Where are you located? Pocono Mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania

How long have you been creating handmade items? Since 1999

What type of products do you offer? Natural Gourmet Soaps, Bath, Body, Massage, Salon & Spa Products

How did you decide on your company’s name? Arcadia is a city in Greece known for it's simple, peaceful pastoral way of life. Aromatics is the very essence of what natural handmade products are.

What is your motivation? To offer my customers a better alternative to chemically saturated products that contain large % of harmful, toxic preservatives. To help others improve their health via wellness modalities & natural skin care.

What do you enjoy most about creating handmade items? The most enjoyable part is that I can be extremely creative. My soaps are works of art. My bath & body products are very unique & innovative. The most rewarding part for me is that I'm helping others.

Which items are your best sellers? My soaps of course. By far, my gourmet soaps are my #1 selling product. The look of my soaps are different than most handmade soaps, they are all made with pure, rich coconut milk and other wholesome, skin-loving ingredients, they are extremely large in size & weight and they smell fantastic.

How do you market your products? Word of mouth is my best advertisement. Everything that my company has become is due almost entirely to word of mouth through my loyal customers. I also make regular voluntary contributions to worthy causes, such as womens resources, orphanages, homeless shelters, battered womens shelters & missionaries. I try to spread the word as much as I can via the internet in various mediums such as bath & body product reviews and blog articles. I regularly feature my products at craft fairs, festivals and markets.

What are your favorite features on Handmade FuZion? What new features would you like to see? I love how user friendly the site is. Listing products is a snap. I can maneuver around the site very easily. I would however like to see some more tutorials or help sections on creating/deleting categories & sub-categories.

Do you have any advice for other artisans? Keep going. If this is your dream, if being a part of the indie community brings you a sense of satisfaction & joy, if helping other people is the most rewarding thing you've done.......keep going. Keep motivated. Keep striving to be better than yesterday. Don't let anyone or anything stop you from becoming all that you can be. The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed. So keep going. You CAN make a difference.

1. Where are you located? Shelby Township , MI

2. How long have you been creating handmade items? I started designing pet apparel in 2003, but I have been a designer since I was old enough to pick up a pencil.

3. What type of products do you offer? Pet apparel, fun neck wear, harnesses and custom t-shirts.

4. How did you decide on your company’s name? I started designing apparel for my own pup and her name was Mia. This shop is dedicated to her.

5. What is your motivation? I just love what I do. I believe that pets are such an important part of a happy life and they are with us such a short time. To me, responsible pet ownership includes having fun with them. I try to create designs to reflect that.

6. What do you enjoy most about creating handmade items? I enjoy the whole process from creating a design on paper, to seeing the finished product.

7. Which items are your best sellers? I really don’t have a best seller. My coats and dresses are very popular. My customers are so varied and I try to create items that appeal to a wide range of pet owners.

8. How do you market your products? I really haven’t had to do much marketing.

9. What are your favorite features on Handmade FuZion? What new features would you like to see? This is a site that is easy to navigate. I like the screening process which is why I applied to this site.

10. Do you have any advice for other artisans? I believe that you have to have an enthusiasm for what you are creating. Artisans need to find their niche and create what they love.

Where are you located? Texas

How long have you been creating handmade items? Seems like I have always been creating something but I have only been selling my creations since May 08

What type of products do you offer? handcrafted soaps and body care items

How did you decide on your company’s name? My soaps are all natural and natural soaps are not white. By leaving the soaps natural without any artificial dyes, brighteners or artificial fragrances I end up with an off-white (yellow) but very skin friendly and mild (mellow) soap - that's where the name Mellow Yellow Soap Company comes from

What is your motivation? I love to honor nature in my creations and firmly believe that by leaving things as natural as possible and not adding unnecessary artificial ingredients we can be kinder to our bodies.

What do you enjoy most about creating handmade items? That I get to use them myself and know that only the best ingredients went into them! I also love to hear how my creations work for my customers.

Which items are your best sellers? The Avocado Bar is my bestseller. Avocado oil is so gentle on the skin and this bar has no added fragrance at all - not even Essential Oils - so it works really well with skin that gets irritated by other soaps (eczema, etc.)

How do you market your products? I have my own website www.mellowyellowsoap.com and I now also love to offer my products through Fuzion

What are your favorite features on Handmade FuZion? What new features would you like to see? I think it would be important to make the CP more user friendly.

1^st place - $25.00 Cash - Glasstastic Treasures

2^nd place - $10.00 Credit to your Handmade FuZion Account - Mheld

3^rd place - Beautiful Valentines Day Full Scrapbook Layout Page- (Donated by Scrap Your Memories by Rhonda ) - CharmBoutique

Stay Tuned for Our Next Exciting Handmade FuZion Contest

Coming Soon!

Where are you located? Portland, Oregon

How long have you been creating handmade items? All my life - although not professionally until a year ago when my friends and a few strangers talked me into it.

What type of products do you offer? Asian inspired jewelry, pencil portraits, paintings, photos of my world travels, chai and exotic spice blends (coming soon) - what ever I happen to be in the mood for. :-) I'm also writing a fictional novel about a medical evacuation helicopter crew durring the Vietnam War.

How did you decide on your company’s name? I love the Buddhist concept of Dharma - a kind of Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You philosophy.

What is your motivation? I have an over-active imagination - and that little hamster in my brain keeps running on the wheel at full speed. :-) I admit it - I'm eccentric. I get an idea in my head and feel compelled to see it to fruition, whether it be a necklace, a portrait, or painting one of my cabinets to look like an antique from Tibet.

What do you enjoy most about creating handmade items? I love the fact that it's so personal - an expression of my soul and how I see the world. A lot of love goes into everything I do. It's like each work is a piece of me I'm sharing with the world.

Which items are your best sellers? So far my jewelry, although I've had a lot of interest in my pencil portraits - and have been commisioned to paint a huge oil painting recently.

How do you market your products? So far I use Etsy.com, Project Wonderful adds on art blogs, and word of mouth. I also happen wear my own jewelry, which has led to a few sales and selling my designs at the Portland Classical Chinese Garden gift shop. Business cards are a must.

What are your favorite features on Handmade FuZion? What new features would you like to see? I love the site - and all the artists and their creations. It's very user friendly, but I'd like to see the searche function fine tuned (i.e. search for China NOT cups NOT plates)

Do you have any advice for other artisans? Be true to your heart and soul - and follow your passions. Art is about expression, not about making money, which is often why we are "starving artists." LOL I'd rather create art for me and follow my soul than make money. To me, loving what I do and feeling complete is being successful. :-)