HomeStudio Arts

Heartsy and HomeStudio ?

2011-07-27T09:41:00.000-07:00

Did you enjoy our last Heartsy deal? If you're signed up with Heartsy stop on by here http://heartsy.me/shops/5595-homestudio/like and please give us a "yes definitely" vote so we can offer a fantastic deal to all Heartsy members (old and new)! Be sure to sign up with Heartsy before voting http://heartsy.me

Christmas in July Sale. 25% OFF

2011-07-15T16:26:00.000-07:00

July 16, 2011 last day for our Christmas in July (CIJ) Sale. 25% OFF your order - if apply the coupon code 25OFF during Etsy checkout. Only 1 day left! http://www.etsy.com/shop/HomeStudio

HomeStudio - Heartsy Etsy Deal

2011-07-12T13:45:00.000-07:00

http://heartsy.me/shops/141-homestudio Thanks again for everyone that participated in our Heartsy deal in March. If you still have not used your voucher for our Etsy shop, please contact us and we'll be happy to work with you. -Stef and Mark

MINI LETTER CHARM - Pendant from a Scrabble Game Tile, handmade by HomeStudio

2011-07-06T10:18:00.000-07:00

Introducing the Mini Letter Charm from HomeStudio. What a great add-on for your pendant chain. I love wearing my 'S' along with my favorite Scrabble tile pendants. I'll cluster them together or wear one at a time. These little tiles aren't the easiest to get a hold of, so we usually just have limited quantities in stock. As usual, the charm is sold separately from our chains, so you can buy the chain style you would like (ball or link). The Mini Letter Charm can be purchased retail at our Etsy shop where you can always pick your letter.

Hope you are all having a wonderful summer!
-Stef

A milestone reached!

2009-11-06T10:14:00.001-08:00

On November 1st we reached an interesting milestone. We hit 17,777 retail sales. Sounds like a pretty lucky number with all those sevens! It took us 580 days (or 19 months) to do it. Boy are we tired!...but very grateful! Some other current milestones are in the Etsy Jewelry Category and the Etsy Handmade Category. THANK YOU everyone for supporting handmade goods and HomeStudio!

The CORA PAIGE Pendant

2009-03-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

HomeStudio was honored to help out with a fundraiser for Cora Paige in February. Cora passed away recently from Neuroblastoma stage 4, a form of childhood cancer. We created a pendant to raise funds for a playground in her honor.

Of the 200+ Etsy sellers who also participated, nearly 2000 items were sold totaling over $16,000! This is about half of the total amount raised for the playground to date. About $14,000 is still needed to meet the goal for the proposed playground. The parents will continue to accept donations through the end of this month. We have chosen to continue to help.

March 21st - 31st:
100% of the proceeds of the sale of our Cora's Playground scrabble pendant and snake chain will be donated to the Cora Paige Playground.

We will also include 10% of our earnings of ALL SALES from our shop to the Cora Paige playground fundraiser. If you would like your purchase to go towards this, please be sure to type "Cora's Playground" in the message-to-seller box at checkout

Please also pass the news around!

http://corapaige.blogspot.com
Newspaper articles here and here

It takes YEARS to be an overnight success

2009-03-15T00:55:00.000-07:00

"The past is behind, learn from it. The future is ahead, prepare for it. The present is here, live it.” There are several schools of thought on how long it takes to be an “overnight success”. Some say it is 6, 7 or 15 years. Whichever it is, all can agree that it is never overnight. It truly takes years and sometimes even a lifetime. No matter what you end up doing to be self-sufficient as an entrepreneur, you really are a sum of your past experiences. Be very conscious of this fact and know it is a strength. Our current business applies ALL of our previous job skills from the most menial to the highly mental. We are the product of jobs at small businesses and giant corporations. You may think that some of your past jobs have nothing to do with your current craft business desires – but they really do apply. I would even suggest trying to make them apply. Some of those experiences were just diamonds in the rough. Look back at them with positive eyes and find the diamonds. Maybe you were trained to work for others in order to one day work for yourself. Stay positive and as Steve Jobs said, “connect the dots”.

ANNIVERSARY GREEN SALE

2009-03-01T03:31:00.001-08:00

March is the month for wearin’ green and it’s also our 1-year Etsy anniversary, so let's have a SALE!

-► Sale period: March 1st – March 17th
-► All GREEN Pendants have been marked down 15%
-► All GIFT SETS have also been marked down!
-► Sorry NOT included in this Sale: Magnets, Mirrors, Chains, or Custom items

We decided NOT to participate in the recession

2009-02-21T13:01:00.000-08:00

I can't be a victim of the recession. Several months ago we borrowed this as our official statement regarding this: “We have decided NOT to participate in the recession”

Now, here's a few things we think are important to running a successful business and life in these times.

- Make yourself daily business AFFIRMATIONS. Waterproof them and read them in the shower – our best marketing ideas happen in the shower.

- DO NOT watch the news about the economy (or not even at all). I can’t tell you when the last time was that I watched my local news or National/world news. Many months ago I decided to change my home page. It is no longer MSN, Yahoo etc. and I don’t miss it.

- Avoid negative people including your own ‘DEBBIE DOWNERS’. “Hey did you here about that fatal accident on Highway….” Um, sorry I gotta go.

- Surround yourself with POSITIVE sights, thoughts, sounds, and even smells. Yep I said sounds and smells! Get a new alarm clock. Buy some handmade soap from someone on Etsy. MAKE yourself happy.

- ACT don't wait to be ACTED UPON - be Proactive. Remember that definition of Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

- Make some mistakes along the way - you’re entitled. Fix them and keep going FORWARD.

- Connect the dots. Look back at how you got where you are today. Be GRATEFUL to the good AND the bad.

- GIVE BACK. Give back to community, family, and God.

Think some of this sounds foolish? Good! I know we’d be foolish if we didn’t do these. Good luck and keep your chin up.

Giving Back

2009-02-18T20:08:00.000-08:00

HomeStudio was honored to help out with a fundraisers for Cora Paige and Tuesday Whitt . Little Cora and Tuesday passed away just recently both from Neuroblastoma stage 4, a form of childhood cancer. We created these pendants in order to raise funds for each family's cause. Thank you Tuesday and Cora for your lives inspiring others in the fight against cancer. If you are interested in also helping out, you can go to their family blogs for donation information.

***Unfortunately we have sold out of these pendants and were happy to participate in these fundraisers***

Love Bomb 2009?

2009-02-07T14:49:00.001-08:00

We got an "Etsy Love Bomb" in the mail yesterday! Apparently Etsy sent out New Years Gifts, these random gift boxes of goodies to various sellers. It actually arrived to our PO Box a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't get a chance to go by until yesterday. It included a nice hand signed card, a tote bag (different than the one pictured), a button badge (scissor one) and a silkscreened poster of a tree. How nice is that! Thank you Etsy and have a great 2009!

Scrabble Tile Pendants?

2009-02-07T10:37:00.000-08:00

Late February 2008: On the same day, for some odd reason, two unrelated people suggested Etsy was something to look in to. I had done pretty well selling my paintings on eBay, in galleries and local commissions. Etsy was becoming the new buzzword among artists/crafters. So in March I opened an Etsy shop selling my art and even some custom furnishings (only for a couple of weeks). After a few paintings had sold, Stef and I decided to look for something both she and I could do together. So we focused our efforts on something small - smaller than a postage stamp! We had about $15 in our pocket as funds were very tight and “invested” it into some scrapbooking paper and used Scrabble game pieces. So was the origins of the two of us working together making jewelry necklace pendants. On Cinco de Mayo 2008, HomeStudio, our home - now a studio, began its adventures in the world of Scrabble Tile Pendants.

We do need to publicly thank littleputbooks, and other forerunners for their ingenuity, drive and resourcefulness into this Scrabble world. Good karma to them always!

Mark+Stef
HS