1500 sales and the lessons learned! (AND FREE EARRING OFFER!)

I hit 1500 sales in my Etsy shop this week, so I decided to jot down some of my lessons learned. You can read them here in this Etsy thread.

Would you like a FREE pair of earrings from my shop? Well, just make any purchase and put the code "1500" and what pair you'd like for free in the notes to seller or via convo. Your free pair can be priced $8.50 and under!

All jewelry in my shop ships for free--WORLDWIDE.

Offer valid thru Friday, May 21, at midnight, EST.

~Lori

No Vine of Mine appears in a GORGEOUS Treasury!

Wow, this is a beautiful and well-designed treasury by JustCharming! I'm honored that No Vine of Mine is featured in it!



~Lori

My Graduation Necklace made the front page today and sold!

and apparently Etsy picked the list. Wow. That's a first! :)

Flowers on my patio and kitties in the window

My Mom visited last weekend and we went shopping and got some flowers for my patio and a plant for my apartment. I purposely bought geraniums because mosquitoes eat me alive in the summer and mosquitoes do not like geraniums! I also got a gorgeous red begonia!

My geraniums seem to be going through transition.

My begonias are 24/7 fabulous!

I tried to take a picture of the wandering ivy in my bedroom, but it came out blechy.  I was able to snap pix of my girls...Darcy and Charlotte hanging out by the sunny window though!

Catching Charlotte awake is a rarity.  She's really sweet and really shy, so most of my friends never even see her when they come over! 

Darcy is a different story.  She's my alpha-cat with gorgeous green eyes and a 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot' personality.  Aw, I love my little girls.  Have a great weekend!

~Lori

Soothie Sacks - Recent Handmade Purchase

Read this blog for awhile, and you'll find that I suffer from some really vicious migraines sometimes, especially when it gets hot outside. I've been trying to find the right cold pack to help me make it through the summer. I'm one of those hot blooded people all year round. If you touch my hands in the middle of winter, I feel like a space heater. My hair stylist always asks if I have a fever, but I don't. I'm just warm. Because of this, I get overheated really quickly during NC summers, and overheating almost always turns into a bitch of a migraine.

So, I've been searching around for the right cold pack for awhile, and I found what I wanted at Soothie Sacks on Etsy. I needed a nice long and skinny one that I can use around my neck or on my head and I got a square one for when the rest of my body decides to go on strike, too. So here's what I got:

Rice Heat and Cold Pack Set

The long piece is 23" x 5" and the square piece is 12' x 10.' What makes these packs work so well is that the rice is sewn into separate compartments instead of being allowed to fly all over the place. This allows you to keep the cold or heat uniform all around. April, the owner, even allows you to pick a scent for your packs. I choose lavender and they smell wonderful! She takes custom orders and can make packs in any size with any fabric. I'll definitely keep Soothie Sacks in mind if I need to get another size someday. Great purchase!

~Lori

Corner Bookmarks from Satin Stitchery - Recent Handmade Purchase

If you're a regular follower of this blog, you know that I buy handmade gifts anytime I possibly can. Here's the skinny on a recent purchase...

Mother's Day is almost here and I bought the cutest corner bookmarks for my mom from Satin Stitchery on ArtFire. See, my mom loves chickens. No she didn't grow up on a farm and neither did our family, but she has a passion for 'country living.' We did have two little chicks in our house when my sister and I were little; they were the result of a science project at school. My sister and I named them 'Beeper' and 'Peeper.' They lived in our downstairs bedroom in a box until they were too big to live with us and went to a farm. My sister and I couldn't eat chicken for months!

Bookmark Chicken and Chicks on Navy

Chicken and Flowers Bookmark

These things are adorable!! Toni did them for me as a special order (because I needed chickens) and I can't wait for my mom to get them. They're bigger than they look and so, so cute!

Next item... tomorrow! Stay tuned!

~Lori

Gift Ideas for the Graduate from Risky Beads

Don't forget your graduate this year!! Enjoy FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING on all jewelry in my shop. Here are a few gift ideas:

The Key to Success/Maya Angelou Necklace

The Glass Ceiling II Silver Ladder Necklace

Custom Copper Oval Stamped Monogram Pendant

"Now is the time to live your ideal life." -Cousineau Necklace

Mark your milestone!

Rebirth Treasury

My Rebirth bracelet has been a popular pick for many treasuries lately.... Here's one of my favorites by Just Charming. She said she named it after my bracelet! What an honor!



Isn't it gorgeous?

~Lori

Free Shipping In All Shops thru Mother's Day!

Mom Necklace

Mother's Day is Sunday, May 9th!  Enjoy FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING in all of my shops thru Mother's Day! 

Sweet and Sour Pork Chops

So, today I decided to try my hand at cooking again, and I made Sweet and Sour Pork Chops using this recipe.  They actually came out pretty good!  I'm excited. I should've taken a picture, but I didn't think about it.   I'm NO cook, but lately I've had the urge to try, so so far I've mastered Hamburger Helper and Green Been Casserole.  (Stop laughing.) My mom's going to come visit next weekend and help me with some more recipes.  I need to get a covered skillet, a 3 quart casserole dish, and a spoon rest.  She's pretty excited that I'm trying to cook as well.  LOL.

Love Tweet Recipe Cards by Recipe Box

Project Active - I have to start exercising!

I have to exercise every day, and now I'm going to blog about it so that maybe I'll actually do it.  I always get started and then hit a setback and then take a month to ponder the setback and then start up again.  Do you exercise every day?  What do you do?

~Lori

Witty and Cuddly Fleece Blanket by Ash Tree Creations

Bad Dreams are Made of This...

If anyone ever wants to recruit me to join a terrorist organization or a fight club, they should hit me with it at approximately twenty seconds after I wake up in the morning. I'm in such a bad mood in the morning that my first thought is almost always, "I should go buy a gun." I think this phenomenon of morning rage is caused by some bizarre dreams that I always have after waking up 4 hours prior to feed my entitled cats. (And the second I typed that sentence, my youngest cat started crying right next to my chair.)

*spends 5 minutes cuddling her*

Now, I know what you're thinking? Why would a would-be-terrorist take any time out of her day to cuddle a cat? Well, she's not just any cat. She's enormous and when you pick her up, she feels more like a chimp that a cat, and since chimps are close to humans via that radical thing called 'evolution,' I can pretend I have a devoted child who wants to cheer me up. And claw me by accident.

Ah, parenthood.

Well, I'm feeling a little better now. My desire to fire a shotgun has faded away. Have a great day everyone! (Or else....)

~Lori

Still time to enter my giveaway.

Nightmares and Vision The Fork by strange fascination..

How to Put a Button on Your Blog

This video uses the Handmade Highway badge as an example. Enjoy! The video looks crazy when I embed it. Just click here to watch it. I talk you through the whole thing.

Lori :-)

Spring Pendant Giveaway from Risky Beads!

It's been a looooooooong time since I did a giveaway, so I thought I'd do one today. This Modern Spring pendant is representative of some new pieces I've made.

The pendant is 40mm x 30mm and it hangs from 18" (46 cm) of the softest brown leather you'll ever way. It closes with a lobster clasp and I can add an extender if you need one or shorten it if need be!

How to Enter:
Simply visit my shop and comment below with:
*a link to your favorite piece
*your email address

Extra Entries:
*blog about my giveaway with a link to this post on your blog and comment below with the link and your email address
*Tweet this post and comment back with a link to your tweet

Limit of 3 entries per person (shop visit, blog, tweet). Giveaway will close next Tuesday, April 20th and winner will be selected by random draw. This Giveaway is open to everyone.

Have fun!

~Lori

Glee and the Handmade Seller

I was watching Glee today as my DVR recorded it, which turned out to be a good thing since I forgot it was coming back this week. That show does a great job of putting a teenage mindset on everything that's happening. Relationships begin and end in 24 hours with extreme fanfare and angst (and musical numbers, No Fair!); alliances and enemies are made and destroyed every 15 min. It made me realize that I often have that feeling about my shop. Make a sale and the world is perfect; go a couple days without a sale, and I'm revamping my entire life, questioning my choice of safety schools that I never needed, and re-pondering the whole Coke/Pepsi thing. It's like living in a fishbowl; you swim and swim and swim, always forgetting that you spend half your time in a castle regardless of where you go.

Oooh, look, a sale! What was I saying?

Keep Calm and Carry On plaque courtesy of Whimsical Xpressions.

Rebranding-I think I'm happy with it....

I made myself sit and stare at my new branding for about a week before I broke down and got business cards, etc. I think I'm happy with it now. I sent off for these new products from Vistaprint today. I'm excited to see how they turn out because graphic design is not my forte!

Business cards: (I went for the glossy finish this time. Woo hoo!)

Return address label:


Postcards:

Well, here's hoping they look okay when they get here. My track record is about 50/50 on that when I do it myself. Do you like?

~Lori

A birthday gift for a sweet little guy....

I'm excited because I'm going to see a good friend of mine for dinner tonight. His name is Henry, and he's 3. I spent ten years of my life working with children 0-5, and I really miss it sometimes, so my nieces and my friend's children get to make up for that. :) He's a picture of Henry from about 6 mos. ago. Fair warning, he's a little heart breaker! (Look at those eyelashes. What a cutey pie!)

I buy handmade 98% of the time and have gotten some great gifts for kids on Etsy. Here's what Henry is getting this year:

Recycled Dinosaur Crayons

Recycled Tractor Crayons

Crayons come from Ivy Lane Designs on Etsy.

And a huge pad of paper!

Oh, childhood. You own me.

~Lori

Things I Wonder About - a linguistic pet peeve...

I've been wondering about this for awhile.  When did 'waiting in line' become 'waiting ON line?'  I get the heebie jeebies every time someone says 'on line.'  As I write this and look at it on the screen, I realize that maybe it's a morphed expression since we're all 'online' all the time.  But as far as I'm concerned, there's no such thing as 'waiting on line.'  For that act to be possible, a line would have to be something I could get on top of...like a kitchen table or a soap box or Ashton Kutcher.  And it's not.  You don't wait 'on line,' @#%%, you wait 'in line' because you're in the line, you're a part of it just like everyone else.  A line is something you get 'in' like a hot mess or Harvard, or if it's a really good day, Ashton Kutcher.  ::ahem::

So today I was 'in line' at the bank and several traffic lights. I am now 'online' and done sharing for today.  Thanks for playing!

Image from Dumb Fruck by JAmesAP.

Rebranding Risky Beads

You know how sometimes you have an idea that's almost complete but not completely complete? That's how it is for me and branding. I get a partial concept in my head and then stew about it for 6 months until I can finally see it. So last night when I was giving myself a shot of migraine medicine, I looked at the syringe in my hand and BINGO!

Whoever would've believed that a migraine could produce that!

My Underwater Casino Bracelet made it into a Treasury!

Isn't this pretty? Just Charming did a great job!



Please click and give it some lovin'!!

Thanks, Lori

Prices Lowered Across the Board in my Etsy Shop

Over the past few days, I've lowered prices across the board in my Etsy shop anywhere from a few cents to several dollars. I haven't made it over to Zibbet, ArtFire, and 1000 Markets yet...my inventory is so large it takes forever, so for the best deal right now, shop Etsy!!

Today's Tasks and (already) Tribulations!

Well, let's see what's on tap for today....

**Inventory management. I took a great picture of this and then my trusty camera bit the dust. Oy vey.

**Complete a ton of brand new button rings.

**Attempt some more pilates, but this time have EMS standing by, lol.

**Fold laundry.

I think the only muscles in shape on my body are on my hands because all I do is bead, write, and blog!

Wow-Another Treasury!

Many thanks to Jackie Schmitt Silver Works for featuring another one of my pieces, Book of Lust, in a Treasury! Please click and enjoy!




That Leather Rose Necklace is so cool, isn't it??

~Lori

My Key to Success Necklace is in a Treasury today!

Many thanks to Jackie Schmitt Silver Works for putting this cool Treasury together! Please click and enjoy!

Ready for the Oscars?

Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin host the Oscars this Sunday, Mar. 7, 2010 at 8 EST, 5 PST on ABC. Want to cast your own ballot? Here you go!