Big Plans and Dreams for this Year

I have not been attending to my blog the way I would like to but that is due to the changes I am in the process of implementing.  I decided that I would share my plans with you.  

I started selling some of my destash supplies in my shop but I don’t really like the way they look in the shop with my creations.  So I opened a new shop.  I call it MyExtraBeads.  the address is http://MyExtraBeads.etsy.com.  I will be selling quite a few extra beads and other arts and crafts supplies.

I opened a new FB account for my Epilepsy Awareness efforts.  If you are interested you can find that page at MyEpilepsy Page on FB. My personal page has way too much going on.  I have my friends and family, Larrys friends and family, people that I have met and fanned through Etsy, and all my Epilepsy contacts on my personal page.  Some days I have to go through 4 or 5 pages to see an hours worth of posts.  I decided to break off the epilepsy because that is something that needs undivided attention.  I even opened a group page along with it so that others could contribute more to the page.

I have been doing well with the Awareness Treasuries. I have kept them going almost continuously for almost a month now.  


I am also working on a comprehensive list of Awareness Ribbon Colors that shows all the causes for each color.  I am trying to figure out how to add a page to my blog so that the list can be posted here.

I started the Facebook Tutorial on my Tuesdays Tutorials segment of the blog.  I still need to come up with a couple more segments that I can publish weekly.

I am going to announce a blog giveaway as soon as I hammer out the details.  I will be giving away a custom made bracelet from my shop.  I think I know which one, but I’m not sure.

Hmmm, I need a couple new segments.  I need something to promote my blog giveaway.  Maybe I will combine the two.  

Boy, just seeing this list is making me tired.  


Till next time.

I

Christmas

I am working on Christmas items for my store. It is kinda difficult because this is my first Christmas with a store. I don’t know what to make because I don’t know what will sell. So I decided to make a little of everything.

I have made a few pair of earrings. I like the Christmas trees the best. I have also made snowflakes (they are the most fun), snowmen and some pretty red and green ones.

Please leave a comment with your favorite. You never know what can happen if you leave a comment. Good things may be in your future.

Jewelry for People with Metal Sensitivity – No Metal Included

I love to make jewelry!!  And I love to make it for my friends and family.  I even make pieces to sell in my store.  But I have several friends who cannot wear jewelry with any type or grade of metal.  They just can’t.  So I try to have a few pieces listed in my store (cherylspurplecow.etsy.com) that have no metal whatsoever.  There are other designers that do the same thing.  Especially designers that work with hemp and knots.  Alot of their pieces are naturally free of metal.


Now, here is the problem.  Use whatever search engine that you like and search for metal free jewelry, non-metal jewelry, etc.  You get everything from sterling silver to base metal to metal jewelry with free shipping. 


I need a word, a catch-phrase.  A word that says “NO Metal”.  A word that people would use when searching for metal free jewelry.  I have been looking for that word for a couple of months.  It is nowhere to be found.  I think that this perfect word that I am searching for is hiding from me.  Maybe you can help me find it.

I have thought of hypo-allergenic.  But metal can be hypo-allergenic.  But some people still react to it.


Here is a link to a bracelet that I have listed in my shop that is made with seed beads and thread and that’s all.  This way maybe you will get a flash of inspiration and help me find my word.
           
 http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25196579

I posted in the Etsy Forums and someone suggested that I start a TEAM to help promote the concept. I would love to do that. I have never even been on a team or been associated with one, but What The Hay!!! I will either find someone who knows about TEAMS and wants to be in charge or I guess I will learn as I go along.

Please feel free to offer any suggestions, comments, assistance that you care to.  I can admit when I am in way over my head. (At 4’11″ it happens alot).  You can email me at cherylspurplecow@gmail.com or post on my fanpage http:http://facebook.com/cheryls.purple.cow

I will be looking for your input.

Thanks,

Cheryl

Snowflakes are Addicting! Beware!

This past week I have promised myself every morning when I got up that I would catch up on my blog subscriptions and blog myself.  Then I get started on those ding-dang beaded snowflakes and the next thing I know it is 2 AM.   And I haven’t read any of my favorite blogs and I have not blogged.  There is something addicting about those snowflakes.  They are just too cool to make.  I am even thinking about a way to use them to make a bracelet and a necklace.  I try all sorts of color combinations and patterns.  And then I start with one pattern and change it half-way through.  I just get lost in doing them.  I need to start selling them so that I can afford to make more.   

All the snowflakes start out the same.  Usually six beads in a circle and run the thread through the circle again and tie it off.  Then you just add beads at each of the six intervals as you go around the ring.  I am even getting lost describing how to make them.  I want to make more!!

I don’t have time for anything except the snowflakes.  I try to play a computer game, but I stop between rounds to make a snowflake. 

Sorry, but I gotta go make me some more snowflakes!!!

I have some ideas about how to have extra time whenever you need it.  I’ll share them with you next time.  I have to try out my idea to see if it works.

Snowflakes and Christmas Things

I am reposting this to add a link to my discussion page and a photo with additional snowflakes. There are 6 different snowflakes. What do you think about the different colors? Which is your favorite? Do you have any suggestions for other colors? Or for other items?


Follow this link to the discussion page. And thanks for your opinion!

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=9026&uid=84445958484

I am working on some Christmas items and I need your opinion. These snowflakes are a little larger than a quarter and I am thinking of using them for earrings or a pendant. I made three different colors. One is silver with light blue, one is silver with dark blue and the last is light blue with dark blue. Which do you like the best? Would you like to see a different color used?

I have mentioned earlier that one thing I like about crafting is that you have to be ahead of the calendar. So summer is the time to start thinking about what to make for Christmas. And believe me when you live in Nevada that can be difficult. We have cleared 100 for the past 2 days (103 today) and the weekend promises to be at least 106. Merry Christmas? Somehow the mood just isn’t working yet!

I am getting kind of excited because this will be the first holiday season that my store has been open. Right before I broke my glasses I was on a roll making jewelry in red and green. And I had about 4 ideas that I was going to make. Then 1 week without eyes and I forgot what I intended to do. Oh well, I will make something better than the whatever. And I know that I will like it more.

Are any of my crafty friends working on the holidays yet?

Story Behind Cheryls Purple Cow

I have been crafting and making jewelry for about 5 years. Before that I always worked in highly stressful clerical type jobs. I worked mainly in banking and also in motor vehicle registration and titling. How did I get from there to beading and crafting? If you will listen I will tell you.

Do you remember the kid in art class that just could not make anything? That was me. Most people get A’s and B’s in art class. I failed art class. I found the whole process of creating something bothersome. I just could not, would not do it.

I used to live a fast-paced stressful life. I worked in high stress jobs and I loved it. My life started changing in November 2005 when I was diagnosed with epilepsy. I lost my job as I tried to get my epilepsy under control. As I started to control my epilepsy and my seizures decreased, I began envisioning things that I wanted to create. I felt a need to make things. And the more things I created the better I got and the better I got the stronger the need to create became. I attribute my newfound “gift” as an indirect result of my epilepsy. I started playing with different crafts and techniques to see what my potential was. I went through most of the crafts available and then I started beading and making jewelry. And that is what gives me the most pleasure.

I have been making jewelry for about 3 or 4 years. I really like making the Awareness Ribbon jewelry. I think it is important to raise awareness regarding medical conditions like Epilepsy and Cancer. I was giving most of my pieces to my family and friends. Everyone that saw my jewelry urged me to try to sell my creations. It took a while for me to get used to the idea that I could make something worth selling, but I came around.

I now had the motivation to open my own store, but the store needed a name. I wanted the name to be something that I could connect to. Earlier this year I learned that March 26 is “Purple Day”. Wearing purple on that day shows that you support Epilepsy Awareness. Purple has always been my favorite color so I decided that the name of my shop would include “purple”. I was getting there. I had one word, but I still couldn’t figure out the name. Then one day out of the blue, I remembered a gift I received in Junior High from my best friend Dee Dee. She gave me a purple cow with a poem attached:

“I never saw a purple cow;
and I never hope to see one.
But I can tell you anyhow,
I’d rather see than be one.”

I had completely forgotten about that purple cow. I surfed the web to find a purple cow. I found a book titled “Purple Cow” based upon this popular poem. The book helps you to succeed in business by being the purple cow among all the regular cows. The purple cow represents something extraordinary, different. It is something unusual that we all would like to have or even see just once.

My best friend Dee Dee was never ordinary and neither was I. We are both still purple cows. I never realized how wonderful it was to be different. I even located her through the Internet and found out that she has Lupus. The Awareness Ribbon for both Epilepsy and Lupus is purple. Strange coincidence?

Now you know a little bit more about me and how Cheryls Purple Cow was born

Thoughts

May 27, 2009 – Wednesday

Me again! I haven’t gotten back to the cell phone case. It just seems like too much work.

I just have so many ideas of things to make. Such a change from “B.E.”. Before my Epilepsy reared it’s head, I could not make anything. It took all my effort just to think of something to make. Then I changed my mind 30 times. Then it was too late to make whatever.

My personal belief is that epilepsy somehow changed things in my brain. Or maybe it is the lifestyle changes that I had to make. All I know is that now I am perfectly happy staying home, in my craftroom, and making all the things in my mind.

I even stay home when Larry goes to Wal-Mart. Can you believe that? Wal-mart is just a waste of time, unless of course I need some beads. What is wrong with me? I have even cut back on the computer games.

I am going to open a blog at blogspot. I just need time to set everything up. Hope you follow me there.

Outsmarting Myself

May 26, 2009 – Tuesday

Outsmarting Myself

Hi Everyone! I am new to blogging but I thought since I found the courage to open my own business that I would try to blog. I opened Cheryls Purple Cow to sell the jewelry and other crafts that I have been making. You all know that I enjoy being different. The symbolism behind the purple cow is that a purple cow is unusual, out-of-the-ordinary. Kinda like me.

I also have a bad habit of outsmarting myself. Have you ever outsmarted yourself? You see, I want a beaded cell phone case. Not a cell phone case that has beads on it. A cell phone case made from beads. Not a problem. I found a pattern for an amulet case. If you don’t know, an amulet case is a small (very small) beaded pouch on a beaded strap. In order for a cell phone to fit in it, I have to at least double the size. No Problem. Right? I even started thinking that I could make a few to sell in my store.

Wrong. Yes Problem. Remember I like to outsmart myself. So I worked on it for several hours yesterday. And today I worked on it for about 6 hours. Why am I on the computer and not in my craft room finishing the cell case?

I have been working on this for about 9 hours. Looks like it may take a few more hours before I’m done.

I have already used about 300 beads. I don’t know if there are enough beads in Vegas to finish it. Outsmarted again!I guess if I intend to finish it this year, I better get back to work