This is me right now...

I have to apologize for not updating the blog lately.  My head is bowed in shame...

I have to admit that I am still trying to find a way to balance an 11 hour work day with Chocolate Sushi Handmade and the social media that comes along with it.  The good news is that I have some posts in the works.  Hopefully I will get it together and get them up soon! 

Thanks so much for sticking with me!

An Honored Auntie...

I've been meaning to share this for awhile...I feel like such a slacker!

A few months back one of my lovely nieces asked me to make a couple of special pieces for her.  She is pregnant with her third child (yay!) and is planning to take family photos before the newest addition arrives.  She asked if I could make a necklace for her and a mini version for her daughter!  Honored doesn't even begin to describe it!

I wanted to make them something 'girly', but wearable for both a grown woman and an 11 year old girl.  I decided that I would choose the fabrics first and hopefully be inspired by them.  I sent the above picture to my niece to approve the fabric choices and began to brainstorm.

When I first opened my shop I was obsessed with making Yo-Yo's.  The store was stocked with them!  So I decided to revisit them since they definitely represent 'girly' to me.

 

After I made them I had to decide how to turn these into a necklace.  I sat and stared at them for awhile and decided to add in one of my favorite elements...braiding!

Because it's my method apparently, I sat and stared at all of the elements together.  When I could see what it was all meant to be I began assembling.

And here they are:

The best was my little great-niece thanking me and telling me that she liked her necklace!  I can't wait to see their pictures and for my newest great-niece to come into the world!

Etsy's Front Page!

On Saturday I got an email from Statsy.org informing me that I was currently on Etsy's Front Page!!!  And as if that wasn't enough I got two sales, a wonderful email from a lovely Etsian about my work and I also gained over 70 new people 'heart-ing' my shop! I am so grateful and happy that JarosDesigns chose my piece to feature in her treasury!

Needless to say...I had a great weekend!  I hope you did, too!

Yes I can...

 First week of work down!  The bad news is that I didn't have enough energy to do any CSHM work when I got home.  I'm hoping my energy will build up as the weeks go by.  The good news is that on my first day of work I made a sale!!!  I'm taking it as a sign that the universe is telling me that balancing the two will all work out.

I really hope this is true because now that I can't sit at home all day to create I'm flooded with new ideas!

Photo by Peaches and Juleps

Back to the grind...

As you know I work in the film business.  One of the things I love about the business is that it's freelance.  Freelancing is great because it allowed me to make a decision to take time off without reprimand or jumping through hoops.  And it was during this time that I was able to start Chocolate Sushi Handmade.  Although I would love to solely survive on CSHM it's not in the cards...yet.

So...the time has come that I have been both hoping for and dreading... 

That's right, Monday begins a new challenge in my life: returning to the film world while maintaining my own business.  A world where twelve hour days are the norm.  My biggest worries are that I don't have enough inventory and that I won't have the energy to create anything new.  I am hoping that since I clearly know what my fears are that I can do what I need to do to make them disappear.  I'm sure I'll be able to do it, but please wish me luck!

Oh and why a picture of  Jonah Hill you ask...because this is what I'm working on.


Photo via Harpers Bazaar