ch-ch-changes.

Just do it, stupid.

I have journals filled with all of these great ideas. Ideas for the site, ideas for jewelry designs, ideas for the future. You get my point. And so this year, I've decided I'm finished with the complete Survival Manual for a Business-That-You-Never-Even-Started-Because-You-Never-Stopped-Planning.

A good business is ever-evolving, but if nothing is ever put into motion...well, then there's nothing to evolve.

Well that was stupid, stupid.

I've decided to build a simple site with the blog secondary. Do you realize it took nearly a year for me to figure out that I could log in & generate my own, more legit emails [you know, "X" @cardinal-house.com]. Wow. I guess that I shouldn't admit that, but my pride can take another blow this week.

Please excuse my mess while I try not to be so stupid.

Obviously, I don't always know exactly what I'm doing. Evolving for sure. I'll need to change a couple settings on the site, so this may go back to the Blogger address for a bit while I get the site & domain all smoothed out. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm not gonna lie. This is exciting to me.

[it's the simple things, I know]

studious reflection. pretty flowers.

Don't you just love this budding [harhar] wall of flowers?!  Yet another project I'm working hard on in the studio.

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You might have noticed the lack of new items in my Etsy shop. It's not that I haven't been busy, only that I've been busy in the background. Lately, I've been doing a lot of research & soul searching. I've been putting down guidelines [for me] regarding where I want Cardinal House to go & figuring out the baby steps to implement. I am a one-woman show after all & whether I like it or not, I am definitely not superwoman.

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Here's the low-down.

1) I've been spending much more time over at Facebook.  

I like the format- that it's visual & interactive on a more personal level. Plus, now you get notifications about interactions [which I love]. That's where I'll be getting my photo gallery together to browse through current items, sold items, my studio, items sent off to stores nationwide... Right- you get my point?!

2) At this point, I will no longer be posting individual items here on the blog. If I get a collection of items, I'll post a little ditty here, but if you want up-to-date info: Facebook, Twitter, or subscribe to Cardinal House shop feed. For the blog, I intend on focusing on more studio info, inspiration & featuring other shops that I love too.

3) Giveaways. I've signed up with an application approved by Facebook to start doing some giveaways. Actually, I will probably start one running next week [hint, hint]. But I'll post about it here too. I'd love to know how many of you are on Facebook too [or completely against it!].

And instead of actual product giveaways, I am going to do a lump sum [$40-$50 to start] gift certificate/credit for my shop.

4) Sales. In general, I'm not going to be marking down items in the Etsy shop any more. Don't fret! Instead, I'll be offering generous sales for my lovely blog readers [hello, you] & fans & followers because you guys are the most awesomist people ever! I've just been slammed with custom requests based on marked down items & while everyone is understanding, I still hate to bum people out. 

5) Bringing Cardinal House goodies to a place near you. Well, there are many parts to this one & I've rambled on soo much already. Perhaps in another few posts?!

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color palette à la rosebuds.

While a was on the phone with a friend, I had this idea of displaying the rosebud earrings as if on a palette for Fabu Face Spa. Of course, I was supposed to drop everything off within 48hrs of this conversation. Lucky for me, my more logical side took over & convinced me to wait until I was all caught up before I tried out the idea. Well, that & my friend already concerned about my lack of sleep.

But isn't it a cute idea?! Okay, so obviously the earrings aren't finished. There is NO WAY I'd ship them out like that [or officially put them up for sale like that]. I'm just impatient & kinda excited & took the picture while all in progress. 

I thought this display idea would be cool on an easel & work as a package sell for wholesale customers [then I can offer replacements ;-) ]. I was thinking of making some smaller palette displays too focusing on specific colorways. 

Yeah, I've never argued with anyone about me needing a life. Or that I'm highly amused with simple things. haha!

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in progress.

Wow. It's been a crazy week. Craziness in the studio, at home, at the office...whew, am I ever glad it's Friday! 

I've been scheming behind-the-scenes towards getting some Cardinal House goodies to a location in Decatur, GA & *possibly* up to Montreal. But that's another can of international worms & we'll see, right?!

Meanwhile, in the studio I've been having loads of fun dreaming up gardens [and did make a little flower patch]. It's been stormy and positively d-r-e-a-r-y this past week in Atlanta, but I managed to goof off for a few minutes with el kiddo...

 

I don't like taking pictures & am still fighting [me] about posting more personal info...let's put it this way, I don't even post personal photos on Facebook. But. Baby steps, right? My plan is to start taking pictures of pieces actually being worn too. I think it does add that extra je ne sais quoi to visualizing the product. Eventually, I'd like to work up my own look books [sans moi!].

Anyway. So el kiddo helped me out with a test drive...not too shabby for a kid, huh?! I went in & cropped later [and more edits, yes], but I gave him big high-fives. Next practice session will be out somewhere to introduce taking more candid pic's. Did I mention I can't stand posing for pictures?! Period, even if I'm not the "model". I'll stop ranting now :)

So another idea I've been brainstorming this week is this wall art concept. Obviously, these guys aren't finished. I've done some research & know that I want the frames finished too. *Yay* no, I haven't seen this idea exactly...but there are growing number of hoop presentations & many of the hoops are left unfinished. Now, when they're older frames [or pre-sanded, worn look], I'm okay with them left unfinished. But with new frames like these, I wouldn't want to just ship these out like that. I'm a pain, what can I say. So, the frames will be painted or stained [clear or not], depending on the overall aesthetic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, what do you guys think?!

ps- El kiddo & I were carrying on a conversation while he snapped away. We're chatting it up when this bird starts dive-bombing a tree nearby. Haha, some of those photos were deleted, permanently. Baby steps ;)

garters, art panels & coin purses. oh, my!

Design A.D.D, so what's new? But that's not what's stalling my new products. Well, not exactly. The project that I'm working on has had me sidetracked in the bridal sections of craft stores the past couple of days. I keep thinking how fabu that ivory flower up there would look in the center of a garter. Don't you think?!

Anyways. That's a peek into the [obviously] unfinished prototypes for a bridal project. I just bought the true sky-blue chiffon [background] to make the actual flowers in if approved. 

I feel like I'm partaking in a Cinderella story with this one! And aren't the dresses great?! The bridal gown will be in a pale ivory.

Okay. Off I go to get some other things done. None of which will be the garters, art panels, coin purses or guitar and camera strap designs that keep taunting me. One day, right? Right. ;)

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studious reflection. procrastinators-r-us.

I've had this tray of flowers out for a couple of weeks now. Between re-organizing the studio & taking primo advantage of this FABULOUS weather we've had lately, well, I've slacked. And now I have impromptu company coming in this weekend, so I've got a bunch of things to do this week in preparation. And then next week...okay, you get my point. Perhaps not procrastination. Just life.

Today, my goal is to get at least one headband finished. Baby steps until things calm down some, right? Right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have a good President's Day!

studious reflection. custom order.

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas -whoa, I really did just type that. Hope that you had a good Thanksgiving.  Wow. My brain has not been functioning well, can you tell!? haha.

So, I've had a lot going on & have been fairly quiet. I thought I would share one of the projects that's kept me locked away.  This custom order is now a coordinating set of necklaces & earrings. 

These are just a few of the sample pictures to nail down the particulars. Up top, the picture shows all of the samples together...didn't it make a pretty picture?! I really like it.

 

The bottom image shows what was ultimately decided upon [including the earrings to match]. And they're all turning out lovely. 

But that reminds me that I have more flowers to sew. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Enjoy!

♥ -Kat.

studious reflections. sparkle sensation.

As noted before multiple times: I have serious design a.d.d. issues. 

I love it when I get in a custom request that was an idea in process. One, it means that I'm on the right track with an idea, + two, it probably means I have the supplies on hand!

I've had two of those types of requests this week. The non-flower beaded necklaces [which will also come in longer lengths, too]. And a request for some metallics. Shiny stuff, yay!

My next collection that I've been gathering is going to utilize some great metallics. I've pulled these dreamy matte silve + gold faceted beads that I've been dying to play with. But with a request, I have a bona fide reason to interrupt the previously scheduled studio program to play with something else for a bit. 

I'll follow-up with a post showing how the silver flowers turned out!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have a great weekend!

♥ -Kat.

studious reflection. being green isn't easy.

It's Friday & we know what that means for my studio. Uh-huh, more books from the library that would be destined for el trash can. This is what our librarian brought to me before I left for the day: 

 

 *double sigh*

 

Really? You know "green design" is preached EVERYWHERE these days, but do you have any idea how wasteful our industry really is? I'm only one chica & can only do so much...

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Psst. Make sure you stop back by Monday [giveaway announcement]. See, I'm posting this so I can not take it back now -no way, no how.

 

 

Hope you have a great weekend. 

♥ -Kat. 

studious reflection. color box concept illustrated.

Need I say more?

Although, it just dawned on me that I should turn the markers around so I don't get into trouble. I'm sure it could be some legal snafu...Not that I command that much attention; it's just I want the Color Box line to make Prismacolor weep, not sue!

I'm making the other style rose too, so don't fret if you prefer those. Also, the exact beads will be tweaked [color + size] as I continue. The collection will come standard on SP chain, but I think I will offer them in sterling also after the next supply order.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How great are these?! I'm so excited. In all avenues of design [fashion, interior, arts/graphic]...I have a love affair of textured neutrals as a base with a streak of rich saturated color. So these make perfect trimmings!

Is there a certain color you'd like to see here?

♥ -Kat.

Update: haha, this reminds me of a corporate design project I did years ago back in school. The project was for a young, modern graphic design firm + my concept was inspired by the whole print process. Guess what the colors were? uh huh..cyan, yellow, magenta [smirks] 

See: 

 

studious reflection. new etsy applications.

Okay, I can't tell you how many gripes I've made on the forum + blogs about Etsy getting on board with some discount code feature for sales. So this new "Etsy On Sale" site/application great. Almost perfect. I sometimes offer a discount for repeat buyers, so I'd still like the ability of a discount code...but I'll deal!

It's an easy way to put a bunch of items on a special sale all at once [+ for a specified amount of time]. Sale price shows up automatically + the customers don't have to wait for a refund back through PayPal. Yippee! 

The site itself is very basic + isn't set up for searches AND limited to browsing through the top tier categories only. So, once this site picks up momentum, it's going to be super crowded. Now, it's new, so new features could very well be in the works. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So the other recent new application is from Statsy.org, the same site that will send sellers email notifications when an item hits Etsy's front page [thank you].

Right.

This new application took longer than I thought it would to show up on the scene, but the wait is over [she hesitantly says]. The Clockbot is ready to use. This app lets a seller schedule listing renewels automatically. Uh huh, you could sit there and plan out the next few days' worth of renewels + be busy doing somethig else. 

Really, I have mixed feelings about this. I can't tell you how many times I've wished for this since I'm swamped at the office + can't sneak on the Etsy to renew items [ssh!]. BUT. For those that do have the time [+ money] to sit + plan out a neverending constant 24/7 schedule of renewals will. I can just imagine it now....my items are forever destined to sit back on page 463 + 1039. FOREVER. Etsy gone spam.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

haha. oh well. I'll figure something out!

So what do you think about the new features, both as sellers and customers?

♥ -Kat.

studious reflection. color box collection in progress.

Today has been a fabulous day along the Chattahoochee. Sun out + a nice breeze...I love it! 

I knew we had a lot of errands to run and that the first task would cause a certain little man to be bored out of his mind! So, we had a great relaxed brunch at J. Christopher's. My bribe of bacon, eggs, french toast, fresh fruit + juice worked wonders because he was an perfect gentleman at the fabric store. Not the first "I'm bored"! Color me wowed!

Right. the fabrics and beads. So, I've wanted to do a color box collection inspired by the brightly colored beads that my grandmother adored. But, most of the fabric books that I bring home from work are patterned + intended for hotel interiors. In other words, not too much hot pink, lemon yellow or royal purple!

I didn't find fabrics to go with all of the sample beads that I brought, but it's enough to get the collection going. The perfect orange eluded me today. I'll probably have to order that fabric through work because what I've seen local goes from rusty orange to shocking [almost neon] orange.

Oh, and the basic idea for the color box collection is similar to the all orange. Like-color flowers with the like-color beads. Some mixing going along, but no Edie desserts*. Too many bright colors all at once make my head hurt!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Do you have a favorite color combo? 

[crazy or not!]

 I can't wait to work up purple flowers!

♥ -Kat.

*Edie desserts - My fam used to meet up + eat out at a buffet-type restaurant every so often. And my grandmother came up with the CRAZIEST dessert combos. It honestly became the night's finale with us making bets as to what combo she would come up with that night. It also became a running gag between my mom + me that carried over into Edie's crafts. She luved hot pink, bright blue, lavender, lime green + orange. She just knew that those colors looked great in any combo.  

:} haha --- she was an absolute hoot!

studious reflection. custom inspiration.

So this orange beauty was the end result of a custom order that went out today! I like it. This is actually something I've wanted to do since I have GOBS of these beads [thank you Edie, mom + Bren]...right, loads of colorful beads: orange, emerald green, lime green, hot pink, royal purple, sapphire blue, yellow...

But then fabric reps keep coming into the office pulling discontinued fabric books out of our library! I brought home no less than 15 more books at home this week. I am trying to purge the pat rack out of me, but I just can't stand for all of the fabric books to just be thrown in the trash. Arrg.

So today, I have this internal struggle that reminds me of this scene in Animal House. You know the scene of angel/devil playing good cop/bad cop on his shoulder? That one. One side keeps telling me that I must use up what I have first; the other says that I should just go to the store, buy the dang fabric & make up the pretty necklaces!

Don't I wish all struggles were this mundane?!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♥ -Kat.

the crafter and the mill. a true story.

Besides the playhouse*, my favorite place at my grandma Edie's to snoop spend time in was the beadroom. Actually, it was an entire building immediately behind her workroom. At least 3/4 of its walls were lined with shelves from ceiling to floor. On the top shelf, lightweight items like yarn was stored. Down at the bottom, fabrics were stuffed into boxes and tubs. Everything in between...beads. Recycled soda bottles, mason jars - you name it - filled to the brim with beads. For a kid like me - it was the jackpot at the end of a rainbow.

So this past Saturday, my mom & I sifted through some of this fabric. I mentioned in an earlier post that there was a story behind the fabric...and there you go, that's my story. Haha - no, just goofing. and yes, I realize I'm not funny. just a nerd, but I'm okay with that.

Okay. Here's the actual story behind the fabric.

When my mother was a toddler, the family lived in the Aiken, SC area. At the time, the nearby mills + workrooms would load up the day's fabric scraps and put them outside the doors at closing. The scraps were free for anyone to come by and take home.

Notice how the pieces of fabric are all cut the same? That's because they were stacked & cut from a pattern press all at the same time. 

My grandmother used the scraps in her various projects. A personal favorite of my mom & me...her quilts.

Those scraps that I brought home Saturday are from the same stock that I learned & practiced sewing on when I was a little girl. Now, I'll work on turning them into something that others will enjoy too. Awe...& there's my gush quota for the day =)

♥ - Kat.

*playhouse - by the time I was a little girl, the playhouse was basically another storage building. However, it's shelves were lined with puzzles, books & games. Almost everything in there had belonged to either my grandparents, my mom, my aunt or perhaps one of my 4 uncles...

haha..misdirect + requests.

Yikes. I think that I might have fried my brain just a bit unloading the rest of the beads this afternoon. I was about to write the story behind my grandmother's fabrics & stopped upon entering the title. There is still a picture to take tomorrow when the sun pops out again. I'll type up the story then & wing this for now - can you stand it?

I've received a lot of requests lately. Yes, lots about flowers this + that. I promise that there are new things on the way. Actually, as soon as I get done here I'll be going back into the studio to work on a project.


Okay, the other prominent Q I get is about my old Team Eric necklaces [True Blood - that Eric...smoking hot Eric..you know]. I need to check in on my supplies. And if that's looking good, do one for both Eric & Alcide --Bill fans, you can special request because it just ain't happening otherwise! Ditto that to you Twilight people.

& on that delightful note ;) ...

Enjoy!

♥ - Kat.

a melancholy christmas.

In my various profiles, I mention that my grandmother, Edie, is the one responsible for my venturing into jewelry, etc after helping her when I was a child with her craft business. When she passed away a hair over *gasp* 12 years ago - my mother & aunt divided up all of her supplies. I've ended up with a good amount over the years too because, in all, that was about 3 buildings & 1 school bus* worth of supplies + her shop filled to the brim with finished goods for sale + all of her sample designs in yet another workroom. I'm serious when I write that she truly ran her own business, that we toured the SE doing craft shows & walking into manufacturer showrooms [many of which she knew the owners by their first names].

Right, the point.

My mother & kid sis will be moving back down to Florida soon (from Atlanta). At least for now, mom's decided to let me take all of her share of Edie's beads & halve her share of the old fabrics. >She knows that if she finds a project to use ANY of it that I'll be happy to send it to her right away< So we spent the majority of Saturday going through beads & fabric, all the while reminiscing.

Today, I'm going through the stuff that I brought back home with me. It's silly, really. It's like Christmas going through all of this bounty, but I keep tearing up.So many memories.

My aunt, mom & I have sort of a pact between us regarding Edie's supplies. We can use any of it up in a design & sell, but not solely as supplies for sale. In that way, we hope that she's proud & pleased from afar that her collection is still making others happy. So that's why you won't see any of these fabrics or beads up for sale as supplies in my shop. (Sorry quilters!)

For now, I'm simply overwhelmed. I still have another carload of beads to bring home. And while I'm positively itching to play with the fabrics...I think that I'm going to set them aside for the moment. They all have to be laundered, that's for sure. I mean, they're in the 40+ age range & there's a history behind them [that I know & will share later in a separate post]. That, & I'm too close to them just now. Some of them would do well as flowers, but for others it would be an injustice to hide their charming prints.

Edie, we forever love & miss you.

♥ - Kat.

*school bus storage - no joke. my grandparents had a retired Escambia County school system bus out by the greenhouse & Edie used it as storage. When I was little, I used to climb up on the hood in the evenings, lay back against the windshield & look at the stars. 100% true.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A peek at some of the vintage fabrics:

living in While You Were Sleeping

When I need a fun & light-hearted reference of what my life feels like sometimes, the dinner scene in While You Were Sleeping hits the spot. Feel free to watch the entire clip [approx 10 minutes], but for those not familiar with the scene, it starts at about 4:34 [just drag the slide bar to FF to the time].

I can't believe it's May. It. is. May. Of 2010...I blinked & April was gone! I mean, Alex has a little of a week left of the school year. How did it happen?! Things in my life have not lightened up. Not that I expected a fairy godmother to pop in & take away the stress, but still.

Not even two weeks ago, my immediate co-worker [& dear friend] had to leave work & be taken to ER due to chest pains. It turns out to be stress [we weren't surprised]. For any of you out there that think design is easy-peasy picking out pillows all day...trust me...a fight to the death [in debate & examples at least]. A great many design-oriented graduates will end up as sales reps [nothing wrong with that]. It's just that so many watch HGTV & see these fun clips, but don't understand the importance of learning about building codes, architecture or financial details....

Right. rambling. So the same friend's son-in-law had a heart attack over the weekend. He's not even 40 [both JP's daughter + son-in-law are lawyers]. Stress [mainly].

I just read an article via Scoutie Girl regarding one of the guest bloggers parting ways because she was stretching herself too thin & didn't feel that she was giving enough attention to her sons.

That hit so close to home. It's also why I haven't been so active here lately. First & foremost I'm a mom. These days, I'm a single mom. I work full-time in a very demanding & stressful environment. Beyond that, it's quite the juggling act of homework, housework, errands, "quality time", play time, ex + fam, Etsy & here.

I made it a point for this latest New Year's resolutions that I'd make a point to let other things give when times were stressful. Admittedly, I'm horrible about the whole social networking venue & etiquette. That & posting here are the first things to go for me. I just don't know how so many of you do it! I feel horrible at times, because I subscribe to a great many blogs via email.

Okay, I'm wrapping this up. Sort of. I have a list of things that I want to write up about, but good intentions & all that jazz, you know!? Well, if you watched the clip...welcome to my world. First thing Monday mornings during our office meeting armed with only 1 cup of coffee...that's how I feel. Dinner's with the ex + gang...that's how I feel. Family conversations...oh yeah, that is definitely us! & the most important thing to remember in these moments...is to sit back & find some humor [& to just politely smile while keeping my mouth shut!]. The extra stress is not worth it.

Take time out for you & repeat "serenity now, serenity now" [Thank you, Seinfeld!]
♥ -Kat.

PS--

Baroness Bijoutery, I always love to read your uplifting & humorous posts [often including "Husband of Wonder".

DuhBe, I think it fabulous that you inject a bit a science & astronomy into your posts.

justCHARMING, I always must call you my treasury queen!

Doll, I still LOVE that you managed to get the manly firemen to pose with "dolls"--although [as you write] your doll aren't exactly typical!

studious reflection. a step into the [colorful] darkside.

Just look at all of the possibilities here! I know; I'm sick & twisted. And I've always reacted like this with fabrics, paint, beads, jewelry, art, architecture, books...

Yup, another proud geek moment.

~~~~

But, right, rambling. So the point was to show where I swerved onto a path of what I consider the darkside [albeit a colorful one]. I had originally intended for these groupings of fabrics to be become more of the 3-flower Rosalind necklaces...

ta-da! 

I play around with each fabric to see what folding technique works better each time. The fabric in the necklace above is a looser weave & made a nice, fluffier [technical term] flower vs. the fabric above which folds flatter & frankly looked boring. So I made a tighter fold & pinned the flowers on one of my portable idea boards [a couple of 6x6 cork tiles].

Peachy flower--okay, but didn't thrill me. The blues & greens with a tighter fold similar to ribbon flowers. I hadn't intentionally grouped the flowers together on the board like that at first, but when I saw what I had done...well, I tossed out the original idea to the wind.

I have a number of smaller sheer fabric books sitting around with nothing to use them for because of the paper backing on them.

The paper-free part of the fabric is too small really to work into flowers, but could work as the base to sew the flowers/adornments for a small bib.

 et voilà!

[okay, so this picture shows a piece of fabric from one of the larger sheer books I had. but you get the point I think!]

Then I back them with coordinating faux leather or faux suede [again, from recycled books from the office]. 

I have many colors to choose from above and beyond the pic above of my backings. Fun & creepy all at the same time, huh? 

That made the mini-bib another nice choice because I got to use up all of the grouped fabrics in one swoop [vs. 2 had I stuck with the original idea]. After working up these 2 though, I've decided to put these aside for now [like the bracelet]. There are too many bib-type necklaces on the web right now &, frankly, most of them are under priced. 

Okay, let's put it this way: 

•I break apart all of the old fabric books 
•separate & group out the fabrics

•cut out the fabric

•fold the fabric

•select the beads &/or buttons for the adornments [usually vintage]

•select/cut out the fabric for the backing

•place & hand-sew flowers into place

•place & hand-sew beads/adornments into place

•go back through to hand-secure flower edges into place

•hand-hem/tack down backing fabric

•prep the backing

•hand-sew the backing into place

•attach chain [which isn't store bought/ready-made]

•make necessary adjustments to length based on final weight, etc

•take photos/edit

•create listing/+whatever slight "marketing" I may do

Right, so the point of the little rant is this: there are a lot of super-inexpensive pieces on Etsy that tell me either 1) the designer spent no time on it & it's super-shoddy [& if there is hardly any description/ details, that's going to be my automatic assumption] or 2) is selling themselves short &/or competing with Wal-Mart when they're not selling Wal-Mart products.

Hmm, that turned into a rant too...

I guess what I'm trying to justify is that I've set this batch of fabrics aside momentarily until I crunch some numbers. I'm keeping the lilac/lavender one for me. I've listed the green & blue [which reminds me of the lush green foliage against the bright Spring sky] at a moderate price for now.When I bring the rest out, I plan on really figuring out accurately the amount of time I spend on one of these puppies from start to finish. At that point, the pricing will reflect that time because my goal is to one day do only this. 

I'm very lucky that I still work full-time with a good paying job, fabulous benefits & great people. Frankly, I'm very lucky because there have been a lot of designers let go in the Atlanta area this past year & a half. But I'd still love to be my own boss doing something that is so enjoyable to me & that comes so naturally. I don't sell myself short of the office & I refuse to sell myself short here either [especially if this is to be my only means of income & I'd be paying health insurance, etc].

Sorry, this is one of those topics that I'm VERY passionate about. My grandmother sold her wares for dirt cheap & barely supported herself once my grandfather passed. My mother would also sell her crafts that way & barely covered supplies. I also come from a VERY conservative family that typically undersells the women in general. I'm the first female in the main family core to graduate from college so it pains me to see women underestimate themselves.

I'll stop now because I may type on for hours about this otherwise. Not sure when I'll break the fabric back out [or the bracelet] because they don't work up as fast as I'd like & I have an overgrowth of books that I want to quickly [haha] work up. At least, as quick as a little thing called life will allow!

Seriously, I'm quitting for now! No further ranting on this post!

♥ -Kat.