Artful Living: Living Green with Lovely Little Deer + Free Books?

I'm not sure which one is cuter! :D

I recently discovered a wonderful blog named lovely little deer by Rebecca Nia. I also won a wonderful Valentine painting through her blog from Chloe McGenn, a lovely artist Rebeeca featured at the end of January.

Valentine Petit Four Painting by Chloe McGenn

Rebecca's "about me" reads:

"I love to craft! All kinds of things, i'm very whimsical! I love to host giveaways, do reviews and feature awesome fellow crafters on my blog. I have three cats and two dogs and I'm crazy about them. I'm married and live in the U.K. I adore taking pictures. I'm a sci-fi nerd! I'm sensitive and shy. I live in my own dreamworld."

Rebecca and *one* of her babies

In her most recent post she also states,

"I'm evolving into something more sophisticated and I am loving the change. I'm still cute, I'm still me only with a lady essence sprinkled on top, ha, whatever that means..."

hehe I love it!

Rebecca just finished The Thrift Book: Live Well and Spend Less by India Knight. Looks like it was quite the inspiration because Rebecca has written a wonderful article chock full of eco-conscious and thrifty tricks and tips for beauty, fashion, home, gift-giving... all without looking or feeling cheap. After all, what's the point of saving your pennies if you're miserable all the time? Check it out here.

In commenting on her post I realized that I had something to contribute to the conversation. So I thought I might post here to both bring attention to Rebecca's post and to gather my thoughts together on my own blog.

Another thing you can do is take your green/thrifty consciousness into your craft room. Take a look at the book Green Guide for Artists by Karen Michel. It's full of awesome. Not only does it have lots of eco-conscious choices for art/craft but it's full of eye candy, too, so you're not gonna feel cheated there, either. :D Pretty visuals are always important to me. (I asked for this one from my mom for Christmas. :D My way of being thrifty.)

If you're a big booklover, I have a couple suggestions for you.

1. If you feel you just *have* to have a certain book, make a public wishlist at Amazon and make sure friends and relatives know that's what you want for gifts. (You can actually add other things to your list besides books but people love to buy books for the people they love. :P)

2. There are also a few websites online where you can trade used books with other people, for example paperbackswap.com. Be sure to check international swap rules.

3. Join librarything.com and catalog your books and write reviews. They have an Early Reviewer list that you can sign up for as well as a list of books that members are giving away. There are different books for different countries.

4. And last, but not least, if you have a blog with a good-size readership, contact the publisher of the book you're interested in (if it's a newish release) and tell them you're interested in receiving a review copy. Tell them your blog stats, your target audience and when you will publish the review. It's always good to ask if they have a reviewer list that you can be added to, as well. Just let them know the categories of books you are interested in. You don't have to "know somebody", either... just use the contact form on the main website. It'll get forwarded to the marketing person.

I hope you enjoy getting to know Rebecca and that her post inspires you as much as it did me.

Handmade Holidays: IS*LY Christmas Candy Box Printable

Looking for a cute way to package up those handmade treats? Or maybe a gift card with a few little candies? Melissa at IS*LY, I Still Love You, has designed and released her third annual Christmas candy box and it's a definite keeper. Don't forget to grab the previous two as well.

She also has several other freebies and a TON of tutorials so check out the links over in the sidebar. Make sure you hae plenty of time, though, because you *will* be inspired. I guarantee it.

Oh, and if there is ever an award for coolest blog name ever, she has my vote. *grin*

The One about Yesterday's Post and the Wrong Email Address

My apologies to anyone who may have tried to email me about yesterday's Artful Living post on guest bloggers using the email address posted within the article. I left out one little letter but it makes all the difference between arriving in my inbox and floating away like a child's balloon.

So please please try again. The correct email address is primseydolls @ yahoo.com <----- see it's plural - more than one doll, a holdover from a dozen years ago when I designed primitive doll and stitchery patterns. :)

Artful Living: Seeking Guest Artists, Writers, & Reviewers

Living life as art... is it too much to expect? Not when you have the right tools. Read reviews of the latest art books, supplies, and a small selection of handmade goods aimed at helping you lead a life filled with fun and creativity.

I am looking for all of the following:

Guest writers to write an article on handmade goods. The specific focus is open for discussion.

Examples:

*the resurgence of handmade
*how to promote your handmade goods online and/or at craft shows or in local stores
*online handmade markets
*personal stories involving handmade perhaps involving the holidays, memories or learning to sew or craft (not necessarily business success stories)
*suggestions welcome

Guest book reviewers to write a review of an art/craft book. After completion of a short questionnaire, it may be possible that I will supply you with the book from one of my publisher partners. For a list of publishers that I work with please see the right sidebar of LLA. Reviews should contain the cover image and at least 2 images/scans from inside the book that are not available to view on Amazon or similar book sites. The cover image also should not be the Amazon one with the “Look inside” arrow.

Guest artists to write an article or tutorial sharing instructions and photos for a handmade project.

Articles

Articles and reviews should be 750-1000 words and contain 2-3 photos. Projects and tutorials should not be fewer than 500 words and contain as many photos or illustrations as necessary to be attractive and instructive. Articles should be original content (not previously published). Articles must be checked for proper spelling and grammar before submission. Please verify that your information is accurate as I do not fact-check for you.

Images

Photographs and illustrations should be your own and can be jpg or png format. I prefer 96 or 100 dpi and approximately 600-650 pixels wide. Please make sure your photos are in focus. Watermarks are acceptable as long as they are discreet.

Outbound Links

When articles and projects refer to sites or products that belong to the author this should be stated upfront. For example: After listing the supplies for a project one might say "For your convenience I have put together supply kits available in my Etsy shop here (link)." "For more articles on Etsy teams see my blog (link)." “I share daily journal pages on my blog at BlahBlahBlah (link).” All other topic-related outbound links are permissible.

A 3-4 sentence bio should also be included at the end with no more than 3 personal outbound links. A bio picture is preferred but not required.

Acceptable links include:

*a personal website or blog related to the topic or in the general field of arts and crafts
*a personally-owned business site that sells handmade items, supplies or services related to the topic or in the general field of arts and crafts
*any online shop such as Etsy, Artfire, Dawanda, Zibbet, Supermarket that sells supplies or services related to the topic or in the field of arts and crafts
*a personal, or personally-owned business, social networking site such as Facebook, Twitter, Ning, Yahoo or Google groups, Librarything, etc.
*question about a site? Just ask.

You will continue to own the copyright to all original content you submit. You do grant Living Life as Art the right to edit as necessary for publication. Just as articles may not be published before submission to LLA, I also ask that you do not reprint the article for 1 (one) year afterward, but that you link back to the article on LLA. In fact, you are strongly encouraged to link to your article on personal blogs, social networking sites, and/or in web forums especially in the first days following its publication.

Articles and projects will be archived in the sidebar under the appropriate Artful Living button: Books, Supplies, Handmade, Projects, and/or Websites.

All guest posts will be cross-marketed on Twitter, Facebook, the LLA subscriber newsletter through Google Groups and online forums as appropriate including, but not limited to, Fiskateers, 2Peas in a Bucket, the Journal Pages or You Got Mail! mailart groups on Facebook, etc.

Unrelated:

Please contact me for a review spec sheet if you are interested in any of the following:

*Artists who are willing to send an example(s) of their handmade product for a special feature/review.
*Sites that offer special services (not goods) to artists and crafters and are interested in being featured on LLA.
*Artists, sites, online shops, and companies who offer art/craft supplies and are interested in sending samples of their product for a special feature.
*Authors who have written books that cater to the artist or crafter and would like to see their book featured/reviewed on LLA. This review will also be posted on Amazon and Librarything.

primseydolls(at)yahoo.com
Living Life as Art

My December visitor stats are: 6500 Unique Hits and 17,600 Page Views. My Google PageRank is 4.

Artful Living: Blog Expansion Complete

Ladies and gentlemen, please put your seats in an upright position and fasten your seatbelts. Now take a look in the right sidebar at the new column heading titled "Artful Living" conveniently placed at the top. Notice there are five buttons below it: Books, Supplies, Handmade, Projects, Websites? And then a sixth heading named "Sponsors"?

I am excited to announce that I am expanding the blog. I will no longer just be doing art/craft book reviews. I will also be bringing you reviews of art supplies and handmade goods from smaller companies and indie artists. I will also be sharing more handmade projects from myself and guest artists. Under the websites tab you'll find articles about blogs and sites that I feel help foster a love of creativity and an artful life.

Each month will also bring a new set of sponsors. These sponsors are companies or shops whose products I am personally using and endorsing. At the beginning of the month I will run a feature about each of them and then you will find their link under the sponsor button for the rest of the month.

With all of my product reviews (including my sponsors), these are products that I use and love. I do not accept payment for my reviews or sponsor spaces. Companies do send me product to review and/or in exchange for sponsor space but this doesn't affect what I write. I am very particular about the companies that I accept submissions from and that I send queries to so that I offer only the very best to my readers.

For more information on my disclosure policy, see here.

If you are interested in being featured for any of the following:

a guest artist/project article
artist/handmade review
book/art supply review
website/blog review
sponsor space(which includes a review)

please contact me for a spec sheet at primseydolls @ yahoo.com


I hope you'll join me in this new direction.