Gifts, mailing lists, and cuttlefish

Had a great get-together with Allison and Jodi earlier this week. Our table was filled with ribbons and wrapping paper and gift bags as we did our holiday gift exchange. Thanks to Jodi for the snowman ornament and heavenly-smelling Lush products, and to Allison for the canvases, German bookmark calendar and a kalimba instruction book. I've already sightread my first kalimba piece and am looking forward to learning more!

This year I made paintings for both Jodi and Allison as part of their Christmas gifts. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of Jodi's before I gave it to her (I'll have to do that next time we have an Urban Tapestry practice in Newmarket) but you can see the one I did for Allison above and to the right.

Thanks to those who have been helping me test iContact; if you helped but didn't get your free LJ icons, please let me know. While testing, a few people had problems, with blank screens coming up where there should be text. Other than that, most people seemed fine with the interface. I also played around a bit with Mailchimp, but then I heard the news about The Hobbit.



Knowing that I'm going to be doing a Waiting For Bilbo comic has also forced me to rethink what service I'm going to use. I had nearly 1500 people on my notification list for Waiting For Frodo, and I suspect that Waiting For Bilbo might get more. Since both iContact and Mailchimp charge per user, I think the wiser option would be to go for a less expensive service.

Like FREE, maybe. My friend Reid alerted me to the fact that Dreamhost (which currently hosts some of my domains) offers a free announcement mailing list service for its users, so I'm going to check that out. Doesn't come with nearly as many bells and whistles but I think I'll be fine with that for now. :-)

So here's the sign-up form for my Etsy mailing list, if you're interested. Mailing list subscribers will receive special offers, freebies, and info about new items. I expect to send out about one mailing a week at MOST. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the link at the bottom of any mailing.

If you notice any problems, please do let me know!



The two photos above are of new Christmas ornaments I've received this week in the mail. The snowman was made by Kathye and the stained glass ornament was made by Lissa.

I mentioned yesterday that I was going to give more info about the very first piece of pottery that Luisa and I are listing on Etsy, but it sold already. (Thanks, Francine, if you're reading this!) :-)

I'm not shipping until the New Year, but anyone who places an order between now and January 3rd will get a handmade bookmark by yours truly in thanks for waiting. If you'd like a handmade Waiting For Bilbo bookmark, please say so when you check out (in the comments section of the form), else I'll choose another theme.



Most recent addition to my Etsy shop: a cuttlefish! Thanks to Brooke for the suggestion. More info on the Etsy page for this painting.

Photo Of The Day:

Secret Squirrel Training Facility (thanks to Vixy for the link)



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