Making Bracelets

I received some beads and charms in the mail on Saturday, so I decided to sit down and make some bracelets to put in the shop. If you would like to purchase any of these, or see what else I have, here is the link.

Peace and blessings,
Michelle

 

New In The Shop

I have been busy making bracelets so that I can stick up my Etsy shop, but I am also preparing for an art show that I will be selling at in June. I will say that Etsy is a fabulous place, but there are so many people on there that it is easy for your products to get lost in the mix. I have sold way more off of Etsy than I have on it.

I am working hard on coming up with new items. So bare with me as I grow. I plan to take a jewelry making class soon, so that I can learn to make the bracelets with the toggle clasps. Love those!

Here are a few of the bracelets I have made recently. Check out my shop for all my bracelets. A couple of the ones that I am getting ready to post aren’t up yet, but will be tonight.

I made this one for the fellas. A stone cross with black and gold beads.

I will have another giveaway in March, so stay tuned for that, as well as new bracelets!

Peace and blessings,
Michelle

 

Paper Crafts and Home Decor

Lately I have really been in a creative mood. I am constantly being inspired by so many things around me.  This constant inspiration has led to my plate being overly full. I have so many items on my “to knit” and “to crochet” list that it isn’t even funny. I have plans to learn how to sew. I am working on ideas to amp up sales in both of my shops, so I am trying to do some creative marketing.

I love Etsy and the community environment that it offers, but with so many people selling their wares on there, it’s kind of hard to be “found”. So, I am trying to push my products, and get them known in my circles, and hopefully word of mouth will help me sell more.

Another area that I have been working on is packaging. When people receive my products, I want them to enjoy the entire process. Not just opening a brown box. One of the things that I created is a personalized thank you card. I want to write a note to each customer. I printed out flat cards, but I think I will have them professionally done.

I really had fun creating this notecard, and I think it’s so cute! Can’t wait to get my next purchase so that I can use it. Now that the thank you card is made, I am currently looking for some cute boxes to ship items in. I love the flat ones that look like Chinese food takeout boxes, but they’re flatter and wider. I need to find out where I can purchase those. I am also in the process of getting a stamp made for the shop, and creating some hang tags. So, it will be a process to get everything ready, but I am up for the challenge.

I found a new stationery store that does custom printing, and I was so excited about it! The name is M. Hopple & Co. We went to the store yesterday to see what they had to offer. I ordered some personal stationery with my name on it. It takes a week to print. I think I am going to have some items professionally printed for Maleia’s Closet . I will post pictures of my items when they come back. In the meantime, here are some pictures of the samples in the store. One of the ones that I purchased is the “Kelly” card in the left upperhand corner of the second photo.

On the decor note, I am currently trying to do something new with our guest bedroom. I will post pictures of the current state in my next post. I recently moved the bedroom around, and I like the look, but I think a few more things need to be added. I am thinking of adding a desk, and putting shelves on the wall above the desk. This will give me added storage. So, I found two photos online where the bed is facing the same way as the guest bed, and the amount of space left seems to be what I have in the guest bedroom. Here are the pictures of my options.

I love the look of this desk! I don’t need a double seater in the room, but I think the size of the desk balances the length of the shelves. This is definitely an option.

If you were choosing, would you do a double seater, or choose the one below. Let me know your thoughts.

Peace and blessings,

Michelle

 

Put the yarn to the needle…

I have been busy working on different projects. I am trying to build up my stash so that I can participate in the “Christmas in July” sale on Etsy. I hope that you all will stop buy and purchase some items from me.

Here is a cap that I made that will appear in my shop. This is the Newsboy Cap. Thanks to my model for showing it off for me.

Here are some things that I plan to work on in the near future. I don’t know if they will be completed in time for the Christmas in July sale, but keep checking for them.

I think I will make a few of these in different colors for my friends who knit/crochet, as well as for myself.

I can so see me carrying this bag. Let’s see how long it takes once I get started on it.

This will be my winter hat. (In chocolate brown)

Well, I need to get up and start getting my stuff together. We should be getting on the road about 2 pm. I have to be ready when the Mrs. gets here. Have a safe 4th of July weekend!

Winners of the LGBT card contest will be announced tomorrow at midnight!!!

 

So many days gone by…

I cannot believe that I have not done a blog post since April 8th. Oh my goodness, what is wrong with me? Well, I have been extremely busy with work, and trying to get my new shop open. I really love knitting and crocheting, and I will soon open my shop Maleia’s Closet. It was my plan to open the shop the end of May, but now it looks like it will be around the middle to the end of June. I have been making hats, market bags, and baskets, and have patterns for so many other items. Here is a picture of my friends daughter wearing one of the hats I made.

I have also been working on some new cards. Here are a couple. These and other cards can be found in my shop, Hers and Hers Greetings

While I was away my wife and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. We decided to vacation in Asheville, NC, which is a lovely city. The people are really friendly, and the atmosphere is very gay friendly! We will definitely visit there again!

We went to a place called Fired Up! and painted our own pottery. We had to leave it there so that it could be fired. The package came today. I will post the results of my wife’s bank. My cup looks a hot mess. LOL

We had dinner here one night. The Sushi was excellent!!!

There was a street festival where different bands performed. The little girl in the ballerina get up was doing her thing! We got a few good laughs off of her.

In doing this post, I am realizing that we didn’t take a lot of pictures of ourselves.

I just wanted to stop by and update. My plan is to keep up with my blog. I will be back with more tomorrow.

Peace and blessings!

Michelle

 

The Creative Process…

I have been telling myself that I need to get back on my card making. So, today after going to brunch with my wife and Kellz, we decided to go to Archiver’s. I wanted to pick up some items so that I could work on some new cards to put in my Etsy shop. I am not going to post them all here, but if you like what you see, and want to see more, please swing by my Etsy shop. All cards can be purchased there.

 

Some of the things I’m feeling right now…

This is a collage of some of the things that I am feeling right now. I will go clockwise and end with the center photo.

1. iPhone I have been in love with the iPhone for a long time. Instead of getting the iPhone when I upgraded the last time, I tried to give Sprint a chance. I got screwed for having done this. My bill went from $70 to $104 because of a lie told to me by one of the “customer service” folk. I am not going to do the whole two years on this contract. I disregarded the signs, and now I am paying.

2. Be Natural Tee As you all know, I am going natural. My wife bought this “Think outside the box” tee for me when I first decided that I wanted to start the journey. I love this tee, and the whole premise behind it.

 3. Natural Beauty This tee can be found on BNatural’s website also. It is linked above. I really like this one because of the definition on the shirt. It says, 1. One whose beauty radiates from the inside out. 2. One whose beauty does not rely on outside manipulation. 3. ME.

4. MacBook This has also been a long time love of mine. One day I will be able to go to the Apple Store and drop a thousand bones for it, but right now we’re trying to get our budget straight. But, just so you know, MAC is the best laptop out there.

5. Commitment My wife bought me a “Courage” print from this website. I searched the site and found the Commitment one. I work for the Board of Elections, and I know the importance of each vote. I know that my ancestors died for my right to vote, and I value that a lot. This will be the next print that I get.

6. ColorSplash App I don’t even have an iPhone yet, but I’ve searched the Apps on iTunes millions of times. The search for this one came about today. I am making Christmas cards for my co-worker Anna. She is a dog lover, and she plans to put her two dogs Odie and Pete on her cards. I plan to do the picture of them in black and white, and have their Santa outfits in Red and white. So, I did a search for a program that could do that, and ColorSplash was one of them.

7. Cable Cardigan I started knitting again, and was really excited about it. Then the holidays started approaching, and I began making cards to sell on my Etsy site. Now that I am pretty much done with that- except for making Anna’s cards, and the cards that my wife and I plan to send out – I can once again focus my attention on knitting. This sweater will be my first project. I am interested in seeing how long it will take me.

8. Celebrate Equality and Diversity in America If you read my blog, then you know that I am a lesbian. I am serious about diversity. It really pains me that we have not made more progress as far as diversity is concerned. I plan to get this tee shirt to wear to work on Casual Fridays.

9. Total Money Makeover This is where I am now. Working through Dave Ramsey’s money makeover plan. It is my goal to be debt free. No credit cards, nothing. I am so tired of being a slave to debt. It is so important to let this stuff go. We are planning a family, and when we do so, I don’t want any of the issues with debt to stand in our way.

10. African American Art Work I am so interested in African American art right now, especially when it has to do with women rockin’ natural hairstyles. This is a piece that I also want to get in our home. I think this would be a perfect addition. This decal can be purchased at Ten23Designs.

11. Golashes For some reason I have acquired this liking for Golashes. I am still looking for the perfect pair for me. I saw a cute pair in the DSW ad by Tommy Hilfiger. I have to go try them on to see how they fit. The last few times I tried some on they didn’t fit the way I wanted them to.

12. Nikon D90 Ok. This is another item that I have been wanting for a while. In case you all don’t know this about me, I will spend my last dime for others, but I am somewhat cheap when it comes to buying things for myself. This is on my “to buy” list.

13. Natural Hair I love anything to do with natural hair. I love to see photos of African American women rockin’ their natural hair styles. I love the way T’Keyah’s hair looks in this photo. This is my motivation. I am getting it cut tomorrow, and I will only have two inches of hair. This is what I have to look forward to.

 

True to my word

In my post yesterday, I said that I would start to mail our cards and letters to my friends and family. Well, I wrote two cards out last night. By the time you read this post, they will be in the mail, and on their way to their recipients.

I talked to my brother yesterday and he pretty much said the same thing that I did. He stated that we have gotten too tied up in technology, and we need to get back to writing our friends and family. I told him that I had just done a post on that. I know that the recipients will be surprised when they receive their cards. I can’t wait to hear from them. I plan to get my list together of people to write and send cards.

I originally had these cards made for my wife’s mother. She was diagnosed with breast cancer, and my wife wanted to send her a card once a week to uplift her. So, I found someone on Etsy to make these cards so that she could send them. Her mom is now cancer free, and we had cards left over. So, I will start with these and then make some more of my own.

This card is for Celeste

This is for my cousin Jacqui

So, let’s bring it back y’all…send someone a card today.

Peace and Blessings,

Michelle

 

Saturday musings….

My wife and I woke very early this morning. This is unusual for us on a Saturday. We got up and came downstairs. She started watching one of her programs, and I started getting my items together to list on eBay. I am cleaning out my closet. There is no need to keep this stuff that I either don’t wear or can’t fit. Might as well make a profit from it.

After posting my items on eBay, I had to check out my greeting card site. I am selling cards on Etsy. Well, I am selling more off of Etsy, but I still keep the site. I am currently researching making handmade soap to sell on Etsy under the name SoapTherapy. I will let you all know when that’s up and running. In the meantime, if you have any greeting card needs, let me know. I have about 10 up there now, but I sell a lot offline. I have one customer who has given me a list for the whole year.

In researching soap making, I came across a blog. Soapguy has some nice stuff on his site. I want to contact him to discuss the process, but he hasn’t posted since February. This is some of his soap listed below. I hope my business runs this well when I get started.

Soap by SoapGuy

I am so looking forward to Whitney’s CD. I am somewhat disappointed that it doesn’t come out until September. But, I can wait. I hope that it is worth the wait. I have loved Whitney since day one. I hated to see her take a downhill slide, but I feel like she’s on her way back up. I will definitely purchase the album on the day it drops. She looks really good on the album cover. Get it Whitney!!!

Look To You album cover

Lookin' good Whitney

I need to get up from here and run my errands. I need to run to Target to get some Motions Foam Wrap so that I can do my hair over.  I found the hairstyle that I will wear through my transition period. I like it. I paid my hairdress $55 to do it the first time, but now I know how to do it myself. So, I can keep my $55 in my pocket.

My transition hairdo

We are going to see Mint Condition today. They are giving a free concert at Sawyer Point. I am not a really big Mint Condition fan, but I like a lot of their music. You have to admit though…free is free. Will let you know how the concert is on my next post. Until then, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Going to see them in concert today

Peace and blessings

Michelle

 

Yellow Springs

Hello all,

I hope that all of you are well. I am sitting in bed, with my wife next to me. We are both on our laptops. She is looking up info on Puerta Rico, which might be our honeymoon destination later on this year. She is also uploading pictures that we took today in Yellow Springs. I am uploading pics to my facebook page, updating my Project 365 set on Flicikr, and posting on here. (Such a multi-taster) LOL

We went to Yellow Springs today. They started their Summer in the Springs. We love the area…such an ecclectic group of people there. We visited the shops in the downtown area, and we had linner (late lunch/early dinner) at a pizza shop called Ha Ha’s. The pizza was good, but it took us a while to get our order. We stopped in this shop called Urban Handmade, and I am very glad that we did. I have been looking for a place to sell my cards. I have a shop on Etsy, but I also wanted a somewhat local presence. Well, I found that at Urban Handmade. They allow you to submit samples of your work, and if they like your stuff, they will sell the items in their shop. They just opened on the 6th of this month.

Here are 2 cards that I worked on this week.

Father's Day

Out of all the cards that I have done, the wedding card is high on my list of favorites. I made this one for a co-worker who had a wedding to go to on Friday. The father’s day card was made for a friend. She has a 6 week old daughter; the card was from her to her dad.

Well, I am going to get to work on sending photos needed for our family reunion in September. Have a wonderful evening all!!!

Peace and blessings,

Michelle