Message from the publisher: As our holiday season creeps in to an end, enjoy the slideshow created by LindaGJ that displays one of the things that we all love about the holidays, young and old. Christmas Lights. Some of us adore our trees, our windows, our wreaths and others become very creative and “really go to town” it is truely handmade in the making! Speaking of Town and speaking of creativity…enjoy the light show at the Heights and Happy New Years!

By Contributing columnist LindaGJ aka LindaGJ

This year was the 22nd yr. of Lights in the Heights which is one of Houston’s Christmas Events. But what makes it extra special is the eclectic nature of the neighborhood. The Heights is a magnet for the quirky & off beat, the place where artists & musicians live, as well as young professionals who buy their homes there & are willing to restore & want a short commute since it is near downtown. The Heights is the “cool” , “hip” part of Houston & it’s like a small town in the center of the big corporate and suburban city. It has businesses that visitors will not find anywhere else & I’ve been watching it grow & change as far back as I can remember.

Growing up as an artsy person, it’s where I felt truly at home where the artsy people hang!

The Heights is well known for its history & beautiful Victorian homes & was the very 1st planned community in the city in 1887. Some of the oldest homes are found are found there! The Houston Height’s Association, formed in 1973 to uphold & protect the neighborhood’s unique ambiance.

The Lights in the Heights brings the whole neighborhood together and attracts people from all over the city on one special night.

There is a Santa drawn by a horse driven carriage, a small parade, Clydesdale horses, carolers, bells playing Christmas tunes, bands of all kinds from all parts of the world and styles. I was overwhelmed this year & did not make it all the way through the event, & could not catch up to take pictures of Santa or the parade turning the corner a few blocks away.

I’ve been there so many times, I’ve grown to learn each time will be a different experience, but what an experience it is! I only captured a small part of this special night in my little slide show and I certainly hope you enjoy it and I hope you will be able to get a glimpse of what I am talking about when I say it’s very Enchanting and Magical!
And Remember to:
ENJOY THIS SEASON & MAKE IT LAST ALL YEAR ROUND!

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ADD A C A P T I O N……

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by Susan Rosen
THE EXCITEMENT?
As one of the founders of Indiesmiles I cannot tell you how my soul has been warmed recently due to the excitement surrounding the Etsy Black Friday Extravaganza! I will be filling you in on what’s happening with this huge SALE, but first a little bit about the birth of Indiesmiles and the coupon directory history.

THE PAST INDIE COUPONS
When El and myself headed up a project for EFA “Etsy for Animal’s” Birthday bash there were over 180 shops participating in a very successful Discount Coupon Program. We had set-up a directory in the EFA blog so that customers could purchase from a one stop shopping place and find discounts in all of those wonderful shops. Needless to say, if you have ever ran a program this large you can imagine the record keeping nightmares of how work intensive the blog posting can be in regards to running this type of huge sale!

THE BIRTH OF INDIESMILES
After this successful Coupon Sale, El and I decided to start Indiesmiles with the Coupon Directory in mind. We thought that if shops were having a sale how would they normally be noticed unless you happened to stumble upon their shop announcement, a forums post, or a “sale” avatar. The hopes of getting the word out is almost futile! At the same time Artfire was in the midst of developing their coupon system and if you run a sale in Artfire your sale can get listed within, but we thought to ourselves, if you are not part of Artfire…how would someone find your sale?

SHOPPERS?
The main thought was “How can SHOPPERS find discounts offered in the endless amount of shops on Etsy, Artfire, websites and blogs! “

GET A SMALL TASTE:

SOLVING THE PROBLEM!
El and I sought to solve this problem by creating a portal where as you could submit your own text ad, so to speak, and then announce the details of your sale, using an online format. Then by advertising the portal in Google, Facebook , Project Wonderful as well as handmade blogs and other venues. We wanted to get the word out to SHOPPERS! Just as commercial shops are able to advertise their coupon codes in Coupon Directories, we wanted to have an Indie presence in regard to discounts! October of last year, the Coupon Directory and Indiesmiles was born.

WHAT DO THEY HAVE TO SAY?
Read what some bloggers have said about Indiesmiles:
From Tailortaste

Finally! Someone out there gets it. Indiesmiles is a one-stop-webshop for all things indie – meaning: emerging + unique talent.

And from:
Gifted Designs
We’re also lucky to have Sue, head honcho at Indiesmiles.com, support us in our site-wide effort at promoting handmade by offering us directory listings in her super fun Coupon Directory!

Indiesmiles has also been featured in Killer Startups
and our Twitter Background is featured in the Twitter Gallery:

SUE GOES SOLO
Coming from two different academic backgrounds, El with a technical background and myself with a marketing background the partnership was a good meld. We had many days of brainstorming and developing Indiesmiles together and it was a blast! But in time, sadly El found that hosting Indiesmiles as well as going to Med school full time was just too much for her schedule. Since I’m in home sales and business is slow in my “day job” I decided to keep Indiesmiles up and running on my own. I invited on wonderful Contributing Columnists with vast knowledge of running handmade shops or craft sales!

THE BLACK FRIDAY SALE EMERGES!
Now lets get to the bread and butter of this article! Deon of Poocheze had a thought. In the Book Titled the “The Greatest Secret” by Earl Nightingale, he speaks of all great things occurring with just one thought! Poocheze’s thought was to start an Etsy Black Friday sale and she began by getting the word out in the Etsy forums. With the Law of Attraction always putting the wheels in motion, many shops jumped on board. Several shops offered to help in any way that they could, one shop in particular, gifted designs, took on the big job of designed the all the images and another shop, Zeba, offered to design a blog. A Facebook Fan Page was also started so that ideas and deals could be announced.

THE COUPON DIRECTORY REVISTED!
Indiesmiles and Poocheze put their heads together and talked about Indiesmiles supporting the sale. After all, the coupon format was already in place. But it just didn’t seem right to charge everyone to join this endeavor, the coupon text submission usually runs $2.00 (which doesn’t break the bank) but since we were inviting a group to be part of the Coupon Directory, I offered the listings out for free!

VISIT THE SHOPS!
Presently we have approx 80 shops in the directory and it’s growing daily. Shoppers will be able to peruse all of the handmade and vintage shops and find their holiday shopping, at a bargain, all in one convenient directory!

WHEN???
The sale will run from Nov 27th (Black Friday) through Nov 30th (Cyber Monday) and the deals are tremendous. With so many shops participating it should be able to cover most of your shopping list, if not all!

CARTOON CONTEST!
Soon we will be announcing an exciting cartoon contest that will be open to both buyers and sellers of the extravaganza. So stop back and be sure to join in the fun of the contest. The winner will receive handmade items from some of the participating shops whom are donating these items out of the kindness of their hearts! I can’t wait to tell you about them all. If you want to be notified of the contest, please email me (provided below) and I’ll make sure you get all the details!

LET’s SHOP!!
In the meantime, take a look at the lovely items from shops that gave a kick-start to the Coupon Directory in regards to this fun sale! Be sure to visit these shops as well as the many shops that are listed in the directory, we hope to see you all there!

HOW TO GET LISTED FOR FREE!
HOW TO CONTACT SUE!
GET NOTIFIED ABOUT THE CONTEST!
Should you want to know more about listing your Etsy Black Firday sale for FREE in the Coupon directory, if you would like to hear about upcoming events via email, would like to help out with the contest or just have questions please feel free to email me at:
indiesmiles@gmail.com.

Hope you enjoy perusing the shops and also shopping the fantastic deals as much as I do!

By Bette Miles-Holleman aka BadMsM’s Gift-O-Rama

Contributing Columnist

Think about things in life that grab and hold you attention, especially the things you buy. What guides you to purchase one brand of peanut butter over another, a pair of jeans, a car, or anything else? Chances are the company told you a story that closed the sale.

People like to buy things they think it will make the most impact, so good online sellers tell you WHY and HOW your purchase will help a person, charitable cause or the environment. It strikes a chord with you because it’s real, and you can identify, or empathize with the story in a way that’s meaningful and relevant to you. They evoke an emotional response.

In August 2009, I started a challenge called 500 Hats, in a bid to knit and sell 500 hats to help keep my home out of foreclosure. People can buy a hat for themselves, or one to donate to a person at a homeless shelter in my hometown. It was amazing! To date, I’ve sold 172 hats, and expanded my line into scarves and socks.

People connected with my story because either they know someone who is in our shoes, or are themselves. They shared their stories, prayers and encouragement with me, and bought hats to help me out. Then they told others about it, and the story grew, and continues to grow. People can look at their hat, tell other people my story, and know their purchase made a difference. It just keeps going.

Stories can be inspirational, funny or cute. It can tell what happened while you were making breakfast that day, something your spouse or kids said, or the time the cat ate your project.

So, what’s the history of those earrings you made? What song reminds you of rainy days in front of a fire? What smells take you back to your Grandmother’s kitchen? Tell anecdotes that tie in with your products, and keep it real!

Til Next Time!

Read the amazing story of 500 hats

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VOTE FOR THIS ARTICLE!

Image courtesy of Dover Publications

Contributing columnist RobotsAreAwesome

Polymer Clay Tip:

1 semi-soft brush
1 bottle of clay softener

Here’s a hand little tip for getting rid of fingerprints and producing a nice smooth finish to your polymer clay creation without sanding.
Just before putting your piece into the oven for baking, having already placed your piece on it’s baking surface (i.e. cookie sheet, glass container).

Take your lid off the clay softener and dip your brush in, very lightly, a little goes along way and brush down your entire clay piece. You’ll remove all finger prints and last minute minor imperfections.

Initially your piece will be left with a high shine, but after a bake in the oven (following manufacturer’s cooking time instructions) the shine will be complete gone and you’ll be left with a smooth polymer clay creation.

You can either leave your piece as is or coat with varnish for a shiny (fingerprint free) finish.

Picture courtesy of RobotsAreAwesome.etsy.com

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Christine of PillowThrowDecor had one Extreme Marketing Idea and put it into action. This is what she says:

I knew for our Bootcamp program I would have to come up with some really compelling ideas that would bring traffic and make sales for our sellers. One afternoon I was off to do errands and experimented with a new marketing idea as an opportunity to hand out business cards about my new pillow and throw store and this new Canadian Handmade Online company icraft.ca.

I grabbed my camera and strapped one of my Geek Pillows to my chest and off I went packing it around as though I was wearing a baby bundle. I made three stops; the bank, the post office, and the insurance company.  At each place I was asked for cards and “the story”. I had carefully rehearsed my “new store, new company” script and explained it to anyone that would listen even people walking by on the street. I laughed with a lot of people that afternoon but always when I explained I was writing an article they wanted to get in on the act too. I handed out 23 cards and at the end of the day sold my Geek pillow at my last stop. Doesn’t get any better than that!

Join in our “Spring for a Deal” contest for a chance to win your choice of advertising on Indiesmiles! 

THE PRIZE

You can choose from our Smiles Coupon Campaign, our Indie Finds Directory, our Big Smiles Ad Space, or our Showboat Feature. Read more about each advertising program by clicking on their respective links.

This month, our Coupon Campaign will feature our new “Spring for a Deal” theme where stores will offer our IndieSmiles coupon for $5.00 off with a purchase of $25.00 or more.

THE RULES

First, if you haven’t done so already, join our IndieSmiles Facebook group. If you for some reason cannot join the group, add El and / or Sue as your friend (that’s us!) and request that we add you.

Then, leave a comment on our Facebook group! Entries are accepted daily so leave a comment once a day to increase your chance of winning!

Enter before March 10!

Its that simple

Instructions are available here.

—SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER——>

Are you looking to start off the new year by increasing your customer base? Would you like to do this for free? If so, you are in luck!

We are giving away 5 Indie Finds Listings, 3 Smiles Coupon Campaigns, 3 Big Smiles Ad Spaces, and 3 Showboat Features!

Thanks to all those who entered….. The Winners are: ~~~~

RaShell, Alison, Jaime, Desiree, JuliaA, Marjorie, Andi, Denise, Joyce, Storykraft Kreative, Michelle, Deanna, Gayle, and Hinda!

Entries are now closed.

————————————————————

How can you win these amazing prizes?

Just leave a comment on this post AND sign up for our newsletter (follow the arrow at the top).

We will randomly select four winning entries on Tuesday, January 13, and Wednesday, January 14, and six winning entries on Thursday, January 15 . The winners will choose from the remaining prizes. Its that simple!

The earlier you enter the better!

This is because everyday we will select from the comments we have received. Say you entered today (Monday). Then, you’ll have three chances to win. However, if you enter on Wednesday, you’ll only have one chance to win.

Don’t miss out!

Entries are accepted until midnight on January 14 so get them in now!

Our next Smiles Coupon Campaign will be a multi-useful coupon. We will be featuring a 20% off discount with redemption of our coupon code. However, we will allow interested indiepreneurs to offer 10% off, free shipping, buy one get one free, or any other discount they desire. Simply sign up for our Smiles Coupon Campaign and we’ll ask you what you prefer.

Better yet, if you sign up before January 13, 2008, we’ll throw in a free Indie Finds Directory listing for 2009!

Just purchase below!