Blogs

Awesome Art Beads on IndieMade

Posted by Linda Landig

Art Beads
Are you a jewelry designer on the lookout for really unique beads and pendants? If so, there are many wonderful art bead resources available on IndieMade. Art Beads can be defined as "A bead, charm, button or finding made by an independent artist. Art beads are the vision and handiwork of an individual artist. " Art beads are not made in a factory. They are handmade individually or in small batches. Art beads can be handmade of glass, textiles, ceramic, polymer clay, metals etc. The key points are that they result from the creative ideas and the hands of the artist who is offering them. Each of the artists highlighted below are well worth a visit. You'll find yourself excited and inspired to create fabulous jewelry designs with their tiny works of art!

Spring Cleaning: How to Run a Craft Castoffs Sale

Posted by Cynthia Boris

craft supplies
Winter is over. It’s time to open the windows, clear out the clutter and start fresh. Let’s begin with your craft room / space / desk / corner of the dining room. Do you have supplies you don’t need? Items you bought for a project you’ll never get to? Leftovers from a project you won’t make again? Dried up paints, too small fabric bits, and broken objects? No? Really? Look again.

IndieMade Inspiration with Casey Virata of LuckiiArts

Posted by Cynthia Boris

Casey's work table
Casey Virata is a hardworking, single mom who is happily living her dream of being a working artist. From big, bold prints to intricate word art, there's a sense of whimsy in everything she makes which is not surprising since she says she's inspired by music, nature and laughter. Her store is called Luckii Arts (pronounced Lucky Eye) and is a tribute to both her father and her sister. This week, we asked her to swap out her paintbrushes for a keyboard so she could answer our burning questions about her art and her store.

March-ing to the Beat of Your Own Drummer

Posted by Cynthia Boris

Umbrella Girl
When a customer visits your online store for the first time, sameness will make them feel at home. They intuitively know to click on the store to shop or image for more detail. They know what a bracelet is and they can imagine how it feels if you tell them it’s made of glass. This is a good thing. Right? But imagine if you visited an online store and the pictures were all upside down. Instead of bracelets, they were selling Whoziwazzis in shades of sluberack and ziptoad. Would you run from the madness or stay and click around?

Marketing for Creatives: Getting Started on YouTube

Posted by Cynthia Boris

Filming with an iphone
Speaking at the 2016 Mobile World Congress this week, Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg said, "Most of the content 10 years ago was text, and then photos, and now it’s quickly becoming videos. I just think that we’re going to be in a world a few years from now where the vast majority of the content that people consume online will be video." Video. Does that word scare you? Does the thought of standing in front of the camera hawking your wares make you feel faint? You’re not alone but you’re also missing out on a great opportunity if you click now and close this window.

Social Media Marketing for Creatives: Why I Prefer Twitter Over Facebook

Posted by Cynthia Boris

Indiemade Twitter
In any discussion of social media, Twitter generally comes in a poor second or even third to Facebook. But when you’re talking specifically about social media as a marketing tool, I say Twitter comes out on top in three ways. First, Twitter is fast. The messages are short which makes it incredibly easy to skim. Facebook is overloaded with lengthy posts, ads, a cluttered sidebar, chat boxes and notifications all over the place.

Social Media Marketing for Creatives: Getting Started

Posted by Cynthia Boris

Social Media Tree
Social media can be a marvelous tool for not only keeping in touch with your current customers but for finding new customers as well. I say “can be”, because like all things on the internet it takes time, effort and a bit of luck. So why bother? Because in 2016, every business needs a social media presence. A Facebook page says you’re serious about what you’re doing and that makes customers feel more confident. Sounds silly, doesn’t it? But a recent survey showed that 48% of shoppers check a brand’s social media pages before committing to buy a product.

Planning for Success When You’re Not a Planner

Posted by Cynthia Boris

Sticky Notes in a Pile
I have a confession to make; I’m not much of a planner. I love Plan With Me videos and calendars of all kinds. I love the stickers and pens and I’m completely enamored with the idea of having my future sketched out in neat little boxes. Unfortunately, somewhere between my passion for planning and the actual execution, I get lost. The planners (multiple) that I bought the first week of the new year are empty and abandoned by St. Patrick’s Day. The To Do lists that work so well in April get ignored in May. The supplies I invested in because I was sure that a range of stickers and colored gel pens would keep me on track – they’re in a box in the garage waiting for the passion to return.

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