I don't own many clothes that have the red and blue combination. They're either plain red or plain blue, or combined with other colors. Every time I see them together in a dress, top, shoes or skirt, I can't resist not buying it. This polka dot dress is my current favorite. I bought it from H&M a couple of weeks ago and I love love love it. I just need to find a nice pair of red maryjanes and the outfit will be complete!



Inspired by the dress, I recently made these for the shop. I hope that someone will love them as much as I do. The hard part of selling things you make is resisting not to keep them for yourself. Most of the jewelries I make are made with limited supplies so I can only make at least two of the same design, sometimes just one, like that star necklace in the picture. I've accumulated beads in two years, most of them were still kept in their original plastic bags, and when I took them out a few weeks ago, I remembered why I liked and bought them. I tried to search for them again but couldn't find them anywhere. At least you know you're the only one wearing that piece, really one of a kind. :)

I've been wrapping parcels to send out tomorrow, two of which are swaps and the rest are just little somethings. I'm getting the hang of this swap thing. I think I'm hooked.

I recently joined Ravelry, a knit and crochet online community. A postcrosser, who received my postcard, recommended it to me after she read that I like to crochet. I signed up a few days after but just got into it today. I just wrote my profile, checked out groups, and was browsing through a whole bunch of creative things people made. If you're into knitting or crocheting, this is a place for you.

My ID is Tarkheena. Feel free to add me there! I'd like to see what projects you guys are into.



This week, I did a little organizing using my pink suitcases and tin boxes where I store my ribbons, fabric scraps, yarns and other small things. They're great storage plus they look great on my desk, too. I think I may have started another collection.



Strawberry magnets to spruce up your fridge and memo boards. They'll be available in my shop soon!

Wow, it's been a while, hasn't it? I couldn't get the words out the past days because I didn't want to whine about not feeling well or inspired to write. I feel a little stressed out with all these shop preparations because I'm now dealing with the tricky part of writing the customer service details and I don't like it. Should I do refunds? How much are the shipping costs? I already have a lot in my hands - making all the stuff, writing inventories, finalizing designs and the webshop itself is a lot of work. Tell me, why am I doing this again?

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh! Help me!

My nerves are going haywire because I am nearing the beginning. Sometimes I think about what I got myself into. Am I ready for this? I'm not so good in handling stress like this because I feel like I am carrying all the weight alone and I want everything to be perfect. Every night, I have to reassure myself that everything will be fine and I can do it. Surely enough, I wake up every morning ready to tackle the day's to-dos. I have to push myself to do things. I have to want to do things. I can't wait for inspiration to come all the time. I learned to trigger it even when I feel like I am the most uncreative person. I'm so insecure, I know. I'm dealing with it. I'm not normally like this. It's because of all those donuts I ate.

See, I'm whining again. But this is just my way of saying that I am okay and it's normal. I'm going to get through this. It just feels good to let it out, you know, as I feel a burst coming up soon and it's going to be a big one. I may also just be sympathizing with the weather. It's been raining a lot lately.

Today, we changed the link for my blog to www.xoxogracey.com/blog in preparation for the shop. And, I also set up an account on Dawanda. It's the European version of etsy. There are no products up yet but you can check it here.

I may be feeling all nervy about all of this, but I'm also very excited. I have lots to show you! I haven't made photos yet because of the somber weather we've been having - the lighting is pretty bad so I'm going to wait until this weekend. Can't wait to hear what you think about them!

I got my first product review!

Two weeks ago, Jess ordered the flower charm. She is actually my first long distance customer so that got me pretty excited! Since I still owed her the birthday giveaway, I packed the charm in the parcel and sent it away that Monday. It was like a momentous event when I got the payment in paypal and handed the box to the woman at the post office. Same feeling I got when I sold the slipper charm, which is the very first item that I sold in person. It's a very good kind of high!

So imagine my emotions soaring this morning when I checked my e-mail. I felt a boost of happiness and inspiration running through my whole body. I'm so happy to know that someone is happy with the stuff I make as this is one of my major fears about my craft. It feels good to know that people appreciate my work.



"The charm complements perfectly with my electric blue phone and coordinates against the pattern of my Vera Bradley bag."

Thanks, Jess! You surely made me happy today. :)

-



And I got these in my mailbox this afternoon. My first etsy purchases with an address label freebie. I love them both! I even like the envelope she sent it with, stamped with the artsy stamps she designed herself. Now I only have to find frames to put them in. I already know where to hang them.

The Seattle postcard is from Gail. She's one of my first blog friends when I started blogging in 2003. Somehow we drifted apart - got busy with our lives, I guess, but when I checked her blog again lately and saw that she also joined Postcrossing, I asked her if she wanted to exchange postcards with me. Now, I got one. Thanks hun! :)

So yeah, these nice surprises really made my day. What a great way to start my July!

For the past two days, I've been trying my hands on making logos, labels, link banners and basically designing the shop from scratch. I'm so happy with the things I came up with even though I'm using the stone age version of graphic design programs which is known as the MS Paint. One day, when I'm patient enough, I will learn photoshop. But for now, I'll stick to my stone age tool of designing because it's easy and works for me!

Here's one of the things I made yesterday.



What do you think of my new blog banner and label/link banner? Aren't they pretty?? I'm so proud of them! I'm finally making progress in the design department. Yay me!

A few posts ago I said that good things are happening in my life. I didn't want to get into details until I was sure that those good things were not just passing fancies or empty promises. I could easily get excited with things and it would last for a day or two then it's gone and I'm on to another thing to be excited about. But this one is different. This is something I have really wanted for a long time now.

I am in the process of setting up my shop - planning, designing the website and making things to sell. I wasn't really ready to voice it out loud until today because I was scared it will just become words. Like when I was much into beading three years ago, I made jewelries the whole summer and I said that a shop was coming soon. That soon never came because I chickened out. I felt so insecure - I still do - that nobody will like the stuff I made. "Who was I kidding selling jewelries I taught myself to make" was the constant debate in my head. It was too big for me so it didn't happen. I did get to sell most of the stuff through my mom who promoted it to her colleagues at work and some I gave as presents to friends and family.

But as the years passed, I changed. Gradually. My interests grew and I learned that for me to be good at what I do, I have to find what I love. I now see a clearer vision of what I want to do and achieve. For months I feel this force that's pushing me to go ahead and live that life I normally just daydream about. I have all these ideas, the resources ready at my disposal, whatever else I may need but at the end of the day, it's still up to me to do something about it. I am tired of keeping it all in my head. I am tired of not doing anything about it. I am tired of being tired. And I put on a resolve to do it. There is no other way but the beginning so that is where my journey starts.

This website is the product of this whole process. I had to let go of the old one to make room for the new. I am taking things slow or it will become too overwhelming for me to take at once. I have established the name, xoxogracey it is - because the things I sell are the things I love and made with love. These things reflect me. This is really an exciting time for me because I am finally doing something for myself. Finally - I can hear some people say it now. I don't know what I was waiting for - why it took me this long to realize this passion. I guess it comes to you when you are ready. And now I am ready.

You may have seen some things I made in the previous months that will also be available in my very-soon-to-open online shop. You will see more, I promise.

Here's a little sneak preview of what you can expect in my shop:



Cute cellphone charms for $3.95 each.

These are now available if you want to purchase. Stock is limited so get it while you can. Just email me at xoxogracey[at]gmail[dot]com for more info.

Update: The slipper charms are sold out. 1 each left of the apple, strawberry and flower. Thanks!