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CraftMe News |
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Hi Again Craftme Friends, People asked me if we can recommend and review arts and crafts supplies from more international craft manufacturers.
After some thoughts, we decided to build a sister website, that can bring the most valuable reviews on arts and crafts books deals and supplies. We just launched the new site, it's called http://www.craftme.asia Have a look, it's updating every hour, we hope you like it:)
Have a crafty weekend, Kind regards, Roy Rodriguez, MBA CraftMe.co Founder & Manager Dear CraftMe Friend,
As this is an important system update, I hope you do not mind me sending you this email.
Yesterday, we completed an upgrade to our systems, in order to enhance speed and performance of the CraftMe website. As part of this upgrade, we also integrated the best emailing system in the world, so we can continue to give you our best customer service.
However, since we are following the stringent rules of emailing, our new system requires you to reconfirm your email address (so we can continue to send you the newsletter and other important correspondence).
If you have not done so, please take a minute to confirm the email that was sent yesterday by the CraftMe Team, under the title: Please confirm your email NOW.
If you did not received such an email, please confirm your details here:
As usual, your data is safe, encrypted in the highest security levels, and we do not spam or share your data with any third party.
(Please note that this email confirmation is not related to your current store membership on CraftMe)
Thank you for your time and your email confirmation; it helps us to support our local artists.
http://www.craftme.co
For further information, please reply to this email.
Copyright 2009-2011 CraftMe.co Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Meet the seller: Coral's Handmade Leather Goods
We would like to introduce you to Coral who specializes in stamped top quality leather belts and studded lined and stitched dog collars.
Coral has recently added extra long belts and extra large dog collars to her collection as she realizes that they are sometimes very hard to find.
Coral is always broadening the range of leather goods she makes and is very proud of her finished products. After a thorough inspection of her products, we have found them to be of outstanding quality.
You can tell they are made with a great passion so we recommend that every dog owner or anyone who is interested in really amazing handmade leather goods to contact Coral immediately. Her aim is to make the best looking and best quality leather goods on the market and we feel she is achieving this.
We asked Coral to tell us more about her passion. Enjoy your reading:
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Tell us more about yourself and your creations.
My name is Coral and I live just north of Brisbane. I am married with three grown up children and two teenage grandchildren. We have two beautiful but spoiled Daschund cross dogs, one very pushy but much loved old cat, 10 birds and numerous fish.
I did a lot of crochet until arthritis affected my thumb so I needed something else to do so I took up Leather work and absolutely love it.
I am currently making plain, tooled and studded leather belts, dog collars, I Phone belt pouches, large knife pouches and cigarette lighter holders and plan to add to my list of products regularly. I have made my first handbag and am really pleased with it so I will be adding ladies handbags to my site soon.
I find doing my leatherwork very relaxing and I am proud of my finished products.
I aim to make the best looking and best quality leather goods on the market and am very happy to take orders for anything I do not have on the site whether it be a new item or a current stock item but in a different size or colour or maybe you would like to have your name tooled into the product for a very personal look or as a great gift idea for someone.
Where does your inspiration come from?
My inspiration comes from the leather and the fact that I so enjoy working with it and creating something that I hope other people will love.
I look at anything leather whether it be in the shops or on the internet or perhaps someone is wearing it and I am inspired to create something different and individual.
I realize that with a side of leather and a few tools I can make a product every bit as good if not better than I see elsewhere and it will last a lot longer and be better value.
Who or what has been most influent on your craft?
My husband was always impressed with leatherwork and wanted to learn how to make whips so the fact that it is a hobby we could do together influenced me to learn but I would say YouTube has had the most influence on me with regard to my leatherwork.
When I was looking for a new hobby and considered leather work, I think I watched every how to video on YouTube.
Some were great and taught me a lot and some I have found with experience taught me what not to do but I am grateful to them all as my husband and I both love creating things with leather.
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What does handmade mean to you?
To me handmade is something you have made with your hands starting with a basic product and using the tools required to complete the task.
With handmade products, no two products will ever be exactly the same as we are not machines so can make products similar but never identical and that is the beauty of having a handmade item.
How would you describe your creative process?
My creative process usually starts when I am lying in bed. I design my leatherwork in my mind before I go to sleep then when time permits, I turn it into reality.
Sometimes it takes a few nights to vision the finished product that I am happy with and sometimes I get it wrong and have to make drastic changes when I start making the item but I am my most design creative in the quiet of the night and most productive during the day.
I know what leather and accessories I have in stock to work with so that makes the creative process easier.
Apart from selling on CraftMe, what else do you do?Apart from making my leather goods and selling them on CraftMe and a couple of other outlets I am mostly a home body who enjoys cooking, working on my computer and spending time with family and friends and of course my animals.
I am retired but feel I have never been busier and could do with more hours in the day.
What are your plans for the future?
Plans for the future?
My plans for the future are to increase my business with the help of CraftMe and to make lots of nice ladies handbags and other new products for the website.
I plan to make and put at least one new item on CraftMe every week so please return to my shop regularly to see the new additions.
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CraftMe.co, New Zealand’s online marketplace for handmade arts and crafts hobbies and supplies, has extended its services to Australia, preparing to dominate a cross-country market to be the region’s top online marketplace for arts and crafts supplies in Australia. CraftMe.co went online in 2011, after 2 years of development. Since then, it has grown to be a consistent go-to website for those looking to buy and sell arts & crafts handmade in Australia and in New Zealand, acquire new hobbies as well as for those who looking to buy crafts materials online at a reasonable price. Buyers can browse stores that meet their specific criteria, as opposed to encountering a hodgepodge of information in a general arts and craft space, as it so often happens on other websites.Buyers can shop on many categories on the CraftMe website, with a great product range from handmade gem stone jewellery, custom handmade silver jewellery necklaces design to fine art, handbags, to hand knitted dolls clothing, and even homemade Christmas crafts! The craft supplies on the website, which incorporates a collection of online stores, cover many areas for artisans, such as scrapbooking making accessories, cool crafts for kids and even wood craft supplies. Many sellers benefit CraftMe by advertising their handmade items in the category of their choice with a great Google ranking, thus finding targeted and serious buyers for what they are offering. For only $9.99 per month, CraftMe.co Gold Store members can get 50 listings online. The website offers no setup fees and charges no commissions and there are no contracts for buyers or sellers to sign. The website also offers a free online store plans for people who just doing their first steps on the online craft marketplace. CraftMe.co is a great way for “craftspeople to showcase and share their unique creativity with the world,” according to the CraftMe.co website. Registration is free to both Australian and New Zealand residents who are interested in buying or selling art, handmade crafts and hobbies supplies in a thriving online marketplace.
Source:http://www.theaustralianeye.com/news/new-zealand%E2%80%99s-top-online-marketplace-for-arts-crafts-and-supplies-is-now-available-in-australia-aoi35820299.html
Dear CraftMe Friend,
It's just a quick personal email from me and the team to wish you a very Happy New Year.
What a great way to finish 2011, our very first year in this fascinating and creative online arena of arts & crafts.
This week, we’ve completed a total upgrade to our servers, providing you the very latest technology, speed, and security; For the first time ever, we are glad to announce that CraftMe is the only arts and crafts online marketplace in the world, to offset our carbon footprint! We also implemented the most secured SSL protocols to protect your information when you shop on CraftMe.
All of it, just to help you to develop your online arts and crafts business, in more simple, fun, secure and accessible way. After all, online shopping is fun, and buy and selling crafts is even more fun!
Over the last week, we had many sellers emailing us, asking if we could extend the Xmas special, since they couldn’t access to their computers while on holiday. Unfortunately, this special is over.
But, we have a better deal for you, ending by the end of the weekend, and won’t repeat. From our surveys and research around the globe, people are changing their buying habits, and prefer to use “buy it now” only methods, instead of waiting for auctions to be finished. CraftMe has decided to adopt this international theme, so in next few weeks all the sellers on CraftMe will have to own their own store. But don’t worry, if you only have 5 items for sale or less, your store will be free, and as usual, you don’t pay any commission when you sell.
Nevertheless, all CraftMe members must log in the next week or so, setup their stores, and add buy it now prices for the listings. Please also make sure that your items are listed in your store as well in the right category.
However, as a founding member off CraftMe, we would like to offer you an amazing deal, a 50% of store plans.
Also, the first 20 people to take the offer will get a free upgrade to a platinum store, and you also can be in a draw to win a Platinum store for the whole year, for free! Please check out CraftMe for more details.
By subscribing to your store you help us to continue and develop CraftMe, advertise you more, and sustain our local communities of artists and craftspeople.
In the next week we will start another round of advertising campaigns, so please support us take a minute to subscribe to your store. Your first month is free and you can always cancel your subscription.
Here's sending you Greetings for a great New Year celebrations and all the best for 2012,
Keep up the wonderful job and creativity.
Roy Rodriguez, MBA
CraftMe Founder and Manager
Dear Friends, It's just a quick personal email from me and the team to wish you a very Merry Christmas.
It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air. From Home to home, and heart to heart, from one place to another. The warmth and joy of Christmas, brings us closer to each other. Let the spirit of love gently fill our hearts and homes. In this loveliest of seasons may you find many reasons for happiness. MERRY CHRISTMAS!
(And a quick update: During this weekend, while you unwrap your xmas gifts, the CraftMe team is busy upgrading the CraftMe servers to brand new spanking state of the arts servers.If you come across any problems, please contact us. Please support us and take advantage of our offer, which expires by the end of Xmas. Click here for more details.)
Also, please take a minute to "Like us" HERE on Facebook for exclusive entries into giveaways & competitions.
May the good times and treasures of the present become the golden memories of tomorrow. Wish you lots of love, joy and happiness.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Roy Rodriguez, MBA CraftMe Founder and Manager
Dear CraftMe Friends,
Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas...
For those who remember us from the very early days of CraftMe, The Platinum Store price used to be a $40 a month, so grab yourself a bargain at this amazing price of just $9.99 a month!
(As part of our Christmas spirit we also decided to waive any standing debts, so if you have one, simply subscribe to a paid store and we will adjust your account accordingly. This offer may never return, so start the New Year with a clean table)
We are so glad to see so many sales on CraftMe, from all around New Zealand, Australia, and even remote areas such as the Chatham Islands and Tasmania.
We’ve analysed these sales and came to a few conclusions. With a few easy steps everyone can do well on CraftMe.
We hope to see you taking notes of this study so you can improve your sales rates:
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All the sales came from store owners that took the time to write a detailed and uploaded a logo to their stores (*for a limited time only we can supply you a free logo design, please contact us).
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They’ve uploaded many items to their store to get more exposure on CraftMe. This clearly shows that the method of “I’ll upload one item and see what’s happens” never works. Think about it, the online market is the same as in the real life. Would you approach someone in the mall that standing at the corner and trying to sell only one item?
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The successful sold items were found directly on Google searches. The sellers took the time to write a long title and item description which contained keywords, so the CraftMe system for high ranking on Google proved to work.
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The sold items were ticked as “sell in your item on the general area of the site”. That’s guarantee that your store is not empty and you looks as serious seller. Please edit your existing listings and make sure they appear in your store as well as in the general areas.
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The sold items were advertised under the right categories. We recently updated hundreds of categories (especially for craft supplies), so please edit your listings to match the right categories. Only on CraftMe you can list your item in 2 categories without additional costs.
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To boost your sales, you can share your items on Facebook. Simply click on the links on the listing page (top right corner) to share your listing, it’s fast and easy!
We also just launched a new Facebook page and a new advertising campaign, please "Like us" for exclusive entries into giveaways & competitions. We hope to see many people joining us in the next few weeks, so watch this space....
To conclude we want to wish you a merry Christmases from the CraftMe team:
"During the coming Christmas season, may you be blessed with the spirit of the season, which is peace, the gladness of the season, which is hope, and the heart of the season, which is love.:)"
If you have a coming art or craft event that you would love to advertise, please free to contact us.
Enjoy your crafty week!
Roy Rodriguez, MBA
CraftMe Founder and Manager
Dear CraftMe Friends,
Great News!
Today, we are celebrating a successful registration of 2 CraftMe trademarks (for the logo and the name), on top of other trademarks that we already registered in the past.
We have a great feedback from people all around New Zealand that identify CraftMe as a household name and recognize the CraftMe brand as a fun place for artists and crafters.
To celebrate the occasion, we decided to offer you the Gold Store at 50% off, at a very low price of only $6.50 a month!
This offer expires THIS SUNDAY midnight (20/11/2011), so please visit the CraftMe website and grab that special offer right now.
We are very proud in building a community of young designers and emerging artists, and working on further development of new sections for the website, such as forums and chat rooms. We are looking for people that would love to contribute as moderators for these forums, so if you have the creativity flair, feel free contact us for more details.
CraftMe Team reminds our friends to come over and check the next craft event, as brought to by Diane, from Onehunga Primary School Craft Market. It’s an exciting Craft & Gift Market, on Saturday 26th November, 1-4pm. Promised wonderful handmade crafts, gifts, clothes, toys and jewellery, just in time for Christmas! Along with heaps of fun entertainment for the kids and great food and drink. More details can be found here.
If you have a coming art or craft event that you would love to advertise, please free to contact us.
Enjoy your weekend!
Roy Rodriguez, MBA
CraftMe Founder and Manager
Dear CraftMe Friends,
Liat Gat is the 28-year-old owner of KNITFreedom.com, and her mission in life is to make you a Knitting Superstar by providing you with the best knitting videos on the Internet!
We are looking for more writers, so please free to contact us anytime with your article.
Also, listen to us on Sunday, Kerre Woodham Cafe, on 9.30 am, NewsTalkZB.
A reminder for our valued members:
We waived any standing debts that you may have, so please subscribe to a store plan before the 11/11/11 to take advantage of this offer.
You will enjoy a first FREE month and additional discounts on a yearly payment in advance.
As you may know, we are a private Kiwi group and not supported by large media overseas tycoons. We would like you to take advantage of the new prices, so we can continue to develop CraftMe and support our local communities.
A BIG thank you for the people who joined us and signed on a plan. On behalf of the CraftMe team, thank you for the support in CraftMe:)
Don't forget to update your listings for the Xmas season, have fun!
Roy Rodriguez, MBA
CraftMe Founder and Manager
Dear CraftMe Friends,
Christmas is almost here (in less than 60 days to go) and the CraftMe team is getting excited.
To celebrate the upcoming holidays and to help you to boost your sales, we decided on a substantial price reduction on our store plans.
We are happy to announce a whopping price reduction of 70% on our store plans, from $29.90 per month to a merely $9.99!
You will enjoy a first FREE month and additional discounts on a yearly payment in advance. As you may know, we are a private Kiwi group and not supported by large media overseas tycoons.
We would like you to take advantage of the new prices, so we can continue to develop CraftMe.
Additionally, we also decided to waive any standing debts that you may have, if you subscribe to a store plan before the 1/11/11, so take advantage of this kind offer and subscribe now.
We also need your help in listing more items for sale, since we are being assessed by Creative NZ. The endorsement of Creative NZ is essential for us, so please help us and list few more items for sale, it only takes you a few minutes.
You can also help us by asking your friends to join us as well as writing an article about your art and craft. We are building a collection of articles for the CraftMe community, so every article counts. Simply email us the article- about one page long with few additional images (if you wish). We will advertise it and link it to your store. Please contact us for if you have any questions.
We sincerely appreciate your help and support,
Roy Rodriguez, MBA
CraftMe Founder and Manager
Dear CraftMe Friends,
We need more writers. If you wish to share your thoughts and write an article about your art, please send us your article so we can advertise it and add it to our arts and crafts articles database, to the benefit of all CraftMe visitors.
Also, the kids colouring competition is closed.
Congratulations! We have a winner !!!
“With a great number of entries in our colouring competition, judging was very difficult. It was a tricky competition to judge, we have a lot of very talented children out there. This winning entry was coloured in by 4 year old Anabel, and what a fantastic job she did! Anabel won one of our DIY costumes from Villa Carton, including a set of markers.
She chose our Queen costume and mum tells us that after 2 and a half hours she had it completed.
Congratulations Anabel and thank you to everyone who submitted an entry into our competition!"
And adds the winner of the competition:
"After printing literally about a hundred coloring pages from the internet in a few months time for Anabel, she set the one from The Crafti Bug website aside in some reason till the next day when she started to work on it.
She was truly excited knowing it was for a competition and stated hers was the prettiest and surely she was going to win something special.
So we posted it and forgot about it till the very moment we received the email from Nina, the' very special lady' as Anabel calls her.
The email said very sweetly: "This email is to say big congratulations to Anabel, she has won our coloring competition for our 3-5 year age group... CONGRATULATIONS Anabel!!. I had to read this email to her over and over again, she was very happy. Daddy very kindly brought the chosen Queen DIY costume kit home after having a few tears over not getting it by the courier the same day... She sat down to her craft table immadiately and did some parts of the costume and the crown saying it is her Halloween Costume (she is really looking forward to this day!!!).
She took the crown and the bag of the costume to kindy the next day to share the great news at mat time.
When she came home she got busy with coloring again and didn't get up till it was finished in 2,5 hours! "Look Mom, I finished it really quickly!"
And what a beautiful job she did on it. It is just as special as Anabel said when entering the competition and such amazingly fits her favorite craft activity: coloring, and also her skills being able to stay within the lines! Thank you Crafti Bug for this amazing experience and fantastic costume.
Also thanks to CraftMe for letting us know about this cool competition."
On behalf of the CraftMe team, thank you for the support in CraftMe:)
Roy Rodriguez, MBA
CraftMe Founder and Manager
Dear CraftMe Friends,
It’s been a couple of weeks since we have sent out a newsletter and I profusely apologise for not staying in touch more often.
I’ll take this opportunity to inform you of what we have been up to and announce some new innovations that will be made available to you before Christmas. As you may remember, we lodged the application for CreativeNZ.
On behalf of the CraftMe team, I would like to thank our members that took the time to send us support letters, it is a crucial evidence for the need for CraftMe here.
However, since CreativeNZ is going to assess CraftMe in the following weeks, we need to show more activity, enhance the content, and increase the number of members and listings on the site.
This is a personal call for all CraftMe members: please take a few minutes to help us, so we can continue the development of CraftMe as a leading marketplace for arts and crafts. Simply list few more items, update your store, and contact few friends and ask them to join us, it’s free!
We have been insanely busy and have made a number of sizable changes that will ensure we deliver a faster and more reliable service to you.
You also probably heard us on the Kerre Woodham show on NewstalkZB on Sunday mornings, so we don’t stop our radio marketing campaign...
We are in the process of redesigning the CraftMe website and to coincide with this we will introduce the following:
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Launch of a new forum for our members, where you can share ideas and build a community.
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Lower online store prices than our current offering.
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A new section for art review, edited by professional art researchers
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A new section for featured seller’s stories and articles A new FaceBook page And so much more...
However, we need your help with the content of these sections. We need artisans who are willing to write some articles, reviews and share their thoughts. In return, we will provide you with great international advertising and free store plans. You don’t have to be a well known expert to share your opinion, and your article can be as short as one page. Please contact us for more details.
We value you more than just customers, we are building a community and want to stay connected with you.
Feel free to contact us anytime with your feedback and your thoughts about the above subjects such as store plans prices, new sections, and other suggestions.
On behalf of the CraftMe team, thank you for the support in this project:)
Roy Rodriguez, MBA
CraftMe Founder and Manager
Dear CraftMe Friends,
Great News! Today, we celebrate 4 months to CraftMe (plus 2 years of development), and we are proud in our results:
We are bringing together hundreds of members with more than 1500 listings, ranging from jewellery, woodworking, upcycled crafts to drawings and paintings and even gourmet chocolate.
To celebrate the occasion, we have a special offer:
Get your own online store for a month for $9.90, instead of $29.00! (more than a 65% discount)
Get The Silver Store for $9.90 only! The offer is limited for the next 50 people only (new and existing members), and expires on Sunday midnight. Help us and spread the good news around:)
We have artists joining us every day, new craft suppliers, hundreds of visitors every day and we gain international exposure due to our marketing efforts around the globe.
Our marketing campaigns in the newspapers and the radio showing great results when people start to recognize CraftMe as a household name.
We also pleased to announce that we are in the process of getting recognition by the government, as a platform for emerging artists in New Zealand. As part of the process we need to prove the demand for our service so we need your help. Please list few more items, so we can show our constant growth, and try to bring a friend or two to register and list few items. We also need some support letters, so please reply to this email for more details. Your help is highly regarded as a personal support in this project.
We are very proud in building a community, not just a shopping website, with our new arts and crafts article section, and the free hand that we give our members to contact each other. Some artists already met thru the website, so feel free to contact other sellers and share your feedback and support - the questions and answers section on the listing page is free to use.
On behalf of the CraftMe team, thank you for the support in this project:)
Roy Rodriguez, MBA
CraftMe Founder and Manager
Dear CraftMe Friends,
Tomorrow is Tuesday, so listen to us on NewstalkZB at 2.42, as usual...
We welcome few more artists from Christchurch, so support them; Feel free to drop them a line on their auctions; Always remember that behind every item stand an artist, a person with a story, so fee free to use the questions and answers section on the item details page.
We also need your help. During the last few weeks we had some enquires from Australia, from potential sellers. Before we consider allowing them to join us, we decided to ask you first. Can you please reply to this email, with yes or no, (and your opinion if you wish to add few words).
Just a reminder, the silly season is already here, so now it’s the perfect time to update your store and listings, upload more items for sale and call other friends to join us.
So keep the good work, have a crafty day :)
Roy Rodriguez, MBA
CraftMe Founder and Manager
Dear CraftMe Friends,
You've seen us in the arts & crafts shows, you hear us on the radio,
and now you can read about us in the newspaper:
To celebrate the event, we have a quick competition:
The next person to list 10 new items (new and different items) will get a free advertising on the radio ad next week!
Tuesday, Newstalkzb , 16,000 listeners!
We would like to thank you all, for the support in this project,
Roy Rodriguez, MBA
CraftMe Founder and Manager
You've seen us in the arts & crafts shows, you hear us on the radio,
and now you can read about us in the newspaper:
The Central Leader, Wednesday, August 31, 2011:
(Audited Circulation 52,998, Readership Average Issue 94,000)
The Central Leader covers Central Auckland. It's focus is on the community within the suburbs of Onehunga, Royal Oak, One Tree Hill, Three Kings, Epsom, Mt. Eden, Mt. Roskill and Hillsborough.
Dear CraftMe Friends,
It’s Tuesday, so listen to us on NewstalkZB at 2.42, as usual...
We welcome the At Anchor Knitters group, with their handmade unique knitted garments made onboard on their yachts.
The silly season is only a few weeks ahead, so now it’s the perfect time to update your store and listings, upload more items for sale and call other friends to join us. Check out the pay you cash programme here.
We still running the colouring competition for kids, so talk to more parents to come and board and win some great prizes. All the details are here: Calling all kids, a colouring competition!
Also, feel free to talk to other sellers, ask questions and share ideas. Do it on the question tab on the item page. We already have few people that meet outside CraftMe, after they had a bit of a chat...
We are glad that we build a community, not just a shopping website- behind every listing there is a person and a story.
So keep the good work :)
Roy Rodriguez, MBA
CraftMe Founder and Manager
Dear CraftMe Friends,
We have great news this morning- we just exceeded 1300 listings, a new record for CraftMe.
We are going strong, but still need your help with the promotion of CraftMe, so we have a new competition, ending this Sunday night:
We need more artists to join us, so please help us and contact your friends, relatives, and co-workers. Simply ask them to join CraftMe; It’s fun, easy and free (as you know, you don’t need to have a store in order to sell on CraftMe).
The person to bring the most new members by the end of this Sunday, gets a Free Platinum Store for the next year ($289 value).
The new members must enter your name on the registration form and list at least 1 item for sale. Regardless if you win the competition, we credit your account with $10 for every new member.
We would like to thank you all, for the support in this project,
Roy Rodriguez, MBA
CraftMe Founder and Manager
Dear CraftMe Friends,
It’s Tuesday, so listen to us on NewstalkZB at 2.42, as usual...
Let's start with a big warm welcome to our latest craft supplier to join, Ian, a young 74 year old chap from west Auckland, with unique handmade easels. Ian is a chatter box, so feel free drop him a line on his auctions...he has a great sense of humour :)
We are very excited to announce our colouring competition for kids, so please be in touch with friends and family to register on CraftMe, so we can send them the entry forms. Please note that existing members simply need to contact us, so we can send you the entry forms.
Please send this link to your friends, so they can register to the colouring competition:
Calling all kids, a colouring competition!
On the same note, please help us and bring at least one friend to list a couple of items on CraftMe.
In return we will credit you and your friend in $10, that you can use for your store fees. The more friends you bring, the more money you earn. More details can be found here.
We are also interested in creating a testimonials page, so if you want to send us some letters, you are welcome, we will add your store link next to your testimonial. Thank you!
We would like to thank you all, for the support in this project,
Roy Rodriguez, MBA
CraftMe Founder and Manager
Calling all kids
Enter our colouring competition and be in win
some cool prizes from The Villa Carton Craft Range
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Kids aged 3-5yrs will be in to win one of our awesome DIY costumes including a set of markers to colour it in with.
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These costumes are cotton in an apron-style with a head piece to match.
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They come with printed lines ready to be coloured in. Colour then wear and play.
- Check out more details by clicking HERE.
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Kids aged 6-8/9 yrs will be in to win one of our fabulous Castles which they can decorate anyway they wish to.
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These castles are cool, the inside is a large printed area ready to be coloured in
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The outside is one blank canvas for kids to let their imaginations go.
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Decorate them any way you wish, with whatever you wish.
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To Enter The Colouring Competition Please Register HERE
Dear CraftMe Friends,
Hi friends, Hope the weather is not too bad for you today:)
As we speak... hailstones are hitting the roof on our offices, here in Mt Eden, Auckland, so stay warm...and work on your crafts while you are next to the fireplace...
We have just launched our new affiliate programme, to help you to make great money.
We also have one last spot, for our weekly radio advertising on newstalkzb tomorrow (2.42 pm every Tuesday- with 16,000 listeners) so please contact us ASAP if you want to advertise your store.
As you may have seen, we are very close to 1,000 listed items on CraftMe, so let’s list few more items to cross that lineJ and please, help other craftsmen by buying from our fellow friends on CraftMe. Let’s buy from each other and build the confidence of other artists that need that help.
We are also interested in creating a testimonials page, so if you want to send us some letters, you are welcome, we will add your store link next to your testimonial. Thank you!
We would like to thank you all, for the support in this project,
Roy Rodriguez, MBA
CraftMe Founder and Manager
Dear CraftMe Friends,
Hi friends, Just quick thank you note for all our friends on CraftMe.
We are growing rapidly, we just passed the 800 auctions mark this morning, keep the good work!
If we all list another 2 or 3 new items, we can reach the 1000 listings by this weekend, a new record for CraftMe!
Listen to us today, between 2.50 and 3.30 pm at NewsTalkZB, we have 2 commercials on air, in the treasure hunt show, so we are expecting another 16,000 people to hear us, twice:)
Also, let’s help each other, simply by buying few items. By doing so, you can increase your positive feedback, and build up the reputation as a good seller on CraftMe.
So keep up the good work, we have more people joining us every day, well done!
We would like to thank you all, for the support in this project,
Roy Rodriguez, MBA
CraftMe Founder and Manager
Dear CraftMe Friends,
Here at CraftMe we try to listen to our customers. We have some feedback from people that were confused by the store plans so we decided to simplify the store plans and the fees, plus to reduce the prices, so we can keep it simple. Check it out here.
Just a reminder- all the income from the stores fees go directly to further advertising and development, not anything else, so please go ahead and pay for your stores, so we can use that money for further adverting, in fact advertising you. Thank you.
As mentioned in our previous newsletters, we are promoting CraftMe on a regular basis on NewstalkZB, every Tuesday, at 2.42.
This radio campaign costs estimated in many thousands of dollars and we need your help so we can continue it.
We ran a trial today, advertising 3 of our best sellers on the phone out, the craftibug, wickedly gourmet chocolate an Ilovesoap. These sellers are very pleased with results, and will continue to do it in the future (to quote: “Yes I heard it, you did very well. Wickedly Gourmet sounded great." "awwwww thanks heaps Roy!" and “I came across really well, you sounded enthusiastic which is always good”).
Hence, we decided to allow other sellers to get access to this advertising. It is a peak time with audience of 17,000 listeners. Each broadcast costs us hundreds of dollars (more than $600), but we decided to charge a merely $50 for having your name out there as a seller on CraftMe. Please let us know if you are in so we can schedule it for the next weeks, we already have few names on board.
We are also glad on the recent approval of our ads on the treasure hunt show for arts and crafts on NewstalkZB every Thursday at 2.50. Also, we will appreciate it if you can post interesting posts on your products on your Facebook walls. When you stand on your listing or your store on CraftMe, simply click on the big Facebook button on the top right hand corner of the website, and your item details will be advertised on your wall, alongside with a thumbnail of your item.
Once again, thank you very much for your support, please upload more items for sale, and work on your stores logos and description,
We would like to thank you all, for the support in this project,
Roy Rodriguez, MBA
CraftMe Founder and Manager
Dear CraftMe Friends,
As you may have noticed, this week we had a major banner advertising, with more than 100,000 views on all the radio network websites (across all 8 channels) plus on the live listening on coast. http://www.thecoast.net.nz/ListenLive/
We have only 48 to go to our great special for new members only, a free silver store for 3 months.
We need your help to spread the news to all your friends, simply by emailing them. We even wrote down the email for you.
In return, we will credit your account for $10 for every new member that you bring in this weekend.
You can use this money to extend your store membership or any other site fees.
Your friends and family simply need to enter your name in the reference section in the registration form. It is simple as that.
If they list few items for sale, they even get a FREE silver store for the next 3 months, valued at $100.
Here is the email that you can send to your friends and family:
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As you probably know, I am selling my items on CraftMe.co.nz, a new and exciting website for arts and crafts.
I need some help from you and I really appreciate your support. It only takes you a few minutes to do and it doesn’t cost you a dollar.
They run a big campaign on the radio at moment, trying to bring more people onboard and they finish with the offer in less than 48 hours, so please take a couple of minutes to help me as soon as you can.
For every new member that register on CraftMe and mention my name, I get a credit of $10 to my account, so I can extend my store membership for free.
They will also give you a FREE online store for 3 months, valued at $100, if you list few items for sale!
You simply need to enter my name in the registration form, and they will take care of the rest.
Please visit the CraftMe website for more details.
Thank you very much for your help, I appreciate it!
“
We would like to thank you all, for the support in this project,
Roy Rodriguez, MBA
CraftMe Founder and Manager
Dear CraftMe Friends,
CraftMe proudly announces: New Zealand's artist painting auctioned for $4000 on our website!
Please read the breaking news here.
To start with the good news, we are starting a large budget marketing campaign next week.
including a leading radio channel advertising and banners advertising on a major website in New Zealand.
We need all the help from you to list more items, update stock and storefronts and information pages. We have just presented your art and craft in front of thousands of people in the craft out west last weekend, gaining you high live exposure.
We also finished the development of a new feature, after repeat comments from so many members.
Many people complained that empty stores are showing in our stores section, without people updating them at all after they open them. The new feature will disable automatically empty stores.
Starting from this Sunday midnight, we will disable all empty stores permanently.
Please take the time to update your store settings and list at least 3 items for sale. We are investing a huge amount of time, money and efforts, and we do not want our members to leave CraftMe after they had a look thru few empty stores, so please take 5 minutes to update your stores!
As you may have seen, we also just opened a new section for art and craft supplies. For a limited time only, we would like to invite more suppliers to join us and get a free advertising on our supplies directory (valued at $49) so please contact us to take advantage of this offer.
We would like to thank you all, for the support in this project,
So here's to happy crafting and a prosperous life,
Roy Rodriguez, MBA
CraftMe Founder and Manager
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CraftMe proudly announces:
New Zealand’s artist painting auctioned for $4000
A painting by a local New Zealand artist has fetched 4000 NZD at an online auction.
An oil painting by a Devonport artist Daryl Lex Price was sold for 4000 NZD, a record high price for contemporary and modern paintings by a Kiwi artist on CraftMe.
The oil painting, called “The Truth of Alice”, has been sold at CraftMe New Zealand by the artist, only a few weeks after listing his artwork on the website. Price’s collection of artwork on CratMe.co valued at a total of 100,000 NZD. (Click here to read more).
The painting shows rural New Zealand countryside, ”A woman in white waits... locked in the remote countryside asylum for the visitor who never arrives” describe D. Price.
"The buyer wishes to remain anonymous; I can only tell that he is from Queenstown area. I am very pleased with the results. Presenting my art online is the only way to reach people in other areas, rather than just presenting in Auckland and Wellington. I opened my online gallery on CraftMe in a few minutes and got high results on Google searches in a matter of days. If it worked for me, it can work for other art and craft people. It is a great wake up call to my fellow artists: “If you always do what you always did, you always get what you always got.”
“The price is a new record for CraftMe, an online marketplace for emerging artists and crafters in New Zealand” said Roy Rodriguez, the founder and the manager of CratMe.co.
“CraftMe is a growing collection of online galleries, allowing local artists to showcase their work in a quick and affordable way, while they gain high ranking on Google and other search engines.”
“We are so excited with this first major sale”, adds Rodriguez. “We hope to attract more local artists and help them to present their artwork on CraftMe, while creating a vibrant marketplace for arts and crafts. Artists in New Zealand must understand that they have to adopt new technologies and advertise their artwork on the internet. Exhibiting in galleries gains only a local exposure, while going online gets the artist national and international exposure. This publicity cannot be achieved by a small local gallery”.
“With more new members joining us every day, we are expecting exciting times ahead. The website is growing, we add more content, and continue the development of the project” says Rodriguez.
“We have international members from China, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, United Kingdom, USA and other countries. Our ranking on Google around the globe is very high. These valued members found CraftMe.co and registered with us, simply because they are in the market for New Zealand art. Why not offering them your art, if they are interested in seeing it? Let us help you with that, summarise Rodriguez.
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| Dear CraftMe friends,
After 2 long weeks of hard work, we are glad to present you the new look of CraftMe.
We invested endless hours and efforts to make CraftMe more appealing to our members and thousands of visitors on our website every month.
This weekend we are presenting CraftMe in The Craft Out West annual fair, so if you can list as many items as you can before the weekend, it could be great. We will show your items, live, to thousands of visitors. Take a minute to update your existing listings and storefront.
We are dedicating every minute, day and night, weekdays and weekends, just to make it the most successful website in NZ. We are very sad to see our fellow websites around the world closing down. Lov.li, with thousands of artists just closed down a few days ago. Read more about the closing down here.
Please help us to avoid the same pitfalls by listing more items for sale on CraftMe.
If each one of us will take 5 minutes to list 3 items, we will triple the size of the website in only just 5 minute!
It will help us to attract more quality buyers and sellers, and become an overnight success.
We also started big budget marketing campaign. For those of us who missed Roy’s interview on the radio, you can hear the recording on the homepage, and even watch some pictures from the radio station visit. Enjoy:)
You can also check the updated Google results for our sellers on the home page, the “what is my number” section. As you can see, every single seller on CraftMe is starring on Google, so keep the good work to get more great results!
Feel free to top up your account in few dollars, so we can use this money to recover some of the ever rising costs of running and promoting CraftMe. We appreciate your support.
So here's to happy crafting and a prosperous life,
Roy Rodriguez, MBA
CraftMe Founder and Manager
Listing your items on CraftMe gets you high ranking on Google!!!
Are you sick of "web designers" ripping you off and charging you thousands of dollars to build you an online store?
After they built it, do they tell you to add more "add-on" costs to try to keep up with the search engines, actually get some traffic and get some business? With CraftMe you can do it yourself, better, faster, cheaper and with built in power most webmasters don't have a clue about. Create your own online storefront, generate sales, process credit cards and invoice your customers with your details! Read more here...
It took us 2 years to develop a system that keeps you well ahead of the competition!
In many cases, your ranking is higher than the official sites of companies!
Just remember, these searches are not paid advertising but organic results- when people are actively looking to buy your items.
To get great results on Google for us (as a website) is too easy.
But we also get YOU high results for your items on CraftMe. Check out few live examples:
Dear CraftMe Members,
First of all, we would like to welcome all the new members who joined us yesterday. We had an overwhelming response from so many art and craft people that heard us on NewsTalkZB and opened their online stores.
We had hundreds of visitors (more than 600!!!) and dozens of new members that keep coming back for more.
A special thank you for Bruce Russell, for telling everyone “to go and have a look at this wonderful website, I love it!”
Your store is enabled, so go ahead, design it, and list your items for sale on CraftMe. Listing your items is free, and we don’t charge any commission, so feel free to fill up your store with your creations. Watch how to do it HERE, and feel free to contact us if you need any help or a free logo design. It takes only few minutes to design your store, look at this example.
Please help us to spread the rumour and email (or talk) to as many friends as you can, we really want to turn CraftMe into a big successful marketplace. It took us 2 years to develop it, and we need your help, so please list more items for sale and create the buzz around it.
We are presenting the CraftMe website, live, in art and craft events; the next one is Craft Out West in a week time. We are showing your stores to thousands of people, so hurry up and fill your store with more items.
We also keep developing the website, and we just launched a special section- art and craft supplies, so if you have any supplies for sale, please let us know, we can promote you for free on this section.
Thank you all for supporting this project, Feel free to contact us if you need any help.
So here's to happy crafting and a prosperous life,
Roy Rodriguez, MBA
CraftMe Founder and Manager
Meet the seller: Elise Simone Jewellery
Elise Simone Jewellery is a cottage industry business based in Kaukapakapa just north of Auckland.
Whether you are looking for that perfect original gift for a loved one or simply treating yourself, look no further than Elise Simone Jewellery.
If you have your own idea for special jewllery design and you would like it to turn it into reality, Elise can help you. All pieces are made with high quality components which Elise sources from all corners of the globe.
Have a look at their online store on CraftMe: Elise Simone Jewellery Store; New designs are being born every day!
This is what Elise Simone, Elise Simone Jewellery Founder and Manager, has to say:
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Tell us more about yourself and your creations.
I live in Kaukapakapa, just North West of Auckland, on top of a hill with my family and a few animals.
I work out of a small studio at the rear of my home, which I am currently converting into a shop. I have always been creative and I find if I take any time off and am not doing something artistic I tend to go nuts.
Throughout the years I've done painting, photography, sculpture, bookmaking, print making & book illustration amongst many crafts and when I emigrated from England to NZ almost thirteen years ago, I completed a Graphic Design degree at AUT.
I was first introduced to jewellery making just over three years ago at a staff social. I didn't expect much out of it, but after just an hour lesson I was completely hooked.
I work full time and make my jewellery in my spare time. I get so excited towards the end of the week, knowing how I intend to spend my weekend, and find I sacrifice many a lie-in so that I can rush out to my studio and get started on creating my new pieces.
It's all about passion, although a little extra income does help keep the passion going.
Where does your inspiration come from?
My inspiration usually comes from the beads themselves. I can spend hours trawling the internet looking at beads from all over the world. I like to find unusual beads that aren’t available in the local stores to help keep my work unique.
I don't always know how I'm going to arrange the beads when I order them, I just buy the ones that speak to me. It may be the colour, the shape, the texture or just the way the light catches them, some I see and I know I just can't live without them. When they arrive I can't wait to get into my studio, it feels like Christmas.
Who has been most influential in your craft?
I don't really spend much time looking at other peoples work.
I'd say the people who influence me most are the people who buy from me, I listen to what they say about the jewellery and look at what they get excited about.
I do enjoy the support of my family and friends and often wonder how they put up with my beading obsession.
I also subscribe to various jewellery making newsletters on the web which offer fabulous tips, amazing support from other artists and are a great way to bounce ideas off people.
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What does handmade mean to you?
Handmade, to me, means an item designed by an artist, original & unique, nothing copied.
It's when you put your time, thoughts and passion into creating something.
It a part of the artist, a reflection of the creator. It's full of passion and obsession, and if you spend long enough at it, it will reveal a unique style.
It can be made in fun or in deep meditation, but it is always done with love for the medium and the process.
How would you describe your creative process?
It's mostly just what feels like playing.
I usually have no idea what I'm going to do before I step into my studio, I may know I'm running low on bracelets for example, but I usually just go through my beads to see what catches my eye that day and experiment until I'm happy with the outcome.
Sometimes I have to work at it and other times it just flows, but however it feels I'm always happy after creating something.
Apart from selling on CraftMe, what else do you do?Apart from selling at Craft Me, I also have a stall in Craftworld in Henderson, Auckland and I sell at the odd craft market.
I tend to be very busy in the summer selling at School Gala's and Christmas fairs and I also visit peoples’ homes to do parties.
These are my favourites as usually there will be a party atmosphere and I can get to know the people who buy from me a lot better.
I encourage the people attending to bring some of their favourite clothes along so they can try the pieces on with them.
It also gives me a chance to make custom items if the ladies have something alternative in mind.
What are your plans for the future?
Plans for the future?
To have people enjoy wearing my jewellery as much as I love creating it and eventually live off my passion, so I can retire to bed every night with a smile on my face, and wake every morning with a spring in my step, knowing I get to play all day!
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Hi and welcome to CraftMe.co,
A Quick June Newsletter Update:
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Let’s start with the good news!
During the last week we have tripled the amount of visitors on CraftMe, with more and more new members joining us every day.
Most of our new members are joining us from our promotion in events, business schools, and further online and offline publicity. We are investing a great effort in promoting CraftMe in the “natural channels” of advertising, so we can attract more new members from organic Google searches, not from the usual “Pay per Click” advertising.
This innovative method allows us to bring in more people that actually interested in arts and crafts, rather than the usual “random clicks” on ads.
CraftMe is presenting on a regular basis in art and craft events, markets and conferences. The next big event is the SENZ conference for scrapbooking in Auckland, with thousands of visitors. We are presenting our store collection to the show visitors, and demonstrating your live stores in front of a large audience.
So what's next?
Please take a moment to list more items for sale on your store, so we can take advantage of this high exposure and promote you on the live events and on the website, for free! We continue to gain high ranking on Google for all items for sale on CraftMe.
Remember, the more items you list, the more serious you look. Spice up your items with a detailed title and description and YouTube movies, and attract the attention from the visitors. It takes only few minute to do, but makes a huge difference.
Can I make big money from CraftMe?
CraftMe is very proud to launch the most lucrative affiliates programme in New Zealand!
The plan suits every lifestyle, where you earn up to $250 in cash (not credit points or gifts) for every new store.
It is a perfect programme for working from home parents and motivated people that want to earn big money.
We just added a free resources section for affiliates.
CraftMe is working hard to keep our website updated.
We just added a new section (for CraftMe members only)- arts and crafts article library (access it from the homepage after you logged in).
If you are interested in writing articles, please talk to us. Simply write a minimum 500 word article about art and craft related subject, and in return we will get your article a FREE international exposure with a direct link to your store! |
CraftMe needs your help!
As you know, CraftMe.co Ltd. is a 100% Kiwi Company and we are not financed by big overseas media tycoons.
All our investments come from our life savings and we work very hard, 14 hours a day, 6 days a week, just to develop this project further.
We are doing it for the last 2 years, without any additional income. We also do not charge any commission on sales and we hope to keep it that way.
We need your help, since we hire the best overseas experts for further features development. These experts charge us a very high rate (we hire the bests of the bests) and we need your financial help.
Simply top up your account in few dollars, and we will use this money to pay directly to these experts.
We leave the donation amount up to you. Don’t worry, your donation amount is still credited to your account and you can use it anytime. We sincerely appreciate your support in this project, a very big thank you!
We really appreciate it if you can talk or email few of your friends and ask them to join us. Your help is priceless!
So here's to happy crafting and a prosperous life,
Roy Rodriguez, MBA
If you haven't done so, join CraftMe now:
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Meet the seller: Fantail Digital Art
The team at Fantail bring you affordable, original designs, without the designer price tag! Whether you are looking for a ready made fine art print, canvas, or wall decal for your home, Fantail team have it.
If you have your own idea and you would like them to turn it into reality, such as personalized cards, artwork and gifts or a digital scrapbook of a special event, they would love to hear from you! Fantail dedicated team can customize any design to any requirements, or start afresh with the customer ideas to create a one off outstanding piece.
Fantail Digital Art is a fun, creative way to decorate your home. All decals use quality black cast commercial vinyl, they are super easy to apply to walls, windows, doors or furniture- in fact from most smooth surfaces. All the tested samples came off painted walls with no damage or marks whatsoever after 7 months.
Have a look at their store on CraftMe: The Fantail Digital Art Store; they keep surprising with more designs every day!
This is what Pam Clarke, Fantail Digital Art Founder and Manager, has to say:
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Tell us more about yourself and your creations.
I grew up in England, but now live with my family on the beautiful Hibiscus Coast where we have been for the past 10 years. Growing up I always had an interest in photography, graphic design, typography and art as a hobby.
As an adult I have continued this interest reading books and taking online classes. I have fond memories of helping my dad in his little dark room developing photographs; the magic of seeing them appear fascinated me.
My mum is very creative too, she used to sew lots of our clothes, knitted beautiful jumpers and baking bread and cakes was, and still is, a weekly event, so it was natural to follow and learn.
However I never did manage to get to grips with the knitting/crocheting and am more than happy to leave that to the experts!
Around 2004 I first discovered Photoshop, and started playing around with my own photographs and discovering the possibilities.
After encouragement from family and friends in 2009 ‘Fantail’ was born.
Where does your inspiration come from?
Often inspiration for a new design just comes from seeing a new photograph, either before or after I have taken it I instantly have an idea for it. Typography and imagery really inspire me, I love the work of David Carson, and many other graphic designers and artists.
I always admire mixed media artists work and would like to explore that idea more, my attempts so far have just ended with me covered in glue, sticky bits of fabric in my hair and an impressive mess of a creation!
Who has been most influential in your craft?
My family is always supportive and we often discuss ideas. All of the talented artists/crafters that I have met in person and online, the shared enthusiasm, encouragement and support for each other is amazing. I have also been lucky enough to travel quite a bit, so visiting other countries and gathering photographs and memories wherever we go influences the artwork that follows.
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What does handmade mean to you?
Handmade to me means something unique created with love and attention to detail by a person from scratch, using their tools and skills. It is more than just the resulting item created, it is the little part of its creator that goes with it which makes it special and unique.
How would you describe your creative process?
I always have a notebook on me so that I can jot down ideas as they come to me. This often happens when I am driving, cooking dinner or drifting off to sleep! I then look through those ideas, see which grabs me that day and expand on and adapt it until I am excited about it.
At that stage I grab a coffee, browse my photographs for just the right ones, open photoshop and let the magic happen! When I get inspired and excited by an idea I have to start it then and there otherwise it’s all I can think about until I can get to it!
Apart from selling on CraftMe, what else do you do?
I design business cards, logos, brochures, stationary...
All your business needs:) and I have an ever growing range of prints, cards, wall decals and children’s artwork which I sell online, at Orewa and Milford Markets, through Photographers Gallery Hawkes Bay (pghb.co.nz/) and from my ‘home studio’ which is a posh name for our spare bedroom that I have taken over!
I do personalized work with customers own photographs to create a unique and special piece of art for them.
I am also a Porse registered home educator looking after children from home where we get up to all sorts with arts and crafts too!
What are your plans for the future?
Plans for the future?
That's a hard one! I would like to build up my business of course, and continue to learn new skills and techniques.
I have several new product ideas that I would like to explore too.
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Meet the seller: RJ Photo Art Cards & More
The team at RJ Photo Art Cards & More unique craft methods convert original photographs (hand made in New Zealand) into greeting cards, gift cards and notebooks. They also have a large selection of framed photographs and fridge magnets to choose from. Over the years they collected hundreds of New Zealand scenes, birds and flowers images. If you prefer something from further afield, the store team have photos from Canada, USA, Mexico, the UK, Paris, Rome, Venice, Florence, Pisa and even Dubai. Moreover, the team at RJ Photo Art Cards & More can provide answers to special orders. Recent examples include guest books and different sized cards made to order.
Their motto is simple: “If you want 'Something Special for Someone Special', then look no further. RJ Photo Art Cards & More can helps.”
This is what Ruth Jenkins, RJ Photo Art Cards Founder and Manager, has to say:
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Tell us more about yourself and your creations.
My business name RJ Photo Art Cards & More comes from my name, Ruth Jenkins and my products.
I come from Vancouver's North Shore and have lived in Auckland's North Shore for the past 30 years. I started this business about three years ago because when I would give someone a card with my photo on it, they'd say "wow, those are great photos, you should sell them".
My other business was going through a bit of a slow patch and I thought "why not?" I began with photos I had taken on my overseas trips and lots of flowers in my garden etc.
I started going to a few markets and found that people really did like my photos. Shortly after that though I took a couple of years break from it because of family commitments.
Last year, I decided to start again.
By this time I had hundreds and hundreds more photos from many places in New Zealand as well as overseas. I expanded my range into photo magnets and framed photographs.
I continued to do many markets as well as thinking of new products. In December, I launched my handmade notebook range which has proved to be very popular with Kiwis as well as tourists.
Where does your inspiration come from?
I originally got my inspiration from my husband and daughter. They both like photography and were quite often tinkering with cameras.
I only really started being serious about taking photos when my daughter was in her last year of school and was spending a great deal of time on her project. I found that I liked it and managed to get some good results.
Shortly after that, my son picked up a camera and I saw a whole new world through his eyes. I never thought I would have been any good at it considering the very first picture I took when I was younger, I left the lens cap on.
I've also had disasters like not having the film wound on properly and only discovering it near the end of an overseas family holiday.
Thank goodness for digital! I guess anything is possible in this life.
How would you describe your creative process?
I do my best work when I am relaxed and don't have to produce results in a hurry. I look around me wherever I go and if I see something that catches my eye, I take a photo. My family, both here and overseas, are very patient with me.
I am constantly thinking of what would make a good photo and how can I use that photo.
My brain doesn't shut off very much.
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What does handmade mean to you?
I come from a family of artists and crafters. My mother's family had to make things to earn money to live. All my life I have been surrounded by handmade things.
It has always been a part of my life and I have continued that with my family. My children still continue to make things by hand, even though they are now adults.
To me, if you make something by hand, it means so much more than going to a shop and buying something. A little part of the person who has made it goes into that item.
My sisters and mother are artists. They can paint, whereas I can't paint to save myself. I always say that the talent ran out by the fifth child, so I took up stamping and then started taking photographs.
However, not everyone has the time or the inclination to make things by hand. That is good as well, because there is a wealth of incredible talent out there, and those people sell their products.
Personally, I get great satisfaction when my customers tell me they are taking or sending my products overseas. I feel a little part of me is going there too.
Apart from selling on CraftMe, what else do you do?
Apart from selling on CraftMe, I go to various markets around Auckland. My husband is also developing our website so people can see what we have or can email me to find out more.
As I mentioned before, I also have another business, Wai Knot RJ Rubber Stamps. We make rubber stamps as well as provide supplies and accessories for art stamping and scrapbooking. That pretty well keeps me occupied most of my time.
I do try to take some time out for family and friends (not as much as I'd like to though). I am learning to speak Italian, which is a challenge in itself, but a very enjoyable one. My biggest passion is travelling.
I live to travel, so if the opportunity presents itself, I'm off!
What are your plans for the future?
Plans for the future? Well, I try not to make too many plans for the future. Of course I am working towards having very successful businesses. They don't just happen by chance.
And of course I have my diary with things that are supposed to happen and places I'm supposed to be.
But life is full of surprises, some good, some I'd much rather do without. Who knows what tomorrow brings.
I've always known my life is unusual, so I just go with the flow. My life is one big unknown journey.
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Welcome to CraftMe, the online arts and crafts marketplace for Australia and New Zealand!
“If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got. Try Something New!”
CraftMe.co is a growing collection of small quality NZ art and craft online gallery shops. It is an online marketplace for handmade creations, offering quality arts, crafts and fashion items from independent creators from all around Australia and New Zealand.
CraftMe is the place for professional and recreational Aussie & Kiwi designers, artists and craftspeople to showcase and share their unique creativity with the world.
CraftMe supports young designers and emerging artists.
CraftMe is a place to buy and sell all things unique, handmade, vintage, handcraft and supplies. It’s the perfect marketplace for you, the designer who has a small run or one of a kind. We love hand made, recycled, up-cycled and green, ethically created creations and limited edition items. We specially love re-purposed items that help us to save our environment. In short, we are building a community for artists, designers & craftspeople.
This is what Roy Rodriguez, CraftMe.co Founder and Manager, has to say:
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Let a thousand flowers bloom in our garden!
It doesn’t matter what you create-
CraftMe is the place for you, the artist, the craftsperson.
We want to help our fellow artistic Aussies and Kiwis to market themselves, in a quick, affordable and effective way. Together we build the marketplace for you- the artist, photographer, fashion accessories designer, custom made jewellery maker, the unique chocolatier, or the yummy cupcakes baker.
So what is your mission?
We are building a unique art and craft oriented marketplace, a collection of boutique Aussies & Kiwis art and craft shops.
It doesn’t matter what you create- we want to showcase anything but the ordinary!
So what we are not?
CraftMe is not another second hand goods market (a garage sale site), but a quality premium marketplace for everything unique. We want you to share your story with other people all around Australia and New Zealand, and help us to create this collection of quality vibrant artists galleries and handmade products marketplace.
When you shop on CraftMe, you support our local artists and sustain our communities. We are also open for buyers around the world; we already have few of them registered with us.
But what if I make everything to order?
CraftMe is not limited to products only. If you have s specialty service, you can open a store as well. Advertise your studio or gallery, your art lessons, private tutoring, or artistic services. You can advertise examples of your work and show them in your unique online store gallery. Your name is out there in the marketplace, gaining HIGH ranking on Google, so when people browse for other items they are likely to find you as well.
So what’s in there for me?
With CraftMe you can have your own online storefront, when you present yourself to quality buyers, with your own logo and designed information pages about yourself. Then, you can sell your items online, accept visa credit cards payment straight to your bank account, and invoice your customers directly with your details!
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Listing your items on CraftMe gets you high ranking on Google!!!
You don't have to be an SEO guru, We've already done the work for you!
We developed a system that keeps you well ahead of the competition, and in many cases, the products ranking is higher than official sites of companies!
Check out some live examples HERE...
So here's to happy crafting and a prosperous life, Roy Rodriguez, MBA CraftMe Founder and Manager
"Our small and medium businesses play a critical part in our economy, its important to acknowledge and celebrate organisations and individuals who help our small businesses maximise their potential" John Key NZ Prime Minister
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CraftMe in the newspapers:
The Central Leader, Fairfax
(Audited Circulation 52,998, Readership Average Issue 94,000)
What our artisans are saying about CraftMe?
"Painters and other creative people need a place where we can display our work with minimal cost involved. The fact that no commission is involved means that people can contact me direct, have a look at the work at my place if they want and buy it after sighting it. And I can't afford to maintain a website at present so CraftMe provides a really good option. I want to see CraftMe get the funding which will enable it to keep improving and reaching out to other painters.
There is strength in numbers and we need to attract more people and therefore more of a chat-room, information situation where ideas are actually kicking off and it is a regular fixture in a New Zealand creative's life. I have tried other web sites to show my art but none fulfil all my wants as much as CraftMe does. CraftMe is proactive and supportive towards the art community with a friendly family approach, this is something I feel comfortable with where I am not just a number on another site." P.S.
"For a long while my art has had only a small response when advertising it in the various mediums. I thought that Craft Me might be worth a try after seeing the site on the internet and am very happy with the result after joining. I have subsequently sold two paintings and had a few positive enquiries on other paintings. I wish you all the success going and feel that your site is unique in its structure offering all the help I need without costing me huge commissions. I am recommending the site to all my artist friends." D.P.
"Finally a fresh breeze of air in the arts and craft displaying and selling. It is great to see a website grow out of nothing with hard work and lots of consideration to provide a unique opportunity for people to exchange individual creations. See you around for a long time!" A.B.
"Hello Roy, That’s amazingly kind of you – thank you so much for your help and support!" D.E.
"Happy to see my first sale on CraftMe. Looks like the site is growing, lots of new people!" P.C.
"Going on Radio really did work- I just had my first sale off Craft Me. Well done !!!" K.R.
"Sounds good, looks good, why not give it a go. Nice to see something that is completly kiwi owned" S.O.
"Good to have somewhere new to sell. Here's to a very successful future!" P.A.
"Hi Roy Well done great stuff" S.S.
"Thanks Roy, I can't tell you how reassuring your response is. I'm feeling good about everything..." L.D.
"Great job Roy!" L.P. "Well Done" R.J.H
"I admire your determination!" D.P.
"I am pleased to join CraftMe.Co and support you everywhere I go!" H.B
"I feel it has good potential as a venue to showcase my artwork" S.D.L
"Hi Roy - thanx so much - I've been here in my wee office this afternoon setting up my shop (as you have seen!) - I muddle along, mainly because all this computer stuff is self taught and seems to take me forever, but I think I've got it sorted ! Thanx heaps for your help. This website of yours is just great and I will have loads of positive thoughts and send them into the stratosphere so alike Kiwi souls will set up their shops and WE SHALL BECOME MIGHTY!!!!" S.J.
"You are doing so great Roy! Well done busy bee!" AM. B.
"You have created a very comprehensive system and I will have to spend some time familiarising myself with it. I am less than being computer literate. I started with ** many years ago and know my way around their system. Confession, I did get jumpy thinking back when I started with ** as that was also when I got one of these puter things. I am about to stand outside on the street with my 12 gauge and forcibly make people join CraftMe:)" I.R.
Please take a minute to REGISTER HERE and support Aussie and Kiwi artists!
Welcome to CraftMe, the next generation of the online art and craft shopping experience in New Zealand!
CraftMe.co is a growing collection of small quality NZ art and craft online gallery shops. It is an online marketplace for handmade creations, offering quality arts, crafts and fashion items from independent creators from all around New Zealand. CraftMe is the place for professional and recreational Kiwi artisans, designers, artists and craftspeople to showcase and share their unique creativity with the world. It is a place to buy and sell all things unique, handmade, vintage, handcraft and supplies.
This is what Roy Rodriguez, CraftMe.co Founder and Manager, has to say:
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Let a thousand flowers bloom in our garden! It doesn’t matter what you create-
CraftMe is the place for you, the artist, the craftsperson.
We want to help our fellow artistic Kiwis to market themselves, in a quick, affordable and effective way. Together we build the marketplace for you- the artist, photographer, fashion accessories designer, custom made jewellery maker, the unique chocolatier, or the yummy cupcakes baker.
So what is your mission?
We are building a unique art and craft oriented marketplace, a collection of boutique Kiwi art and craft shops.
It doesn’t matter what you create- we want to showcase anything but the ordinary!
So what we are not?
CraftMe is not another second hand goods market (a garage sale site), but a quality premium marketplace for everything unique. We want you to share your story with other people all around New Zealand, and help us to create this collection of quality vibrant artists galleries and handmade products marketplace.
When you shop on CraftMe, you support Kiwi artists and sustain our local communities. We are also open for buyers around the world; we already have few of them registered with us.
But what if I make everything to order?
CraftMe is not limited to products only. If you have s specialty service, you can open a store as well. Advertise your studio or gallery, your art lessons, private tutoring, or artistic services. You can advertise examples of your work and show them in your unique online store gallery. Your name is out there in the marketplace, gaining HIGH ranking on Google, so when people browse for other items they are likely to find you as well.
So what’s in there for me?
With CraftMe you can have your own online storefront, when you present yourself to quality buyers, with your own logo and designed information pages about yourself. Then, you can sell your items online, accept visa credit cards payment straight to your NZ bank account, and invoice your customers directly with your details.
|
Listing your items on CraftMe gets you high ranking on Google!!!
You don't have to be an SEO guru; We've already done the work for you!
We developed a system that keeps you well ahead of the competition, and in many cases, the products ranking is higher than the official sites of companies!
So here's to happy crafting and a prosperous life,
Roy Rodriguez, MBA
CraftMe Founder and Manager
"Our small and medium businesses play a critical part in our economy, its important to acknowledge and celebrate organisations and individuals who help our small businesses maximise their potential" John Key Prime Minister
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Click to watch us on YouTube:
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CraftMe in the newspaper:
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What our artisans are saying about CraftMe?
"Painters and other creative people need a place where we can display our work with minimal cost involved. The fact that no commission is involved means that people can contact me direct, have a look at the work at my place if they want and buy it after sighting it. And I can't afford to maintain a website at present so CraftMe provides a really good option. I want to see CraftMe get the funding which will enable it to keep improving and reaching out to other painters.
There is strength in numbers and we need to attract more people and therefore more of a chat-room, information situation where ideas are actually kicking off and it is a regular fixture in a New Zealand creative's life. I have tried other web sites to show my art but none fulfil all my wants as much as CraftMe does. CraftMe is proactive and supportive towards the art community with a friendly family approach, this is something I feel comfortable with where I am not just a number on another site." P.S.
"For a long while my art has had only a small response when advertising it in the various mediums. I thought that Craft Me might be worth a try after seeing the site on the internet and am very happy with the result after joining. I have subsequently sold two paintings and had a few positive enquiries on other paintings. I wish you all the success going and feel that your site is unique in its structure offering all the help I need without costing me huge commissions. I am recommending the site to all my artist friends." D.P.
"Hello Roy, That’s amazingly kind of you – thank you so much for your help and support!" D.E.
"Happy to see my first sale on CraftMe. Looks like the site is growing, lots of new people!" P.C.
"Going on Radio really did work- I just had my first sale off Craft Me. Well done !!!" K.R.
"Sounds good, looks good, why not give it a go. Nice to see something that is completly kiwi owned" S.O.
"Good to have somewhere new to sell. Here's to a very successful future!" P.A.
"Hi Roy Well done great stuff" S.S.
"Thanks Roy, I can't tell you how reassuring your response is. I'm feeling good about everything..." L.D.
"Great job Roy!" L.P. "Well Done" R.J.H
"I admire your determination!" D.P.
"I am pleased to join CraftMe.Co and support you everywhere I go!" H.B
"I feel it has good potential as a venue to showcase my artwork" S.D.L
"Hi Roy - thanx so much - I've been here in my wee office this afternoon setting up my shop (as you have seen!) - I muddle along, mainly because all this computer stuff is self taught and seems to take me forever, but I think I've got it sorted ! Thanx heaps for your help. This website of yours is just great and I will have loads of positive thoughts and send them into the stratosphere so alike Kiwi souls will set up their shops and WE SHALL BECOME MIGHTY!!!!" S.J.
"You are doing so great Roy! Well done busy bee!" AM. B.
"You have created a very comprehensive system and I will have to spend some time familiarising myself with it. I am less than being computer literate. I started with ** many years ago and know my way around their system. Confession, I did get jumpy thinking back when I started with ** as that was also when I got one of these puter things. I am about to stand outside on the street with my 12 gauge and forcibly make people join CraftMe:)" I.R.
Please take a minute to REGISTER HERE and support Kiwi artists and craftsmen!
We always remind people that it took them years to establish their businesses and:
“If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got. Try Something New!”
Your consideration and support are much appreciated,
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Roy Rodriguez, MBA
CraftMe Founder and Manager |
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