Bead Shopping and Free Shipping!!

So I just got back from visiting the Intergalactic Bead Show here in Nashville... don't you just love that name?! I guess they call it that because the vendors come from all over the Southeast, I even met one from Maryland! My sister came with me, and I think it's safe to say that I will never go to a bead show without her again! I had been to one before and didn't buy a thing- I was so overwhelmed by all the choices and my head was just spinning with all the options. But this time, she was all "Oo Heidi, come look at this!" or "You could get these and do this and that". It was just so nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of, and to make sure that what I had in mind was something someone else might wear. If it was up to me, I'd probably buy all bright yellow, orange, and pink beads and my sister was there to remind me that SOME people like purple, green, and blue :) But now I'm really excited to get started, I have a lot of work to do this week and a lot of new items to introduce to my shop!!

I'm also excited because I've decided to introduce free worldwide shipping to my shop for the month of June! Business has been slow and I think I can do this as my "stimulus buster" haha. Plus we have a family vacation in Seabrook Island, South Carolina, starting the 4th of July weekend and I need some spending money!! So hopefully free shipping will help out a little :)

Read more...

Oh so Lovely!

Imagine my surprise the other day when Michelle from Tile Me Beautiful left me a message to say that she was passing on the 'Lovely Blog Award' to me! Oh you are so sweet! If it had been a few days earlier I might have laughed, because I was sooo not proud of my blog. But now that I've given it its makeover I feel like I can accept it without reservations!

Here are the rules to receiving this award... 1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link. 2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. 3. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

So here are the fifteen blogs I have picked. And FYI there were a few of you I considered handing it off to, but when I checked your blogs I noticed you already had it. I tried to spread the love and choose blogs that hadn't received it yet. So here they are, listed in alphabetical order:

1. Ambers Accents Adventures
2. EtsyExpo
3. Etsy Technology Help
4. Ingo Jewelry
5. I'd Rather be Stitching
6. Lilac Pop
7. Little Card Maker's Paper Creations
8. Natalia Designs
9. PolkaDot Moon
10. Sitting Pretty
11. SmuTopia! Behind-the-Scenes of a Funky Handmade Jewelry Business
12. Southern Belle's Blog
13. SuaVoce Jewelry Designs
14. Sweet Cuddle Cakes
15. tiny bird arts

So thank you for the award, I'm glad that you enjoy my blog! And thank you everyone for reading!!

Read more...

There's something different about you....

Notice anything different? Maybe just that I've redone my ENTIRE blog again?! hehe... do you ever just have that nagging feeling that something isn't right but you don't know how to fix it? Well that's what I felt about my old blog layout, and then as luck would have it, I stumbled across this free template from Our Blogger Templates and decided to do it! I downloaded the template and then became inspired to fix up and replace some of my widgets. I think this new template gives me a little breathing room and I am really really happy with it. I think I might have found a keeper!

Read more...

Mid-Week Pick-Me-Up #4

I'm running a day behind on everything since I took Monday off. But here is the Mid-Week funny to help you finish out the week! Sooo cute!

Read more...

Featured Artists- Angie and Sarah from SuaVoce Designs

I ran across this week's featured artists when they mentioned their bridal blog in one of the Etsy forums. Angie and Sarah of SuaVoce Designs are a pair of twin sisters in college living in Chicago. When I checked out their blog and shop I was immediately impressed with the professionalism and thoughtfulness these young girls have established at such a young age.

Their shop is called SuaVoce Designs, named from the Italian phrase meaning "your voice." They design and make jewelry using mainly sterling silver and copper wire, and are constantly experimenting with different and non-conventional materials. Portions of their sales are donated to women's charities such as National Breast Cancer Foundation and Battered Mothers Resource Fund, Inc. "Jewelry making lets us channel our crafty side as well as our love for business. We really want to make a difference in the world too, so by selling our jewelry and giving a portion of the profits to charity we can give back."

Angie and Sarah began making jewelry their junior year of high school after taking a jewelry making class. They began making pieces to give away as gifts, but then decided to take the plunge as they started SuaVoce in September of last year. Their goal is that by the time they graduate, they will have a budding full-time business.

I asked the sisters what their favorite reaction someone has had to their work and they said it was from their younger sister when they made her a necklace and earring set to wear at her prom. Their sister loved the jewelry and was so excited to wear them on her special night.

SuaVoce's plans for the future include making "Pride and Prejudice" inspired journals... simple black journals in which they collage various elements and jewelry techniques together, including some of their favorite quotes from the book.

The sisters have also started an interesting blog you should all check out (http://suavoce.wordpress.com/), in which they periodically feature artists who do bridal work. They are also working to introduce their new line of jewelry they call the "Pink Line," where a quarter of their profits will go toward breast cancer research. Soon they would like to start "Feature Friday" where they will be featuring different artists every week.

Be sure to poke around SuaVoce, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6989347 where some items are on sale with free shipping! And if you're on Facebook, join their group at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=94180108452

Read more...

Shop Update and New Items

I've been spending a lot of time in my shop revamping my photos and adding new items. It's taken a lot of work, but I now have 25 different items! I know some people on Etsy have hundreds and I just don't know how they do it! But for the moment, I am proud to have my twenty-five :)

So here are a few new items I have added this past week:

You can click on any of the pictures and it will take you to its description!

Plans for next week: Photoshopping... I'm going to finish editing the rest of my pictures and then I'm going to redo my shop banner. Hopefully I'll even have time to make a blog banner!

Read more...

Mid-Week Pick-Me-Up #3

This one just made me laugh....

Read more...

Featured Artist- Monte from MyMixMix

I am so excited to kick off my blog feature series with this shop! The shop is called MyMixMix and its avatar caught my eye one day in the forums, and when I clicked to see the shop, the colors immediately sucked me in! Just see for yourself: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6819973

The owner of this lovely shop is named Monte and she is originally from Los Angeles, where she had a wholesale and retail business designing and making OOAK hand-woven clothing. She ended up moving to northern New Mexico fifteen years ago, partly because of it rich history of fiber and textile arts. Now she handspins her own yarn with a spinning wheel and uses this yarn for her creations. In her shop, you can find all sorts of beautiful handspun art yarns and knitted accessories, as well as some needle felted jewelry and vintage buttons. She compares spinning to "painting with fiber, especially when you are dyeing the fiber you use to spin with."

I asked Monte if she had a favorite reaction to her work and she says, "I really appreciate all reactions, negative as well as positive. I think that is the best way to grow in your work, because most artists work alone and without much feedback, so it is easy to become stale or uninspired, and sometimes even a negative reaction can really get you moving again and pushing your limits."

Monte says the goal for her shop is to simply make sales. She loves spinning yarn and making her creations from it, and says "sales give the inspiration and push to keep coming up with new and creative ideas...I don’t believe any artist or craftsman can continue to create in a vacuum."

Plenty of things are in store for MyMixMix. Monte recently started listed new items she calls Poquito skeins, which are a sampling of small handspun skeins in various colors for people who don't want a large supply of yarn for their projects. Monte is also working on some small wall hangings made from her handspun yarn and embellishing with different materials which she is hoping to introduce to her shop soon.

MyMixMix now includes free shipping on all products, along with a few items on sale for the summer. Be sure to stop by Monte's shop and have a good look at her yarns and accessories. I'm sure you will become entranced by all the colors like I was:)

Read more...

Comment Glitch has been Fixed!

Sorry to everyone who has tried to post a comment recently. Apparently when I re-did my blog format, I somehow changed the settings and people were unable to leave comments. After a few convo's I am now happy to report that the problem has been fixed! Now please comment til your little hearts are content!

Read more...

Which is Mine and Which is Martha's??

CAN YOU TELL? hehe

Last week while I was working on my computer I had Martha Stewart's show on in the background. I was hardly paying attention until I heard her say that tiramisu was Italian for "pick-me-up"! I absolutely ADORE tiramisu, having done a study abroad program in Rome, and "sampling" the tasty dessert at many restaurants. And then again, when I waited tables at an Italian restaurant for a few months, the cooks learned of my obsession and began saving me any "messed up" pieces of tiramisu! How fitting is it then that I somehow decided to name my shop Pick-Me-Up?! It is truly meant to be!!

So I spent my Sunday afternoon making these cupcakes Martha made on her show. And when I say Sunday afternoon, I mean THE WHOLE AFTERNOON! haha. I'm a very slow cook, more like a chemist carefully measuring each ingredient and bringing it to the proper temperature. But it was a lovely way to spend the afternoon and well worth the anticipation! They may not be genuine tiramisu that you might find in Italy, but I guess that just means that I will have to continue the search;)

To try the recipe for yourself, go to: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/tiramisu-cupcakes?lnc=5a79cf380e1dd010VgnVCM1000005b09a00aRCRD&xsc=eml_cod_2009_05_15

Read more...

Mid- Week Pick-Me-Up... Twitter in Real Life

Even though I'm on Twitter, I can still appreciate the humor to make fun of it! This video is hilarious!

Read more...

Custom Order- Wedding Jewelry

A few weeks ago I was excited when I was contacted by a lady in Ohio. She asked if I could customize a pair of my earrings for her to wear on her wedding day. I was so happy and replied right away, telling her I certainly could. She wanted something that had a pale pink stone, rather than the aquamarine I have listed in my shop. I found these lovely rose quartz rondelles from a buyer on Etsy, http://www.etsy.com/profile.php?user_id=5286538

Well, time went by and I hadn't heard back from her (I had asked her to let me know, and give me the go-ahead to order the materials and begin work).

Then to much of my surprise, I heard back from her a week or so later, not only asking if I could go ahead with the earrings, but wondering if I could make a matching necklace too! I was thrilled to say the least:)

By this time, she needed the jewelry in a little bit of a hurry. So I quickly ordered the materials, made them for her the next day, and shipped the next morning. She received them with plenty of time to spare!

I was thrilled a few days ago when I saw she had left me feedback, saying "I just got my necklace and earrings, and I couldn't be happier! They are perfect. They look fabulous on, and the craftsmanship is excellent. I can't wait to wear them at my wedding! Thank you again for making them on such short notice and for shipping so quickly!"

She was a lovely customer to work with... I think I had a bit of "beginner's luck" to get to work with such a friendly lady!

Read more...

Mid- Week Pick-Me-Up, Premiere Edition!!

So as promised, here is the first edition of my new weekly feature I'm calling the "Mid-Week Pick-Me-Up". It's one of my all time favorite videos and it cracks me up every time! Hope you enjoy!

Read more...

Blog Update & News

You can tell from the dates of my last few blog posts that I have been taking a break. I had started the blog without a lot of direction of what I wanted to do with it or what type of information I wanted to share with my readers. So I took some type to re-work the appearance of my blog (new background and a few new widgets). I am pretty happy with how it turned out and hope you are too!

I have also given a lot of thought about adding some structure to my blog, and deciding what things I want to share on a weekly basis. I have decided on three main themes I would like to talk about:

1) a mid-week "pick-me-up" for my readers. I want to do something that will make you smile, laugh, or inspire you. These will be videos, pictures, cartoons, or quotes. Food for your soul.
2) a weekly feature of an artist. This will not be exclusive to Etsy sellers and I am endeavoring to gather a wide range of artistic talent. Anyone who is interested may comment and I will consider you for a feature.
3) a weekly update for my shop on Etsy... I will share new items, custom creations, or any other sneak previews and special events.

So those will be the 3 main themes I am basing my blog around, with a few wild cards thrown in. Maybe some business building secrets I am learning.., recipes.., tutorials... you just never know with me;)

So watch this space and stay tuned!!

Read more...