Inspiration...

There are so many things that inspire me when I'm creating.  A walk through Central Park alone can flood me with what feels like millions of ideas for my jewelry and knits. I'm actually inspired by the strangest things sometimes, but that's a whole 'nother post!

Being new to the blogging world I've sought out inspiration from the blogs that I love.  I found that the inspiration I got from them is not quite as direct.  The difference is that unless you want to be a copycat, these inspirations aren't necessarily in the same vein as, let's say, my Central Park example.  I'm more inspired by the fact that they are awesome...and this makes me want to strive to be awesome, too!

And as if the clouds parted and the wisdom of the heavens shone down on just me [overly dramatic...i know] one of my absolute favorite bloggers, Ez of Creature Comforts did the most amazing thing!  She began the "Guide for Better Blogging".  That's right...a successful and talented blogger is taking the time to give advice [free advice] so that we can have the tools needed to follow in her footsteps. I don't know if I'm more impressed by her blog or her selflessness!  Either way...I now strive to be more like her in 2 ways! Hopefully sharing this information with you gets me one step closer! Hahaha! Happy learning!

Photo: 'Park Benches in Central Park' by DeaPeaJay. Some rights reserved.            

In the Etsy shop...

I reached 100 hearts today!  To know that 100 people liked my work enough to click that button touches me beyond words!  Yay, yay and yay!!  I just had to share...thanks for reading!

Exciting news...

I did it!  I somehow found the courage to approach a boutique and....they said YES! So if you're in New York head to BEBE NOIR in Harlem {2164 Frederick Douglass Boulevard b/t 116th & 117th} where there is now a sampling of the AI Collection (including 3 pairs of my new large earrings in fun summer colors not yet in the Etsy shop)!

The boutique is fantastic. I've actually been a fan of the place long before I started CSHM because they saved me when I couldn't find anything to wear to the Duplicity crew screening. The owner is a really talented clothing designer so it is full of great fashion, jewelry, shoes...basically everything you need to look fabulous!

The owner is also amazingly nice and even taught me a thing or two about approaching other boutiques.  My first boutique experience was fantastic and as nervous as I was I am so grateful for that!

Someone had a great week...

I would like to shout from the rooftops that my line sheet is done!!! It's officially .pdf'd and copied and I am really proud of it!  Now comes building up the courage to approach boutiques... [yikes]!

And as if that wasn't enough...I'm now on the other side of my recent sales slump,  I had a lovely blog mention on the Sand Fibers blog,  I'm 5 people away from 100 people ♥ing my shop on Etsy,  I've gained more followers to my Twitter and Facebook and last but not least, I have you beautiful people following my blog! 

Needless to say...I had a great week!  Thank you all for being a part of it!

Happy Father's Day...

...to 2 of the greatest fathers I know...my brother and, of course, my daddy!  And Don I know you're a skinny minnie now, but I like the picture so deal with it!  [typical little sister]

Being talked about...

That's right...I've been blatantly talked about!  Okay...it's in an awesome way!  One of my favorite blogs, Bows & Sparrows, has an all too flattering write up of my AI Collection!  I am beyond excited!

I highly recommend following her blog.  It's full of super pretty things, including how she used chicken wire and a picture frame to make a gorgeous earring display!  Yea, you just read that!

And while I'm on the subject of being talked about I have to fill you in on SocialMention.com.   It's a way to find out if your business is being discussed on the internet. I was both shocked and flattered to discover my pieces on SleepDreamPlay, love is near, A Girl's Guide to Naturelle-Chic, A Girl Named Tamiko, and Sweet Like Lemons!  Nothing cures a bad day or a sales slump like people truly appreciating your work!  Happy searching!

My Weekend...

I had a great weekend and I hope you all* did, too!  Saturday threatened thunderstorms that never happened, but a very lazy day was spent at home nonetheless.  I over booked myself on Sunday, but the highlight was definitely the NYC Design Meetup hosted by the lovely bklyncontessa!  I 'met' bklyncontessa on Twitter and it was so nice to meet her in person! She organized the event to welcome Erin Loechner of Design For Mankind to New York.  She is also quite lovely!  In fact, it's hard to come up with another word to describe everyone I met because bklyncontessa managed to gather a group of lovely lovely people!

I realized that it's easy as a small business owner, that works from home, to become isolated in your own world/work space.  There is nothing like being around a bunch of creatives to get you motivated!   I'm glad the event was on a Sunday because now I feel ready and energized to accomplish a lot this week! Won't you join me in having a great week?

Print is by Sweet William on Etsy


*Having lived in Virginia for many years it was difficult to not use 'ya'll'.  Quite proud of myself for showing some restraint...until this addendum anyway...

The business side of the business [Line Sheets]...

For the past week I've been working toward checking off a major item of my to do list.  This item is the line sheet for my AI Collection.  It's a collection that I feel I can produce multiples of consistently and quickly enough to approach boutiques about placing it on their shelves.  I am excited about the prospect of it all and I really want to do it right.

What's not exciting is the business side of running your own creative business!  Creating this line sheet has been both frustrating and draining.  Tons of research online to figure out what a line sheet is in the first place, customizing it to my pieces so it's not twenty pages and maneuvering around the fact that I am not as computer savvy as I thought I was.

At this point the look of the line sheet has been locked in and I just need to photograph the new Large AI Earrings that I am adding to the collection (in new fun summer colors!) and I'll be done! It's been a tough week, but I know that once I push through this and everything else on my to do list that good things will come.

[The picture is of the first 2 of the 5 pages]

In the Etsy Shop...

The Blue Ocean Necklace is back in the shop!  I know, I know...it's been a little while.  I also know I should keep it in stock considering that it is my best seller.  What's my problem you ask?  Well...

I'll get an idea.  I'll mull it over for a while.  I'll figure out the best way to build the piece.  I'll make it and then I think DONE!  NEXT!  I get such an amazing feeling of accomplishment that all I want to do is come up with another idea so I can feel it again.  It just seems like making something that I've already made would stop me from growing creatively.

I'm slowly starting to realize that this is ridiculous.  Whether I make one or fifty of the same piece, it's my creation so I should be able to get that 'high' off of every one that I make. I need to learn to turn the joy I feel from someone enjoying my work into motivating fuel towards understanding that it's okay to go 'back'. 

Alright, I have to go now.  I have more Blue Ocean Necklaces to make.

See...I'm learning!

Yodaism...

I saw this print on  Etsy the other day and have since adopted this as my personal motto!  I know it seems harsh, very do or die, but I don't want to try and be successful...I want to be successful!  All 'try' does is give me an easy out, an excuse for when I'm too scared to go forward.

I know a bunch of talented people on the verge of embracing their creative side, but something is holding them back.  They think that it's not having time or not having good ideas, but the reality is that they don't want to try and fail.  I know this to be true because six short months ago that was me.

I kept thinking that I should try to do this or try to do that and all this led to was a bunch of sitting around.  Nothing actually happened until I finally decided to DO! This has definitely been the biggest lesson I've learned so far on my journey.  Do with it what you will...so long as you DO!


Photo is a print from Artistico on Etsy.

And so it begins...

Okay...so it actually began a couple of months ago...steps on a path leading to what I hope to be really great things.  See,  I have worked on movies and television shows for over 10 years.  I love the business, but working in film is not as creative an endeavor as one would assume. Well, not in the positions that I've worked in anyway.

When I was a little girl I would make clothes out of brown paper bags.  I would design outfits for my barbies. I would make daisy chain bracelets. I would basically do anything that allowed a creative outlet.  Not because I wanted to, but because I needed to.

Now here I am, many years later, having hopped from one hobby to another...when I had time to.  Then a couple of months back I decided that enough was enough. I've worked really hard and I deserved to take a break and actually focus on being creative.  I took a leap, a very scary leap and started Chocolate Sushi Handmade.

 
I created this blog to document the journey of a woman...(that's me!)...trying to become a successful entrepreneur while working out of her one bedroom apartment in NYC.  I hope you'll come along with me through the ups and downs and lessons learned, but mostly I hope it will encourage you to take your first, scary leap!

Photo by joesflickr. Some rights reserved.