New Look! Same Great Keepsakes & More!

It has been with great trepidation and a few grey hairs that I've completely gutted and revamped my website, Annie Howes Keepsakes to be a little more youthful, a little hipper, and to better reflect the expanding product base.

What's New?


I've added a gallery of Scrabble tile pendants in a variety of styles using different types of papers, including a Custom Photo Pendant. Each decorated tile is generously coated in the same jewelery grade resin I've always used.


I've also added to the website a 1"x1" Photo Charm with Swarovski Crystal, which is an enhanced version of the 1"x1" Photo Charm. This new version adds a little sparkle to your charm.


Also available (and much simpler to order!) is the Custom Photo Bookmark. These make great gifts for the graduate, a teacher, or any other bookworm you may know.

Additionally, I've added international shipping!

Have fun poking around and let me know what you think!

Big News! I've Been Trunkt!

My big news for this week is my portfolio has been accepted into Trunkt, an online website gallery where all types of artists share the best of their best. A juried online portfolio. Trunkt is a place to share your artistic creations, the best of what you've made, with the rest of the world. In Trunkt's own words, "Connecting Specialty Retailers With Amazing Artists". So I'm feeling pretty great being included in such a fine porfolio venue with such amazing artists. If you have a moment, I'd love for you to stop by and leave a comment for me! Annie Howes on Trunkt

T10T...Say What?

I said Take 10 Tuesday!

That's right, the FAM Etsy Street Team is having another fabulous promotion and this time it's take 10% (or whatever!) off in any of our participating Etsy shops!

Beginning at 5:00 pm EST (through midnight Pacific time) on April 22, 2008 the FAM Street Team of Etsy will hold it's first team-wide sale. Each store will have it's own twist on the sale, so please be sure you understand the store's policy when shopping.

In addition to the sale, some of our shop owners have hidden a little T10T secret in some of our listings! Come join us on the Etsy "Etc." forum for clues on where to find our hidden secrets! The item that has T10T hidden in either the text or image will be Super Reduced! Please check with the store owner on their Secret special specifics.

For a list of participating Etsy shops, please visit the FAM Team blog!

I'll StumbleUpon For Ya! A Tutorial.

What is all this StumbleUpon business and why do I want to bother with it? If you're into getting the word out as much as I am, then you might want to give this StumbleUpon thing a go.

StumbleUpon is a search function that you download to your browser toolbar and use to rate sites that you visit. You input the site's category, add some tags, a review, and suddenly you have created a resource used by StumbleUpon to direct users of the feature to that website based on your criteria.

Wow. A functional online personal shopping guru, that will help me find sites I like based on my criteria! I'm all about that. But even better, if I'm an internet shop owner, I want to let people who use StumbleUpon know that my sites and products are out there. So why not Stumble my websites and blog to let people know I exist in this vast web of information and receive hundreds of hits at a time just from those who StumbleUpon?

Bingo!

I've put together a very simple step-by-step guide on how to Stumble a webpage.

First, you'll need to go to www.stumbleupon.com and download the toolbar. Is this safe? Please read the StumbleUpon agreement before proceeding if you have any questions. I've done it and my computer hasn't blown up yet, but I like to live on the edge of insanity.



Next, you'll need to find a site you'll want to Stumble, such as your site, or, perhaps my site at www.anniehowes.etsy.com.



Then, you'll need to categorize what that site is. For my example, I have chosen a Gift Pack Upgrade sold through my Etsy store. I want to stumble not just my Etsy site, but each page within my Etsy site as I list new items. So this I'll categorize under jewelry because that's what it's used for.



Next, I'll want to add tags. Tag these items as you would a listing on Etsy, or Flickr, or anywhere else for that matter. Just be sure your tags are applicable.



Add a review if you're so inclined. I only add reviews if I'm submitting a website, but don't typically bother reviewing individual pages, particularly my own.

Be sure to indicate if the side is Adult or not, then hit submit.

Congratulations! You have just Stumbled a page!

Please let me know if you have any more information on this site or any questions. I'd love to hear from you!

The Cutest Thing

The most exciting package arrived in the mail yesterday...at least according to Angus, my 4 month old Toy Rat Terror, I mean, Terrier. The package contained a cow-print Zadyball, handmade by Alayna on Etsy.

It's been a non-stop Zadyball marathon since the mailman brought it to the door yesterday afternoon. The Zadyball is made of durable cotton and has a little squeaker in it (bells and catnip also available). The multitude of legs drives Angus to manic playful dimensions and really brings out his ferocious hunting nature. The other dogs stare at Angus and his new toy with what appears to be lustful longing. Probably yearning for their very own King Sized Zadyballs so that they could wrap their massive paws and ferocious jaws around them and snarl and toss and be young pups again!