Check out the Featured Member November 17-30, 2009 on A/DJ,Ltd. Front Page

Our Featured Member for the second half of November is Valerie Poling, owner of Mommy Tyme.  Please check out the front page of Artisans/Jewelry Designers, Ltd. for more information regarding Valerie's various specialties and how she finds time for a full-time career, part-time graduate studies, full time wife and Mom, and can still manage to work in her passion for creating.

*If you are interested in being a Featured Member, please contact Sharon Hightower, Site Owner, at sharon_hightower@hotmail.com. The first opening is in January, 2010. Get your request in quick! Taking them in the order I get them!

Calling all AJD, Ltd.Members!!!

Hey guys,

We need you to advertise our blog  http://artisansjewelrydesignsltd.blogspot.com on you blog pages as well as your websites.

Need more contributors.  You can blog about your own new creations, or you can introduce us to someone new that we need to recruit for our page.  We are all about promoting others and ourselves.  Or, just pick a member and Feature Them ON this page.  We have loads of very creative people and we need to help each other out.

If you have questions "like how do I know what is acceptable", run it by me!

We need member participation!

Sharon Hightower
ADJ, Ltd. Site Owner

What's a Tree-Hugger Doing Here?

Hi! My name is Small Footprints. The owners of this wonderful blog asked me to stop by and share a few minutes with you. I own a blog called Reduce Footprints (RF) … it’s all about the easy ways that we can each walk a little gentler on the earth. At RF we talk about all kinds of things … Eco-friendly moisturizers, the best and worst shaving methods … and we even post vegan recipes occasionally.

Now, you might be wondering how a “tree-hugger” got asked to post something here on an artisan site. Well, my passion for green living lead me to make earrings … not just any earrings … but earrings fashioned from recycled jewelry. I was so proud of myself and thought that I had invented something new. But … as I got acquainted with the members of Artisans/Jewelry Designers LTD, I realized that quite a few handmade items started out as something else. The artisans, here, are brilliant at reusing and repurposing. And that is one of the cornerstones of green living … finding uses for things rather than tossing them into a landfill.

Once I started making earrings, I posted them in my hubby’s Etsy shop … he’s an artist who creates a painting a day (or most days). But just posting something there didn’t do much for sales … in fact … it didn’t do anything. So, I started promoting and promoting. As many of you no doubt know, it’s tough to make a sale. I jump at every opportunity to show off our work … but still … it’s a hard road to travel.

So one day as I was considering posts for RF, I thought (always a dangerous thing) … what if I featured artisans in a winter shopping directory? And what if I limited it to only artisans who offer handmade items? Maybe we could all get a little visibility. And that’s how my Winter Shopping Extravaganza was born.

It’s a way that we can feature our work and … it’s green because we won’t be wasting gas running from store to store for that perfect item. We can just sit back, in the comfort of our homes, and shop.

So that’s my story. I hope you like the idea … and if you do, I’m collecting links to sites that sell handmade items. Then, on November 27th, the largest shopping day of the year, I’ll unveil the winter directory. Oh … and it won’t just stay live for the holidays … it’ll stay live for the entire winter so that people can shop for every occasion. Interested? Just click HERE and you’ll magically be transported to the Extravaganza. Hope to see you there!

Contests and More at AJD! Latest Winner, Art 1st!

Congratulations to our Latest ISpy Winner at AJD Ning Network!  For our Earthy theme with it's eco-frinedly tones- Art1st has won with this fantastic entry:

To see more of his work check Art out at 

http://4oneaday.blogspot.com/2009/09/and-nowfor-little-work.html

 

There is always a fun contest going on with our artisans and crafters at AJD!  Stop by and check out the Artisan Spotlight this month with the fall themes.... Make sure to vote at

http://www.mommytyme.org/contact.html

And don't forget to enter the latest ISpy contest going on right now... For all new members, just go to the groups page, link to the ISpy group, read the rules and then sign up!  Have fun browsing other's shops looking for items that meet our chosen theme!  This month it is "What's on the Table for Thanksgiving"-

I'd like to invite everyone to list their shops (handmade items only) in my first ever Winter Shopping Extravaganza. The shopping directory will stay up all winter so ... be sure to get your shop listed. Here's the direct link:

http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com/2009/11/winter-shopping-extravaganza.html