Hi everyone! Welcome back! I’m going to try to get this up and going again as a craft related site. My faith related blog is His Thumbprint, so hop on over there as well, if you’re interested!
I’m getting ready to launch a line of Christmas gifts and decorations which I’m planning to sell here and/or on my Etsy site.
More to come!
Hi guys! This afternoon I started working on some Christmas ornaments. I have them all designed in my head so it was time to build ‘prototypes’. I’m not going to sell anything on my shop that I am not comfortable making. I want everyone to get a good product. As close to perfect as possible.
So, to that end, it was time to break out the Christmas ornaments and get started! Ornaments, check. Glue, check. Glitter, check. Paint, check. Headache…on order.
First of all, let me tell you that glitter and I have a love hate relationship. I love the look of it. Especially at Christmas! It’s perfect! The more glittery the better. I have green, red, white, silver, gold. I’m ready. I could look at it all day. It’s beautiful! I love it as much as my grandson does! G loves a good glitter project! But then…
There’s the hate part. Glitter is insideous. That may be strong language but it’s kinda true. It starts out pretty and innocent. It sticks right where you want it to (glue needed). How beautiful! But then….(again)…
You move. There’s glitter. You move again. How’d it get THERE? Look down at the cat. How did he get glitter on his nose? He wasn’t even in the room! Oh my gosh, there’s glitter on Spiderman! It must have jumped off the table-or did it get caught in his web? Anyway, suffice it to say we may have some sparkly dinners coming up. Maybe I should call them ‘glamourous’. Yeah, that works.
Then the glue. I used spray craft glue and sprayed it inside the ornament. First off, that stuff has FUMES. I had forgotten that. Anyway, it seemed to be a great idea until it puddled in the bottom of the ornament. It got all over inside but there was that puddle. I swirled it around for a few minutes and thought I had it spred well, so I poured in the glitter. Guess what. There’s a clump of green glitter in the bottom. The puddle came back.
Next up, pink paint for a ‘baby’s first Christmas ornament’. This didn’t go too badly. I squirted paint in and swirled and swirled and shook and shook. It covered halfway decent. Then I tried a brush. That worked great for the bottom of the ornament but I still had some pretty big spots to cover. I squirted in more paint and swirled some more. I still ended up with a couple empty spots. See the pictures.
What I learned from this is…with the glue, swirl a little more and let it dry a little more before using glitter. I may also try liquid glue. With the paint…I think a little bit of water will thin it enough to spread easier.
The title of this blog? Well, what do I do with these prototypes? Use vinyl or embellishments to cover this clump or that empty spot and give them to family and close friends! They love me no matter what! Buyers might not!
Don’t forget to visit and favorite my shop so you can see all the new items over the next several weeks and months! Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest and sign up for my newsletter so we can stay in touch!
~Nancy
Notice how the penguin is off on his own, doing his own thing? The others are back there, just doing whatever it is penguins do. (Oh, yes, I like to go to the zoo with my grandson so there will be animal pictures on this blog from time to time.) Sometimes its good to go off and do your own thing. I have a full time job. I love it. I really do! Its not exciting, but I work with great people and I enjoy the work. But in spite of how much I love that job, I wanted to do something just for me. Something on my own. All mine. Extra. No pressure to pay the bills, just something fun.
That is a side hustle. Doing something you like that’ll earn you money, but maybe not to pay all the bills. At least not at first. But it’s fun. That’s the main thing. I love making crafts. It’s so much fun to create something. I never thought anyone would be interested in buying things I made…but… Etsy is there for exactly that reason. As you saw with the ‘guest post’ from My OBT, people sell all sorts of things on there! So, now it’s my turn! I’m still getting my footing, of course, but the journey is fun!
I first learned of a ‘side hustle’ when I read the book “Do Over” by Jon Acuff. (that’s not an affiliate link-just a recommendation) Do Over talks about doing what you love for a living. And yes, you often have to start off with it being a side hustle. Actually, Jon talks about hustle a lot and has influenced me a great deal in this endeavor.
Build a plan, I’ve talked about that before. Stick to it. Before you know it, you’ll be doing what you love. This is ‘hustle’. The stick to it part. As I’ve said, as long as I have things down on paper (yes, paper) I get things done. I’m on ‘vacation’ from my ‘day job’ this week. One full day I’ll spend with my grandson. A lot of the rest of the time will be working on my side hustle! I’m so looking forward to it! Expect to see new products, Pins, Tweets, and Facebook posts in the next several days!
So, what is it that you want to do ‘on the side’? Sit down and make a plan to do it! I tell you, it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done!
Do the hustle!
~Nancy
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