A long overdue introduction

It is way overdue but I must introduce you to my new baby, my new shop Hookzilla. I birthed her on December 3rd but she was not really up and running until January.

There is where you will find my crochet (and maybe eventually knit) creations. I have been crocheting for a really long time but I let it go for a while and now I am back and that is pretty much all I do. A hook and a ball of yarn is with me at all times because you never know if I will end up in a 5 hour traffic jam or locked in a department store with nothing to do. You never know, my greatest creation could come out of one of those situations.

I have also created Alice

And Bella

To help me model my hats. If you know Twilight you know who "Alice" and "Bella" are.

Anyway, You will find things like hats, fingerless gloves, coffee cozies, market bags, wash cloths, lip balm holders, felted bowls and many other crochet and felted items.

So everyone listen carefully. Walk slowly and in an orderly fashion to Hookzilla.etsy.com and grab yourself a treat for being good girls and boys. No need to run or push, there is enough to go around.

I'm ready for my comeback

So I have had empty shops for a few months now because I needed to concentrate on my school and I am finally done and ready to start filling my shop with goodies again. I guess the timing is perfect for those of us who are doing early Christmas shopping. I have so many ideas swirling through my head; jewelry ideas, crocheted hats and bags, journals, cards. Sometimes they get so jumbled and overwhelming that I end up doing nothing because I cant sort them out. I hate it when that happens. I guess I just need to start at the start. I will clean my studio and organize the supplies that I managed to stock up on during my hiatus; supplies that I bough and threw into the room without looking so to not get distracted by the beauty of the mess. I have renewed a few item that don't need to be rephotographed or edited and they barely got any views but I won't let that discourage me...yet.

Some people have it all...

Looks, talent, personality.
I am talking about a husband and wife duo who have shops on Etsy.com that I have had the privilege to meet and purchase from. I met Patricia (Raven) and her hubby Mikie at a little craft show that I did a few weeks before Christmas of '07. I was just walking by, scoping out the competition when one of Mikie's prints caught my eye. I loved all of them and asked him if he could make me a special order. He sweetly said yes and I proceeded to take a wiff of some of Ravens candles. Holy crap they smell so good!

A couple weeks after Christmas I met them for coffee and to pick up the special order that Mikie made for me and to grab some soy candles from Raven. Well this is what Mikie came up with:

Are you kidding me!!! I love it so much! I love Wonder Woman. She is my childhood idol and Mikie knocked it out of the park.

Then I took home the candles that I picked out of Ravens stash and lit the Apple Blossom one right away. It has an awesome cinnamony spicy sweet smell that fills the whole house but does not over power. And when she says that they last 100 hours, she is not kidding. These babies really do last forever. As I type I am burning the Ginger spice scented one and I think that I am in love. I loved the last one and this one is even better. It is perfect for spring.

And the icing on the cake is that they are incredibly nice people and even worse, they are both hot as hell!!!

Some people just have it all right?

Get some awesome soy candles at Raven's shop, RavenX.etsy.com
And then go buy some colorful, beautiful prints from Mikie's shop, mikiep.etsy.com

Taking a small break from selling and Etsy.

So after a lot of thought I have decided to take a break from promoting and selling my products. I have started school full time doing a 9 month medical transcribing course and it is really kicking my ass like nobody's business. But ya know what I love it! I am learning so much and I feel so much smarter every day. When it is all over in September (as long as I pass all of my classes) I hope to work from home as a medical transcriber. I am really looking forward to that day.

Another reason that I have decided to step back from my shops is because I would like to rethink my products and style and come back in with a fresher outlook and style. There are so many awesome artists on Etsy.com and the competion is fierce. I am not completely happy with my sales so I need to re-evaluate things and come back with a new approach that will catch your eye.

Just for the record. I do still have items listed in my shops and will still ship promptly to all buyers.

The part that kills me is staying away from the forums. They suck me is so much that I had to quit looking and participating in the forums all together. Well maybe not ALL together. I still log on about once or twice a week as a treat for myself but that compared to being logged on all day every day... well, lets just say I had the shakes for about 1 week.

So for a while, instead of talking/bragging :o) about my own products here, I want to put my fellow artists out there for every one to see. I think it will be fun and I think that I will have to do more shopping on Etsy so that I can really know the products that I will be talking about, that will be the hardest part :o).

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.