Pantone Fall Color Report 2012

Pantone Fashion Color Report Fall 2012

Love Pantone Colors...who doesn't?  Anyway, here is the OFFICIAL Color Report for Fall.  Do you have a favorite color?  I am loving chartreuse right now!

Courtesy of Little Lovables

Courtesy of Reason And Proportion 

Would you incorporate these colors in your clothes, makeup or accessories?  Or maybe all of the above!

xx Dani

Congrats to the winners! (and a discount!)

Peggy drew the winners and to all who entered but did not win, I would like to offer a Paul and Paula discount of 20% off your next order in my shop! Please enter PAULETPAULA for the coupon code. Good until December 31, 2010! http://www.etsy.com/shop/bellajean

Paul & Paula: And the winners are....: "................ tada tada............. For the baby shirt: Congratulations to Mrs Agatha from Finnland! For the hair clips: Co..."

Paul & Paula: 6 months Paul & Paula {give away included}

Paul & Paula: 6 months Paul & Paula {give away included}

I know, I know.....I basically abandoned my poor blog here! I promise I will try to do better! So, for now go check out the giveaway over on the blog I sponsor!! Thanks Peggy!

News!

I had a customer custom order some magnets the other day so I decided that I am going to offer those! I plan on making more but here are the first ones:

Also, a couple weeks ago I was approached by some people who asked to use an image of mine from flickr of some zucchini out of our garden!
Apparently they are doing a commercial software package on cooking! So, that is pretty cool!

It is getting cooler here in Kansas and it is getting dark earlier.....I am so not ready for fall. It's an all out war between me and my sinuses/allergies each year.

I have chores to do so I hope everybody has a great Friday!!!

30 Days to a Better Shop - Days 3 thru 9

Yes, that's right......I already screwed up my goals but I am going to try and catch up here! If you are like me and need to catch up, today is the day to do it!!

Day 3 - Update Store Sections

My Old Sections were:

• Bella Clips
• Bella Ponies
• Bella Bobbies
• Bella Earrings
• Postcards
• Photograph Prints
• Magnets
• Fun Things
• Sale Section

My New Sections are:

• Bella Clips
• Bella Ponies
• Bella Bobbies
• Bella Earrings and Rings
• Postcards
• Photograph Prints
• Bella for the Home
• Sale Section
  

Day 4 - Update Public Profile

I had already done this recently.


Day 5 - Update Shop Banner and Avatar

I had updated my avatar recently but not my banner. I am looking in to having my banner done.


Day 6 - Update (half) of Item Titles and Descriptions

I do this already on a pretty regular basis so I am not going to do this one.


Day 7 - Update (the other half) of Item Titles and Descriptions

As I said up above, I do this on a pretty regular basis so I am not going to do this one.


Day 8 - Update "Message to Buyers"

I updated mine but forgot what it used to say! Now it reads like this:

**IF BUYING ITEMS ON SALE, PLEASE WAIT FOR AN UPDATED INVOICE!**

Thank you for your purchase! I appreciate your business!

If you are unhappy with anything you buy from my shop, please contact me immediately so I can remedy the situation!

All orders will be shipped within 2-3 days.

Day 9 - Join a Street Team

I am already a member of KCEtsy, which is the Kansas City area Etsy team.

30 Days to a Better Shop - Day 2

Today's assignment is to update your shop announcement.

Here is what mine used to look like:

~WELCOME to my shop!~

-Hair Adornments, Pushpins & Earrings:
Looking for a certain color? Let me know and I can make something custom for you! I have lots of fabric so I can even send you a picture of the colors you might be looking for!

**Be sure to check out my newly added SALE SECTION for great deals!**

As always, FREE SHIPPING on ALL POSTCARDS & BOOKMARKS for US & International Buyers!

If you see an image that you like but want it in a different size, please let me know!
5 x 7 Prints are $12.00
8 x 10 Prints are $20.00

Please see my profile for shop policies!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

~I have been a featured artist on the following:
http://artsyclay.blogspot.com/
http://whimsy-girl.blogspot.com/

~On Sock Pron for my Vintage White Noise postcard:
http://sockpr0n.blogspot.com/2007/05/etsy-friday.html

~Also On Sock Pron for my Carousel Ride & Nobody Lives Here Anymore postcards:
http://sockpr0n.blogspot.com/2007_04_01_archive.html

And here is the new announcement....what do you think?

~WELCOME!~

-Hair Adornments, Pushpins & Earrings:
Looking for a certain color? Let me know and I can make something custom for you! I have lots of fabric so I can even send you a picture of the colors you might be looking for!

-If you see an image that you like but want it in a different size, please let me know!

**As always, FREE SHIPPING on ALL POSTCARDS & BOOKMARKS for US & International Buyers!**

Please see my Profile for Shop Policies and other information!

30 Days to a Better Shop - Day 1

Hello everybody out there in blog world!

A talented gal named Christina Perdue kind of issued a challenge yesterday on the etsy forums. Christina thought it would be a good idea to do a "30 Days to a Better Shop". There is a list of blogs that are doing it on her blog. I hope more people get involved so we can really get motivated!!

Here is what she wrote in her first challenge:

If you’re a regular in the Etsy forums you know there’s so much information floating around about how to improve your shop. I’ve decided to take that information and start a series.

We will do one thing to improve our shop every day for 30 days. At the end of those 30 days hopefully your shop looks better, is running smoother, and selling more.

So make sure to check back each day for your daily assignment!

Lets get started!

Day 1

Today’s assignment is to set goals both monthly and long term for your shop and business. I know… easy, right?

This helps by keeping you focused and gives you more determination to get your business going. Each month you meet all of your goals reward yourself. It could be a purchase from your favorites list (make it cheap, though, we don’t want to cut into profits too much), a tasty treat, an extra hour of sleep one morning, a picnic for lunch, or something else you love!

So....easy, peasy right?! Well, here are my goals:

October Goals

1. Make 38 Sales.
2. 300 Hearts Total
3. Keep up with the 30 Days to a Better Shop" series.
4. Blog everyday (or at least every other day)....even if it is a short little comment!
5. List at least 5 new items each week.
6. Update my pages weekly on Flickr, Stylehive, Indie Collective & IndiePublic.
   

Long Term Goals

1. Get my items in more consignment shops across the country!
2. Turn a profit rather than just getting by!
   

~SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL!~

***HELP ME CELEBRATE MY BIRTHDAY!***

**My birthday is Monday so I want to celebrate early by taking 25% OFF EVERYTHING in my shop!**

This sale runs until 6am EST. Please put "SNS" in the notes to seller and wait for an updated invoice before paying!

-Hair Adornments, Pushpins & Earrings:
Looking for a certain color? Let me know and I can make something custom for you! I have lots of fabric so I can even send you a picture of the colors you might be looking for!

**Be sure to check out my newly added SALE SECTION for great deals!**

As always, FREE SHIPPING on ALL POSTCARDS & BOOKMARKS for US & International Buyers!

Your one stop shop for Prints, Postcards & More! Check out my new line of Hair Adornments, Fabric Covered Pushpins & Earrings!
http://bellajean.etsy.com

Aaaargh....sorry mr. bloggidy-blog....I did not mean to ignore you! No seriously! Monday is my 38th birthday and I have to say, I am feeling it. We tell the boys that I am 29....do you think they will ever catch on that I am the same age each year?! I decided I am going to bake myself a cake!

OK, if you don't like spiders....put your hand over this part of the monitor!

The boys found a few of these spiders and killed some because they were afraid of it. After seeing a few more around here, I looked it up on the web. Apparently they are just garden spiders and are not harmful to humans. They eat all of the little nasty flying insects. They are called Black & Yellow Argiope Spiders.

The males are smaller and create a zig zag pattern in their webs. The females are larger and apparently die right after they lay their eggs.

So, next time you see a spider you are afraid of....look it up before killing it!



I posted some new items in my shop this week! These are my favorites:



Something that is really cool (to me anyway) is that I am selling to a bunch of International customers! Last week I mailed packages to the UK, Australia, & Singapore! If you happen to see this post, take a look at my shop because I am going to have a killer sale for my birthday week!!!

Have a great weekend all!

Well apparently Vick filed his plea agreement with the federal court today. We have 4 pit bulls and each one of them is a precious member of our family. One of them, Butchy, was used for fighting as a pup. Apparently he would just cower in a corner. When I see the scars on my babies, I always wonder about what they must have gone through. Here is an excellent picture that a friend of a friend made....I think it just about sums up my feelings about Vick!



Another item I want to mention is that John Couey was sentenced to death for the murder of Jessica Lunsford. Notice that I am not posting a link to the story about her killer, just a link to the site for her foundation. Her Dad has done some amazing work in her name.


On to some happier news.....
My pal Lyn over at Florspace had a great link to a cool blog. It is called the re-craft blog and has lots of cool crafters who are helping to save the planet one craft at a time!!

I made these little cuties and posted them to the shop yesterday!



and these....



Have a great weekend everybody!!!

As you can see, I am not keeping up with my blog again! I don't know why it is so difficult for me to do!

Last Saturday was my Gram's 95th birthday.

Can you imagine?

This is one of my favorite pictures of her. A group of teenage girls laughing and smiling. She is the one in the middle above the blonde.

Last Saturday I also met a woman who is 90 and she runs her own antique shop. She is full of energy and I hope to stop by there tomorrow to see if she has any cool fabric!

I told this story over on flickr but I will tell it here as well. I found a humungo wood spider in the basement. Now I don't have a phobia in regards to spiders but the ones that look like they have chompers and have those big eyes freak me out a bit!

I got a jar and put the spider in it to show Tim when he got home. He told me to kill it....well, I didn't really feel like I could kill it because what would happen???? Her babies would probably come attack me in my sleep! So, I took her out to the field and let her go. Tim said she would just come back....the other day I saw another large spider in the basement....could it be the same one?

I think I will sign off for today....I have lots of things to do! I have stuff to get ready for some swaps and I need to wrap some presents!

I have been in a melancholy mood the past few days....not sure what that is about exactly. Today I watched one of my favorite movies, Out of Africa. This movie never fails to move me. How I wish I could write like Karen Blixen and have the adventures she had. One funny bit of trivia, Karen Blixen asked to meet Marilyn Monroe while she was in New York in 1959! Here is a picture of the two famous women . And a quote by Karen Blixen:

"When you have a great and difficult task,
something perhaps almost impossible,
if you only work a little at a time, every day a little,
suddenly the work will finish itself."

So, if you see any hair adornments in my shop with names referring to Africa....you will know where the inspiration comes from now! Like these clips called Kenya:


I have free shipping on all of my hair adornments right now!! Check them out!

Well, the boys went back to their mom's today. While it is fun having them here, it is such a challenge sometimes! The 5 year old has started throwing temper tantrums and rolling his eyes when you ask him something. He will say "Are you not stupid?" to his brothers *insert me rolling my eyes!* Boys!!

Something really wonderful happened at my etsy shop last night! I sold 10 items! Of course, most were bought during my Saturday Night Super Sale but that's OK! That gives me some money for supplies! I just can't get enough fabric these days...I don't know how quilter's do it! Where do you store all of this fabric?!

Also, I found out that I get to contribute to the September Little Black Box! It is kind of like the Sampler but there Bath & Body shops in the Little Black Box.

Here is a picture of my best seller from yesterday!!!!

So, you all read last time that I have a thing for frogs right? A pal (tabe7475) on a forum I belong to was outside one evening and almost stepped on a wee toad. She picked it up and thought, I will bring it inside and take pictures! Apparently her daughter has a fabulous dollhouse and she used the furniture as props! I asked her if I could post some of the pictures here....

And...my absolute fave:

Don't worry, no toads were injured while making these photos! The "model" was let go shortly after!

Well, I am going to try to get into this blog stuff again!

I don't know why it is so hard for me to sit down and write!

After many days of rain, we finally got a couple of dry days to mow the lawn. Then last night there were more storms rolling in so we only got to do a few fireworks. We will try to do some more tonight....one good thing about living in the country!!

I have had a thing for frogs since I was a little girl. We have been seeing all of these tiny frogs hopping across the roads lately, so one day I stopped and got about 20 frogs! Colben, the 5 year old thought this was really cool so we went and got about 20 more...we let them go in the garden, maybe they will help keep the bad bugs away?

Here is a pic of the frogs in the little cooler we put them in:



I have also started making hair clips and ponytail holders. I really love it and hopefully I will find my niche in the hair accessory market that is so popular these days!
Here are a few faves:



Time to feed the dogs now.....

Oh no! People (Judy) are asking me for my blog url so I guess this means I need to write something!

I have not had many opportunities to take new pics lately and Saturday I was able to get some great shots! I used the digital camera and left the freakin' date stamp on!!! That means I have to go through and try to "erase" that damn stamp!

I took pictures near an old abandoned trailer home down the road from where we live. I asked permission first! So many cool things...there were oodles of baby food jars with different nuts and bolts and what have you in them! Old Chevy trucks, an old wood burning stove. *sigh* The guy who owns the land thought I was crazy when I told him I wanted to take pictures of old stuff!

On the home front, my back has been giving me fits and Tim (the boyfriend) broke his wrist and of course Workman's Comp. is trying to screw us over! Our refrigerator stopped working last week (thank goodness I checked the milk before using it) and this week we have ants trying to get in the house!!! At least it is cooler and gas went down to $2.84 (YAY).

I saw a cute little girl with her grandpa today. Watching her made my damn hormones do flip flops. Do all of these people who have children just top get money from the government realize that there are many people out there who would give their right arm to have a child? I guess not.....

So, it's been a while since I have written anything. Many things have happened since my last post. Fibromyalgia put me down for the count for several weeks. I am back at work full time now. While I love being back at work, I despise the few girls who think it is their daily task to monitor how many days I have been absent and make bets on when I will miss another day. Hellooooo...junior high?!

Can we say....ASSHATS?!!!

One of my favorite bands of all time. This was the 1st concert I went to. I remember standing on a chair on the floor of the arena screaming my heart out. I was in the 9th grade and had to go back to school the next day. I had no voice at all. I will forever have a crush on John Taylor!