An Amazing Giveaway!

These Lovebirds are going to be GIVEN away, crazy- i know! I want to win them, but I'm spreading the word so more people have a chance, as well. All you have to do is go to her blog:
sixtyoneA
Become a follower, write a comment & post on your blog about the giveaway- and you will be entered in the giveaway 3 times! (fingers crossed)

Business and Busy-ness

In the past few months, I have been slammed with work! Those who know me, realize that this is my favorite mode to be in. I love to have projects to do and I thrive on new ideas! Most of my focus has been on my day job (Revolve Clothing Exchange) lately, and I miss having time to make jewelry for SuperFantastic!, but I am grateful for the opportunities that I've had. I count myself very lucky to be able to enjoy what I do every day. Not too many people can say that they actually LOVE going to work!

I made my small screen debut a few weeks ago on the local news! Fox13 Tampa Bay showed up at the shop one day (out of the blue) for an interview! I was nervous, but I think the little piece came out well. They wanted to know more about the concept of Revolve, and I was excited to get the word out! Click the link to see our news story!

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/staying-trendy-in-tough-economy-040210

On April 10th, Revolve participated in the 4th Annual Heart Show. The heart show is an evening of hair, art & fashion hosted by Tribeca Color Salon to raise money for the James Anthony Ray Sadler Scholarship. This scholarship is designed to put new high school graduates through cosmetology school. My boss let me take charge of coordinating our role in the show, and it was a blast! I love to organize events & parties!


This is one of the photos from the show! For all of you ANTM fans, you might recognize Mollie Sue. She is from Tampa, and is a close friend of the stylist who produced the fashion show. Ben Chmura, from the current season of Project Runway, served as one of the judges for the hair design competition, too.





So, for now, the excitement is over. I'm back into my normal routine at work and at home, so I will have more time to work on my own business soon. Be prepared for many more blog posts, and photos of new jewelry designs.

I'm so thankful to be able to enjoy my life. It may not be perfect, but at least I have the ability to see the wonder & beauty in it's flaws.

GIVEAWAY!

I have reached (and exceeded) 100 Facebook Fans! I'm offering a giveaway to say thanks to all of my fans. All you have to do to enter is become a fan of my page on facebook and comment on the album titled GIVEAWAY! There is a link to my facebook page on the right side of this page. Here's a photo of the necklace that's up for grabs!

new obsessions

Today, a harmless looking box arrived in my mailbox. It was deceptively simple in it's design, but contained objects that I was destined to be addicted to. This box came from an etsy shop called whimsy&spice. http://www.etsy.com/shop/whimsyandspice



I ordered a marshmallow sampler of chocolate, maple & caramel. I had been curious about this trend of home made marshmallows for quite some time, and after careful consideration of feedback & price comparison, I chose to order from whimsy&spice. They had the most consistent feedback of all of the etsy shops that I found.



While I was in their shop, I also decided to buy the coconut 5 spice white chocolate cookies. OMG. I may eat all of it before the day is over.

The marshmallows taste amazing, like what every packaged marshmallow wishes it could taste like! My favorite flavor is the chocolate. They are like little squishy pillows of cocoa goodness. The caramel flavor takes a little getting used to, it's not my favorite. It does taste pretty good melting in my coffee, though. The maple marshmallows are delicious, as well- but I recommend cutting them into smaller pieces as they're very sweet. My next order will include cardamom marshmallows because I'm intriqued. I like cardamom in my yogurt fruit dip, so I might try a fruit salad with them.

We have now arrived at the coconut 5 spice white chocolate cookies. They are complex, spicy, sweet, crunchy and absolutely scrumptious. They will probably be my go-to gift for every occasion from now on. Amazing. And they all came in very simple, beautiful packaging- perfect for gifting. Every product had perfect texture & freshness, too.

I give whimsy&spice 2 very enthusiastic thumbs up!

working

I have been working hard! Between trying to make my Etsy shop successful, working at Revolve & trying to take care of my animals- I have barely had time to sleep! I am training 2 new employees, so work has been a little draining. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but it's hard to have to be "on" all the time. These first couple of weeks with new employees are stressful because I feel like I can't forget anything & I have to be perfect all the time. I really like the girls that I hired, though- and they are learning super fast. I love the possibilities that come with fresh starts, it's exhilarating!

On top of my job at Revolve, I have been trying to network like crazy for my Etsy shop. Making jewelry is something I truly enjoy, so I would really like to have it become a source of income in the future. Does anyone have any good ideas on how to increase my sales? I appreciate any advice you guys have!

promotions!

I'd really like to expand my customer base and gain more followers, but I'm pretty new to blogging. I'm not sure how to grab people's attention yet. I see that a lot of people do giveaways to gain more readers/customers, but I'm not sure how to execute a giveaway. So, I'm reaching out to you guys for some ideas.
1. What do you think would be a good way to showcase my work?
2. If I decide to do a giveaway, what should I give away? (you can see all of my work by clicking the link to my etsy page to the left of this page)
3. What is the most fair way to decide the winner of a giveaway?

I would appreciate any advice you guys have to give! Growing my little business is important to me, however I am limited on time & funds. I thank you for your time!

Inspirations

For most of my jewelry, I am inspired by the beauty of nature and the colors of spring & summer. This is probably due to the fact that I was born and raised in beautiful, sunny, Florida. I love to surround myself with things that remind me of my favorite times. So- even if I'm stuck inside all day, I can bring nature with me! What's your inspiration?