“Oregon or Bust” Sale

I am going to a wedding at the end of August.  It’s going to be in Oregon so Larry and I are planning to have a nice vacation. 

His oldest daughter will be getting married and to celebrate I will be having an “Oregon or Bust” sale in all my shops until August 15th.   I don’t want to have a boring sale where you get the same thing for several weeks.

I am going to change the sale every few days.  I will be having lots of short 2 or 3 day sales on specific items or categories of items.

I have added the Shop Now tab to my new fan page, CherylsPurpleCow-and-MyExtraBeads.  The sale there is going to be 20% off the sales price for fans of the new page.  You will receive the discount as a refund through PayPal unless you contact me for a reserved listing before you buy.

I am also having a contest in this shop.  I need a “user-friendly” url for my new fan page.  I want something short and easy.  I was thinking along the lines of “MyPage”.  The person who suggests the winning url will get a $20.00 gift certificate good for any of my shops.

At Cheryls Purple Cow on Etsy the sale is 25% off of metal free jewelry.  I have moved the stretch awareness bracelets to that section for the sale.

In My Extra Beads on Etsy I have added a clearance section with items at drastically reduced prices.

These particular discounts will only last a few days then I will change to new discounts so hurry over to take advantage of these great prices.
Click here to read more!

New Look for Cheryls Purple Cow

Good Afternoon!

I want to invite everyone to visit my blog and see the new look. If you are like me you don't visit each blog you follow regularly. You read the posts in a reader. The down side of that is that you don't get to see all the pretties.

I was doing the blog walk one day,
that's what I call it when I am on a blog and see a link to a blog that sounds interesting and follow a link on that blog that sounds interesting.... well, you get the idea.

I noticed that a few of the blogs looked real good and they were made by the same designer. So I contacted her and this new look is the result. I will be posting an interview with her when I post this.

I like my new look because I get to have the things I love to see everywhere.  The bracelet is an epilepsy awareness bracelet called the "Mandiye" that I designed for a good friend.  The white cat is Mi Dulcie Corazon, we just called her Dulcie.  Isn't that a pretty heart on her side.  The other 2 cats are the girls I have now, both are her children.  Spaz, the gray, is the only survivor of Dulcie's first litter.  Smokie, the black, is from the next litter.  My step-son adopted her but he made the mistake of leaving her with me when he went on vacation.  I wouldn't give her back.

This new design also brings a cohesiveness to my "branding".  I am using the same header as a banner in my Etsy shops, Cheryls Purple Cow and My Extra Beads and on my Facebook shop. Click on the links to see each one.

I also added a "Grab" button.  Please grab my button to post on your blog and if I don't already have yours on my blog, let me know so I can get it.

I also consolidated the tutorials and put the list on a separate page. Just click on the "Tutorials" to see the list.

I think that I covered the major changes. Let me know what you think in the comments. If you have done a recent redesign, and I know at least 2 or you who have, please leave your link in the comments so we can all come and admire yours too.
Click here to read more!

Tutorial: How to Set Up a FaceBook Store Front

There is a new application that allows you to have a store front on your Facebook page.  I installed the application on my Fan page.  It is easy to use, once you set it up. The initial installation can be a little confusing.
You can check out my Store Front on Cheryls Purple Cow Fan Page.
Here is a list of things to have ready:

• Email account you want to use for this application
• Your PayPal account username
• Your Store Name
• A brief set of store policies
• Your Facebook Fan Page

You must have a Facebook "Fan" page to install the "Shop Now" tab.  Please refer to my tutorial "How to Create a Facebook Fan Page" if you need help creating your Fan Page.
Sign in to Facebook and go to the "Payvment" Fan Page.  http://www.facebook.com/payvment
You may choose to "Like" this page if you want, but it isn't required.  Click on "Go to Application" and you will go directly to a screen that asks if you want to allow this application to have access to your information.  If you want to install the application you must choose "Allow". Note: If you click on install tab on the first page you will be taken to another screen where you click to install the application, adding a step.   Once you allow access you are taken to this screen:  In order to fill in the payvment secret Key you will need to click on payvment dashboard.  The link is right under the box for the secret key.  The link will take you to the payvment registration screen.  Click on Register Now.  Fill out the registration form on the next screen.  Once you fill out the registration you will need to check your email for the activation code. Click on the link in the email to activate your account.  You will be taken to the login screen.  Login to your account.The next screen will have your API key and your Secret Key listed.  You will need this Secret Key in a few minutes.From here you can click on the “Account” tab.  On the next screen click on Retailer Settings to be taken to this screen.  You will need to fill in your retailer settings on this screen:

• Your PayPal username is the email address you use for PayPal
• Name of your storefront
• Email address that you are going to use
• Information concerning your store policies.

Go back to Facebook and paste the secret key into this box.  Fill in the rest of the information and click save.  You have just created your storefront.  The next screen is the dashboard: Click on Attach to Facebook page.  You will be asked to verify that you want to add it.  When you do you are taken to your Fan page.  Click on the “+” tab and click on the “shop now” icon from the drop-down menu.  You have just added the “Shop Now” tab to your page.  If you click on that, you will see a “coming soon” announcement.  Click on Initialize  The button changes to “Go To Store Settings”  click on that.  This is what the next screen looks like: Click on turn store on then click on Yes launch it.  Now you can go to your Facebook page and click on the shop now tab  

This tutorial has taken you through adding the application and the tab to your Fan Page.  I will be working on a tutorial for adding items and other things you can do with your store front.  Look for it soon!

If you use this tutorial and you find errors or omissions, please contact me so that I can make corrections.  If you have any suggestions please contact me with those too. Click here to read more!

Artisans For Awareness

Cause Awareness is very important to me. I was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2005. That diagnosis changed my life. Epilepsy gave me a wonderful gift for designing and creating jewelry. One of the ways I "give back" for this gift is through my Awareness Jewelry. I make jewelry featuring the awareness ribbon beads and charms. I have a shop on Etsy, Cheryls Purple Cow, where I sell my designs. I also have a "Shop Now" tab on my Facebook Fan Page where you can purchase anything that I make.

Mother and Daughter Leukemia
Awareness Stretch Bracelet
by Cheryls Purple Cow

I featured an article on my blog last year called " The Story Behind Cheryls Purple Cow". I know that there is usually a similar story for each artisan that creates awareness items to sell.


I want to know your story!!

When I created this blog it was my intention to devote the same amount of time to both promoting Awareness and to promoting my shops. I am working on changing the direction of the blog to include Awareness.

I will still have the same features, series and tutorials. I will be adding a feature called "Artisans For Awareness" or "Crafters With A Cause". I haven't decided yet which one I want to use. Feel free to comment with your opinion.

The new feature will tell the stories of artisans who support specific causes and the story or reason behind their support. The story may be in the style of an interview or with the artisan as a guest blogger.

Diabetes and Heart Health
Crystal Awareness Bracelet
by Cheryls Purple Cow

If you create Awareness pieces or if you know of someone who does, and you want to share that story with my readers, please contact me. I would love to feature you. This is your chance to plug your Cause and your shop.


If you actively support Epilepsy Awareness I would also like to feature you. i can either set-up some interview questions for you to answer or you could write your own story as a guest blogger. This would be a great opportunity to bring a little more attention to your efforts towards epilepsy awareness.

You can either email me or leave a comment if you are interested. I moderate all comments so your information will not be published if you leave it in the comment.
Click here to read more!

Un-Cluttering My House Sale

I am going to have a sale this weekend in my FaceBook Store Front. Before I talk about the sale I want to tell you what initiated the need for a sale.

In the book Zen and the Art of a Clean House the author talks about the relationship between the condition of your home and the condition of your life. "You put a house in order and you put your life in order. All the trash weighs you down. You might as well drag it around on your back, the dirt, the mess." In other words when your home is organized and clean then your life is organized and you things are basically good. But if your house is cluttered and really needs some work then your life is in pretty much the same condition.

I have found that to be very true. I have also found that when I am constantly feeling frustrated about everything, a good house-cleaning does wonders.  I have been very frustrated lately to put it politely.

Some of the clutter that weighs me down is all the crafting supplies I have. They fill all the closets and any free space in my small apartment. My husband has been gently suggesting that I downsize my storage needs.   I finally agree with him.  The box in the picture is the first of about 7 boxes of crafting supplies.



This is a very short list of items:
Foam Shapes
Wood Shapes
Wood Plaques
Wood Boxes
Beads
Basket Making Reed
Small Gifts for Gift Baskets
Baskets
Candle Holders and Votives

I am going to be listing the supplies (and anything else) in my Facebook store. To get to my store, you go to my Facebook Fan Page and click on the Shop Now tab. The pictures you will see when my store opens are the featured items. Click on the drop-down menu on the left-hand side that reads "Browse by Category", choose a category and you will see all the items in that category.

I will be uploading pictures to the photo albums on my Fan Page if you want a sneak peak. I have a lot to get done before Friday so I may not have time to answer questions especially because the info will probably be in the listing.

Did I mention that Facebook Fans get an additional 10% off the sale prices?


Click here to read more!

Facebook Store Front

I found a new application that allows you to have a store front on your Facebook page. I have already installed the application on my Fan page.

Setting the application up on my page was a bit confusing. I am in the process of writing a tutorial that covers the steps needed to open your store. This store front does not have the functionality of Etsy. But there are a few advantages to this new application.

If you want to see what my store front looks like on my Fan Page the tab is called "Shop Now" .  The application is called "payvment Ecommerce Storefront". 

I like the fact that I can add pictures and whatever text that I want to my Welcome page.  I can also list almost anything in this shop, as long as the item is within Facebook guidelines.  

I have set-up a discussion on my Fan Page for any comments or opinions here: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=84445958484&topic=15923

If you have already set yours up, you can leave a link to it by commenting on this post.  That way anyone who reads this post can view more than one shop. Click here to read more!