By Columnist Amy aka: MissBaclartDesigns

Since the 1970’s, it is estimated that the number of people getting married has fallen from around 500,000 to just over 300,000. Despite this, the wedding industry is booming, with profits from this industry reaching an all time high. In the UK alone, we spend around £5.5 billion pounds on weddings each year, with the average wedding costing between £16,000 and £25,000! (Source: http://www.bized.co.uk/current/mind/2005_6/051205.htm)

There are many business sectors that fall under ‘Wedding Services’; wedding planning, DJ’s, dress designers, photographers, wedding stationery designers, venue hire. This is to name but a few, and with weddings becoming more and more elaborate, this list is ever expanding. Photography is a significant part of any wedding; as we have already seen, people spend thousands of pounds on their one special day and photography allows time to stand still, creating a visual bookmark in the sands of time. So what is the secret? What makes a successful wedding business? George Fairbairn, professional wedding and portrait photographer tells us more:

What is your background and when did you launch your business?

I have had a passion for photography since my early teens for which I was awarded a full scholarship to the University of Seattle, however I decided to put it aside and instead serve my country in the United States Air Force. Throughout my time in the Air Force my love for photography grew thanks to the opportunities I had traveling the world. In 2009 I returned here with my English wife and have been fortunate to be able to turn my true passion into my career.

What made you decide to start up a wedding based business?

I was primarily working as a commercial photographer until one day a client of mine asked me to photograph his wedding, at first I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go ahead with it as I was happy with my business as it was. But after that first wedding I fell in love with it! The best part about photographing weddings is that you are part of a couple’s happiest day of their lives, capturing memories and giving them a gift that they will treasure forever.

Are weddings the focus of your business or do you provide your wedding service as a sideline to your main business?

These days, weddings are the main focus of my business, however I also do couple, family, engagement and pet portraits. Although when it comes to my portraits, I still like to approach them in the same way as a wedding, getting to know the client beforehand, which eliminates any awkwardness that you get when working with someone for the first time.

If you offer alternative products to your wedding services, what do you find has the most success?

For me I find that engagement portraits are one of the most successful, it’s a very special time in a person’s life and you can really see that come through in the pictures. It’s also a great opportunity for a couple to get used to having professional pictures taken so they can work out their poses before their wedding, and as a bonus they have great images to use on their invitations, guest book or at the wedding!

Weddings tend to be a seasonal affair; what month of the year proves to be the most successful for your wedding business?

I’ve found for my business autumn has proven to be the busiest time for me, September in particular. I tend to offer discounts for the “off season” which has worked well during the winter months.

What is the best piece of business advice you have been given?

Do what you love, and never work another day in your life. It’s definitely proven to be true for me! Photographing a wedding can often involve working a 12+ hour day at the wedding and then a solid week of editing photos after, but it never for a second feels like “work” because I absolutely love doing it.

Professionally, what is your goal?

I used to think that my goals should involve becoming a CEO for an international corporation, but now I’m self-employed I’ve reassessed my goals. My main goal is to continue to improve and grow my business so that one day I can help give young aspiring photographers the opportunity to take the path to following their passion like I did.

Finally, do you have any words of wisdom to pass on to budding new business owners?

I would have to pass on the advice I was given about turning what you love into a career it really helped give me the little push I needed into self-employment. My advice for any budding new business owner that is entering into a wedding related business is don’t expect to be an overnight success. The wedding world is very competitive and there are many established brands that you will have to prove yourself against. Also don’t be afraid of social networking, when done right it can be a powerful tool to keep your clients informed as well as attracting new business.

Weddings are a big business and as we can see from George Fairbairn, working in the wedding industry does not have to be your starting point. If you have a business or are thinking of starting one, now is the time to cash in on the ever-increasing wedding opportunities that are out there. We all know that economically it is a challenging time, but as we can see from the statistics, people are still spending when it comes to their big day. Think about where your talents lie and utilise them to move your business forward into this exciting industry. Do something you love with your passion; share peoples passion for love.

George Fairburn takes beautiful photographs and can be found at www.selloutphotos.com.

edited by Barbra aka: All About The Buttons

By contributing columnist Michelle, aka: littletoad

The Daily Foto Project is the unique brain child of Melissa Azizi a self-taught Australian photographer. So what is exactly is The Daily Foto Project? It is a 365-day photo project where Melissa takes a photograph everyday for a year. But, that’s not all. She lists each image on Etsy and donates 5% of sales to a charity of the buyer’s choice. I have been following Melissa’s work for a while now and she was nice enough to answer some questions I was dying to know about her and this project.

So how did you come up with this idea? I’m from Sydney and my partner and I arrived in Berlin in May 2009. I broke my foot 2 months later! So, I pretty much spent my first European summer indoors and immobilized. Of course, I was down about it as my partner had also started a new job working really long hours and we had just moved into a completely empty apartment. The ordeal was a bit stressful, but ultimately being immobilized gave me time to reflect, especially about those that are really in a less fortunate position. I wanted to turn my little foot misadventure into something more positive for me and for others. Personally, I needed a way to happily re-acquaint myself with Berlin again and to develop my creativity.

How did the charity aspect of the project come along? I didn’t want the project to just be for and about me. It’s been done before, I’m sure. I thought it would be a great idea that when people buy a photo, that they’re also giving something positive to the world too. So, I donate 5% of the buyers purchase to a charity of their choice. I like to call it being a ‘Conscientious Consumer’.

Are there days when you really don’t want to take a picture? Not at all! I always think it’s interesting to see what I can come up with, especially on those days when I haven’t left the house until later in the evening and I’m losing light.

Is photography a hobby or do you do it professionally? I’m not professionally trained as a photographer, but I always treat it professionally.

What do you do when you aren’t taking pictures? I’m a film producer!

How many pictures do you take in a day to get the one you plan on using?There’s no limit, but I have taken anywhere between 5 to 50! I take my camera everywhere as I never know when I’ll need it!

Do you have a plan of what you are going to shoot for that day or do you just wait to find inspiration? It’s a mix. There are days where I’ve planned to visit a certain area, such as the Charlottenburg Palace, so I know I’ll use a photo from there. But, I take my camera with me everywhere, even up the road to the grocers. Who knows where inspiration may hit?

How have you been promoting this project? Mainly online and word-of-mouth. I have my own website, use Twitter, have a Facebook fan page and of course, my Etsy shop.

What kind of response from fans and Etsy sellers have you gotten? Positive responses. The good thing about Etsy is that it’s community-orientated and if you need advice or tips, other sellers are happy to help out. And many Etsy sellers are also on Twitter and Facebook, and they happily give their thumbs up too.

Why did you choose Etsy as your platform for your project? I wanted to find a site that was already established as a place for people to visit if they wanted to buy photographs. With an established site comes the pros, such as high traffic and a community. I received an email from someone who happened to have their Etsy store link in their email signature. I clicked on it and discovered a whole new world!

Can you give us a few examples of the charities that have been chosen through your sales? We all know about the recent devastation in Haiti, so the project has donated to American Red Cross for Haiti & Habitat for Humanity for Haiti. A lesser known charity has been the German Association for the Blind & Visually Impaired and even the Wikipedia Foundation.
And now the BIG question,What are you going to do after the 365 days are up? A big party, perhaps? Or, an exhibition? Or, a photo book collection! Too many ideas right now!

A huge thanks to Melissa for taking the time to answer my questions and for the good work she is doing with her talent. Looking at her site I hope will inspire us as artists to not only be creative but to also find ways to use our art to help others.

Image courtesy of  TheDailyFoto.

Camera imageNYLightMetals

By contributing columnist Nicole Majewski aka Sugar Shox Craft

Move over Morris; this week’s Etsy Spotlight pick shows that cats aren’t just meant to be seen in cat food commercials—not when they can imitate humans so closely.

Instead of burying his face in a bowl of mush or hard brown shapes, a short-haired orange and white tabby cat named Hamlet takes his first whiffs and samples of birthday cake. This tender moment was captured by Etsy seller Cathy Gangwer (“Celticcatphotos”), and is sold in her shop
as the Birthday Cat Greeting Note Card.

Taken on Hamlet’s first birthday, the image perfectly personifies an animal’s life. It shows an animal acting completely human in the context of the mostly- human situation of a birthday party. Hamlet is shown at just the right moment conducting himself in a reserved, thoughtful manner like any person would when first taking in the sight of their birthday cake. The picture also shows some human body language with the way the cat curiously leans toward the cake to examine it.

Surprisingly enough, Cathy said the card’s image was a lucky shot, as she was only able to get this one image from the party.

“It was Hamlet’s birthday and so I bought a small cake and tried to see if he would pose with it,” she said. “I only got one good frame of him, and none of his [feline] brothers.”

Cathy said she turned this image into the Birthday Cat cards about six to seven years after it was taken. The card features a cut out window for the image, a simple thin-lined border around the image and, of course, the image of Hamlet, which is professionally printed. They are also blank inside so buyers can write in their own message and give the card for either a birthday or at any time.

This card happens to be Cathy’s favorite card—its image says it all.

“It is simple and needs no text,” she said. “You also know that it is a birthday card, or you can just give it to a cat lover.”

Cathy is approaching her 20th year of selling her photography. She attends numerous art shows from late May to early December in southeastern Michigan (she is from Detroit), and also sells her work online at both the 1000 Markets and Etsy websites.

She has been involved with photography since her girlhood, and has used many of the various technologies that have popped up in the field in that time.

“I have been taking pictures since I was a young girl. I remember my first camera, my first 110 camera, and then my first SLR (Single Lens Reflex) camera,” Cathy said. “I wasn’t sure about stepping up to digital, but on a trip to Newfoundland a roll of film was damaged, so I switched to digital and kept a film camera only for panorama captures until I learned to do a pano in Photoshop.”

Is beautiful as the Birthday Cat card and her other animal images are, she prefers to photograph a very different kind of subject even more.

“I think of myself as more of an architecture photographer,” she said. “I love capturing lighthouses, old barns, farms and old buildings in Detroit and Ireland.”

Whatever she will be photographing, count on seeing much more of Cathy and her unique work. Her future plans include expanding the number of shops she has online, to keep selling at art shows and to get into even more creative photography that is “outside the box.”

By Contributing columnist LindaGJ aka LindaGJ

“Keep inspired never stop seeing (as opposed to looking), be open to experience, change & the fear of falling on your face. It’s important to give oneself the permission to fail, because, it’s not always the end product, in fact more often the end product should not be the issue, it’s the joy you get from “doing”. I suppose that’s a bit trite, but true for me at least, (Anytime anyone is brave enough to enter my “kingdom” they will see many of those wonderful failures, ones that I never really gave up on)”.
by Ruth of Elephant Dreams

Ruth is an incredibly interesting person, so yall must read all about her! “To get to know her is to get to know her art”. A wonderful inspiration for all artists & non-artists as well! This explains how she became the artist she is today!

Ruth was born in Artesia, CA, & since her father was in the Air Force, she’s been a Nomad ever since. Travels taking her to alot of places… Caracus, Venezuela (where she 1st fell in love with art), to San Antonio, Laredo, & Houston, where she lives now. The travels influenced her art & her life choices! Her husband, also being in the Air Force, continued her traveling & moves to England, New Mexico, Las Vegas, Southeast Asia (especially Thailand & Malaysia) & now to Texas again!

Ruth had part of her eduction in San Antonio, Colorado, Denver (where she graduated from Colorado Women’s School majoring in education with a very large art minor). In her art classes, she loved every minute of it! After her marriage she continued to study art whereever they lived, including New Mexico, Texas, and Malaysia where she studied arts with a Chinese Teacher.

As a young mother, that is when Ruth became interested in photography, a love that stoked her by traveling in Asia, England, & later in Texas!

The camera became a part of her, & she took photos of everything! She was lucky to have a darkroom & access to one at a local college & then she eventually worked as a lab room tech.

With each new camera, each new experience, her love & skill in photography grew. And she was lucky enough to keep traveling & kept taking photos!

Ruth also grew as a mixed media artist, with a love for drawing, painting, & printmaking!

There was not a medium that she didn’t want to learn about. She can safely say that her love for & skill as a photographer greatly influenced how she saw & interpreted the world. She saw things in definate patterns and colors, and the camera & the brush played off of one another. Ruth loves color, the patterns of everyday things & mostly she just just loves the excitement of discovery! That time when there is a tickle in the brain & she knows what she is looking for, something she can play with visually.

She also works in series. It’s like finding an idea & then seeing how far she can take it. One photo, one print, one piece of jewelry is never enough. The idea can always be expanded or focused more on detail. She has always felt so fortunate for this ability to see more because she is never bored with an idea, Most series come to an end, but even then the thread might be taken up years later with a new slant & usually this can be the start if an even larger series!

Ruth does have some set backs but it does not keep her from her passions in life at all. She was diagnosed in 1993 with a bipolar disease. While it is controlled by medications, there are times when ups & downs define her life. She finds it very extremely important to try to help people understand mental illness & hopefully give new perspectives. She knows so many people with mental issues, & they are not “crazy” in the way the media & our society depict them. Modern science has done wonders with medication, she tries to support local charities for mental health, women’s issues, & animal protection. But mostly she tries to be an advocate for children.

Surprisingly, I had the opportunity to meet Ruth, and I call her “My Hero Artist!”

It was by mere coincidence that when I first joined Etsy, I was browsing around & discovered a wonderful artist,photographer, & jewelry artist, this was Ruth!

I eventually realized she was on my Texas Etsy Team. And I had fallen in love with one of her watercolors, although there were many I fell in love with, but especially the watercolors because I majored in art in college & watercolor was my specialty. This one watercolor print was a watercolor of actual watercolors and I kept going back to it to stare at it over & over again.

Well, it just so happens that Ruth lived in Katy, Texas, which is basically Houston where I live & lo & behold one of my mini team friends that I had joined, called The Artisans of Texas, knew her!
Wow, I was a step closer to meeting my “Hero Artist”!

I was in Heaven when I finally met her and eventually I gathered enough money to buy my watercolor print & we met for lunch & exchanged packages as she had bought some cat cards from me! We had a wonderful lunch & I keep in touch with her up to this day!
I love her work so much that I’m so glad that I’m able to share her with yall!

This is a sneak peek slide video of her work taken from all three shops! Yall should definately go visit her shops to see more of this fabulous artist’s work, to purchase or at the very least, yall are in for a Very Big Eye Candy Treat!

Visit Ruth’s other online shops!
Rhradcliffedesigns - Paintings and prints
Earwingsandthings - Captivating Jewelry

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I’ve been in the ‘Small Business/Freelance Artist’ racket since kindergarden, when I sold little clothespin dolls I made to my classmates to save up enough money to take my Grandmother to the dollar theater for her birthday.

Before I went to college I worked a side job to save up money for school, and I knew then that I never wanted to work for someone else ever again; and I haven’t since! My main bread and butter is Freelance Illustration and Graphic Design, but I’ve done everything from advertising to animation, product design and marketing.

Currently I live in Juneau Alaska and work entirely online and over the phone. Being your own boss does have a few downsides, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I currently run two Etsy shops, victoriawilde where I make unique home decor and craft organizers for other artists and crafters like myself, and victoriawilddesigns where I sell visual tutorials for things like photography as well as banners and other Etsy related visuals.

I also have my own blog at , also chalk full of great business advice when I’m not writing for IndieSmiles!

Articles by Victoria Wilde
Made to order Mayhem

I am a self taught artist living in Salem, Ohio. I was born in Alabama and was raised as a certified Army Brat, which gave me the opportunity to live all over the world, meet fabulous people, go to museums, etc..

I have always been creative and have experimented with every medium known to man and have always dreamed of having my work published in a book. I have had small successes in my life; Being an Illustrator for a woman’s newsletter, winning art and photography awards, being published on the front page of my local newspaper, painting murals for my local State park, selling my work locally, on ebay and now on etsy.

Visit me at http://teatowelcreek.etsy.com

ARTICLES by TeaTowelCreek:

The Traveling Cloths

Recycled Creativity

Living with I.C.

Please and Thank you

http://www.indiesmiles.com/a-columnists-plea/

Tangled up in Use

How to make a tea towel

Megan Eckman aka Studiomme

I am a freelance illustrator and writer who will graduate with two majors from Minnesota State University Moorhead in December. I specialize in pen and ink, using Old World techniques to create illustrations that resemble etchings. In February I opened a shop on Etsy, Studiomme to sell prints of my work and see if I could make a living through my artwork. So far, it’s been a wonderful experience that has awakened the inner marketer in me. I also had the extreme pleasure of finding a loaded Kodak Duaflex camera in my grandmother’s closet and now I’m pursuing the art of photography with the help of my BFA photography major boyfriend. In my spare time, I write short stories for children and write on my blog.
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ARTICLES by Studiomme
How to make your wrapping WOW!

The RE-Popular Polaroid

Shop for Handmade Ornaments

McGuinness Photography – a husband and wife team — offers quality photographs, available as greeting cards and with or without a mat /frame. Celebrating their recent one year anniversary on Etsy.com, Jen and Rob decided to expand their internet presence with the launch of their Artfire.com shop. “While our primary focus is nature, we offer a variety of images in our Etsy and Artfire shops.”

Select items in their Etsy shop benefit animal charities, their favorite being 3bunnies.org, a local rabbit rescue. Together, they combine their talents to offer stunning black and white and bright, colorful images. During the summer months, the couple joins forces with Jen’s business partner Lauren Tagliatela and tour as TM Creative, which was founded in 2007.

In addition to photography, Jen also creates crystal sun catchers for use in cars and windows. Jen combines quality beads with various crystals. The sun catchers started as a fun project last year, and are slowly expanding into their own portion of the shop. Jen says, “They’re a lot of fun to create, and offer a different way for me to be creative.”

You can find McGuinness Photography on Etsy and Artfire at:
http://jmcguinness.etsy.com
http://mcguinnessphotography.artfire.com