I want to promote you!

Hi there! Looking for your first blog promotion? Your 17th? New to the whole online selling and need to get your name out there? Old hat?

Want free stuff?

You've come to the right place!!

I want to promote you. Yes, YOU.

What I want from you:

I want your shop banner (artfire, etsy, 1000markets, dawanda, etc). You can give me a link to the shop you want me to "steal" it from, or you can attach it.

I want 3 pics of your things. Your choice. Attach to the email please!

I also want to know (and this is the most important part, so PLEASE don't leave it out!)

1. Whacha make?
2. How long have you been crafting?
3. Favorite color to craft?
4. What inspires and motivates you?
5. Anything else you want to add?
   

We are curious folk here on the internet, so please tell us where we can see more of you! Give me your links to your shop(s), website, blog, twitter, plurk, facebook, myspace, and anywhere else you have an internet presence!

What I'm going to do with all this:

First of all, your banner will wind up on my website.

Your interview will wind up here, on the blog. The more you write, the more you will promote yourself!

Then, to top it off, I will put your name in TWO hats. One for the website, one for the blog. You get two chances to win a Coffee Coozie of your choice!

The drawing is 10 May...US Mother's Day, but ANYONE can participate in this!

If you win the coozie, and can't find the perfect one in my shop PLEASE email me so I can send you scans of the fabric I have cut but not sewed. I always have coozies cut to be sewed, but not all of it listed.

Free. Won't charge you for shipping or packaging. Free means FREE. You can keep it for yourself or give it as a gift. Please don't re-sell it, as it is copyrighted, and I'll get a little cranky. You wouldn't want to host a giveaway and have someone sell your widget to someone else, would you? Your consideration and respect is REALLY appreciated!

Now, on to the nuts and bolts.

Email me the information I'm asking for to karlee (at) uniquebykarlee (dot) com

I will email you when you are featured on the blog.

(To those of you already participating, I will be updating the website shortly!)

One more thing:

While there isn't anything really in it for you other than self promotion, I'd LOVE to host your tutorials here. Anything handmade, anything at all, even if you are my "competition", I want your tutorials. Type it out, let me know if you want me to fix grammar and spelling, and email it to me at the above address.

(There really isn't anything in it for me either, but this is about you, not me!)

I look forward to hearing from you soon!

New way to open cans.

My dear friend Paula from Picardcreative does neat things with lids to tin cans. You know, fruit, veggies, beans, spaghetti, etc.



I love that one.

Anyway, I wanted to save lids for her also. One problem: no can opener that opens without the rough edges.

Looked *all* over town and no one had one. No one had even HEARD of them. Granted, this is Kansas, but are we *really* that far in the dark ages???

Time to think outside of the box!

My first experiment was on a can of beans. Not only did it work, it worked so well that now the lefty in the house can open cans too!

Here is a pic tutorial of how to do it with a "normal" can opener.

Can of pears. My snack. Here's to hoping it stays down. (I'm home sick from work)



Here is the can with my regular can opener. I think I paid $5 for it at walmart a thousand years ago.



I turned the can horizontal instead of vertical, like it should be...
(NOTE: you can see the can is punctured by looking at the handle...it's shut)



I've gone all the way around the can now, and slightly moved the lid away to show you. The good thing about doing it this way is that it doesn't fall into the can, it stays with the opener. The bad thing is it's hard to open tuna cans, you have to drain the tuna in a strainer. Oh, and occasionally you get a ribbon of paper in your food. It's easy to pull out, though. (One way around that is to remove the label *before* you open it)



Final pic, the lid is off. The sharp edges of the can have been happily smooshed to the lid, and are no longer a threat.



I'm sure Paula would love more lids, and now you don't have to get a new opener just to help her! Use the "contact" button in her studio to ask her where to ship the lids.

Free Promotions!

I am offering free promotion for members of ArtFire, Etsy, and anyone else struggling to make a sale of handmade goods.

Free. Only takes a little bit of your time, no money involved.

Here are the rules:

1. PG sites ONLY. This means no porn. Period. Adult content not allowed.
2. I will link to places where you make it yourself and sell it. ArtFire, Etsy, and the like. Ebay frightens me, but I'll link your eBay shop as long as you follow the PG rule . Blogs are a "yes" if they are PG. Why? Because you never know what 10 year old kid is going shopping online with dad for the perfect mother's day gift. What do you want YOUR 10 year old reading? ;) See my point?

Ok, here's how:

1. Either tell me where I can "take" the banner from, or email it to me in .jpg form (karlee@uniquebykarlee.com). ArtFire size and Etsy size banners are perfect! If you have no banner and aren't the "make it with pixels" type, let me know. Between the two of us, I can create one for you, and send you a copy to use wherever. Oh, and I won't charge you for that either. I <3>
2. Give me the link. Or links, plural. If you have more than one link, send me an additional banner (preferably slightly different so people can see the difference). Need an extra banner for more than one link? See above.

What I'm asking in return:

1. Link me back. I have two different size banners, one is my ArtFire banner, the other is my ArtFire avatar. Tell me which one you need, and I'll send it to you as well as the link.

That's it. You don't have to send me money or buy something from me or offer a burnt offering (I'm not a god so all you'd do is stink up your house with it anyway =P ). Just link me back, its all I ask.

Send it to karlee@uniquebykarlee.com or contact me through ArtFire!