Music

Recently I was surfing on YouTube and discovered this guy named Tanner Patrick. His covers are amazing and I can't wait until he puts up some of his own music! I've been hitting replay all week on these videos and they are awesome to work with. Jamming out while you work is the best! I'm still working on that painting and music is fun while you work. Here is his cover of "Stereo Hearts" by the Gym Class Heroes with Adam Levine:

He also has covers of songs by the Lights ("Toes"), Taylor Swift ("Ours"), Foster the People ("Pump Up the Kicks") , and Bruno Mars ("It Will Rain"). <3

Pinterest

It seems like I am on the internet more and more these days. About half of my internet usage is for my jewelry making. Today I joined Pinterest where I can not only share my jewelry but get inspired by other works. Plus, they have great recipes and craft/DIY ideas. I'm really excited to share my ideas with everyone else! My page is located here.

This is some of what I have shared so far:

All of these items can be found for sale on my Etsy page. Hope you guys love Pinterest as much as I do!

         

Long Weekend

Long weekends are incredible. You always plan ahead and think of all of the things you are going to accomplish. While that sounds great in theory, it never happens! Long weekends tend to become lazy weekends and I love them!

I did about half the things I planned (including some homework and studying) and some things that I did not plan. Yesterday I got in a creative mood and started painting on an old canvas. I'm still not finished with it, but it's my work in progress. For this afternoon, I have some more studying to do and a bit of reading for classes this week. Oh what fun! :)

New Year!

Happy New Year!!! Welcome to 2012!

So far this year I have registered for my Spring Semester classes and bought my books for the coming semester. Classes start on Monday and I'm actually excited for them. Last semester, my favorite class was Art History. I signed up for the 20th Century Art History class this semester. Despite the fact that the book cost a fortune, the class looks like it will be a blast!

For the past couple of days, I have also been working on a little project. I recently received two wooden books that have drawers inside. It took me a while to decide what books I wanted them to resemble. After some thought, I decided to do one Harry Potter and the other a book that contains seven of Jane Austen's novels. I chose the Harry Potter theme for the first one because the first real novel I read was the first Harry Potter. I believe that I got my current love of reading from reading as a child. Austen's works take more concentration to read than a Harry Potter, but I love them all the same. The collection of Austen's works that I have were a gift from my mom. The leather bound volume is huge and covered with a beautiful pattern. I had a great time painting each of the books and am still amazed at how well they turned out.

Today, I signed up with Shutterstock. This website provides stock photos for subscribers. I uploaded my first ten for review and am hoping that I get accepted. Here are some of the photos I submitted:

Busy Bees

Hello!! Merry Christmas to all! I absolutely love Christmas time because of all of the family that comes to visit. My aunt and uncle have been staying at our house for Christmas this year and we've had a wonderful time with them. So far, we have talked about everything under the sun, shared favorite movies, exchanged gifts, and walked along the canal in Augusta. It was a beautiful day when we walked along the canal and we got some great pictures. Today, I'm making cupcakes for a party tomorrow and then later we are going to take a walk down Broad Street in Augusta. I love going in all of the art galleries, antique shops, and funky stores they have on Broad Street. Overall, it has been a busy holiday and we have had a lot of fun! Hope your holiday has been just as great!

Cleaning is boring....unless you rock out to some awesome music! Currently I am obsessed with Katy Perry's Teenage Dream album. You can buy it here on iTunes. And here is her video for Last Friday Night:

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Good afternoon!! Today has been filled with a lot of holiday cleaning. I have a huge family and it seems like the entire family is visiting us this year, so we're getting everything ready for them. Our tree is up and looks fabulous this year. My mom and I had a blast putting it up together!

I'm not the only artist in the family, so our tree is filled with a lot of handmade ornaments. Each one is really unique and we love to find new funky ornaments. Our tree always ends up with a cool mix of modern and traditional. My mom's favorite ornaments are her beeswax ornaments. My favorite are my Barbie ornaments that my mom got me when I was little (I was Barbie obsessed). Despite the fact that I have grown out of Barbies, the ornaments are still on the tree every year because they remind me of past Christmases.

Winter is my favorite season not just because of the holidays and family. I really love the clothes!! Winter means I get to layer sweaters and wear hats, gloves, and scarves. A cool sweater/funky scarf combo is my go to winter choice. Not only do I like to wear cozy scarves, I love to make them! My cousin taught me to knit a couple of years ago and I became a crazy knitting machine. To make a nice cozy scarf, I chose Fun Fur. This is one of my creations and it is available on Etsy here for $25.

I've found another Etsy seller who does hand knit items. She has on my favorite sellers list for quite a while because I love winter accessories. Her shop, Impossibly Alice, includes cowls, scarves, and fingerless gloves/wristwarmers. My favorite item that is in her shop right now is probably her Watercolor Cowl Knit. These accessories make for a great winter wardrobe!

Hope you all are enjoying your holidays. Whatever your traditions are, have fun this year and put your heart into them!

Wow this is new!

Hey everyone! This just happens to be my very first blog posting...ever. You might ask why I have suddenly decided to start blogging. Well, though only a teenager, I own my own business. When I was in elementary school, my mom got me an earring making kit for Christmas. From there, I started making all sorts of jewelry. It started as a hobby. I find that making jewelry helps me focus on something fun. Making jewelry helps me de-stress. Once I fell in love with making jewelry, I started making and making. After a while I had a ton of jewelry and nothing to do with it. So, at this point I had reached middle school and I formed the idea of making my own business. 

A middle schooler is hardly business savvy. I had no name, no plan of action, and no customers. Bankrolled by my encouraging mom, I started off my business with less of a bang than one would hope. At fifteen, I discovered Etsy through one of my mom's friends. I did some research and opened my own shop online with Etsy. I have been there since, but my shop has not done well. The improvement of having a place to sell my jewelry led me to create a name (The 803 Originals) and start advertising. Though buying ads have helped, I need more people to know who I am to get sales. I have even tried a Facebook fan page, all to no avail.

I have participated in a craft show, but school has limited my show opportunities. I am now in college and starting to think more seriously about my business. This is something I really enjoy doing, I just wish it could be going better. I have gotten some advice on how to market my business, and so through my blog I hope to share my experience with other crafters and get feedback on my work. 

-Olivia