I'm Still Here......

It seems like forever since I last wrote a blog posting. It is not like I haven't been either here in the nursery working or out of the nursery shopping while out of town. It is just that I haven't had the time to sit still long enough to write down what I have been up to.

There has been some major and some not so major changes to the company and to me personally as Faerie Amma (and the me, the alter ego of Faerie Amma).

Some of the major changes to the company includes a new direction....

I have hired a wonderful writer by the name of Michelle E. J. Knowles who has been listening to the faeries and it seems that the wee ones might not be here for much longer but I will let her tell their story.

The website has been updated by added new 'pink sparkles' to the banners on each page; the amalgamation of the faeries and princes page and the renaming of the Northern Faeries.

A new table top photo shoot box was purchased to give a more professional look to our photos. A massive thank you goes out to hubby who took the time to take the photos of the Northern Line of Faeries. I think they look fantastic on the new blue backdrop :)

The naming of our dragon mascot took place back in August but it looks like I forgot to mention it here on my blog! Her name is Roisin which is an Irish name meaning little Rose. For now she is our only dragon here at the nursery but perhaps in the future we will find more of her kind.

I am pleased to announce that the Faerie Magazine has a new partner and they are back in publication. My half page ad that ran in issue #24 looks fantastic and issue #25 will be out in December. I have applied to the Government of the Northwest Territories - Industry, Tourism and Investment Division for further funding so I can continue advertising with Kim for the 2014 subscription year. I hope to hear next week if my submission was accepted (keeping fingers crossed).

Other than that...it is business as usual....the nursery is in shambles as the faeries and locked insides as we have a light dusting of snow. As more product continues to arrive the faeries love to dive right in and well, let's just say that I have no clue at all what I have and what I don't have anymore. There are flower petals and sparkles to be found everywhere. But that is what makes working in a faerie nursery everything that when you close your eyes and you just even try to imagine what it must be like....it is ten thousand times better.

And with that thought....here they are....the Northern Line of Faeries introducing...

Boreal

Snowflake

Aurora

Raven

Agua

Midnight Sun

Keeping Up With The Times

It's not like I'm not doing anything or having anything to blog about or even post....I don't think that I have actually taken more than a day off from being here in the nursery since the New Year.

I have spent most of my time putting on a watermark on all of the photos that I have posted. As well as retaking photos so everyone is done on the same backgrounds. I can't believe how time consuming this project has become. With each faerie having 5 photos that need to either be retaken or they are just fine and all need to be watermarked.

Next is trying to figure out all of this whole marketing idea. As advertising in magazines (to this point anyways) has proved to have zero return on the dollar. So....I am thinking I am going to do the research and take up a few offers that I have been given. It seems that you can advertise with big name newspapers on-line for minimal cost. This will allow me to diversify and have an on-line presence for a longer period of time over putting a bunch of money into a magazine ad that is posted only once!

I have been working on the Clay Potters. Trying to keep up with everyone that wants to be a character, which may I add, I have had a wonderful response from family, friends and complete strangers. I have formulated lots of ideas in my head on what I want on certain pages of the book, the rest will just have to come naturally as I play :)

I am now working with a new graphic designer hoping to revamp all of my printed materials. As this just started this week, I don't really have anything to show you yet but as it comes available I will share.

In other news, I now have an active presence on 5 new e-commerce websites. There seems to have been lots of changes made over in the office of Etsy and they are now charging to have your items showing up on the first couple of pages.

After lots and lots and lots of research, I have opted to try out a few 'new kids' to the e-commerce block along with a few that have been around for a few years but just didn't catch the wave that Etsy did. I am sure with all of the new changes more and more of the little guys will emerge and become successful.

So......with that all being said... you can now find my wee little faeries at:

Etsy
Art Fire
Craft Cafe
Zaybia
Zibbet
Storenvy

Each of these sites will feature different faeries so there is no over lapping as well.

Other new news....Facebook!! It seems that now that they have to actually pay dividends out there has been some very not so good changes done to the rules on how to play on Facebook.

1. You can only use 20% of your banner for words/advertising??
2. You can no longer do a free giveaway of your own products without using a third-party to collect the data and declare a winner.
3. Only 20% of those people who 'follow' you will see a post.

What this means to me....

1. I will have to change my banner...that's an easy change for me...thank goodness.
2. I have had to repost my Valentine's Day free give away of Faerie Prince Conor and sign up to use Rafflecopter. The problem with this, is that unless I want to pay a monthly fee of $7.00 to Rafflecopter, I will never know who enter, how many people entered or if anyone entered at all. As well, this takes away from me being able to hand write all entries only rose petals and make the draw personally. Now all what I will get is an e-mail informing me who to send Prince Conor to. How utterly SAD is that?
3. Even when I make a post on my own Faerie Nursery Facebook page...it doesn't show up in my own personal news feed. I am even subscribed to my own company page and I still don't get to see my own postings? How utterly STUPID is that! Oh...but there is a catch....for $4.00 a posting, I can have my post seen by all 500+ people that have opted to subscribe to follow me!! Yeah, like that is ever going to happen!!

So in the meantime...I will play the game and follow the rules of Facebook and patiently wait for the next best social media site to come along so we can all say...OMG do you remember using FB!!

So...thank you all for reading..this was a wonderful break from doing research and putting watermarks on umpteen photos...and you let me RANT.

I love you all....

Faerie Amma