickshop.dawanda.com
3. When did you open your shop? Just a week ago! I'm very proud to say mine is the first witchcraft shop on Dawanda.
4. Are you in the DaWanda Shop Directory here? Yes
5. What Category are you under? Other (no categories for witches LOL)
6. What do you sell? I sell handmade items for the practise of magick and spirituality, as well as downloadable rituals. I want not only to sell items that are ready to be used, but also teach what I've learned in 18 years of experience in the topic. I want to take witchcraft into the light and offer my products to artsy, intelligent people like I do to my customers here in Tenerife!

7. Describe 2 of your current products.

Fairy Dust for Crazy Wishes Powder: Magick Cleansing powders are a perfect solution for the very discreet witch, as small pinches of it can be placed almost anywhere without noticing, even on yourself. Specifically, the Fairy Dust For Crazy Wishes powder is made to improve the power of your wishes and make them come true, and boost creativity since the presence of Fairies is a powerful muse! Also, it is a great product for anyone who makes fairy-related art and wants to be more connected with the Fairies themselves.

Prosperity Ritual – Digital File: I only have this one available at this moment, but I will be adding digital rituals regularly to the shop. This specific file is a fifteen page tutorial not only about how to make a prosperity ritual to increase your finances and boost your business, but also tons of information about what is a ritual, how to make it more powerful and how to plan in advance your rituals to get the maximum from it.




8. Tell me a bit about you...

I've been reading Tarot and practising witchcraft for almost two decades, but I'm not what people often think a witch is.

First, I do not believe in dark, "ghetto" magick; I believe magic is an expression of self-acceptance and creativity, and not a blurry idea where you have to believe in things you don't understand.

I believe in the infinite power of faith, but not in blind faith; faith in ourselves.

I believe magick is a product of our own power. We're not victims or puppets, but the agents of all change.

I believe the inner energy of plants, minerals and all elements are here to help us reach our goals on our way to self-transformation, but we have to make the bigger part ourselves, being focused and serene, connected with the divine.

9. Do you have a website, or blog?

I write a blog at http://magickshop.wordpress.com, where not only I promote the products, but where I will be adding regularly useful content about witchcraft, divination, and the business side of witches too. I would love to feature anyone with Dawanda shops (loosely) related to the topic, so if you're interested please contact me!

Advertise your stores on Facebook!

In early January Jenny Bridger (aka Jenny B's bottlecaps) sent me an email invitation to her new Facebook page at Jennybs-Bottlecaps on Facebook. She had cleverly used Facebook's new 'Business page' application to market her work on-line and open the networking door to thousands, if not millions of potential customers. Now she is sharing this great find with us in the DaWanda Forums at DaWanda Pages on Facebook

There is already a small gathering of DaWanda sellers and followers on facebook at DaWanda Facebook Group
and a web fan page at We Love DaWanda. Do pop over and join us!

Oh and here's my page Saras-Texture-Crafts on Facebook. If you have a new facebook page... add your link as a comment here, so that we can find you.