Blog Background...

After too many to count tries....I absolutely LOVE my new blog background from Schonee. It is like the icing on the cake...the best part :)

The Ad, The Look, The Feel...The New

So....this is the ad that I submitted to Kim at the Faerie Magazine. She is the one that I originally wanted to advertise with but everything went haywire last year with her company after the sad passing of her mother. I have decided to spend my remaining advertising budget dollars with her in the hopes that she can get out a quality product. As this IS my target audience in the end I decided it is where I needed to be. I did look into advertising on-line with various newspapers across Alberta and BC but nothing just seemed to be working right. As well, I did look into advertising with a Canadian garden magazine but unfortunately they were all way out of my league as far as budgets go (1/8 b&w page ran over $5000.00!!!). 

I guess, I am asking everyone for their thoughts and opinions on the new look but in the end...the ad is already sent and the deadline has come and gone so I will be unable to make any further changes. I did make an arrangement with Kim for my second ad to be 50% off so if through suggestions, I can certainly change the look or feel come the next time around. The previous ad that Alyssa made for me was fantastic and showed everything that I made at the time which is how I needed people to know that I my company was out there. This new ad is more sleek, clean and hopefully mysterious enough that people will either scan the QR code or look up the website address due to the vagueness of the whole thing. 

Under the suggestions of all of us, Larry, Matthew and Brandi the stump island photo was developed (well, Matthew disagreed with the whole stump idea as he noted that I am not in the business of selling stumps...I commented back with...well not yet!!). The look we were hoping to achieve was one that showed a faerie door and perhaps if you looked you might be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a faerie in amongst the flowers and grasses. I think Schonee did an amazing job of capturing a mystical playground for the faeries. 

With the company ever evolving and changing, this ad will allow me to add and subtract products without changing the look and feel of the new backgrounds. The stump island photo is now on every banner for all 6 of my e-commerce sites as well as the website, Facebook and my blog page. All printed material is in the process of being changed over as well. We stayed with the original company colours of eggplant purple and green which means none of my packaging products will need to be changed which helped with expenses. 

Thanks for reading and please respond if you have any suggestions...

Faerie Amma (Emmanuelle)   :)

Wow!

This has been quite the week.

I guess I should have keep the blog updated so everything didn't have to be written all at the same the time. But time allows what it does.

1. I now have hired someone to do my website. A big thank you goes out to Shawn who has taught me the difference between a blog and a website (remember, I'm the one that still thinks that there is a magic combination of keys that if pressed my whole damn computer will blow up). He has be wonderfully patient with me and has guided me through this whole process. He has been up for changes and insertions and deletions :) I couldn't ask for anything or anyone better to represent Enchanted Pathways for me.

2. I have purchased a design. I now own the exclusive rights to a great banner, background and avatar. I would like to thank Erin and her shop "swiekysiggies' on Esty (http://www.etsy.com/shop/swiekysiggies). I have been a major pain the backside for her but she has been great. She is now working hand-in-hand with Shawn to make sure the image is on both my Esty store front and on the website. I am now using her faerie design on my Facebook and Flickr as avatars. When I seen her work and especially this design, I knew I had found what I imagined and hoped would represent what I thought Enchanted Pathways meant to me. I hope you like it as well.

3. My Esty store front is almost ready to be open. I am just finalizing the last details for postage. Now unfortunately there will be no sneak peeks at the new banner as Esty keeps you on vacation mode until you actually add listings for sale. But you can find the link at www.esty.com/shop/EmmanuelleNixon.

4. I have set up a new Flickr account that will be specifically for Enchanted Pathways. Currently all of my available faeries have had their photos retaken, they are named and have a bit of background posted. You can check them out at http://www.flickr.com/photos/enchantedpathways/

5. Out of the blue, I happened to see that there were new courses being offered here in Fort Smith for small businesses. Now even though I do have my Business Management behind me, these courses have been wonderful refreshers. I would like to thank Linda at Thebacha Business Development Services for her great ideas and most of all for being a sounding board.

6. I have hired a local writer, Meagan to help me develop the story behind Enchanted Pathways. Now I could go on but there will be no hints until the story has been completed :)

7. I have been to the Bank of Montreal and with the assistance of Geri set up my accounts for the company. It is always awesome when you have someone who will go out of their way to help you because they believe in you, not just because it is their job.

8. I must add in that I have a wonderful boss and a great group to work with. They have all been supportive with me, encouraging me along the way and offering up their knowledge and experience to get me going. Plus they are putting up with me missing work so I can attend these courses. I am sure they are all sick and tired of listening to me go on and on about faeries.

9. So I guess in the end...I have been sitting here teetering on the edge of whether I want Enchanted Pathways to continue to be a little hobby or whether I want to make a go of it and see if I can let it grow into something more. I have opted for the later. So here we go .....