Making Art, Staying Creative: Handmade Jewelry

Ugh I've just had this nagging urge to create things recently. Maybe it's the closing of the summer, and I usually have to get creative when going back to art school: but now I've graduated. Hum. These next few months are going to be weird.

I started making jewelry by accident, actually: and still have to learn some basics of metal work and saudering. It started two years ago when I had to take full academics at Tufts University, and no art classes. Yeah, I was nervous about basically starting over my junior year at college, and after a few weeks I began to miss that creative challenge. Mostly I just needed to make...things. (I'm gesturing with my hands a lot as I write this. And yes, typing too. Call THAT skill.)

Lately, I've been doing most of my jewelry work when I go out on the boat. Maybe because I've become obsessed with keeping busy all the time. Also, I find that being away from the computer gives me a great opportunity and time to be creative, and the boat functions as kind of a "studio".

This is me working on the boat, (modeling my own pair of really cool Chandelier Earrings, $12, with freshwater pearls, I may add! Below is my current offering of earrings on my earring rack) and I'm going through a ring sizer that I have. This is basically a chain with different size hoops and determine your ring size, and this is especially helpful when I'm making my Sea Glass Rings. I find some sizes are more popular than others, but try to at least include one of every size.

I've also had this overwhelming need to paint, and I haven't done that for about three years. I sort of got "painted out" after sophomore year, as after high school I wanted to do and perfect the only thing I knew how: paint. So I took basically every painting class offered at the Museum School of Fine Arts, and as a result I got frustrated: not really sure why. My palette was becoming muddy, and I couldn't get the colors I wanted - or, the colors everyone else wanted. 

So I think painting will make a comeback. Maybe some small canvases, then working bigger to maybe paint some Italian landscapes to hang in my new apartment. Let's see how it goes.

100th Post for The Ash Tree!

This is officially my 100th post for this blog! I can't believe it. A lot of this has changed since I started this blog a year ago: I've learned a lot and have had so many great experiences. I started my own business, lived and studied in another country, graduated college, and got my first full time job. It hasn't always been easy, but it really has been worth it. Now I'm here with 61  subscribers, (thank you!), 56 followers on Twitter, and have 73 fans on Facebook. Think I can double those numbers by 200 posts? ;)

Wedding Matchbooks, $250 Set of 100, by ivylanedesigns

100 posts is also significant for SEO purposes. In addition to website age, inbound links, and relevant content, 100 posts is really when the search engines start taking you seriously when crawling your website. Which has led me to start thinking about new ideas on things to be writing about. I think I'll scale back on Featured Etsy sellers to once a month, and start doing featured products more. Which may be bad for me because I'll probably ending up buying a lot - but hey, it's for my fellow etsyians, right?

I also want to write more about adventures in Boston that I have, and maybe bring some flashbacks back from Italy. I kept a journal there, and really want to go back - I figured doing some nostalgic posts will get me excited and motivated again to make my way back there. Plus, it gives me something to dream about.

100 French Music Hang Tags, $35 by jardindepapier

Since I've also started a job that basically revolves around SEO and marketing, I'll inevitably write a lot more about those topics, as it has been a greatly consuming yet interesting topic for me. I'll also try and do more adventure reviews of cool stuff that I do: this is a blog, after all! I am on Yelp as well, so that may absorb many of my restaurant ravings :)

Lastly, my art. I've graduated, and am feeling the pull to create now more than ever. This will range from drawings to designing handmade jewelry to more items in my Etsy shop. So look forward to more images of things I NEED to create. I'm going to try and commit to writing every day - see how quickly it will take me to reach 200 posts! Between all this stuff, some occasional book reviews, artist collaborations, and personal experiences, this next year will be the best for the Ash Tree ever. 

And please don't be shy! I really do want to hear from you and maybe start some more conversations. Feel free to comment, shoot me an email, or DM me on Twitter to give me your opinions, or ask questions about me and my work! Talk to you soon!

Vintage Typewriter Key "100" Necklace, by busterandboo

(p.s., these images are all based on a "100" search that I did on etsy!)

Blogging Tips

1. Do Blogging with Patience and Passion

Passion and Patience are the ultimate words for blogging. Always choose a niche for blogging about what you know (write what you know!) and are passionate enough to write about every day or twice a week. My blogging has really come into its own since I've started working for an online marketing company, where I blog basically every day. And, blogging won't make you money overnight, if that's your goal. You'll have to wait for the money and it will only come if you have a proper strategy.

2. Make Blogging Strategy

Make a schedule for blogging and stick to it. It's important to stay consistent with your blogging, as it will hold reader interest and encourage you to pump out fresh content for SEO purposes. Now, how many articles you will write in a day or a week? How much time you will spend in marketing your blog? How will you market your blog? For example, I now know I'm going to include my blog and twitter accounts the next time I order my business cards.

3. Make Social Media Marketing Strategy

Search engines are no longer the only source of generating traffic. If you target social media biggies(Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Stumbleupon, etc.) then you can get a great amount of traffic from them. Sometimes it can be much more than search engine traffic: but again, it won't come easily. You'll have to interact with people in Social Media in your niche and you'll have to build valuable relationship with them.

This is ME! :)

4. Make Link Building Strategy

Link building is important when it comes to search engines. Make proper link building strategy and try to get more backlinks from the blogs in your niche especially the higher page rank blogs. Find DoFollow blogs in your niche and the blogs using Comluv and Top Commentators plugins. Comment on those blogs but DON'T spam. No one likes to see that on blogs you comment on, it diminishes your credibility, and breaches blogger/blogging etiquette. Try instead to add value to the article: it's fun to check back and see how people respond.
5. Make Your Blog a Community

The environment of your blog should be such that when new visitor comes to your blog he should feel it as a community and become the part of it. So solicit comments at the end of your posts, and start a conversation!
6. Make Good Relations with Niche Bloggers

Interact with other blogger in your niche by commenting on their blogs and through social media. You can learn a lot from your competition, get more ideas, and competition breeds innovation.

7. Write Unique Content

Content is king in blogging and any website. Copying and pasting content onto your blog can result in your website being penalized by the search engines. So come up with something original: it doesn't have to be long or perfect, just get it up there! (Bonus points if you add some keywords you'd like to rank for!)

8. Always Reply to Comments

Interact with your readers by replying to their comments. Readers love it when their comment is replied and they will come back and comment again to create another conversation. Also be sure that it is easy for readers to make comments: users will give up trying to post if it takes them forever to add a one-sentence reaction.

How to get more comments on your Blog

9. Use Article Marketing

Write articles related to your niche in high PR article submission directories such as Ezine Articles, Hubpages and Squidoo with the backlink to your blog. It will definitely increase your blog authority and your blog will rank well in search engines.

10. Enngage in Mutual Guest Blogging

Try to write at least one article in a week to other blogs in your niche who offer you to write for their blogs. Guest posting on high traffic and high PR blogs is more beneficial as it will give you more exposure and quality backlinks.

11. Ask Readers for their Opinions

Ask readers for their opinions in your articles. It will increase comments on your blog and your readers will not feel that they are reading an article written by someone who's not real. Adding personality and invoking a conersation will score major points.

12. Write for Readers

Ever heard the expression, "Write like a reader"? Always give priority to your readers. SEO of the article is also important but it will be of no use if you can’t make a loyal readership from your articles...and often too much SEO work will make a post read awkward, and low-quality writing discourages readers.

13. Make Your Blog Design Reader Friendly

Your Blog Design should have a clean design with proper navigation. It should be such that readers can easily find the content of their choice. Even now, a year later, I'm still fooling around with my blog. Blogger.com has come out with some great new features that I always make sure to explore, like new template designs and widgets to make my site more interactive.

14. Use SEO friendly Theme and Have Visual Consistency

Use SEO friendly theme on your blog with proper header (h1, h2,..) tags. Always use h1 or h2 tag for post title. You can try Thesis Theme. Also be consistent with fonts, font size, and font color within posts. AND NO HIGHLIGHTING. It looks gross, just don't do it. You guys are artists, you know what's up.

15. Use Effective Title

Title of the article should be both reader and SEO friendly. Title should be appealing to the readers and important keywords should also be used in the title.

I hope these tips help out! While I know the average blog reader has ADD (I know I do) and merely scans titles, I hope you gained something from those bold headlines (like how I did that? OoOh sneaky!) 

I'm interested to know if you guys do anything else to brand your blog. As always, feel free to email me with any questions! 

Source Article: Tips For Newbie Bloggers