Facebook Fan Pages Fail

At least that is what it can seem like, after having spent a lot of time trying to make an engaging and interesting business fan page and growing a fan base to interact with, given all of the changes that Facebook keeps making with regards to visibility of status updates. Have you noticed that fan pages that you have liked for businesses, bands or other organizations seem to never or hardly ever post anymore because you don’t see them like you used to on your news feed? There is a good chance they are still posting but that posting for them now is a little like the sound of one hand clapping.

What can you do about it if you are not seeing the posts from a particular facebook fan page that you want to see on your news feed? It is possible to tell Facebook to send those updates your way again. Go to the Facebook page that you previously liked. Hover over the “liked” button on that page and then click on “settings”. You will now see 3 options: “All Updates”, “Most Updates” and “Only Important”. Click on “All Updates” to start the flow again of information from that page to your news feed. Screen shots of these steps are shown below. So if you liked a fan page because you really want to know when their next gig is, when they are running specials, etc. please follow these instructions so that business, band or organization will actually feel “liked”. (Note: If a business pays Facebook to promote their posts, you will likely see them no matter what settings you choose.)

Design This – Custom Blue Feather Earrings

Late last year, one of my repeat custom customers asked if I was familiar with that blue color that was getting so popular and could I make some earrings in that hue. I did remember a pretty blue on the fall 2012 pantone color report. I found the report and used “Olympian Blue” as a reference and starting point to see if could fill this request. Additional design parameters of length and movement of the feathers for one of the earrings and that matching beads be used for the other earring were included in this request.

While I have occasionally used dyed feathers in my creations, I prefer to use naturally colored feathers either purchased as craft feathers or molted feathers from individuals that collect, clean, disinfect and sell their pet’s molted feathers to help support their birds. While peacock feathers do have some of this color naturally, they also have several other colors and this customer already had a couple of earrings that included peacock feathers that I had made for her, so I kept looking. I did find three macaw feathers in my supplies that I thought had the potential of meeting the color and length criteria. I mocked up both the feather and bead earrings and sent a photo off to my customer. I was given the go ahead to make finished earrings based on the mock up photo.

My original intention was to dangle both feathers from the same point on a bit of chain. I found this to be problematic for two reasons. Adding the chain to the length of the feathers was going to make the earrings too long and dangling from the chain, the feathers tended to flip and show their duller back sides, getting rid of the visual of the blue that was desired. I searched for another solution that stayed true to the original design parameters.

I found some great looking earring posts that would help keep the earrings short enough but still allow me to attach them in such a way as to maintain some movement of the feathers without having them flip over. As we discussed this solution we decided to hang the beads from a length of chain to make the second earring closer in length to the feather earring. Since I was using only one post out of each pair that I had purchased and because I had one feather left that matched the other two feathers that I was using in the first earring, I asked if she would like to have a single feather earring added to the set. This would give her more flexibility to mix and match. I don’t think she hesitated for a second to have me add the third earring to her set.

I later saw of photo of my customer wearing both feather earrings with a blue top of the exact same blue as the feathers paired with a white scarf that really made the feathers stand out. I’m always so thrilled to see my finished creations work out so well for my customers.

Please contact me if you are looking for something special and I will see if I can create it for you.

Menacing Invasive Plants

The last time you thought of a plant as menacing might have been while you watched “Little Shop of Horrors”, however there may be menacing plants hiding in plain sight in your yard, non-native invasives. I must admit that before I became more aware of this issue, I thought anything sold in the nursery trade had the potential for being a good plant in my yard. I quickly found out that several of these plants were not well adapted to my area without a lot of care. This was not as disturbing as to find out that something that I had purchased and tended to, might have the potential of escaping my yard and wreaking havoc on the local environment, much as the fire ant displaced the native harvester ant that was the main food source for the now endangered Texas horned lizard.

Thankfully not all non-natives are invasive. To find out why you would want to know which plants are non-native invasives so that you can avoid them, the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center has a wealth of information about what havoc these menaces can wreak on the environment, industry and agriculture and what you can do to help combat them. They also have some great resource links if you want to do some follow up reading. Another fun place to learn more about invasive plants is from Commander Ben’s website. This amazing teen has put together entertaining and kid friendly information about the dark side of invasive plants while providing well researched facts.

Two invasive plants that already had a foothold on my property when I acquired it, and that I do battle with, are Johnson grass and privet. They are pictured. Luckily, privet is a shallow rooted plant and before a single plant turns into a thicket, it is easily pulled with a weed wrench. Small ones can even be easily pulled by hand when the ground has enough moisture in it. Johnson grass can be hand dug but a large infestation may have to be initially controlled by chemicals. In my experience any newly opened piece of ground, especially one that is not regularly mowed such as around a newly placed post will invite Johnson grass to take up residence.

Please do your part to educate yourself so that your lovely gardens don’t become a breeding ground for an invasion on the surrounding native environment.

Thanks for the Treasuries - May 2013

Three different Etsians and one Etsy team let me know that they had featured one or more of my items in a treasury during May. Five May Etsy treasuries, that treasury makers let me know about, included one of my creations. You can see a collage below of my items from EDCCollective and EclecticSkeptic that were featured during May. (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 3 Etsy sellers that let me know that they featured one of my items, as well as an item from their shop that I like in addition to the TexasFriendsTeam that also featured an item of mine.

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

AtticBasement
This shop redirects fun, attractive, and collectable tangibles from the past to worthy owners of the future.

HotdogCrafts
Earrings Rings Necklaces. Gift ideas for girls & woman. Animals, Retro, Sports, Ham Radio, Birds, Bees and more.

NoTwoFeathers
This jewelry artist creates fresh, fun, one of a kind - handcrafted jewelry.

TXFriendsTeam
Past, present and future Texans are welcome and encouraged to join this team. The only real rules of the group is to promote friendly, The Texas Way and be respectful to all who participate.

Formal but Fun Father’s Day Gifts

While some men only opt for French cuffs that necessitate a pair of cufflinks when they reach for a tux, others enjoy wearing them to work or even on a casual dinner date. A plus of these cuffs is that you can change the bling (cufflinks) to suit your mood or just be a bit different when you wear a particular shirt.

Whether the man in your life favors wearing cufflinks with formal wear or collects them and wears them often, my online Etsy shop, EclecticSkeptic, features a couple of fun to formal designs that would be a nice addition to your guy’s wardrobe come Father’s Day. Both the flying pigs and the music notes are available in silver plated or gold plated cufflinks. The music note cufflinks can also be customized with initials.

The third Sunday of June is fast approaching. If you want a customized music note cufflink pair in time for Father’s Day this year, I need to hear from you very soon. I have a few pair of both the flying pig and music note cufflinks in stock and ready to ship to you to give as gifts. (Of course there is nothing to stop you from buying them for yourself if you have taken a fancy to them.)

If your guy doesn’t have a shirt with French cuffs, you could get him one in addition to a pair of cufflinks and then take him to dinner on Father’s Day so he can wear his new goodies.

Design This – Hearts and Pearls

While displaying my creations at a show last holiday season, another vendor spied a pair of stick pearl earrings that she really liked. They were unusual in that they were drilled longitudinally. Unfortunately, they were also part of a necklace and earring set that I didn’t want to split up because I did not expect to be able to find more pearls to make new earrings to match the necklace exactly.

Earlier this year I came across a pair of matching stick pearls drilled in the same fashion. I emailed the vendor to see if she still had an interest in a similar pair of earrings to the pair she had seen last year. She was, so I took a few mock up photos for her to pick the color bead that she wanted to accompany the pearls. During this process, she also asked if I had any small heart beads to make some simple heart earrings for her too.

My first thought was, “If your business name is Merry Heart Face Painting, it makes sense that you would like hearts and want to wear them.” (It turns out I must like hearts too as I had quite a selection of heart beads from which to choose, including gemstone, glass and cloisonné hearts.) After choosing the three types of hearts that she liked the best, her wishes for the completed earrings was that they be small and minimalist. After sending images of some mock up earrings showing different combinations of beads that I had on hand to accompany the selected hearts, we settled on the designs.

After completing all of the earrings and getting approval from the photo proofs that I sent, payment arrived and I shipped everything off. I hope the new earrings will come in handy for a bit of branding for Merry Heart Face Painting or just for plain enjoyment. (If you ever need a face painter, she does great work.)

If you are looking for jewelry using a special component please contact me to see if I can fill your request.

Garden Tool Review - Weed Wrench

Have you ever been plagued by saplings in your shrubs, mesquite in your meadow or privet around your pond? Digging woody invasives that have gotten too big to pull by hand can be a real challenge to get rid of. Digging is often out of the question because of collateral damage to desirable plants. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to just pluck these pests straight out of the ground? You can, with a Weed Wrench.

I found out about this cool tool at a lecture about managing invasive plants at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. When I got home, I looked up the product online and after reading about it, ordered the largest one they had. My husband has pulled a small, 10-12 foot elm tree that was crowding our barn. Because of their taproots, pecans must be pulled before reaching 3-4 feet. What size woody plant can be pulled, is a combination of root development and soil moisture. I wish I had found this tool many years before I did. It has been invaluable in clearing out mesquite that has tried to colonize our pasture and for clearing saplings from our fence rows.

The Weed Wrench is basically a giant orange lever with jaws. These jaws clamp around the base of the plant that you wish to pull and hold it firmly while you pull back on the top of the lever. Your pulling and gripping forces are multiplied such that it is amazing to see what you are able to just pop out of the ground. The weed wrench comes in several sizes to match the job at hand. We ordered the next size down from the biggest one later for me to use as it was easier for me to lug around. The product’s website has some useful tips for selecting a size and using a Weed Wrench.

Because less soil surface is broken when using the Weed Wrench to remove woody pests than if you were to dig them out, fewer weed seeds will sprout in areas that need a lot of clearing. Less disturbance also occurs below ground when you use the Weed Wrench to pluck an unwanted plant that some bird planted among your prized roses, or other prized plants. In addition, you will expend much less energy wrenching rather than digging your unwanted woody pests.

This tool can also be used to pull up “T” posts and other stakes. If any of these examples sound like something you could use a bit of help with, check out the Weed Wrench to see if it could be a solution for you. (I am not affiliated with the company that makes this tool, I’m just a very happy customer.)

(The photos in this post demonstrate the Weed Wrench being used to pull an almost 6' mulberry tree from next to a clump of ironweed and a chain link fence. In the third photo you can see how nicely the root is being plucked straight out without the ironweed being disturbed.)

Update: While the original maker of the product ceased production, the rights have been sold to someone else where you can find their Uprooter or Weed Wrench.