Terra Sol Creations

Happy New Year!!

2010-12-31T09:14:00.000-08:00

First off I just want to say that this post was taken from my other blog that I started a couple months ago. So if you follow both I apologize. If you are interested in checking out my other blog it is

http://alexarthritis.blogspot.com/

It is a blog I started for my daughter who has just been diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis. It also deals more with my family and personal life. Please add it to your favorites and stop by and say hi sometime!

Happy New Year! I know my last post was about how crummy last year was so I wanted to write about what I am most looking forward to in 2011. I am not one to make New Years Resolutions because honestly I am afraid of failure. So this year I have come up with intentions. I feel with a little faith and determination I will succeed.

1. Be Thankful! We truly have so much to be thankful for. We live in a beautiful city and state. We both have great jobs that we love! We are still happily married. We love our kids! We are blessed by a wonderful church that continues to strengthen our faith and teach our kids what it's all about! My parents live close by and love us so much...and we love them too!! Our kids go to great schools and have wonderful friends. I have this blog to connect with other families out there! I could go on forever!

2. Save Money! A few of our struggles this year were due to finances. I vow to spend less this year than last. To always use coupons! To think twice about mindless purchases. To work more and learn new things. To sell what we no longer use or donate to those who really need it. To make more meals at home. And most importantly set a monthly budget and save save save!

3. Play More! This kinda goes along with #2. Playing is free, its fun, its exercise, its relationship building, its skill learning and oh yeah fun!!! One of my fondest memories growing up was sitting around my Aunt Anne's dining room table playing games. We would stay up so late, just laughing, talking, bonding all while playing! I hope to do more of that with my kids and friends and family.

4. Strengthen My Faith I would love to join our small group bible study program at our church. I also want to implement a family bible study. We have done it here and there but when things get busy we let it slide. If anyone has a program they follow I would love to know.

Well, I think that will do it. What are your resolutions this year? Try setting intentions instead. That way it is something you can truly work on all year! If you have any good ones leave them in the comment section!

Happy New Year!!! 2011!!!

2010-04-03T19:34:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!!

Neglected

2010-03-18T10:20:00.000-07:00

My poor blog has been hanging out in the atmosphere just waiting for my visit! Well, here I am! Finally!!

Sorry for my absences all you 13 readers you! Most of you know I have been gone due to being oh so busy! 2010 has been crazy! So far this year I have had shoulder surgery and attended about 20 physical therapy appointments, Ben tore his Achilles, each of my children have missed about 3 days of school due to mysterious ailments...just fevers..., we celebrated 4 birthdays, had a lovely Valentines Day, had 5 girl scouts meetings, sold 149 boxes of cookies, studied for 27 spelling tests, had two soccer practices and three guitar lessons.

So, no new jewelry has been made. Correction, I keep making pieces and end up keeping them. I am currently working on a custom order for someone using sea shells sent to me from Hawaii and hemp twine. I also made some best friends necklaces for my daughter and her friend. So things are good. Still having fun and that's what matters!

I'm off...have a great one...whatever that may be!

Tis'The Season....

2009-11-03T10:56:00.000-08:00

Well, even though it is only November the holidays are officially here! The Halloween decorations are still up and probably will stay there for at least a few more days but our minds have already turned to the coming season.
This Sundays paper brought the Toys R Us Wish book and many other store ads all filled with holiday wonder!

I am hoping that this year will be different for many of us. I hope to buy or make many homemade gifts. There are so many Americans struggling this year and we can all help eachother out by buying handmade and made is USA products. Really try extra hard this year to look for items like these.

To help others out there I am offering Layaway in my etsy shop plus free shipping on layway orders. It is so simple to do. Simply pick out which items you would like to purchase in my shop and let me know. I will them take them out of my shop and send you an invoice through pay pal for at lease 20% of the total due. You can then make payments to pay off the balance. How quickly it is paid off is really up to you. You can make a weekly, biweekly or monthly paymenst. Once your balance is paid in full I will send you your items. I will even do holiday gift wrapping free of charge. So, what are you waiting for...get shopping!!

Call of the Ocean

2009-10-14T19:55:00.000-07:00

Growing up in San Diego is like living in paradise. It is always the perfect temperature, always sunny, full of beautiful people and who could forget...the beach!
I grew up spending my summers at the beach. My brother surfed and I mostly hung out in the waves boogie boarding. I regret never learning to surf. I am guilty of taking the beach for granted! I see the ocean while driving down the coast while on my way to my parents house or while running simple earrands. I look at it longingly and think to myself "I just don't have time for the beach today". When I finally do get there I wonder why it took me so long to get there.

So, I decided I must spend more time at this beautiful place. I want to start going in the mornings after taking my kids to school. I will bring my sketch book and journal and just meditate and see what comes of it. I mean...why not! It's a few miles from my home and I pay a fortune to live here so I might as well be getting something out of it and well..it could be good for the soul.

My latest pieces that I added to my shop have been inspired by my daydreams about going to the beach! I am looking forward to getting my feet in the sand soon.

Thank you...thank you very much!

2009-09-19T14:39:00.000-07:00

It's been a fun week for Terra Sol Creations!! I was featured in two treasuries and mentioned on a blog.
The first was a treasury created by SunMoonStars which featured a butterfly necklace which was quickly snatched up(within an hour!)!

Next I had a blog mention at Delightful Diva's In Business. They did a post titled Pumpkin Pie (Fabulous Friday Finds) where they featured my pumpkin pie earrings.
{These are still available so act fast!!}

Finally today I was featured in yet another treasury from Ihana. In this treasury my Peace Turquoise Earrings were featured.

I can't tell you how fun it is to learn your products are getting special attention from your peers!! Thanks to all of you!!

New Fall Collection

2009-09-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

Yes, that is what I am calling it. It's not officially fall but since it's getting cooler and the kids are back to school I figured it was ok. Please stop by and check out my new pieces and let me know what you think.

It's the most wonderful time of the year.....

2009-09-01T13:38:00.000-07:00

I remember the last day of school like it was yesterday. Picked up the kids, waved goodbye to their friends and teachers, checked the lost and found one last time and then went to celebrate with some ice cream. Fast forward a couple months and now I dropping off the kids, saying hello to new teachers and friends, noticing the completely empty lost and found and thinking about what to pack in the kids lunch.

We had a great summer that was jam packed with fun stuff literally up until the very last day. We spent our last week celebrating my daughters 8th birthday at Disneyland. Upon return I had two days to throw together her Luau party that she had with her friends. On Sunday, the day before school started I was at the mall buying new shoes and cute outfits.

Yesterday when I picked the kids up after their first day of school I asked "So, do you have homework....ha ha?" to which they replied "No, but you do...ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!" It took me almost three hours filling out all the paperwork they brought home. None of the information had changed since last year...why don' t they just have a box on the top that you can check..."see last years paperwork"? My oldest already brought home a Scholastic Book Order. These are colorful leaflet flyer's with super cheap books that my kids always beg me for....then whine when their friends huge orders come in and they only got one stinking book.

Oh the joys of a new year. I am however really looking forward to getting back to business. The jewelry business that is. I had an amazing summer full of sales with hardly putting any effort into it. Imagine how it will be when I actually try. I would love to do some holiday pieces so be sure to check back.

Well, it's time to go get the kiddos...hope they don't have any more homework..for me or them!!

I am the featured artisian!!

2009-08-18T10:38:00.001-07:00

Yeah!! I am the featured artisian today over at handmadenews.org. Here is a direct link to the article.
http://www.handmadenews.org/article/index.php?id=1854

Just an update: since the article was done my husband did score a great full time job and is now working!!

Also, many people have emailed to ask....who is the best selling Christian author you mention and it is none other than Karen Kingsbury! Here is a link to her site if you are intersted.

http://www.karenkingsbury.com

You spin me right round baby....

2009-08-17T11:08:00.000-07:00

Wow...life is going so quickly right now!! Where have I been? The better question is where haven't I been. We have been going to the beach, pool, movies, park and lots of doctor appointments. I am still going to physical therapy for my shoulder injury back in April. It is doing a bit better but boy is the process painful!! We also saw an ent specialist to see if my oldest should be getting her tonsils out and they said yes. I am just waiting for it to get approved through insurance and then she will be having it done.

There are exactly 13 days left until my kids are back in school. Here is what is going down between right now and that morning.

Tues: Physical Therapy
Wed: beach or pool
Thurs: Physical Therapy
Friday: get together for my 20 year reunion that I need to get my haircut for and oh yeah find something cute to wear that will hide the past 20 years.
Sat: my official high school reunion that I don't think I am going to because it's a lot of $$ and well, I will have just seen everyone the night before and also over on facebook (hi guys!)
Sun: my daughters 8th b-day..no big plans for the day (see tomorrows plans) maybe go to beach or the pool
Mon: pack pack and pack...go to doctor appt. to see what the deal is on my shoulder and then leave for the happiest place on earth!!
Tues: Disneyland
Wed: Disneyland
Thurs: unpack and clean my entire house (you will see why on Sat)
Fri: go on a mad shopping dash to find everything to host a fun luau for my daughters 8th b-day. This will include the plates, napkins, baloons, cake and snacks. In the afternoon go down to the school to see what teachers the kids will be getting this year.
Sat: birthday party...yeah...whopp whoop
Sun: see if I can scrounge up a decent outfit for my kids to wear on the first day of school that A. still fits and B. has no stains on it.
Mon: get the kids to school and come home and drink mimosas until it's time to go pick them up

Whew...what a whirlwind it will be...but for now I will enjoy my last day of peace and quiet

P.S. Tomorrow they are supposed to run my feature over at handmadenews.org go check it out! Make sure to leave a comment to say hi!!

!!!SALE!!!

2009-08-01T10:12:00.001-07:00

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! I am having a Facebook Secret Sale this weekend but thought I would share it with any of my blog readers.

$3.00 Off All Earrings!!!

Just write the word Facebook in the note to seller when checking out. I can either refund you the $3.00 via your pay pal account or if you prefer I can send you a revised invoice showing the discounted price! Happy Shopping!!

What inspiration?

2009-07-24T16:17:00.000-07:00

I have read on a lot of blogs and heard on many podcasts the question "What Inspires You?". Most people have the most inspiring stories (sorry for the pun..I could not help myself). So, it got me thinking. What inspires me? This question sounds so easy. Like I should just be able to say "my kids, God, other moms, my parents" etc. But the answer isn't that simple. There are so many things in life that inspire us all for many different reasons. I would have to say that music is right up there on the list. Here are my thoughts.

For me I can't remember a time in my life when I was not into music. I remember being in elementary school getting my parents albums (yes vinyl) out and playing tunes. If I remember correctly they had The Beatles, Elton John, Kc and the Sunshine Band and even Yoko Ono. My parents always had the cool music and still do!! In fact...how many kids can say they have gone to see Counting Crows or even the Cure with their parents!
Growing up into my teens I was in love with Michael Jackson, Madonna and oh yes...Kristy McNichols!
There is just something about listening to music that just fills me up. I know I sound so corny here but I used to just think that everyone felt this way but I was wrong. As a young adult I would spend Saturdays going to Lou's records (San Diegans will know about this place). It is a place that you would expect to see Duckie from Sixteen Candles walk out of the back room. While my friends were spending their paychecks going to dinner, buying cute outfits or getting their own apartment I was spending all of my money on as many concert tickets I could possibly afford. It is safe to say that I have gone to just about every concert out there! To name drop a few....I know you want to know (if not skip to the next paragraph)...Metallica ,The Rolling Stones, Garth Brooks, Faith Hill, Nsync, The Jonas Brothers (ok so I have two pre-teen girls!...ok I loved it), Squeeze, Nine Inch Nails (again with our roadie friend), Kenny Rogers, Kelly Clarkson, The Grateful Dead (with Jerry Garcia), Alanis Morisette and Tori Amos, Jimmy Buffet, The Black Crowes, Hootie, David Bowie, Natalie Merchant, Tom Petty, Styx, Pat Benatar, R.E.M., Guns N Roses, Aerosmith, 10,000 Maniacs, Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven, Matt Costa, Scorpians, Elvis Costello and on and on and on.....for fun my first concert ever was to the Thompson Twins.

Anyway, the point is that I love music. Listening to it and seeing it live. My husband and I will often get into these conversations about who we haven't seen because honestly that list is usually shorter than the ones we have seen. There are still so many bands and performers I would love to see. Some of my tops are Elton John and Jason Mraz!

My friends and family also inspire me. I have many special people in my life and they all inspire me in different ways. My parents inspire me to be the best I can be. To not let things pass me by. To be proactive about things. My brother has inspired me to look past the black and white. To do things for myself that I would not normally do. To realize that I only have this one life and that if I don't like what I see to change it. My friends all inspire me in different ways. I have a very close friend (since 2nd grade) who has been battling Cancer for a few years now. Seeing her face those decisions at such an early age (barely 30) and face her mortality like that was life changing for me. It has inspired me to be a better friend and mom to my kids.

You kind of get to this point in life where you stop and think...wow how did I get here and wow I can change where I go from here. That is where I am right now. I have made big changes in my life lately and it has been inspired by my music, my parents, my family and friends. Someday I hope to inspire someone else.

How that special day should begin....

2009-07-23T22:23:00.000-07:00

This is so cute!!

Days go by....

2009-07-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

Is is really July 22ND already? Wow! Where has this summer gone? We haven't even been to the beach yet!
Yesterday I went and had an MRI done of my shoulder. It was such a strange experience. I didn't have any issues with it being such tight quarters but was so surprised as to how loud it was. They seriously give you ear plugs before being slid into the coffin like contraption. It was this series of loud sounds that would stop and start over and over again. About half way through I started feeling really weird. I had a lot of pressure in my head...like a lot!! Afterwards my ears and head were buzzing. Not like after you listen to a loud concert but just like a wispy buzz. Very strange! Today I am feeling much better! The next step is that I have to take my films to my orthopedic doctor and let him see if there is anything wrong. Right now he is guessing it is frozen shoulder or a tear somewhere.

Over the weekend we took a trip to Game Stop. In case you don't have one in your area it is a store that sells games for PlayStation, xbox, Nintendo Ds etc. My oldest daughter has been begging to get a new Sims game for the computer. She traded in some of her old games. This is such a great thing. You just bring in your old games (we had some with and without original boxes) and they scan them and each one has a set trade in price. I was surprised to see how much $$ she got for some of them. The store then turns around and sells the used ones at a discount and the customer has money to buy something else. I think she ended up with about $35 and was able to get her new game.

If you have never played Sims it a game where you control your characters. Everything from sleeping, eating, relationships, work etc. No where on the package does it tell you how addictive it is!! After my daughter played it for about 4 hours......I got a turn at it...and played it for about the same amount of time. It is a serious time suck!! Just for laughs my characters name is Patty Cake....ha ha.

Well, I guess that is all for today. Please check out my etsy shop. I have a few new items there and have been busy making new things. I will be beefing up my inventory for my review on August 18Th from Handmadenews.org and then the holidays. Did I just say holidays out loud? Yikes!!
Have a great week!!

Give it a chance...

2009-07-17T18:14:00.000-07:00

When I was a teenager in the 80's there were a few things that I loved. My Birkenstock sandals, music and anything with a peace sign on it. I remember slapping a peace sign bumper sticker on my first car the day I got it. I used to sign all of my notes and letters to my friends with just a peace sign and my name. There is just something about it that I love.

In the 80's it was more of a trendy thing (for a teenager anyway). Kinda like celestial symbols of suns and moons were so popular in the 90's and even up to a few years ago. You would see them where ever you would look.

To me it is a comforting symbol. It means love and happiness. ! It has been reappearing lately. My 11 year old daughter has even caught the peace sign bug! She wants peace sign earrings, necklaces, purses and shirts! Honestly I do too! It has been nice to see my old friend reemerge again!

I have been making some jewelry using peace signs. So far none of them have made it to my etsy shop because my daughter has been keeping them all. But stay tuned...I will try to sneak some in soon.

IPOD Favorites!

2009-07-12T13:30:00.000-07:00

A little over a year ago I got a surprise from my husband in the mail. A new ipod! I had been talking about one for a while and kinda wondering what all the fuss was about. I mean why not just turn on the radio or listen to your c.d.'s in the stereo? Well...that all changed when I got that little bit of silver goodness in my hands! At first I just downloaded all of my c.d.'s to it but then I went into the itunes store.
It's there that I learned about podcasts. A podcast is a show, either audio or video that you can upload and watch and listen to on your ipod. They come in all shapes and sizes. Pretty much everything you have ever been interested in you can find in a podcast. What I really wish is that someone could have recommended some to me. Instead I had to download ones that sounded interesting and just give them a go. Now that I have listened to many hours of podcasts I have come up with my favorites that I want to share with you. Sorta like the blogs last week, you have probably heard of some of these. Most of them also have websites that you can also check out too. If you are looking for something new to listen to give one of these a try.

Manic Mommies-http://manicmommies.com/ two funny moms who dish about life
Crafty Pod-http://www.craftypod.com/ a great podcast that touches on all sorts of crafts
The satellite Sisters-http://www.satellitesisters.com/ five real sisters from all over who get together to blog and dish about life, news and whatever else sounds fun.
The Adam Carolla Podcast-http://www.adamcarolla.com/ACPBlog/ I can't believe I am admitting this one but he is very funny....very dirty...but very funny too. This one is for adults only!
Stuff You Should Know/Stuff Mom Never Told You/Stuff You Missed In History-http://www.howstuffworks.com/ These offer many cool pod casts with lots of great information about topics like twinkies, deja vu, urban explores and more.
This American Life-http://www.thisamericanlife.org/ First person and fiction stories based from the radio show. This is really a favorite of mine. Never disappointing! I just wish there were more!
Boutique Cafe- http://www.boutiquecafe.com/home/index.php features lots of etsians, boutique shops on eBay and more. Fun listen!

That's about all of them. There are a couple other "mom" ones that I listen to now and then. If you have a favorite podcast that you listen to on a regular basis please share it in the comments. I am always looking for new ones!

What's New??

2009-07-09T19:15:00.001-07:00

I never thought summer vacation could be this busy!! It has been filled with lots of doctor appointments lately! I had to take my youngest daughter to the doctor because we have noticed that when she walks her foot is turning inward. Kinda hard to describe here but it looks bad!! They have now referred us to the orthopedic specialist that we will visit next week. I have been going to physical therapy for my shoulder injury. I can't remember if it was already mentioned here but I work as a cashier and they think it was due to over use and repetitive motion. Then my oldest daughter had an orthodontist appointment today! Phew. Next week I think we have a total of four appointments too.
My husband got some great news yesterday. They have now offered him full time at his new job. It was originally only a month to month contract but when he told them about another job offer he received they offered him full time!! yeah!!
Sorry this is a short one tonight. I will be back to my normal writing soon!

I need to share this!

2009-07-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

I have to be honest...when I woke this morning and started reading my bloglines I was expecting to read about fireworks, parties and hot dogs. Instead I was struck by a much more important story than any of those things. It is a story about a beautiful little girl named Kate and her amazing family. You see, they just found out this week that Kate has a brain tumor. It is hard to believe that something so adorable and innocent could have something so horrible attatcking her body.

Please Please take some time today to watch this video, to visit the websites and to pray!! I have personally seen how prayer can heal and cure. We owe it to this little girl to do it!!

You Tube Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ese3zYZ-NA4
Caring Bridge site: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mcraekate/mystory
InteGrace (dad's website) http://aaronmcrae.wordpress.com/

A Friday Feature of Sorts

2009-07-03T08:38:00.000-07:00

When I first started this blog I had high hopes of doing a "Friday Feature" every Friday (no really) to show other great etsy artists or blogs that I love. I am not doing a very good job. I have done one! I think what happens is that Friday rolls around and I say "oh crap, I was supposed to do a Friday Feature today" and don't have the time to pull a good one together.

So, what I have decided to do is tell you a bit about my love affair I am having. Please don't tell my husband. Yes, I am sad to say that this affair has been going on for a few years now. Usually I participate in this affair late at night, or early in the morning or even better while everyone is away at school or work.

Yes, I am sad to say I have been having a love affair with blogs!
I love blogs of all kinds. Some based on parenting...some on how to make money....some on saving my money...some on jewelry making and etsy...and yes even some on super pop stars and how they live their fab lives!
So, I have condensed (out of over 100 blogs that I follow) a list to just 10 of my favorite blogs. Some I have been reading for years and some I have only discovered in the past few days. After I post each one I will just add a few things that I think of while reading this blog.
Enjoy:

1. Because I Said SO http://mom2my6pack.blogspot.com/ author, mom, funny
2. Cool Mom Picks http://www.coolmompicks.com/ shopping, original products, great information
3. Dooce http://www.dooce.com/ funny, great pictures, cute dog
4. Under The Laundry Pile http://laundrypile.blogspot.com/ real deal, lots of kids, reading for years!
5. Girls Gone Child http://www.girlsgonechild.net/ style, cute kids, edgy
6. Lillyella http://lillyella.blogspot.com/ beautiful colors, style, upcoming artists (secretly wish to see my stuff on here some day)
7. NieNie http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/ love, survivor, celebrates life everyday
8. The Pioneer Woman http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/ food, more food, drool
9. Stacey Winters daily photo journal http://staceywinters.blogspot.com/ photos, inspiring, just started following and look forward to watching what comes next.
10. Notes From The Trenches http://www.notesfromthetrenches.com/ mom, I can relate, hilarious ( I have actually laughed out loud reading some of her posts)

Well, that's it folks. I hope I have turned you on to some new blogs that you hadn't seen before.

Now as far as that Friday Feature goes...I have asked once but will ask again. If you or someone you know has an etsy shop that is just wonderful or new and needs some love please leave me a comment or send me a message! Seriously, I need to start working on it now for next week!

Happy 4th of July to all of you!!

One More Reason To Celebrate!

2009-07-01T10:57:00.000-07:00

I know I have been tooting my own horn a lot over here but there is just one more thing to celebrate!! My shop has been opened for a full month. According to my Etsy is says that I started back in May but I actually didn't start listing anything until June 1st.

SO, what have I learned in one month?

word of mouth really works. Through my friend Shelly I was able to get a bunch of sales just by her mentioning to her family that I made jewelry. Thanks Shelly!

It is easy to stay up until 2 am every night just reading blogs, checking out other esty shops, twittering and face booking! A little too easy!

There is an amazing community out there that I have met through esty. I have been part of many other online communities before (like parenting, weight loss and music) and the cattiness and meanness on those sites is terrible. The esty community is very different. Even though ultimately we are all wanting sales from the same customers we all help each other.

There is a lot to be learned out there! (picture taking, marketing, bookkeeping, sales, customer service) It's all out there and free you just have to look for it.

Running an online business is hard work.

That being said...I have never had a job that I have loved as much as this one that I am doing now!!

So, that's it folks. Thanks for sticking by me and reading my blog. I hope to be around for many more months!

P.S. In case you hadn't heard there will be an online feature done on Terra Sol Creations at http://www.handmadenews.org/ sometime in July. Keep checking.

Time To Celebrate!!

2009-06-27T13:19:00.000-07:00

Wow, these past few days have been amazing!! For those of you who don't know me let me explain myself a bit first.

My husband does SEO and Internet Marketing for a living. Most of you who have your own websites and Etsy stores know what SEO is. For those who don't it's the process of getting more volume and visitors to your website by tweaking and editing it's content and tags. Basically when you type in anything to google the number one result did not get there by accident. There is an SEO specialist out there making that happen!

So, back to my point. My husband has been doing this for over 10 years now which is kinda unheard of. Most SEO specialists out there have been only doing it for a couple years at most. Point being he is very, very good at it. Unfortunately most companies only need one maybe two SEO guys per company. So, it is very hard to find a job in this field. In the past few years my husband has been laid off 4 times!! What happens is he goes in and works his magic and gets the companies site numbers up and then they figure they don't need him anymore. Big mistake!

In December he was laid off again...Merry Christmas to us!! Because this industry is so tight it took him 6 months almost to the day to find a new job! It has been a very trying 6 months for us! I know there are many other families going through this out there and I am so there with you!!!

So, if you are still reading this...the celebration is for him getting a new job that starts on Monday!! It is only a contract position but hey it's a paying job! Also, and this is just as surprising....I got a total of 12 sales this week!! Can you flippin believe it!!

The Terra Sol House is happy today and feel blessed beyond belief!!

So, I am asking...no begging that you leave a happy comment here for my hubby! He really does deserve it. He has been on about 7 in person interviews and probably about 25 phone interviews in the past 6 months. He did not give up when things seemed to be so bad and worthless. He deserves a virtual high five!
We love you honey!!

How to make your own light box!

2009-06-23T17:22:00.001-07:00

Making jewelry is the fun part....trying to get good pictures of it to post on Etsy is another story!! When I first opened my store I was so anxious to list as many items as I could. I got all my jewelry together, grabbed my camera and started shooting. Sadly when I uploaded my pictures after an hour or so of taking pictures there was not one I could use!! It's very hard to get nice clean close up pictures of jewelry. Especially pieces that have intricate details and dark colors.

I began to get creative. I went out and bought props like sea shells, sand, glass candle holders etc. They came out a bit better but not much. Then I started reading on the esty bulletin boards about "how to" take a good picture. I kept seeing mentions of light boxes and investigated. I found some on ebay for about $100 and decided I would just have to keep taking bad pictures since we were beyond broke. Then my husband who should also be known as MacGyver found this site. It explained how to make a light box by using a cardboard box. And that folks is what my MacGyver did!!

It took him about an hour to do and was pretty simple. The best part is it works. It might not be that pretty to look at but it does the job.

So, if you are struggling with your pictures check it out. You might just get the results you want!

Summer daze and business don't mix!!

2009-06-20T22:42:00.000-07:00

Wow, I never thought it would be this hard to work once the kids were out of school! Our first week of summer vacation we had our last girl scout meeting of the year which took a couple days of house cleaning and trips to the store. Then the next day my brother and his family came into town from Santa Cruz for the week. We had them over for a dinner party, went to the fair and today went to the Wild Animal Park. Tomorrow is Father's Day and Monday we will probably do the beach or something else fun.
Don't get me wrong....I am having a blast but I need to get back to work!! I have tons of jewelry to list and a new order to ship to Australia!! I lay awake at night with new ideas in my head that I am worried I will forget once morning comes. I wish I had a little sketch book in my head!!

So, I will be back soon with new blog entries, new jewelry, Etsy seller features and pictures soon! In the mean time check out my store and take advantage of my free shipping to the US til the end of June.

Hope you are having a totally awesome summer!!

P.S. I am looking for new shops to feature on my blog. If you have one or know of one please leave it in the comments. I will send you some fun questions to answer and link to your shop, blog, twitter etc. I love discovering new cool shops!

Garage Sales...yes or no??

2009-06-14T22:11:00.000-07:00

Well, you know that I am very new to selling on Etsy. Heck I am new to selling jewelry period. I have been doing everything possible to get my name out there but there was one option that I wasn't quite sure about. Garage Sales.

Back in June after giving my mom a book buddy and bracelet that I had made for her birthday she said those words that have changed my whole world around. "You should sell these"! During that lunch we talked about my parents annual garage sale being held in their community. This is a big sale!! The first year they did it the fire department came down the street to order people to move their cars which were parked everywhere...including the middle of the street!

It was decided that day that I would try to make as many book marks and stretchy bracelets I could and sell them at the garage sale. Now, I have to be honest... I didn't make as many as I had envisioned but along with the other things I had made I was pretty well stocked.

Since this was a garage sale I was a bit worried no one would pay "real" prices for my goods. So, seeing that this was a good marketing opportunity I decided to have a 1/2 price sale. I figured these prices would be more doable. My jewelry is already pretty reasonable so this brought things to the price range of $1.00-$10.00.

My set up was so simple!! I had a card table, white table cloth, metal tree decoration (that a couple people wanted to buy) and two chairs. Since it was at my parents house my mom kept me company which was awesome to have her there to support me....thanks mom!!

I really had no idea what to expect. I just knew that I was really excited about having my jewelry out there for the world to see. I was ready for anything I guess and just hoped to get my business cards into as many hands as possible.

Well, would you believe that I got a sale from my second customer!!! She bought a wood bead bracelet from me!! Then someone bought a necklace...one of my most expensive items on the table! By the end of the sale I had sold about 10 items. I was so excited! Here were some special moments from the morning.

being asked if I was selling Cookie Lee
getting three requests for custom orders
having a customer tell me she wanted my business card because she thought they were pretty and wanted one for her wallet
one customer bought two items!
having a gal whose mom sells vintage jewelry on Etsy tell me that she likes my jewelry better
all the well wishes and good lucks I received

So to sum it all up, no I did not make hundreds of dollars but for a newbie like me it was a perfect way to get my feet wet. I highly recommend it to anyone who eventually plans to sell at craft and art shows.

Schools Out!!

2009-06-12T13:43:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day of school!! I now am the proud parent of a 1st, 3rd and 6th grader!! I love the last day of school. It reminds me of when I was a kid. That last week of school was always such a joke. All we did was walk around, gets friends autographs in our yearbooks, talk about how much fun we would have over the summer together etc. My kids are young still and even though they get yearbooks they don't really do the autograph thing yet. I juggled three class parties today. A potluck, a chocolate party and an award ceremony complete with awards like "class clown".

We don't have much planned for this summer. My husband it still looking for a full time job. I will be busy getting my jewelry business going, getting my shoulder better and working at Henry's hopefully soon. My brother and his family will be here next week which will be great!

After that it will hopefully be days filled with sleeping in, going to the beach, the pool and letting our brains turn to mush!

It's the end of the school year...be sure to thank your teachers!

2009-06-09T12:22:00.000-07:00

Just a few weeks ago we had our annual teacher appreciation week where the kids brought in treats, flowers, home made cards and presents. They deserve every bit of it.....and much more. My sister in law is a teacher and I get to hear her point of view on many things. The kids, parents, school rules, curriculum and yes presents. When my oldest daughter was in kindergarten I asked her what do teachers really want from their students as gifts. She first told me what they do not want. They do not want teacher themed gifts...that would include mugs, ornaments, plaques, pins, sweaters etc. And most importantly nothing with a big red apple on it. I'm sure at first it's cute but eventually you would probably get sick of it.

Ok so back to what they do want. The top things I remember her telling me were:

gift certificates to cool shops (Target, Nordstroms, Barnes and Nobles)

gift certificates to restaurants (Outback, Starbucks, Applebees)

gift certificates for spa treatments....especially massages

gift certificates for a teacher supply store

something home made from the child

a nice letter of thanks

jewelry

Now that last one is just up my alley. I have made three special necklaces for my kids to give their teachers. They all received bracelets during teacher appreciation week and will get matching necklaces now. I also have my kids write a letter to their teachers. Not just a simple thanks but a thank you that is specific to a fun craft they may have done, extra help with Algebra or for giving them extra time on a project.

I just hope everyone takes time to really appreciate their teachers. They spend so much extra time out of the classroom that many parents don't realize. My SIL has to go back to school two weeks before the kids do just to get her classroom prepared!! Plus they spend many nights and weekends grading papers and returning parent emails and calls.

Ok, I am done with my rant. If you need any gift ideas just take a look at my etsy site or any of the other awesome sellers featured there.

And remember....only 2.5 months until the kids are back in school again!!

Planning a Party For Junior...read this first!!

2009-06-06T17:28:00.001-07:00

We were invited by a good high school friend of mine to attend her sons birthday party here! It is a place that is full of bouncy houses of all shapes and sizes. This is the best invention ever!! Basically, you pay per child which is pricey but from what I hear is well worth not having to do the cleaning, planning, child wrangling etc. The adults actually sat for close to TWO hours chatting it up about babies, school, my new business venture and what ever else came to mind. It was so nice not to be interupted with questions like "where is your bathroom....ooops too late" or this one "can we go play in Johnny's room instead of watching your lame magician you hired?".

Then it was time for pizza which was served to our kids by the staff there, then yummy cake and then.....they clean up all the mess!!! There was cake and frosting, pizza and spilled lemonade everywhere. I noticed my friend gather her things, say her goodbyes, grab her kids, his new presents and leave!! I kept looking back thinking that they would stop me and ask me to help stay behind and clean up!!

Now, I am not being paid to say any of these things by Pump It Up or my friend for that matter. This is just a little reminder for myself so that when it comes time for my kids birthday I won't forget and try to host a party with 20+ kids at my house!!!

If you are new to the neighborhood and are trying to make friends....they will love you forever after this party because the kids will most likely take a 3 hour nap when they get home!! Can I get an AMEN!!!!

Another plus about this place was when we were on the way there and I was completely lost. I picked up my phone and callled them. It actually said on the message........ if you are on your way to a party right now and don't know where the H E double hockey sticks push one...then it proceeded to give me directions from every possible way.....even from space!!! Magnificent!!

Thanks Alisa and Larry....we obvously had a great time!

I'm off to enjoy my peace and quiet and go list some new items in my ETSY shop!!

School fun and my first order!!

2009-06-05T13:57:00.000-07:00

Here we are at my daughters play!

To be honest with you when I saw the rain this morning (barely a sprinkle but it was storm watch 09 for us San Diegans!) I was hoping that the lunch on the lawn would be canceled. Not that I didn't want to spend time with my precious offspring but.....you moms know. The rain passed and the lunch went on and what fun it was!!!

The day actually began at 6am today when I had to get up and get everyone up and organized for school. Three of us had to take showers and be fed, dressed and ready to walk out the door by 7:45. My mom arrived around the same time. She spent just about the whole day with us which was so nice!! She has been to a couple open houses here and there but never like this. My oldest like I told you yesterday had an award ceremony for DARE. Each 5th grade student (about 65 of them) had to write an essay about what they had learned and her essay was one of the two chosen. She did an awesome job reading it in front of all of us. The DARE officer even came up prior to the ceremony to congratulate us as her parents on what a fine kid she is.

Then at 10am she was the lead in her class play...she played Martha Washington! It was so cute. There was even some great singing and dancing in it. My mom and I snuck out between events and picked up some flowers for her to make her feel extra special.

Then came the lunches. All three of my kids eat at different times so we had to hang out through about 2.5 hours of lunches. We had a great time sitting with other moms and chatting while the kids got to eat picnic style. It really was a lot of fun.

Now I just feel full of love for my kids and so happy to have such awesome friends. I was also excited for my mom to meet everyone and to be able to put a face with the name. I haven't mentioned this before but I am also a brownie troop leader so she got to meet most of my troop too.

Now I need to get some work done. I got my first order last night so I need to get that ready to send off. I am just so happy!! You have no idea.

Have a great weekend!

What No Sales Yet??

2009-06-04T20:40:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess I should not be surprised. After reading all the message boards at Etsy I have learned that I will need to be patient. I got a few more items listed today and will hopefully get more done in the next couple days.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day!! I am going to be at the kids school pretty much the entire day. My oldest has an award ceremony then a school play in which she got one of the lead parts as Martha Washington. Then they are having something called "Lunch on the Lawn" where you go and eat lunch with your kids. The funny part is that you see and talk to the kids for about 3 minutes before they run off with their friends. Oh well...at least we are making the effort.

So, still nothing new with my husbands job search. He is a SEO Specialist. If you need one or know someone who does please let me know!! He also designed my web site, banner, avatar and business cards for Terra Sol Creations. He is hoping to start doing that on the side too.

Summer is almost here!! It will start with a much anticipated visit by my brother, sister by the law(save that story for another blog) and my two nephews. We will be going to the San Diego County Fair (or Del Mar Fair as we natives prefer to call it). Should be fun. My kids all have art on display this year so we are pretty stoked.

Remember how I said that I want to do a weekly shout out to other ETSY shop owners. Well this week I have a great one.

As lots of my friends and family know I love stationary, note cards, letters, note books and most importantly journals. I just love to write stuff. Lists, notes, ideas, scribble etc. I found this journal today and just wanted to share it with you. The shop is called Red Bird Road Design and here is the journal that I just love. I love the birds and the colors she has used. Go check out her site soon!! Maybe you might find something you love too.

Store Grand Opening...Free Shipping to US!!

2009-06-03T22:52:00.001-07:00

A new one called Sparrow in Flight.

Hello friends...guess what??? I finally have some items up for sale in my shop!! I am so excited!! I really hope you like what you see!!

I am offering free shipping to anywhere in the US for the whole month of June as a Grand Opening promotion. Take advantage of this because it will save you anywhere from $2-$4 per item. I am also offering gift wrapping and note cards for your special someone for an additional $1.oo. Just tell me what to write and I can ship it directly to them for you. I can do hand written or typed notes.

Life here has been super hectic!! The kids (all three of them) are nearing the end of the school year. Next year I will have a 1st,3rd and a 6th grader. Wow! It is going so fast! These last couple weeks are filled with special award ceremonies, parties, plays, concerts and lunches. At the same time I am starting up a new business and my husband is looking for a full time job. He has a couple very good leads this week that I am praying he gets! Lets just say that Oprah could be calling!! Who wouldn't love that!!

I have so many new ideas brewing in my head......my mom has been my sounding board for all of them!! Actually she has been an amazing cheerleader through all of this! Thanks mom...and dad!! So yes....keep an eye out for some really cool jewelry coming soon.

Well, I am off to get some more items listed. Please leave me a comment!! I know you are lurking out there!!! It won't hurt I promise!!

Terra Sol Creations To Open This Week!!

2009-06-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

I have officially become a business owner....HOOOORRRRAAAYY!! Who would believe that just about a month ago I got all the balls rolling towards opening my own online jewelry store!! I went today and paid my $25 to get my business license (had to get my sellers permit first which was free). I should get the hard copy of it in the next week. It was an amazing feeling walking out of City Hall realizing that I now own my own business. How cool is that!! So now comes the fun job of making more jewelry, finding customers, marketing, managing, taxes, sales...oh my...what have I done!! Seriously though I am really excited about what the future may hold for me. I can't wait for all of you to see what I have made so far. You can take a peak at some of them at my flickr page.

Now for anyone who is thinking about starting their own business of selling jewelry or crafts don't be scared. There were a couple days when I thought "what am I doing?". The steps that I took were quite simple and painless. Now, I am saying this before a single sale but I really believe in myself and my husband who is helping me every step of the way.

Speaking of my husband.... he is the one who helped design my blog, Etsy shop and company logo. When trying to decide on a logo I just tried to picture what I wanted my company to express about me and my jewelry. I wanted something unique and something that would shout Terra Sol Creations just by looking at it. At first I was going to go with a sun design but when I spotted that tree I just knew that was it. We used istockphoto to find the different graphics we used in our logo. My logo is actually a few different images photo shopped together. I wanted just a single bird to resemble me on my journey in starting a new business. I think he did an amazing job don't you?? If you are looking for a logo yourself please contact me or leave me a comment. He is going to be opening his own Etsy shop soon and will specialize in banners, logo's, web site design, business cards and more. He is very creative and will do an awesome job for you!!

Well kids, I need to go and get some cleaning done. I was away all weekend on a camping trip with my brownie troop. It was the first time for our troop to do this and we had a great time!!

2009-05-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

The past three days has been filled with kittens, barbecues, cleaning, visiting, chocolate brownie sundaes, ribs, yummy drinks, jewelry making, jewelry sharing and more.

My friend Shelly who lives two doors down from me discovered a litter of kittens a few weeks ago. They are the cutest dang thing you have ever seen. There are four of them....two orange and two tiger. They are pretty young and oh so fluffy. I will try and get a picture posted of them soon.

We had my parents over for a barbecue. I cooked ribs for the first time ever. It was so simple. You just boil them for about 20 minutes.....slather them with barbecue sauce and throw them on the grill. They turned out great and everyone was happy! Messy little suckers though!

While my mom was here I got to share with her the jewelry I have made so far. She was ooohhinng and awing over everything so that is a good sign. She left wearing one of my creations (the one shown above). It was nice being able to size it just for her. She has very small wrists!

I know I said I would talk about my logo today but honestly I am so tired right now! It is a good story with lots of great links so I want to be fully awake when I write that post.

Tomorrow I am going to go and get my sellers permit and my business license so that I can finally start adding items to my shop. I attempted to do it today but needed to get my sellers permit first. I will wait until next Monday to list anything because I am going camping this weekend with my Girl Scout troop. I know it's wishful thinking to get a sale that fast but I would hate to be out of town for my very first sale!

So until next time.....goodnight!

Getting To Know Me

2009-05-23T22:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I copied this off of my old blog and changed some of the answers. It's called a meme and is a series of questions that I myself have answered. Enjoy!
1. What time did you get up this morning? 10:30 a.m. that is very late for me!!
2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Hannah Montana Move with my girls. Loved it!!
4. What is your favorite TV show?Ellen, Oprah and The Biggest Loser are the only ones I really watch on a regular basis.
5. What did you have for breakfast? I had a granola bar
6. What is your middle name?Anne
7. What is your favorite cuisine? Mexican
8. What foods do you dislike?Indian food
9. What are your favorite chips? Probably pretzels
10. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Taylor Swift
11. What kind of car do you drive? Nissan Altima
12. Favorite sandwich? Turkey, Avocado, sprouts, cheese on a french roll
13. What are characteristics you can’t stand? Snottyness
14. What are your favorite clothes? comfy.....lounge
15. If you could go anywhere on vacation where would you? Italy
16. Where has your favorite vacation been? Las Vegas
17. Where would you want to retire? Close to family and hopefully grandchildren
18. Favorite time of day?morning just after taking the kids to school
19. Where were you born?Burbank, Ca
20. What is your favorite sport to watch? Football, grew up watching it.
21. Coke or Pepsi? Diet Coke....seriously addicted
22. Beavers or ducks? Excuse me?
23. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Night Owl..lately I have been staying up to about 12 or 1!
24. Pedicure or manicure? Neither, after I heard about people getting weird fungis from the tools used in shops I don't go. I love to use Shea butter at home on my feet and hands. Love that stuff!
25. What did you want to be when you were little? A teacher and then later a psychologist or family therapist.
26. What is your best childhood memory? Family trips to Lake Tahoe and Christmas mornings
27. Ever been to Africa? No.
28. Ever been toilet papering? Oh yeah.
29. Been in a car accident?Yes, a couple very small ones.
30. Favorite day of the week? Saturdays
31. Favorite restaurant? Acapolcos (Mexican), good ol' McDonalds and Cheese Cake Factory
32. Favorite flower? tulips and poppies....think spring
33. Favorite ice-cream? Not a huge ice cream person but do enjoy Phish Food from Ben and Jerry's
34. Favorite fast food restaurant? Mickey D's.
35. How many times did you fail your driver’s test? 0
36. From whom did you get your last e-mail? Shelly
37. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Target
38. Last person you went to dinner with? My parents for Mothers Day for chinese! It was so good.
39. What are you listening to right now? clothes spinning in the dryer
40. What is your favorite color? shades of blue
41. How many tattoos do you have?one, a sun on my back
42. Favorite Hobby? Making jewelry and reading
43. What time is it right now? 10:42 p.m.
44. Favorite magazine: Used to be People but they started focusing too much on celebrities..now I like Real Simple
45. Coffee or tea? Coffee.
46. Do you tan easily or burn easily? Burn.
47. Do you color your hair? If so, how often?I used to get it highlighted every once in a while..just so damn exspensive!!
48. What was the first car you ever purchased without the help of your parents? My Nissan Altima
49. What is your most dreaded household chore? The floor around the toilets and pulling weeds
50 Who do you tag to complete this meme? I tag anyone who reads this and would like to participate....come on its fun!!

Why Jewelry And What's With The Name??

2009-05-23T14:21:00.000-07:00

I have heard a couple times the question "What made you want to sell jewelry" and the answer is because I love making it. It is an amazing feeling to take these raw products that alone don't look like much and turn them into something cute and beautiful. I first starting making jewelry a couple years ago with my kids. I believe we got a bead jewelry making kit and it was so much fun. We made so many bracelets for all of their school friends we were even getting requests!

Then last Christmas I was looking to buy some jewelry for my mom for a present. I stumbled upon Esty and was in love. Etsy is a great online site for selling homemade products like clothes, jewelry, art etc. Fast forward a couple months to a necklace I had made for myself. I wore it to a brunch with my parents and received quite a few compliments on it. That day it just clicked. Maybe I could do this for a living. What's the hurt in trying right? If I love it and other people love it then why not try and sell it.

So that is where I am now. Terra Sol Creations...which means Earth and Sun was born. I love using glass, stone, silver, hemp twine and wood elements in my designs so I thought the name was perfect.

Coming up with the name was really hard. I would send my top 10 names ideas to all of my friends and family and ask for their input or suggestions. My name actually came partly from my brother who had originally suggested Terra Azul and my moms suggestions or Terra Sol. I highly reccomend getting thoughts and feedback from their peers. I would think of names that I thought were great and other people would be like huh? I searched google, Etsy and the trademark site to be sure they weren't already taken too. There were a few that I really loved only to find out that someone else had thought of it before me.

Once I had decided on Terra Sol Creations we bought the domain for it (website) and signed up with Etsy. It felt so great that day to have a name to put with my jewelry. It fit so well! One of my friends told me that you should love your name and that it will be representing who you are and that is what I feel I have done.

Well it's getting late and I need to get to bed. Tomorrow I will post about coming up with my company logo.

Welcome to my new blog!

2009-05-22T09:10:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone and welcome to my new blog. This is not my first attempt at blogging. I have an old one that you see here.
First of all let me introduce myself. My name is Pattie aka mom, honey, sweetie, damn it, hey you and most beautiful mother on earth. I am quite partial to the last one. There is however a new name that I will be adding to that list. Jewelry Designer Extraordinaire!! Ah yes...doesn't it sound great.

I have enjoyed making jewelry for a while now and just recently starting giving it away as gifts. After getting a few "wow, this is great! You should sell this" I decided it was time to branch out and give it a shot. I will be selling my jewelry primarily on Etsy . I haven't opened up shop just yet. I am waiting to get my sellers permit in place and then I will be ready to go!

I started this blog for two reasons. Number one was to chronicle this time of my life so that some day I (or my kids) can come back and read about all the blood, sweat and tears it took to build this world renowned multi-million dollar corporation. (Hey...I like to dream big). The second reason is that it takes a lot of work to take something that you are passionate about and turn it into a busiess. By posting what it takes I hope to help someone else out there who is just starting out.
What will this blog really be about you ask....well...a daily (or weekly depending how much time I have) post about what I am currently up to. I will also post some information about getting a business license, sellers permit, taxes, shopping for fun supplies, making jewelry, reviews on products etc. Most of the information will be based on making and selling jewlery but the business end of it could be directed to anyone starting a small business.

So, I look forward to the future. To meeting some of my readers. To inspiring others. To learning about a lot of new things.

Please leave me a comment to let me know you are here!! I will be back tomorrow with the answer to this question I have heard a couple times now. What made you want to sell jewelry? I bet you are just dying to hear that answer aren't you??