AFTER CHRISTMAS SALE

The Evolution of my Packaging

Packaging.  As a consumer (and shop owner) on Etsy..presentation is EVERYTHING to me.  I cannot stand when someone has a fabulous product..but just slaps it in a organza bag and sends it off.  To me, when I purchase something on Etsy..I expect an experience.  When I look at a shop and their items, I want them to present them in a way that really represents what kind of shop they are and shows how much they care.

I'll have to admit...I have never been happy with my packaging.  I have always been back and forth and testing many waters to see what I like and what is more appealing.  This happened A LOT when I was MementoMoriShop and has gotten worse as I am growing with LitBotanica.  One thing about switching my focus to the paper flowers was that I was always afraid of packaging them with out them getting crushed.  The LAST thing I wanted was for someone to get their flower all disfigured.  It's so easy with beaded jewelry..They are tough and I don't have to think about it much..  The flowers are so delicate though! And I was growing bored of the kraft boxes.  I wanted something that would stand out and that would be appealing to the shopper. Old MementoMoriShop packagings:

^----When I first opened my shop

^---I was really loving these bags for a long time

^----Kraft Boxes..

I had found some tins with see through tops in the bridal section that I thought would be a good size for them.  They were pretty pricey though but adorable. I had to make sure I went in with a coupon to buy them! When I was running low on those, I experimented with some little favor boxes(from the bridal area again) that you assemble..so I tried that. When I had twelve orders in a row to do...it became too much. Too much time spent putting the boxes together when I could be working on the next orders.  

^----Tin Style

Thought at one point I would go back to bags...

^----Complicated Assembled Box

So, after many fights with myself I decided to surrender and order the kraft boxes again.  I told myself though, if I am..I'm going to take time and find an efficient and cool way to decorate them.  I settled on going to moo.com to create stickers to put on the top of them.  I really like the way they turned out.  BUT..I ordered them a couple of weeks ago and since then I have had to figure out a way to decorate them until they arrive. Problem is...I have really grown to like what I do now ^.^;;;   I am much happier with the way the boxes look and I think they add a delightful touch! So we'll see what I end up doing in the end. 

I suppose it'll be like anything. Ever evolving. :)

-Angelica

-

Change is a comin..

So October 18th Etsy has decided to give shops the opportunity to change the name of their shop.

Which is a pretty big deal.

I've done a lot of thinking and I've decided to take advantage of the change.

That's right.  MementoMoriShop's name will be changing.  Along with the name change I will also be putting more energy into a specific medium rather then being all over the place.

It took a lot of thought but I know I've generally been displeased with the name and the broadness of it.  I've gotten quite a lot of compliments on MementoMoriShop's name, the focus being "Memento Mori : Remember Your Mortality" and though I am extremely fond of the meaning behind it, I don't feel an ownership over it.  It's used all over the place and I wanted my shop to be my own creation.

I had the new name picked out and in fact, I had saved it a couple of months ago on Etsy just in case Etsy would ever have made a decision like this.  UNFORTUNATELY I kind of screwed myself over being that you can't ever really close an account out permanently...and in order for you to take that name..it has to be free.

SO...I am going to play the waiting game and hope that the admins figure out a way for me (and apparently other shop owners hehe) to be able to either close the second shop down indefinitely (with the name that we saved for ourselves) or be able to merge.  But I have definitely made up my mind that the change is going to happen regardless. If it turns out in the end that I won't be able to do those options..I'm going to start making arrangements to move things over and take my losses with my reviews and "items sold". It's crappy..but it's what I want to do.

In the meantime, I will wait and explain where else my head has been...

The past couple of weeks I've been doing some personal "soul searching" with my creativity and trying to figure out the direction I want to take it so I actually feel fulfilled. I've come up with a pretty good game plan and this new shop name/medium will be something for me to work on and keep my creative juices flowing while I continue to research what I REALLY want to do with my life...which is jewelry casting (which I am now calling..the "Bigger Picture" for now ;) ).

I love the concept of coming up with a design, sketching it out...and having it physically in your hand for others to enjoy.  I want do fairy tale & mythology pieces since that is where my passion lies.

I have been watching videos and ordering books and even pulled out my neglected drawing pad and started doodling ideas.

With this jewelry casting I would love to design my own website for it rather than depending on Etsy. But those are things that'll be later down the road.

The money I make on any jewelry sold under my new Etsy shop name will be put towards saving up for supplies for the "bigger picture".

Anyways, I just thought I would put that out there since that is what has been running through my mind all week.  I will announce the new shop name once I am sure that I will be able to change it or I will get a definite answer from Etsy on whether or not they are going to be able to do so.

Thanks for any and all support y'all :)

-Angelica

Venturing into the unknown and solving problems while at it!

A bit more dramatic than it really is ^.^;;

BUT!

Man I've been up to a lot since I've last posted.  I'm definitely happy I added the finishing touched to the Simply Dainty series..cause I really wanted to focus my attention on my LitBotanica line.  The biggest thing that was bothering me about it and was causing me dread to work on them...as silly as it sounds, was actually making them. Oh, the process is super, super easy..BUT the color application was driving me insane!

Not only was I not happy with the confidence that the color would stick and stay, but like I said...actually applying it was an issue for me.

Now..lemme explain.

I'm pretty weird. And by pretty weird..I mean like, really pretty weird.  There are just certain feelings/sounds people can't stand, right?  Say for instance...nails on a chalk board. Well..the FEELING of the little bitty cotton ball with the chalk on it (and I'm completely serious when I say I even have a hard time typing this without freaking the crap out) actually touching the paper just make this awful, terrible feeling that would make my skin crawl.  I literally had to close my eyes and apply it as fast as I could (also hoping that I was actually hitting the paper) just so I didn't have to think about / deal with / listen to the sound of the cotton rubbing against the paper.

It really sucks to get really excited about a sale..and then see it be a colored paper flower and completely dread making it. How whack does that sound!? Super whack.

So besides that super weird problem, I was also trying to brainstorm ideas for additions to the LitBotanica line.  I believe it's my most unique line and I know that is something I should be taking advantage of. So! I had already known in the back of my mind that I wanted to make some sort of brooch (I was also brainstorming ideas for gifts for co workers ;) ) and earlier a friend suggested a pendant.  I had wanted to do the pendant for a while..but I kind of avoided it the same way I avoid doing the laundry. :)  I also was really at a loss as to how I would go about doing it.

So...I honkered down at Michael's for a few hours and browsed every single aisle looking at almost every single medium for art there was, thinking "could i apply this to: color application crisis, brooch materials, and/or how the heck am I going to make a necklace situation".

Needless to say, three hours later..I solved all three issues!!! My happiest one had to be the color issue. After I experimented with the new medium for a little while I was safe to tell myself I can replace the chalks permanently! WOOHOO!

My new medium:

The brooch and necklace kind of flowed together and inspired the other.  Once I found the solution for the brooch, I dove in deeper and found the solution little by little to the necklace challenge!

I sat myself down in front of the TV for a couple of episodes of Dead Like Me and got to work on the projects and they turned out AWESOME! I am so completely pleased with them!

Those listings can be found here for those interested!
Poppy Brooch * Flower Pendant

Anyways! I'm looking forward to adding more options to these lines!

September I was going to have a 20% off sale on my LitBotanica line. We'll see. I also have to prepare for my Outrageous Orange Treasury! :)  Decided to switch them to monthly so I don't overload myself too much! Tho..now that I'm thinking about it..it would probably be best for October huh? Eh, we'll see. :)

I'm off! Gunna go watch more Dead Like Me! :)

Peace as always!

The "simply dainty" series is complete!

I recently had a couple of orders for bridesmaids gifts..and it forced me to finally finish off the collection with the few beads I had been holding onto!

Enjoy!

:)

Blog Make over!

BUH! I've been neglecting my poor blog. Maybe because I wasn't satisfied with the way the color scheme looked. I was kind of in a rut and didn't know what I wanted the overall theme to look like.   My cousins wife recently opened up her blog for her etsy and she did a beautiful job! It made me cranky that mine looked like poop! So I finally sat down..opened Photoshop and stared at it for a good 15 mins thinking about a "feeling". Eventually it came and I came up with this! VERY satisfied! :) I feel excited to start using this again. Tomorrow is Tuesday..and I will be doing my Treasury Tuesday : Radical Red treasury I have been putting off for too long. I have a couple of orders to complete...with a new idea for packaging and a possible extra treat to send off. We'll see how they turn out. I'll definitely post more tomorrow! Or....later ..being that it's ALMOST 5AM! Sheesh!

Off to bed! :)

<3
Angel

New Medium

I've been thinking lately of trying a new medium of art! Polymer clay! My friend Katrina sounds like she has so much fun with it and she's right..the possibilities are endless! Just need to start putting money and ideas aside.  I've been reading up on tips and want to start prepping my work area for a new set of tools to play with. :)

Some inspirations:

                  Flowers!

:) Ta-ta for now!

-Angel

Tuesday Treasury : Precious Pink : Rainbow Treasury Collection

Oh my! I'm a day late! I apologize! But I've finally made my Precious Pink treasury!
Here are some of the items I have included!

The first pick I had saved in my favorites and was ready to use! I am a huge fan of Origami and I loved the example of using them as decoration at the dinner table. (adding it to my things I would love to have at my wedding! :D )  I have always loved the Lotus flower and thought this was a beautiful addition to the collection. :) Check out more paper flowers here: Fish and Lotus Item: Origami Lotus Flower Decoration

Vintage and Sweet all in one necklace!  I imagined walking into an antique store and seeing this out of the corner of my eye and knowing I found a little treasure! I loved the presentation of this piece! Also had to show some love for San Antonio sellers and this necklace fit perfectly with the "feel" I was going for in this treasury. Look here for my vintage feel jewelry: PrincipessaJewels Item: Darling Daisy Vintage Jewel Necklace

I needed something light hearted and fun in my treasury and I knew exactly where to go! My friend Katrina just opened her Etsy shop and I wanted to show her some support by including my personal favorite pair in her shop. Happy bombs! All of her items are hand sculpted and make adorable gifts for any occasion (she even has an option for unpierced ears)! Check out more too-cute-for-words pieces : PixieHearts Item: Adorable Bomb Stud Earrings

I have never ever looked at a soap that made my stomach growl! Until today!  The description "You wont want to wash with anything else once you feel your skin after using this tasty soap" made me insanely hungry after reading it! I started looking at them like tasty treats!  These soaps are adorable and I can only imagine what they smell like! PLUS they are vegan and cruelty free! A definite bonus in my book as a vegan! Check out the rest of her insanely sweet shop here : Frosted Crossbones Item: Strawberry Shortcake Floap

I found the perfect petite ring to make any friend receiving it guaranteed to feel like a princess!  I am a huge ring fan and I searched for something that wasn't too overwhelming and found this piece from 3 Rexes Jewelry. Their items always remind me of a fairy tale! I love it! Their style is so unique and their optional box adds a perfect touch! Check out more enchanting pieces here:3RexesJewelry Item: Pink Pixie Friendship Ring

Another addition to my treasury that just went perfectly with the feel I was going for!  I think this pair of earrings would be great for a fancy night out or the "go-to" pair to make an outfit just right!  I love the combination of pink and copper! Very classy and elegant! Check out more of her shop for more pieces like this *and* handmade beads here : BeadyMonkey Item: Little Lorraine Pink Drop Earrings

So I decided to pounce and look for a shop that hadn't yet had a sale and I came across this little gem!  There were so many pieces I wanted to use! It was so hard to pick!  This ended up being my favorite!  These bobby pins have such a classy lady-like look to them! I can imagine them making an appearance in a beautiful updo. :)  It was a real treat getting to include these in my treasury and I had to Favorite so I could feature more in future treasuries.  Check out more honestly fantastic pieces that deserve a look here: MountainOfDreams Item: Floral Brass Bobby Pins

I completely admire those in the photography field! And when a shot is presented well with a mix of black and white and color it is instantly a favorite! I was looking for a piece of art that included pink but didn't over power anything.  This spoke loud and clear!  It had a perfectly delicate amount of pink and the flower is absolutely beautiful!  Check out more fantastic photos here: PixelGallery Item: Bleeding Heart colorized print

You don't have to be a boy to play with Legos! A perfect addition to any girl geeks collection. This pair of earrings is made from pretty pink legos! Super simplistic and fun. Definitely a great gift for those looking for a blast from the past. This seller has a shop full of fun Lego jewelry.  Check out the fun collection here: NerdyApples Item: Pink Lego Earrings

San Antonio has such unpredictable weather!  It may be summer time but we get the occasional cold front here and sometimes you just want something light and pretty and this scarf is perfect for that.  I also often wear black and am constantly looking for a good splash of color.  Her shop is full of great scarves that could be used for that exact purpose!  They look super comfy and are very simple!
Look here for a wide variety of colorful and simplistic scarves: WhiteRabbit7 Item:Raspberry Light Weight Cotton Jersey Scarf

 

It's hard not to fall in love with these earrings!  They have such a charm about them!  I myself have never danced but I can only imagine any memories that these bring for those who do!  It was a delight to add these to the treasury and have them meld well with everything!  Check out more delightful and unique pieces here: redheart13 Item: Ballet Enchantment Earrings

One of my close friends is getting ready to have a baby girl and so I was inspired to add something that I could add to my "SHE HAS TO HAVE THAT!" list.  I ran into this completely adorable piece while looking for baby hat and was too cute not to add.  I love how they look like little elf hats! I think every baby should have an elf hat.. Check out this shop for more hand knitted hats here: LittleKnitLovey Item: Little Elf Knit Baby Hat

I have been obsessed with Steampunk pieces lately.  So much that I've been looking into adding them to my shop!  I could spend HOURS looking at steam punk items on Etsy and this one caught my eye immediantly. I recently found this shop and have added a ton of pieces to my Xmas Shopping list!  I thought the image added to this piece was a great touch!  This is definitely one of the more unique pieces of steampunk art I've seen.  A lovely and fun addition to "Precious Pink"! Look here for AWESOME altered art Cuffs!: JezebelCharms Item: Victoriana Butterfly With Goggles

I'm going to be honestly with you guys, I'm going to have a really  hard time not including this shop in EVERY color of the "Rainbow" Collection Treasuries.  I love every piece from this shop and it's always hard to pick just ONE to feature. ANYWAYS!  This necklace in infused with pink goodness! I love anything shiny and I think this one would be hard to miss! All in all this shop is one of my top favorites. Look here for crystals in all colors of the rainbow: Item: GlitzGlitter Item: Swarovski Bordeaux Leaf Antiqued Brass Necklace

Okay, okay. This particular piece may just have a pink background, but I wanted to include them because I love their work!  I have personally bought a mala from this shop and was super happy with it!  It's really is hard to pick just one to purchase since they are all beautiful! Look here for a wide variety for gorgeous malas (they have pink too!): compassionmalas Item: Tiger Ebony Wood Meditation Mala

Last and certainly not least, the wonderful Isabella!!  I love any Day of the Dead like art and this lady is so pretty!  It's was hard to choose which one to use for the treasury because they were all so cool! This one indeed turned out to be my favorite!  Check out more awesomely beautiful skull ladies AND handmade jewelry here: Photocurio Item: Isabella Print











And that's it folks! I hope y'all enjoyed this awesome collection of artists!  Support and spread the word about these amazing artists!

Next Tuesday's treasury will be Red! :D

-Angel

Rainbows!

I've got rainbows on the brain!!

I suppose it's because I was recently put in this amazing treasury-
RAINBOW TREASURY!

Anyways, I've decided I'm going to do a treasury every Tuesday with each color of the rainbow. Tomorrow I shall start off with Pink! :D

I'd like to start setting up a schedule for myself to keep up on all my social networking shtuff.  I just have to start getting into the groove of it. :)  I recently got my Texas Sales and Tax Permit! Woot! That means it's time to buckle up and get this thing really going.

Angel

Quest for a new logo.

So! Long time no blog!  I've been feeling down in the dumps lately.  My allergies have been crazy and I feel like I have a pain in between my ears and back teeth.  It's crazy.
Anyways! I was having a particularly stressful day at work and decided to change my banner out for my shop.  I put on my dubstep playlist and get to work! It never fails to calm me down.  I get into a zone when I design them.   They are so much fun! I especially love it when I have lots of fun fonts to play with as well as new pictures I've recently taken for products.  Here's my finished result:

I'm pretty happy with it!  I had been thinking all week about how much I wanted to create a little logo for my shop.  I've seen lots of other shops create logos and put them as a watermark in the corner of their pictures.  I may be part of the minority...but I absolutely love that.  I have no idea why.  Maybe because it feels like that is the essence and feel of the shop I'm looking at.  You can tell a lot about the style and subject matter of a logo!  (Gosh..maybe I should have gone to school for graphic design or advertising! lol)  I wanted to incorporate M.M.S in the logo but I wasn't sure how. All I know, is that I wanted to do it.  I looked at the font that I used the banner for really loved the Ms.  I thought they were so gothic and beautiful and had the essence of what I wanted my shop to feel like.  I dunno..I think I might have described it kind of weird..but I think you know what I'm getting at. :)
So I started off with this:

Which I absolutely fell in love with.  It took some rearranging and constant resizing..but I think it worked out great! I even tested it out on some of my new photos! (Oh yeah...totally forgot to blog that I added a TON of new skull earrings from all the howlite skulls I had been stashing away like a squirrel!  They all have the 'simply dainty' theme ((since those have proven to be the more popular choice in my shop)) ) Anyways, I thought that was awesome. I was playing with it some more and added etsy to the bottom and was then..SUPER STOKED.  It totally looked like a skull! So that made me super happy.  Cause that's kind of the main theme to my shop are the skulls.  I had been trying to come up with something to make Moo stickers out of to stick on my boxes as I mail them out.  I think they are going to be great.  

What I would love to find is someone that could make a rubber stamp out of it so I could stamp my envelopes. :)

Anways, I can feel my headache growing. I have the day off tomorrow..I think I'm going to push myself to actually start my author portrait.  We'll see. 

Till then!

Angel

Paper Flower Rings

I had always thought about using recycled book paper for SOMETHING (I work in a used/new bookstore  ) and it all came to me when I passed by a book about paper quilling. They had quilled paper into a flower and I thought it looked adorable. Needless to say, I could never get quilling down, so I experimented with punches and chalk colors and came up with these! I love them cause I am able to add a little sparkle to them.  This one in particular is my most popular flower yet! 

More to come!


-Angel

Small Break.

I'm put my shop in vacation mode while I waited for all my official paper work to come in.  It's a little scary taking that step to become official because I didn't think it would be anything more than just a little side hobby.  Getting my sales tax permit and Assumed Name Certificate will make my etsy shop an official business and I've got to start actually keeping track of everything...as I probably should have anyways. ^_^''' I think I need a good (cheap) piece of software that will help me to keep track of my finances and such.

For now, I'm working on new pieces to have when I reopen my shop.  I have a couple of good ideas. Just little things to fill my shop out and add variety.  I'm really digging steam punk jewelry and am contemplating adding some rings to my shop.  I love, looooooove clocks and watches and it only makes sense to add some fun rings.  I wanna give it an awesome name about Found Artifacts of Something..but I haven't quite figured out what yet. :) I also am trying to brainstorm on ideas to make mine just a little bit different from all the amazing pieces out there.

I also assembled a necklace for a girlfriend that is going to recently have a baby. Thought it would be a sweet addition as well :)

I have made some animal stencils that I wanted to create Animal Pop art to sell in my shop too..with part of the proceeds going to Mercy for Animals. :) But we'll see.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to adding more to my shop and to making it an official side business. :)

-Angel

New Blog for my Shop!

Why not?!
Finally it's up! A blog all for news related to my etsy shop!

Memento Mori Shop

I was thinking of also doing shop spot lights for shops that I have found and love!

First a little bit about myself..

My name is Angel, short for Angelica and I'm 25 years old and currently living in San Antonio, Texas.  I was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona and spent some time as a youngster in Orem, Utah.  I am the oldest of six children in my family and I live a couple of miles from my mom who cares for my younger brother who has Autism.  Growing up I always wanted to be a writer.  My first story was a super awesome vampire story.  I think I was like...six when I wrote it. hehehe.

I moved to San Antonio, Texas about three years ago to follow my mom who had moved here for a better position for the company we work for.  (We both work for a used/new bookstore.) My boyfriend along with our cat, lizard and snake followed six months later.  I really have fallen in love with San Antonio! The people are so nice here!
  Hmm, what else? I'm a Buddhist vegan that has a strong passion for animal welfare and I absolutely love video games (guilty pleasure:World of Warcraft).  I love collecting books and love movies and music.  I have three cats (Donut, Tex and Grif ((extra credit if you know where their names come from ;) )) ), one Savannah Monitor (Kovax), one Ball Python (Oz) and two carpet sharks (Snicklefritz & Chubbs "Captain Crunch" McGee) and one 20 year old brother (Cody).  I've been with the love of my life for six years and counting.(Daniel)

 I had been playing with beads making small bracelets and occasionally something special requested by friends and family members.  My Auntie (Sweet Baboux) actually opened me up to the world of beading when I was 14 or 15.  She always made amazing pieces and it only made sense to me to make things that sparkle and look pretty. :)

I had always wanted to make things and sell them but the thought of putting my stuff out there and being judged was intimidating.  Plus, I really didn't know where to begin.  So I just continued to create for myself, collecting ideas for my "shop".  I have so many notebooks full of brainstorming and when it comes time for me to spring clean I just can't bring myself to throwing any of them away.

Anyways, my cousins wife had posted on her facebook about her Etsy shop. (Spiral Finch) I was so amazed at her creations and the fact that she had her own spot on the internet to share with others her personality and art.  I started to read A LOT into making an shop and start planning out my own.  I brain stormed for my shop name and style FOREVER it felt like..until I finally put my foot down.

My shop in the beginning was nothing but skull earrings.  Little metal skull earrings paired with shiny beats. :)  Then I found some howlite skull beads at a local bead store right down the street in a little shopping center called Artisans Alley.  The Store is called Originals beads.  I've found so many amazing bead there that have certainly been popular in my shop!
Anyways, I kinda wanted to keep a Day of the Dead theme to my shop...but the creator in me wanted to add more!  I planned on opening a second etsy shop for book related gifts..it was called "Hootie's Book Goodies" It would have magnets, book purses, magazine totes, little owl cell phone charms, author portraits, and so on.  Well, while I was on my quest to start gathering materials for the book purses (I started collecting books I wanted to use for the purses for almost 5 years now! Sheesh.) I couldn't for the life of me figure out how I wanted to recycle the pages.  WELL! I ran into this book at my store :

And I was flipping through it and they had made really cute flowers!  Well, I'm not very good at the whole quilling thing but I REALLY wanted to make paper flower jewelry..so I made it work! And they are super fun to make.

I thought I would make these rings and show case them in my mementomorishop shop to see how people responded to them.  They are doing great so far! So flower earrings and rings were added. :)

I don't know when or if Hootie's will ever open..but it's saved for when I want to dive into something else.

So! My Memento Mori shop opened June 19 2010 and currently has 86 sales! It definitely grown into way more than it was suppose to and with my one year anniversary coming up, I have been considering to actually making it a legit business instead of just a hobby that I make a little money off of. That is pretty intimidating in itself!

I'm going to post as often as I can on this and try and find others that have blogs to read. Kinda hard to figure out where to start...but I'm sure I'll get there!

Peace out for now!

Angel.