Today, We Celebrate!

Image Cred: Flickr
 
The last 24 hours have been BIG my friends, and we have much to celebrate! Let's review the awesomeness:

1) The Blog

2) The Etsy Feature

3) The Etsy Success

1) THE BLOG: 
Have you noticed the killer blog updates? I mean, it's practically a whole new blog! In my eyes, a great blog is a combination of good design, amazing photos, and interesting content. My previous monstrosity was missing two out of three, and sometimes even all three. Now I've got a clean and focused design, incredible photos, and I promise that I'm working on the content part everyday. :)

To whom do I owe for all of the blog/photo help? My uber talented, uber successful sister Rebecca Haas, owner of Rebecca Peters Photography. Having a professional photographer in the family has had it's benefits, not gonna to lie. She always has a camera ready to capture important, or even unimportant family moments (which when shot by her, are sometimes are even more memorable). Her photo prowess coupled with her html and graphic design experience, and being the great sister that she is, she offered to help me with the blog overhaul. I'm indebted on this one for a while, wouldn't you say? There are not enough thank yous in the world. Love ya sis!

2) THE ETSY FEATURE: 
Last night, something major happened. Something I wasn't sure would EVER happen...one of my pieces made the front page of Etsy.com in the handpicked items! My Colorful Hexagons piece was there, and I took a screenshot to ensure I never forget the glory. Can I just say that I've never had more traffic to my Etsy store? Wow:

3) THE ETSY SUCCESS: 
Nothing short of 30minutes into the Etsy homepage glory, The Curious Yellow Etsy store received its very first order!  Not only am I overjoyed to have made my first sale, but it has really opened my eyes to just how much the added exposure really meant to my budding little shop. Now that the excitement of my first Etsy success has been dialed back a notch, I've got to not only get back into the studio and paint my little heart out, but work on some SEO and networking to boost my exposure. More treasuries, more circles, more artwork, more blogging....Gameplan, GO!

Add a Little Love to Your Mantle

Etsy: Valentine's Day Geometric Heart from The Curious Yellow

Above is a piece I worked on this morning, perfect for a little Valentine's Day decorating. Whether you want it for you mantle, bookshelf, sideboard, or otherwise it's the perfect size to add a little Valentine's Day love to any room.

I don't typically do too much decorating for Valentine's Day myself. I go all out for Christmas, Halloween, and some Thanksgiving, but even then I really need to cut back. If my living room looks as though the holiday exploded inside of our home, it may be a tad overkill. Just sayin'.

Just for fun, I put together an Etsy treasury full of some of my favorite Etsy Valentine's Day decor finds. Etsy is so full of incredible things, you just never know what you'll see. You can go check out my Valentines Day Decor treasury here. For a little preview, I featured some of my favorites below. Maybe I should reconsider my decision to not decorate for Valentine's day. :)

 

Etsy:  LOVE pillow from Alexandra Ferguson

 Etsy: Valentine Heart Dish from Susabella

Etsy: Red White Pink Paper Garland from Fanciful Chaos

Etsy Love

My Etsy shop has been feeling the love lately, so thank you to all my followers out there who have Favorited my shop and/or my items! My shop feels the love, and so do I.

Here's a snapshot of the new piece I've been working on. It's been nice watching this little guy take shape over the last day. I hope to have this one up in my shop by tonight or tomorrow:

Though I've experimented a bit with patterns and geometry, I can't seem to help myself from the pull of creating nature-inspired paintings. The heart wants what it wants. :)
 
In other news, one of my pieces was recently featured in an Etsy user's treasury which is always a great feeling! If you are unfamiliar with treasuries, a treasury is collection of items any Etsy user can create highlighting their favorite Etsy items. These items can be selected based on a theme, color, or concept, or with no rhyme or reason at all. Etsy.com may elect use any treasury on its homepage so being featured in a treasury is always a great opportunity for exposure.  

I've created a few treasuries of my own. It's a fun thing to do if you have some time to browse through the millions of items offered on Etsy. There is really some amazing stuff out there! The below treasuries are created by me, and you can follow the links to view the treasuries in their entirety. Leave me a comment over on Etsy if you like it! If you've never created a treasury, I urge you to give it a try and share it with me. I'd love to take a look!


Yellow-The Happiest Color On Earth

 Everything's Coming Up Rose Gold