Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Heartfelt Things

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.


- Helen Keller


Here are some sweet things we found to share with you. May your Valentine's Day be filled with love, friendship, happiness, and bliss.








Valentine Heart Clock from Bliss Guild Member Cindy at Angel Heart Designs




Me and You mixed media painting by Lisa Ferrante






Mini Valentines by perideau designs





Vintage Valentines from Parcel Post





Hot Chocolate with Marshmallow Hearts-recipe from Martha Stewart



Valentine pop-ups from Canon

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Getting Noticed: Marketing Tips Part I



Here it is, already the second month of the New Year. By now you may have an idea about the goals you want to reach, the path you want to take in your business, and how much your business needs to earn to pay the bills and then some. But have you thought about marketing? Here are five articles to help out with this task. Not all the ideas presented will work for you, but hopefully you will find a few good tips to get your business noticed.

Six ways to get people to believe you online.
http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/marketing/article/6-ways-to-get-people-to-believe-you-online-rohit-bhargava

Presenting yourself to the press
http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/seller-tip-present-yourself-to-the-press-5686/

The 30 Second Elevator Pitch
http://www.designspongeonline.com/2009/05/biz-ladies-09-the-30-second-elevator-pitch.html

Search Engine Ranking
http://verredesign.blogspot.com/2009/08/10-marketing-tips-to-top-search-engine.html

Ten Ways To Market Your Business
http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/marketing/customer-service-acquisition/low-cost-marketing.aspx#lowcostmarketing



Saturday, January 30, 2010

What's New Around the Bliss Guild




Thank you, Roxi, for changing the blog background! Isn't it lovely?


Joy from Cupids Charm is featured in Romantic Homes!
http://cupidscharm.blogspot.com/2009/12/exciting-news.html

Nancy Malay of Joggles.com is hosting online classes for creating Victorian Valentine Cones and a Paperclay Rabbit. You can get more info on these classes here. While you’re there, check out the lineup of her other online classes here.

Christina Goold of christina g photography is having THE BIG GIVEAWAY to celebrate her new website. The awesome prizes include Starbucks Gift Cards, jewelry, Vintage Barn Aprons and T’s, and much more! Check it out here, but hurry because she picks a winner February 1st!!

Cindy Wimmer of sweet bead studio, along with Jeanette Blix are excited to offer a workshop by nationally-known artist Richard Salley, recognized for his ‘wearable art’ . Check out this link for information on this May 2010 workshop. I’m jealous!!!!

Check out these articles written by Merri Cvetan of mec design studio. Merri picks up items at Goodwill to re-purpose them. She also writes articles about decorating and entertaining. Merri loves working for Goodwill and shopping for items there. The retails stores support work programs for people with disabilities, a cause that is close to her heart since she has a son with Down's Syndrome.

Check out Roxi's new line of rings – they’re made from vintage earrings! Hurry because they’re selling out fast!

We’ll be running the ‘What’s New Around the Bliss Guild” post every couple months, so let me know when you’ve got something to share.


Victorian Valentine Cone from Joggles




Friday, January 29, 2010

A Blissful Journey



Today’s Journey begins with a magical carpet ride to the annual One World One Heart global blog event. Created by Lisa Swifka in 2007, this giveaway event brings bloggers together from around the world who may never ordinarily meet. It closes the gap of the blog community and enables us to interact, discover new and wonderful people, and in the process possibly win a prize or many prizes along the way. Click on the picture below to take you Lisa's site where you can visit the many participating artists and bloggers around the world.

Photo

The Dress She Gave Away
http://fineestateliquidation.com/audrey-hepburns-wedding-dress/

Separating Your Personal and Business Finances
http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/business-growth-separate-your-personal-and-business-finances-6501/

Make A Terrarium Ornament-a little late but I thought it was a sweet idea for any season
http://www.designspongeonline.com/2009/12/made-with-love-terrarium-ornaments.html

An Interview with Wendy Downs Of Moop
http://www.modishblog.com/biztips/2009/07/do-what-you-love-wendy-moop.html#more

The Theory of Eveolution
http://hintjewelry.blogspot.com/2010/01/behind-scenes-eveolution.html

Is That Hobby Really Work?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/fashion/17etsy.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

Where Books Come To Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_jyXJTlrH0


Did you enjoy the journey? Please drop us a line so we know you visited.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Setting Goals

“It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.”
--Eleanor Roosevelt


In order to keep moving forward it is important that we set goals, both in our business and personal lives. Goals such as where we want to be financially, who we want to become, and what we want to accomplish. If we have no goals we risk becoming stagnant, lost – with no sense of direction, and questioning our own purpose.



Yet sometimes setting goals is like setting one’s self up for failure. What if we don’t accomplish all or any of our goals? What if we tried but were not successful? What will others think about this failure? Sometimes our fears take over and we choose to not try at all.

Setting goals is not always easy. Do we choose only the ones we feel will be easy to accomplish, or do we choose ones that will be a challenge? Do we chart every detail about the goals we have chosen, or let our instincts find the way? There is no easy answer, no neon sign pointing the way, no map to follow, no spiritual guru to offer advice. The choice is ours, and it comes from listening to our heart.

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
-- Anais Nin


So how does one set goals? The Bliss Guild asked Janice of Papier Valise the same question. Janice writes: "For me business goals are often ‘ongoing’ and can range from very loose--researching 2 new ideas per month--to very specific—such as implementing a new shopping cart. I have books filled with product ideas, various lists and sketches, at the beginning of a new year I like to review some of the ideas that I would like to make a reality for the coming year. It gets me excited and motivated and the creative juices flowing for a new ‘business season’."

http://www.papiervalise.com/
http://papiervalise.typepad.com/scissor_variations/



Photo from papier valise

Check out the Vision Board, by Beth Hemmila of Hint Jewelry. Beth has been making Vision Boards for the past ten years. She hung her first Vision Board in her bathroom so she could see it at the start of every day. Read more about her Vision Boards here.


photo from Hint Jewelry

Define your work. Though this post from the Art Bead Scene Blog was geared towards jewelry makers, it has great information to help you refocus and define your work.
http://artbeadscene.blogspot.com/2009/12/best-of-abs-create-business-plan.html



photo from Coal Creek Farm

What If? April from Coal Creek Farm makes a "What If I" list. Because she can. While you're there, check out the rest of this chicken doctor's blog. It's a hoot -- or should I say 'cluck'.
http://coalcreekfarm.com/2010/01/what-if-i-2010/



Photo from hpizk

Have you set your goals for the year? We'd love to have you share them here.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Ashley Carter - Goldbug Studio


Bird's Nest Crown - Photo ©Goldbug Studio 2009

Ashley Carter of Goldbug Studio has always had a love for creating things. Her very first studio was her bedroom where she secretly made gifts for her family. Later it was an old work table in a 1920’s farmhouse that she and her husband, Graham, purchased just six months after they were married.

Needing an outlet to fill her time when Graham was away, Ashley began making gift tags, ornaments, party hats, crowns – things she normally made for friends and family. Local shops agreed to display her creations, and Goldbug Studio was born in the fall of 2000.

Golden Swan Placecard Holders - Photo ©Goldbug Studio 2009

Ashley bought a vintage millinery company in March of 2003 from a couple who was ready to retire. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, but would also mean finding a studio & warehouse space outside of her home. Ashley purchased a 1940’s building she found in a warehouse district. Renovations began at the end of March and were finished in late June.


Crown of Keys - Photo ©Goldbug Studio 2009

In 2004, Goldbug Studio got their first big contract with a major department store. Ashley learned valuable lessons while dealing with the larger store's strict regulations. She also learned to find ways to spot costly production mistakes before it was too late.

Vintage Collectible Wish Boxes - Photo ©Goldbug Studio 2009

Ashley is inspired by fantasy and fairytale books and movies, architecture, theater sets, puppetry, Hollywood glamour, costumes of every sort, folklore, Southern traditions and superstitions, vintage carnival, theater and circus ephemera, and her mother’s elegant style of entertaining. Born in New Orleans, Ashley always thought it was a storybook place. Even though her family moved away when she was four they visited often. Her work is greatly inspired by her childhood memories of New Orleans; the smell of her grandmother’s home (a unique blend of Creole spices, decay, and chicory coffee), Mardi gras costumes, floats and trinkets, dressing up for a formal Masquerade Ball, grand architecture, oddball antique shops on Magazine Street - all of these things fueled her imagination. Ashley regards her creations “A culmination of all these things and the elaborate parties that live in my head”.

A Trip to Wonderland Party Hat made exclusively for the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco
Photo ©Goldbug Studio 2009

Goldbug Studio creations are mixed media, handcrafted with vintage elements - paper, millinery, and flourishes of glass glitter, ribbon and ephemera she has collected along the way. Each is handmade in Raleigh NC by Ashley and a small staff of artists. The designs are a blend of simple, playful and glamorous. Her products are sold to Disney, Bergdorf Goodman and Anthropologie, as well as smaller boutiques, celebrities, and people from all around the world. Goldbug Studio creates custom and one of a kind designs for all of their stores. Ashley’s work has been featured in dozens of magazines including Modern Bride, Victoria, and Martha Stewart Weddings, and was used in a birthday party scene for Sex and the City 2. In fact, she would love to one day work in set design for movies and theater production.

Goldbug Studio Bridal Display - Photo ©Goldbug Studio 2009

Ashley hopes her collection “Makes people feel the way they did when they were a kid, like there’s still a little magic in the world”.

Cinderella's Carriage - made exclusively for the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco
- Photo ©Goldbug Studio 2009

I would like to thank Ashley Carter for providing such great information—so much information in fact, that I couldn’t fit it all here—though I wish I could. Take some time to look around her website and you just might slip back to your six-year-old self with the pink boa, mom’s gold heels, and a glittery crown.

Photography © Anna Paschal, Goldbug Studio 2009

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Soup's On!



Even though the snow might be melting here in the Midwest and the temperatures are rising close to the 40’s, it’s still good weather for soup. But I’ve got a confession. There are very few soups I like: Tomato soup (with milk added and paired with a grilled cheese sandwich), a delicious tortilla soup that I had at a hotel in Texas many years ago and have never eaten anything even close, my husband’s chili, and my grandmother’s beef vegetable soup. Oh, and when I’ve got an upset stomach I like good old Chicken and Stars—but I don’t count that in my favorites group.

I’d like to share my grandmother’s beef vegetable soup recipe with you. My kids don’t like it because it has (gasp) vegetables in it, and I’ll admit that growing up I didn’t like it either. But now it is something I make often and take to church dinners or fundraisers. I love that the recipe was handed down from my grandmother, and hope that someday my children will come to enjoy it too.

What’s your favorite soup or stew? Share the recipe too, if you like.


Vegetable Beef Soup

2 pkgs. Wyler's (Mrs. Grass) Beef Vegetable soup starter
2 lbs beef stew meat
3 cans stewed tomatoes, cut up
6 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 pkgs. Frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup small macaroni-uncooked
Salt to taste

In a large pot of water, cook the stew meat. When cooked, remove any foam and shred meat back into the water. Add remaining ingredients and cook until vegetables are tender but not soggy. Add water if necessary.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

The Change Jar - A Challenge


Photo by dajanzen

The coins jingled in my pocket, tinkling together--almost making a tune, as if they knew their destination. It was the first of December--almost time. The Change Jar was full, and I wondered how much we had collected. My fingers ran along the lip of the jar. The glass was cool to the touch, yet somehow it made me warm inside.

The Change Jar began several years ago and each family member made a habit to deposit their spare change into the jar. At the end of the first year we were amazed at how much we had collected, and after counting the coins, we voted to use the money for a weekend trip. A tradition had been born.

At the end of the second year we learned one of our elderly church members lost her husband to a battle with cancer and the ordeal left her broke. We decided the change jar should be given to the widow. Year after year, we fed The Change Jar, and it grew and grew. And so it continued--this new tradition of giving. My heart swells at the generosity of my children. They could be tempted to use the money for an X Box, or another weekend getaway, but instead they choose to donate to a family in need.

I retrieved the coins from my pocket, rubbing them between my fingers before dropping them one by one into the change jar, wondering where the money will go this year.



I have a challenge for all our readers, and that is to begin a Change Jar of your own. Find a container that inspires you; an old Mason jar, handmade pottery, a box decorated by your child, a family heirloom. Involve your family and even your friends. On December 28th, 2010, I will ask what you did with your Change Jar. There’s no pressure to participate, or to collect a huge sum, or to donate to charity. Let’s just make it fun. You might be surprised at how much you collect!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Let's Dish: Behind The Eight Ball



Welcome to Let’s Dish! where we talk about everything from Allspice to Celebrities, Heart Disease, Money and Zoos! If you’re reading this (and we know you are), please share your thoughts on the current Let’s Dish! subject. How can we dish if there’s no one to dish with? And if you have any subjects you’d like to dish about please drop us a line!

Like many others, I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions, rather preferring a mental list of things I want to improve upon. This list fades quickly from my memory like a hazy dream, only to be brought to the fore the first time I gorge myself on junk food or snap at one of my kids.

This year I have lots of things on my mental list – too many to note here. BUT, I do have one goal that I have set for myself, and that is to be more organized. With each new day I feel like I wake up already behind the Eight Ball, constantly working counteractively rather than proactively; shoving huge piles of unfinished paperwork, unfolded clothes, unread mail, and huge piles of clutter from one place to the other until it finally becomes overwhelming and there is nothing to do but deal with it then and there.

So how do I begin? First, by getting out of bed at least 30 minutes earlier each day. Second, by setting a limit on the amount of time I spend on the computer. Third, by dealing with the mail, paperwork, laundry, and clutter when it happens rather than letting it pile up. Fourth, by setting aside time each day to clean, create, take time for family, and relax. And last, by learning to say NO.

If you have a goal to become more organized this year, please tell us how you plan to go about reaching this goal. Or if you are like my sister and inherited a tendency to be organized, please list any helpful hints you might have.

'I find it helps to organize chores into categories: Things I won't do now; Things I won't do later; Things I will never do.'
- Cartoon Character 'Maxine'


photo by jeanne oliver








Thursday, December 31, 2009

Looking Forward

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day. ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce



Happy New Year! Technically it's not the new year yet, but I'm getting a head start. In all the hubbub of the holidays we hope you have been able to find a little time for yourself, whether it be reading a book, taking a walk, snuggling by the fire, or taking a nap. Speaking of naps, how sweet is that photo above?! Be sure to check out Jolie’s etsy shop to see more of these little dumplings nestled in knitted ‘bowls’.

The new year brings a ritual of sorts; clearing out the old, bringing in the new, rekindling friendships, promises made to one’s self. It is renewal, hope, courage. It is recollections of sweet (or bittersweet) memories. It is anticipation of things to come.

The Bliss Guild Blog is looking forward to informing, sharing, inspiring, and connecting with her readers. Throughout the year you will see the familiar posts A Blissful Journey, Let's Dish, These Five Things, articles artists, business owners, and women in history. In addition, we will be bringing you informative articles on branding your business, marketing tips, and more. Plus, watch for inspiring articles on women of courage, women’s health issues, and oodles of exciting articles.

By the way, did you know that the Bliss Guild has a forum? It’s a great place to share ideas, inspire and be inspired, and forge new friendships. Whether you are an artist, crafter, teacher, writer, business owner, gardener, cook, poet, homemaker, mother, daughter, or sister, we’d love to have you join us! Becoming a member is quick and easy. We’ll have a cup of tea waiting for you.


Photo from notebook doodles

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential. - Ellen Goodman