Hi all you Lemonheads! I know, I know. It is not really Tuesday, but this week’s schedule is a little off. I didn’t want to leave this week without a fun download or project, so I am sharing on Thursday.

Can you believe it is July already? You know what that means, a new desktop calendar!

So, just click the correct size for your monitor below, let the calendar download completely and save it as your desktop wallpaper. If you don’t know the size of your monitor, don’t worry. Try the 1600 x 1200 and if that is too tall, try the 1440 x 900. It isn’t too complicated to try a few different sizes.

1600 x 1200
1440 x 900
1280 x 1024
1024 x 768
800 x 600

Enjoy!

Today’s post is the last one for this week because I am going to do a little celebrating this weekend. I will see you back here next week. Happy Indepence Day!

In the Purple Lemon Designs Etsy shop, I am designating July as Parker Reese Foundation month. 10% of sales will go to help support this very worthy cause.

So are you asking yourself, “What is The Parker Reese Foundation?”

The Parker Reese Foundation was formed to fight the congenital diaphragmatic hernia birth defect.  This foundation helps by funding medical research, advocating public awareness campaigns, and by supporting all who have been affected by the congenital diaphragmatic hernia birth defect.

My wonderful internet friend Jes Singletary started this foundation when her daughter Parker Reese was born with this debilitating birth defect. She died the day after she was born. Parker’s beautiful spirit lead her parents to help others affected by this defect. Their fight is spurred on daily by their love for their daughter.

>>Read more about Parker Reese>>

So, what can you do to help The Parker Reese Foundation?

In July, you can purchase a stamp or stationery from Purple Lemon Designs! So go shopping…it is that easy!

New Designs from Purple Lemon Designs

This is a new printable stationery design that is perfect for a thoughtful note to cheer a friend…

Printable Stationery

Do you know someone that is getting married? This would be the perfect present to help send out their thank you notes.

Custom Wedding Address Stamp

Do you need customized stationery for your Etsy shop?

How about a fun address stamp? I love polka dots!

So purchase today and you will help a great cause, the fight against the congenital diaphragmatic hernia birth defect.

>>Visit Purple Lemon Designs Etsy shop>>

Hi all you Lemonheads! Today I am guesting over at Lyndsey’s (aka The Paper Girl’s) bloggy, so stop by and read a bit. I am going to talk a bit about stationery design and its relation to correspondence. Join me, won’t you?

A few weeks ago, my husband and I canoed the Buffalo River near Hohenwald, Tennessee. I was able to take a few pictures on our journey down the river…

Ahh…So relaxing.

Just beautiful.

These stone cliffs on the side of the river were stunning. They had really beautiful vegetation growing all over them. Little springs would drip water into the river too.

I have never caught a small mouth bass before and this river is famous for them. So we did a little fishing and look what I caught!

Of course I released him back into fish world.

I can’t wait to go back on another trip…Can you see why?

Happy Thursday Lemonheads! Today, I am sharing with you the most delightful color palette and pattern, Lizz by fieldhockeygirl1114 and Ode to Liz by peony.

This color palette looks as good as a bowl of melons! I love the honeydew green and the corally watermelon. These brights look wonderful against the delightful creamy middle colors. I think that it would look great on one of my stained glass crosses. I think I might have to try it.

What do you think? Do you like it?

credit: NutfieldWeaver

Happy Wednesday, lemonheads! I hope your day is going swimmingly. Today I am SOOO excited to share a wonderful weaver with you, Kate of NutfieldWeaver on Etsy. NutfieldWeaver is our Lemony Fresh Etsy Seller this week. You are absolutely going to love the stunning beauty of Kate’s items. They are so wonderfully crafted and her pictures make each item she has in her shop just pop. I was also lucky enough to be able to interview Kate. She shared a bit about her Etsy journey with us today as well. So let’s get started!

Isn't the texture of the weave so beautiful and light? | credit: NutfieldWeaver

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started with weaving?

My first weaving projects were, as you may guess, potholders, made on the small, square, red looms that many of us had as children. I still have one of those potholders. I come from a family of weavers: my great-grandfather, Alexander Briggs, was a veteran of World War I. He returned from the war as an amputee (he lost a leg below the knee). To support his family, which eventually grew to include 8 children, he worked in the textile mills of Ontario. In my early 30s, as a mother of two very young boys, my husband got me a gift of 6 weaving classes at a small shop in Michigan, thinking that I might enjoy the occasional creative diversion. I was hooked instantly. I loved the entire weaving process – planning, measuring, warping, weaving – from the first go. I tell people that when I began weaving, it felt so familiar that it almost seemed that I had done it before. I found a second-hand table loom and have been weaving ever since (more than 10 years). Now I work on a LeClerc floor loom.

credit: NutfieldWeaver

What are your favorite things about making your lovely pieces?

It is still a magical thing for me to see those first few picks of thread (and I use very fine threads — less than fingering weight) turn into cloth on the loom, so that is a favorite thing. I love the rhythm of weaving – treadle, throw, beat, repeat… I really like designing new patterns to use the fabric. Sometimes this is a frustrating process — there are many clunkers and misfires (and I practice my designs on scrap fabric before cutting into the lace) but I am trying to learn that mistakes can be viewed as opportunities to push you onto a different creative path. Finally, it is a really nice feeling to know that one of my items might chosen by a bride or her family to be used at her wedding. I love chatting with these young ladies. They’re so full of excitement and enthusiasm and hope for their futures. It is such a privilege to have my work selected to be part of such a significant celebration.

credit: NutfieldWeaver

What made you want to turn your art into a business?

Family members and friends encouraged me to try selling my handwovens. I’ve made lots of things over the years – christening blankets and bonnets, shawls, liturgical vestments, utilitarian pieces for the kitchen, formal table linens. I first tried getting my work into a local artisan fair and was turned down by the director. A friend suggested eBay, which somehow didn’t appeal to me, and then I found Etsy. I listed 3 sets of dishtowels (which were very nice, I might add) and basically floundered for about 3-4 months trying to find my niche. I started my wedding line with a few lace lavender scented sachets, which I also gave to relatives, friends, and teachers for Christmas. It just kind of grew from there. (It was a long, cold winter in New Hampshire this year, so I had a couple of months to weave and to think!) I sold my first ring pillow in April 2009. While I’ve been a member of Etsy since November 2008, it wasn’t until spring 2009 that I really found my place in the Etsy community. And Etsy is a great community! People are so supportive and encouraging of each other. I’ve made connections with lovely people from all over the world (Etsy sellers and buyers) and feel grateful to have done so.

credit: NutfieldWeaver

I hope you love Kate and her work as much as I do. I am lucky enough to have one of Kate’s sachets. Let me tell you that her weaving is more beautiful in person that even in the pictures. I wam blown away by her work. Visit her Etsy shop at NutfieldWeaver.etsy.com. I bet you will like her work as much as I do!

Today’s Terrific Tuesday’s post is a continuation of My Etsy Journey. I am going to continue on the subject of Marketing My Shop today.

credit: Sign by Will Thomas

In the last Etsy Journey post, I touched on the social media aspect of marketing my Etsy shop. Today, I am going to touch on other ways I market my shop.

Business Cards
I actually have two business cards that I had printed. One is a part of my packaging that also doubles as a business card. The good thing about this one is that it has a bounce back coupon on it. I also have a standard business card that is just a biz card with my info on it. I actually carry both in my purse. When I get a great dental cleaning or I get a great cashier when I go to the store, I say thanks and hand them the business card with a coupon on it. I give them a quick spiel about what I sell and then I am on my way. Does it work? Who knows…it certainly can’t hurt. Other things I use my business cards for are shop mail outs, (I will talk more about that in a minute), I put them up on bulletin boards, and I sometimes even leave them on the table when I go to dinner.

I also give my regular business cards to EVERYONE I talk to about my business. If you meet people and make that personal connection, they are much more likely to purchase from you. They feel like they are buying from someone they know and can trust. This leads me into my next segment, Talkin’ it up.

Talkin’ It Up

Some of you are really lucky and talking to people is easy for you. But there are others of you out there saying to yourself, I am soo shy. I can’t talk to people about my business. That just isn’t my thing!

Well sister (or brother), you have got to get over that. I did. I am the world’s biggest introvert. I am much more comfortable in front of my computer, but I know I can’t sell things to my computer (trust me I have tried – he is just not that into rubber stamps). I have forced myself to talk to people. Let me let you in on a little secret, it is not as hard as you think. It also gets easier the more you do it. People really don’t bite (as much as I thought that they might.) A little tip when starting up a conversation with someone you don’t know: people love to talk about themselves. Start a conversation with them asking what they do, where they grew up, about their kids, or anything else that relates to them. Make sure that you listen and genuinely care about what they are saying – don’t just wait until they stop talking to run through what you do. Ask questions about what they are saying. Then, once you have gotten a good conversation going with them, I bet that they will ask about you and what you do. Then, don’t dominate the conversation, but quickly tell them about your business using a great elevator speech.

I could go through the ins and outs of developing an elevator speech, but it is much better said by Barbara Lopez for the Design*Sponge biz ladies series. This is an excellent post about developing a speech for those conversations when you get asked, “So what do you do?” You can read the full article here.

My Packaging

I take full advantage of my packaging to advertise my shop to my customers. Your best customers are going to be return customers, so you MUST market to then when they are a captive audience  – like when they are opening their purchase from you and they are all giddy from excitement!

Once again, I am going to state this is how I market my shop; I am not an expert; this is what works for me. That being said, I will tell you about my Etsy packaging. This seems to be a very taboo subject around Etsy, but I’m not shy and secretive with my packaging. I use my business stamps to their full advantage:

Remember that dual business card are referred to above? Here it is in action:

I also include a handwritten note on customized stationery for my business.

Then I put all those elements together and voila! a beautiful Purple Lemon-rific package for a customer to open and enjoy. Hopefully, it will be memorable for them so when they need another stamp or some stationery they will come back to visit.

Hope you enjoyed a little more info about how I market my shop. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.

garlands5 by littleblackkitty, on Flickr

I am loving the colors and the composition of this photograph. I found it in the Art of Display group on Flickr. Beautiful!

Canoes in lotus yoga by Inaz, on Flickr

I ran across this cool photo the other day while browsing Flickr…I love the bright vivid colors. So gorgeous!

Happy Weekend, lemonheads…Hope you get a chance to go canoeing or something else fun.

Hola lemonheads! Hope you are all doing well. Today’s color palette and pattern are very Purple Lemon. They are named Smoldering Trust and Resignation by umbra. I just new I had to share them when I saw ‘em on ColourLovers.

They are so smoldering to me, very hazy. I think the colors in this palette would make a beautiful painting of a sky after the sun goes down. So misty and shadowy. Beautiful.

I could also see these colors (with a little yellow thrown in) on a website…Imagine that!

Have a great Thursday lemonheads!