I have been brainstorming new ideas for my accessories that aren't quite so costly for me to make (ordering materials for my leather accessories requires a large amount at one time). I have decided to start with unique bags that have an edgy look, and I am going to add original art to some so that they follow the same theme as my leather accessories.

I have also decided to make some more affordable clutches out of canvas that also feature original art. Hopefully these items will be posted by ...
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..... like patience. I REALLY want to move forward with my business, and my hands are itching to get ahold of more leather items so that I can work on my designs. However, life has decided differently for me for now, and college must take precedence. I am hoping to get a little Christmas money that I can put toward more projects, so I can fianlly expand my line of items and build some inventory. But it must wait for now.

In the mean time, to keep from going crazy, I have been concentrating on ...
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I have created my first survey!! If you are interested in taking this survey on handmade leather goods, just click the link to the right (below my bio). If you complete the survey, you get a code for 20% off any order in my store, so there are some incentives!

I created this survey to figure out how interested people are in handmade leather goods, as well as what types of goods they would like to see in my shop. I think the feedback will be very interesting; I am going to try to base my produ...
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My old 4-H club had their fall fun show last weekend, and I went to help my Mom (who is currently the Cloverbud advisor) and to say hi to everyone I know. While I was there, I met some people that happened to own a Clydesdale, and they had brought him with them for the fun show. I have always loved draft horses, but have never had the chance to be around them (I secretly dream of owning one someday; however, I don't have the space or the money to feed one!). When they found out I liked Draft...
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I finally got to use my airbrush for the first time yesterday, and it turned out to be very fun. Difficult, but fun. I only experimented with two colors due to time constraints (I was supposed to be doing chores....), so my squiggly lines and drawings are only red and black. I attempted two horse heads and a random tractor, but other than that I was just making lines and experimenting with air pressure/paint spray. My fiance also played with the brush, so some of the squiggly lines and colors...
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I have some very exciting news (at least it is to me)! I have been invited to exhibit my work in the Art 101 Gallery in Ashland, Ohio. This is news completely unexpected, but definitely welcome! The Art 101 Gallery is located on West Main Street in Ashland, Ohio, and features work from local artists. Some of the types of work exhibited are sculpture, photography, paintings, and drawings, among other beautiful art forms. Feel free to check out their website, you can view some very beautiful an...
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I was finally featured on the front page of Etsy.com on Friday and Saturday! Every few hours the items that are featured on the front page are rotated so that different sellers are featured. These items are picked by other Etsy.com members and are usually put together based on a certain theme or color. Mine, of course, has to do with horses. Below is a picture of my bag that got featured, as well as a link to the rest of the items that were on the front page with mine. Enjoy!

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I am so excited!!!! I recently ordered a beginning airbrush kit, so I can begin to learn to airbrush. I just got it in the mail, and I can't wait to get some paint so I can begin experimenting. Here are some pictures of it:

The first one is the airbrush, and the second is the compressor. Now I have lots to learn about airbrushing as well as the internet!! Once I get some paints and start practicing, I'll let you know my progress. I'm sure the first few tries will be interesting!

About Week 4:

On...
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Hello again! I am still stumbling on through my journey; it turns out that Entrecard seems to be a very good deal, and it also turns out that I haven't really been doing much more than that. ; )

I finally figured out how Entrecard works: you "drop" on other people's blogs to get credits, show your support, and discover neat new blogs. You then use these credits received from dropping to purchase ad time on other blogs. A great deal for someone with no advertising money to spend!

I also seem to ...
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Since my last post, I have been updating Twitter, Facebook, and optimizing my website for search engines (as best as I know how). I have read that every page must have a descriptive page title with keywords, meta tag/page description with keywords, and content with keywords, as well as key words in images (alt atribute?). Apparently kewords must be everywhere in your site, but there also shouldn't be too many or else it will look like you are only concerned with keywords and not real content....
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I have decided that I must make a goal for every day that I am on this computer trying to make my website known. So, since this is day 1, here is the plan:

• Research promotion ideas for getting my business known on Google.
• Hover in the forums on Etsy.com and look for advertising/promotion suggestions.
• Try to find blogs that deal with a similar subject to my leather and art.
• Begin posting notes about my progress on Facebook and Twitter

Hopefully these will get me started, I will let you know how the...
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I have currently been wondering how so many people get to be business savvy. They seem to be able to put up a website, or a blog, or a store that has to do with just about anything, and pretty soon, boom! They have tons of people interested! I have not quite figured this out yet, let me tell you. I just barely figured out how to get my site indexed on Google, and it sure doesn't rank very highly! Recently I have been lost, confused, and perplexed without a plan.

So here is what I am going to d...
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Well, after painting a mural on a friend's basement wall, I have been informed that I should look into airbrushing (like custom vehicle painting). So I decided to look into it, and I think that this is going to be my next art challenge. I have been experimenting with so many different forms of art that I have not been sure where to concentrate, but I think I might have finally figured it out. Of course, I'll actually have to learn how before I can really decide.

At any rate, airbrushing looks...

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