Fashion Friday ~ Stella Jewelry Edition

I was planning a cute Montauk inspired 4^th of July outfit for Fashion Friday but then I spent the last two days working on a video for Stella Jewelry.  Jewelry is fashion after all so this counts as my fashion post.

Remember when I talked about my friend Blair and his TV Showed Tuned Out?  Well he is working on running the show on a local network and needs sponsors for commercials, hence a video for us.  With no budget, a camera, very little time and some jewelry Blair spent the last two nights filming, directing, editing, and listening to me being picky and vague with my descriptions.  The outcome is a cute video of my beautiful friend Brianna wearing our jewelry around town. 

The only story line to the video is that our pieces are for everyday life, simple but fun for any occasion.  Please watch the video and leave us a comment on what you think? 

I am so happy with the video and can’t believe something I created is on video looking professional.  Silly I know but its kind of weird to see someone online wearing my jewelry.  In reviewing the process the only changes I would make would be for me to find a way to be clearer about what I want and define the story beforehand.  When I say this I don’t mean for you to think the video isn’t what I want, because it is. If I had been clearer and more descriptive about what I wanted filming and production would have been easier for Blair and Brianna.  I am simply reviewing the process so I can grow as a person and creating a business with intention.

Thank You’s

~ Viva La Cupcake ~ Thank you for allowing us to use your store to film and thank you making amazing chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes!  If you are in Roanoke you must visit it them on Grandin Road.

~ Obvious Thanks to Blair for all he did and for supporting us!

~Thank you to Brianna, who not only modeled but styled the shoot!  You were gorgeous!

~ My little Brother who helped with production.

~ Thank you to my friends who played extras, sorry most of the scenes didn’t make the cut.

~ Taryn, thank you again for the logo! We love it.

~Krystal, thank you for buying a piece straight from the shoot.  You are so sweet and supportive of us.

Busy busy bee

Ever since the blogger issues a few weeks ago I haven't been motivated to write any blogs.  Its not because I haven't had plenty to say, I've just been so busy I haven't taken the time to put my thoughts onto paper online.

So whats keeping me so busy you ask? Well a number of things, of course work which we won't talk about because its extra boring. Ill bullet otherwise this could be a really long post :)

* Weddings ~ In 2011 about 8 of my friends are getting married and three of them were in the last Month.  So with weddings comes shopping for dresses, gifts, cards, shoes. Congrats Jamie & Caleb, Jess & Chris and Kayla & Fredy!

*England ~ I have been spending a lot of my time online looking for flights, hotels, contacting friends so I can finalize the details of my big trip home.  I am excited to say things are coming together.  Ill be home on August 28th for 3 weeds YAY.  The first week I will spend in my hometown with family, visiting friends and some of my favorite places from childhood.  Oh and of course my childhood best friend, Andrea's Wedding.  Then on Sept 8th, my best friend Kristin is flying over to do a bit of sight seeing. We are going to visit York and London then off to Guernsey to see Lucy get married.

*Stella ~ I am in a rut with the jewelry business.  I have had some great feedback, advice and opportunities recently but feel like I'm stopping short and can't figure out what I need to get to the next step.  Sometimes I know what needs to be done but my execution falls short.  Frustrating BUT I do have some good updates.  Stella Jewelry is now being carried in Rocky Mount, Va at the Rocky Mount Center for the Arts & The Grainery, they have great art and glass blowing on site.  I recommend anyone stopping by if they are in the area.  Also we are going to be part of the Bella Womens Luncheon & Evening Social ~ Roanoke ladies get your tickets its going be a great event.

I just made these and think I need to keep them :)

*Memorial Day ~  In addition to working a lot over the holiday weekend at my fun job.  I spent a few hours baking, decorating and delivering cupcakes, brownies, candy and thank you notes to the Veterans at the VA Hospital.  It was great to get together with my co-workers and hopefully brighten a soldiers day.

*In addition to everything else I have also have birthdays, helping with my Mums store, extra hours at the PT Fun job, everyday errands and just trying to take some time for me, which doesn't really ever work out well. 

So I'm back to blogging and have some posts in mind already hopefully you will enjoy them.

*Friendships ~ broad topic I know :)

*Travel ~ I have a couple of posts about places Ive been and dream of going.

*Understanding ~ I really think understanding is the key to all aspects of life.

*Meet my friends ~ I have some really talented friends to talk about.

*My Birch Box ~ Beauty related posts from my Birch Box samples.

What would Gibbs do?

He would follow his gut, ALWAYS! Hence this being my new motto.

I have talked a few times about needing to follow my gut in life. About how I often ignore that feeling and the outcomes all differ from what I want.  So to create my life with the right intention for me I am going to listen to my gut 100%.

Using my gut in Business

I have spent a long time thinking about how can I get our jewelry online, way to long in fact.  I have analyzed fees, photos, design restrictions, pay pal buttons and my limited website knowledge for hours.  I have played with Etsy and LOVE Etsy but my pieces get lost in the mix.  I need a lot of time to keep pieces relevant on the site and until I have that I need a simple shopping cart on Stella Jewelry Store. Hence my discovery of Big Cartel. 

I was hesitant at first and looked through the site a couple of times pondering my worries.  In reality I was just holding myself back from taking the next step in business and ultimately ignoring the annoying feeling that said JUST DO IT.  Maybe I am scared to see what I can really do with our jewelry, maybe it will be too much to handle and maybe it will fail, that definitely scares me. 

However, not taking the next step is making me fail before I even start.  I am failing at making decisions for our company (I'm a Libra so decisions are really complicated for me lol).  If I was on NCIS and this was some sort f mystery I would have definitely received a Gibbs slap and told to just do it.

So the first act of following my gut is signing up for Big Cartel and it integrates with my website seamlessly.  I can't wait to get everything loaded to show you all and so far my gut thanks me for listening.  

Thank you to everyone who left sweet comments on prior posts about following my gut!

Has anyone else used Big Cartel for their small business?  How did it work for you?

30 before 30 Update

As April comes to an end and my 30th (gasp) birthday gets closer I read over my goals again and give a little update on this lovely Spring day.

30 before 30

2. Visit my friends all over England

Oh how I miss England, I can't wait to be home and feel complete. My plans for this are coming along nicely.  I will be in England from August 26 to September 19 and will hopefully get to see a lot of childhood friends and come back with even better memories of my homeland! 

 7. To fully Launch Stella Jewelry.

Still a work in progress, some days I am really motivated and others I am clueless as to what I need to be working on.  The website is getting better, my product photos are improving so overall slowly but surely I feel I'm getting there.

20. Take a ghost/historic tour.

This is on the agenda in England, either a tour in London or in York.  I can't wait.

30. Have an amazing 30th birthday party :) 

 Planning a weekend in Vegas, Hangover Part 3? only if Bradley Cooper is involved lol.

I really need to get to work on the other 20 something items not crossed off.

Anyone else have a 30 before 30? If so how's your progress?

Creating my Life Week 2

This week I feel like I didn't have a lot of motivation to just get things done to create my small business but never the less I did get some work done and made time for myself.

Saturday ~ I had an amazing sushi lunch at Metro, it was great to be off work early enough on a weekend to be able to go downtown during the day.  I also picked up some great beads and spent the afternoon working on new pieces with Tricia.

Sunday ~ I pretty much did nothing all day.  I did visit Salem Antiques and Collectables, my Mum's store is opening a booth there.  The building is great and is building up a nice selection of furniture.  Check out www.salemantiquesandcollectables.com if you are into Antique hunting.

Monday ~  I did laundry ~ exciting stuff!!

Tuesday ~ Went shopping for more supplies and got quite a bit of the new collections made.  We seem to be on a nice roll of getting out Spring Collection together, but I also feel like its not fast enough.  We need a lot of new pieces for the store and then need items specifically for the photo shoot and online sales. I am impatient and want everything to be done today which is not realistic.

I know I shouldn't try to rush things but I have a clear view of what needs to be done just not how to get there.  I want to jump from the beginning to the end right away but I know that won't make my business work.  I need to learn some patience.

Wednesday ~ I felt like I was getting sick so I rested most of the day.

Today ~  I got some stock pictures taken of the new pieces and added them to our etsy store.  The names and descriptions need some work but I am excited to have some items posted.

Visit www.etsy.com/people/StellaJewelryStore to see our pieces!!

*Update on No Fast Food February 3 days in and I haven't been near a McDonald's lol

30 before 30

So I wrote my 30 before 30 quite sometime ago so now I have a blog I found it fitting to post it.  I thought it would be easy to find 30 things I want to do but I was wrong, creating a list of 30 things to do before I turn 30 was tough. 


I can’t believe how fast my 20’s have flown by, for the most part they were pretty amazing but I have realized that I left work control my life and that’s not how I ever pictured things to be. Starting today I will still work hard but I will play harder and enjoy everything. I have been given a great life with amazing people and that is more important that my work life ever will be.


I may change some of these in the next week but for now this is my list.


1. I want to start my blog! So done :) lol I’m not crossing this one off until I have been consistently updating the blog throughout the year.


2. Visit my friends all over England ~ Going in August for my childhood best friends wedding!


3. Visit my old friends.

4. Take a Photography class.


5. Update by blog with my photography fails and successes.


6. Take French again and remember it this time.

7. To fully Launch Stella Jewelry. They say find something you love and you will never feel like its work. I truly love making jewelry and hope this can be my career sooner than later.


8. To stick it out with college classes, college isn't for me but I now know its something I want to complete.


9. Actually read and enjoy a fiction novel. I am not a huge reader unless it’s some juicy celeb gossip online so I would love to actually make my way though a book and enjoy it.


10. I danced from the time I was 2-17 and then I moved to America and never danced again. I am not sure why I decided not to start again but it’s something I regret so before I am 30 I vow to at least take one dance class. Probably hip hop, those routines are always by favorite on SYTYCD. ~ thinking about taking Zumba now.

11. Take my Mum to a SYTYCD show, she’s obsessed with the show and I know to see them in person would bring her such joy ~ Took my mum for her birthday it was soo fun!


12. To send a celebrity my Jewelry :) hopefully they I will spot it on one of my gossip sites :)


13. To visit Salem, MA in the fall.


14. To actually rest and relax on a vacation.


15. Make cupcakes from scratch and learn to decorate them like a professional.


16. Send all my out of town friends a letter through snail mail. Who doesn’t love something in the mail that’s not a bill or junk mail :)


17. Clear out my closets and donate anything I do not need.


18. To organize all photographs and scrap books.


19. Go to a tech game.


20. Take a ghost/historic tour in Va.

21. To not eat fast food for a week, actually a month!


22. Run my mums shop for a week so her and my Dad can have a relaxing vacation together.


23. Take a trip where I don’t have to plan a thing. I am always the planner or in charge of things and it can become stressful when more than two people are involved. So I would love to just take a trip someone else has organized.


24. Take a silver smith class.


25. Stop procrastinating things.


26. This is getting tougher :) ok this one is simple enough wake up early on the weekends and take a stroll through the farmers market or downtown. Photograph this experience as I am not a morning person.


27. Workout more than once a week.

28. To find another store (other than my Mums amazing shop) to carry our jewelry.


29. To enjoy every minute of my last 10 months of my 20’s and not stress the 30s.


30. Have an amazing 30th birthday party :)
 
I hope my friends and family will enjoy this trip with me and be a part of my 30 before 30!