Thursday, May 31, 2007

New Crafting Forum - New Graphics Forum

I must be a real sucker for trying out new things, *lol* like I don't have enough to keep me busy. I recently opened a new crafting forum/community called



Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket



Only today, I created a *new & improved*



Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

I have a MSN group also called Unique Boutique that I've had for several years now. There have been a lot of 'technical' problems the last 6 months or so that just don't seem to be getting any better so I thought it was time to move the group to a new hosting site.



I chose Proboards.com

1. they are free

2. I know how to navigate these boards

3. I have more control over boards, moderators

4. love the PM and Email options

5. love that you can customize the forum skins/colors anytime you wish

6. you can create categories, subcategories, boards, subboards, modify, reorder, move, and delete

7. avatars - you can use the ones provided, or you can delete those and make and upload your own ( which I have done in the craft forum so far ) or you can customize your own and link to it from a photo hosting site if you don't want to use the community's.

8. you can lock boards, have polls, designate who can post, reply, appoint moderators to help keep an eye on the boards


If you are looking for another craft forum ( there are lots of them out there now ) or would like to join up with a graphics forum - hope you'll stop by to see me! Tell 'em Neenee sent ya.
Posted by: Neenee
KKL Primitives

contributing editor for:
Primitive Times Magazine a free downloadable magazine for crafters
Primitive Times Magazine Blog



Tuesday, May 29, 2007

FREE How To Create A Print Pattern and E-Pattern E-Pamphlet


I get asked a lot - "How do you design a doll e-pattern?"

So, a few months ago I wrote a 4-part series of articles on "How to Create A Print Pattern and E-Pattern" for Primitive Times Magazine E-Zine and thought that maybe all of you might like it if I created a FREE .PDF E-Pamphlet for that series of articles. So, I did. Now everyone who wants to try and design their own doll or craft patterns or e-patterns can find out how to do it.

If you'd like to read my 4-part series all you need to do is to download the FREE .PDF attachment, save it on your computer, and open it up in Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or higher. If you don’t have Adobe Acrobat Reader, don’t worry. The Adobe Acrobat Reader is a FREE download from Adobe. Just go to www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html and follow the instructions for downloading the program.

If you already have the Adobe Acrobat Reader (which most computer users do) then all you need to do is to download the PDF file attachment and then open it to view it. It will open in the Adobe Acrobat Reader program. From there you can save it to your computer, view it, or print it.

If you'd like to download my FREE Linda's How-Do-I Series? How To Create A Print Pattern and E-Pattern please just CLICK HERE or click on the picture above.

I hope you enjoy my FREE Linda's How-Do-I Series? How To Create A Print Pattern and E-Pattern E-Pamphlet and hope it motivates you to create your own e-patterns.



Copyright © 2007 - All Rights Reserved - Written Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals, Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns,Linda Walsh Originals DOLLS NEW Handmade Dolls & Crafts Website, Linda Walsh Originals Dolls and Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer. http://lindawalshoriginals.com

Thursday, May 24, 2007

*Free* Angel 'Earn Your Wings' Outline

Click on image to view full size & save to your hard drive
©Neenee KKL Kreations
All rights reserved 2007


This will print off on a 9x11 sheet of paper. You may not sell or offer outline for download but you may sell whatever you make with outline. You are permitted to resize outline.
Have fun!

Posted by: Neenee
KKL Primitives
The Crafter's Lounge online crafter's community/forum
contributing editor for:
Primitive Times Magazine a free downloadable magazine for crafters

Friday, May 11, 2007

WHAT'S NEW On Our Editors Pages

Our editors are always adding NEW content to their pages of our Primitive Times Magazine website. Since we wouldn't want you to miss anything NEW we decided that we'd tell you about the NEW content that is added to our editors pages each month on our Primitive Times Magazine Blog. That way you'll always know what's NEW.

This month we have quite a few NEW articles on the editors pages of our Primitive Times Magazine website that we thought you might like to know about.

Here's what's new:


Neenee's Nook

Basically, Neenee's whole page is brand new and she has already added 2 great crafting articles that prim lovers are sure to enjoy. Plus, Neenee is a terrific graphics artist and she has added some of her wonderful FREE graphics including dolls, bears, fairies, mammies, sheep, angels and more.

Free Stick Horse Pattern by Neenee
Handmade Potpourri
FREE Graphics From Neenee
Boiling Ham and Cabbage Recipe
FREE Doll, Bear, & Fairy Graphics From Neenee - NEW
Making a Candle Jar - NEW


From The Crow's Nest by Debbie


Debbie has two great articles for prim crafters.

Tea Staining Fabric NEW
Rusting Items NEW


Dear Linda

If you like learning the history of certain items be sure to checkout Linda's latest article on the history of faceless dolls. If you like dolls and history you'll love reading this article and the other articles on Linda's "Dear Linda" page.

The History of Faceless Dolls-NEW



Prim Business Articles by Angie


Angie added another great business article on website how-to's.

Website How-To's - NEW


There's a ton of information on all our editors pages. We have everything from Free Graphics, Free Patterns, Recipes, Craft Projects, Business Tips, Craft Tips, Historical Articles, Advice for WAHM's, How-To's, Prim Crafting Tips, and so much more.

We hope you get a chance to stop by our Primitive Times Magazine website and read the latest from our editor's pages.


Copyright © 2007 - All Rights Reserved - Written Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals, Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns,Linda Walsh Originals DOLLS NEW Handmade Dolls & Crafts Website, Linda Walsh Originals Dolls and Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer. http://lindawalshoriginals.com

Saturday, May 05, 2007

The Easy Way To Drive That Pesky Traffic Away From Your Website 101

The Easy Way to Drive That Pesky Traffic Away From Your Website


By Angie Wenke


Over the last two years I have written a lot of articles on how to drive traffic to your sites, and even how to promote your site for FREE to drive traffic to your site. But then I got to thinking that maybe an article on big "No No's" that will drive people from your site in droves might be a good idea also.


Let's face it we have all been on a site that drove us nuts, the menu was not easy to navigate, the graphics were so bright or loud or distracting or disorganized, the text was too large to read, or the site just simply looked like a huge mess. You do not want your site to fall into one of the above categories. So here are some fun tips of what NOT to do on your website. This article is meant to be a funny satire to sites that are not put together well.


1-DO NOT MAKE IT CLEAR WHAT YOU SELL OR OFFER:


This is the best way to drive traffic from your site kicking and screaming. Make what you sell a big mystery or clue finding mission. Make them search and read through the lines so they can try and figure out what what the heck are you offering. Make sure your spelling is awful, your text is set to font size "48" so even blind people are running from your site because they can't even read what you are saying.


2-MAKE YOUR SITE GRAPHIC BOLD AND MISMATCHED AND PLACED IN FUNNY SPOTS


Nothing is better than going to a site where there are country graphics mixed in with Gothic graphics, or how about those ever fluorescent colored sites where the text is brown on black background making you have to squint until you feel like your eyes are going to explode to try and see what the heck the text is saying.


3-HAVE A SEA OF BANNERS AND GRAPHICS FLOATING ALL OVER THE PLACE


Make sure you have banners advertising everything from preparation H to hemorrhoids all over your site, and don't forget your adult channels. Make sure the ads have NOTHING to do with your site, and your graphics do not make sense so you visitors are left clueless.


4-HAVE A COMPLICATED CHECKING OUT SYSTEM


Make sure your customers have to run around in circles like a hamster in a wheel to try and pay you for your products. You want to make sure your customers really want what you are selling so making a checkout system that is easy to use and understand will only deter you making really great sales! You want your customer to spend 30 minutes looking for the Pay pal button and credit card logos, and how about few errors pages thrown in the mix to really throw them off!


5-HAVE AS MANY BROKEN LINKS AS POSSIBLE


You do not want your customers to actually navigate all the pages on your site with ease so throw them a curve ball by throwing in a OLD OUTDATED page every once in awhile.


6-PUT OUTDATED OR INCORRECT CONTACT INFORMATION


For Heaven's sake DO NOT I repeat DO NOT put your correct email or phone number in your contact area! This is crucial you DO NOT want under any circumstances for the customer to actually be able to contact you!


This is a humorous look at bad sites that are floating around and things you DO NOT want your customers to encounter while shopping on your site. So take the time to make sure your site looks the best it can and the sales will come!


Copyright © 2007 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Angela Wenke of Prim Talk Radio, Heartland Marketplace, Primitive Times Magazine, Heartland Graphics

Top Sites - Is There Really a Benefit?

Top sites - Is there really a benefit?

By Angela Wenke


If you have had online business for long then you have noticed on sites the cute little logos saying "Vote For Us" , but what really are top sites and will they really help your business be noticed? Top sites are everywhere you look, seems like everyone who owns a business also has a top sites account, therefore how do you know which ones should you join?


Top sites in my opinion are a wonderful "FREE" Resource of targeted traffic to your website. What I mean by targeted traffic is each top site has a theme such as country and primitive. The people browsing those top sites are looking for country and primitives and therefore would be interested in visiting your site if you banner and description are catchy enough. Traffic to your site is key, if you want your site to be seen and noticed and to eventually grow in the Search Engine Rankings and Top sites are wonderful FREE way to achieve this. Top sites allow customers to visit your site, join your top sites if you offer one, and even vote for your site to help boost you higher on that particular top site.


The key to making top sites work towards advertising your business is join ONLY top sites that are geared towards what you sell. For instance if you sell crafts and primitives then you would to join Primitive, Country and Crafts Top sites not top sites that cater to auto parts. When deciding what category your site fits do your research and ONLY join top sites that are in your category and also that are ranked high in GOOGLE.


Go to GOOGLE and type in what kind of top sites you are looking for, for example "primitive top sites. country top sites, craft top sites, candle top sites, graphics top sites, bath n body top sites" then join the top ten in each category that fits your business needs. Now when customers go to search for a particular product you might sell such as "candles" their search results should also include your candle top sites you just joined.


Voting for your top sites is also a nice way to make sure your site is seen an noticed, by just voting for your sites once a day or every other day it helps to boost your site to the number one position in the top sites voting system. Also make sure you offer a page for your customers to visit your top sites and hopefully give you a vote in the process. You will be surprised how many votes you will receive from customers some of them interested in searching top sites or maybe just joining that top sites. Either way works for you as you are getting the votes you need to keep your site seen and noticed.


Copyright © 2007 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Angela
Wenke of Prim Talk Radio, Heartland Marketplace, Primitive
Times Magazine
, Heartland Graphics

May 2007 Issue of Primitive Times Magazine





The May 2007 FREE Primitive Times Magazine E-Issue was just released and it is a "MUST READ!" It is filled to the brim with FREE craft articles for Mothers Day!. You definitely don't want to miss it.

You can now read your copy of the FREE May 2007 issue of Primitive Times Magazine two ways. It is available as either a
FREE .pdf e-zine issue
for you to download and or you can order a copy by mail!.

Whichever way you decide to read it Primitive Times Magazine May 2007 issue is filled to the brim with 33 pages of terrific information for crafters, small business, and website owners.

Just look at what's included:



FREE Stitchery Patterns

  • Spring Cleaning Life's A Bleach by Neenee
  • A Love of Art Brings Peace by
    Linda Walsh

  • How to Design a Print Pattern and E-Pattern by Linda Walsh

  • Fathers Day by Neenee

  • Website Spring Cleaning from a Consumers Point of View by Nancie

  • Increasing Your Sales with Craft Fairs by Brenda

  • Making Lye Soap with Milk by Wanda

  • Covering Lamp Shades by Wanda

  • 14 Ways to Show Kids You Love them by Joan Brochu

  • Bananas Home Remedies by Joan Brochu

  • Recipe Corner

  • Practical Aromatheraphy by Lauren Sorgaard

  • Uses for Corn Starch by Joan Brochu

  • Do you have a Disaster Plan for your Business by Lisa Lowell

  • Business Success with Niki Jackson

  • An Empty Thread and Bath Time Fun by Lisa Lowell

  • Making A Prim Candle Mat by Dianne

  • Web Directory Ads

  • E-Pattern Showcase Ads

  • Ode to Mothers by Renae

  • Recipe Corner #2

  • Featured Crafter for May

  • Holly Tree Primitives

  • Mulled Spice Bags by Angie Wenke

  • Cute Button Candles by Angie Wenke

  • Product Reviews


  • So grab your FREE May 2007 issue of Primitive Times Magazine.
    CLICK to Download the FREE .pdf e-zine issue
    .




    Copyright © 2007 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Angela Wenke of Prim Talk Radio, Heartland Marketplace, Primitive
    Times Magazine
    , Heartland Graphics