TradeAHolics' Valentine's Challenge!

february 14th is just around the corner! for some reason, valentine's day is my favorite holiday!!! seeing all the little pink and red hearts everywhere just lifts my spirits!!!! i am sure i'm not alone.... on the most recent Trade And Replace thread, we threw around the idea of having a Valentine's Day challenge/event for the team! so, without further ado, here are the ideas that have popped up! please place your vote ASAP for the challenge that you'd be most up to doing - the poll is on the sidebar!

1. Will You Be My Valentine? - each participating shop will design a "valentine" that will be posted here on the blog! it could be an actual valentine, or something valentine-themed. the deadline for photos to be sent to me (via email or convo, whichever is easier) and i will post them here. we will invite as many people to come and vote on their favorite! the winning designer will be featured in an interview here on the tradeaholics' blog and we will draw for three winners from all the voters! (this means that i will need three donated valentine prizes - you could donate your valentine if you wanted! your shop and the prize would also be featured here on the blog)

2. Secret Valentine Exchange - kind of like our Secret Santa/Hannukah Harry event, shops who want to participate will convo their mailing address to me and i will match them with a "valentine"! no presents required, just a sweet, HANDMADE valentine!!!! how nice would that be, to get an old-fashioned valentine wish in the mail?

3. Valentine's Day Scavenger Hunt - each participating shop must have at least ONE valentine's themed item in their shop. questions about each shop owner will be posted here on the blog and people have to visit the shops to get the answers. it's a great way to get traffic to our stores - and exposure to our valentine's items! people will post their answers here on the blog, and we will do a drawing from the people who have the correct answers!

4. I Heart Etsy Blog Feature - what better way to show another TradeAholic that you love them than by featuring them on your blog! all the shops that want to participate can convo me and i'll match everyone. then you go and "interview" the shop that you get... write a valentine blog post about them!

and last but not least...

5. Valentine's Day Trade and Replace - i don't think that i'd need to explain this, now do i? :) we can make it Valentine's Day only (it falls on a Saturday) or for the whole week following Valentine's Day!

so... what do you guys think? nothing too elaborate, but fun nonetheless!!!!!! and if you want to donate a prize, CONVO me as soon as possible!

GO VOTE!!!!!

Designer Challenge!

We're still in need of a Team Banner for our blogsite PLUS a team widget. The original deadline for submissions was April 21.

Come on, Traders!! Let's see those creations!

TEAM CHALLENGE!!!! Designing our Team Identity... and Tagging!

Attention all you designers!!!!

We'll be holding two separate Design Challenges this month!!!! Read 'em and weep!

1) Design a banner for the team blog website!!!!

2) Design a team widget. Once the widget has been decided on by the team, we will incorporate code so when the widget is clicked on, the user will be directed to the team website. Team members can attach the widget to their blog or website.

Designs are due in 3 weeks, Monday, April 21st. Email your entries to Ak or Muffin by that date and we'll post them here! Feel free to enter as many times as you wish!!! Two separate polls will be set up so team members can vote on their favorite for each category.

and part two.... TAGGING!

No, we're not talking about a huge team game of tag (but wouldn't that be fun????)

The fabulous FlamingoLady asked, "What about team tagging?" Excellent question! Yeah, so what about it? As an easy search tool for team members and buyers or traders, please identify your tradable items with 'Tradeaholics Team'. A suggestion for non-members of the Etsy Trade-A-Holics Team who like to trade is to tag their tradeables with the tag 'trade'. In the next few days, AK will incorporate a search link from the Team website for all items with the team tag, "Tradeaholics Team" and another search link from the trading list blog for all items with the 'trade tag'. This makes it easier to see what talent is out there... and narrow down your list!!!!

Of course, this just might make your "to have at all costs" list even longer!!!! FYI - creationsbychristina had already started tagging some of her items this way!!!! Yay to our brownie queen!

Ak also just sent around an email asking for ideas about an acronym for our team - Etsy TradeAHolics is quite long to use as a tag, LOL!

Here's a few: THT ( Trade-A-Holics Team)TAH ( Trade-A-Holics)ETT ( Etsy Trade-A-Holics Team)ETAH ( Etsy Trade-A-Holics) Okay, folks! We want to hear back from you. Let us know how you want to tag your items!! Add your suggestion to this post and we'll put up a poll ASAP!

So get designing, get tagging, and as always, TRADE ON!!!!

xoxoox AK & muffin