Gearing Up for the Ultimate Blog Party

Hi there. I'm Angie, the owner of this blog, as well as two other blogs, and two Etsy shops (Ambrosia Delights and Rio Oso Designs). You might have heard of me through any of these venues, but especially through The Downtown Boutique blog. I tend to stay really busy between all of these online adventures; not to mention my homeschooling, babysitting, church participation, and last, but definitely not least, being a wife and mom.

Well, we're fixin' to get just a little busier for the next week, and believe it or not, I'm REALLY excited about it! Let me just tell you a bit about The Downtown Boutique. We wanted to help promote other artists, crafters, entrepreneurs, mompreneurs, etc.

With all the warnings out these days about lead, and other toxins in products made in China, we wanted to offer a safe and beautiful place to purchase handmade products. And so The Downtown Boutique was born.

Since the conception of The Downtown Boutique, we have had over 3000 hits! I'm so excited, because yesterday, we had the most hits ever in one day: 230! And we're well on our way to that today. We are averaging anywhere between 60 and 90 hits a day, and we have had visitors from over 35 different countries across the globe!

We offer so many ways to be featured on The Downtown Boutique, including being a sponsor, by advertising, and being chosen for "My Faves". Of course, we can't forget the "Friday Features", where we introduce you to an artist or crafter, and give away one (or more) of their products.

And then there's the "Tots on Tuesdays" feature, where we feature SAFE, handmade gifts, clothing, toys and just basic gear for babies and children; featuring one specific artist/crafter. We give something away on Tuesdays too!




Starting tomorrow, we're going to shake things up a bit and throw a great BIG party! You can read more about the Ultimate Blog Party on your own. Let's get to the GOOD stuff! We have EIGHT different giveaways going on from March 7th through the 14th! These items will be listed tomorrow...the 7th.

You can enter to win one of these great items, by commenting on which one you would like to win. Be sure to leave a VALID email address so that we can get ahold of you when you win! If we don't have any way of getting ahold of you, we will choose another winner. You can enter your email address like this (for safety):

myemailaddress (at) yahoo (dot) com

We will not share any of your information with ANY other company, so you can feel confident in entering these giveaways.

Here is the list of people who will be giving something away:

Ambrosia Delights

First Love

Gracie Designs

lil did creations

Modern Charm

Sew Gracious

Simply Sentimental

Trilei Jewelry

So put on your party hat, and we'll get this party started in just under 24 hours!! See you there!!

Have a great day!

Angie

CUTE Easter Greeting/Photo Cards

Look at this DARLING Easter Greeting Card from Cottonwood Creek on Etsy.com! What fun this would be to send out Easter greeting/photo cards like this. This comes from my good friend Rachel, with whom I attend church. She also has some very sweet birth announcements, birthday invitations, and more.

Check out some of her products:

Advertise on The Downtown Boutique

You've always loved working with your hands. As a child you delved into Play-do like it was the clay of a master crafter. Your dolls had their own special wardrobes, designed by you. Even the sandbox was a medium for imaginitive and masterful creations. You would have wire-wrapped and bejeweled the family pets if they had let you. Everything you touched needed to be "crafted". If this sounds like you, and you are now selling your creations, then The Downtown Boutique is the place for you.

The Downtown Boutique is a unique community, comprised of an eclectic smorgasbord of handmade arts, crafts, gifts, etc. You can find toys, jewelry, accessories, artwork, pottery, clothing, baby items, bath and body products, handbags, and much more at The Downtown Boutique.

Look for our "Friday Features" and our "Toys on Tuesdays" posts. Those feature a particular crafter or artisan, and will even include a fabulous giveaway! We currently have TWO giveaways going right now!

If you are interested in being featured, please leave a comment here, and we will take it into consideration. We ask that our featured artists and crafters be willing to do a giveaway, that is open to anyone in the world (meaning that you would ship anywhere in the world).

If you are in a spot where you want to advertise, we can help you there too. You don't have to be a crafter to advertise with us. You just need to have a family-friendly shop or website. We have three different advertising possibilities for you. In just 5 weeks, we have had over 2300 visitors to our blog, from over 25 different countries in the world. We average about 50-80 visitors a day, give or take. We have the ability to track when someone clicks out to your shop or site.

#1: Small Banner Sponsor Listing -- This spot goes for $7 per month or $18 for three months, and is for a 125x125 banner, linking to your site. We have 10 spots available at a time for this ad space.

Ad Listing Durations

1 Month $7.003 Months $18.006 Months $30.00

#2: Large Banner Sponsor Listing -- This spot goes for $10 per month or $27 for three months, and is for a 125x250 banner, linking to your site. We have 5 spots available at a time for this ad space.

Ad Listing Durations

1 Month $10.00 3 Months $27.00 6 Months $48.00

#3: EtsyMini Ad Spot -- This spot goes for $10 per month or $27 for three months. Shows up to six items from your shop...you arrange which ones are shown!

Ad Listing Durations

1 Month $10.00 3 Months $27.00 6 Months $48.00

If you need to have a banner made, please contact me through my Rio Oso Designs Etsy shop, and I will be glad to create a banner for you for $10.

***All advertising is subject to our approval. We reserve the right to refuse service to any shop or website that contains vulgar, offensive, or pornographic items in it. The Downtown Boutique is a family-friendly environment, and we would like to keep it that way.

To check out The Downtown Boutique for your yourself, just click now.

Have a great day!
Angie

Congratulations! We have a Banner Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations to Veronica of Sleepless Nights. She is the winner of our FREE Banner Giveaway!

Thank you to all of you who left such wonderful comments, and entered to win the giveaway. This has gone so well, that I just might do another drawing for another free banner next month! Please keep us bookmarked to find out.

Also, go and check out the fabulous giveaway from Veronica Willingham Jewelry on our other blog, The Downtown Boutique.

Have a great day!
Angie

Bloggy Giveaway!!!

It's been such a long time since I've posted (except for about the new blog)! Sorry about that. I was trying to be so good at it, and hopefully I will again. I need to go prowling through Etsy to see what wondrous treasures I can post.

But in the meantime, I found the Bloggy Giveaways post over at Rocks in My Dryer. I'm doing a giveaway over at The Downtown Boutique during the month of February (and every month!), so I thought I'd do one here too.

What's my giveaway you ask? Well, I will be giving a CUSTOM banner for your Etsy shop, your blog, or whatever site you would use a banner for. The banners shown are only examples of banners I have made. I do not duplicate any banner 100%. Some may be similar, but they will never be exactly the same. To see some of my banner designs, please check out my Flickr Set of banners, or check us out on Etsy.

Please leave only one comment per person. Please make sure I have a way to contact you. A random drawing will be held on February 16th.

Have fun!

Angie

Want to Get Published?

I'm so excited to announce my new blog: The Downtown Boutique. This new blog is an exclusive "downtown" feeling place to find some fantastic handmade gifts online. I will be offering advertising in a couple of different levels for those who are interested: 10 "Featured Article" spots with a banner linking to your shop, per month; 15 banner (125x60) spots per month; and 30 "Link Listings" per month.

If you love to shop, this will be a wonderful place for you to grab a cup of hot chocolate, your fuzzy slippers and your jammies, and find gifts for everyone in your family.

If you are an artist or crafter, this could be a great venue for you to get seen. If you are interested in finding out more about advertising, please email us at rioosodesigns@sbcglobal.net.

Have an awesome day!

Angie

WOW! Time flies when you're not having fun!

My goodness! It's already a new year, and I have not posted on my blog since December 17th. Shame on me! But I have a great excuse...I've had this wicked little mutating cold that keeps coming back. It's kind of like the little mucous guy on the Mucinex commercial...he's come to live in my chest! I have had sniffles, a cough, a sore throat, more sniffles, a worse cough, and finally we found out last week that I have bronchitis. URG!!! What a bad time to be sick...over Christmas...but then I was in some GOOD company there! My hubby and son were/are sick, and so were my two sisters-in-law, my niece, my nephew, and my mother and father-in-law. Goodness gracious! Can we be done with this please?

Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We sure did! My hubby and I both got each other brand new thin-line ESV Bibles. Cool! He also got me a comfy, cozy, fuzzy green blanket; a very cool Zyliss mandolin for slicing veggies and other things (which yes, I already cut myself on!), and the DVD of The Nativity Story movie. He got me some other nice gifts as well. I also got a brand new red Cuisinart teakettle, a gift certificate from one of my favorite clothing stores, a new cookbook, two new chips for my karaoke machine, and a wonderful Chinese teacup that has a strainer and a lid! And my precious 14 year old, who knows that I LOVE snowpeople, got me a darling soap dispenser that is shaped like two cute snowpeople standing together. I LOVE it! My parents sent money for us to be able to fly out there and visit soon. YAY!

God has really blessed us this past year, and I pray that we will be able to be a huge blessing to others. After all, everything that we have is His, is from Him, and is for His service.

Thanks for reading, and have a blessed day!

Angie

PS...I will begin to feature more Etsy products here pretty soon...when I'm feeling a little better.