Museum of Paper

Well Worth More than One Visit

You might like to visit:

• The entry about Brianna's touching blog about her art, her mother's illness and her life

• Laura's lovely, fun and very human blog including drop dead gorgeous photos - and funny stuff.

• Fascinating Blog d'Elisson.

To learn how to Leak Links yourself as part of the Link Leak Virus, visit Mike Sigers' blog

Artsy Mama and Getting Art Bloggers Known

I was wandering around from some incoming links I'm getting in the Case Notes from the Artsy Asylum blog (who are all these people I don't know but am SO flattered to be mentioned by?)

Anyhow I clicked on a comment on Nancy Baumiller's Art Blog and in turn stumbled across something truly amazing,  ArtsyMama uses three shades of green on her layout and I LIKE it.

You Can Take a Giant Step : Want to Get Known?

Want to Get Known? The interconnectivity of the blogging world is something that can exponentially increase attention on what you do; increase your blog readership; increase your visibility.

You, the Service you Perform, or the Art You Make can take a Giant-Step forward.

And being able to let someone else know that we have mentioned them in what we're writing is of great benefit to us - and to them. It gives each of us a nice hand up and a pat on the back as well without having to hold hands and sing kumbaya.

The way we do the job of letting them know that we're talking about them - without having to phone or email them - is through "pings" which provide a "trackback" to what we're saying  AND  who we're saying it about.

Now wait though . . .
    before your eyes roll back in your heads  I've prepared a quick (and easy I hope) "show and tell" on the subject.

If you go along with each step I think you'll soon get it. And if not? Heck - ask me questions!

. . . No brain cells will be injured in the process. Take a deep breath . . .

Let's start by setting up an example. We'll say that:

1.) I want to write a post (article) about something that someone wrote in their blog.  Of course I want to include a link so the reader can just click and see what I'm talking about.

My example to demonstrate this is at this blog entry. You can go ahead and click that now and then come back here.

2.) As you read through that entry you will find a link to the Everyday Economist

3.) My blogging platform (Typepad) has a function that automatically (no kidding) "pings" the Everyday Economist as a way of communicating to that blog that I just referenced it in something I wrote. 

Think of this automatic message as if it were just like my sister tattling on me, running immediately to her and saying "Mommy, Susan was saying a bunch of stuff about you."

With me so far?

4.) OK - so back in the bloggosphere - like magic - the beginning lines of what I wrote about him show up right there in his Everyday Economist's blog.  And even better - my words appear right below the entry that I'm writing about!

Imagine that a magic cloud appears over my sister the tattler's head . . . and in the cloud appear the words that I actually said about Mommy, right there where she - or anybody else - can see them.

Inside Scoop: Fonts That Make You Look Lame

I know I always - or, regularly anyhow - gush about the scoop I get from Get-Known Guru Suzanne Falter-Barnes. But it's true - she never ceases to deliver the goods.

While pointing me to a quiz about - ready? - whether I'd make the cut as a guest on Oprah ( HA - as if! ) I got the bonus of finding Fonts That Make You Look Lame. written by Sheila Parr for the Greenleaf Publishing's Big Bad Book Blog.

Of course no blog would be worth its salt if it didn't tell us something about who writes it and about Sheila we learn:

Her favorite things are fine point Sharpies and breakfast tacos.

Funny. So their tone loudly announces that it doesn't take itself too seriously - as you probably figured out from the title of the Lame article - um - I mean the article about not looking lame.

Part of what Sheila posts is:

"Some fonts scream TACKY and others whisper amateur, but if you’re not a designer you probably have no idea if you’re committing a font felony.

"To protect yourself from snotty judgments about your taste and experience level, follow these two simple rules in all typed work: manuscripts, emails, proposals, and, of course, books."

RULE #1: Avoid the following five fonts at ALL costs,

1. Comic Sans. Unless you are writing a comic book or materials for a film adapted from a comic book (i.e., Sin City—great design) don’t use it.

 

Explosive Outbreak in the Information World

I haven't harped on this in awhile - so just let me pass on one thing quickly before you stop reading.

"...you cannot afford to close your eyes to them [blogs], because they're simply the most explosive outbreak in the information world since the Internet itself.  And they're going to shake up just about every business - including yours.

                  -- Business Week Magazine, May 2, 2005

Notice that this quote is from nearly a year ago. Can you imagine how much truer this is today?

Clue: the graphic from technorati -
click image to see it enlarged.

The bloggosphere has more than doubled in the eleven months since this was written.

Yes, the group who write blogs - and more who read them at least three times a week includes: grandmothers, writers, teachers, musicians, lawyers, classrooms full of your kids, decorators, TV actresses, football players, the corner grocer, my vet, and people who would either like to buy your work, exhibit your work, write about your work or take a class on how to do what you do.

In short, what Business Week said does too apply to you, me, your aunt Hattie and your kids' soccer coach. And it applies now even more than when they said it in 2005.

an Artistampede is Born!

It's something that could cost you $136.00 . .
but less than twenty virtual "seats" are left at $15.00

Claim yours by following the
Special Artistampede Registration Link to be part of . . .

- an online workshop
  - generous handouts
  - and including supplies as seen in the pages of Stampers Sampler magazine!

And while you're visiting the Artistampede make sure to look around.  You'll discover that you're finally on the way to being able to search for artistamps by color, theme, whatever.

Ta da! Now this is what I call good news.

Are we having fun or what!

..

Japanese Photo Blog & Art Prints

I've got a tip for you that I think you will enjoy. It was a happy accident that caused me to come across this very artful website that includes a blog and photos.

Beyond the lovely images, what really kept a lock on my attention was the fascinating information about everyday life in Japan.

The Original link is to Sushicam : Japan Photo Blog & Fine Art Prints

There is also another specific URL that leads to some gorgeous photos of Japan. Find those at Sushicam - pixelpost

Makes me want to find some cheap tickets and take off.

Guest Writers - Your Chance for Visibility Awaits

• Do you love people, art supplies, ephemera, paper dolls, markers, pencils, buttons, ATCs, papers, inks, yarn, rubber stamps and more?

• Would you welcome the excuse to try a new technique, a specific paper or ink or embossing powder . .  or whatever?

• Do you find most of your thoughts during the day drifting towards what you can make next, what art supply you want to try next, what swap or project you want to get involved in?

• Do you want a place to show off your creations and show others how to do what you do?

• Have you ever felt strongly about some part of an art/craft topic and wanted to find a media site to express your thoughts?
  

If a number of these answers are yes, you should strongly consider becoming a Guest Writer for the Museum of Paper Arts Blog.

The Museum of Paper Arts Blog presents a fun opportunity to play a part in producing content that has the potential to be read by thousands of followers.

 

Mr President Meet Phil the Groundhog

I hope that everyone has by now discovered the advantages to being a subscriber to the Artsy Asylum blog since, as is usually the case, yet another artistamp freebie appeared there this weekend.

The Presidents day artistamp is a new variation on an old theme. This issue

1. has the imprinted "stampy" looking edge which needs only a straight cut with scissors
2. ALSO appears with some of the stamps having a solid "frame" border edge that you can cut out with the cool Fiskars Stamp-Edge Scissors for an authentic "stampy" look
3. AND this time was released with a project idea below the stamps - perfect for any patriotic or heritage-related occasion of creative adventure!
   

They are just a lot of fun to play with in your paper-art activities - or just add to your snail mail envelopes (in addition to the postage needed) and mess with your letter carrier's mind.

The Presidents join the Pittsburgh Steelers Fan Groundhog stamp and other artistamp freebies already there and ready to download right there from the pages of the blog.

To find more issues check the blog (newest content always appears first) - or -

See the CATEGORIES column on the left side of the Blog.

You'll find the blog posts group by subject like:

• A Life in Art / the Art of Life
• Artistamps
• Coupons, Freebies & Specials
• Current Affairs
• Flat Stanley
• Ideas & Inspiration
• Resources for the Artsy
• etc

Also in the left column you'll see a search box

• 
  powered by FreeFind

Insert a word, holiday, or whatever and see what's been written in the Artsy Asylum Blog about that!

Find even more artistamps via the portal where you can not just purchase and wait for delivery but Purchase and Immediately Download a wide assortment of

• Artistamps of Ephemeria,
• Collage Clips and
• Don't even take a chance on missing out, Stay tuned . . . and be ready for what happens next!
  

Get Updates from the Case Notes from the Artsy Asylum Blog http://susanreynolds.blogs.com - Susan's semi-daily on Art and Life -

   @ http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=4608

AND

* the Museum of Paper Arts Blog* http://museumofpaper.com is a Participatory Art Blog on a wide range of art topics. You can post comments or questions & show your own work or be a guest Blogger!
Get updates by email @ http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=7737

The Potential to Profit from Blogs

Angie Pedersen (marketing consultant and best-selling author) recently posted about the possibilities of exploiting her considerable blogging skills for the benefit for companies in the scrapbooking industry. Her thought-provoking post says,

"What's interesting to me...is that while blogging is definitely catching on among scrapbookers, it's not being used by the companies and manufacturers that FEED scrapbookers."

She wonders why so few companies are blogging and concludes that the main culprit is time: no time to learn about blogging, set up a blog, or maintain a blog. I suspect it may also--for scrapbooking companies and many others--have to do with a lack of understanding about how a well written, professionally presented, regularly updated blog could benefit them.

So can companies benefit from hiring bloggers? Angie's post shares several ideas from an article by Steve Rubel, a senior marketing strategist, describing ways that for-hire bloggers might assist a company in its marketing efforts. Comments to Angie's post provide even more food for thought.

I predict that over the next year or two, the blogger-for-hire scenario is going to become as commonplace with small companies as the webmaster-for-hire scenario is now, because . . .