Gleeful News!

If you have not already heard or did not see, a Gleeful Peacock item made it to the front page of Etsy! Maybe it is like when you are looking for a spouse and as soon as you stop looking, then you find them. I had decided that it was something that had little chance of happening an had also decided I still deserved to continue making, creating and crafting. Read 'Affirmations for the Crafter' from earlier this month for pre-front page feelings. Well it came and it went and I am left with a few more hearts. it was super exciting, but to be honest I get more from someone e-mailing me to tell me they loved what they ordered.

In Other news..
Sunday will be the drawing for the giveaway-o'rama! Thank you to everyone for everything they have done to spread the glee!

It is also the final day for the buy one get on 50% off! 

Well as you can see I have updated my blog... all by myself! I feel so techie. Hope you like it!

Have a gleeful day!

Nikki

Update on Giveaway-o'rama!

Please see below for some additional info on the giveaway! The items in bold are new.

It is heating up and we have some great challengers! Thanks to all my fellow lovers of pretty things!

Nikki

Giveaway Take two!

Giveaway-o'rama! 

Don’t you think ‘o-rama’ at the end of anything makes it so much better?

The prize: Any item in my shop, www.gleefulpeaock.etsy.com, shipping paid for by me!

Beginning: Right now!  

Ending: 2/7 (in case you want to order something for a sweetheart)

Entry Rules: Since you are reading this, congrats you are already entered at least once for the drawing! If you want to be entered more then once (oh come on a little competitive spirit is in all of us) here are all they ways in which you can enter!

• Follow Gleeful Peacock on Twitter www.twitter.com/gleefulpeacock = one entry for every tweet!
  
Tweet about the shop or the blog = one more entry for every tweet, please make sure your #gleeful peacock ( the # sign lets me track it)

• Become a fan on face book http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/Gleeful-Peacock/134458567549?ref=ts = one entry
• Facebook ammessage about the shop or blog = yet another entry for each message
  
• Become a follower of www.gleefulpeacock.blogspot.com = one entry
• NEW - Refer a friend to my shop! CC me on the e-mail and you get a entry for every e-mail address. Please make sure they are also lovers of pretty things! 
  
• Blog about the shop = 3 entries   

So it is simple! The more glee you spread the better your chance to own a new pretty thing!

 
January Special

baby it’s cold outside…so here is one warm and fuzzy deal!

Buy One Item and get the second 50% off!

There are two ways to go about it…

1) Order what you want and mention ‘spread the glee’ in the message to buyer. I will automatically refund 50% off the lower priced item via paypal.

2) E-mail me (gleefulpeaock.gmail.com) or convo me on Etsy and I will lower the price right before you buy.

 The only exclusion is if you are already taking the package headband discount.

 

The gift of lessons learned

To be honest I always felt like I was an intelligent person (thanks, Mom!), but starting a on-line business and having to learn the ropes of social networking and marketing has taught me that I have more to learn then I ever thought possible!

The best part is that I started a crafting business and we all know that crafters and artists are usually the best with helping each other out!  I have been so lucky to meet some of my own personal teachers and I have learned that I can learn something form everyone. One person may teach me a new craft, another a new helpful website, or I may learn a better way with interacting with customers by watching them at a show.  No matter what I learn or how (most the time they don't know they are teaching me something), I am grateful and I come away with something I did not know before I met them.

As a way to pass it on, here are a few things I have learned recently. Please comment, and share a few things as a gift to others reading!

• Meeting others with the same passion is the most amazing part. Focus on relationships, you never know who will talk to who, or who will end up being a vital connection. Or most important, who could be a fabulous friend in the making. 
• Want a site that lets you manage tweeting and facebook? Visit www.hootsuite.com to set up a free profile. You can mange it all and see what is being said about you! Plus you can tweet, but schedule it to send out later to reach other readers! 
• You may already all know this... so I may show my slowness here. I just realized that you can go into any item on your Etsy shop and on the right side click 'share' button. Choose what site you want to share it one.. and there you go! I was doing the whole copy and past thing before I figured this one out! 

So your turn.. what is one thing you can pass along to fellow readers? Come on.. don't be shy.. knowledge is the best gift! 

Have a gleeful day!
Nikki

Affrimations for the Crafter

When I read this I busted out laughing! This sign is featured at www.LennyMud.etsy.com and reading it makes me know that I am not alone in my feelings of inadequacy. When you put your art or craft up for sale, you all of all of a sudden put all your artistic confidence up on the market as well. I am glad to know that I am not the only one that falls victim to the ‘why aren’t I good enough’ or ‘why did someone else get featured on the front page instead of me’ thoughts. It is like I am in 2^nd grade all over again and I wonder why Joseph’s stupid lollipop tree was put on the board and my clearly more intricate tree wasn’t! I wonder if the glue he eats gave him more creative flare then me? Maybe I should take up eating glue…

I do fall into the rut of feeling like my sales or visibility of my shop is what determines if I am successful. Apparently I am not the only one since all it takes is a few moments reading postings under the ‘Critique’ section on Etsy forum boards to know we all feel the same way. We have all grown up and we are still waiving are arms around saying ‘notice me’, ‘tell me I am okay’ and ‘anyone please give me a compliment’, just like we did in the second grade. I have posted on there, and it has served as my ‘I am okay’ fix for a few days. I know this makes me seem needy, but lets just all admit that we are artsy fartsy people and we feed off of it. We need people to like us and our work. If we weren’t we would work for the IRS or a bank. I know those people don’t seem to care what I think.

So I continue, plugging away. And everyday I check to see if someone has magically found me among all the thousands of Etsy sellers and chosen me to be their seller. I also continue to try and make more connections with artistic and creative people that I can focus on what is really important. This is about letting the creative part of me out and not hiding behind my fears of rejection or failure.

Here is to a day full of positive thoughts.. even if you aren’t featured on the front page!

Have a Gleeful Day!

Nikki 

P.S. Thank you Lenny Mud for making such a fabulous piece that makes us all know we are not alone! 

Headbands have started to post!

Finally after months of trying to get around to it.. I got some headbands posted on my shop! I have a bunch more coming and a more designs that are in the beginning stages.

Headband Deal:

1 - $15.00
2 - $28.00
3 - $38.00

Sold my first three today!

Also - the winner has been notified and I am awaiting a response. If I don;t hear back within two weeks I will draw again.

Happy creating and have a gleeful night!

Nikki

New Year

It is that time when we all focus on what we want to accomplish in the upcoming year. While I have plenty I want to do in 2010, I think we should also always congratulate ourselves for what we have accomplished the year before. By always focusing on what we still need to do we set ourselves up for feeling like failures. When in relaity I bet everyone of us had great accomplishments in the last 365 days!

My accomplishments in 2009:
I lost 30 pounds (gained 10 back, but that is a matter for 2010 to address)
I started the Gleeful Peacock, even with every logical thing telling me I could fail.
I realized that I have more to learn then I ever thought possible. The whole marketing thing taught me that.
I gained 4 new priceless friends.
I learned 3 new art mediums.

So what have you accomplished?

P.S. the winner will be named later today for the give-a-way. Start window shopping, you could win any item in my shop! wwww.gleefulpeacock.blogspot.com