Friday’s Favorites – Summer Lovin’

So, I don’t know about you, but we haven’t had much of a spring here in North Texas. We’ve had one big storm (which brought devastating tornadoes to towns around us – you can donate to the disaster relief through Red Cross here,) and a few days in the 70′s, but mostly we’ve gotten sunshine and highs in the upper 80′s and low 90′s. That’s the beginning of summer, if you ask me.

In celebration of our early summer, this Friday’s Favorites list is full of sunbeams and bohemian loveliness.

This beautiful leg chain is a natural evolution of this year’s body chain trend!

This sparkling honeysuckle scented soap by our friend Cassie at Clover Hollow is subtly glittery, and made from the finest ingredients.

Turn the back yard into a movie theater with lots of pillows, cushions, and fairy lights.

Tiny yellow gingham print, puff sleeves, dainty trim, and collar make our vintage empire maxi dress a spring and summer dream!

This golden sunstone and chalcedony necklace by Bespangled Jewelry lets you bring the beach with you wherever you go this summer.

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Chelsea

Tuesday’s Treasure: With Mom In Mind

Mother’s Day is coming up fast on Sunday, May 12! Take a look at the beautiful new Etsy Fort Worth Mother’s Day Treasury:

 

 

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Chelsea

Whatever Weekend – Local Arts & Crafts Shows

If you’re looking for fun, inexpensive, or family friendly events to check out in the Dallas/Fort Worth area this month, take a look at the wonderful festivals and arts and craft shows that are going on!

Local shows and festivals on Pinterest.

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Chelsea

Tuesday’s Treasure – Two to One

Here’s the latest Etsy Fort Worth treasury featuring items from both Etsy Fort Worth and some from their newest members from Etsy 817. Click on the picture below to visit the collection and shop each of the featured artists!

 

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Chelsea

Happy National Earth Month!

Happy Earth Month, everyone! I’m so glad to see that the earth-friendly living “trend” isn’t just a trend anymore, and that people are taking notice how much we affect the earth around us. A large part of our business is reusing and repurposing the old into new items to make a positive ecological impact.

The other day on my other blog, Chelsea, Like England, I wrote a post about easy upcycling projects you can do around the house as you do your spring cleaning.

I received an email today from Michaels with lists of re-useful projects, including fashion, furniture, decor, and even a block party idea to celebrate Earth Day. They’re also teaming up with American Forests to plant trees with just a simple text.

Just a few days ago, I reposted this pledge on our mission’s Facebook page, encouraging our students to pick up ten pieces of trash each Tuesday. This works anywhere, of course, not just on a college campus, and it’s a great way to celebrate Earth Month way beyond April.

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Chelsea

Thoughtful Thursday – Branding: Lots of words and a little math

As a small businessperson, I sometimes feel a little bombarded by advice. Usually, it’s a different version of the same information, or an article about something I already do without really thinking about it, so it can feel redundant. I don’t stop seeking out those “business for dummies” kinds of articles, though, because sometimes you come across one as good as this:

http://diybusinessassociation.com/gobrandyourself/

In fact, I’m finding this site has a lot of well-written, easy and fun to read, legitimate information for entrepreneurs.

So, this particular article discusses the 20/10/4 method, which, simply put, means you come up with 20 words or short phrases to describe yourself, then narrow that list to 10, then, finally, the 4 most important words on that list.

Now, even if you don’t own a business, this is honestly a pretty cool exercise to try out to help you figure out who you are and what you want to present to others. Obviously, we’re all complex people with different aspects of our lives and personalities, so the list may change depending on the context (social environment vs. work environment, for example,) but it’s worth the effort.

I won’t re-hash what’s already been written – I encourage you to visit that link up there – but I will share my 20/10/4 journey with you. As a self-proclaimed eclectic, it hasn’t been easy, but keeping our first shop, Buy Me Love, in mind, that narrows it down some. It starts with these words:

artisan
crafty
persistent
detail oriented
eclectic
geeky
classy
theatrical
thoughtful
optimistic
sweet addict
open minded
wordy
eco-conscious
animal lover
planner
tactile
creature of comfort
introvert
friendly

Then it goes a little something like this:

artisan
crafty
detail oriented
classy
theatrical
thoughtful
sweet addict
open minded
eco-conscious
friendly

In the end, though …:

artisan
classy
theatrical
eco-conscious

So, my personal brand is a theatrical but classy, eco-conscious artisan. I can’t wait to share this exercise with my mom to see what she comes up with, and to use the exercise to brand our newer shop, JuJu Eyeball. I’m sure we’ll come up with all kinds of fun words for that one!

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Chelsea

Tuesday’s Treasure – Texas Harmony

Now that Etsy 817 and Etsy Fort Worth have merged, I’m seeing all kinds of new content from new people!

Here’s a look at the EFW blog, and the latest team treasury: http://www.etsyfortworth.com/2013/04/great-gift-ideasno-fooling.html

Here’s a pretty, springy green treasury by my friend Amy from Larkspur Studio:

 

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Chelsea