website stuff

so i was looking at rifle paper company's website and am SO very impressed with it. the site is easy to maneuver, a crisp clean look, great products, and the ability to purchase items online. and it got me thinking...

i would love the tama press website to have the shopping cart so that customers could purchase products directly from my own site rather than having to go somewhere else to buy my work. so i looked up the company that worked on rifle's site and had the pleasure of perusing aeolidia.

aeolidia does a number of different things, from designing logos and websites to illustrations and marketing. i really enjoyed looking at their projects and seeing their capabilities. i'm considering having them redesign the tama press site and adding a shopping cart. i've also looked at ribbons of red to design my site (& possibly a logo) too. ribbons of red redesigned our photographer's website, pobke photography.

i would have to save a bit to have aeolidia redesign my site...plus i would have a ton of work to do to make sure the site stays in stock. it would be a significant increase in artwork for me and a major additional time commitment. but it would be a great way to really get my online business up and running. as wonderful as etsy is, having my own shopping cart would also shrink competition, as my products wouldn't be competing with a myriad of other people's work on etsy. we'll see...i have more thinking to do.

pretty things - wear it!

since it is chilly and gray outside, i thought i'd do a post on some pretty things to brighten up the day:

marquise twig ring, bittersweets ny

oscillations cardigan, anthropologie

strike a chord dress, modcloth

and since i inadvertently created a little outfit...here's a couple more things to complete the look:
soothing song heels, modcloth

pin flower hair clip, mimi charmante

pearl coral turquoise & silver earrings, crows catch
(i just got a pair of these & they are awesome)

pearls on a half shell necklace, annie's arts & follies

if you get a chance, check out the last 3 shops listed - they are all on etsy & make gorgeous work. and don't forget to drop by my etsy shop too. viva handmade!

i'm famous! (sorta)

my wonderful friend brandi wrote a post about one of my books and etsy shop here. SO COOL! my work has never been featured on someone else's blog before. thank you brandi!

etsy mini!

good morning! as you can see, i moved around a couple of things here in blogland. to the right, you will notice the brand spankin' new etsy mini - showcasing items from my etsy shop! so you can either click on TamaPress at the below all of the pictures to go directly to the shop, or you can click on one of the pictures & it'll take you to that particular item. i thought it would be extremely difficult to make and add to the blog. and it wasn't. at all. easier than dialing a phone. below that is my handmade pledge sticker and then the blog archives & lables follow.

if you haven't had a chance, check out the shop. i'm working on getting more items up soon!

website update

in addition to posting some books for sale on my etsy site, i also got around to updating my main website, Tama Press. here's a few highlights:

small japanese stab binding books

medium japanese stab binding books

lined journals

blanket stitch books

secret belgian binding books

address books

etsy shop!

i finally have my etsy shop up! there are just a handful of items available right now, but i am working on getting more products up soon. lots of pictures to take & not enough daylight to take them. please go take a look around at tell me what you think!

here's the address: http://tamapress.etsy.com

you can also look at my main website http://www.tama-press.com and click on "etsy shop" in the upper right corner.

etsy store

been working on my etsy store today - mostly taking pictures for the shop. here's a few pics (unedited):

large stab binding books

medium stab binding book

side view of stab binding

guest books

back to work!!

custom orders

just the other day, i was contacted for a couple of custom orders! i'm so pleased that people are looking me up after the craft show season.

the first order will be to repair a beloved cookbook. i've never done any repairs on books before (and i told the customer this) and she sweetly told me that she knew i didn't have experience in this type of work but she has faith in my abilities after seeing my books at the shows. how awesome is that?? so i'll be picking up the book at the end of the week to take a look at it and get a handle on what exactly the project entails. maybe i'll do a before & after photo shoot for it!

the second order will be a custom made dvd holder. i've only done a similar project once for a cd holder, but this will be quite a bit more intense. i had a zillion questions for the customer and now have some more details & direction for the project. oooo i can't wait to get started on this!

this weekend i'll get to work on finishing a photo album & box set order, get my studio cleaned up, and dive into a whole new round of orders...not to mention attempt to get my etsy store up and running. wish me luck!

etsy shopping

yesterday i was following some blogs and caught up on mimi charmante's blog. she sells items on etsy - a couple months ago, i even won something from her shop (a gorgeous photo!) i popped over to her shop and came across the most beautiful (blue) necklace...and immediately knew i must have it. so after a quick message to find out the dimensions, i placed my order. here it is:

photo credit

isn't it gorgeous?? to read more details about it, just click on the photo credit or the picture. and check out her shop too. some very pretty things there. oh, and it matches my new blue shoes too. awesome.

etsy shop project

since it is now 2010, i thought it would be a good idea to start up my etsy shop. really get it started - not posting a few things here and there like in the past. i would really like to start generating some sales through etsy and broaden my customer base. i've been doing a lot of reading regarding how to set things up and information about photo taking, advertising, etc. and to start, i opened a new account with etsy - one completely separate from my personal (shopping) account. so now, people will be able to find my etsy shop by searching for TamaPress (under sellers)! since there is currently nothing up, i'll post the link to the shop later...

i'll post updates as things progress and links to products once things are set up. in addition, i'll also work on updating the Tama Press website with new photos.

thanks to bfff for planting the seed (eons ago) to have my etsy site under TamaPress. once again, his support has helped me take one more step towards making my artwork full time!

etsy addiction

why can't i stop ordering things from etsy? seriously. i have my christmas shopping pretty much done. there is no logical reason to keep buying things. but it sure is FUN!

i've really enjoyed browsing for random things on etsy and managed to only buy myself one little thing - a 4"x5" matted watercolor koi from fish fanatic. check it out:

photo thanks to fish fanatic

i have yet to start putting my products up for sale on etsy. i was planning to get that done after the shows were over, but it's the holidays and things are busy! (not to mention a number of things i was going to post ended up selling, so i have to make more books!) i have a handful of custom orders to finish up and some christmas presents to make too....then it'll be etsy posting time. here's a pretty cool article about selling on etsy that i found from the blog a cup of jo. it discusses how people are quitting their day jobs & pursuing their hobbies & passions. very cool.

and i'll leave you with this picture i snapped yesterday on my way to lunch:

p.s. now that i look at that picture again, it looks like the red car ran into the usps truck. it didn't.

christmas shopping - etsy style!

i just finished up my first round of custom orders last night! a large address book & two medium sized boxes with removable trays. they are currently drying under some weight, so i'll get some pictures soon.

can you believe christmas is in 9 days?! i actually have my shopping pretty much done, for once. and a lot of my shopping was on etsy! i picked up some great finds from new sellers & some old favorites. i'll post some of them after christmas, since i don't want to ruin any surprises under the tree! here's some of those sellers:

Barry Singer of Fish Fanatic - he makes gyotaku, which are Japanese fish rubbings. literally. he inks up a fish & pulls a print from it. the detail that is captured is AMAZING. he also has some original watercolor pieces too. i know i should be shopping for other people, but i did treat myself to a little gift - a small watercolor koi. he is a pleasure to work with too. here's a couple of other pieces i've purchased from him in the past (pictures thanks to fish fanatic):

rainbow trout gyotaku

original rainbow trout watercolor

Bread and Badger - they etched glass home goods with fun hand drawn designs. very cool items with a wide array of choices. and the items i received are very durable - glasses have to be pretty sturdy around our humble abobe. here's something i bought as a gift (picture thanks to bread and badger):

skull & crossbones pint glasses

crow's catch - gorgeous handmade jewelry by Irene Wood. we went to school together and i came across her jewelry not too long ago. her artwork was so inspiring back in school, just as her jewelry is now. go browse her etsy shop - i'm sure you'll find something you love. a couple of my favorites (pictures from crow's catch etsy site) :

pearl coral turquoise earrings

sea green earrings

more to come later! have a good wednesday...