UPDATE YOUR NAVIGATION BAR IN BLOGGER by Pugly Pixel

After I opened the Etsy Shop, I couldn't stop thinking about my hum drum navigational bar that you see above {edited to add - tutorial to the rescue - I transformed boring blue to the looker you now see!}. The best I could do was make it blue. Yawn!  I wanted to customize it like all the other gorgeous ones I've seen out there but I just didn't know how.  My obsessive blog reading saves the day once again!

Yesterday, Miss Tristan B. posted on the Besotted Brand blog all about an e-course called CSS Pretty created by Katrina of Pugly Pixel.    You can see the post here.

Let me tell you, it was a game changer for me. Not only am I totally considering taking the course, but I literally ate up all the free tutorials available on Katrina's site including the one below (go directly to the site by clicking here ). They are clear, concise, understandable, professional - I could go on and on.

If you are as shy about changing your CSS code in blogger as I was, this will convert you.  Stay tuned to bask in the beauty of my new navigational bar! J

PANTONE SPRING 2013 & CMYK CODES

Apparently, I'm already over the idea of Fall and Winter as I'm already thinking ahead to the Spring 2013 Pantone fashion color report. I guess that happens if you've been thinking about holiday card design ideas since July!

Check out these beauties...

Spring 2013 Fashion Report Colors from Pantone

Anyway... if you've been reading my little blog you'll know that I'm a self taught stationery designer who discovered Adobe Illustrator earlier this year and went into serious withdrawal when my free trial on my third and last computer ran out.  Lucky for me, Ai was permanently added to the family in August.  Woot!

Before the new Ai addition came into my life, CMYK codes had never really factored in. Sadly, my only experience with color coding was using RGB in PowerPoint!  Now, it seems all I think about is CMYK.  So much so, that I'm beginning to appreciate all the CMYK tattoos I've been seeing on Pinterest.

PHOTO CREDIT: Threadless 

PHOTO CREDIT: CHRIS GLASS

As getting a permanent tattoo to show my CMYK love isn't it the cards, I'm so glad Tina Roth Eisenberg was smart enough to include the crop marks/CMYK design for her temporary tattoo shop - Tattly.  So fun!

PHOTO CREDIT: TATTLY DESIGN via FELT & WIRE

So now that you know about my CMYK obsession love, you can't imagine the nirvana I experienced when I realized that Pantone actually supplied the CMYK codes in their color reports!   A - wait for it - MAZING!

Instead of fast forwarding to Spring 2013, I went right back to the Fall 2012 Color Report and gobbled up all those goodies!  Of course, all the other color nerds probably knew all about this, but for those that didn't I had to share.

Enjoy!

MUSIC MONDAY vol 23

Happy Monday!  This week I thought it would be fun to feature a blast from my past.

I give you Strange Powers by The Magnetic Fields.  Enjoy!

a

MINTIE FRESH - WEDDINGS

I took a little time away from launching the store to put my new found typography lessons into practice by submitting a few designs to The Perfect Match Wedding Invitations Challenge from Minted.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and if you like what you see - vote for me!

wedding invitations - Savannah Square

wedding invitations - circle of love

ETSY EDUCATOR CLASS - MARKETING YOUR ETSY SHOP

I attended a local event last night called - Marketing Your Etsy Shop.  The event was hosted by the wonderful Rebecca George of purpleandlime.  Etsy recently invited a select group of ladies to the Etsy HQ in Brooklyn and asked that they take part in a new certification process so they could become Etsy educators.  Rebecca was part of that flagship group.  These Etsy educators are not employees of Etsy, rather ambassadors who share the knowledge and experience with other sellers. 

In addition to the super cute TAG-O-RAMA pad and Etsy sticker shown above, Rebecca provide the class with some awesome tips on using Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and your blog to get the word out on you shop listings.  I can't wait to put these tips to use!

If you are selling on etsy (or thinking about selling on Etsy), I would highly recommend seeing if there are certified Etsy Educator classes in your neck of the woods and if so, signing up for one.  Time well spent for sure!

If you have attended one of these classes or are thinking about doing so, email me.  I'd love to discuss!

IT'S OFFICIAL - THE ETSY SHOP IS OPEN!

I'm proud to say that the Squareview Studios Etsy shop opened yesterday!  That said, it opened not with a bang, but a whimper whisper - pretty quietly and without fan fare.

You can find a direct link to the shop in the tab above if you're interested in taking a gander.

A few musings on the experience : 

• Writing shop policies is not easy.  In fact, it is pretty darn hard.  It took so much more time than I originally allotted.  Note to future shop owners, give yourself several hours to write, review, tweak, review again, edit & finalize your shop policies.  You'll thank me later.
• Writing an item description is a little easier but still took way longer than I expected.  Give yourself enough time to complete this task.
• Photography styling and post photography editing is super important.  Even with all my planning and prop gathering, I'm still not satisfied with my shop photos.  In all likelihood, you will see all new pics in the shop in less than a week. 
• It takes at least a couple dozen items (if not more) to make your shop look like it is not empty and I learned this the hard way.  After countless hours (months even) designing and perfecting the 13 items I have in the shop right now, I was so proud to get those listings live and couldn't wait to see everything come together. Once I completed everything and took a step back to take it all in, I have to say, I was left wanting (que wa waaa waaa sound effect). Never fear, I'm getting back to the drawing board and you should expect to see more listings ASAP.  In fact, I have 7 beautiful social stationery designs already photographed but I didn't post because I hadn't finalized my color choices yet.  Expect to see those listing shortly.  

Here is a sneak peak....

See what I mean about the photo editing?  All three of these cards were photographed on the exact same white background.  Even fiddling with the white balance on my camera, all three came out looking different from one another.  Ugh!  

I know I want to tell a story with the shop and consistency is the key to doing so.  Me thinks I'm in for a big day of re-shoots.  I'm looking for alternate solutions as I type this... Any suggestions would be MOST welcome!!

Onwards and upwards though as tonight I'm off to my first Etsy Community event!  I can't wait to tell you all more about it tomorrow.  

MUSIC MONDAYS vol 22

Happy Music Monday!  Today I give you Beirut on the Riptide with Sante Fe.  Enjoy!

p.s. The countdown to shop opening is on.  Like me on Facebook to get all the details!