Congratulations Dana from AbraBOWdana!

Dana from AbraBOWdana is our semi-finalist winner this week in our treasury competition. Find her treasury under the Treasury Competition Semi-Finalists page. Each week our semi-finalists boards will be listed there for all to admire. Congratulations Susan on a beautiful treasury!

What is our treasury competition? Well, each week team members submit treasuries in a defined format to be chosen as that week's semi-finalist winner. They get the board posted on the team blog and are entered to win the monthly drawing. If they win the monthly drawing I will feature their board on the Bellas Weekend BNS Bash.  If they don't win, they will still receive one spot on each of the Weekend Bash boards for being a semi-finalist. Our next Bash is August 4-5. Once a board fills we will start another and the fun continues!

Want to enter the treasury contest? It is very easy. First, you must be a member of BellasBNS. You can join from that link. The thread for this week's competition is here. Build your treasury according to the rules on there and post the link. You are then entered!

 Love and Peace,

 Luci 

The Customer's Board - A New Kind Of Bella's BNS Board

Here at Bellas BNS we have two functions.  First, we are here to support each other.  Second, we are here to help each shop succeed.  We take both responsibilites very seriously and make every team decision with those two things in mind.  It is no secret that we love BNS and BNR boards, which is why we run a BNS board six days a week and a BNR board every Thursday.  We also do a team challenge that includes a Weekend BNS Bash the first weekend of every month.  We love running these boards and they will always be a part of Bellas.  We are a BNS team, after all.

However, BNS and BNR boards are aimed at other Etsy shops.  We love other Etsy shops and welcome them on every board we put up, including this new board, but we feel like we are ignoring a very important group of people on Etsy...  the customers, duh!!  There is a substantial community of customers on Etsy that don't have a shop and don't have items to list on a board.  While the BNS and BNR boards are fabulous for Etsy shops, they do little to serve customers.  Because we love customers, we are going to start running a new kind of board (in addition the BNR and BNS boards).  One that the average Etsy customer can purchase from.

Why would a customer want to buy from a board like this?  First, there will be 16 fabulous shops that will be just one click away and all located in one easy to shop from place.  Second, each purchase will buy that customer a raffle ticket for prizes.  Each board will run for an entire month and 4 prizes will be given away at the end of each month.  There will be a blog post announcing a new board and detailing the prizes on the 1st of each month, including pictures.  And an album on our Facebook page for the prizes and links to the shops that donated the prize.  Not only will the customer get to purchase a wonderful handmade or vintage item, but they will get the chance to win another wonderful handmade or vintage item!

We hope that the customers and other Etsy shops will have as much fun with this board as we have had planning it.  We are all very excited about it and look forward to making some new customers and friends.

Love and Peace,

Luci

Congratulations Susan from Oh Edith!

Susan from Oh Edith is our semi-finalist winner this week in our treasury competition. Find her treasury under the Treasury Competition Semi-Finalists page. Each week our semi-finalists boards will be listed there for all to admire. Congratulations Susan on a beautiful treasury!

What is our treasury competition? Well, each week team members submit treasuries in a defined format to be chosen as that week's semi-finalist winner. They get the board posted on the team blog and are entered to win the monthly drawing. If they win the monthly drawing I will feature their board on the Bellas Weekend BNS Bash.  If they don't win, they will still receive one spot on each of the Weekend Bash boards for being a semi-finalist. Our next Bash is August 4-5. Once a board fills we will start another and the fun continues!

Want to enter the treasury contest? It is very easy. First, you must be a member of BellasBNS. You can join from that link. The thread for this week's competition is here. Build your treasury according to the rules on there and post the link. You are then entered!

 Love and Peace,

 Luci 

Welcome Natalee and Francesca to Bellas Blog Staff!

It is my pleasure to introduce you to two new member of the Bellas blog staff.  Natalee from Black Willow Soaps and Francesca from The Shop At Pooh Corner have joined up and are already coming up with great ideas.  We are thrilled to have them writing for the blog and are certain you will enjoy their articles.


Natalee will be doing a series on social media and how it can be used to promote your business.  She will be tackling things like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Wanelo and more.  Be prepared for some fantastic insight into how to make these sites work for your business.  


Francesca is working on a series on some Etsy basics.  She will cover rules that are commonly broken, how to create an Etsy mini, how to be featured in treasuries, tagging listings (SEO), how to host a giveaway, Etsy apps, and an Etsy lingo dictionary.  I'm sure that newcomers to Etsy, as well as seasoned veterans, will find something in this series that will help them with the ins and outs of selling on Etsy.


Please join me in welcoming Natalee and Francesca.  Also be on the lookout for a new page that will contain a calendar of dates articles will be posted.


Love and Peace,


Luci

Congratulations Jan from JanDavis2!!

Jan from Jan Davis2 is our semi-finalist winner this week in our treasury competition. Find her treasury under the Treasury Competition Semi-Finalists above. Each week our semi-finalists boards will be listed there for all to admire. Congratulations Jan on a beautiful treasury!

What is our treasury competition? Well, each week team members submit treasuries in a defined format to be chosen as that week's semi-finalist winner. They get the board posted on the team blog and are entered to win the monthly drawing. If they win the monthly drawing I will feature their board on the Bellas Weekend BNS Bash. Our next Bash is August 4-5. Once a board fills we will start another and the fun continues!

Want to enter the treasury contest? It is very easy. First, you must be a member of BellasBNS. You can join from that link. The thread for this week's competition is here. Build your treasury according to the rules on there and post the link. You are then entered!

 Love and Peace,

 Luci

Congratulations Cindy from CE Crafts!

Cindy from CE Crafts is our semi-finalist winner this week in our treasury competition.  Find her treasury under the Treasury Competition Semi-Finalists above.  Each week our semi-finalists boards will be listed there for all to admire. 

Congratulations Cindy on a beautiful treasury!

What is our treasury competition?  Well, each week team members submit treasuries in a defined format to be chosen as that week's semi-finalist winner.  They get the board posted on the team blog and are entered to win the monthly drawing.  If they win the monthly drawing I will feature their board on the Bellas Weekend BNS Bash.  Our next bash is August 4-5.  Once a board fills we will start another and the fun continues!

Want to enter the treasury contest?  It is very easy.  First, you must be a member of BellasBNS.  You can join from that link.  The thread for this week's competition is here.  Build your treasury according to the rules on there and post the link.  You are then entered!

Love and Peace,

Luci 

Meet Our June Team Treasury Challenge Winner: Kelly from Kelly's Craft Items

I am so pleased to introduce the first winner of our monthly team treasury challenge, Kelly from Kelly's Craft Items.  Kelly displays an exciting variety of talents in her shop.  I had a lot of fun looking through it and you will too.  I couldn't wait to find out more about it.

A love of learning and a fantastic sense of adventure are obvious in Kelly's work.  I was curious to know how Kelly got started.  She told me, "Art skills run in the family so I've always been around it and encouraged to develop those skills.  Growing up I would win art contests.  I am a college graduate and I have worked in the corporate world; however, I stay at home with my children right now so I have a little more free time to 'play'."

This lovely pair of earrings can be purchased here.

This stunning bracelet can be purchased here.

I was entirely enchanted with all of the beautiful items in Kelly's shop.  What inspires this level of artisanship I wondered.  I asked Kelly where her inspiration came from.  She said, "I love to learn new things and challenge myself.  I have a NEED to create.  It brings me joy and calms me.  I am new to jewelry so the various styles there reflect my dabbling to see what I like, what I am capable of, and what other people will buy.  I really would like to work with precious metals and gemstones."

This fun set of cards is available for purchase here.

This pretty set of gift tags is available for purchase here.

You can see Kelly's love of creating in her work.  She has so many fabulous items, but I was curious about her favorite material to work with.  Kelly said, "I am really enjoying the metal wire!  I like to find new and interesting ways to work with materials, I've just scratched the surface!"  She isn't kidding about scratching the surface either.  Just look at these jewelry trees!

This fun and functional jewelry tree is available for purchase here.

This adorable jewelry tree is available for purchase here.

You should also know that Kelly's 3 and 6 year old children craft with her.  Kelly thinks we will be seeing some items from them as they get older.  I sure hope so!  I love that Kelly is passing these skills onto her children.  I can't wait to see what the next generation designs.

Kelly also has a charity section in her shop for christian ministries that features jeweled crosses, cross charm keychains and more!  There is something for everyone in Kelly's shop.  With Kelly's amazing creativity, you can count on finding many fun items at great prices.  This is a shop to keep your eye on. You can also find Kelly on Facebook.  I recommend liking her page to stay updated on new items.

Thank you so much Kelly for participating in our team treasury challenge!  You can find Kelly's lovely board on our Weekend BNS Bash happening July 7-8.  You can find out more about the team treasury challenge in our team threads.

Love and Peace,

Luci

Congratulations Kelly from Kelly's Craft Items!

Kelly not only won the last weekly semi-finalist spot for June, but won the big prize for the month!  Kelly's board will be used for Bellas Weekend BNS Bash.  Kelly will also have a shop feature written up on her that we will promote throughout the BNS.  The shop feature will appear on blog on Friday, July 6.

All semi-finalists are also getting 1 free spot on the board.  I will also include a link to the semi-finalists page on the blog where all of your beautiful treasuries are being shown off.

Thank you so much to every one who entered.  I can't wait to see the entries for next month!

Love and Peace,

Luci