The Elves They Are a Working

Boy have we been busy.  I've had new siding put on the outside of my storefront, worked on getting the new siding painted, made 50-60 necklaces, completed about a dozen special orders, set up a bead and clearance sale, rearranged all the trees and rooms, and.... created a new item for Christmas.  We made Christmas mice this year.  They are unbelievably cute and have taken over the back room.  I already know I need to make more, because they have already begun to sell even though they are not "out" yet.  I know when I have created a "hit" when the item sells from the back room.

I also have reordered the hand made brush ornaments and have quite a few new animals this year.  They are one of the few items that I have ordered that have actually sold like hotcakes.  If you are not familiar with them, they are hand made in the Phillipines from burri palm fibers.  The industry used to make brushes, but with the advent of plastic brushes, their brushes no long sold.  To keep the industry alive, they began creating nativity sets and animals out of the fibers.  Some of the first animals they made were not very realistic, but they have really improved through the years.  The eyes and ears, etc are all made out of seeds or leaves or other natural materials.  The are very unique and very cute.  I have lots of collectors now and since they are very sturdy and light they are easy to mail.

My Holiday Open House is Saturday, November 11, so mark your calenders now.  All the mice will be out front by then as will all the other decorations and holiday items.  I have a lot of new one of a kind items that will be put out this year.

I hope you all have as much fun creating as I do.  I truly love making beautiful and fun items that bring joy to others.  Hope to see you all soon.

PROGRESS!!!!!

I have my whole back room cleaned up (almost).  I am down to the nitty gritty of sorting all the bead piles in pans, boxes, bags, trays and whatever that I have been piling up waiting to price them, bead them or file them.  I am so unbelievably proud of myself I have shown everyone that has set foot in my store in the last month who had ever seen my backroom!  I am also so ashamed for letting it get so bad.  One pile on the floor had been there for five years !!  Five Years!!!  It is such a relief to have it clean and put away.  I am a very organized person and that mess has haunted me for a very long time.  When I came back to work on July 6 after vacation, I set the timer for 1 hour each day and cleaned.  Items were either thrown out or recycled, put in their proper place or they went into sale boxes or grab bags.  Nothing was just moved to another spot.  I had lots and lots of cute wood items to be painted that all went into grab bags.  If I hadn't done something in five years out it went!  I realize I have no time to do little time consuming projects that don't sell well anyway.  I'll save my energy for jewelry making and other creative things that actually sell.  I also have so many more special orders all the time that it is hard to do as many creative things just to play around.

I also have come up with a new Christmas item that is really fun.  I finished 8 snowmen that were special orders two years ago that I finally created and finished.  The lady who ordered them loved them and bought 5 of the 8.  I know the other three will sell fast.  They are very cute, but took a lot of time and materials.  I don't think I could make 30 - 40 of them.  It's hard to be thinking about making Christmas items when I'm still trying to enjoy summer, but I have to get going.  And for right now I have made Progress!

Where has the time gone?

Man, I can't believe it is the first of June.  I haven't accomplished most of the stuff I set out to do in the new year.  The back room is still messy - as soon as I cleanup up something another thing piles up, I'm still working on orders constantly, and I haven't stockpiled anything for Christmas.  I haven't even come up with a wonderful idea for Christmas.  I need some inspiration.  All of the ideas I see right now seem kinda cheesy.  That's what happens when you are by yourself too much - no one to bounce ideas around with.  Doodle where are you?

Summer Classes

I'm back from vacation.  It was one of those stay at home vacations with my daughter-in-law and 2 yr old grandson visiting for 10 days.  Not much relaxing, but it was fun and different from my regular routine.  I did come back ready to get some work done.  For the 4 days I have been back I have been cleaning out the back rooms for an hour a day. I hauled 6 bags of old catalogs to the recycling center yesterday.  I have made a dent in ONE room.  In a very small area, I have found things I have not looked at in years.  Lots of fodder for grab bags!

I have also put together a class schedule.  Meant to get it on the blog last week, but life seems to interfere.  Here it is:  Call 624-7193 for a class description or to sign up.

Jewelry Making - Earrings $10.00
     Wed July 13 6-8pm, Fri July 15 1-3pm, Sat July 18 10:30-12:30

Card Making $10.00
     Wed July 20 6-8pm, Fri July 22 1-3pm, Sat July 23 10:30-12:30

Jewelry Making - Necklaces $15.00
     Tues July 26 6-8pm, Thurs July 28 2-4pm, Fri July 29 12:30-2:30pm

Silk Scarf Painting $10.00
     Wed Aug 3 6-8pm, Fri Aug 5 1-3pm, Sat Aug 6 10:30-12:30

Jewelry Making - Bracelets $10.00
     Wed Aug 10 6-8pm, Thurs Aug 11 2-4pm, Fri Aug 12 12:30-2:30pm

Paper Quilling $10.00
     Wed Aug 17 6-8pm, Fri Aug 19 12:30-2:30pm, Sat Aug 20 10:30-12:30

Hope to see some of you this summer.  Come take a class or just come in and say Hi.  As I'm cleaning out lots of bargains are going on the sale rack!  If I haven't used it in years it's out!

 

Easter Pictures

FINALLY!!!  Here are the pictures of the decorated Easter eggs.  They were wonderful!!!

Little Red Riding Hood egg was the winner of the 6-11 age group, Humpty Dumpty was the winner of the 12-16 age group and the Sexy lady egg was the adult winner.  The cracked egg trying to stay out of the frying pan won Honorable Mention as the most Hilarious.  The bacon waas crocheted!

This contest is just to fun.  There is so much creativity out there.  Thanks to everyone who participated.  Hopefully next year will have more entries.

Sorry some of the pictures are sideways.  I'm off to work and don't have time to figure out how to rotate them.

Have fun and be creative.

 

Mostly Random Thoughts

Handed out tons of eggs, but very few were returned.  The ones that were are MAGNIFICENT!!!  I will take pictures and post them.  If you can, come see them in person, as they are all just wonderful!

I am just about done with Brownie and Daisy classes for this year.  I still have 2 more in May.  I have loved having the girls, but am worn down.  I have had close to 400 girls through for class since the end of October.

All my goals for this year have slipped into oblivion.  Just keeping up with day to day operations has been my order of business.  I just got the rough draft of my taxes done 15 minutes ago and filed an extension.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute.  That is the way everything has been since the first of the year.  I did uncover one desk in the workroom this past week and was able to sit at it to write.  Now all I have to do is uncover most of the floor!

For those of you that have been asking I will have some regular classes in May.  I will have some jewelry classes and some other fun things like quilling.  I will put the schedule on the blog, but you can also call 618-624-7193 to schedule your own group for class if you like.

P.S. I will close early on Friday April 22, and closed all day Saturday, April 23.  My grandson will be in town!!

Creative Easter Eggs

I have a really fun project going on right now in the store.  I give you a paper mache egg and ask you to decorate it for Easter.  You can use any material you want.  It is amazing to see other folks' creativity.  I have had some really fabulous eggs over the years.  I have a variety of age groups, so anyone can take part.  Lots of moms do it with their kids and they all bring their eggs in.  The eggs are displayed in the store the week before Easter so everyone gets to see them.  The best egg in each age group wins a prize!  Come get your egg and unleash that creatity!  The most important guideline - HAVE FUN!

Note to Doodle:  How about one covered in friendly plastic?

The Iron Chef - Bead Edition

The weekend of President's Day, my husband and I took a road trip up to Ft. Wayne, Indiana to see my 2 year old grandson.  Since we were actually leaving in the daylight and it is a 5 1/2 hour trip, I took along beads to string in the car.  I had about 20 necklaces I needed to work on, but didn't have the time to gather all the specific beads and findings I needed for those, so I just started grabbing beads I had had in the back for a very long time.  I grabbed a couple of assortments, some lava rock beads, small beads to use on the ends, all the tools and findings I might need, my bead mat and a bead tray.  There were also some loose beads on the tray I grabbed.  When we got on the road, I discovered I had mainly grabbed green beads, which was okay because St. Patricks Day is coming up, but I had not grabbed any beads that truly excited me.  Not wanting to waste the time riding in the car, I started making jewelry with what I had.  I was quite amazed at the things I came up with, all with beads that weren't ones I truly loved.  I was very happy with the things I made.  It reminded me of the Iron Chef competition where the contestants are given only three food items and they have to make a meal with them. That's what I challenged myself to do.

I did not grab enough wire to string all the necklaces and bracelets I had planned.  I ran out on the trip up.  To be ready for the trip home, my daughter-in-law and I had to go to JoAnn's and Michaels looking for wire.  Since I always buy mine from my wholesaler in 100 ft spools, I was not aware of how wire was sold in these stores.  I carry 30 ft spools for my customers, because it is the most economical way to buy it, or I will sell it by the yard off my big spool if they are just making one necklace.  All these other stores only carry 10 ft spools which is the most expensive way to buy it, but also you have to constantly return for wire and will then buy more beads, etc. I know this is sound marketing strategy, but it irritates me that I could not buy a 30 ft spool anywhere.  I try to be a little more customer friendly than the big box stores and I hope that counts for something in the long run.

Oh, by the way.... I made 7 necklaces, two of them multi-strand, 6 bracelets, and 7 pairs of earrings.  I would have made more, but I ran out of wire.....

New year, new resolutions

Here it is already the end of January.  I guess I will have to use Febuary 1 as the date to start my New Year's Resolutions.  I got completely bogged down with the holidays.  I had over 200 brownies and daisies through the store for classes in  November, December and January.  They were all great but I am worn out.  I STILL do not have my back room cleaned up, but have made a little progress.  I have decided I am going to take a "studio day" on Thursdays and just work on something new and completely creative.  I'm not going to work on orders or cleaning or rearranging.  I am going to play.  Today I am pulling out the unfriendly plastic and see if I can become friends with it.  My friend doodle has inspired me.  If I come up with anything great, I'll post some pictures.

I do want to let you know about a fun and wonderful upcoming event.  On Saturday, February 12, we are having a Passionately Pink for the Cure fundraiser at the store.  It will be all day 10am - 5pm.  The cost is $15.00, ten of which goes directly to Susan G. Komen.  Our goal is $1000.  We have door prizes, BINGO games, a raffle,  make it and take its, and refreshments.  If you wear pink, you receive an extra door prize ticket.  If you bring a friend, you both get an extra door prize ticket.  It will be a really fun day and is a cause especially close to my heart, since I lost my best friend to breast cancer five years ago.  Come support the cause!