Karalee Serra of Karalee Designs  and the blogTilda in the burbs shares some pet inspired indie made goods today on the Guest Blog.

by guest contributor Karalee Serra

I am honored to be a guest blogger on Indie Fixx! As an owner of two wonderful little dog monsters, Matilda and my newest addition, Raisin, I thought it would be fitting to do a post on pet centered art and design.

Pet owners are a special breed. We treat our animals like family members, best friends and children. We buy them toys to play with, style them with clothing and accessories, immortalize them in plush, hang pictures of them on the walls, adorn ourselves with pet jewels…pretty much anything to let the world know, we love our pets! We owe our thanks and appreciation to all the amazing artists creating animal related art to feed our pet obsessions. I’m so excited to be able to share with you a sampling of some of my favorites.

1. Saba Jewelry - Scoot
2. Art + Ghosts - Heathcliffe
3. Classic Hound - Fashion Hound Houndstooth Handbag
4. Michelle Chang Jewelry - Baby Kitten Ring
5. Lynn Terry Images - The Dane and the Bully

6. Beth Wade - Dachshund Teeny Pendant
7. Firehydrant Press - Design Your Own Dog Silhouette Notecard
8. Sharon Montrose - Kitten and Feather
9. Three Red Trees - Your Pet in Plush
10. Yaelfran - Each One Owns a Pet Brooch

About the contributor: Karalee Serra is a designer and blogger. Karalee Designs - jewelry + accessory design,  Kserra - the etsy shop, Karalee Serra - web + print design, Tilda in the burbs - just some dog chat, Ramblings From a Design Studio.com - design blog, My Boyfriend Dated a Chef - recipe blog.

Travel Spa Pillow from Wende of Mireio

Wende Oates Larsen is back to share another edition of The Best of Etsy here on Indie Fixx. Wende posts The Best of  Etsy every Wednesday on her blog Evidently and on Twitter, which is where I see her selections. Also, her deletable Etsy shop is called Mireio.

by guest contributor Wende Oates Larsen

Hello again, Indie Fixx readers. It’s great to be back. Jen asked me a few weeks ago if I’d put together another The Best of Etsy (#tboe, for those of you on Twitter!) for Indie Fixx and I jumped at the opportunity. I’m always excited to share the depth of talent that can be found on Etsy. I’ve been saving the good stuff just for you!

Last time I was here, I had a themed list. Everybody loves a theme, right? Themes inspire clever quips and pithy titles, which in turn creates a tidy little package. And Wende loves the packaging! (there I go again talking in 3^rd person. I blame Facebook!) But I’ll confess I’ve been having a hard time settling on any one idea this week. It’s been difficult enough narrowing down my choices, but this list is refusing to be contained or labeled. Beauty is like that sometimes and you just have to go with it!

The Best of Etsy: 10 June 2009—The Can You Really Contain Beauty List

Is it possible to have too many handbags? I don’t think so. And if you check out LaTouchables, you’ll agree. I’ll take one of each.

I wasn’t kidding. You really cannot have too many. I’m digging this bag from Dazzling Lanna. So quirky and artsy cool.

I’m such a huge fan of Porterness. Her work has a great urban edge to it. Simple clean lines punctuated with fabulous color. Her most recent listings feature vintage glass. One word: Amazing!

One of the things I love about the designer for Jane BonBon is that she creates for curvy girls and real women. Check out her new dresses for summer.

Armour sans Anguish is as unique as you are. And this dress requires no words.

Sugar and Flour make Itty Bitty Cookies. Something so cute and tiny couldn’t possibly have calories. Right??

Every wardrobe should have a tunic from I Heart Fink. It’s the perfect summer staple!

Ok, these had me at orange. But vintage and mid-century chic? I’m sold!

These make me want to do a little artistic vandalism. I can think of several public bathrooms that would be greatly enhanced with better signage. Promise you’ll bail me out of jail, m’kay?

Jen Hewett’s work appeals to me for its whimsy and color. If you haven’t discovered her work yet, you really should take a peek!

Whew! See what I mean? If you can sense a theme or find a pithy name for the list I’d love to hear it in the comments! And I hope you’ll join me on Twitter each week to get The Best of Etsy Scoop.

 About the contributor: Wende Oates Larsen is a mother, writer, and Twitter addict. When she’s not doing those things, she’s busy working in her studio creating beautiful housewares out of vintage textiles for her store Mireio or doing laundry. She does a lot of laundry!  You can also find her abusing comma rules on her blog Evidently—where she writes about her life living in a tiny wind-blown town on the coast of Oregon.

By guest contributor Kelly Rand

I love fiber. I love to knit with it, I love to fondle it, I love to horde it, and I even love to smell it. Seriously, there should be a twelve step program for this addiction I’ve got. I especially love to know the story of fiber; where it came from, how it was grown and how it was produced. There is something quite magical when you knit with a dream skein and you know the tail of how it got to your hot little hands. It makes a good story and when people ask you about your creation you have a little bit more to add to it. So here are a couple of amazing yarns and companies that you can feel good about using, knowing the where and how of its production.

Fox Fiber  is a wonderful organic cotton yarn that comes in numerous colors. No chemicals where used in the production of the cotton and the best thing about this yarn, beyond the fact that it is organic cotton, is that the colors are naturally occurring! That’s right, no dye was used to produce the amazing shades of greens and browns that Fox Fiber offers. The natural colors came about after many years of careful cross breeding to get the fiber and colors just right.

Thirteen Mile Lamb and Wool is one great yarn company. They look at the production of their yarn from all angles and are happy to share their fiber story. They carefully consider the health and well being of their flock and are certified organic as well as certified predator friendly. The yarn they produce is processed start to finish right in their barn and is offered in a variety of undyed skeins as well as several plant dyed skeins. And for extra cool points, their hot water is from a solar hot water heater!

If you’re looking to add a dash of luxury to your knitting you can’t go wrong with silk. Aurora Silk offers a wonderful tussah silk yarn that simply glows from its beautiful luster and is a dream to knit with. Tussah silk is often called “peace silk” due to the method of production, which waits for the moth to emerge from its silk cocoon before processing. Tussah cocoons are collected from around the trunks of mulberry trees, which is the preferred food of the silk worm.

Ever dream of running away to a farm to raise sheep? Well if reality keeps you where you are, you can now buy a share of farm with a yarn CSA from Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm. A share will buy you farm updates, invites to shearing day and a portion of the clippings from sheep and goats spun into yarn. The folks at Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm are very dedicated to their flock and take special care with their tending; feeding them an organic diet and keeping them safe in predator friendly ways. So hurry, Marth’s Vineyard Fiber Farm is now taking orders for the fall share.

Folktail Fiber is a small fiber company that handspins magical yarns. I don’t think I’ve ever met a skein of hers that I didn’t like. Folktail gives a very detailed and well thought out rational for fiber use and it is much appreciated. She prefers to use fiber from mill ends and sources direct from the farmer whenever possible. She is also wading into the world of natural dyes and it is a real treat if you ever get the chance to see her spin.

About the contributor: Kelly Rand is staff writer for DCist.com, lead writer for Crafting a Green World, and is co-founder of Hello Craft, a non-profit trade association dedicated to the advancement of indie crafters and the handmade movement. Kelly is a compulsive knitter and avid maker who believes that handmade will save the world.

I am taking some time off this week to spend some time with Mr. Indie Fixx’s family. I will be poking my head in from time to time with a post or two, but you will also be reading posts from some wonderful Guest Bloggers. 

To start he week off here is a post from Meredith Keller for Special Topics in Calamity Business.

 Social Media Dos and Don’ts for Indie Businesses

By guest contributor Meredith Keller

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last few years, you know that social media is all the rage. It’s a delicious nexus of fun and business because you can engage with your customers and market to them all in one platform. With this new social and marketing platform come some rules for success and frankly some basic etiquette. Ignore them at your peril, respect them and watch your social media presence thrive and your brand grow stronger.

1. Don’t spam. It’s a simple golden rule but so many people seem to forget it when it comes to leveraging social media. Do not leave a bunch of giant banner advertisements on your friends’ walls or comments. Do not auto-follow on Twitter hoping to get as many follows as possible while engaging with none of them. Customers come to social media websites for fun and they don’t want to feel used and steamrolled by your sales agenda. If you’re going to sell stuff, you’re going to have to do it with some style, charm and a personal touch. That said…

Robot plush from Little Brown Byrd Creations

2. Do join the conversation. Don’t use social media like a marketing robot, get in there and act like a human being. Let your friends/fans/followers see that there’s a person behind your brand. Share a funny link you found, post cute pictures of your dog, tell your peeps about your amazing margarita recipe. Make your audience feel like they’re engaging with a person, not just a faceless corporation who only wants their money. Social media is a great opportunity to give some personality and character to your brand, leverage this tool wisely to build brand loyalty. People like to buy from someone they know, someone they like, someone they trust. You can be that someone when you truly engage your audience. On the other hand…

3. Do be willing to give in order to get. You want friends, you want fans, you want followers. You want throngs of people listening to your messaging, right? Well, what’s in it for them. Is your sparkling wit and charm enough to  turn casual passers-by into superfans?  The best way to sweeten the pot is to offer people something for engaging with you. Offer a sweepstakes to win a product if you’re selling a product. Offer special discounts that are only made available to your social media audience. Offer special insider tips from an expert if you’re selling a service. Make sure there’s incentive for your audience to engage with you and make sure they know about it. On our t-shirt website, we have links to our Facebook account on every page of our site, the link says “Win a FREE T-Shirt, Become our Facebook fan”. Everyone who comes to our site knows they can be registered to win a free prize for joining our Facebook fanclub. We also announce this deal in our newsletter each month. The more your promote your sweet offer to connect on social media channels, the more you’ll be able to rack up friends and fans.

Hung Out to Dry print from Fall Down Tree

4. Don’t get too personal. Social media is not the platform for airing your dirty laundry. Don’t tell your audience that your boyfriend is a jerk or that you’re 3 months behind on your mortgage. Being a drama queen might illicit a little sympathy but it’s mostly a turn off. Your audience doesn’t want you bringing them down with your bad news or annoying them with cyber begging for business. Think before you post, how does what you’re about to say affect your brand’s image and the way in which your audience sees you. Is what you’re about to say going to make you new friends or influence people to think of your brand in a positive light?

5. Don’t neglect your social media accounts. So you have accounts on Facebook, Flickr, Digg, Youtube Myspace and Twitter for your business. Maybe you’ve even joined a few niche social networks or message boards. You’re all over this social media thing so why aren’t the sales rolling in? It’s not enough to just be present on social media platforms, you have to participate. Make it a point to post content to your social media accounts on a regular basis. Remind friends, fans and followers that you’re still there. You don’t want them to forget about you. Persistence is an important part of your social media marketing and you can’t expect your social media accounts to simply take care of themselves.

About the contributor: Meredith Keller is a designer and marketer with several years of experience promoting and running an indie online business, when she’s not helping her partner with t-shirt label Ex-Boyfriend , she works on indie shopping blog Indie Parade.

Johanna Anderes of 12fifteen is stepping in for me today and sharing a stationer’s stationery pixx!

By guest contributor Johanna Anderes of 12fifteen.

Hello again Indie Fixx readers. It was lots of fun being guest blogger last year and I was very excited when Jen asked me to share some more of my favorite stationery designers with you. Thanks Jen, for inviting me back….for a self declared paper addict this is a real treat!

In need of a fun to the point message? Look no further.

Old Tom Foolery is the brainchild of Joel Gryniewski and Lauren Weinblatt, two ad-industry vets who also happen to be engaged.

Back when Joel was wooing Lauren, he had a tough time finding cards that were: a) funny, b) letterpressed (they’re both suckers for a deep impression), and c) not so dainty as to make her question his masculinity. So they set out to make their own witty letterpress cards that would appeal to both sexes.

Hammocks and High Tea  is inspired by Karen’s South American, tropical upbringing. Not only does Karen Young have her own stationery line, she also creates the most beautiful kitchen towels and other homegoods. Also check out her etsy store for beautiful notepads. So pretty and colorful! (and…Karen is not only talented, but also could not be nicer in person)

Fugu Fugu Press is a Pasadena based husband and wife letterpress shop (etsy shop). Not only do I love their cards (the illustrations are too cute) but their studio is also making me drool. And just as a little side note, did you know that
fugu is the japanese word for blowfish or puffer fish?

About the contributor: Johanna Anderes is inspired by travels, nature and life in general and creates stationery, limited edition prints, coasters and home goods using various printing techniques including letterpress, screenprinting and inkjet. You can visit her 12fifteen shop and her Etsy Shop.

Anna Powers from misosouper shares her final post in her blogging tips series.

by guest contributor Anna Powers from misosouper

Still with me?  If you’re perched on the precipice of your blog and still afraid to jump, this list might give you a push.

‘Ten Ideas For Indie Business Blog Content’

1.  Post about a new product you have made.  This sort of post may seem like a no-brainer, but if you include some interesting details about the materials you used and the process you undertook, this bit of cross-marketing will help drive readers to your shop and illustrate the care you put into your work. Bonus points for including lots of pictures!

2.  Post on “a day in the life of,” and be sure to pick a day that includes a lot of creating.  Maybe it’s because I’m totally nosy, but reading the detailed minutiae of other’s lives never ceases to fascinate me. Better yet:  interview a colleague/friend on the detailed minutiae of her life.

3.  Post a giveaway, either for your goods or for someone else’s.  Once you’ve done a couple, giveaways are quite easy to set up and run.  Here’s a good rundown of giveaway guidelines.

4.  Post on something that another indie artist has made.  Then e-mail her to let her know.  It will make her day, I promise.

5.  Post a how-to.  You know how to make stuff, right?  Consider sharing the wealth with the rest of us, step by step, and of course, illustrated by pictures.

6.  Post a video tour of your studio or workspace or home.  Show us your materials and your beloved treasures.  (See #2.  Voyeurism is always in vogue.)  Vimeo can help you embed your video in a post.

7.  Post a list of recent blog posts that you read and liked.  Or, post a more detailed discussion of why you like one particular blog, complete with links to various posts that have moved you.

8.  Post an inspiration board, which can be as simple as a series of images that make you happy. (These posts can be, well, inspirational, but beware the trap of posting all 87 pictures of your recent trip to Belize.)

9.  Post a blog swap.  Once you’ve been at this for a while, ask a blogging friend to take over your site for a week, and see what she comes up with.  When she needs vacation or burnout coverage, you can return the favor.

10.  Post value.  This is more of a general suggestion than a particular idea, but it’s a good mantra to tack up above your computer.  When you blog for your business, your goal is to produce something of value (just as you do for your shop).  If your answer to the vital question “Would anyone but my mom actually care about this post?” is probably not, then just call your mama and take the day off from writing a post.  Your readers will appreciate your restraint.

Any other tips you would add to this list?  Post them in the comments!

About the contributor: Anna Powers likes to buy stuff, particularly when it’s well-designed, fun, and (relatively) cheap. Since February 2008, she has been sharing her purchases on her shopping blog called misosouper, which is a equal parts snarky, smart and fun

Anna Powers from misosouper shares her 2nd post in her blogging tips series. You can read last week’s post here. for those indie businesses that are as of yet uninitiated into the world of blogging. Anna will be back on the next  Thursday as well.

by guest contributor Anna Powers from misosouper

If you’ve made it through the week excited rather than horrified by Blogger’s blank screen of death, then you’re ready for part two of this series. While last week we focused on why indie artists and craftspeople should blog, let’s try to tackle the how.

For the most part, good blogging isn’t about good writing. (Yes, there are many notable exceptions to this rule, but there are even more great blogs that prove it.) By all means: strive for clear, descriptive, grammatically correct prose. But don’t let the red-pen-wielding specter of your 7^th grade English teacher deter you from writing your posts. The key to good blogging, in my experience, is good reading. If you’re a good reader—that is, if you’re reading thoughtful, helpful, interesting things—you can be a good blogger. At its core, blogging is about sharing links; let’s call this the “hey, lookie here!” phenomenon. The things to be looked at can include your own designs, those of your friends/peers/community, or the amazing painting of a blue jay that reminded you to use more color in your work. More on this in a minute.

Birds in Hats from Poor Dog Farm

Also, and I can’t say this loudly enough: it’s not about you. To quote the apt title of shopping blogger Maggie Mason’s book, no one cares what you had for lunch. (Except perhaps your cubicle mate.) There is a tremendous gulf between discussing your cute popsicle-covered toddler’s trip to the zoo, and sharing detailed photos of the zoo’s fossil collection, and how that led you to meditate on the nature of curvature and repetition. The toddler stories have their rightful place, which is on another, more personal journal about your life. This blog? This blog is about your craft. Personal anecdotes, used sparingly, let us see who you are; personal essays, on the other hand, can make us flee for the safety of fossils and blue jays.

Bear. It’s cold. from Hamburger Panda

Finally, don’t feel as if you have to post every day. Several of my favorite blogs only post a few times a week, and because of that, their posts feel like a special treat, like the ice cream truck unexpectedly coming down the street. I’m a preacher of quality, not quantity. If you post three times a week for a year, you’ll have an archive of 156 posts for Google and readers to discover. It’s OK to be quiet for a day or two to read, create, and let your ideas percolate. Disclaimer: I usually post twice a day, but then again, writing a shopping blog is my job. (I have very few other marketable skills.)

If you’re still with me, try this: bookmark 10 blogs in your niche, and 5 blogs outside of your niche. These will comprise your blogroll. (If you already have a blogroll, then I’d still hunt down 15 new sites. The results will be invigorating.) The task of finding 10 niche blogs will probably be easy, since you are probably already checking out what others in your field are doing. Digging through other’s blogrolls will help as will visiting Bloglines, Technorati and other similar sites.

As for the 5 outliers: if you’re serious about blogging, I’d read all of the Problogger’s “31 Days to Building a Better Blog” series, in addition to the articles on Modish’s new Biz Tips blog. Also useful—shameless plug alert—are shopping and design blogs, like Indie Fixx and misosouper. They can give you a sweeping view of what trends are on the horizon, suggest new projects, and introduce you to new artists. Make of these wild card links what you will; parenting blogs and weird news sites work too.

We’ve examined the why and how, so next week, let’s discuss the what. As in: what in the world am I going to write about?

Computer Geek Print from Art by Shano

So, I am back today from my time off last week.  I just needed some time to take care of my taxes and some other personal stuff.  I was able to get a lot done, especially my taxes (thank gawd, I got ‘em done). I should treat myself to this pretty Shell and Crystal Pendant Necklace from editionBW.

I want to thank all of the Guest Bloggers who contributed last week.

Vicki Shields of Three Wheels Design
Anna Powers from misosouper
Wende Oates-Larsen of Mireio
The ladies of SuperCute
Jessica Gonacha
Michele Maule
Michelle Engel Bencsko of Cicada Studio

Also, later today I will be sharing the first of April’s Feed Your Soul contributions. There will be a total of 5 downloads, so make sure to check back later this afternoon…you won’t be disappointed!

xoxo,

Jen

P.S. Congratulations to Candice from Victoria, Australia for wining the Prismera Design necklace.

P.P.S. Stay tuned for some upcoming fun contests!