What a decade has taught me...

Be organized - take the time to figure things out/plan ahead! Be smart with your money - you can't take it with you but learning to spend wisely goes a long way Be kind - that kindness will be extended to you Honor your freindships - good freinds are hard to come by

Don't throw pearls to swine - not everyone values who you are and what you have to offer Eat well - you only have one body Figure out if you want to SET the trends or FOLLOW them Find a safe harbor for those times you have 'storms' in your life

Travel when you can Make a good impression - your actions DO speak louder than words

2010 half over....

Revamping my new website, but have the latest shows/venues for 2010 posted. Will most likely sneak in a couple one-off venues at the last minute - mainly Farmer's/Artist's Markets in Everett area.

Cornucopia is coming up & I've been frantically creating more Zipper Pulls & the first in my series of Garden Art. Well, let's call it "Plant Art". I love to adorn & decorate my house plants. (Don't you??)

When I first created the branding for Wanna-B-RockStar, I added the tagline "Bling on a Ring" so it would incorporate all forms of bling. It started slowly with the Wine Charms, then I started investing in materials with the hope of doing Garden Art. My experimenting made it more than obvious to do Zipper Pulls. (They just looked f-u-n!) Finally, upon acquiring several natural stones & larger beads lead me to 'plant bling'! We shall see how they sell at my next show... I'll let you know.

Speaking of which, you're more than welcome to check out my Show list. Here's the link: http://www.abiznessdigitalimages.com/Events&Sales.htm

Thanks for tuning in!
~Ange

Wrapping up Summer & launching into Fall!

Will be curating & exhbiting in "Foto Ialiana" at Seattle's Italian Festival. In other years have also sold prints & cards. Will post more info on where to find the exhibit in the next few days ;-)

What's she been up to??

I've been blogging out to this site lately: http://www.1000markets.com/users/kissthephotographer/blog_posts

My latest challenge is for "Social Networking". My goal is to have a Meet-Up.com group called "1-2-3 Launch" within the next few weeks. The group's focus will be to meet & talk about being Entrepreneurs in this market. Have also been working on some curriculum to do training with. Classes to start in April!

Have also been out taking new pix with the Seattle Flickrites group. We went to Seattle Center this weekend. Kids were out there "daring" the fountain to spray them... ha! Am soon up-loading those shots to iStock.com ;-)

Drop a line!

5 Star Rating on iStockphoto!

I was ELATED yesterday when I saw that "Exclusive Photographer", Aleksandar Georgiev, rated my photo with 5 stars. The man's pix are AMAZING & he is currently in the top Most Popular Images [http://www.istockphoto.com/most_popular.php] on iStockphoto!! I really appreciate his rating.

Am planning an outing this weekend to work on getting more images to submit. Will post any interesting snippets I collect on the journey.

~Ange

A Million Miles Deep

With the new year, have really put my nose to the grindstone & started to investigate on-line options to expand the biz. My motto "Go a Million miles deep, not a Million miles wide" -- a.k.a. really making a target FOCUS! (pardon the pun...)

It's been interesting making the transition into Stock Photography. Started with sifting thru my images from the past to see what would make the cut... After submitting 15 images, and having less than half be accepted, am learning quickly how to examine things like focus standards, lighting, and artifacting.

Here is one that happily made the cut & is now available for purchase. http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/animals/birds/8341085-bathing-birds-near-st-marks.php?id=8341085

This may seem like a small stepping stone for some, but for me it's one that lends hopefulness for the future! Photo on, Rock Star!

A day @ Seattle Gift Show!

For me, there's nothing like the buzz of a Trade Show!! Had great fun attending the Seattle Gift Show with my mother yesterday. Loaded up the car and blazed a trail for the Market Center on 4th Ave. Spent the morning listening to a seminar with Chris N. of Amazon Services, connecting with other small biz owners, talking with several Reps, & even trying a few chocolate samples. Mmmmm.....

After a quick lunch break, our adventure then continued up-town at the Convention Center. This was my 3rd visit to the show and Mom's first. There was a noticeable drop in vendors. Hallways weren't as long and pressed together, and there seemed to be an awful lot of out-of-state vendors exhibiting. We took quick floor tour, then took some time to visit with a few vendors I'd met over the years. Was glad to see they were doing well & making quite a few orders!

Before too long, there boomed a large voice over the loud-speaker -- "The next seminar is about to begin in 5 minutes in the back of the North Hall." Lynn Barret of CreativeBusiness Consulting Group did a fantastic job with her presentation 'Are you Tubing, Facebooking and Flickring your way to Retail Success?' She explained the 4 P's & 4 C's of marketing and dove into her objectives - components of social media marketing! A.K.A. taking advantage of "user-generated content" on places like blogs, E-zines, networking groups, podcasts, etc. Found it very informative & inspiring; definitely time well-spent. And guess what the bonus was? She offered a free 30 minute session for attending the seminar that afternoon. Wahoo!

Just a few of my networks:

• LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/in/angelajoyce
• 1000Markets - http://www.kissthephotographer.1000markets.com
• Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/abiznessdigitalimages/
• Etsy for Photography - http://www.abiznessdigital.etsy.com
• Etsy for Bling http://www.wannaberockstar.etsy.com
• FaceBook - by name or email ;-)

Today I woke up & thought - I love being a small business owner. Let the creative juices flow......

Cheers!

P.S. -- If you'd like to be part of my social networking group, drop me a line so we can connect!

It's all about the first 5 images...

Crazy of all crazy... re-applied to 1000 Markets again. This time used my Kiss the Photographer brand & submit only 5 images. Seems they like photos after all. (Silly me.) None the less, it's another platform to see from.

If you haven't heard of them, they are fairly new in the market. You can check them out thru my link:

http://www.1000markets.com/shops/kissthephotographer

Intend to publish & sell more of my mat & framed pieces. But for right now, am uploading a dozen or so prints available in 5 x 7's & 8 x 12's.

Let me know what you think!

~Angie

Did you see BSG last night?

SciFi at it's Best!!

Am thinking we're all going to end up being Cylons... it was a shame that you couldn't hear Bear McCreary's efforts at the soundtrack in last night's episode -- will have to get the disk set for that ;-) Will be sad when season is over, but am very curious how they are going to pull this story line together!!


In the ART NEWS...

Participated in Edmonds 3rd Thursday Art Walk this week [Jan. 15th, 5 to 8pm].

It was sooo cold out and the crowds were thin. Was inside a running shoe & athletics storefront on 4th & Main. Great location for the Art Walk!! Had a good time and am hopeful for the contacts made.

Looking forward to doing it again in the summer months when it's warmer & the doors can be opened up a bit.



ITEMS ON ETSY:

Posted a few new items on Etsy that you should really take a peek at...

• Crystal Wine Charms -- http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19713176
• Shapes Wine Charms -- http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19520468
• Koi Fish pic (an absolute HIT at the Art Walk!) -- http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_1&listing_id=19712585
• Italian Visions -- http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19416353

Let me know what you think!!
~Angie

Did you say "Wine"?

How does one fund their photography passion in the off-season, you ask? Well, they explore all their passions and try to manifest them into $$ making opportunities. One of mine is wine -- I love finding new types - Red or White. So to answer my own question above... Yes, I've officially launched a separate Independent Wine Consulting role for WineShop at Home.

What happens after you become a consultant? Well, I started by "Hosting" my first Wine Tasting weekend for 10 people. Am very excited to report that I now have 4 more private Tastings booked & 3 of the guests became Wine Club members ;-) We had a good time sipping, swirling, and trying new varietals. Attendees were amazed at the difference in flavors when doing simple food parings like cheeses, deli meats, crackers, and chocolates with these handcrafted Artisan Wines! Everyone had a great time & I was thankful for a non-intimidating crowd to do my official "launch" of the business.

I have quite a few spots open for February, so if you'd like info on Hosting your own Private Tasting please see my official web page -- http://www.wineshopathome.com/angiejoyce. Am 'pouring' within 50 to 65 miles of the Everett area of Washington State. [I may be pursuaded to consider elsewhere if it's somewhere really fun! HA!]

Cheers!

How many blog-sites can a business have???

Seems like quite a few! It's the smart, savvy way to draw people to your site. Like mine...

http://www.abiznessdigitalimages.com

Right now, am getting ready for 4 more shows of the season, as well as finish up some custom orders from last week's show in Ballard!!

If you are interested in ordering, you can contact me directly, or go thru this site:

http://abizness_digital_images.imagekind.com

---

In other random news...

Edward J. Almos (current star of Battlestar Galactica) was at a Hopelink fund raising event in Bellevue, WA yesterday. I was excited to meet him and share a moment.

He is very passionate about charity and helping people, and quite congenial! He even took time to pose for a picture & exchange kisses on the cheek ;-)

Wow! Thanks for stopping by... more later ;-)