Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year

Success isn't a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.
~Arnold H. Glasow

It has been almost a year since I last blogged and what a busy year it has been! To catch all my readers up....

Lily Rose has become my full-time job and is keeping me super busy. In August, I quit my day job, started college (again) and became a full-time business owner. This has been an oppurtunity to expand my business into new creative territories, gain more business knowledge and meet other wonderful sellers.

I have set up a second shop called Lily Rose Home which features all of my home decor items like cozies, washcloths, wine bottle bags and more. Just in 1 month of the shop being up has been tremendously successful and the 2011 is looking to be successful year already!

In Lily Rose Originals, I have begun to feature my art work and ACEO's. I have big plans on expanded what I feature in this shop. This will include a woman's clothing line, more handbags and artwork. This is going to become my one of a kind shop.

In the upcoming year I plan on taking my shops to the next level and can't wait to get it all started! So keep coming back to read about my new items, successes and other featured Etsyans!


Tuesday, February 2, 2010

February Goals

Let me start by updating you for January... I didn't come even close to my goals but I did try to make my best attempt. I learned how much Life and God may have other plans for me that differ from the plans that I have made. I created a new item for my shop: Crochet Loop Scarf Cowl which has become so popular with my local customers that I got new 1 order every week in January! My daily listing and blogging fell very short but I will attempt to do better this month...

With that said here is my goals for February:
1. Have 50 items listed in my shop
2. Introduce my Crochet Leigh String Bag
3. Blog at least 3 times a week
4. Create a cool item for my Daily Sweeets February challenge which is CROCHET!!!
5. Continue to work on my Pattern Challenge

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Monthly Challenge ACEO

I love to draw and sketch and about 8 years ago I was introduced to charcoal sticks. Ever since then, I was amazed and mesmerized by the things I could create with charcoal sticks. As I became more comfortable with the charcoal, I began to add graphite to my charcoal creations. Well as you have heard me talk about my Daily Challenge group before, for the month of January we had the challenge of creating an ACEO. An ACEO is an art trading card that measures 2.5" x 3.5" and can be created with any medium.

Well the different mediums and designs throughout the group has been amazing. From paintings to sewn ACEO and everything in between, I really wanted to get out of my normal fiber comfort zone for this. Year ago, I used to draw pictures from photographs and add my own little uniqueness to it. So I decided to create my ACEO out of graphite, charcoal and a colored pencil from a picture of my boyfriend's cat wrapped up in my yarn. I was crocheting an afgan for his Christmas present but he had no idea it was for him so it allowed me to crochet in front of him! Well one night the cat came over and got herself completely tangled in the yarn and I took a cute picture of it. So here is my ACEO:

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Ophelia's Apothocary for a Relaxing Night In

I just had to share with my readers the wonderful bath items I just from Ophelia's Apothocary on Etsy. I started using the 3 in 1 (shampoo, body wash, bubble bath in 1) from Ophelia's many months ago and I have been hooked. Since my first purchase I have bought the sugar scrub, lotion, fragrance samplers and the 3 in 1. All were in different scents but I have completely fallen in LOVE with Lovespell. I think from now on I will only buy her products in that scent!

So last week I bought myself a 3 in 1 in Lovespell (of course!) and the Men's Line Bay Rum Foaming Shower Scrub for my Boyfriend (yes they sell for men too!). See a few months ago my boyfriend started using my 3 in 1 in the shower when I only had less than 1/4 bottle left and I nearly had a heart attack. I told him that it was off limits and bought a men's wash from Walmart. Well he wasn't happy with that so I am going to surprise him with his very own Ophelia's bottle!

The shop is filled with everything from lip balm to bath items for Men, Women and Babies! So check out Ophelia's Apothecary on Etsy.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Crochet Cowl Project plus Incomplete Project

Well last week I blogged about how I was looking to complete my 1000s of patterns but as the unexpected usually pops up in my life it roared its ugly head again....

I had every intention of starting that great looking cable knit scarf with pockets pattern Thursday evening except on my way to my day job that day my car died. Literally, as I was pulling into the bank parking lot the power to my car died and I was stranded. Lucky for me a co-worker picked me up and my wonderful boyfriend paid for the towing and mechanic to fix it which is ironic since he is a mechanic! (Kinda like the shoemaker's kids not getting any shoes!!!) This also meant that I was stranded at my boyfriend's house from Thursday until my car was picked up today (Monday) with no pattern but I did have yarn! (what girl leaves home without yarn in her bag?)

So this is what I was working on for the weekend:
Crochet Loop Scarf Cowl
I had made myself a Crochet Loop Scarf Cowl about a month ago and have gotten tons and tons of compliments on it plus I absolutely love it! It is warm and the yarn I used is so soft and comfortable. I have even gotten a request for the pattern. So I am using the pattern I created to make my Crochet Loop Scarf Cowls to sell in my shop. The one in the picture is modeled by my adorable sister and is available for sale in my shop now!



Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Time to Tackle my Patterns

1000s of Patterns are taking over my space! As a knitter, crocheter or sewer you know exactly what that sentence just said. I literally have 1000s of patterns to create many wonderful items sitting in drawers, baskets, bags or wherever I could find a space to put them and now is the time for me to actually put them to work...

So this is my challenge to myself:
Every Thursday I will pick a new pattern to create and debut the finished product on Monday's blog. I picked Thursdays and Mondays because it gives me the weekend to work on the project which when I have the most free time. This is exciting for me because I can try my hand at something new and change up my life a little bit!

The new Pattern for today is:
A Cabled Scarf with Pockets

I found this Pattern at Michael's and thought that the pockets would be a great addition to a scarf. I have yet to do a cable stitch but the pattern is Basic so I think I should do ok. I can't wait to show you my finished product on Monday!

Wordless Wednesday


Serene