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