Great Hair Day!

Got my hair done today...needed it badly...starting to look like a shaggy dog. I love my hair short, it's cooler, easier to take care of and you don't have to spend all that time trying to figure out what to do with it. With my busy lifestyle I need something simple, something I can wash and go...! I always feel so much better when I get a fresh haircut....absolutely love the scalp massage! Katie, my hairdresser...gives the best scalp massages I've ever had...and she rubs hard and fast...then does the massage afterwards...makes you want to just go to sleep in her chair. Did some shopping at K-Mart today also...got a great surprise...I picked out a pair of capris marked $19.99....got to the checkout and found out they were marked down to $11.99. I hardly ever have that happen to me. Usually it's the other way around...I find something on sale and then I get up to the checkout and find out the tags been switched...or it doesn't fit or come in my size. So today was a good day all around. Made a nice little sale last night too. That always makes me smile. I love having my new shop at Etsy.com. They are all so supportive and helpful...I must ask lots of questions every day and I read the forums too. I can't believe all the information that is out there for someone just starting out. I was having trouble figuring out how to set up this blog the other day so I just asked a question about it at Etsy and several people jumped right in and started mentoring me. How great is that?! I have to share my experience with consignment shops. For a few months I had a booth in a small shop, downtown Melbourne and I have to say...it was not a very good experience. After a few months of paying rent to the shop owners for my booth space, I was in the hole financially..the first couple of months I made just enough to pay the rent but didn't even cover the material in the pieces I sold. As time went on, I noticed that the shop always had it's front door open and being in Florida, it gets humid alot. My beautiful sterling silver was starting to turn badly from the moisture in the air all the time. I tried to come in and clean it as often as I could but it got to a point where I couldn't keep up with the high humidity. I actually lost a few pieces they got so bad! The other thing I didn't like was when I came in to the shop originally, they told me I would be accepted because I was the only one that had sterling silver and my pieces were more high end...more fine jewelry, rather than costume. Two months later they surprised me with someone right next to my booth coming in with sterling silve, Swarovski crystals, pearls, etc. The only real difference was that she donated a portion of her stuff to Breast Cancer. When I asked about this, they just said," Oh, she was going to come in before you, but she had to delay due to health problems." Who does business like this, anyway? Needless to say, I think the only one making any money in this shop is the shop owner....who also happens to have their own artwork all over the store...and that seems to be the only artwork they seem to promote when someone comes in...they don't even get off their butt to help sell your stuff when they see someone looking at it or asking questions about it. Overall the experience was beneficial to the degree that I did learn from it...and hopefully won't make those mistakes twice. I'm much happier at Etsy and I feel confident that things will start happening for me there.

Cashmere? Do You Love It?

You have to check this place out, Cashmere Connoisseur Blog. Have you ever wondered how to take a sweater or an afghan apart so you can use the yarn again? Full instructions on how to do so are available at this blog. You can also purchase her animal that she makes out of recycled cashmere. These are really adorable teddy bears, not your standard stuffed animals that you'd find at Walmart or Toy R Us. These are animals that you'll want to keep as "keepsakes" and pass them on to generations. You can check out her etsy store at Cashmere Creations. I have two grandchildren being born in September and October, this year so I know that I'm going to be shopping there shortly. I'm going to be busy crocheting each of them an afghan (from Nanny) and since I don't know how to do the animals....these will be perfect! These are my first two grandchildren, boy and a girl, which I have been waiting for for a long time....so I'm going to be doing quite a bit of spoiling for a while...I have lots of catching up with my two older sisters. Of course, the little girl will be getting handmade jewelry by Nanny as well. Stay tune for some of my baby bracelets ideas. I'm also working on a charm bracelet for my step daughter that has to do with having a baby. I found some really cute polymer clay beads on eBay of little babies wrapped in blankets which will be the focal point of the bracelet. I've been collecting some silver baby charms to add to the mix. I will be posting a photo of it here soon so keep an eye out for it. Don't forget to check out Cashmere Connoisseur for the really special teddy bears. Goodnight!