A Day of Thanks

It is kind of a shame to me that as a country we need a holiday remind us to reflect on the things that we are thankful for. While some things in my life right now aren't going quite the way i want them to, I am still grateful for many things. I have an amazing family who has been so supportive of me my entire life. I have a beautiful daughter who's carefree attitude and smile could make you smile on even your worst day. I have the most amazing friends who have been in my life for many years and are always there for me no matter what. Last but not least...I have Purplelicious! My little business that allows me to do exactly what I want to do...be creative and make a little money doing it. I need to head out to grandmom's for dinner so I wish all of you a safe and Happy Thanksgiving and encourage you to think about what you are thankful for everyday not just when the holidays force you too!

Change is Good!

A few months ago I had a customer that requested a custom order for two headbands for her daughter. She requested that they be wide at the top and then taper down the sides. When I finished the order I was really impressed with how they came out and thought that it made the finished product look more professional and more like the traditional plastic headband but of course without the headache! I thought about changing my design but was in the midst of craft shows and could not afford production delays due to a new style. Recently I bought some slightly fancier fabrics and thought that they would look better with the new design. Before experimenting with the satin, I picked up some great new fabrics (see them in my shop) and gave it a try. The final product is still 2" wide at the top by gradually tapers down the side to 1" at the bottom. The picture below demonstrates the difference.


I think that the new design will help the headband fit better. Lately for some of my customers the 2" wide all around was a bit too wide for their head. I have decided to use the new design from this point forward. I will continue to sell through my current inventory but if the old style is not available, all new orders will get this new design. I will also begin the process of updating all of the pictures on my site as the new style are created! If you prefer the old look, just ask me and I can still make it for you that way! I am usually not a big fan of change but I think in this case it works! You are still getting the same quality headband made with awesome fabrics, the design is just a little more fabulous!

Pizza Night!!!

When I was growing up, Friday night was always pizza night. I am not exactly sure why but I think it dates way back to when my parents were kids and some Italian Catholic tradition of not eating meat on Fridays. Occasionally we would actually make our own pizza's which was always my favorite. My mom would make the dough in a big sauce pot and I would stand across from her at the counter and watch her make the pizzas. As we got older, I would always ask for my own dough to make my own pizza, not sure why, I vaguely remember it being something with the sauce. My best memories are when my brother would make the pizza too and we would listen to Friday with Frank (Sinatra that is) and make pizza all night. Good times! It has been so cold here I thought it would be fun to make homemade pizza with Bella. I do not make my dough in a sauce pot, I use my kitchen aid...I just love making dough in that thing, it always comes out so good! I did not involve Bella in the dough making process because it takes a little while and you have to let it rise. But when it was time she was so ready to get started! Here is a pic of her placing the pepperoni on her pizza. She did not want sauce, I don't know why. Also please excuse my mail pile and she was also munching on some bologna while we were cooking!



This is what her pizza looked like before it went into the oven, not bad for a 4 year old. I pretty much shaped the dough but she kept it pretty good while she was rolling it out.


I decided to cook the pizza's on my pizza stone. Ideally I like to put the pizza stone on the grill and cook the pizzas in there. They come out awesome because the grill gets so hot. I tried to mock the grill atmosphere in my oven, by letting the pizza stone preheat while the dough was rising. Here is Bella's pizza cooking, for some reason when you use the stone, the dough just rises perfect!


Here is the final product. Her pizza came out delicious, I didn't even miss not having the sauce. I have also included a picture of what mine looked like, of course a much healthier version. The joys of watching what you eat. Mine was still delicious but it would have been nice to not have the measure the cheese, say no to pepperoni, and spread the dough out to make it as big as possible!


In all it was a really fun night and something I am going to try and do more often. I want Bella to have the same memories making pizza with me, like I did making pizza with my family!

New Shop at 1000 Markets!

I was recently alerted to a new marketplace for handmade items called 1000 Markets. I checked out a few shops on there and recognized some Etsy Sellers. It seems that this marketplace really focuses on the artist themselves, I found that most of the profile pictures are of the actual artist as opposed to their work. I really like the interface and your shop page is a combination of Etsy, Myspace, Facebook, and Blogger! In addition to your profile picture, your banner, and shop items, there is a wall for other sellers to write notes about your shop and there is also a blog section. Pretty much one stop shopping! The site processes payments using amazon payments so we will see how all of that works out! I am pretty sure 1000 Markets is still pretty new but I am happy to be a part of this new online marketplace! As if I need another website to maintain but when you are trying to develop a business it can't hurt and I have been kind enough to organize all of my web locations on the right hand side of my blog! So if you get a chance, check out my new shop at 1000 Markets!
purplelicious.1000markets.com

VIX Emporium

I can't believe it has been almost a year since I began consigning with VIX Emporium. I remember browsing the forums on Etsy and saw a post from them looking for artists. When I read further I saw that they were in West Philly and knew I had to contact them. I was reading the consignment contract on the train headed to an interview and made the decision to go for it! I think a lot of people get weary about consigning their items but I think of it as a great way to get your product out there. Just make sure the terms still enable you to make a profit. What I love about consigning is at the beginning of some months I get an e-mail telling me that money is coming my way! I forget that VIX has a stash of my headbands, so it is nice to get that paypal bump every now and then! I have since sold roughly about 20 headbands at VIX Emporium and recently sent another 11 (see photo) so that they arrive in time for their 1 year anniversary party. What I absolutely LOVE about VIX Emporium is that it is a market for all handmade items. They carry items from over 140 artists from across the country. For someone who creates handmade items, it is amazing for me to think that someone would have an awesome store that showcases such items! And the owner, Emily, is simply fantastic to work with! Starting Purplelicious has not only been an opportunity for me to make a few extra bucks, I have also met some really amazing people along this journey! So if you are reading this and are in the Philly area, check out the VIX Emporium Anniversary party, there will be live music and refreshments! You can get more information about the party and the shop in general by going to their website: http://vixemporium.wordpress.com

Welcome to Miami!!!

Last Friday I could not wait to get on the plane because I knew I was headed south for some sun and warm weather. Here in Jersey it seriously had been raining for two weeks. I was hoping to make sure that the sun still exists! I was en route to Miami with my mom and grandmom for a quick trip so we could attend my brother's fiance's bridal shower and bachelorette party. While the three of us were sitting on the plane I realized that right there was three generations of women, it was pretty cool! While on the plane my mom taught me how to knit, which is something I have been wanting to learn FOREVER! So we will see what kind of creative accessories I can come up with in the future, once I learn some more stitches! We had a pretty action packed day. The shower was in the afternoon and it was really awesome meeting the other girls in the bridal party and the rest of Jen's family. It really started to get me excited about the wedding. Later that night we had the bachelorette party and I can honestly say I have not had that much fun in a while! Not that I had any doubt that the wedding would be fun, but after a night out with those girls...it is going to be awesome! When I woke up Sunday morning at 6am for my flight back after only 3 hours of sleep, I felt like a walking zombie. But for a quick trip it was a complete blast! We are actually having another bridal shower for Jen here in January and some of the bridal party is coming up from Miami. I am pretty much planning the bridal shower and the bachelorette party. I forgot how much fun it is for me to plan these things and create all of the invites, favors, cakes, etc! So stay tuned for posts about all of that madness! I wish I could find a way to do this for a living. I guess it is good that I am not working so that I have time to focus on making Jen's Philly Shower Awesome! Thanks again to all those in Miami that made us feel so welcome...see you in Jersey!

300 Sales...WOW!!!

Tonight I was having a conversation with my brother about everything that has been going on in my life right now and he said some pretty inspiring words, "Say some prayers - be thankful for what you have - stay positive - it is way beyond your control" As I let that advice sink in, I checked my e-mail and saw that I had an etsy sale! This sale was from a previous customer who happens to be an Eagles fan in Arizona and bought a Philadelphia Eagles headband from me. Then it clicked...that was my 300th sale!!! I glanced over my blog history before I wrote this and noticed that exactly 3 months ago I hit 200 sales! So taking my brother's advice I am going to be thankful that I have a fairly successful online business and fabulous customers who like my headbands so much, they keep coming back for more! I am also going to stay positive and hope to achieve many more sales milestones in the months to come!!!

Santa's At The Mall???

I happened to be in the mall over the weekend and I could not believe my eyes when I saw kids lined up in their Holiday attire waiting for their turn for a picture with Santa. My heart immediately started to race and my palms got sweaty as all of the holiday anxiety started to hit me WAY too early! I give props to the mom's that are on the ball this early in the game. Bella of course wanted to get her picture taken but I told her we would come back when I had her outfit. It's a good thing I am not working so I have time to get on that task! I know it is November but does it seem a little early to be thinking about Christmas already??? I guess I should not be surprised, behind all of the Halloween stuff I saw some Christmas items on the shelves, retailers just chomping at the bit waiting for the increased holiday sales trends. It is all too much too soon for me, perhaps I am in the denial that Christmas is approaching and fast! I need to ease into the holiday season mostly because it is typically a crazy time of the year for me. Thankfully my sister is a little more aware of these things than I and asked me the other night if I had a Holiday Collection for Purplelicious. To which I replied...of course I do! Clearly I was not ahead of the 8 ball this season! Last year I made these accessories and am proud to bring them back this year! The collection includes two adult headbands made with festive fabric that is still trendy! There are also two children's headbands that are made with black and red velvet and are the perfect accent to your little ones holiday dress! And finally I have two ribbon bows that were an experiment that I think turned out adorable, but I am slightly biased! I truly don't think I will ever be ready for the holidays but at least while I am procrastinating and frazzled, my daughter and I can look fabulous in these great accessories!

Let me catch you up!

Wow I can't believe it has been almost two weeks since my last post. Time really goes by fast! So let me take you back a little. The night of Game 5 of the World Series I received a phone call from my father at 5:20 informing me that my aunt was in the hospital and that he would be unable to attend Game 5 and was giving me the tickets. I was filled with such a mixture of emotion, while I was excited to get to go the game, I did not like the reason why I was going to the game. On top of all of that, earlier that day I found out I got laid off and my last day was Friday of that week. So with mixed emotions I tried to put it all behind me and enjoy the game. That night I was joined at the game by two of my cousins who also got a last minute call from my uncle. The three of us all shared a mutual feeling of excitement to be at the game, but sadness as to the reason. The game was AWESOME, until the rain really started to come down. In my rush to change some of plans and get out the door, the last thing I thought to do was check the weather forecast. I was prepared for cold weather but not rain. So we sat in the rain and waited for them to call it. It was actually really miserable, because the rain seemed to be coming at you from every angle. We actually quoted the scene from Forrest Gump where he talks all the different kinds of rain! When they finally put the cover on the field I was relieved to finally get some warmth. We didn't want to leave our seats in case we missed anything!! We had a feeling that the game was going to get called since the weather forecast showed rain for the rest of the night. There was a part of me that was relieved when it was called because I thought that my dad would have the chance to see the Phil's win! But when Wednesday rolled around, he was still unable to leave the hospital so I got to go to World Series Game 5 - Part 2. So this time around it was still me and my cousin but his daughter and my other cousin joined us! I was happy to be there with my family, it felt right. It was such a strange experience to be there since the game picked right up where it left off and was only 3 innings. I didn't realize what was happening until someone said...one more out and we win the World Series. Then it hit me! I was going to part of history! It sort of felt anti-climatic in a way because usually you have 9 innings to build up your suspense, making that last out even more memorable. But it was still amazing. Being in the building for that win was unreal, I don't even know how to describe it really. Underneath all of the excitement I wished my dad had been there. My dad has been a season ticket holder since before I was even born and has been waiting just as long as everyone else to see the Phil's win a championship. But I know that if he couldn't be there, he would want one of his kids to be. As I was leaving the stadium, I was freaking out a bit. I was by myself and the people were just going crazy. There were cars just parked near the stadium and they were blasting music and drinking, running up to people's cars, and I just kept saying to myself..."There is no place like Jersey!" Had I not been by myself I probably would not have been so scared! I made sure to buy my dad some World Series gear and called him from the stadium so he could hear some of the excitement! I did not go the parade since it was unfortunately my last day at work and I had a lot things to transition and had to turn in my computer. I heard that parade was amazing and the total number of people completely exceeded expectations. You think?? Philly sports fans are crazy!

So now that I am unemployed, what am I doing? Well not working is definitely interesting. I have spent the last week catching up on stuff with the house that I have been putting off. I am surprised that I have been more busy since I have been home than I was when I was working! I, of course, have been looking for jobs but the job market is not looking to promising these days. I have severance until the end of January but that really does not leave too much time to find a job. I definitely have been brainstorming about some new ideas for Purplelicious so keep checking the shop or here to see what is new!! I will most likely blog about all of the new stuff since I have some extra time on my hands these days! So keep checking the shop and here for the latest and greatest! I am exhausted just writing this post!!! I am off to try and enjoy the rest of my Sunday before my 2nd super busy non work week begins!