Salon de Maria Blog

A Day In the Life of a Blogger

People are very surprised when I tell them that I have all these blogs and the first question out of their mouth is, "How do you manage it all?" One of the reasons I get so much done compared to many people is that I don't have any kids, so that leaves a great deal of open time for me!

Well, I decided to take one day out of my life and keep track of everything I do just to see how I spend most of my time. This is just one day out of my life...

8:00 am - Wakeup, meditate, have breakfast, and watch about 10 minutes of the Today show. I normally don't watch the show, but I heard that James Ray was going to be on.

8:57 am - Work on my book

9:35 am - Check email, moderate comments, and read article, "A Miracle Set in Stone". It inspired me to write about overcoming beliefs, so I started writing down notes for a future post at The Good Life

10:38 am - Checked "Customer Service" folder in my Google feedreader to see what everyone is talking about and to find any inspiration for articles on my customer service blog. Start writing...

11:42 am - Took a break from writing customer service article to Twitter. Find out about Singapore Airlines' A380 cabins

12:00 pm - Go back to writing customer service article. Revised it and looked for picture to include in post...Published!

Continue reading "A Day In the Life of a Blogger" »

Posted by Maria Palma at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Making Jewelry: My Creative Process

After a little break from jewelry making, I decided to explore the bead inventory and see what I could put together. After seeing the same beads over and over, it's a challenge to feel "fresh" about creating something...

Usually when I start to make a jewelry piece, I don't really have any particular plan or design in mind. In this case, I took out this little pendant I bought from a local San Diego artist. She calls her business "While My Babies Were Sleeping" because she did all her work well, while her babies were sleeping! I bought it a few years ago, but have yet to find the right beads for it. So, I started pulling out beads to see if I could find a combination of beads that would "fit just right".

Handcrafted Beaded Necklace by Maria Palma

Well, after stringing a few beads on, I realized that it just wasn't working. Usually I start to feel an adrenaline rush as I'm stringing beads together and creating the design, but this time I wasn't feeling it. After a little while I decided to ditch the pendant and instead ended up with this piece pictured here. I call this necklace "Spring Fling" and it's now available at my Etsy shop!

Posted by Maria Palma at 11:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A Twitter Haiku

It’s been awhile since I’ve written any kind of poetry. When I was in grade school and college, I would write poems and song lyrics. I’ll definitely have to dig through my storage and find those old notebooks to share some poetry with you.

Well, I wrote a haiku about my latest online love: Twitter. This inspiration was spurred on by a challenge given to me by blogger buddy, Easton, of Visionary Blogging:

So, here it is...

The bird and the blue
Keeps me in touch with friends
I dream of Twitter

The next step will be to turn the haiku into a song…In the meantime, visit me over at Twitter and let’s “follow” each other ;)

Posted by Maria Palma at 02:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Have I Told You "Thank You" Lately?

When I worked at Nordstrom we were required to write two Thank you Cards a day to our customers. Back then it seemed like such a hassle - after all, any time away from the floor meant that I was losing sales. However, it wasn't until I left Nordstrom and began working on my own business did I realize the power of Thank You.

I haven't been consistent in saying Thank You to my customers lately, but today I'm committing to reviving the art of the handwritten thank you note. Here's an example of what I would write in a thank you card to a jewelry client:

Dear Miss Customer,

I just wanted to drop a note to thank you for your jewelry purchase. I hope that you are enjoying the necklace! If you have any feedback, please don't hesitate to call or write to me.

All the Best,
Maria
"Salon de Maria"

Very short and sweet, but hopefully it puts warm fuzzies in people's hearts. It's rare to get a thank you note these days - and handwritten to boot!

If you just don't have the time to create your own cards like I do, CardsDirect has Thank you cards that you can purchase online.

However, you don't have to have a business just to send a card - why not send a Thank You to a friend just for being a great friend?

By the way, have I told you "Thank You!" lately for reading this blog? I appreciate you!

Posted by Maria Palma at 02:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Digital Art is Exciting Again

When I first embarked into the digital art world about seven years ago, I had no idea how amazing it was going to be. I got my first digital camera and I was ecstatic that I didn't have to buy film and take it to the photo lab anymore. And now all the excitement is back again with the arrival of my new Bamboo pen tablet. I felt like a five-year-old on Christmas Day as I opened the box and unwrapped this little tool. It's the little things that make me happy :) Mother's Day greeting cards

With this pen tablet I can create freehand digital drawings and hand-write notes which can be turned into text documents in Word (although I still prefer to type...much faster). There's a great deal of other stuff I can do with this pen tablet that I haven't explored yet. However, the main reason I bought it was to draw freehand in Photoshop. I bought the small version, but I know pretty soon I'll want to go "pro" and get a bigger one.

So I unleashed the creative juices today and created a couple pieces which I turned into Mother's Day greeting cards. They're available at my CafePress shop. Stay tuned for more!

Well, now it's back to the "drawing board" for more practice so I can start creating art like this "Cherry Blossoms" piece by Esther Kirby...

Buy your own Bamboo pen tablet at Amazon.com

Posted by Maria Palma at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Maria Palma: Designer, Writer, and SEO Geek

As an entrepreneur and artist, I have many jobs and wear many hats. What you may not know about me is that besides being a jewelry designer and writer, I've also designed all my blogs and do the marketing for every one of them. This means one of the many hats that I wear is SEO Geek.

I'm proud to say that I'm a SEO geek. For those of you who don't know, SEO stands for "Search Engine Optimization" which basically means that I work on designing and marketing my websites so that the search engines can easily find them. Any and every person who owns a website or blog should be familiar with some SEO techniques and tactics - especially those who create their own content.

I've spent countless hours researching all the different ways to rank high in the search engines. It's great to come across other artists and designers like the ones over at this seo blog who have a passion for what they do. All the reading and research has been worthwhile as I am now able to help the clients I write articles for become more knowledgeable about search engine optimization.

If you need help getting your website indexed and ranked in the search engines, feel free to contact me: maria [at] salondemaria [dot] info

Posted by Maria Palma at 02:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Life is Abundant

My camera has been stuck to my hip since I got it for Christmas and the photography folder in my computer is bursting with photos that need to be edited and uploaded to my Flickr album. Today was the day that I focused on doing just that....

Ok, so one project down. 99 more to go!

After looking at this mosaic, I realized - I mean really realized - just how abundant my life is! The vibrant colors...the gorgeous scenery in San Diego...I'm very grateful for eyes so that I can see all these wonderful things.

Read more about my abundant life over at The Good Life.

Posted by Maria Palma at 09:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Life in California: Something Out of the Ordinary

Most people think California is all about glamorous celebrities, the beach, easy breezy living, and palm trees. As a long-time resident who has lived in just about every major city in California except for Los Angeles (I vowed "never" to live there, but you never know!), I've traveled up and down this gorgeous state which is home to a wealth of agriculture.

There's a long stretch between San Francisco and Los Angeles which has been torture for me to drive in the past because it's just a straight drive with miles and miles of flat land. Fortunately this past weekend I was a passenger on a trip to Magic Mountain with my family who live in Central California...When lo and behold, I caught a shot of one of those oil drilling thing-a-ma-jiggers...

Not really sure why I was so intrigued by this picture. It's just something out of the ordinary that many tourists don't get to see. Now you know.

And here's a shot of the grape vines which also grow in Central California, but are very common in Napa Valley, of course.

I'm taking a trip to Napa in the next few weeks, so stay tuned for pictures!

Posted by Maria Palma at 04:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's Time to Publish the Book!

Although I don't really believe in labeling or giving yourself a title - like for many years I was an "Artist" - I would like to include in my bio the title "Author". I've been visualizing myself sitting with Oprah while she interviews me about my latest "Best Selling" book and this year I've been taking the steps to reach that goal. I've also visualized a publisher approaching me with a million-dollar book deal ;)

For the past several months I've been researching ways to self publish my own book. I've looked at several Online Book Publishing companies like WordClay. I like that WordClay guides you step-by-step through the process of publishing a book, plus they offer marketing and distribution services to help you get the word out.

I've already started on my book. It's going to be a memoir/how-to book of sorts. So if I don't come around here much in the next few months or so, you'll know what I'm doing!

Posted by Maria Palma at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

How to Be a Better Blogger

I’ve been playing hooky. Can you blame me? After all, it’s spring and who wants to be cooped up inside staring at a computer and doing “work”. Besides, it was high time that I take a break from blogging and just follow my bliss.

Yes, I’ve been caught in a blogging rut and this time my cure for it was to visit Balboa Park with my boyfriend…to take in all the nature and soak up some warm sunshine. Of course, I took the camera with me to share some of the beauty with you…

Check out more pictures from my Balboa Park adventure over at my Flickr album.

It’s amazing what a simple change in scenery will do for your creative energy. I’ve now come back to blogging with a clear head. Words are flowing with ease. The voice that used to ask, “Is that sentence really relevant?” has gone bye-bye. Finally, after years of questioning every word…every sentence…I’ve found complete confidence in my writing. I’ve found my unique voice.

To be a better blogger sometimes it’s as simple as stepping away from the computer and going out to play!

Posted by Maria Palma at 04:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Salon de Maria Blog

Diary of a visual artist, jewelry designer, and freelance writer. Find out about the art process and what goes into each of Maria Palma's designs. Read articles, reviews, news, and more about the arts and crafts industries.

May 05, 2008

A Day In the Life of a Blogger

April 28, 2008

Making Jewelry: My Creative Process

April 21, 2008

A Twitter Haiku

April 15, 2008

Have I Told You "Thank You" Lately?

April 12, 2008

Digital Art is Exciting Again

April 10, 2008

Maria Palma: Designer, Writer, and SEO Geek

April 06, 2008

Life is Abundant

April 05, 2008

Life in California: Something Out of the Ordinary

March 27, 2008

It's Time to Publish the Book!

March 25, 2008

How to Be a Better Blogger

Two Ways to Subscribe

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