exciting news.

Wow. I just realized how long it’s been since my last post. I am so bad. Anyway, so much has happened since I last wrote to you all. First, I recently made my 90th sale in my Etsy shop! I remember, not too long ago I might add, how excited I was when I reached my 10th sale. It seems that the more sales I make, the faster they start coming. At the moment. I am averaging about four sales a week. I hope to start making at least one sale a day. My next bit of good news is that I finally finished my graduate school application for the distance learning program in Historic Preservation at Goucher College. I decided this program suited me best, because I won’t be geographically confined to any particular place. Acceptance letters will be mailed out on March 12th. I don’t like knowing a precise date. It makes me nervous. Still, I’ve decided it’s out of my hands now. I gave it my best effort, so if I don’t get in, it’s not meant to be. In other news, I went back to my old job at Hope House! It’s only part time, so I have time to pursue my other interests. I really missed everyone a lot, especially after looking through some old photos. Here are a few of them:

Anyway, they are awesome, and I am happy to be working with them again. I also recently got a second job as Gardener’s Attendant at Hermitage Museum and Gardens, which is a historic house museum/art museum. The house rests on twelve acres of gardens and wetlands overlooking the Lafayette River, so I think I’ve got my job cut out for me. I’m looking forward to spending some solitary time outside, digging in the dirt. I’ve interned and volunteered there in the past, so I’m really excited to get a paid position!

Apparently, two jobs and a jewelry business weren’t enough for me. I am now a co-owner of a new shop called Kitsch! A very nice and talented crafter named Michelle just so happened to see some of my jewelry through a mutual friend on her facebook newsfeed. She contacted me and we became friends. She introduced me to some other cool girls, who were brewing up a plan to create a place dedicated to the arts and crafts community. In addition to selling handmade goods and art from fellow Virginians, the shop would offer a variety of awesome classes and workshops. Once we realized we had enough financial capital to fulfill this shared vision, we jumped right in. We found a great spot located on a side street of a main thoroughfare in downtown Norfolk, in a very artistic-minded community. We were able to find most of our fixtures either for free, or for dirt cheap from thrift stores and flea markets. We also didn’t need to spend any money on merchandise because everything is on consignment! We already have over forty consignors, many of whom are from the Hampton Roads area. We found the rest of our consignors by scouring the many shops of Etsy. I must say, we have quite a lot of wonderful things including jewelry, clothing, housewares, bath and body products, and other random cool things. Our grand opening weekend extravaganza is February 25th and 26th. We plan to have live music, good food, crafter demos, and free craft projects of course! Stay tuned for photos and like us on facebook!

new stuff!

Hello friends! I am making tons of new stuff for the spring and summer. Lately, I’ve been inspired by so many things from vintage calico fabrics to vibrant and exotic beads. Here is a preview of some of things I’ve been adding to my shop…

These earrings remind me of those fun toys I used to play with in the waiting room at my doctor’s office back in the day haha! They were strangely calming, which I guess might be the whole point.

I searched high and low for these calico fabrics, and I finally found an awesome collection from this nice lady on Etsy. Her shop is called In the Old School House.

I am slowly but surely adding new metal designs to my shop. I discovered a fool-proof new way to draw the perfect moon shape, so I improved the look of my celestial earrings. After posting my new and improved earrings, I sold my first pair to a nice girl in Antioch, California. I hope she likes em’!

I love this fabric! It is the prettiest shade of light blue. I know these earrings will look stunning with a tan! I can see it all now… white sun dress, big retro sunglasses, strappy sandals, and these baby blue beauties…

My list of nation-wide customers is growing each week. My jewelry has travelled to the following places…

(This list is more for my own personal pleasure but I just want to share it because I’m so excited!)

Amenia, New York

Antioch, California

Atlanta, Georgia

Australia

Berlin, Germany

Brooklyn, New York

Conyers, Georgia

Darrow, Louisiana

Fredericksburg, Virginia

Livorno, Italy

Los Angeles, California

Madison, Wisconsin

Morrison, Colorado

Oslo, Norway

Parker, Colorado

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Playa del Rey, California

Portland, Oregon

Richmond, Virginia

San Diego, California

Spring, Texas

Talahassee, Florida

Westerville, Ohio

Wheaton, Illinois

And tons of people in Hampton Roads yaaaay!

a whirlwind of photo shoots.

Like many people, I feel like I haven’t stopped moving over the past few weeks. I’ve found it difficult to sleep, unable to turn off the thoughts and ideas manifesting in my brain like explosions of creative confetti, maddening and exciting all at once. I know that sounds cheesy, but that is the only way I can describe it. I’m sort of mad at myself that I haven’t taken the time to document all of the baking and crafty projects I’ve been doing lately, but I hardly had time to complete them let alone photograph them in an aesthetically pleasing way. I did manage to take a series of photos of my new jewelry line, which I am so excited to share with people.

Planning these winter photo shoots was far more difficult than any that I did this summer. First of all, it was freezing. Second, the sunlight was scarce. And third, I had to find a time that was convenient for everyone in the midst of this hectic holiday season. I had planned to wait until after the holidays, but I really wanted to present some nice photos of my jewelry to present to all of the holiday shoppers. Fortunately, I was able to do four different photo shoots, some of which were with people I hardly knew. Interestingly enough, friends of friends that had seen my previous photos contacted me to see if they could model some of my jewelry. I was surprised and flattered.

For me, this was sort of a daunting task, as I am somewhat shy and could use a little work explaining the direction that I want my photos to take. After reviewing all of the photos, I am so happy that I forced myself outside of my comfort zone. I made some new friends and connections and I got just a little bit better at verbally communicating my creative thoughts with other people.

With the help of my models, I found some great places to use as backdrops for my photos, and discovered new ways of expressing the intention behind my creativity. One girl suggested that I play music that expresses the style of my jewelry and that has made all the difference. I can’t believe it never occurred to me before! It really puts people at ease and inspires them to open up the most vulnerable places within themselves to become, in a way, a piece of art. Music has the power to unplug people from the mundane parts of life, and feel passionate and important. It took some of the pressure off of me to explain my aesthetic goals. I also got some great ideas browsing “pretty poses” on Pinterest. I made a really inspiring collection of photo ideas to use for future shoots.

These photos opened a few important doors for me. The owner of Beaucoup Vintage, a really cool shop in Frederickburg,  saw one of the photo shoots and contacted me to be featured in a trunk show at her shop. Needless to say, I was flattered and very excited. After adding the photos to my Etsy listings, I made sales three days in a row. This might not be a big deal to the well established sellers on Etsy, but I was super excited! One friend even described my jewelry as “joyful,” which really made my day. All of these things have pushed me a little further to pursue my creative dream. I can’t wait to do some more photo shoots and possibly make some new friends! Here are a few more of my favorites…

Ok. Enough. If you would like to see more of my jewelry, please visit my Luna Rosa business page on Facebook. Happy Holidays!

a creative addiction.

My love of arts and crafts began when I was a kid, as is the case for many people. Give me construction paper, glitter, clay, paint, popsicle sticks, or even twigs and flowers, and I was a happy girl. When most of my peers lost interest in crafts, my need to create became even stronger. Collecting materials to create something new and pleasing to the eye has always brought me great happiness, and I hope it always will. Over the past year I’ve been slowly but surely developing a little business to sell handmade jewelry as I create far too many things to keep for myself. Originally, I chose Pink Moon as my business name, which also happens to be one of my favorite Nick Drake songs. Then I decided to translate the name into Spanish because it sounded more feminine and exotic. Luna Rosa! It just has a nice ring to it. At the moment, a majority of my jewelry is made with fabric buttons, but I recently began taking a metal jewelry class to expand my skills. I love it. My goal is to eventually offer mostly metal jewelry creations. No matter what materials I use, my underlying mission is to create wearable art that is unique, bohemian, playful, and appealing to women of all ages and styles. One of my favorite parts of having a jewelry business is taking creative photos of my friends and family wearing my finished products. It gives me a great sense of accomplishment to know that I’ve made something wearable and flattering. I also love being able to provide my already beautiful friends and family with pretty photos of themselves. Who doesn’t have a secret desire to be a fashion model? The best part is that I do it all with the camera in my phone. I have a Samsung Galaxy and I use the Vignette application along with a free site called picnik to create some pretty nice photos. I would eventually like to invest in a quality digital camera, but for now, I’m pretty happy with my little Droid. Please check out my etsy shop. I’ve made a number of sales though I’m still trying to figure out the best ways to distinguish my jewelry from the rest of the talented etsy sellers. I did manage to sell earrings to women in Australia and Norway. It’s so exciting to know that people in other countries are wearing something that I made. I also created a facebook page, where I post all of my photos and provide updates about things that I’ve made, or places where I’ll be selling my jewelry. The holidays are rapidly approaching and I’m hoping some people out there would like to wear my creations. I make new things every day and I love to get feedback!