June Shop Update

Wow!  Where has June gone??  It's almost over with... BUT lots of work has been completed in the shop and we've gotten a new line of greeting cards out on Etsy, and on the bran-new Craft Cafe!  Since taking my Dad on as an employee in my shop, things have taken an increase in product ideas and output.  It's been fabulous, and being able to spend time with Dad has been wonderful for our father-daughter relationship.  He's really a creative man, and he's now an asset of my business.


The shop was also mentioned on a blog post by the new Lubbock in the Loop.  These ladies have been exploring Lubbock, TX and sharing their experiences as they visit small businesses, tiny restaurants, wineries, antique shops, and you name it!  You can find that blog post here.


Here's a few of my favorites from our new line of cards:

These cards and many, many others are available also at The Things We Love, on 34th Street Lubbock, TX.

And now, I'll announce that hopefully by the end of the summer, a SECOND Dollmark shop will be opening on Etsy, selling mainly paper and scrapbooking SUPPLIES!!  I'm excited, as we've been working on this for a few months now, and we've got lots of ideas that will hopefully become new products that you can use in your own projects!  

Now I'll wait for 5:00 to come around, then I get to get my nails done with my sister :)

InstaFriday #6

My little booth opened up at The Things We Love antique store this week (first picture from Tuesday). I'm so excited to be doing this, and I believe my target audience will be hit more often this way, and will hopefully get some more feedback and results in the way of what customers gravitate towards more.

So I'll sit and wait.  And allow it to grow.

That's the best I can do now, I suppose!

I've been hard at work at some wedding bouquets as well as multiple assorted gift-y bouquets.  They're coming along, and slowly coming together while at the same time I'm building a workflow for them.  

So Saturday: My friend Heather (on the right), will be graduating this May from LCU, and she requested some "Senior Photos" since she didn't get any official ones in high school.  So I much obliged, and we had a fantastic morning shooting downtown.  And I decided that day that silliness is required in some form or fashion during a shoot.

Sunday: Coffee date with my Kaila!

Monday: If I was a type of weather, I would be a cloudy and rainy day.

Tuesday: First time for customers to see my booth and products!!  Spent lunch adding some finishing touches...

Ceiling display at Target:

Wednesday!  It's here!  It's here!  It's really here!  

Can't wait to crank this beauty up and see what pretties it can make.

Thursday: found some Ukrainian hryvnia in my camera bag that had been there since last May (the most recent time I've been in the country)

Friday: after an immensely weird night, God's word was all I needed.

InstaFriday #5

Craziness.  All week long.  

Sleep?  What's that?  

Oh wait, is that the thing I barely get any of?  

Alas, my life as a college student seems to have stuck with me.  Can't break the habit.

So last Saturday: A friend and I went down to a new antique shop (the one I'm now a vendor for) and I ran into this amazingly well kept Vintage Monopoly board.  Pure wood, with the drawer, and all of its pieces present.  This was a rare occasion if I may say so myself, and it reminded me of the Scrabble board my family plays on in California.

Sunday: I spy an eye.

Oh the weird, unexplainable things people will paint onto walls...

Monday: My valentine from a good friend from last week.  The whale is just too cute ... and happy!

Tuesday: Beginnings of bridesmaids bouquets for an AZ wedding

Wednesday: Thrift-shopping ran me into this beauty.  So.... very.... pretty....

I decided at this point I'm gonna be one of the old ladies with all the vintage furniture early on in life.

Thursday: an old favorite picture of mine from Choir Tour 2010

Friday: I bought the last album that the David Crowder Band put out in 2009, and once again, I fell in love with the music (I'm a music album freak!).  I listened to this song "How He Loves Us" multiple times during work, and that evening I even heard it in worship at a concert.  The words are moving to my heart, and I hope they are to anyone who hears them.

A Happy Announcement!

So this weekend I made a big decision!  And I'm uber excited about it, and just can't wait to get started! 
I'll now be sharing a booth in a new antique (I know...oxymoron) shop with my good friend, Courtney.  Courtney owns The Dapple Apple, where she makes jewelry, sewn treasures, and crocheted scarves, hats, gloves, cowls, you name it! 

We've both decided it's time to let the markets go.  Too stressful, plus it takes away my weekends, plus its expensive, plus I'm not a Marketer.  Combined, these are the reasons we are taking our tiny businesses in a new direction: pure consignment. 

I'm so excited. 

So I'll (along with Courtney) have a location for my "shop" besides online, and will be able to quickly reference it to people who want to go out and find my handmade items. 

AND plans are underway for some bran new stuff!  I'm putting together a collection of crafting supplies, and hopefully will be rolling them out within the next few weeks.

So my weekend will be spent putting together my side of the booth, and making more inventory at home.

New location will be at 34th and University.

InstaFriday #4

Another great week of blessings and opportunities.  


As of today I've made a big decision that will bring stress off of my mind, and more energy and excitement into a new chapter for my business.  I've made the decision, along with a good friend of mine who also is a small business owner, to push markets off the activities list, and go into a full-consignment based mindset.  I'll now only be selling my items and artwork online at Etsy and in the few stores I have leases with.  So all my concentration will be going in one direction: success!


And now to last weeks Instagram's.  I do love this app.  I've also gotten and used the app PicFrame, because I love taking multiple photos of one thing.  That or I find too many things worth taking pictures of in a day :)

Saturday: Delicious and healthy strawberries.

Sunday: The day was very cold and snowy, and so I didn't leave the house.  Fireplace and heater kept me warm and comfy while working.

 

 Monday: a valentine's photo booth was set up at the basketball game at LCU for Senate's Sweetheart Shooters event.  Got some lovely and cheesy photos, and some of a few of adorable couples.  

Tuesday: Valentine's Day!  My little sister and I found these awesome figurines of the California Raisins in an antique shop, and decided we would get them for Mom & Dad for valentine's, along with some chocolate covered raisins.  Clever us :)

Wednesday: I made salsa.  Oh yes.

Thursday: Large amount of flowers ready to be made pretty!

Friday: This was the first day I was allowed to eat more than 500 calories (according to HCG).  1500 calories was the amount they ask you to start eating again; this was almost difficult for me to my surprise!  So my brother and I decided that omelets were on the menu for dinner!  So yummy!

There will be some new news about my shop soon!  

InstaFriday #3

Another good week gone!  I was very tired most of this week, due to the nearing end of my HCG diet (oi! and that's just phase 1).  So, I naturally did not get the amount of things I wanted done, done.  But, I did take pictures, as always :)

Saturday: Last day of Master Follies 2012, and probably the last time I'll get to work backstage.  It has been a blessing to be able to work with lots of admirable, smart, and talented people.

Sunday: I finally beat Portal 2 on my own!!  GLaDOS was upset that I left, but what can a girl do?  Then I started playing co-op with my older brother.  I think he's been waiting a ridiculously long time for me to get to this point!

Monday: A few items of the artistic kind: a painting from friend Cathy (it's gorgeous), An owl clutch "Brave Little Owl" from friend Jenni, and some vintage materials I hope to use soon.

Tuesday: Oh my.  A cutting job so bad, I'm in shock.  (now on the lookout for a machine with a good deal!)

Wednesday: My brother is gracious and kind enough to allow me passage to his Netflix account.  Unfortunately some of the VERY occasional anime-type movies I've watched before create some oddities, of which the blame falls on.....let's just go with my brother may have watched something weird.

Thursday: Rain came our way and blessed us 3 times in one day, including some hail, and my favorite: thunder!  Loved it!  The air smelt so fresh, and the sky was breathtaking.

Friday: First Bad Movie Night of 2012!!  Movie of choice: Captain America with the Riff Track.  Awesomely bad.

May God bless you so much this week :)

InstaFriday #2

Another week gone!  This past week is one of the busiest of my year; Master Follies!!  It's a major event back at LCU, and even though I'm not at school anymore, I couldn't help but be there to work my old job.  So I get to parade backstage while our school social clubs put on some ridiculous parody-like numbers.  This year we have a huge group of Mrs. Potato Head's, stay-at-home daddy's, British guards, baristas, cowboys, indians and pilgrims, Rosie the Riveter's, and diner waitresses.  It's MAD.  And I can't help but not stay away for every moment.


So onto some encounter's of my past week; a simple look into the life of me!


Saturday: hung out with a good friend while she dog-sat a dog named Squirrel.  True story.

Sunday: finally got down to preparing another sprint of brand-new cards!!  more to come soon ...

Monday: Needed to spend another evening preparing food for the next few days for my HCG diet.

Tuesday: I took a field trip.  My mother says it's finally catching up to me.

No, I had the change to visit LPD for my job.  Fun and random!

Wednesday:  first dress rehearsal for Master Follies '12!  I've spent 5 years watching it from the side.

Thursday: God is the master artist.

Friday: I actually had picked this up the day before, but I got to bring my new (vintage!) Singer home!  I'm so excited to be able to use it soon!

InstaFriday #1

Ahhh... Friday.  Finally.

One of my favorite blogs to read is Allora Handmade.  The woman behind it all makes a spectrum of the most beautiful necklaces, and I would love to have one in every color!  But every Friday she posts "InstaFriday", putting up all of the weeks Instagram photos.  It's neat to be able to see a little bit of her world through these simple and genuine pictures, and I believe I would now like to do the same.  I've had Instagram for awhile (on my pretty white iPhone 4S!), and I'm an addict.  I'm sure people get tired of seeing my Instagrams pop up on Facebook everyday, but I see it as a way to share a little view of how I see the world.

I'll start off with last Friday, as this will be the first InstaFriday for my blog :)

Friday: Dessert Club at work; it was my turn to make dessert, but because of HCG, I couldn't partake...

Sat: Spent the day at The Mud Room painting dinner plates for a Master Follies shoot this week.



Sun: MAJOR Texas dust storm came quickly and tore Lubbock up.

Mon: Enjoying my newest pair of Toms.

Tues: notes taken at work about an upcoming project I'm partially heading up.

Wed: WOAH!  Found these disco beauties on clearance! 

(if they contained practicality, or if I regularly went to discos, I would so own them)

Thurs:  HCG Strawberry smoothie, 10 lbs gone so far!

Fri: If I could be back at LCU, I would do it in a heartbeat. 

Thankfully I'll get to do some photography work for the entire next week,

cause IT'S MASTER FOLLIES TIME!

I think these will be good for me to put together, so I can relearn to reflect upon simple blessings I'm given each day.  Till next time!