Have More Fun! – August/September Issue of My Molds!

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My Molds Newsletter
News that Inspires Imagination! The Preferred Place for Clay Push Molds
	Dear Subscribers, Can you believe that it’s September already!? That means most of us will have more time to spend doing the things we love. Like creating! So be sure you have the molds needed for when you get the urge to make something fantastic! You can help Mad About Molds to continue bringing you the best in craft ideas and assistance by forwarding this newsletter to your crafty friends. New readers, Click here to Subscribe. When you’re ready to start a big project of selling or gifting your new creations be sure to read this month’s article first. It has all the tips to help you be productive and the best you can be. “How to Work Smarter, Faster & Have More Fun!” Please take the time to sit back and enjoy this issue of My Molds! All the best, Marjorie with Mad About Molds   “inspire”	August 2012 Issue
		Fun Links: Home Free Stuff Free Downloads Creative Ideas Gallery Instructions Subscribe Newsletter Archives Molding Accessories Mobile Site
		Contact Us! Shop@MadAboutMolds.com www.MadAboutMolds.com Find Marcy on Facebook
		Comments Welcomed! How are we doing? Let us know what you are thinking! Shop@MadAboutMolds.com
	FEATURED MOLDS Great Balls of Fun! Show off your team spirit by making accessories that reflect you’re in the game. Here just a few examples of what we have to offer. Each mold is numbered to help you search for the ones you need. OUR FAVORITES Just a few of our favorites! We just wanted to share with you a few of our molds that are favorites with our customers. These molds seem to be the ones that are loved by many. Everyone has their own style, so if these aren’t what you are looking for remember that we do have 1,000 molds to choose from on our website at www.MadAboutMolds.com. THIS MONTH’S ARTICLE How to Work Smarter, Faster & Have More Fun! Summer vacation is nearing an end, and the holidays are right around the corner, and your craft inventory is not where it should be for upcoming projects.... Relax and take a deep breath - Time is on your side. With some simple time saving strategies you will be able to produce more in less time, and enjoy the process. 1.      Take time before beginning your latest project to gather all of the necessary tools and materials. Much time is wasted looking for that one essential tool that you just KNEW was there. 2.      Get yourself a healthful snack and plenty of water. Refreshments are necessary to keep alert, healthy, and working at optimum level. 3.      Clear the decks. A clean space will create a lower stress environment. You will think clearer, feel calmer and more organized, and be better able to locate items necessary to the project at hand. 4.      Set up an assembly line. What ? Aren't assembly lines what they have at big manufacturing companies ? Yes, but you can create a mini assembly line at home. By using the same strategy as the larger companies but on a smaller scale, you will be able to produce much more than you can by completing one item at a time. For example: Cut out multiples of each item, base paint all the red sections then move on to the green, add all the buttons then all the raffia .... Set up your assembly line in whatever way will be the most comfortable and efficient for you. 5.      Turn up the music. Something lively that keeps you moving at a brisk pace. 6.      Keep moving. While the paint or glue is drying, do something else. Just keep going ... Each small step will mount up. 7.      Don't save that step for tomorrow. Even if it's something small, get as much done as you can - NOW. When you get back to work the next day, those small steps that you already accomplished will save time and stress. 8.      Take photographs. Even if you are POSITIVE that you will remember how you made those items, take photos. Not only for the purpose of time saving, but also record keeping and as a portfolio of your work. 9.      Tag the items. Don't wait until later ... They aren't done 'til you tag 'em. 10.  Take breaks. It's easy to get caught up in the creative process, time just seems to fly by. Make sure you take time out, walk away and get a fresh perspective. If not you may end up daydreaming and slowing down. There you have it - Ten easy strategies to speed up production and make the most of your creativity and time.
	Feel free to send this newsletter to a friend. If you received this newsletter from a friend and want to sign up for your own copy, please click here. If you would like to change your email address please request the change here. We don't want to lose touch with you! We will not sell, trade or give away your personal information or email address. If you no longer wish to receive our Newsletter, please reply to this message with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line. To ensure that you keep receiving our e-mails to your inbox add shop@madaboutmolds.com to your address book or safe list. Copyright © 2012  |  Mad About Molds, 624 3rd Ave.,  Brewster  MN  56119
	When it comes to service, we break the mold! Thank You!

Little Pretties for Summer Time – July Issue of My Molds!

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My Molds Newsletter
News that Inspires Imagination! The Preferred Place for Clay Push Molds
	Dear Subscribers, I hope this newsletter finds my customers and friends in full swing of SUMMER! We hope you are enjoying time in the sun at the beach, the backyard or wherever you spend your time during the summer.  And we also hope you still have some time for creative time. We are excited to show you some ideas to inspire you. We know crafters need to think ahead to be ready when the holidays are here. So be sure to check our holiday pages so you don’t miss any crafting opportunities. You can help Mad About Molds continue bringing you the best in craft ideas and assistance by forwarding this newsletter to your crafty friends. New readers, Click here to Subscribe. Drop me a line if you want to talk anything molds… We would love to take care of all your molding needs. If you have a business and your need some inspiration read this month’s article below for great ideas to grow in your business. “Do you work “On” or “In” you’re Business?” Please take the time to sit back and enjoy this issue of My Molds! All the best, Marjorie with Mad About Molds To Imagine Is Everything!	July 2012 Issue
		Fun Links: Home Free Stuff Free Downloads Creative Ideas Gallery Instructions Subscribe Newsletter Archives Molding Accessories Mobile Site
		Contact Us! Shop@MadAboutMolds.com www.MadAboutMolds.com Find Marcy on Facebook
		Comments Welcomed! How are we doing? Let us know what you are thinking! Shop@MadAboutMolds.com
	FEATURED MOLDS Little Pretties at Mad About Molds! Turn summer bursts of creativity into beautiful works of art that you can wear. We normally use acrylic craft paints to achieve the metallic finish on our castings. Many of our descriptions show samples of items made with our molds as a thumbnail that can be enlarged next to the item descriptions. All of these pictures our Gallery pages. You can also learn how to achieve these beautiful metal finishes by using Precious Metal Clay on this page of our website. When thinking about the finish you would like to achieve when making castings from your molds there are about four main types for you to consider. 1. The best results for a rich deep metallic finish would be PMC (Precious Metal Clay) It comes in both silver and gold, and you use it the same as you would clay, except in the way that you cure it. Be sure to remove your casting from your mold before curing it. 2. Another way would be to add a gold-leaf finish over a baked clay casting. Golf-leaf can be found in many metallic colors and can have a beautiful finish. 3. The easiest way to achieve a colored finish from neon, pearl or metallic would be to use a colored clay to make your casting. No other step would be needed unless you wish to add a clear coat sealer or an antiquing medium. 4. And our last option is how most of our samples are made in our gallery photos. White clay painted with acrylic paints. We like to add many finishes over the paint to give a prettier effect such as pearl or sparkle sealer or a antiquing finish. Don't feel intimidated by painting castings as they are surprisingly easy to get nice results. Just think of it as painting from the bottom up. First a apply a thin base color over the entire casting, then paint the details on top with desired colors and finish with a top coat of the techniques mentioned above. I hope this helps you out, and if you take the time to check out these techniques you should be able to get wonderful results with our molds. Good luck with your projects and we hope this helps you out. Have fun creating! SUMMER MOLDS Just Like Summer Time! When it hot outside it’s nice to be inside making things that remind you of summer all year around. These molds will give you a few ideas of memories spent at the lake, beach or anywhere in the sun. Now is the time to get ready for some fun molding with new Summer inspiration! All of our Marine & Nautical Molds can be found on this page. ANNOUNCMENTS  Useful Geeky Information So with any website store there’s always things going on in the background that you may not notice unless someone points it out to you. All of this information is not required to order from us, but some of it might help you appreciate everything we have to offer you. •         Ecwid now has 42 storefront translations! If this helps you out we are happy to offer it. •         Sale and promotional prices! Everyone love’s discounts and deals. Now when we put a product on sale you will see will be shown a “struck out” to demonstrate how much the current price is better. We think it is a great tool and we hope you will like it too.   •         Share your purchase!  Almost everybody around us has accounts in social networks. People use such accounts to showcase their personalities. To show who you are! For example if you “like” Facebook pages not just to get the status updates in your news feed, but to express yourself via liking particular brands. I.e. you don’t like Converse just because you like their shoes, but because this brand represents a special life style that you want to follow. People love to share pages and links, as it expresses yourself. Not many of us will admit this, though, but our shares are always highly influenced by our image we want to show to our friends.   •         Faster checkout for Google Chrome users!  Our website now supports experimental Google Chrome feature that allows Chrome users to fill checkout forms in much faster, easier and smarter: literally in a single click. So now any Chrome user who stored his personal information in Chrome can fill a checkout forms in a single click. You just start to fill in any field of the form, select a stored address and all fields in the form are filled in properly. Very convenient and fast, no more boring typing of the same text again and again. •         Improved behavior for the zero-total orders! People love free things. So we offer free intangible goods, such as monograms, vintage tags and labels, free decorative fonts and more! They can all be found here! Before we couldn’t allow orders with zero total, unless our customer choose payment method "Personal check" so no charges would be made to your account. But now you can order these free items anyway you wish. Item will also be sent immediately without any wait times for approval. This feature makes the ability to get these freebies much more efficient and convenient for you. Thank you all for your support, ideas and suggestions and stay tuned for more great features coming soon. THIS MONTH’S ARTICLE Do you work “On” or “In” you’re Business? Do you work on your business or in your business? We can’t grow our business if we spend all our time doing the work in the business; i.e., being the technicians or doers. We have to learn and utilize management and entrepreneurial skills to build the business. Your goal should be to have your business work for you, not you working for it. So, is all your time spent “doing” the business? Here are four ways to strive toward working on your business: 1.      Develop a clear vision about the path your company will take. This clarity is critical for you and for any people that you hire, whether full-time or on a project basis. 2.      Take time to work on your business. I’ve heard from numerous people in business – that you need to spend two-to three hours marketing your business for every hour you spend fabricating your art. The best approach here is to set aside the time that works for you to do this. It could be three hours every morning or it could be every Monday and Tuesday. And sometimes you need to try working on your business in a different surrounding. I have a friend who goes to the local café each week to work on her business. The goal is set a time consistently to do it. 3.      Look for ways to create systems in your business. This could be anything from a system to contact potential buyers to a system to process orders. Systems make a difference in how much time you don’t spend as a technician or doer. 4.      Work on yourself. In addition to spending time working on your business, you need to work on yourself. “Work harder on yourself than you do on your job. The major value in life is not what you get. The major value in life is what you become.” And, who you become as a person spills over into your business.
	Feel free to send this newsletter to a friend. If you received this newsletter from a friend and want to sign up for your own copy, please click here. If you would like to change your email address please request the change here. We don't want to lose touch with you! We will not sell, trade or give away your personal information or email address. If you no longer wish to receive our Newsletter, please reply to this message with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line. To ensure that you keep receiving our e-mails to your inbox add shop@madaboutmolds.com to your address book or safe list. Copyright © 2012  |  Mad About Molds, 624 3rd Ave.,  Brewster  MN  56119
	When it comes to service, we break the mold! Thank You!

Breaking The Creative Block – June Issue of My Molds!

My Molds Newsletter
News that Inspires Imagination! The Preferred Place for Clay Push Molds
	Dear Subscribers, Have you been playing with your molds lately? Weather you consider molding play time or work time you will be pleased to know that we are here to help you out. If you ever need inspiration check out our gallery page, which is just full of ideas. Even if you have seen the pictures before, another look will surprise you of what you missed. As your skills and experience grows so does your options and your outlook on things, even if they are the same as the last time you saw them. I often find this true as our website has developed in the past seven years. There’s always something to improve on as you learn new tetchiness and practice with trial and error. The most important thing to remember is that if you’re having fun you’re not wasting your time, and as you improve your skills new ideas will flow. If you still need some inspiration read this month’s article below for more ideas to Break The Creative Block! Please take the time to sit back and enjoy this issue of My Molds! Until next time, Marjorie with Mad About Molds   Be your own kind of beautiful. As always, we thank you for your time, you’re wonderful comments and your generous support! We enjoy sharing what we do and we love to hear what you think!	June 2012 Issue Fun Links Home Free Stuff Free Downloads Creative Ideas Gallery Instructions Subscribe Newsletter Archives Molding Accessories Mobile Site Contact Us Shop@MadAboutMolds.com www.MadAboutMolds.com Find Marcy on Facebook
	FEATURED MOLDS Everything 's coming up Roses at Mad About Molds! Sometimes you just have to stop and smell the rose’s right? We make it easy for you to pick them. Shown below is our favorite rose molds for you to choose from. June is a big month for roses, as they are perfect for wedding and graduation decorations, embellishments, cake and candy forms and much more. We want you to come to us for all your molding needs! All of our rose molds can be found on this page. Just Like Summer Time! When it hot outside it’s nice to be inside making things that remind you of summer all year around. These molds will give you a few ideas of memories spent at the lake, beach or anywhere near the water. July will be here soon and now is the time to get ready for some fun molding with new Summer inspiration! All of our Marine & Nautical Molds can be found on this page. ANNOUNCMENTS Useful Geeky Information So with any website store there’s always things going on in the background that you may not notice unless someone points it out to you. All of this information is not required to order from us, but some of it might help you appreciate everything we have to offer you. SPEED: We’re constantly working on improving the performance and speed of our store. We strongly believe that fast page loading is a big advantage for our customers. The average speed of our store was improved by 15%. We were able to further optimize our store so the initial loading of a page takes 40% less time now. This all helps you have a better shopping experience with us. SOCIAL TOOLS: Social networks, such as Facebook, have proven to be a great feature for customers. People love to share new things with their friends, so we’ve improved our social sharing options – it’s now easier and faster than ever. We already have the most popular button: Facebook’s “Like”. Now it also has these additional share buttons. Twitter, Google+, Pinterest’s “Pin it”, VK button and the Tumblr button. To view these buttons be sure to hover your curser over the “share link” under the “Add to Bag” button. NAVIGATION LINKS: We now display special “Previous / Next Product” links on the product details page, so you can browse your items quickly, efficiently and more conveniently. (See the navigation arrows above the SKU number in the image below.) Now you can easily press the “Next product” link and the next product is loaded instantly. We wanted to create the fastest experience as possible. Actually when a customer presses the link, the next product is already loaded and ready to be shown, so it is displayed instantly. But this is not all. If you’re a keyboard ninja and love keyboard shortcuts, you can use them to browse your catalog. Use “Ctrl + →” and “Ctrl + ←” to browse products and “Ctrl + ↑” to go one level up. As one of our users who tested this feature, said: “Ah that is really awesome… I was just messing with it in the test store. It’s kind of addicting, getting you to click through the whole catalog“. COMMENT AREA AT CHECKOUT: Now we offer a tool that allows you for additional information during checkout. You can add information for your order including any specific information or considerations that you would like to attach to your order. We’d like to thank all our customers who have enjoyed our website and we are happy to make improvements such as these as they become available. Feel free to use and enjoy these new features. If you have any questions, we’ll be glad to assist you. THIS MONTH 'S ARTICLE Breaking The Creative Block Sometimes, as an artist & crafter, the sheer volume of possible projects and opportunities to create can be intensely overwhelming.  Instead of churning out dozens of clever and useful items during a marathon crafting session, I often end up with a table bursting with unfolded fabric & unpacked trims - and not much else.  When I get into a creative overload like this, I use these tried-and-true techniques to break out of the cycle and get back to crafting. Recognize a creative block for what it is.  Don’t fight against the block, flow with it.  Creative blocks are the brains way of saying it is overloaded and isn’t in the mood to do whatever it is you are asking. Creativity can’t be forced, it has to flow naturally; so resist the urge to force yourself to be creative when your brain is telling you no. Cut something. I always have a backlog of scraps or yards of fabric just waiting to be cut.  You don’t have to cut things for any particular project; if you have a system of cutting up scraps to use in various projects, or you plan to do a string quilt one day, go ahead and cut up the fabric.  It doesn’t have to have a purpose that is set in stone - just cut something! Work on a "no brainer" project.  Do something that doesn’t require your brain to decide, consolidate, process, or think.  Work on something you could do in your sleep if it didn’t pose a threat of injury.  Sewing quilt bindings or hand-piecing projects are great for this type of activity.  Go through your back issues of magazines & cut out the articles you want to keep to re-read again.   Fold your fabric into neat, 6" wide stacks. Make a list.  Are too many ideas running through your head? Grab a pen and paper and write them all down. This way, you won’t forget them, and your brain won’t feel it necessary to keep broadcasting your brilliance to you while you are trying to work on something. Take a crafting sabbatical.  Tell yourself that you won’t touch any of your crafting materials for a week.  Heck, make it two weeks.  Then, stick to it.  Go for walks.  Do something else with your time.  If you give yourself permission to take a break, you are more able to come back to crafting when creativity strikes.  By the end of the two weeks, you’ll probably be itching to get back to creating, and hopefully sooner! Creative Blocks!
	Feel free to send this newsletter to a friend. If you received this newsletter from a friend and want to sign up for your own copy, please click here. If you would like to change your email address please request the change here. We don't want to lose touch with you! We will not sell, trade or give away your personal information or email address. If you no longer wish to receive our Newsletter, please reply to this message with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line. To ensure that you keep receiving our e-mails to your inbox add shop@madaboutmolds.com to your address book or safe list. Copyright © 2012  |  Mad About Molds, 624 3rd Ave.,  Brewster  MN  56119
	When it comes to service, we break the mold! Thank You!