As the trading post guilds trade and stay event gets closer I have been thinking more and more about my wish list for a handmade christmas. This is a rough list but I will keep thinking and working on it until I have a handmade gift for everyone.

Treats for myself
Lampwork bead singles or small sets
Handmade Makeup - eye make up and foundation.

Son
Got my eye on something already.
Loves thomas the tank engine, trains in general and cooking. (age 3)

Mother in Law
Got something in mind. Seamstress works as a costume maker.

Sister
Horse mad, (age 17)

Mother
No idea, nice scented candles?

Father in Law
Builder, Likes fishing

Brother in Law
Shrugs

Sister in Law
Beautician - so prehaps some more handmade make up or massage lotions/bars

Husband
Code monkey by day and erm code monkey by night, he lives on his computer unless he's at the gym. Though he has always said if I am happy he is happy so see above - treats for me section.

Hamster
Our family pet, if anyone makes organic small animal treats that would be fabulous.

Best Friend
She's a crafter to, any non bead destash or handmade supplies would go down well. She also loves Egypt specifically Cleopatra.

Here ends my handmade wishlist hoping santa thinks I have been extra good this year.

After a recent discussion in the forums it was descovered that non account buyers had no way of contacting the artisan since the contact button took you to the login page if they were not logged in.

After looking for a contact form widget that was compatable with our studios I couldn't find one and ended up making a small button that could be added to the studio widget space and take the person to thier email client with the sellers email address prefilled in the To: section of the email.

The code for the button is simple and all that is needed is for the seller to add in their email address 

<a href="mailto:ENTER%20YOUR%20EMAIL"><img src="http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss297/Scarlet-Impressions/Images%20for%20Forums/PifEmailButton.jpg" border="0" alt="send me an email" /></a>

Simply change "ENTER%20YOUR%20EMAIL" for your email address and copy and past the code into your left side widget to display on your blog page or right side widget to display on all your studio pages.

When done save the widget and you will have a button in your studio that looks like this:

To use your own image simply create on in any image editing software programme with a maximum width of 150 px and upload it to a file sharing site like photobucket or flickr change the code in " " where the img src tag is to the image location for your hosted image and it will display your image.

If you need help with this you can contact me either useing the contact artisan or email me button in my studio or blog.

This question is one that usually appears a fair bit in the forums. How do I add images to my posts? This is my image guide for the process with the advanced options as well as the basics.

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The normal method

1. Open 2 tabs in your browser one for the forum thread you want to reply to with an image and one with the listing page of the item you would like to put into the forum thread.

2. On the forum thread click reply or comment to open the comment editor.

3. Type in any text you would like to appear before the image.

4. To get to the image window click on the 3rd icon in from the left on the bottom row (highlighted in image) You will need to make sure that your browser isn't blocking pop ups or the window won't display.

5. When the pop up appears you should see this window (pictured below.) over the center of your browser window. 

6. After you have the pop up on your screen click on the tab that you opened with the listing page on it. If you don't want to use the first image on the listing then scroll through and click on the image you want to display so it comes up as the large image. When you have the image you would like hover your mouse over it and right click on the image. You will get a menu come up that looks similar to this. (below) - Note I use firefox, if you use a different browser then the wording in the right click menu may be slightly different and the order of the list may not be the same.

7. After doing this you will need to return to the tab with your forum post. You will need to paste the image location (which is saved in your clipboard now.) into the box in the pop up that says URL. To do this click your cursor into the box and press crtl+v or right click and select paste. Your image location should now be visable in that box.

  - You can end the process here and click OK in the pop up and your image should display in the post when you are taken back to it. This will just be the image though and will not be clickable as a link to take a viewer to the item page. -

To make the image clickable don't click OK on the image window just yet, you will see that there are 4 tabs on the pop up window. Image, Link, Upload, Advanced.
Click on the link tab and you will see an area to add another URL.

You will need to go back to the tab of your selected item and copy the URL from the browser bar.

Highlight the url and either right click and select copy or use crtl+c to add the text to your clipboard.

Now go back to your forum post and past the text into the url bar for the link.

Clicking OK now will make your image show and be linked to the listing page. When anyone clicks on the image they will be taken to your listing in the same tab/window that the forum thread was on. (This does mean they will have to click the back button to return to the forum thread.)

Other advanced options

From the image tab:

Alternative Text - This is the text that will appear if the image doesn't load. It is also what search engines 'see' when they come across and image. You can add the image title or use a different descriptive, add your name or shop name. It works best if it makes sense rather than using just keywords.

Width and Height - These are the dimensions of your image you can change these to make the image smaller. By typing a number of pixels for the size in one box the other will be automatically filled to keep proportion.

Border - By adding a number into this box a border will be added to the image in the font colour you have selected. (default black) the higher the number the thivcker the border.

H Space - This is an indent from the left side, the higher the number the more the image will indent.

V Space - Similar to H Space this works from the top of the image to indent downwards.

Align - Choose an alignment for the image within your post.

From the Link Tab:

You can set how the link opens by selceting one of the target options. New window will make the link open in a new tab or window (dependant on the settings of the readers computer.) Same window will make the link open where the forum thread is and the reader will have to click back in their browser to return to the forum thread.

From the Upload Tab:

This feature isn't active. It would be used to add an image directly from your computer. If you have an image on your computer you would like to use upload it to a file sharing site such as flickr or photobucket and follow the first method to add the image to the forum.

If you have any questions about artfire you would like to see answered in this blog section please contact me and I will add it as soon as is possible. 

Recently published in my coloumn on handmade news is an insight into the history of halloween looking at traditions from parts of Britain that were typically celebrated years ago.

Halloween is a very popular holiday in the majority of the western world that is celebrated in the evening of October 31st, commonly people (mostly children) dress themselves in costumes often representing fictional characters such as ghosts, witches and monsters. The holiday now is quite a commercial affair with costumes, decorations, cards and many other things available from stores and artisans alike.....Read more on handmade news

If you have ever wondered what my day is like I am sharing with you today a synopsis of my typical day.

I am supposed to get up at 6am with my husband since he has to be out the door to get to work just after 7. Though it doesn't always work like that (Usually I will be ousted out of my cozy warm bed around 6:30. I have pack ups to make and clothes to find for myself and our 3 year old son.

The first thing I have to do in the morning is make a cup of coffee or I'm not going to get anywhere. While the kettle boils, lunches are made and my computer gets booted up. I will drink my coffee while I make sure everything on my computer gets loaded, firefox, tweetdeck, skype, msn. I will then run though my list for the day.

Typically the first port of call is another coffee and then go check the various forums I like to browse. While I am reading I'll have my notebook and pen beside me to write down what I need to get done that day.

It's then time to embark on the school run, which usually involves chasing my son to the car since he is a bit too eager about getting there. A quick gossip with the other mothers and back home for another cup of coffee (can you tell I practically live off the stuff.)

Once home I can get all the jobs done that my son likes to get in the way of. Hovering, laundry, general cleaning. Then time for lunch and another browse of the forums, check the various other sites I have a presence on and then get to some work on my shop. I have been editing a backlog of images recently and still working on them. If I don't have any photos to do or listings to put up I will settle down with my ideas journal/sketch book and start making some new pieces. (It usually works out I end up making something even though I have other things to do.)

When I go to pick my son up from school we have to come back via the sweet shop. Count out the penny sweets then have the 'little talk' about him not eating them until we get home. Once home I can start thinking about dinner and my husband getting in from work.

My evenings are spent much like the second half of my day, with a little more forum activity since those west of me are about and talkative. I'll update my blog, double check my to do list and make sure I get everything done. If he's in the mood I will put our hamster JB into his run and let him have a play when he also likes to crawl up my arm and run over my hands.

Typically though nothing ever works to plan. Ideally this happens everyday but not always. I wish for a few more hours in the day probably another 3 awake and 2 extra hours in bed. But if I had that I would just want that longer after trying the routine.