ARTDAILY

My jewelry making is a form of emotional outlet for me. It’s how I relax and get rid of my frustration. I love the thought of my children being creative and crafty, and since I have been making my jewelry, my kids have started to follow in my shoes! If there’s one thing that defines you, what is it? I think the main thing that defines me as a person is my family, and all the ups and downs that come along with it! Within my craft what I would like to define me is designing jewelry that is a bit different from the norm, with whatever ideas that seems to flow at when creating. What role does your family play in your art? I think my family is my biggest critiques, other than myself. From my grandparents right down to my three year old daughter, they are all quite honest in what they like about an item and what they don’t!! I also find that they give me so many ideas, my daughter likes very pretty girlie things, which gave me the idea for items such as 'strawberries and cream' and 'spot me’ bracelet set, I could go on with all the ideas my family have given me but that would take up too much time!!! If there is a new craft you could learn, what would ...

Vanna’s Choice Contest One of our Common Good Partners, Lion Brand Yard, is sponsoring a contest with Vanna White. All knitters, crochet artists, and yarn crafters are encouraged to enter, as there are 33 different prizes available. The grand prize is $1,000 and an all expenses paid trip to Los Angeles to meet Vanna White. To enter, users need only summit a project made with Vanna’s Choice, Vanna’s Choice Baby, or Vanna’s Glamour Yarn to one of the different contest categories. The deadline for submission is February 1st, 2010. Learn more about the Vanna’s Choice Contest here. This Week’s SEO Update Our Weekly SEO Roundup has been posted in the Chatterbox! This week, Google has been testing some new search features, which could change the way results are displayed. There is also evidence to suggest that Google places important on loading times, so that sites that load quickly are ranked higher. This is good news for ArtFire, as we’ve always places high importance on the speed of the site. This is also an update on the Microsoft-Yahoo deal, which, when finalized, will take about 28% of the search market. Of course, if you want full deta...

New MyArtFire Our designer (Jen) is currently working on laying out a new MyArtFire! This new design will be more intuitive, with clear organization and tabbed sections to make it easier to manage the different aspects of one’s’ studio and make features easier to find. It will also help clean up some of the old tools, which are still on the old theme. This way, sellers wouldn’t have to navigate between two different site themes while updating their studio. Since this page is still in development, I can’t tell you more about it, but keep your eyes peeled for updates in the coming weeks! Today’s InsideHandmade This week’s episode of InsideHandmade has been posted on the Interact page and iTunes! In  this episode, John and Tony discuss market trends as we move into the holiday shopping season. Already sales are up, both on ArtFire and the market in general, and online retailers are working out new and faster ways to shop. They also decuss new changes here at ArtFire, including our three new trend pages, the growing popularity of our Facebook Kiosk, and Promo Labels. As usual, they share detailed information you can only find in the radio sho...

New Edit Page Kyle has just put the finishing touches on the new Edit page, which is now live on the site. This Edit Page matches our new Listing Process, meaning there should now be fewer issues with third party software when editing and allow for faster upload time for images. This also allows members to add Promo Labels to individual items while editing. If you run into any issues using the new Edit or the Listing Process, please post your issues in the Chatterbox Forums or email us at Service@ArtFire.com. Sales Trends After reviewing the statistics from the beginning of November vs. October, already the sales are up double digits. We’ve been seeing a general increase in the number of items sold every month, but this month has seen the most drastic increase. This further reinforces the idea that buyers are starting their holiday shopping early this year. If you haven’t already, make sure you’ve tagged your sales or specialty items with the “Holideals” tag, so that they’ll show up in the Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Holiday Deals trend pages. Remember, these trend pages are for Pro (verified) and basic members. Pro Members are also enco...

First off, what role does your art play in your life? Well, I guess it is my life! (No, seriously, I can't stop. Have you read the article, "Craft Widower"?) I'm lucky I guess, because I came from a family who encouraged music, art and science. I don't know who I'd be if I couldn't be creative! So, what would I be without art? - A Patron! If there’s one thing that defines you, what is it? Thoughtfulness (I really had to think about that, he he). What role does your family play in your art? They are so supportive of my art. While my friends’ parents were telling them to study Finance, my Dad was posting casting calls on the fridge for me. I sing and play guitar with my partner; My Dad still thinks we should take our show on the road! Mom taught me a lot, “If there's a will, there's a way!" She’d say, or "Plant your own garden instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers!" Two metaphors for becoming a good strong person! Also, college wasn't optional; I majored in French and Art. I don't think anyone thought of how I would pay back my student loans. Where do you live and what is it like? Atlanta, GA! A great ci...

The Holiday Shopping Season is here, and our new trend pages are up and live! Under Shopping Methods on the front page, you should now see a link to our Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Holiday Deals Trend Pages. Each of these pages has been optimized for specific keywords to make them easy to find during holiday shopping, and are full of items which are somehow discounted or offering a speical for shoppers. Since Thanksgiving is falling later in this year than usual, it is expected that customers will start their holiday shopping earlier than usual. So if you’re planning on offering any special deal or promotion for the holidays, you should start it as soon as possible. Also make sure you get your sale items in our holiday trend pages now. Remember, you only have to tag your sale items with “Holideals” to have them show up in all three trend pages! Keep in mind as well that if play on tweeting any special ArtFire deals to tweet them @ArtFireCoupons for a Re-Tweet and increased exposure. This is also a handy Twitter account to follow if you’d like to receive tweets announcing seller deals at ArtFire. Read more about the early holiday shopping season here. ...

Art is a vital part of my personality - I wouldn't be "me" without it. I was always happiest as a child with a new pad of paper and fresh sharp pencils, and I still feel the same rush almost 40 years later when I walk into an art supply store and see all the goodies. Although I started drawing portraits at a very early age, I never considered it as a valid career choice until recently. My art career started in the Performing Arts as a classical ballet dancer in Australia. When I moved to Canada I studied Makeup Artistry at the Blanche MacDonald School of Design in Vancouver. While working as a makeup artist I also played guitar & sang on the Vancouver music scene during the '90s. It wasn't until I moved to Ontario in 1999 that I finally concentrated my career in Fine Arts as a portrait artist. I've completed over 300 commissioned portraits worldwide since then and I learn something new with each new painting - that's what keeps it fresh and exciting for me. Where do you live and what is it like? I live in Chatham, Ontario. It's in an area of Canada that is named after Kent County, England – we even have a Thames River. It's nestled between two Great Lakes - E...