Eclectic Design Choices

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Updating Your Web Presence – Part 1

It is a good idea to do a periodic review all of the places you have created for your business on the web. New features may have been added to sites you are on, information you have posted may need updating to stay current or you may need to prune out a site from your web presence that isn’t working for you. Two recent examples of this that I have been involved with made me think that sharing them with my readers might provide them (you) with a helpful reminder.

It has been about a year now since Blogger added the ability to add static pages to the blogs it hosts. I remember finding out about this fairly early on but didn’t

get a chance to check it out for a while. When I did, I found that it was a pretty easy thing to do. (I suspect that it is even easier to do for a brand new blog than retrofitting an old, modified template like I am using.) Just click on the posting tab on the blogger design page for your blog, click on the edit pages button on the line below the tabs and follow the prompts. You can create up to 10 stand-alone pages this way. I knew intuitively that I wanted to do this and that it should make it easier for people to connect with my information that would be useful to them, but it took a while for me to figure out exactly how I wanted to use this great new feature.

My mental block finally dissolved and currently my blog is a work in progress. I have fleshed out the “bones” by creating my static pages and picked the option to

have them show up as horizontal buttons placed under my header. I then placed a bit of content on each page. Some of this content came out of my side bar so that it is not as cluttered. As I have time, I will be adding content (text, links and visuals) to my tabs with an eye towards cohesiveness, ease of navigation and SEO. Feel free to check back and follow my progress. Perhaps it will give you inspiration for your own blog’s facelift.

What fueled my inspiration to be able to dissolve my mental block? I think it is due in large part to a website review that I just completed for someone that was changing his direction but seemed to be suffering from his own mental block on how best to proceed. (Isn’t it always easier to see what someone else needs to do than to fix your own things?) I’ll do a review of that project next month as this post is getting lengthy.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Spring 2011 Fashion Colors

Want to see if your favorite color made it into Pantone’s color suggestions for spring fashions?

Check out their top 10 women’s fashion color picks for spring 2011 as well as their inspiration for these trends. Did you find a new favorite color in this list? That would be a perfect excuse to treat yourself to something new for the springtime.

Pair your existing wardrobe with a new accessory to add a pop of this spring
season’s colors. Use complementary color pairings to bring a bit of fun to your outfits. For example, pair this coral rose chunky chain, carnelian and agate necklace with a regatta or blue curacao blouse from the opposite side of the color wheel.

Treat your math geek to a funky bright necklace evoking this spring’s

colors of beeswax and peapod. This right triangle necklace will really pop on a russet top and is currently available from EclecticSkeptic.

Other items with Pantone’s spring 2011 fashion colors can be found at EclecticSkeptic and EDCCollective such as this vintage lavender fan necklace. If you don’t find quite what you are looking for, please contact me to see if I have the materials to create a custom piece to accessorize your outfits with a splash of the spring color you are looking for.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

EDCCollective 2 Year Etsyversary

Once in a blue moon, or less often, you get to take advantage of a sale at EDCCollective. That's because I don't add "sale padding" to my everyday prices. I want my customers to know that they are getting a fair deal every day of the year, not just on sale days. However, EDCCollective's two year Etsyversary seems to me to be a good reason to hold a sale to show my appreciation for helping me reach this milestone. To celebrate, I'm offering a store wide 10% off sale in my EDCCollective Etsy shop. (shipping not included)

Only subscribers to my newsletter and readers of my blog or Facebook business page wall will know about this sale and the secret code. The prices that you see in my shop will be my everyday prices. The way to participate in this sale is to order on Wednesday, February 9 (the date of EDCCollective's 2nd Etsyversary). In the "notes to seller" of your order, you must write the secret code, Happy Etsyversary, EDC2. After you have paid using PayPal, I will refund 10% of your merchandise total through PayPal. (When you check out with PayPal, you have the option of using your PayPal account or paying with a credit card.)

Remember, this sale is only valid at EDCCollective and only on Wednesday, February 9, 2011 with the secret code. Thank you in advance for shopping at EDCCollective during this sale and know that you are appreciated.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Thanks for the Treasuries - January 2011

Eight different Etsians contacted me to let me know that they had featured one or more of my items in a treasury during January. Ten January treasuries included one of my items. Two of them included two of my items. My turquoise gathering pins and my vintage purple cloisonne fan necklace made their way into two separate treasuries during the month of January. You can see a collage below of my items from EDCCollective and EclecticSkeptic that were featured during January. (Click on the collage to see a larger view.)

I really appreciate being featured by the treasury makers. To thank them, I have listed below (in alphabetical order) links to the 8 different Etsians that let me know that they featured at least one of my items, as well as an item from their shop or profile that I like.

Enjoy window shopping and please click on the shop links of anything that catches your eye.