Tag Archives: link love

What’s Up~


Posted by tlcinspirations

I can’t believe Fall is here already, but I see definite signs the season is changing. I love it, but it also adds stress, knowing the holidays are around the corner…Yikes!

If you have been following us, you know it has been a very crazy summer for us and our family. It has been hard to stay in touch with our fellow artisans and crafters with so much going on, but family comes before our business, and the last half of July and August were a blur for us, as our little baby Jackson (my grandson, Rachel’s nephew) was born, and he had a fight to survive his first 3 weeks of his life.  Read about it here, Faith and Hope Became the Destination. I am happy to report he is home from hospital and doing well.

We are happy to announce the opening of a second shop on Etsy, The Pinhead, which features Rachel’s cute and zany pinback buttons. So far it’s proving to be a wise decision. Thank you “link love” for finding your way to The Pinhead FB page.

In the last couple of month, we were pleasantly surprised, and honored to have several of our Artfire listings featured in Artfire Collections. Thank you to all the Artfire shops that chose our creations.  By the way, did you know Artfire is currently running a “Group Deal” for $5.95 a month. You only have until Oct 1 to opt in and secure this LOW fee. We have opted in for “The Pinhead” so our pinback buttons will soon be on Artfire too!

We have wanted to be part of an Etsy team ever since we joined Etsy but couldn’t find a team that seemed right for us.  HAFteam found us on twitter, and we have decided to join. We are looking forward to exploring all this team has to offer, and sharing our venture with other handmade artists. We have added their badge to this blog, if you want to check them out.

We are continuing to work on our skills and our creations, and will be adding new listings soon.  We hope everyone is doing well, thank each and every one of you for following us on our InspireWire blog, FB page or twitter.  :D

The last thing I want to bring to your attention is an upcoming giveaway. We don’t have the details worked out yet or the date, but will be posting soon. Last year we did a giveaway, where the winner could choose whatever they wanted from our shops. Hmmm, maybe we will do that again. Whatever it is, it will be worth watching for, we promise!

Bonnie & Rachel


What’s up ~ Plurk, Guilds, & Haiti Help


Posted by tlcinspirations

“What’s Up” is a new monthly feature to update our followers about our projects, discoveries, thoughts, and adventures.

Since the first of the year, we have made many new friends, have been blessed with sales, and honored to take part in some good causes.  We recently upgraded our Artfire shop, and discovered some great guilds to share our journey with.  We joined three guilds that share our interests, and we have met some extremely talented, fun loving artists and crafters.  Pacific Northwest Artfire guild unites those of us that call that beautiful part of the country “home.”  Yarnies is all about the yarn, baby!  And now it gets interesting…we discovered “Plurk” and a guild called  ”AF Plurkies”, and they are a little crazy (their words, not mine, lol), but a lot of fun. Plurk is another way of linking up with friends, family or groups, etc.  What is really unique about Plurk is that you can actually carry on conversations in an organized way, with your group, friends, or family, or even have a private conversation.  It’s great for guild meetings, group discussions, or when you’re in need of feedback.

We are both currently working on new projects, and hope to share them with you very soon! Neither of us are setting any speed records, and, unfortunately, tend to have the attention span of a 2 year old, but  I’m looking forward to taking you on a journey with me, as I attempt something I have never done before.  At the very least, it should be interesting, and  a challenge for me to document my process.

gif_hearts_bees-014We seized the opportunity to donate Valentine cards to OperationValentine, giving military families the option to share a Valentine with their loved ones.  When the earthquake in Haiti hit, we were moved to donate a valentine card to Hearts for Haiti, which, happily has sold several times.  It’s a small contribution, but it all helps, and we are glad we could do something. As a collective, great things can happen!

Another exciting thing that has happened is the “Link Love” phenomenon on Facebook, which was innocently started by Zur Designs.  It’s a link exchange that has taken off like wild fire. Please support each other by becoming fans, and posting all your handmade-related links on each other’s discussion boards. You can read more about it on Zur Designs.

We are also planning some new things in the coming weeks.  Blog it Forward, the blogger mashup, is an interesting concept, and we decided to take part.  If you are interested, you can get the details from the above link.  We are also looking into doing some craft shows this year, something we have never done, so it’s a little intimidating.  We will keep you posted on that adventure!

We hope you will keep visiting our blog, as we work hard to make it interesting and fun, with new regular features, interviews, giveaways, tutorials, and peeks into our personal worlds.  Thank you for letting us share our journey with you.

Bonnie & Rachel