Mountain View Elementary School

Inspired Creations will be at Mountain View Elementary School on November 2nd from 9am to 4 pm.

For Ottobine Elementary Schools Annual Arts And Crafts Invitational

I am sorry to say that IC has just 2 events left for this year. 

Our next event is 

November 9 and 10 at Augusta Expo.

I am working very hard to make sure that IC has events booked for the rest of the year, but due to circumstances beyond my control please be aware that this may not be possible. If the Calender of Events should change you will be the first to know! 

Thank you for all your support this year!

JewelryInCandles-Another Job!

So, I've been thinking for a long time about adding a direct sales into the mix. And I finally have done it with a free company! But, just to verify Inspired Creations is still my one and only. I just wanted something different for a change. And since there's no quota I can choose the time I want to put into it. 

So, I'm going to share some links with you all in hopes that maybe this little side venture will also gain some income for me and my family. You never know until try right. 

Here's the link to my new facebook page:

My New Facebook Page

I will only post once a day in here so as to not eat up your news feeds with my spam!

Here's the link to my new shop:

Michelle's New Shop

You can find a load of information here! And the best thing about this company is you get to choose between a ring, earrings, or a necklace in your candle, wax tart, or aroma beads. You also get to choose your ring size 6, 7, 8, or 9.

And since I have trouble finding things to blog about I thought adding this blog post in would be perfect. 

Also, I have a Grand Opening for my event just in case you'd like to sign up to sale or place an order!

Michelle's Jewelry In Candles Grand Opening

Let The Voting Begin

Have any of you heard of the Big Etsy Contest? I have and occasionally after choosing which days I would like I usually enter. And they go to my shop and pick the item that matches their criteria for the contest. 

  Today's category is Hue Tuesday. Purple Items from $3-$5.99. 

  My item in the contest: Soft Purple Cabochon Earrings

So, all you have to do to get started voting on items from your favorite sellers is click on the link below!

Big Etsy Contest 

If you'd like to enter one of your items. You can click on sign up and sign up on a specific day and pick the category you'd like that best suits your shop and the items you sell.  Each day is a different category.

So, stop by and vote today!

Scrap Ribbon Hair Clips

I am so bad about blogging! I get so involved with everything else and then I just cannot think of anything to blog about. Well, today I bring you what is my short tutorial about Scrap Ribbon Hair Clips. It's kind of an old favorite with a new name. 

When I first started selling Hair accessories I started with these cute ribbon flower hair clips that were a great favorite and then as I got into more hair accessories I faded them out. But, now their back, but few in number. 

I usually end up with enough ribbon at the end of a spool to make these. So, I had some extra ribbon laying around. You'll need about a yard or less. 

I sew it back and forth along the edge and then pull the thread as I'm sewing to form a circle. 

Then I sew it together and add a button or flat back. Then I add a clip and I'm done. I think it's a perfect way to use that leftover ribbon that you just don't know what to do with. And you can make these using smaller ribbon as well. 

There are 2 ways you can do this: There's also the rolled way which used about 21 1/2 inches. depending on how much ribbon you have left. Let's face it with 21 inches I could still make a 3 inch bow! But, these were just so cute not to make. 

I made these just for Back To School. 

These Clips are not available in the Etsy shop, but will be available at the Natural Chimneys Jousting Tournament on August 17, 2013! or by heading here to my facebook page

Inspired Creations

and messaging that you would like one!

My Last Event: Natural Chimneys Jousting Tournament

As I'm editing the photo's to post in the blog today I'd like to say Thank you to all my customers who came out to support Inspired Creations at this event!

(Yes, that's my daughter Lexy sitting behind the table) She loves to help me set up and take down. But she doesn't like sitting through a whole event very much!

Now, a little bit about the Natural Chimneys Jousting Tournament which you can find more info and photo's on their facebook page, here:

Natural Chimneys Jousting Club

What a wonderful time my daughter and I had. This was my third year attending this show as a Crafter and every year it gets better and better!

Here's a photo of the parade!

And to keep customers updated as to what sells at the events here's just a few of the sold items!

Okay, Now that we've said and been through all the good stuff...Here's the bad part of the story. That moment when your at a show and everything is going to good to be true and then Wham! 

Heat + Hot Glue = One mortified Seller

Luckily for me although I did not have my trusty hot glue gun, but I did have super glue for some quick fixes. 

Our next event will July 27, 2013 from 9am - 5 pm at the Sweet Dreams Festival in Stuarts Draft, VA. Hopefully my daughter will walk out of this show unharmed. But, that story is in another blog!

Cabochons

My customers always ask me whenever they see my price sign that says, 

Cabochon Earrings $5.00

"What are Cabochons?"

I try to explain them to the best of my knowledge exactly what they are made with and how they are made. But, the truth is I could only go as far as my research on them would take me. Oh yes, there's far more then just being a photographer, designer, owner, packager, and all those things. Research is key!

 

Without Research how to do you know the background of the items you sale? 

So, I decided with all the research I had done to combine forces with my husband, John and start making my own cabochons for my product. That way I never have to order any again! 

My Husband was really excited about this new venture since it included his favorite hobby Molds and Plastic Resin!

But finding out how to get the color in was a challenge. Out of all my research I uncovered that you could use eyeshadow or acrylic paint. None of which worked by the way. We even thought of spray paint! But, we uncovered Pigment Powder for stamping worked best.

We tried Epoxy Clay but that did not work, so he started using his plastic resin in the molds! 

I was pleased with the outcome and here's some of my finished results! I say mine because what took him 4 years to master took me only 5 minutes! But, I had a good teacher and all that great research I did!

These will be coming soon to Inspired Creations! You may already notice some have been listed in the shop!

 

John wanted to try Sculpty clay too! This is his outcome! But, remember to please lay aluminum foil down on the pan before you bake it because if you don't and your pan has a light layer of oil on it, the clay will soak it up. (Yes, he learned the hard way)

 

Now, here's the catch, I will not be selling these wholesale unless a customer requests them. I will only be using these to better serve my customers by offering them more color choices and variety. 

I've had a lot of interest in my Cabochon Earrings at the events!

Featured Shop: Petals N' Pine And Precious Things

This Week's Featured Shop is

Petals N' Pine And Precious Things

Linda Mitchell is the Owner of the Fabulous Consignment Shop showcasing an indoor craft show with over 40 talented artists and crafters from ages 10 to 90. Prices range from $1- $200+ there is something for everyone in the shop. We have started a facebook online shop where we can sell items to our fans who are not from the area. 

You can find that Online shop here:

Shop Online 

Petals N' Pine And Precious Things is located in Hackettstown, NJ

Here's Some lovely Photo's of the shop! Linda updates them every so often! Look close you'll see

some of my creations in them as well!

One of Linda's own creation!

Linda's Shop offers a wide variety of Handmade Items from many crafters and also offers classes as well!

 

You can find out more about Linda and her shop here at:

Facebook Page

Etsy Shop

Or Follow them on Twitter at:

Twitter

You can also find more of my creations at: 

Inspired Creations

Facebook Page

If you'd like to be in a Featured Shop once a month you can email me at inspiredcreationsbymichelle@gmail.com or contact me through the Facebook Page link above.

Random Thoughts About Last Week

As many of you know last week I lost a very special lady in our lives. My grandmother passed away on Monday. Sunday morning I got a call that my mamaw had, had a massive heart attack and my sister asked me if I would be going down there. I told her Yes, hung up the phone, packed up me and the kids (John can pack his own clothes) in less than an hour. And we were off for Florida.

I was not expecting my mamaw to pass away, but The Lord took her home. John was excellent keeping the kids entertained while my mom, sister, and I cried our eyes out or just needed that time to ourselves. And she did manage to get us all together. So in a way even though her passing was sad, so many good things came out of it. I felt so sad because she wanted to see the kids, but the ICU only allows 10 and older.

I remember always going over to her apartment and she would have a drawer full of happy meal toys for us. And that always made us smile. I was so excited when my mom and her came to visit us in August. I was worried she wouldn't last the tour of Washington D.C. we had planned. But she stuck it out and we enjoyed seeing all the sites. But she didn't like the subway at all.She did however fall i love the mountains.

But, she did buy a pair of my earrings when she was here. I still have her Thank You card hanging on the bulletin board.(Actually I just pulled it off to read it one more time).
On Tuesday morning we got back from Florida and I went straight to work filling orders, because I had my computer with me on the trip, so I knew what to expect when we got back.
I find in difficult times or sad times I like to keep myself busy. I knew when we got back I wouldn't have much time to grieve and I don't think she would of wanted it that way.

So, today I started back to work...Booking shows, working with the new supplies that came in, Sales and Expense reports, and networking.

This is what I came up with today:
Copper Rings

Fancy Bobs

And for my grandma who enjoyed my earrings so much just because I had made them...More earrings

The Button Lady Part 2

Remember in the first blog post about how I collected buttons. Mostly for my hair bows and tutu's. Well, I have decided to sale some of my collection off in the Etsy shop! So, I have been sorting them into themes and deciding which one's I want to keep versus which one's to sell. And here's some of the samples I have come up with to start!

Everyone loves a Hero!

The Cat's meow! A small collection of the cat buttons I have!

And the Dog themed buttons!

I think these will be a great addition to the shop! What do you think?

Augusta Expo

So, here it is almost the start of the Spring season and in a couple of weeks I will be heading to the Augusta Expo for their Annual Spring Show for the first time. I always find it a little scary to go to a show I've never done before by myself. While I enjoy what I do very much, I always get nervous and end up asking myself the same questions before every show.

1. Did I make enough items?

2. What if they don't like my things?

3. Will all my hard work pay off?

4. What do I do if I have to go to the bathroom?

5. Are my displays going to hold a lot of items?

6. How will I set it up this year?

My biggest fear is going to a show and not having enough items. I've already faced the fear of what if my items don't sell at all. So, the Spring show is March 9th and 10th and soon it will be upon me. I've got 2 crates filled and I'm in the process of filling the other 3. I am pushing the limit on restock arriving from my distributors and trying to get it finished before the big day comes. And not to mention training for a 5k in April, doing mommy things with the kids, cleaning, laundry, feeding the animals, and whatever comes along to tackle.

What do you do to relieve the stress from upcoming shows?

Here's a photo from a crate I'm filling of Ribbon Flower Brooches/Hair Clips.

And here's my stack of crates. Just an example of what I'm talking about

This is not all I will be taking with me though...there's still a crate of tutu's (which won't be packed until set up day), the displays, tables, chairs, signs, baskets, shelving, and lots of little things. A bit overwhelming, but in the end it's all worth it!

Organizing Part 2: Shoe Box City

Okay, so the title might be a little exaggerating! And the plastic storage containers may just look like shoe boxes to me! But, their awesome! I go into Target, I come out with 10 of these at time. And at .97 cents a piece that's a pretty awesome deal to me for storage containers! And I just don't use them for my office space, but I use them to organize the kids crayons, games, puzzles, etc!

I probably have enough of them by now to start my own city! I use them for everything from fabric scraps to storing old inventory that I may use at a later date. And they stack up in my wardrobe/storage unit great. I really like the idea that their clear enough I can see what's in them.

And I only chose one picture today, because the organizing my space part has come to a stand still as I am getting items ready for the Spring show at the Augusta Expo.

Organization Part 1: The Ribbon Hoarder

My space needs some desperate cleaning and organizing, so I am in the process of organizing my office. Mainly because I can't find anything at all and I get so frustrated when I know that I laid something somewhere and when I go to find it...it's not there! So, I thought I would blog about organizing my craft space as I transform it into my dream space! And when we first moved into the house, the first thing I couldn't wait to get organized was all my ribbon!

Yes, I am a ribbon hoarder too! I love ribbon just about as much as I love buttons!

So here's what I did to organize all my ribbon!

I had a white curtain rod that we had in the old house and just my luck it was to long to use it in this house. So, I had hubby hang it on the wall above my work space. I slid the big spools of ribbon on it, because the smaller one's wouldn't fit.

Now you can tape or pin your ends of the ribbon so they don't hang down. But, I use my ribbon so much that I don't even bother with it.

Now what to do with that smaller ribbon. My hubby got me this piece about a year ago and it has the smaller ribbon rods in it. But, you can buy the ribbon rods separately.

I like this piece in the office because of it's functionality. My paints and all my punches fit on it as well as other things. And what do I do with the one's that don't fit on either rod. Well, I store them in a clear plastic box inside a wardrobe. If you have organization idea's for how you store your ribbon I'd love to hear them! Next week I'll be blogging about those plastic boxes and storing all your small items in them from fabric swatches to tools!

The Button Lady

To some customers I am not known for my Hair Accessories, Tutu's, or even my earrings. I am not known for my choices in Ribbon or the Artistic talent I put in to creating my items. I am just known as "The Button Lady". Mostly for my unique choices in the buttons that I use on my hair accessories. Where as most Boutique's will add bottle caps or tie a knot, I use buttons. Not just on my Hair Accessories though, but also on my post earrings and Tutu's.

I love the inspiration a new bag of mixed buttons gives. From that moment you pick it up in the store and wonder what kind of surprise you will find inside...to that moment when you bring it home and open it up to sort it. It's a wonderful feeling to be inspired by something as simple as a button.

And sometimes there's more than just buttons in the bag. Sometimes there are beads, flatbacks, glittery surprises, gems...All kinds of things. There's also the packs of buttons that I put on my best selling Bows.

So, the next time you see a button laying around think about all the wonderful people in the world that, that button inspires.

What Do We Got Planned

Hello, Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I have been sick since the day after Christmas! I'm feeling a little better so, I thought I would share some exciting news with you!

On February 1, 2013 a new consignment shop is opening up in Hackettstown, NJ. Petals N Pine & Precious Things!

They are looking for Unique and talented crafters interested in consigning space. Quilters, Knitters, Artists who create using felt, paper, sew doll items, wood crafters, painters, jewelry, ornaments and more.

And wouldn't ya know I am in the process of signing all the paperwork for them to sale my lovely Hair Bows and such!

That's the first bit of exciting news! Want to hear the second... Our Calendar of Events is up and running and the first stop is The Augusta Expo March 9 and 10th for the Spring Show!