My First Attempt At SilverSmithing

Halo Designs
Originally uploaded by HaloDesigns

My first attempt at was a huge success! It was a pretty simple project but it was my first time using my saw and blades to cut and shape a piece of sterling silver into the shape I wanted it to be.

My son told me that he wanted to get a gift for his guitar teacher. He had no idea what to get for him. I knew I wanted to break in my new silversmithing tools so I told him that I would make him a guitar pick pendant.

I cut it out, filed the rough and uneven edges and pounded on it a bit with my ball peen hammer to give it a little texture. Then I drilled a hole and attached a jump ring to hang it from the cord. I gave it a good polish and VOILA! A unique gift for any musician or music lover.

I don't play guitar but I love listening to electric guitar so I plan on making myself one soon.

You can purchase this pendant from my Etsy shop halodesigns.etsy.com

Toot Toot

Halo Designs
Originally uploaded by HaloDesigns

Please allow me to toot my own horn for a second.

A customer contacted me to make an anniversary card for her parents. They are going to celebrate it on October 30 so she wanted something Halloween-ish. She gave me the idea of what she wanted and what I came up with is something that I am so proud of.

I started out with that card below

And I turned it into this masterpiece.




TOOT TOOT

Fun With Self Portrait Thursday

Self Portrait Thursday 10-18-07
Originally uploaded by HaloDesigns

So for those of you that don't know, Self Portrait Thursday is a fun thing that someone on Etsy started, I think that is FortCloudy. the idea is for us to post a self portrait every Thursday, DUH :o)

I always try to participate but it doesn't always happen.

This Wednesday I went to a pumpkin patch with my kids and by the time we left this is what I looked like.

Sendin Some Etsy Love Through Treasury

I never really look at the Treasury but when I saw a post that one was about to expire I figure what the hell. Well I got it and I am happy that I did. I have been in heaven lately with the impending holidays and the cool weather and being able to wear my beloved jeans without bursting into flames.

ENJOY!

I Sold A Couple Favorites

Last Friday I happily shipped out a couple of my favorite cards.






After I made these cards I pretty much smiled all day. I showed it to everyone who would stop for even a minute.

Of course I will happily make more for whoever wants them. They are available in my shop as we speak.

30 Days to a Better Shop

So today is day 7 and although our assignment hasn't been posted for today I wanted to catch you up on the passed assignments.

Day 3 was to revise and improve our sections. I have used all of my available sections and they pretty much break down everything that I have in my shop.

Day 4 was to update our profile. I am behind and haven't done that yet but I will by the end of today.

Day 5 was to update our banner banners and avatars. I just bought a new banner as you may have read in one of my previous posts so that is already taken care of.

Day 6 and 7 we needed to revise our item names and descriptions. Many of my item names and descriptions I am already satisfied with and I will be changing the others as I have time. I have many items in my shop so this will take a little time to go through all of them.

So now you are up to date and I will be back tomorrow to let you know where we go from here.

My Freakin' Awesome Blog Banner

So pixelcafe strikes again! I wanted a really cool banner for my blog and she knocked it out of the park. I keep going back to my blog front page just to look at it!

Fabulous don't you think?

30 DAY SHOP MAKEOVER-DAY TWO

So day two of the "30 day makeover" is to change your shop announcement. This is my original one from Halo Designs:

If you are looking for HeavenlyBodies bath and body products they are now in their very own shop:
*HEAVENLYBODIES.ETSY.COM*

Here you will find handcrafted sterling silver, Swarovski crystal, semiprecious gemstones and other quality materials.
You will also find an eclectic mix of products such as hairbows, greeting cards, and many other prettys to tickle your fancy.

If there is a greeting card that you would like made with a different theme, for example a birthday card into a thank you card or a hello card into a birthday card, please let me know and I will do it for you.

I welcome custom orders.

And this in my new one:

Welcome to my boutique!

Variety is the spice of life right? If your answer is yes then you've come to the right place.

Please look around and you will see a colorful selection of sterling silver jewelry, all occasion greeting cards, crochet items, and other items to spice up your life.

If you need anything custom made please let me know and with your brains and my brawn we can whip up a fabulous creation.

Any greeting card design you see here can be made for whatever occasion you desire. Just say the word.

If you are looking for sweet smelling bath and body products please visit my other boutique, heavenlybodies.etsy.com.

A good start don't you think?

My 30day makeover-Day one

So I made my way to a blog with an excellent idea. It is called "30 Days To a Better Shop" by Christina Perdue.

christinaperdue.com/blog/

She will post a new suggestion/assignment to do to make revise and improve your shop and hopefully in 30 days your shop will be more productive and lucrative.

I am up for a challenge and I long to improve my shop and get more sales so I am excited to do this.

Day one is to make long and short term goals.

October goals:

*List at least 3 days a week and at least 5 items each time.
*Update my blog at least 3 times a week with responses to the 30 day challenge and with new products or updated products or whatever, you get the point.
*Retake the photos of products that are not top quality.
*List some Christmas products to jump on the holiday season.
*Hand out at least 5 business cards a week.


Long Term Goals:

*Be a well know indie artist.
*Provide inspiration to new indie artists.
*Have my products in indie shops.
*Have my own B&M boutique.

My new Moo Cards

So my highly anticipated Moo cards have finally arrived and I don't quite know what I think about them. I don't hate them and I love that I can get them with pics of my beautiful products on them but I just don't know.

I think that I would love them more if they were glossy. I think that they would pop more. The pictures seem a little grainy and dark, just a tiny bit.

I want to give them another chance to see if my heart jumps when I first look at them. With all of the hoopla about these cards that is what I expected this time and that didn't happen.

Again, I didn't hate them, but I didn't love them either. And for the price I want to love them.

My longest dry spell ever.

As you can see it has been quiet a while since I have posted here and it has been even longer since I have gone into my studio to do something creative. I am stuck in a funky rut and I am dying to get out of it! First the excuse was that it was too hot in the summer and it was too uncomfortable in there to do anything. Then it was that I am too tired after hanging out with my kids all day and I just wanted to veg in the evening. The summer puts me into some kind of depression because of the sweltering and the chaos of the kids not having a set schedule and that just makes it all worse.

Usually to get the ideas swirling around in my head I just buy more supplies but because of lack of sales I have forbid myself from buying anything else until sales pick up. I have a plethora of supplies and material and buying more is just not going to be productive.

I plan to change all of this this weekend. I am on a mission to change my shop. I plan on posting a new product, or at least relist at least 5 times a day 3 to 5 days a week. I bought a shiny new banner for both of my shops that I really love. Thank you pixlecafe




The first step I am going to take in my studio is to clean and organize it and reacquaint myself with my creative potential.

Wish me luck!

It Is Never Too Early For Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I don't know if it is because of the actual holiday or if it is because I LOVE Fall and Winter and Halloween just kind of kicks that off. I get really excited about picking my kids costume and buying candy for other kids and decorating my house inside and out. I have always been a horror book lover so I like doing the scary stuff. One of these days I will have time to make my house into a haunted house.

I don't know if many people send out Halloween greeting cards but more people should.



This cute little whichy just wants to have fun. This card is made with heavy cardstock and is blank on the inside. It measures 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches.



This is one of my favorite Halloween cards ever. Also made with heavy cardstock and blank on the inside. The measurements are also 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches.

Please checkout my boutique, http://halodesigns.etsy.com for these festive cards and to see my entire Halloween collection.

Disappointing My 4 Year Old

I have been planning a little birthday party for my little boys 5th birthday. Well as the RSVPs start pouring in the answer is no after no. None of his little friends are able to go. Only one little girl and my 2 year old niece. I have already sent my $50 non-refundable deposit to the party place. I am so upset right now. Not as much for the money as for having to tell my little guy that his birthday party is not going to happen.

I know that life is full of disappointments but this really sucks right now.

You can see the really cute invites that I sent out if you scroll down two posts.

Craft shows can be dangerous

Who would have thought that doing a craft do sell your wares and make a little of moola would be so dangerous?

I went to a show last week to scope out the area and the crowd and to connect with other indie artist and above all to buy myself something cute and unique and handmade. I got to talking to one of the vendors and he was telling me about a situations they had to deal with earlier that day. A swarm of bees invading the space of another vendor.



Gives you the creepy crawlys all over your skin huh?

On July 19 2002 I gave birth to my last child. This year this little boy is turning 5 and it is a little bit depressing for me. I think that any mom knows what I am talking about. You want them to stay little and cute for ever. But I guess that is not possible so I got on the task of making his invitations for the party.
The final result is pretty nifty dont you think?




My little guy was very pleased and it made his day to put a stamp on them and mail them out to his little friends.

Living smack dab in the middle of Southern California is pretty sweet because we are either 1 hour away from the mountains or 1 hour away from the Pacific Ocean. This passed weekend hubby got a long deserved vacations and on Thursday we headed northeast up to beautiful Big Bear Mountain. We walked in and out of the little shops and ate at an Italian restaurant.






The next day we headed for Huntington Beach and the little ones got to splash around in the Pacific Ocean while I did some sun worshiping. They can literally spend hours splashing around in the waves and they don't even come back to eat.

Happy Independents Day

Since it is my beautiful country's birthday I think that I will have a good ol' American sale in my shop. Through midnight Pacific time on Sunday July 8, everything in both of my shops is 20% off of any purchase total. Start Christmas shopping early or just treat yourself. Put July4 in the message section and do not pay until I send you an updated invoice. Happy 4th.

Tried Somethin' New.

I just love learning new things whether it be a new craft or a new technique on my old craft. Today I tried oxidizing some of my silver pieces. I don't have the chemical solution called Silver Black yet so I did the age old hard boiled egg method. I boiled three eggs after I made a few pieces. I took those eggs out of the boiling water and put them in a gallon size Zip Loc bag with my jewelry in it. After smashing the hell out of the eggs I zipped up the bag and let the pieces sit there for about 1/2 hour. After the eggs cooled off I took out the pieces, I put the eggs in the microwave and got them hot again then I put the pieces back in the bag for another half hour. I think that the ending results are pretty nice. Don't you? I can not wait until I get my Silver Black and when I do I will be sure to show you the result of that test.

Some of my newest creations

This passed weekend was jam packed with creating. I rarely get a day that I can spend literally hours working in my room. Although there were many interruptions, i.e. "mommy, I'm hungry" "mommy, she hit me" "mommy he's looking at me", I got to spend about 5 to 7 hours all together just letting my wheels turn.

Cards, and jewelry got equal attention.

My Inspiration For All That I Do

These are the most amazing human beings that I have ever met. They are my life, my heart, my inspiration, my world. They are my children. Although they wear me out and sometimes drive me batty, I would be nothing without them. It is amazing how a person who has only been on this earth for less than 5 years can make you think intently about the most ordinary things like why do we need to sleep. ( a question my 4 year old asked me recently). It is amazing how a girl that is not even 7 yet can make you realize that even though your little girl refuses to wear dresses or anything pink, she is still your beautiful little girl. And then there is my 14 year old. I could look into his eyes and even at this age (6 feet tall and 200 pounds) I can see that he is still and always will be my baby.
You never think that you will lay in front of a train for anyone until you have kids. My kids, ALL kids are incredibly amazing creations.

Where the magic happens

So I wanted to show you all my crazy messy dungeon. I do everything except make my bath and body products here although I do store my supplies and finished products here.

Yeah, it is a pretty small room but I could spend all day here if I didn't have the responsibility of taking care of other human beings. I could see myself waking up, having my cup of coffee, and sitting my ass down in that chair with a little Joss Stone or George Michael or Prince or Justin or Guns n Roses playing, depending on my mood and the weather, and not even changing my clothes or even showering all day as long as I can create uninterrupted.

It is hard to believe that there is a little table not in the picture that I squeezed in there so that my little boy could be in there and color or read or play and be with me in my room.

And So It Begins

After reading it everywhere, I have finally gotten over my fear of the unknown and started my blog. It is Mother's Day today so I think it is the perfect day to post for the first time because being a mother is my first and most important job.

It took me so long to finally start a blog because I don't think that I would have much to say but then again once you get me started you probably won't be able to stop me.

I have been selling on Etsy for a little over a year now and I opened my second shop about 5 months ago. I wanted to separate my bath and body line from everything else and reduce the clutter and confusion.

Sales are very slow right now and I need to do more to pick them up so here I am. I need to shout from the roof tops:
HERE I AM

DoubleM