My review of Artfire

Artfire is a new up and coming site to rival Etsy.

Here are some lists of pros and cons as I see it-

• Pros
• STATS! Oh my gosh, you know where your shop visitors have come from! this is a feature for a verified account
• Verified accounts are $7.00 a month if you're one of the 1st 5000 to sign up, depending on how much you list this can be cheaper than Etsy.
  
• Oh, I didn't mention that Artfire doesn't take any final value fees or listing fees. $7.00 a month is it if you're verified and if you're free, then its well...free!
  
• Listing is simple, one page!
• So far they've been listening to bug complaints and fixing things relatively quickly.
• They are doing quite a lot of advertising!

• Cons
• They're still a baby website...this is kind of a big con. There are a lot of bugs, there are a lot of problems, but luckily as I said earlier, they seem to fix things pretty quickly and listen to the sellers!
• It isn't quite as pretty as Etsy, the layout is a bit less polished.
  
  Overall though, I LOVE Artfire and I'm positive it will be up there competing with Etsy soon.
  

The artfire mini viewer (like the Etsy mini) for your shop is cute, its a window! You can pick which items you want to go into it, not just your most recent (although you can have your most recent if you want). This is a cool feature. Right now you can only show 4 items but they will work on different customizations of the window.

I've never really liked any of the other Etsy alternatives, this one on the other hand, I am a fan of. I think though, you either need to have the patience to deal with the beta testing, or wait until later to join up.

If you're going to register please use the following link as I get benefits for referrals. I may do a give away for those of you that sign up under my referral. :) I'll post about that tomorrow!

Register on ArtFire.com

Etsy finds: TwilightKnits

I have to pimp this wonderful woman and her beautiful handmade yarn! I purchased a skein of yarn from her to make my first pair of socks! Not only is the yarn BEAUTIFUL it is absolutely soft and will make amazing socks!
Seriously, if you want a caring and helpful seller with excellent yarn, check out Twilight Knits on Etsy!

I don't usually show off the sellers I buy from, but I can't help it when everything is so awesome! She does custom yarn too! Just ask!

Both photos are from Twilight Knit's shop.

Here's the yarn I purchased
I'm going to try to blog more, I know I keep saying this, but I have stuff to blog about, sellers to feature, and more! SO, with material should come more typing! I also really need to make another vlog, but I'm SUCH a chicken.

Check out my artfire! I just started it and will be listing my crochet and knitted objects there rather than Etsy.

Twitter!

I got twitter a while ago, but I didn't really start using it until today. Its so much fun! Plus people say its a great way to advertise sales to your followers!

Advice: Don't just post links to your Etsy shop and talk about sales. Talk about your life! Its like mini-blogging! Its really annoying when people ONLY advertise, and I don't follow those people.

My link is http://twitter.com/goneriding24_7
I'd love to have some new followers!

Obligatory baby horse pic! Sorry for the quality, its from my phone.

Buy Handmade, particularly if its from me!

What is better than free gift wrap?
Could it be free shipping?

How about 20% off?

What about all of them together! That's right! My etsy shop, will be having free shipping and 20% off Black Friday through Cyber Monday (12/1) as well as free gift wrap if requested! This is a great time to buy handmade!

I know I just totally did some shameless self promotion, but really, buying handmade this Christmas is the best way to go! Think about it. If you spend $50 on a necklace at the mall, that money goes to the store thats carrying it, the place that made it, their employees, as well as any distributors or middle men that are in the way! Your $50 becomes small when split into so many pockets! However, if you buy handmade $50 goes directly into the hands of an artisan, that will in turn hopefully purchase Christmas presents themselves! Doesn't this seem more economically beneficial?

hmmm?

OK, Etsy.com it up for Christmas people!

The vlog!

Here's my vlog, if you're interested.

Youtube!

Long time no post! Yikes. I need to start posting in this blog more. Today or tomorrow I'm going to post a vlog on my youtube channel. It will be about horses and crafts. I will hopefully start doing how-to videos and show some of how I work.

My youtube channel is here.

I'm also working on building a website, I will post it when it is ready to be viewed!

So I come bearing more pictures of Deek and a photo of my recent Etsy listing!



Deek meeting Dakota
I made a leather cuff to match a knitted scarf. They are for sale as a bundle in my Etsy shop!

Baby ponies!

I've been so busy! Work and horses and working on fences. I haven't been crafting much, BUT I am getting a new horse! A BABY one! The first picture is him now with his darker coat, but the bottom one is him as shortly after he was born. He is currently seven months old. His name right now is Deeksha, but I'm probably going to change it, I just haven't figured out what to change it to.

Anyway, I don't have long to post I have to go work on the pasture and I'm going to get a website started!


If you haven't yet, you must check out the Handmade Product Directory!

Its and awesome website with tons of great information and advertising ideas and opportunities!