In The End It Doesn’t Even Matter

So now we are here at the end of the year and what a year it has been.  New job, reconnecting with relatives & friends, death, birth, marriage, it was all there!  But today I want to talk about a major turning point that occurred this year.  I mentioned in a previous post about 2017 being a huge transformative year for me.  I guess it has been this way for many people from what I’ve been reading.  And how the eclipse was a major influence.  I believe this to be true.  Something definitely happened to me during and after the eclipse. It’s hard to explain without sounding like a complete nut job but it was like I was in some weird trance trying to do whatever I could to break away from bad habits and bad situations.  It was VERY instinctive.  It felt like the universe was telling me that there was something bigger in store for me and that I must get my shit together!  So now a few months have passed and I can see how everything was interconnected.  How I projected my real life situation with the online drama.  Wanting to protect and even “save” those I care about from the wrong people.  At times feeling unimportant because I wasn’t taken seriously.  But somehow I finally learned to LET GO and to trust those that I love to handle things on their own.  Be there for them but let them fight their own battles and have faith that they will do the right thing.  In the process of letting go I somehow found my voice back and was able to focus more on myself again.  One major life lesson that I encounter often is putting other people’s needs and happiness before my own.  I hope to continue to focus more on my well being in the next year and I believe with all my heart that the people meant to be in my life are going through or will be going through a similar journey as me.  I will end it here tonight and post goals for 2018 after the new year.  

Here is a poem from one of my favorite poets Lang Leav.  She has this unique way of writing that can be both specific and universal.  See you all next year!👩🏻‍🏫

Run in Circles

Hello everyone!👋  Sometimes I wonder how many people actually read my blog.  What if I am really talking to myself??  Well Xmas is over for another year.  I had a great time with the fam last Friday.  Everyone thinks it is cool that I started knitting, they all love the scarf I made for John.  That’s great because guess what you’re all getting next year!  I’ve been experiencing some holiday blues this year.  There’s just this vibe of loneliness in the air.  It was nice to see my mom & John bond over their recent losses though. My mom gave me the most beautiful birthday card, she said she cried writing it because she was thinking of her sister that just died. 

I gave her a hug but didn’t cry until I read it again the next day.  I don’t know why my emotions usually hit me later on.  It’s almost like I need time to process what I am feeling if that makes any sense.

As far as projects go I haven’t done much because of the holidays.  I did start working with circular needles and I have to say that the ones I am using now are a dream to work with.  I started out with 29 inch circulars to make a hat but found it hard to work with because the wires kept twisting.  Then I read somewhere that it is better to have your work cinch up on shorter needles rather than spread apart with longer ones.  The ones recommended for hats are 16 inches.  Here is what I am currently working on:

It does cinch up a little but so much easier to work with than the longer ones.  For chunkier yarn I might go up to 24 inches which is the only size between 16 & 29.  

I feel guilty for not working on my Etsy shop.  I will again eventually.  The nice thing is that I can go at my own pace when I am listing things.  Right now I’m enjoying my knitting time.  I saw a video on FB the other day about this 91 year old elderly man that is living his final days knitting hats for those in need.  He already made 8000 of them!!  What an inspiration, I want to be just like him in my final days.

I will post one more time before the year ends.  Probably talk about some goals for 2018 or whatever and some ramblings of stuff that happened this year.  Until next time!✍️

Almost Christmas Already🤶🏼

Can’t believe there is only 1 more week until Christmas 🎄.  I had a good birthday.  It is always nice when people take time out of their day to wish me a happy birthday.  It means that they thought of you and that to me is really special.  This year our family Birthmas celebration is on Friday 22nd.  Earlier tonight we attended a Christmas choir concert at my son’s school.  I’m so proud of him for participating in this!  He’s been in choir since 7th grade and tonight he participated in his first high school concert in front of 1200 people.  He did great but wanted to sit the whole time, haha, but at least he did it!  Wednesday his class is taking a field trip to neighboring schools to do some Christmas caroling.  I can’t express how proud I am of his independence lately.  It has been hard for me to let go but I am starting to trust that he is capable of handling things on his own.  

I don’t have much to cover today except this lovely gray beanie that I made over the weekend.  It took me about 3 hours.  I used the Wool and the Gang yarn that I posted in a previous post.  I have to say that this yarn has been my absolute favorite to use so far and I am definitely buying more in the future.  It is so soft and easy to work with.  The stitch I used was a seed stitch which is an alternating knit/purl combo.  I love the way it turned out!

It seriously makes me giddy knowing that I can knit all these things.  It is not just a hobby but a true life skill that I can use in case of a crisis.  

And there is just so much to learn.  The next thing I am going to try is how to use circular needles.  I don’t know if I mentioned this before but my go to place to learn practically any new skill is on YouTube.  I will post a link with my saved playlist of knitting tutorials either in a future blog post or to my google+ page.  I also created a Pinterest board for knitting related stuff. Have a great week.  I get Friday & Monday off for Christmas🎄🎄🎄🎄

As One Door Closes...

Every year around this time I reflect on everything that has happened during the year.  This year has definitely been one of my most transformative years.  I have learned so much and feel like for the first time in a long time I am feeling good about life again.  From last year being one of the worst years of my life to this year being one of the best years of my life.  The one thing I want to document for future reference is that if I want to start seeing CHANGE the most important thing to do is to just START!  Things will eventually take off after that but you have to be willing to take that first step.  And the universe will always guide you in the right direction.  I 100 million percent believe that whatever you focus your time and energy on is how your life is going to be at the moment.  Of course there will always be bad days but the key is to see it as it is...a bad day and not a reflection of your life as a whole.  I’m excited to start the next chapter of my life as I continue to focus on being more proactive rather than reactive.  Thank you God for giving me another year of life.💝

Do it for Johnny

Happy Birthday to my Johnny.  I don’t usually like to talk about our relationship in public because I’m very protective of our privacy and like to keep things sacred.  But know that I love that man more than anything.  I just barely finished his scarf.  It is almost 6 feet long, approximately 68 inches and exactly 2 skeins of yarn.  It took me over 6 hours to make (3 hours yesterday and 3 today)!  The different colors definitely fit his outgoing and lively personality.  Happy Birthday my dearest!🎂😍

Knit knit knitting away

It seems like I have developed a knitting addiction.  Lately when I don’t have any plans or have to be somewhere I am usually knitting.  It’s been really good for me.  It reduces my stress and anxiety.  I am surprised by how much I enjoy it because usually any type of repetition drives me crazy!  I used to loom knit years ago but got tired of it after a few months.  There’s just something about using the needles that are more satisfying.  I finished a 60 inch/5 foot scarf today and even added on some fringe.

I mean if you look closely you can see some mistakes but oh well I think it turned out great for my first full length scarf.  I also finished my first hat but I am almost embarrassed to post it because I didn’t follow any guidelines so the proportions look kinda off😅.  I overestimated the width & underestimated the length!  The pompom was super easy and fun to make.  

And last but not least I am working on a nice cozy scarf for J’s birthday.  This one is turning out really nice.  I love the colors, it is made from the Isaac Mizrahi yarn I posted on my last post.  I will probably need to buy another skein to make the scarf long enough.  

So far I have only been using the knit/garter stitch.  My next project I am going to use knit/purl combo.  I just wanted to finish a project first!  I have also been taking notes as I go along.  Happy knitting!🧣

The Bigger the Better

I am still feeling kinda blah today.  I must of picked something up from being around a bunch of sick kids at the indoor gym I went to for my nefew’s 3rd birthday party.  So I think I am going to take it easy for the rest of the week because I have my work’s company Christmas party to go to this Friday.  

I bought some new yarn yesterday and some big ass knitting needles that could seriously double as vampire stakes.  I picked yarn colors that are more my style.  And more chunkier yarn because they are easier to work with and I like the look and feel of it better.

I feel like I have finally mastered both the knit & purl stitch and ready to start making things for a little while before I begin learning new patterns.  Can’t wait to start working on these.😍

My first black light yoga

Hello everyone.  Hope you are all doing well.  I had a busy but fun weekend but I think I am getting sick 😷.  Saturday I was out and about for most of the day.  I had such a great time at the soul pose yoga event.  I went to the afternoon session which was at 1pm but I arrived 45 minutes early to browse over the vendor tables and grab some goodies.  Mostly a lot of yoga related stuff and healthy stuff and free cans of LaCroix.  And samples of White Claw which only gave me a slight buzz on an empty stomach.  Our yoga mat, towel & coffetti pack were out on the floor.  

It was mostly groups of women but there were actually quite a few people that came solo including men.  There were also families, couples, and boys/girls of all ages.  I went over and sat next to another lady that was by herself.  I really liked the yoga instructor which I picked based on her bio.  It helps to practice with an instructor who you can relate with and is in line with your beliefs.  She had us focus on our heart chakra which is associated with the energy center for love and compassion.  It is represented by the color green so she had us focus on that color as well.  The 1st half hour was straight yoga. I consider myself at an intermediate level since I’ve been practicing yoga on and off for over 15 years.  I actually found this session pretty challenging especially because the yoga mats they supplied to us were crappy.  I kept sliding off my mat, a decent yoga mat should be somewhat sticky.  Before the half hour she had us do group activities which I didn’t feel too comfortable with but I went along with it.  We all held hands in a kumbaya type of way.  Then she had us partner up, so I partnered up with the lady next to me.  It was so awkward because we had to get in each other’s personal space!  But she was really cool and what a neat experience it was to be able to bond with and trust a stranger.  Then after that the instructor had us throw our confetti and then some cheesy dancing.  Then yoga for the rest of the hour.  Overall a great experience that I will definitely participate in if they are in town again next year.  And it was a really good value for $20.00.  As we were leaving they gave us each this pretty bracelet as a thank you and for making it through the session.  It is actually nicely constructed.  I wore it all day today!

I haven’t had much time to work on any projects over the weekend but I am learning new knitting patterns and working my way to completing a project.  I am getting better at reading yarn labels and finding the right needles to use.  Have a great week and Namaste 🙏 

Hello December❄️

Hello December!  This seems to be a big social month for most people because of all the holiday parties and get togethers.  December (16th) is also my birthday month!  Growing up I had to share my birthday with Christmas AND my brother’s birthday (19th).  And now with my husband (12th).  Also my sister’s husband birthday is the day after mine.  As a family we still celebrate December birthdays alongside Christmas.  I don’t mind it at all, the more the merrier!  

Tomorrow I am going to my first black light yoga event.  I am going by myself but I know some friends who will be there.  We get these goodies plus all of the vendor goodies before & after session.

They will also supply all the glow paint.  I couldn’t believe my luck yesterday when I came across some glow wearables at the store, still around from Halloween at 80% off.  I don’t know if I’ll need them but will bring just in case.

I will let you all know how it went.  Have a great weekend!👸🏻

Messages From The Other Side

This Saturday will be 2 weeks since my mother in laws passing.  Since that time we have already received messages from her.  Whether you believe in that kind of stuff or not, the coincidences are just uncanny.  Most of the time you have to be open to receiving the messages.  Since I already had a close friend who passed, I was open to receiving and was able to pick up on my MIL’s messages.  The day after she died we went back to her apartment to start clearing out stuff.  My husband asked me if he thinks his mom will ever try to contact him.  J is aware of all the feathers I came across after my friend died but wondered if there was anything else.  I told him to watch for anything that comes up that reminds him of her and that it will be pretty obvious.  And sure as shit not a few minutes later one of her favorite tv shows Dr. Who comes on while I digging through her sewing box.  Right at the same time I came across an old newspaper clipping of her engagement announcement to someone that J doesn’t even know with a picture of her on it that was hidden in between some blank folded up papers.  This was significant because one of the things we used to talk about a lot was all of her failed engagements, she was engaged 8 times!  

Then on Thanksgiving I came across this on Pinterest.  The date written on the page was the day she died 11/18/17.  

And don’t get me started on the necklace!  This was definitely a message from her.  It almost made me cry because despite being in and out of many bad relationships, I know deep down in her heart she was a true romantic.  And I also think in a way she was trying to apologize for coming in between J and I for so long.  There are other things such as the feather we found by our mailbox the other day and some strange whooshing noises coming through the phone while J was talking to the funeral director at the mortuary.  Then yesterday my MIL’s cat knocked down an empty cremation urn that we had sitting on top of the counter.  She was probably trying to tell J to get with it and turn in the cremation paperwork!

So even though it has been rough, there is comfort in knowing that she is still with us somehow.  All we got to do is believe.🧚🏼‍♀️

Unlearning

It seems like the more life experiences we go through the more traits we develop to cope with each situation.  Including the traits we develop through our interaction with others.  Good people and good situations help inspire us to become better people and it is very important to have them in our lives.  But I have found that negative situations and having the wrong people in your life can cause us to experience more significant changes.  If we are lucky we will eventually become stronger and wiser because of them.  Negative experiences can lead us to say or do things that we never thought possible.  They can suck the life out of us and at the time we think that we will never get out of that situation.  But life is ever changing.  It may remove us from the bad situation or person but if we don’t consciously let go of what is holding us back then it will almost always come back to haunt us through a similar situation until we finally learn to let go.  Stuff like trying to compete or one up others or making others look bad so you look better...toxic shit.  It takes you away from your true authentic self because instead of trying to become a better version of yourself, you are basically trying to become a better version of someone else!  To break away you have to somehow get yourself into the mindset that your life will become better once you do things that are in line with your destiny.  Sometimes it takes an unexpected tragedy or turn of events to trigger you to finally wake up and realize your fuck ups which can eventually help you to learn and grow.  Once you hit that point you will have no interest looking back.  You “unlearn” these bad habits and slowly start to feel like yourself again but this time with the added bonus of all the strength and wisdom that you’re accumulated.🧘🏻‍♀️

Some New Stuff, Finally📿

Hello Everyone!  I hope you all had a great weekend.  I enjoyed my long Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  It was really nice to have the time off work to sleep in.  It gave me the energy to do A LOT of cleaning.  You know how sometimes when you are on roll and you can’t stop cleaning?  That was me all weekend!  I was able to (sorta) finish my scarf from the other day.  The problem was that I ran out of yarn so I had to extend it with a different color and it was still too short!  I was actually using scrap yarn so I wasn’t able to extend it with the exact match.  At least now I know approximately how much yarn to use. 

I FINALLY made some new stuff to add to my shop.  I have found that focusing on a theme or center point keeps me going.  This week I worked with one of my favorite stones & color turquoise.  It is also my birthstone.  Here are some of the bracelets I made.  The black beads are lava stone and can be used as an essential oil diffuser, the scent can last up to a whole day.  The red rose/yellow jade bracelet is inspired by Beauty & The Beast.  

I also made this Sagittarius necklace which is my astrological sign.♐️  I will be making one for each sign as it hits their season.  The metallic silver leather cord is adjustable.  I used a turquoise colored Swarovski crystal to represent its birthstone.

So there you have it, these will be available in my shop this week.  Hope to see you there!📿

Cleaning Up

Happy Friday🙋🏻‍♀️.  Today I spent a lot of time cleaning out and organizing my stash of beads, charms, crystals, etc. so that I can start making stuff.  I can’t believe how many things I found that I forgot I had!  I also bought some new crystals and gemstones yesterday.  

I am about a third way done with finishing a scarf.  I am getting really fast and developing a good rhythm.  It is starting to feel very therapeutic and is a great alternative to meditation if you are like me and cannot sit still for very long.  

I will be working on projects all weekend.  I go through phases of wanting to isolate myself to having a bunch of energy.  I am currently in isolation mode.  Next weekend I am going to a big yoga event that should be lots of fun.  TTYL!👩🏻‍💻

Happy Thanksgiving🦃

Hello everyone!🙋🏻‍♀️  Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.  I have a lot to be thankful for this year despite the 2 recent deaths in the family.  I have a loving and supportive family, a few close friends that I trust wholeheartedly, a job that is flexible and doesn’t suck the life out of me, a renewed beginning with my business, and an overall sense of positive energy for the future.  Sometimes it is necessary to go through hard times in order to appreciate the good things in your life.  I am still in grieving mode but it has only been a week and the holiday makes it even harder.  Mostly I have been thinking about what it is going to be like for us in the future now that a huge part of our life is gone.  This is a major shift that we haven’t really prepared for.  Like for instance, we took in both her cats so now we have 5 cats living with us!  One day at a time I guess.

We usually go over to my parents for Thanksgiving but my mom is in California right now to help plan for her sister’s funeral and doesn’t want us to have Thanksgiving at her house without her around.  None of my siblings or myself are able to host at our places on such short notice so we are all on our own this year.  Luckily my sister lives just down the street from my parents so she invited my Dad to join her family for dinner.  Then later we are all going Black Friday shopping.  I don’t have a problem with stores opening on Thanksgiving.  If people don’t like it then just don’t go.  For me it is more of a fun bonding day with my family rather than getting the cheap bargains.  

Much love to you all!🧡

Back in Business

Hello everyone!  Happy Thanksgiving week🦃.  I have good news to share for my project recap...I made another sale today.  My Romeo and Juliet charm necklace.  I am pretty confident now that coming back on here is driving traffic to my shop.  So far I have only been relisting some of my sold or expired items.  I think I am ready to start posting new stuff which I can start by making at least one new item a day.  

I haven’t done much knitting this past week because of the recent loss in my family.  Last night I found out that we lost another member, my aunt who was only 51😔.  I am getting better at the purl stitch.  I joined a knitting group on FB last week for some motivation and inspiration.  Until next time!💍

Happy Birthday Mom

Happy Birthday today to my Mom and also to one of my best friends Melanie.  Two of the strongest and smartest people I know whom I trust my life with completely.  They are true ultimate survivors that can withstand any situation that life throws at them and are seriously able to accomplish nearly the impossible.  Love you both!💚

To Feel or Not to Feel

Hello people🙋🏻‍♀️  I have decided to blog freestyle from now on with the exception of my weekly project recap.  I don’t like to limit myself and feel more comfortable talking about whatever is on my mind at the moment instead of coming up with topics to fit a theme.  Sometimes I jump too far ahead of myself.

**EDITED**  

I am going to refrain from talking about myself too much. 

Try it Tuesday-Monthly Subscription Boxes

So how many subscription boxes do you all subscribe to??  Chances are most of us subscribe to at least one.  They are so ultra popular nowadays that pretty much anyone can find one that suits their interest.  The nice thing about them is that you get to try things that you wouldn’t normally purchase and sometimes end up liking it.  And plus it really does feel like Christmas every time you get a new package in your mailbox.😍 The only downside is that you will end up with things you don’t like.  But I usually just give those away as gifts or sell them on Ebay.  So a win win right?  I currently subscribe to 4 “boxes”.  The first one I ever subscribed to was Ipsy about 3 years ago.  ($10.00/month, Ipsy.com) I think it is the best value for the money.  You get 5 sample or full size beauty products and a cute makeup bag.  I must admit that I like the bags more than the makeup sometimes because I really don’t wear that much makeup.  Here is what I got this month which I received today:

I love the makeup bag!  The only product I tried so far is the Bang Beauty lipgloss.  It is okay and has a nice vanilla scent, the color is alright.  I am most interested in trying Benefit’s “They’re Real” mascara.  Benefit is one of my favorite makeup brands.

The 2nd one I subscribe to is Facetory.  You get 4 Korean sheet masks a month @ $7.90/month (they also offer a 7 set package as an upgrade).  I am a total sheet mask addict!  I discovered the joy of sheet masks from a sample I got from...you guessed it Ipsy!  Sheet masks usually give my skin a nice healthy glow and keep it moisturized.  This month Facetory celebrates their 1 year anniversary.  Here is what I got:

Can’t wait to try the Sweet Lemon Candy Mask!🍭

The last one I am sharing today is BuddhiBox.  They offer different size options.  The one I subscribe to is $14.95 a month and always include at least a roll on essential oil and a raw healing stone, other samples included may vary.  Here is this month’s box:

The stone is a yellow fire stone and supposedly gives you a boost of self confidence.  The Hippie Homesteader “Vibrant” essential oil has a nice subtle spicy citrus scent.  I also love the Co-pur peppermint rosemary lip balm.  It goes on very nice and smooth and not waxy.  I really like everything I got in this month’s box.  Oh I almost forgot, they also give you a code for a 10 minute online guided meditation every month as well.

The last box I get each month is Bulubox.  I haven’t received this month’s box yet but it is a box they carries samples of healthy natural or organic goodies.  You get about 6 to 8 items that can be anything from snacks to beauty products.  This is the least expensive box, $5.95/month.  

That’s it.  My favorite box is the BuddhiBox but the only one that I use up all products is Facetory.  What are some of your favorites??🧚‍♀️

Project Recap Monday

Hello everyone!👋.  Hope everyone had a great weekend.  Mondays will be my project recap day and/or stuff related to my business.  Today I mailed out the bracelet I sold last Friday.  I always like to throw in a few extra goodies for my customers as a thank you.  Usually some loose charms, stickers, or pretty notecards.  For wholesale orders I like to include an extra item that is not part of the sale.  This gives them an idea of what else I offer and it keeps up good customer relations.

Last week I mentioned starting on the PURL stitch in knitting.  Well I pretty much suck at this!  It is the opposite image of the KNIT stitch so I found myself in utter confusion because I have a bad sense of direction.  I mean I can do it but it is going to take a lot of practice to get the hang of it.  My sense of direction sucks because I was born left handed but my parents didn’t think that was normal so I ended up being ambidextrous and use my right hand to write and my left hand for physical things like brushing my teeth/hair and using a knife.  I will continue to work on the purl stitch this week.

I have come up with a weekly theme to keep me focused:  Tuesdays I can review products, websites, or anything I’d like to share of interest.  I just got a couple of my monthly subscription boxes in the mail today that I can review.  Wednesdays I can talk about magical metaphysical supernatural psychic astrological stuff.  Thursdays I can post a quote or saying and share my thoughts or feelings about it.  Fridays I will leave open for whatever.  I probably won’t always blog every single one of those days but it is a guide I can follow.  Until next time!🧡

A Nice Surprise

I sold a bracelet on Etsy today.  Yay, what a nice surprise because I haven’t listed anything new recently and the last sale I made was back in June.  I take that as a sign that I’m on the right track.  Maybe activating my blog is generating more traffic or maybe it is just pure coincidence but whatever it is I am grateful.  

I think I am going to stick with Blogger instead of starting a new blog elsewhere.  It is better to stay consistent and if I blog enough my tags will eventually show up closer towards the top of the search results on Google and plus Blogger is powered by Google.  I forgot to add that Pinterest could also be another potential source of promotion.  I will be back on Monday or Tuesday.  Have a wonderful weekend!

So What’s Next?

Yesterday I went to the thrift store so that I can buy some extra yarn to practice on & got a bagful of these for only $1.99.  What a nice selection!  I have been practicing on the KNIT stitch all week and feel like I’ve got the hang of it.  One of the hardest things about knitting at least for me is hand coordination.  I still feel a bit clumsy.  This weekend I will be practicing on the PURL stitch.  After I get the hang of that then I will be able to create many things.  According to the experts there are 4 basic techniques that are essential in knitting: 

1.) Cast on: The first initial stitch to get you started 

2.) Knit stitch: One of the 2 major stitch patterns

3.) Purl stitch:  The other major stitch pattern

4.) Bind off: The last stitch to close up your knitting.

I am going to try & blog at least 3 times a week, no weekends.  I want to talk about more than just my projects though.  Maybe one of the days I’ll update on projects, then another day I can write up product reviews, then another day I can share my opinions on a topic.  I can talk about anything and everything!  I wish Blogger was more user friendly.  This platform is so outdated!  Links are not working and missing pics, it’s disturbing.  I’ve been writing mostly from my phone so maybe I’m limited to what I can do.  I wonder if the blog hops still exist?  When I get my Etsy shop running again I will probably open up an Instagram account for my business.  Not anytime soon though.  That is the only major platform I have not tried yet as a marketing tool.  I don’t think it was around back when I started. 

Thank you to everyone who reads my blog.  Have a great weekend!

Reflecting Thoughts

Yesterday I touched up on my business journey through the years.  As with anything in life there will always be highs and lows.  I think when things got busy especially during the bracelet years, it started to feel more like a job and I started to lose interest.  I didn’t feel like I was doing it for me anymore, like the creativity part of it was gone.  But I wouldn’t change a thing about my journey.  I’ve always had it in the back of my mind that I would come back when the time is right.  It was and will continue to be a great experience as I continue to grow & learn.  I am very proud of what I have accomplished and how I used my gut instincts to make most decisions.  It has definitely made me more confident in myself as I discovered many skills/talents I didn’t know I had.  And to this day it still makes me very happy when I make a sale.  It just amazes me that someone would want to wear something I made.  I’m not talking down on myself, it is more like a “thank you so much for liking something that I made!” type of feeling.  I mean there are literally thousands of people out there wearing or have worn something that I’ve made.  It’s like a part of me is with all these people and that’s cool as shit if you think about it.  

So next entry I would like to come up with some ideas I would like to focus on.  I’m still enjoying my knitting projects but not quite ready to dig back into jewelry yet but I definitely will eventually.  Until next time!

Years Gone By

Last post I mentioned that I would touch briefly on the 6 years I’ve been away. My 2nd year in business was definitely my most successful year.  By that time I was averaging 2 sales a week on Etsy in addition to participating in local craft fairs with both the local Etsy team & on my own.  I really enjoyed being part of the team and once a year a group of us would participate in a big festival held over here the Hyde Park Street Fair which I have participated in 3 times & always had such a blast.  Unfortunately the team disbanded in 2013 because our group leader opened up her own business and nobody was willing to take her place. We went our separate ways but some of us still keep in touch on FB.  I stopped blogging shortly after I opened up my FB business page because I was getting a lot more exposure over there and didn’t have much time to blog anymore. I had so much fun with my FB page but all the social interaction was a bit overwhelming at times.  I was doing giveaways and contests and meeting other crafters and we were all “liking” each other’s pages. It was a great way to make sales outside of Etsy and connect with potential customers and the added benefit of having the support of your family/friends there as well.  In addition to all of this I was doing wholesale bracelet orders for 3 yoga businesses out east. Chakra bracelets that they give to their students as incentives for joining their class.  By the end of the 2nd year my business practically became like a part time job.  I didn’t have as much motivation to post new items on Etsy anymore.  Instead I was mostly relisting items I’ve sold.  That same year I attended a Christmas party event with the local autism moms group and we had a white elephant gift exchange.  The girl that ended up with my bracelet loved it so much that she shared it with the autism moms FB group page and after that I was flooded with moms requesting to purchase one of my bracelets.  It helps that I was offering it to them for half of what I was selling it for on Etsy.  I never felt so popular in all my life!  The orders were steady for the next few months and I went on to donate some for autism charity events.  By the spring of 2013 I stopped creating new items on Etsy and basically became the bracelet lady because that was all I was ever selling anymore.  I also landed another business deal with an online autism store to sell some of my bracelets.  Nowadays I rarely get any orders on Etsy anymore and still get wholesale orders but also very rarely.  So that is where I am now.  Some closing thoughts in next post then time to move forward!  I didn’t know this published already!  It was supposed to still be in draft!  

I’m Back

Hello everyone!  I’m back on here after a 6 year absence.  I’ve been gone for so long that I don’t think anyone remembers me.  That is okay because I am pretty much starting over.  And honestly I don’t really know what I’m doing but I will figure it out as I head into this next chapter.  So much has happened in 6 years which I will touch on briefly in a future post.  But today I just want to announce that I am back for the time being.  This is a low key platform that I can document my progress at my own pace.  I want to add that my absence from my business has nothing to do with any bad experiences or lack of sales.  Almost everyone I’ve done business with as well as my family & friends have been great & extremely supportive.  It was just a combination of taking on more than I could handle and dealing with personal life challenges.  So the first thing I’ve decided to do is to focus on a project that will hold my interest long enough to get me back into the swing of things.  I chose knitting because I consider myself a beginner since there are still a lot of patterns I have yet to learn.  It also requires a lot of patience which is something that I struggle with a lot when I get frustrated.  Attached is a pic of what I started this past weekend.  It’s funny because none of this was planned, I just decided to buy some knitting stuff at the store last Friday and went along with it.  I am not much of a planner and tend to go with the flow with most things in life.  So that’s it for now.  I am going to finish off these 3 projects & then learn some new stitches.  I also need to clean up this page a bit & update any changes.  I don’t know why a lot of the pictures on my past posts are missing??  Until next time...