Stampington Holiday & Celebrations Annual Issue is out and SpookyTime Jingles looks great!

I am so pleased with the Stampington Holiday and Celebrations annual issue-2010! It is their best issue yet. I am SOO happy we decided to kick up our ad campaign with them this year.

The issue has not even officially hit the stands yet (tomorrow 9/1) and it already seems to be their best selling issue. This issue will be featured in EVERY Barnes and Nobles, nationwide through October 2010 on end caps to showcase it!

We are on the first page in..

And the back cover!

I know that there are VERY FEW left to order. No exaggeration. So if you plan on ordering one, I suggest you hustle up! link below to order

http://www.stampington.com/html/holidays_celebrations_2010.html

Plus a big congrats to my STJ artists and friends Iva Wilcox, Jenn McGlon, Tracy Nuskey-Dodson and Melissa Valeriote for their wonderful features inside this amazing issue!

Wonderful wake up call

Today was a first...I slept in a bit after a late night and was woken up in the late morn by a friendly gentlman who is the Editor in chief of a large magazine. Kinda went like this:

Hmmm..yes, I am Dani.
Yes, I would love to do a two part interview with you about SpookyTimeJingles.com.
Your calling from where? Really....your kind of far, how did you hear about STJ?

You are doing a story on Halloween Collectibles and the fast growing industry that it has become for original folk art and my name keeps coming up to interview?
(heart and tummy are doing the mambo at this point).

ok...
blah, blah, Halloween, Blah, Worlds finest artists, blah blah.
(I blathered on like a tween crushing on Justin Beiber)

40 minutes later.......
yes we can finish this in our next conversation when you have the rest of the questions ready.
(he actually wants to hear more from me...holy hell!)

Get you pictures of Halloween pieces and 3 artist referrals for additional interviews...ah sure... (who the hell do I choose?)

Yes, I look forward to hearing from you too. Thank you~ hung up.

SCREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a way to start the day! I love my job!!!!!

My Story is featured on CRESCENDOh this week!

Those of you who follow my seemingly never ending shenanigans, may know that I have had some fun features done about moi, moi art and SpookyTimeJingles. Well, the excitement continues with an upcoming photo shoot in September for a nationwide magazine that just blows my ever lovin mind (happy dance here)..but more about that later before I jinx it right out of the picture!
Ok....
But also, today starts my week of being featured on the uber amazing site, CRESCENDoh in their Art Saves Series!

http://blog.crescendoh.com/readers_share/2010/08/ambitious-designs-its-always-been-about-the-art-by-dani-nelson.html

My story shared, is the short version (someday I will share the whole enchilada) of how art saved my life (sanity) after a severe head trauma 3 years ago, rehabilitation and subsequent diagnosis of Fibromyalgia (head traumas-the gift that keeps on giving).
Now, Crescendoh is not uber amazing simply because they are featuring moi as one of their stories...no they were way cool in my eyes before that. You see the creative Jenny Doh, former editor of MANY a Stampington Mag, created CrescenDOH (see last name;) to show that ART SAVES!
Her goal is a dreamy recipe of: Creative Passion, Authentic Community and Focused Compassion! Now, stop and reread those lovelies and marinate in them..they are good for the soul, indeedy!
Is she just genius to verbalize those elements so perfectly, or what!?

For those who do know me, know just how much effort I put into building up the artist community. It is so important to me and I am somewhat unsure why I am soo driven but I am and I love it. So, when I was told I would be featured on Crescendoh, I was so pleased as Miss Doh and I seemingly have the same mindset about an art-filled community full of genuine good souls helping lift one another up! I say Hoo-rah! Thank you Jenny and the Crescendo team for sharing my story and pictures of SpookyTime Jingles artisan pieces, ads and even a fan photo!

Hugs and Happy Creating!

~dani~

SpookyTimeJingles New Group that is Open to all "creatives" on the Hive ONLY!

SpookyTimeJingles New Group that is Open to all "creatives" on the Hive ONLY!

I have wanted to start a group for a long time now, that combines STJ artists and STJ fans who also like to share in creativity and the process..whatever that may be for you (sketching, painting, scrap booking, poetry, etc...).

This type of group makes sense to me since, I often would like to add more artists to SpookyTimeJingles but cannot due to size constraints. When a marketplace gets too large in size it causes the viewer to lose interest because their is too much content to take in. Hence the reason for our 6+month wait list to join us plus we just do not have a lot of turnover.

So in creating this open group, I would so love a place where other creatives with the same interests (holidays) and goals (kindness and inspiration) as STJ could commingle and share in this holiday goodness together! I believe the HIVE has given us the perfect venue to make this happen.

So please come join in the HIVE: http://creatingthehive.com/signup/spookytimejingles

And then join our STJ group on The Hive: http://creatingthehive.com/group/SpookyTimeJingles

~Hugs & Happy Creating my friends~

When Ghosts Haunt Your Studio - In the Studio with Cate - Cloth Paper Scissors

Fun Surprise to see my storage ideas featured by editor, Cate Prato of Cloth, Paper, Scissors today! thanks Cate, I REALLY enjoyed working with you and appreciate all of the coverage you have given myself and SpookyTImeJingles.com

When Ghosts Haunt Your Studio - In the Studio with Cate - Cloth Paper Scissors

Studio Photo Shoot Pictures that didn't make the STUDIOS magaine issue

So the day finally arrived when the Fall Studio's Issue came out. It was so fun to see myself in print and those pieces of who I have collected over the years.

Below are a bunches of the pictures that I enjoyed from the photo shoot but did not make it into the magazine. The issue would have been all me if they all made it..lol
I hope you enjoy, I have been lucky enough to collect some amazing pieces over the years. See if you can pick out your favs ~

Getting started: Accepting Credit Cards at Shows and Everyday

Yesterday, I sent an email to friends in the biz about how to get started accepting credit cards. So many thanked me that I realized I needed to share this info even further. So....

It is a very intimidating process until someone shows you the way and suddenly you go....AH that is easy!!!!!!!!!!

So a special shout out to Iva Wilcox for her sharing of information that helped me get started 2 years ago.

This info is for any artist selling at shows. You will make more money if you take credit cards..people buy more from you when they can charge some of it. Here is the info just in case.

STEP 1:
ProPay.com

sign up, VERY EASY application, no credit check. instant approval. ONE TIME Fee each year (not monthly) is $55.00 for up to $3000.00 of charges accepted per month!!!
you will get a ATM card to withdraw your money from the credit card transactions within 24HOURS or have it transferred to your bank acct!!!

You can do the entire thing via their online website when running a credit card but just in case you do not have wifi/internet connection available at your location, just order the below supplies and run the cards after the show back at home or hotel!
*I personally ALWAYS take a imprint of the card so I can prove I had the card in my hand and that the owner did authorize it.

STEP 2:
Order Supplies
1) Credit Card Imprinter
1) pack of Slips (long ones I prefer to the shorter ones-you can always use the extra space to write on the slip)
1) sign saying you accept MasterCard and Visa

I bought my supplies from here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/BARTIZAN-CREDIT-CARD-IMPRINTER-KIT-W-SLIPS-SIGN-/380256627081?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58890fa989

Total investment: is under $75.00 to accept credit cards for an ENTIRE year!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is AMAZING!

*Side note: You can also optionally order a name plate for your business that attaches to the imprinter so that every time you swipe a credit card transaction your business name will also imprint on the sales/copy/receipt slip.

In my opinion there is no better service for taking credit cards at this level.

Happy selling!!