May 25, 2009

memorial day.

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope every one is having a great Memorial Day & and a great three day weekend!

Andy and I used the three day break as an excuse to head down to Houston and catch a baseball game. Andy's a big baseball fan and thus I've become one. Our team is the Texas Rangers - whose home field we've seen plenty of games at. And since we are so close to Houston, we thought we'd check out a new ball park.

We watched our Rangers take on the Houston Astros at Minute Maid park in downtown Houston. It's always an adventure driving around the big city, but we found our way (thanks to GPS; I don't know how I survived without it).

There were lots of Rangers fans at the game since to two cities aren't two far apart. And luckily for us, the Rangers won! It's always a fun time to see your team win.

The rest of our weekend has been taken slow and easy. We took in a movie on Sunday and most of today has been spent doing some chores like laundry.

And of course I've snuck in some crafting. I've got some new slippers and headbands on the way for this week, so keep an eye out for those goodies coming soon.

And don't forget to enter the Broken Hallelujah summer giveaway for a chance to win your very own custom pair of mary jane slippers. Click here for more info.

May 23, 2009

memorial day sale.

That's right! Broken Hallelujah Accessories is having a Memorial Day sale!

All items in my Artfire studio are 15% off!

The sale runs from today (Sat 5/23) till 10 p.m. (Central) on Monday (5/25). All items in my Artfire studio have been marked down 15%, including the mary jane slippers, headbands, and new bookmarks.

This is the perfect opportunity to do some early Christmas shopping or pick up those pair of mary jane slippers you've been coveting for awhile.

Please feel free to tweet, retweet, plurk, etc. about my sale! I really appreciate it. And please stop on by and check out the goodies.

I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend! Relax and enjoy yourself. (And do some shopping!)

May 20, 2009

what's sprung.

Some of my beauties growing out on the porch right now. I really love spending the sunny afternoons in the shade of the porch with some cool Italian soda, a snack, and these lovlies to look at. They brighten up my day. I hope everyone is enjoying the colors & warmth of summer in bloom! Don't forget about my giveaway - there's still plenty of time to enter!

May 16, 2009

summer giveaway!

Broken Hallelujah is having their first every give away! And it's a good one, too. This give away is for your very own custom pair of mary jane slippers! Summer is always a slow slipper season for me, so in an effort to try to stir up some excitement for the great slippers being added to the shop (and those already there!).

I know you didn't come to hear me blab on about how great my slippers are (and they are great!) so let's get on to what you need to do to win a pair of your very own!

What you win:
This give away is for a pair of my mary jane slippers in the winner's choice of color(s) & size. This give away is open to my variegated and two color slippers like those pictured in this post. It does not include my animal themed slippers or my fuzzy slippers. If you're looking around my shop of slipper ideas (& I hope you are) think of a $15 price-cap on the slippers.

How you enter:
Entering is simple. 

  • Go to either my Artfire or Etsy shops and tell me your absolute favorite item. 
  • OR tell me an item you like but a different color you'd like to see it in. 
  • Leave a comment below with the item &/or your suggestions for it. This will earn you one entry. (1 entry)

You can earn a couple extra entries by doing any of the following:

  • tweet about this giveaway. Leave me your twitter username in a comment. (1 entry)
  • become a fan of Broken Hallelujah on Facebook. Leave your Facebook name in a comment. (1 entry)
  • join my newsletter. Tell me you did in a comment. (1 entry)
  • refer a friend. Ask a friend to stop by my shop & tell me their favorite item in a comment to this entry. Be sure to tell them to put your name in the comment as the referee. (3 entries for you & 1 for your friend) - there is a limit of 5 referrals/entrant.
  • buy an item from either my Artfire or Etsy shop between now & the contest closing date. Leave a comment with your bought item & the date you bought it. (10 entries)

That means you can earn up to 17 entries in this giveaway!

How you win:
A winner will be drawn randomly on June 1st. Please be sure to leave a way to contact you (email, Etsy/Artfire username) in your comment so I can let you know if you are the winner and we can work on your very own custom pair of slippers.

How long the contest runs:
You have until May 31st to enter. So what are you waiting for?!

May 11, 2009

shop update

I haven't done an update on all the goodies being added to the shop in awhile. I've been busy busy busy crocheting up a storm. Slippers, headbands, bookmarks, and more are all being added to the shop almost daily!

Recently added to the shop is this pair of mary jane slippers. They are crocheted in a variegated green color that inspired their name: Mint Mojito. It's the perfect color for a pair of comfy spring house shoes & that's what you'll find with these slippers. Those and several others (including some old favorites like Sunburst and Cotton Candy) are now available in the shop and I have some more on the way! You can see all of my handmade mary janes by clicking here.

I have also been working up a storm on my increasingly popular three strand headbands. I have added more with a detachable flower pin (like the one pictured here) & a new style that has alternating colors of the strands. They are both selling really quickly. This black one has been a very popular choice & I'm constantly having to make more to replace the inventory.

New colors along with classics like Midnight Black, Espresso Brown, and Cornflower Blue are stocked up in the shop now.

What I love about these headbands is they have a classic style - inspired by the always fashionable Greek goddess look. You can wear them in more than one way, however. You can customize the flower and create fun color combinations (alternative flowers are also available in many colors for only $2.50!). You can wear them further back on the head for a classic look or can wear it further forward on your forhead to produce the popular bohemian look. Wear it your way depending on your mood!

You can see all my headbands in my shop now!

May 8, 2009

clean & green

I love the clean lines of these works & the combination of simple green and white. Click the images above for more information on each item.

May 4, 2009

Tips on using Facebook with your online business.

I have never really shared any tips & tricks for online businesses here before, but selling online for four years has taught me something (I think). Everyday online is an adventure & I'm always trying to learn more about how to market myself and get the Broken Hallelujah Accessories name out there. When people ask me what the hardest part of selling online is, I say advertising. It's hard, time consuming, sometimes frustrating, and you rarely see the results right away. I use several methods to get my products seen including Flickr & Twitter. One platform of "advertising" that had alluded me for awhile now was Facebook. I simply didn't get how to use it as a business owner. I've done some reading & studying & followed tips I've received from friends and fellow artisans and I think I may have begun to crack it! Below are some tips I have for using Facebook to get yourself seen!

First, get a 'fan' page for your site. Whether it be Etsy, Artfire, or both, creating a fan page for your shop allows you to share new items, sales, announcements & more. People can then become fans of your shop & you can send annoucements to all of them at one time. It's a very easy way to send a message to multiple people all in an instant. And when new pictures, links, annoucements, or sales are posted on your fanpage they will usually show up on your personal facebook accounts actions - meaning they turn up on your friend's news feeds even if they aren't fans of you on Facebook. This allows you to reach even more people! Plus, encouraging your friends to fan your page then causes that action to show up on their friend's news feeds - so people you have never even heard of are learning about you & and your product. And they could be potential customers! This chain of events is one thing that makes Facebook so great - you reach new people on lots of levels. Facebook is all about exploiting this!

Once you get your fan page set up it can seem daunting to get people to become your fan. You have to get out there & let people know you exist. Share your fan page with friends on facebook, tweet your fan page, blog it (you can join my fan page here). Use your other social networks. You can also usually share your fan page on the Etsy & Artfire facebook group pages. Search for Etsy and/or Artfire on Facebook and see what you find.

These groups/fan pages for your selling avenue brings you a whole new place to introduce yourself & share your products. You can usually share links to your shop(s), post images of your item, and network with fellow artisans. We all know (hopefully) how imporant networking can be, so make the best of the opportunities these pages give you. I try to post images of my new items right after I list them along with sharing links to new items every once in a while. I don't want to seem like I'm spamming myself, so be sure to join in on disccussions in the disccussion boards and make new friends!

I haven't mastered Facebook, myself. But since I've begun commenting on people's fan pages, sharing images, etc. I have seen the number of visits to my shop's fan page jump more than 3x! Facebook provides you with stats, so you can monitor your own progress. I hope these tips are helpful. And if you have tips of your own, please share them. If you create or have a Facebook fanpage for your shop, please leave me the link in the comments so I can become a fan of yours. You can become a fan of Broken Hallelujah Accessories by clicking here.

May 2, 2009

fungus among us.

Photo highlights of a morning spent away from the crochet needle, away from the computer, away from the stress, & just out in the open. Enjoyed the warm, humid day, the flowers by the trails, the extremely photogenic fungus, & a picnic in the trees. Did not enjoy forgetting the bug spray and occasionally be swarmed by hungry mosquitoes on certain trails.

Tomorrow it's back to the grind doing those weekly chores like groceries & laundry while also catching up on some online business. I hope everyone's weekend has been as lovely as mine, if less mosquito-y.

May 1, 2009

friday spotlight: birds.

This spotlight is going to the birds!