Dedication Increased!

There are many things that I have been planning on discussing within my blogs, and I have come to the realization that it takes serious discipline to get things done. In an effort to be more available to my readers I will be working on increasing my dedication to my blog and readers. 

To achieve this I will be blogging as much as possible. I am not limiting amounts of post per day, topics anything! If you have suggestions they are welcome and invited. I am also not promising anything either. I work full time and am struggling to make this my full time job, so balance is key. Over the next couple months will be a learning experience as to how I can balance this increase dedication with my everyday life.

I would also like to announce a Call to Action! If you have a blog, or like to write I would love to have you as a quest blogger on A. Nieman Design. Please email me if you are interested in sharing your talents.

Also for those of you that want to be included in my Blogs to Visit section email me as well! I would love to add more blogs to my list!

Thanks for your time and Come visit me again!

Have a Nice Day!

A. Nieman

New Job: Back into the Design World at Last!!!

After a month and a half of searching and interviews I have finally landed a job! Not only did I find a job it is a job where I can use my talents and my education.

For those of you who do not know, I have a degree from Ohio State University in Textiles and Clothing with a focus in Interior Design. My first job out of college was with Dillard's in the home store and slowly I have been moving away from my love and passion of design. I ended up in an administrative assistant position that didn't work out.

My being let go from this position was a blessing in disguise. Not only did it give me a wake up call to the way the world works but it led me to a position that I am so excited to start. I will be working as a sales associate at La-Z-Boy. I will be back into the design business. Although I will not be working as a designer per say I can actually use my degree and knowledge in this position. There is also room within this company to move into an in store designer position( yes La-Z-Boy carries in store designer, I had no idea.)

I have a week and a half till I start my training and I cannot wait. I feel like a giddy school girl. Of course there are drawbacks to a sales position, like working weekends and working till 9 pm some nights, but it will be worth it.

I have been going through all my industry magazines and my text books, organizing everything so that I can access all my resources and a moments notice. Which brings me to my next thought; I will be starting to blog more about design.

Lately my bog has been dominate by my crocheting and has barely held any topics about design, my first love. This will change. Although I still love my crocheting and will keep at my Etsy Shop, I will no longer make it my only concentration. I think I put crocheting first and not design. Now I have a renewal of my design passion and have discovered that crocheting is more of a hobby and a side business. My career is design.

It took me a while to figure this out and I think I have more clarity in my life becasue of it. Crocheting will always be there, like a comforting security blanket. But I need to put more energy in my design.

Along with changes to the topics in my blog, look for changes in my Etsy shop. Interior Design will be my main focus in all that I do. I would like to offer design news, advice and answer your questions. Please feel free to comment on my blog and ask my advice on projects. Also once I start at La-Z-Boy I will post my store location and invite all of you to come shop with me!

I am so happy right now I can hardly hold it in! I hope everyone finds what makes them happy!
Have a Wonderful Day!

New Items Posted!

I finally finished my purses! My purses have been one of my forgotten projects. I finished added the last touches to two of them yesterday and today they have been added to my shop.



They are both made form the same pattern concept. I say concept because I have a serious problem following patterns. I usually end up with a great final project but a lot of times the space in between start and finish is a head ache. So I have stopped using patterns for directions but more inspiration.



These two purses are made in a simple two piece concept; one is the strap, the other the body. Inside is lined with fabric usually from the scrap section of the fabric store( I hate wasted fabric).

I will hopefully have more of these purses in my shop in the coming months. Now I can cross off finishing these purses from my forgotten projects list.

Etsy Promotional Calendar

To the left of my articles there is a new feature to my blog. It is my Etsy Promotion Calendar. It will have all my upcoming sales and promotions. Already I have added two upcoming sales: Shop Local Free Shipping Sale and the Pre-Season Scarf Sale.

Both of these sales are for free shipping on mentioned items. They include items already listed in my shop. When you click on each you will find more details concerning both. If this calendar and the sales are successful I will continue using this form of sale advertising.

I am in love with my Google calendar and am finding more and more things I can do with my calendar. If you have been reading my blog you will know I have started using it for my series Forgotten Projects.

Its Friday!

Well, I don't have too much to talk about today. Its been a pretty uneventful week as far as the shop are concerned. I have had another week of no sales. I really feel that I need to promote myself more, but with the lack of funds to do so it is quite hard.

I know I should be blogging more but I am drawing a blank for what I should be talking about. I need some topics. So I am calling for TOPICS!

Please leave some comments or feedback with some topics you would like me to cover.

Some things about me that you might need to know:
I have a degree in Textiles and Clothing focusing in Residential Design from OSU.
I work at Dillard's full time.
I am the owner of both ANiemanCrochet and ANiemanPhotography.

Thanks for your help!

One WHOLE Day Spent on Etsy

Due to my spend to pay the bills, I have to work somewhere other than Etsy. I wish I could spend all my time and efforts on my crocheting and photography but many factors are preventing me from doing so.

So I finally had a full day to do nothing but Etsy. As I have said before in previous blog posts, I pulled out of the gift shop that I had been selling in and as a result have a large amount of inventory that I needed to post on my shop. Yesterday I finally went through a great deal of it.

Here is a list of the links to the items that I added yesterday:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11928423
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11918736
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11917830
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11905465
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11904629
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11903682
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11902586
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11887029
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11886873

I think this is the most items I have posted in one day!

I also worked on my Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aniemancrochet/. I haven't really done much with this site since starting but I figured out how to do certain things like add my photo's to group pages.

Also I put some more bids on ad space with Project Wonderful. I have definitely noticed my views increasing since I started using Project Wonderful. This is a site that if you put more money into your going to see more results. I will say though with my less than $5 a week budget I have been putting into it I think I have been getting my money's worth. I would definitely suggest this site to other Etsians.

As you can see I had a very productive day. OH! and almost forgot! I had my 1st international sale! The sale was to Japan. Despite the distance and not having a scale at home I did not under estimate my shipping. Having a good experience with selling international makes me more confident about doing it again.

The only thing I did not do yesterday was blog! Ha!
Thanks for reading!
Have a Nice Day!

ANiemanPhtotgraphy

I'd like to take a post and promote my other Etsy shop. ANiemanPhotography

Here I sell my photographs as image files. They are priced by file size. ( 1 mb = $1). I also sell prints in various sizes.

I have not had any sales in this shop so I wanted to post a blog and share the thumbnails I use to hopefully increase business.

I am selling the files to be used as either desktop wallpapers, screen savers, or stock photos. They can be used in the ever popular digital photo-frames. All I ask is that you are ethical with their use. You can even get have the images printed yourself.

The file that you buy will not have my copyright on it and it will be much larger in size. This means that it will have better quality for large screens or printing.

I am not very greedy with my photography. I love it and wish to do more of it one day. I think art should be affordable and easily obtained by all.

Please enjoy and have a nice day!

Its been awhile...

Hello!

It has been quite a while since I have posted a blog. I wanted to let you know that I am still alive and working!

I did finish the black and red blanket I was working on for a friend! It turned out wonderfully. I will have pictures soon.

I have been extremely busy with school and as soon as finals are over I will be back to posting on this and my other blog.

Thanks for your patience and for reading my blog!!

New Blog

I have started a new blog that focuses on green design. Please chack it out!

Design To Save The World

Thank you!!