Twitter Tree Tuesday!

My friend Jacki over at Christie Cottage came up with an ingenious idea for promoting items in your shops.

The Twitter Tree will be hosted by a different shop each business day.

Monday: Christie Cottage
Tuesday: Audrey's Country Crafts
Wednesday: Eluna Jewelry
Thursday: I Wish I May, I Wish I Might
Friday: Sweetybird09

If for some reason you are having trouble posting on any of the days, just click on the Twitter Tree button that is on the top left sidebar and it will take you to the home page. Post there - I check every day and will twitter your items.

Here are the 3 items that I would like tweeted today:

twitter account: audreyscrafts
If you follow me on twitter - please let me know. I don't follow everyone back if I don't know who they are :)

Chocolate Lovers Coaster in Pink
http://www.etsy.com/listing/64869330/ #capsteam #BlueBird

Live Laugh Love Coffee Coaster
http://www.etsy.com/listing/65112102/ #capsteam #BlueBird

Personalized Black & White Coaster
http://www.etsy.com/listing/65062616/ #capsteam #BlueBird

Here are the instructions:

You tweet the item(s) for me and all the posts above yours, along with your twitter account so we can follow you, and list 1-3 items (clickable links) from any of your online shops that you would like for all those posting here to tweet for you. ( No "mature" items, please). Be sure the item is twitter ready. (See above) Check back throughout the day and tweet all the new items posted from other online shops. Etsy, ArtFire, Zibbet, Bonanzle, ebay, your own website, etc..

Please add this tag to your tweets. " #BlueBird"
This way we can Retweet later in the day, simply by searching the tag.
Thanks!

By reaching out thru blogger and blog follower's twitter accounts, we will reach a new audience of viewers and hopefully land some sales. After all, we all have our online shops to make money.

Hope everyone has fun promoting and maybe we'll get some sales!!

Blog Schedule

I have really been neglecting my blog lately. It started in the middle of December, could use the Christmas rush as an excuse I suppose. But really - I had run out of things to blog about. So I've come up with a schedule of sorts for blogging.


Monday - Something new from my shop
Tuesday - Twitter Tree
Wednesday - Wordless Wednesday - its' easy :)
Thursday - Etsy shop feature
Friday - ?
Saturday - recipe
Sunday - ?


So I have only 2 blank days, they might end up being blank, or whatever I find that interesting. Does anyone have any ideas of what to blog about?

Word of the Year

Finally have a "Word of the Year". Have been thinking about it for quite a while now, didn't realize it would be that hard! We are already into the 2nd week of January!! This is why I don't make New Years Resolutions. :)


Was going to do "Procrastinate" - I'm already good at that so it would be an easy one to stick too :) Probably not the best word.


Then I thought of "Original" - but I'm that already too - so that doesn't work :) lol


In a comment on one of my previous posts about Christmas, someone suggested a few words:
Confidence, 
Hope, 
Love, 
Perseverance
All really good words, but not quite what I'm looking for either. But finally late last night it came to me!!

PRIORITIZE

pri·or·i·tize   
[prahy-awr-i-tahyz, -or-]
verb, -tized, -tiz·ing.
–verb (used with object)
1. to arrange or do in order of priority: learning to prioritize our assignments.
2. to give a high priority to.
–verb (used without object)
3. to organize or deal with something according to its priority.

Since opening my Etsy shop in September, I've been having some trouble prioritizing my work load. Would love to spend all day on the computer blogging, listing products, promoting and chatting, however there is still cooking, cleaning, laundry, school bus, etc. So this year I will work on getting all the "must do" things on my list done first, then do the crafting, blogging, listing etc. Oh - and also spend time with hubby :) See what I mean?!!

Country Potato Chowder

I bought a magazine during the summer full of soup recipes. Thought I would try them during the winter, put the magazine away, and forgot about it :) While looking through my drawer full of cookbooks the other day, I found the magazine and picked the first recipe to try. We really liked this soup, it's easy to make, and the ingredients aren't too expensive.

COUNTRY POTATO CHOWDER

6 bacon strips, diced

1 medium onion, chopped

3 celery ribs, chopped

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

4 cups half-and-half cream

4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) condensed cream of celery coup, undiluted

2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon seasoned salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 cup sliced carrots

1 cup fresh or frozen green beans, cut into 2 inch pieces

1 can (14 3/4 ounces) cream-style corn

In a Dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp; remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels. Drain reserving 2 tablespoons drippings. In the drippings, saute the onion and celery until tender. Sprinkle with flour and stir until blended. Gradually add the cream. Stir in the potatoes, soup, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, seasoned salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1 minute. Reduce the heat; cover and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add carrots and beans. Cover and simmer 15 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender. Stir in corn and reserved bacon; heat through.

We don't care for green beans, so I used frozen peas and carrots - but defrosted them in the microwave before adding to the soup. The soup is really thick! Just the way the "men" like it :)


Enjoy your weekend!!