Shop Black Friday Here!

Howdy Black Friday shoppers! Look no further than Whimsical-Wares for your holiday shopping! I have earrings, woven bracelets, seashell crafts as well as a few waterbottle type crafts. I love experimenting with different mediums and that one really surprises people. I use the bottoms of water bottles for flowers and the lids for artwork. All of my pieces can be custom made to order for specific sizes and colors. Please feel free to peruse my shop and contact me with any questions and/or orders. Happy holidays!

Finally a Sale

Yea!! The day has finally come that, thanks to my friend Ronnie and something called Instagram, I got my first sale! It's true what they say about touting your own wares, once you get maximum exposure like posting there and on Facebook, Pinterest, and Flickr-things really do start to happen. Thanks also to my cousin Rosa who asked for the first pair!

Success!

Well, lo and behold! I guess I did something right after all! I do have my ads now and that's great!
Maybe it's true what they say, keep on believing and don't give up, and you will have success!
I also want to give a shout out to all the people devastated by the hurricanes. I pray that their families are safe and they can clean up the mess and return to their homes. We didn't get much rain here in Groves, but the weekend isn't over yet.

I don't have any specific formula for when I want to make something. Some people make jewelry, or cook, or sew when they are down, or inspired, I just go with the flow. My days consist of housework, volunteer work and making jewelry, or shellcrafts, and then at night, instead of just sitting and watching tv, I sometimes work on a crochet project. Of course, I'm not too good at it yet, my husband says instead of it being relaxing  for me, I make it look like a full contact sport! I spend as much time pulling it out as I do making it, lol! Again, I just have to keep on ptacticing and one day, I will have it down. If at first you don't succeed and all that mess! At least my jewelry is somewhere that I can be proud. Many years of practice have lead me to a fulfilling and satisfying craft. I specialize and enjoy weaving the most but I do most any kind of beaded jewelry. Come by and check out my shop sometime!

Is Anybody Out There?

Its so hard not to get discouraged when you aren't getting any visitors to your blog. No comments, or feedback can make you want to say "why am I doing this anyway?" Everything I've read and advice from trusted friends (thanks Carol) says to keep on trying, keep on blogging, some day you will get visitors. I just have to figure out how to direct friends to my site. I have told friends and family, I have put my link on Facebook and Pinterest, I'm a member of LinkedIn- what am I doing wrong? I can't even figure out how to put ads on my blog, and the process is step by step- must have missed one somewhere, lol! well, fellow bloggers out there, if anyone feels compelled to help a sister out, it would be  greatly appreciated! By the way, I know that the problem with the ads is that I haven't implemented the code into the HTML yet, that's because I lost it!!  Yep, I lost the code I was given back at the beginning of this process and now I can't find it again. Anyway, any ideas to increase traffic or get visitors to my store or this blog would be greatly appreciated! .

Humble Beginnings

I learned how to make jewelry in kind of an unconventional way; I was trying to start one of those "at home businesses" and they showed me how to make the beaded earrings with the fring and asked me to make 50 pairs. Well, I did and went I sent them off for payment, I got a letter back stating that they didn"t meet their "standards" (their ploy not to have to pay me) and the result was, I didn't start that business but learned how to make jewelry in the process! I've been hooked ever since! I started selling to friends and family. and it just grew from there. I have tried booths at antique places, Etsy and several other places. I even had my collection in an art gallery (i did very well there) but I took it out for a show at a nursing home and when I was ready to bring it back, his shop had become quite full and he didn't have room for me anymore. That was ok, it pushed me to try something else and that is how I came to be on Articents. Now,  I design when I want to and I put pieces in the shop at my own pace. Again, the link back to the shop is www.articents.com/Whimsical-Wares. Thanks for visiting!

Taking Time To Create

Black and White Woven Bracelet

Hello everyone! I hope your Monday is off to a good start! I decided to talk about when the best time is to sit down and create something. Well, the answer is different for everyone, but for me, I have to be diciplined and make time between household chores, volunteer jobs and the occasional visit with neighbors. Something like this woven bracelet only takes a couple of hours if you aren't interrupted by things like the tv, telephone or, in my case, my cat Boots wanting to jump in the middle of a project and "help" me! You just have to "fit it in" somewhere between all those things if you really want to get the job done. I have an advantage, having retired early, I have alot more spare time than others, but if you are serious about building a business or just want to create for the love of the craft, try to squeeze in an hour or two between the distractions of  the day! I get my inspiration from magazines like Bead and Button, videos and tutorials on sites like Favcrafts, and tips from other jewelry artists like Rena Klingenberg, who has her own website. I may get an idea from one of those sources, then I make it my own using different colors and or materials.

Whimsical Wares: Let it rain!

Whimsical Wares: Let it rain!: Ok, Now that I've broken the ice,let me just say that I hope my friends and family wherever they live,  got to enjoy the rain and cooler te...