Free Shop Tours Going On Now!

As we gear up for the holiday, I will be sharing some marvelous treasures from a few talented shops on Etsy. All of these finds would make excellent gifts for someone on your list! I can honestly recommend you checking out each and every one of them as I am familiar with them all!  I'd love for you to follow me as I give you a glimpse through their front door. C'mon... let's go! They are waiting for us! Please be sure to check out the name of the shop! It will open up all kinds of possibilities for you!

First up on the tour is a lovely shop called EarthlieTreasures. The shop owner's name is Jen and she offers some very neat curtain tiebacks, among other things! You'll find a wide variety of colors and themes to suit just about any taste! Her red fairy tiebacks are in the very first photo of this collage. I wonder what kind of fairy dust that fairy sprinkles. I bet it's full of big smiles for the new owner!

The next shop we'll be stopping at is SamIamArt. The shop owner, Samantha, offers a variety of home decor focusing on art. Her first passion is art and you're going to find some marvelous personal artwork of hers on coasters (as shown in the second position above), keepsake boxes, greeting cards, and more! She has a rooster painting that I know my mother-in-law would love!

Right next door we will find the shop of SerendipityWorld. Melissa's shop is centered around positive living, so you can live your best life. She focuses on inspiring the heart and soul through aromatherapy soy tarts, novelty wax melts, glycerin soap (shown above), bath bombs and more! There's a wide variety of neat gift items in her shop! Especially if you're looking to pamper someone!

In the corner of the block, you will find the shop of FunWithWreaths. The shop owner, Carey, originally started out in her craft field with the intention of keeping the wreaths for her own front door. Over time, as more and more creative people saw the wreaths, requests came flowing in for her to reproduce them for others. Carey has a lot of different fun wreaths on display! Be sure to check them out!

The next stop on the list happens to be a wonderful photograph shop called PhotosbyJerryCowart. Jerry, the shop owner, has graciously agreed to let me borrow some of his photographs for jewelry inspirations, and I have used quite a few. Many times, his inspiration comes from his adventures into nature and he sheds a whole new light on the simple beauty of it. He offers a size and style for everyone! Be sure to browse inside!

As we stroll to the next shop, I think you will find many fun gift ideas! This shop is definitely for the young at heart! LiveLaughLooloo. Even the shop name is fun! Lauren, the shop owner loves to paint flower pots and glassware. However my favorite thing in her shop is the lollipop bouquets she offers. You have to check them out! They would make a wonderful centerpiece for a party!

As we wind down this tour and make our last stop, I'd like you to take a look inside the shop of StitchWench. The shop owner, Jodi, has recently even been published on the cover of a local magazine in her area. Jodi specializes in embroidery and applique needs. She has some adorable applique t-shirts and holiday items! From babies to adults, she's got you covered!

Thank you for sharing this opportunty with me. I do hope you'll go back and check out all of the marvelous items being offered in each of these shops. Until we get to do this again.... have a wonderful time browsing!

Keys to Organization, Is There Such A Thing?

Lately, I've been playing with the idea that I am going to conquer a new organization project in my craft room. I recently found some good deals on a bookcase and a china cabinet, which I plan on converting to a storage areas within the room. Notice I said I've been playing with the idea? Napoleon Hill said this about organizing and I think he may have been on to something. "First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination". I'm at the stage where I had the thought, in my mind organized the thought into ideas and plans, and now am in the process of transforming those thoughts into plans. What a job that has become! 

We've all seen those cute little pins on Pinterest where everything looks so neat and clean. As I have now learned, they were put there to antagonize "ordinary crafters" into believing that everyone else has a neat and tidy craft area. It's super simple to achieve this if you make a place for everything and put it in that place. Right? Wrong!!! Did I mention it looked simple in my mind when I was trasforming this into reality? What happened? 


I can think I may have figured out part of the problem! Well, there are many, to be perfectly honest. One is I have too much "stuff". I'm finding things that I forgot I even bought! When I do find them, and get re-introduced to them, I suddenly remember why I bought the item in the first place! Fond memories come flooding back, just like remembering a childhood friend.There was a project I was going to make and now I'm reminded that too had not gotten past the "transforming an idea into a plan". Beginning to see a pattern here? <smile> I think, it is safe to say, I need to stay focused and work on ONE project from beginning to end! 

One of these days I'm going to surprise even myself! One day I'll get to the bottom of my "stash". One day, I'll complete all projects before starting another, even though that will be a big adjustment for me. One precious day, I'll be able to one day, walk into my craft room and put up a "Do Not Disturb" sign. One day, I'll be able to look back on all of this and say that this was all made possible because I had stuck with a project from start to finish in determination to one day get myself organized.

It's A Shower Head Kind Of Day

We've all seen them. I'm talking about those entertaining quizzes that ask you something about yourself to determine what kind of personality you have. Of course, there is no right or wrong answer to the question.

You may not know this about me, but I love to take a nature picture and use it to get inspired for a jewelry design. In fact, here is a great example of what I'm talking about. This collage shows some designs that were inspired by a photo, used with permission, by VBeaudry Photography. 

I try to look deep within the picture and find something that the photographer did not see or perhaps even took for granted. This particular one is full of associations!

Where am I going with this? Glad you asked! Just as I associate beautiful nature pictures with jewelry, there are many other ways to associate every day items with something else that may not be related to them in any way. Such an occasion came to me recently so I thought I'd share it with you!

A revelation came to me in one of the strangest places! I just never know when I'm going to be hit in the head with one. It's sort of like the V-8 commercials on TV! My last revelation, or at least that is what I'm calling it, came to me in the shower!
Yes, I know that is a strange place to do any associating but it happened, quite unexpectedly! By the way, this post is not about to take a turn into "mature audience" mode! It will still be OK for the children to watch over your shoulder as you read this! I am only going to share shower head associations with you as they relate to every day life.

It's not uncommon for shower heads to have multiple pressure settings. For instance, mine has four. Let's associate the pressure settings with your every day life pressures! We all have pressures. Juggling a career and family life can be pressure. Perhaps it's daily struggles with the kids that you find challenging. A weak economy could even put some in a crisis mode! No matter what the challenge may be, it's important to remember your shower head settings!

We will have days where our daily life situation may hit us full force, like a power washer. You know this setting on your shower head! It's often a pulsating force, which sometimes is also used for tension release. I know I've stood under the strongest setting of my shower head to ease neck and shoulder tension. Yes, tension that was caused because of a hectic or trying day. A day where things just kept flying at me from all directions! A day where I found myself often wondering why I even bothered to get out of bed. This is my power washer day.


Then we move on a slightly different, but yet common, type of day we have all experienced. This is a normal day where we feel at ease with our daily surroundings. A day that we would consider everything to be going fine. All is in harmony and everything feels peaceful in our own little world. It would be great if all of our days could be like this, wouldn't it? But in reality, we know they can't all be like this, but we do have the power within us to think positive, and make it through the days that are not. This is how I associate life with the normal setting on my shower head.


The next type of day on my shower head is a drizzle day. These days are not really hectic and stressful, in a sense of things coming at me from all directions. Nor are they what I would call normal days. My drizzle days could be a day where I am not patient, where I want things to happen faster than they seem to be. Perhaps sitting in a doctor office or standing in line at the grocery store will produce a drizzle day for me. Perhaps trying to accomplish certain tasks will multiple interruptions would cause this same effect. There's basically no reason to get stressed but a faster pace would be appreciated. You know what I'm talking about! We've all had a drizzle day! This is the setting on the shower head that doesn't hit you full force, but let's you stand there wondering why you even have it set on that in the first place. It just comes at you at a slower pace, which may be exactly what you need after all.


I'll close this out by sharing my misty days! Yes, perhaps the most laid back type of day there is. These are the days where I stand there and just let things roll of me, with no second thoughts. These are the days where it is what it is and I know there is nothing I can do about it. My only choice is to take a deep breath and know that things will eventually come clean and work out. In fact, I love the misty effect! Even on the hottest summer days, a good mist feels calm and refreshing!

In closing this out, I wish you many misty days! As the saying goes, "Don't Worry, Be Happy"!

What Does Success Look Like?

I recently read an article on success and what it means to different people. How many times have we seen graphics with the word success on it with an arrow pointing straight up in the air? Or, what about the steps that go straight up in the air that are often associated with the word success? To me, those aren't true depictions of the word at all. Success to me isn't a straight line. It is a series of squiggly lines eventually pointing in an upward direction. The circle of success, to me, is pretty much summed up as the graphic on the left side of this page.

Each of us has our own belief of what success looks like. That is because we are thinking about OUR success! Your success will not be that of any other person. Just because your neighbor Harry has done this and this to be successful, doesn't mean that will work for you! We each need to establish our own BELIEFS about what it is that will make us successful. We must determine the feelings we will have when we achieve this challenge and why these feelings are important for our success. All this is followed by understanding the POTENTIAL available in all of us to achieve this. What can you do today that will trigger the feelings you want when you're feeling "successful". Take the ACTION to work towards doing things that will give you joy, or whatever feeling it is you are seeking. It won't be easy, but after a few twists and turns, you will see RESULTS!

Cynhumphrey Is Holding An Awesome Sale

I came across a quote from Bill Gates today that certainly hit home. Here it is:

"Well I think any author or musician is anxious to have legitimate sales of their products, partly so they're rewarded for their success, partly so they can go on and do new things."

Even though Bill was referring to authors and musicians, I do think it also applies to small business owners. I have been on a mission to get more organized in my Etsy shop and soon realized I should rotate some inventory as a means to make room for new designs. The best way I could figure out how to do that was to have an awesome sale, and that I have done!  Does this mean I am giving up on similiar designs as those being on sale now? Not at all! I just have a lot of different ideas and this special sale will just give me a chance to do new things.

As you can see in the above announcement, I have implemented a SPECIAL COUPON code that will be good until July 31st. By using this code, you will receive a 40% discount on any total purchase of $20 or more. This is an AWESOME sale on some truly one-of-a-kind designs! Hurry on over to the shop of Cynhumphrey by clicking here!

It Started Out As What?

I love to take something ordinary and turn it something completely different! Many terms for this obsession of mine would include recycling, upcycling, or even perhaps the phrase repurposing comes to mind. A lot of my jewelry designs started out, or were, inspired by something of this nature. 

Today, this cute picture was resting in my FaceBook feed and I thought that I'd share this concept with you! Sometimes you can take the simple things and turn them into the most useful items. Our little feathered friends would feel so special when they see you've made something for them! 

Can you guess what this bird feeder was made out of? If you guessed a slinky, you're right! It looks like they bent a wire coat hanger for the base, slid the slinky over the hanger, and added peanuts! How simple!  I bet you could find the materials to make this rather inexpensively too! It's definitely going on my list of things to do!

National Scrabble Week

It's National Scrabble Week! Did you know that the original Scrabble game was just played with tiles and no board? It's also been said that somewhere in the world there are over a million missing Scrabble tiles! Guess what?! I have some of them turned into necklaces! You can check them out here: www.etsy.com/shop/cynhumphrey

           

A resident in an UK senior citizen home was thrown out when she admitted she didn't play Scrabble. Maybe she could have stayed if she had one of these necklaces!