About My Mother

My mother is my partner in crime when it comes to crafts. She loves to knit and work with paper as well. I set up a store for her knits and my other craft products at seashellbaby.etsy.edu. Since her early retirement due to her weak health she didn't know what to do with her time. Then I told her about Etsy and how she can make things to sell to other people. So she started to knit some scarves, hats, and most recently, baby blankets. She loves to knit because she feels like a regular person again instead of just mulling around doing nothing at home. Her previous occupation was just too stressful for her but knitting soothes her soul. I hope to sell more of her work so she can continue to knit.

Here are some of her latest works:

Pastel Headband
Pastel Hats
Pastel Scarves

Last minute holiday sales

We had a potluck yesterday in the office at my day job. I decided to bring in some cards and jewelry and sold quite a few items to my surprise! I sold two pairs of earrings, four mini holiday shaped tags with handmade envelopes, and 9 holiday note cards with handmade envelopes. pretty good for one day! too bad it will not show up in my Etsy numbers but I'm happy none the less. Today's another day in the office. Hopefully I'll get some more sales.

Greetings!

Have a great holiday and an awesome new year!

Another shop

I've been working on a new shop: http://journeyoflovedesigns.silkfair.com
I'm no longer selling on Winkelf. this shop will encompass everything from handmade to neat Asian themed stuff that I find or have. I'm slowly adding more items and have 7 in the shop now. Check it out!

Lock & Lock Lunch Box set

Lock & Lock Lunch Box set, originally uploaded by journeyoflovedesigns.

I went to Toronto, Canada for Thanksgiving with a few friends. We drove up there. It was a long 10 hr drive each way, including rest stops. I am glad we went through because I found this awesome lunch box set! It's actually way more food than I can eat for lunch but isn't it the cutest? I bought two other kinds of lunch boxes too. I'll take pictures when I use them.

Holiday Notecards Square Small

Holiday Notecards Square Small, originally uploaded by journeyoflovedesigns.

I just listed these on Etsy handmade holiday envelopes with note cards.
Take a look at the listing!

Business Expo

I attended the NY Xpo for Business yesterday. There were free seminars so I attended four but each were only 45 mins long. The information was not anything new but it was good to hear it again to get me motivated. It was also hard to hear the speakers since the seminars were right there in the expo hall with huge ventilators going on above our heads!

One thing I did learn was to pay attention to the price of what I am buying! A tall latte at the Starbucks in the convention center cost more than a dollar outside!

The expo part was nice. I got a lot of great reusable bags for groceries and other stuff!

I'll probably attend again next year with my husband since he started an IT consulting business recently.

New Logo, Banner and Avatar

I spent the past month working on my new logo using a free program called Inkscape. I still have a lot to learn with the program but luckily there were tutorials available for what I needed to know. I was going after the look of a gift box with two hearts as the loops. I realized the box part was taking up a lot of space. Then I looked at the looks and ribbon part and decided to just use that above my business name. I like this a lot. I will keep the gift box as an avatar.

The banner is a bit sparse right now but I plan on either adding pictures of my products on the sides or just other images reflecting the holiday. Or I could do half and half! The possibilities are endless.

Next step: Use Gimp to adjust contracts on photos of products.

Ideas for New Craft Desk

I have been shopping around for a new craft desk as I would like to make some changes to my little craft niche. My husband wants to build me one. We'll see about that.

Here are some inspiration:

I would LOVE to have this but it's way over my budget:


From Target, Madison Trestle Desk

Braxton Trestle Desk

From Ikea
this desktopwith these "legs"

I definitely need as much shelving as I can get! I will get another bookcase to line the wall with my current bookcases and place the table in front of it. I will have to make sure I place things strategically on the shelves where the desk will block it so that I don't get in my own way!

Tomorrow we're off to Home Depot to check out prices of lumber.

Sister Shop

I've opened up my sister shop, Seashell Baby. I felt that my first shop was too cluttered and wanted it to focus on paper crafts only. Seashell Baby will have all the other craft goods like jewelry, knits, and other supplies.

I'm also working on a new logo for Journey of Love Designs. I'm learning to use Inkscape and so far it has been pretty interesting. Hit a snafu in trying to print business cards using the new design though. It looks very fuzzy! not exactly the effect I was going for.

Christmas is creeping up too fast! I've only made some Christmas envelopes and note cards. Will need to photograph them this Sunday.

Etsy Finds

I am one of those Etsy sellers who are guilty of buying more than they sell. I think I'll start a series on Etsy Finds. Here's the latest one.

I recently rediscovered yoga again and when I saw this Om scrabble pendant from HomeStudio I knew I had to have it! The one they listed had a brown background but since I love pink I asked for a pink background instead. It is pictured here with my own chain. I was taking pictures of some scarves to be listed in my second Etsy store, Seashell Baby, so I decided to drape the pendant on them.

I hope to add their pink lotus pendant to my collection soon!

Winkelf

I just started a new shop on Winkelf. Haven't listed anything yet but we'll see how well my shop does here. Doesn't hurt to try different venues.

RAK = Random Acts of Kindness

I participated in a RAK last month and here's what I received from Becky:
I told her that I loved cupcakes and the color pink. She made me a beautiful card and two recipe cards since we both like to bake too.

Here's what I made her:She is getting married next year, loves hearts and pink as well.

My first blog award! I received it from Needles, Fabric and Thread. Check out her blog!

Here are the rules for the nominees: 1) Add the logo of the award to your blog 2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you 3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs 4) Add links to those blogs on your blog 5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs!

My 7 nominees are:
Treasure Oiler Designz


I will add them shortly!

Wedding Card - Hearts

My coworker ordered a card for her friend's wedding. There is a little pocket inside too for the check she gave as a wedding present. I know the flash washed out the colors. I will need to work on my photography skills with my little point-and-shoot camera.

Cookie Tin

I baked M&M/chocolate chip cookies for a friend in San Diego last week and placed them in this tin.

A friend's birthday

I made this post-it note cover for a friend's birthday.
















And this is the card that went with it:

I've been featured!

What I've been up to

Thanks to all who voted! Looks like the Cupcake Box will be my next project.

I've been working on an order for Tea Bag Pouches for a bridal shower. Take a look:















What do you all think?












I also made a simple Father's Day card for my Dad:

I'm in love...

with rikrak ribbons! I made a card using white rikrak and it just made the card look so much more romantic. Can't post it just yet as I've entered it in a contest and I hope I win! I'll be shopping for some more rikrak ribbon today!

Don't forget to vote! (upper right corner)

A poll and a craft project

I have so many ideas on what to make but I'm having a hard time choosing the first one! Please see the poll on the upper right corner and vote for my next project! Poll will be closed on Wed, May 28. Thanks for your help!

Here's a recipe box I made some time ago for the recipes I get from supermarkets, magazines, and the product box itself. i forgot to take a picture of the inside though. I made dividers using a tab punch.

Craft Rut

I've been stuck in a craft rut. Haven't created anything in awhile other than for baked goods. I think I need to concentrate on crafting than baking.

Here's a sample candy container I made for some Hershey's Bliss chocolates. I found a tutorial for this. It can only fit three pieces though so I might nix the idea and just put them in a little goody bag. You can also see how messy my craft desk is here!

Eclectic Thank You cards

I made these cards for a coworker who didn't want to send thank you cards that were too feminine. I call them Eclectic because they have so many different elements to the cards: circles, waves, lines, and flourishes.

Thanks card

I made this Thanks card for a coworker. She wanted a note card that was blue or green so I used both colors. Used my new Versamark ink with my new flourish stamp set.

Bunnies!

Listed these cute little bunnies today. I hand cut them. I had some pretty sore fingers afterwards! I used matching floss and left them untied so the buyer can tie it anyway they want.

It might be a bit close to Easter for me to list these but they're great for Spring too!

I now have 15 items listed. I guess I should stop for now until I get a sale.

Cupcake Card

Recently I've been obsessed with cupcakes, not just eating or baking them but anything that has a cupcake image on it. I listed this Thanks Cupcake Card yesterday:

I used a copper-colored wire for the stem of the cherry. It was a lot of fun making it. I've come up with other designs but they're all currently housed in my head. Perhaps I will take this weekend to actually make them.

Here's a picture of my real edible cupcakes: http://www.flickr.com/photos/journeyoflovedesigns/2258602250/

Pay It Forward (PIF) listing

I recently learned about this Pay It Forward practice in regards to Etsy so I decided to try something new but simple using this practice. I made these Double Happiness note cards and listed it for only $0.20 plus shipping. I created a new thread in the Promotions forum and it was sold in about an hour. Hopefully this has driven some traffic to my shop.

Sample Cupcake Cards

I made these cards for a cupcake swap. I'm thinking of making others to sell on my Etsy. Next time I'll add "sprinkles" and a sentiment.

Magdelena Gold and Brown Chandelier Earrings

I just listed these babies. My coworker asked me to design a pair of earrings to match her wooden jewelry and she didn't want the strands to be too long. I forgot I had these teardrop chandelier findings from Hong Kong. She loved them so much that I thought I'd try to see how they would sell on Etsy and lov.li.

I had a lot of fun designing them for her too. It tests my creativity, something I should be exercising constantly or else I'll become stale =D

2nd Sale!

I just sold two of these! My mom made them so she is very happy.

Chinese New Year Products

My mom made some products for Chinese New Year.

I just posted this:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9246309

and there's also this one:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8693890

My First SALE!!!

I'm absolutely ecstatic! I made my first sale! I started listing over a month ago so I was starting to get discouraged but then this morning I saw that I sold a scarf that I had just listed yesterday! My mother made that so she will be even more ecstatic! Even though she is retired, she still wants to "work" and making crafts is what she enjoys.

This is the scarf that was sold:

*Cuddly model was not included of course :)

I hope there will be many more sales coming!

I used Gimp (a free photo editing software) to touch up some pics. It certainly looks better than the unedited pic from my previous post. There are still so many pics that need to be edited!

Chinese New Year

I've added a new product on my Etsy for Chinese New Year. It is a fish ornament made out of red envelopes. My mother learned to make it in a class at the library. She has been using her retired time to learn more crafts. Take a look at my brief description of the fish on my Etsy.



Chinese New Year is on February 7, 2008.