Street Team Giveaway!

Good Morning everyone! Today brings you lucky people another giveaway! You can enter and find about more about this contest over at my Street Teams blog!This one is from my shop at MichellesCharmWorld. Here you will find Lolita inspired acessories that sweeten your wardrobe without the extra calories! I love to call my line Wearable Sweets.

This is Me! I'm Michelle of both MichellesCharmWorld the colorful candy store of funky jewelry and TheFunkyBeadNButton a destash shop full of charming goodies to make your very own pieces of wearble goodness! That is my normal look of confusion and annoyance that I tend to constantly have on my face with the pen that goes with my everywhere. I take notes and sketches of pieces at a moments notice. I'm a married mother of 3, that really and truly did marry her very own Prince Charming! We even got married at Disney World!

I am giving away this fabulously sweet purse charm! It's a charming addition to any bag that will instantly give you a pop of color. This piece has an understated elegance that is full of charm. The winner of my giveaway will also receive a 5.00 gift certificate to my shop in addition to this purse charm.

Head over to the blog to enter and WIN!

Monday Reminder and a Winner....

It's that time of the week again! Time to freshen up our shops and give it a new look! Let's go ahead and change up those featured items!! I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day! I had a lot of fun and the weather was foolishly almost Spring Like! haha! Unfortunately before all the pink and red was out of the stores, the pastels of Spring and Easter bagan to arrive! So my featured Items will be bringing in the pastels too! haha! If you can't beat them, join them!

Now it's time to announce the winner of my contest! BooksByRachel come on down!! Congrats on your 10.00 gift certificate to my shop! Just email me at MichellesCharmWorld@Gmail.com and I will send you back your code for buying up your goodies! Yay! Happy Monday everyone!!

Giveaway Time!

WOW! It's time for a Valentine's Giveaway! I'm giving something away from my Lollishops Shop, actually i'm giving 2 things away! Just visit the Lollishops Giveaways blog and follow the posti-a-comment instructions for your chance to win this lovely lolly ring and bow necklace for a combined total giveway of just under 20.00! I would like to thank the wonderful and sweet Heather of HeatherKnitz for hosting these contests! What a great gal and have I mentioned sweet? So check it out for your chance to win!!!

Blogging Tips and Tricks

My Diary Brooch by MichellesCharmWorld 7.00

It's nearly impossible to keep up with a blog right? Thinking of topics, finding photos, hoping for comments all that good stuff! I have so much that goes around in my head daily, but when it comes time to sit here and actually start blogging, I can never get it straight! I figured that there are probably other people out there like me that just need a little nudge in the right direction! These tips are for you!

Cute Can Be Dangerous Knife Earrings by MichellesCharmWorld 7.00

Topics are always the place to start, since without a topic there is no blog! Sometimes coming up with a good topic is like cutting down a tree with a knife, impossible! Just keep a notebook with you for when those ideas do pop up! Decide what kind of a blog you want to have, more personal or business like. I want to try and keep mine related to business as much as possible, but I will totally be all about personal stuff when good things happen! If you are going to promote your blog as a business tool though, keep an eye on the language and selection of topics, you may not want your customer base to know too much about you! I use the SAVE NOW draft feature a lot. When I'm up late and I get loads of ideas, I start NEW POSTS and just give it a title and tags and then in the body I put a few bullet points, so I know what to build on when I'm ready to finish that topic. Then when I'm stuck for ideas I head there and finish one up! There are some days when you just don't feel like typing anything at all, I'm a big fan of the wordless posts! (I've seen Wordless Wednesday, Things to Think About Thursdays, Word Free Friday) These are just posts of photos with or without captions. I usually try and do a Sunday post like this and call it: The Weekend In Photos. It's an easy way to not neglect your blog and give yourself a break. Just don't overuse that one, it's never good to not get any context out of a blog. Another good way to use up some posts is to do features on fellow sellers or reviews of recent purchases! People love to know all about what you like and buy if they are already following your blog!

Say Cheese Camera Necklace by MichellesCharmWorld 13.00

On to the photos! These are HUGE! Even if you only have a one word post, use PHOTOS! Readers love having something to look at! Most importantly be sure your photos link back to something! If someone clicks on something from your shop, have it take them to that listing. If it's a photo of your kids in a playhouse, have the click take them to that playhouse for sale. Remember links are good! If you feel your photos are too plain, add some fun borders or a little text in them. If you don't have any photos to get your post across, promote other sellers by using their photos and have them link back to their listings! Featuring people is good! This is your chance to feature items from your shop, to show everyone a little bit of what you do! Keep the photos as relevant as possible though to keep your post flowing.

Typewriter Necklace by MichellesCharmWorld 10.00

Link Links Links! Links are the most important! The more places you link to, the more people will find you. There are a lot of programs out there that are telling web owners who is linking to their sites and from where. It will get you traffic!! If your readers are falling in love with whatever you are talking about, you need to let them know where to find it!

The road to a friend's house is never long

Time! We never have time anymore. There is always something going on and believe me, I know all about being busy! I'm a mom to 3 kiddies (3,2,1) and they keep me busy non stop. Assign yourself a time to blog EVERY DAY! Even if you are only able to churn out 2 sentences (add 2 photos above and below the sentences and you have a post!!), do it! I blog every morning as soon as I get up. I wake up early enough to check my computer goings on and what not. It's quiet time before the kids get up and while husband is in the shower. I make it a point to blog at this point. Life does get in the way, but sometimes a pretty photo and a quote from somewhere will be great and just may make someones day. There is ALWAYS time for something. It's easy to say you will blog tomorrow, but then that becomes the next day and that becomes the next. It's a vicious cycle. There are so many blogs out there that I admire and love to read, the ones that keep me coming back for more all the time. I love those blogs! I want to be those blogs! I aim to help and really hope that this helps you all become great bloggers!!

MOST IMPORTANTLY Don't forget your Etsy Mini or a collage of your goodies and a LINK to get people to your shops!!! I go to so many blogs and CANNOT for the life of me figure out how to get to where they sell! Get going!

+++++++++HAVE A SECOND?+++++++++

Copy This link: http://www.Lollishops.com/Node/5709

Then Go here: http://lollishops.blogspot.com/2008/12/lollishops-gingerbread-contest-lets.html

and it will take you to a contest i've entered! To vote for me just click on POST A COMMENT and paste the link you copied before there! Thank you for your time!:

http://www.lollishops.com/node/5709 <----my gingerbread house

Handmade Sampler

It Arrived!! All The Treasures Inside

I was lucky enough to be a reviewer for this months Sampler from Handmade Sampler.I received my package today and it was in a large box! One of my favorite things to receive is packages, so I tore into it right away!! Pretty tissue paper made me feel as though I had opened up a gift! I received a letter that had the info of what was enclosed and a note about Handmade Sampler and then some promo items! Many jumped at me right away!! What is Handmade Sampler? It's a monthly package that goes out to buyers filled with promotional information from vendors of handmade products. It's a great way to be seen and bring business into your shop.

The Stand Outs. Only 2 active shops out of all these treasures. (One of themis HandmadeSampler.Com)

There were many items that popped out at me right away and lured me to their shops, others not so much. There is definately a way to do the handmade Sampler right and this is reaching a great audience! Business cards are great for getting the word out about your business when someone asks about a piece of yours, to package when you are sending out an order or gift, to drop into boxes to win free sandwiches and at craft shows when people want to remember something they saw in your booth!

The Business Cards. Keep In mind how the MOO Cards get lost in the bundle.

Handmade Sampler is not really the time for business cards. This is Shopping time! When people buy these boxes, they are looking to buy and you want them to step into your shop. I will be the first to admit that I kind of lumped all the business cards together and tossed them aside. I loved the ones that had goodies attached to them though! Remember to also toss a coupon on the back of your card with your treasure! Give them more incentive to visit your shop. Think of it this way: The person the receives your box can only buy from ONE shop of all the ones in the box. Will yours be the one? How can you make sure of that? Have a professional product that you are promoing. If it's a paper product, the ends should be straight and the printing should look good, not stretched and faded. Be sure your promo item is of something you actually sell.Be sure you have an actual site where you are selling your goodies. The one purchase I would have made out of this box was definately going to FUNKY PENCILS. It was an AWESOME little Turkey pencil, but alas, just an email address. I don't like to wait. I like to see, look, buy, pay and get my treasure! Creativity Award goes out to Scrapbook Business Cards, I loved the little business card notebook idea, but once again went to the site only to find a CONTACT ME button. There was a gorgeous Origami Tag included that was by HawaiiMonkey. Once again though, an empty shop sits. Maybe nobody wants my money? There was a stunning photograh included that I actually put on my refrigerator right away to remind me of vacation! It was by VIEWS FROM PARADISE. Just an email address here too though. Too bad, I would have loved to see what other prints they had on hand. Remember, you are doing this for PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES! Trying to get the word out about your goodies, you want to make money, make sales and get people to fall in love with your stuff! LOVED the quality of the cupcake toppers from Stick'Em and wanted to see what other designs there were on hand. Yet another empty shop. I used a cute little clip that came from ART PINS, to clip up the photographic print I got in the box, on my refrigerator after I added a magnet to it. I wanted to see what other cute cilppes they had on hand...well i'm sure you know where I am going with this right? Empty. These were not the only empty shops I came across in this package of goodies. I was beginning to get a bit discouraged here. All the GREAT promo items that were catching my eye seemed to not want more sales. I'm wearing a cute little floating ring that was in the box from Floating Jewelry Design, but since it led to another empty shop I guess I may have to find some of these cuties elsewhere.

Remember this is the time to SHINE! If you sell pretty and intricate things, don't just toss in something simple to promo out. you want people to see what you do. This is NOT the time to send in something because it's cheap and easy. Yes, it must be cost effective, but it must also draw the customer in. If I were doing the Handmade Sampler, I would send in one of my Lollipop Rings or Tiny Lolly Earrings. It should definately be something that can be found in your shop, so that the person feels like they really got a piece of your shop!

Vintage Bell Christmas Ornaments from OutOnAWhim 10.00

I have been dying to start an ACEO collection, but could never decide where to begin. I received an AWESOME vintage looking one from Out On A Whim and YAY! She actually had a shop out there! She's running an fabulous *Cyber Monday* Sale too just like Me!! Such a fun shop with a cozy feel. Stop on in and buy something from this fabulously sweet shop! See what happens when you have a shop?? People can write about it! Promote YOU! And of course BUY FROM YOU!

Vintage Button Jar from OutOnAWhim

I loved the little tote that everything came in, I plan on using it to carry around my portable goodies that I work on while the kids are in Dance class or quiet time at the coffee shop!All around, I loved the idea of Handmade Sampler, but there was just not enough product behind the box so to speak. This could be a time to get in and get that sale if you have an awesome promo item, great coupon to add to it and catchy business card all packaged neatly! You would probably get that sale! Hmm...I may be sending out some samples soon! Maybe if only people that had active shops were allowed to contribute, this could turn out to be an awesome thing. I loved how it was packaged, how speedily it arrived, how sweet Tricia is and many of the goodies inside!

Awesome New Goodies!

Do Not Bend usually means shove me into the smallest spaces you can find!

I love to read new blogs and come across interesting little windows into peoples lives! I rarely enter give-aways as my luck is awful and I love giving others a shot! Well there was one that I just had to enter because the items were so cute and guess what?! I won! Go figure! haha.

I won the giveaway on PinkAndPosh blog. It's such a bright blog, that I got hooked into reading alot there and when I came upon the contest, I entered! It was for a shop called Healthy Little Ones.

Before I entered the contest, I checked out the site and fell in love! So many things that I wished I had had when my littles were in carriers and strollers! She makes signs that say Don't Touch The Baby in the nicest ways!! I used to get so annoyed that people would touch my kids faces, hair, Legs and sometimes EVEN PICK THEM UP! Strangers!! It was just too crazy for words. I also wish I had put one of these signs on my belly while I was pregnant! haha! That would have certainly kept people at bay! They were always grabbing my belly!!



The package arrived so fast I was amazed at her prompt shipping! It was great to open up the treasure trove of prizes!! I wanted to keep them all and not give them to the kids! hahah!

Quality: Superior

Ease of Use: Perfect (kids are 2 and 3)

Packaging: Maybe a little carboard sleeve to put the goodies into once in the envelope to keep from getting to bent when the post man gets lazy and bends anyway! (not her fault my post lady is crazy though!)

Individual packaging: So cute and colorful!!

Overall: A++ communication was fabulous, shipping super fast and best of all the items are GREAT!

Everything is going to be perfect for our upcoming road trip! The kids will definately be entertained! I only regret not going ahead and buying an additional board for my son.

The Goodies:

Drama Queen Bag Tag

Dishwasher Clean/Dirty Tag

Reminder List

Alphabet Practice Sheet

She even threw in EXTRAS!?! and the best part? Everything came with it's own marker that needed one, so I didn't have to run out and get one to complete the sets! I'm in love! hurry up and check her out!