Autumn Wreaths on Etsy

I have been working hard on getting my autumn wreaths listed in my Etsy shop.

The Gathering Season Wreath

Pumpkin Spice Wreath

Autumn Sunset Wreath

There are a lot of steps involved in listing an item.

• The whole process starts when I shop for the materials for my wreath. Sometimes I go into the store with an idea already in my head and other times I pick up a flower and the idea for a wreath is there! I usually spend about an hour in the store perfecting my purchase, and I usually only buy the materials that I need for that particular wreath without buying any extra flowers.

• Then I make the wreaths, which can take at least a couple of hours arranging, perfecting, gluing and making sure it looks exactly how I want it to look. This is when I put a girly movie on and get to work!

• Then come the product photos - my house is way too dark to take the pictures inside, so I go outside. I have to take the pictures in the morning because I get the best light during that time. It also helps that I have a super-duper awesome camera at my disposal.

• I perfect my product photos in Photoshop - cropping, enhancing and tweaking the colors a bit.

• I also write out each description and add up the cost of the wreath.

• Finally I can list it on Etsy and hope that it finds a good home.

It can be a long drawn out process which is why I am shocked that I have been able to get all of these autumn wreaths listed in this amount of time!

New Mini Wreath

I finally went out and took some pictures of the new Mini wreath - Lime Sherbet which can be found in my Etsy shop! Isn't it so cute! The dimensions of the wreath are 16inches x 16inches x 5inches, so it is not itty-bitty, but compared to some of the gigantic wreaths in my collection it is pretty small.

Design Style Guide Team

I have some exciting news to share. I have been asked to be a member of the Design Style Guide Team! I am thrilled. They emailed me and told me that they love my designs and they think I would be an asset to the team! They have their own website here: http://designstyleguide.net/ which caters to the interior designers, decorators and home stagers. I have two of my wreaths listed there already!

New Line of Wreaths

I am in the process of designing a new line of wreaths - mini wreaths. Okay so they are not that mini, but compared to some of my giants, they are pretty small. I already have one finished and I had planned on posting some pictures of it here on my blog, but the weather today is not cooperating with me. It is overcast and drizzly and it does not look like it will let up anytime soon! I am not complaining though because we have desperately needed rain for a long time, and even though it is not a complete downpour, any little bit helps! I hope to have pictures of my "Mini" this weekend or next week. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Lovely in Lavender

Spring time is here (in South Texas at least)! I am so ready for the warm weather - I am a summer time girl. I just love when the sun is shinning and all the plants are starting to bloom. The colors of spring come alive; it is like a fresh start for the year.

I designed a brand new spring time wreath that I have just recently listed in my Etsy shop.

Introducing...

Lovely in Lavender

The combination of purple and yellow is one of my all time favorite color combinations for spring. The wreath features purple ranunculus and yellow irises.

Those of you who are still a bit chilly, I hope that looking at this wreath will bring you some warmth! Have a great weekend!

Another Custom Design

One of my co-workers saw the "Watermelon Delight" wreath that I had made and she fell in love with it. She wanted a pink and yellow spring wreath to display on her front door. So I told her that I could make the same kind of style as the other wreath and just substitute the green flowers for yellow ones.

I brought the wreath up to work yesterday, and she was blown away! She has probably ordered about five wreaths from me before, but she always gets so excited about each one. It always makes me feel so ecstatic!

Bit-O-Luck

Since it is the beginning of March, I feel that it is appropriate to post my newest creation - the "Bit-O-Luck" St. Patrick's Day wreath. I finished this wreath just this morning and I have just listed it in my Etsy shop.

I think it is so cute! It features the classic green colors of the Irish inspired holiday plus a little gold thrown in for kicks!

I love the sign in the middle; it reads: "Irish Luck". Every-other letter in the title is raised and it also has a cute four leaf clover right in the middle of the sign.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

What's In a Name

Usually after I finish a wreath, I come up with a clever name for it. The names describe the wreaths and give them a sort of personality or individuality. Sometimes the names just pop into my head, but other times I really have to think of one. This time I was trying to think of a name for a completely different wreath and this name popped into my head - You Had Me At Yellow. This was the first time that I had actually come up with a name for a wreath that hadn't even been created yet. I knew that I had to make a yellow, cute springtime wreath to fit this clever name. Here is what I created; an oval shaped wreath filled with bright yellows and accented with cool blues.

Watermelon Delight

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. I just thought I would post one of my latest creations for your viewing pleasure!

One of my local customers contacted me and requested a custom design. She said she wanted a pink and green wreath and that she wanted it to look very "feminine". I told her that I had been wanting to make a pink and green wreath ever since I started on the spring designs for this year. Anyways, this is what I came up with.

She said that the door she wanted to hang it on was small so instead of my typical oval wreath, she wanted a smaller round one. I love this ribbon that I found. The pink, red and green polka dots match the flowers perfectly!

I always try to come up with clever names for each wreath that I make and this particular one reminded me of a watermelon with the various pinks and lime greens - hence the name Watermelon Delight. I know I say this about all of the wreaths, but this one might just be my favorite!

Time Well Spent

It was muggy and raining outside this morning - the perfect day for staying inside to craft! My Mom called me (she has been fighting a cold for about two weeks now and finally felt bad enough to stay home from work) and was wondering what I was doing for the day. I normally work Wednesdays, but I had the day off today. So I told her that I had bought all the supplies to make a wreath for a local customer yesterday, but I didn't have any time to make it, so that is what I planned on doing. I never get to spend time with her during the week, so I packed up all my tools and supplies and headed over to her house. I was excited to show her the flowers and ribbon I had purchased for this wreath. She is one of my biggest fans and she always loves seeing the new items. When I finally got to her house, I unloaded my car, which took three or four trips, and set up my area in the living room. We decided to watch The Bourne Ultimatum which she had never seen before (I know - I couldn't believe it either!). I started the wreath as soon as the movie started and finished it right around the end of the movie! It was great getting to visit with my Mom - just the two of us! And the wreath turned out gorgeous. I haven't taken pictures of it yet, but as soon as I do, I'll get them posted on here for everyone to see. Other than the fact that she was sick, today turned out to be a great day!

Sassy Roosters

I have a special sale in my Etsy shop right now. I just listed these two fabulous wreaths this morning. I found these two sassy rooster signs in Hobby Lobby last week and ended up making two different oval "French Country" inspired wreaths with them.

Early to Rise - Rooster Wreath

Morning on the Farm - Rooster Wreath

If you buy them together, you get $10 off your total purchase price! I made them together; I think they look amazing together and they need a home together also! Please see the item descriptions for more information. And check out the rest of my shop while you're at it!

Garden Party

One of my co-workers had seen a wreath that I displayed up at work a couple of weeks ago and she told me that she would love for me to make her another wreath. She bought a lovely magnolia wreath from me last year and she was saying that she wanted a "springtime" wreath. She was going to be having a party at her house in February and she needed a colorful wreath to put on her door. Usually when someone asks for a special order I always tell them to give me specifics (i.e. shape, color, any ribbon, any sign or ornaments, etc), but all she wanted was lots of color! I want the customer to be completely happy with their wreath and I want it to look like they had it pictured in their head, but it's always fun to have complete creative freedom as well!

So I headed off to the craft store after work and I was very excited to see that they had their new shipment of spring flowers on display - I was in heaven to say the least! I made my way through the floral section picking up stem by stem and imagining in my head what this was going to look like. Then off to the ribbon isle to pick the perfect match for the purple/yellow explosion of flowers to be! I found this gorgeous purple to pink faded ribbon and held it up to the flowers. It was perfect. The weird thing is they have the same ribbon all the time, the selection never really changes, but I discover new rolls each time. I had never seen this ribbon before, but it has always been there. I have just never needed it, so I don't even see it; I go into the store with selective blinders on!

Anyways, I paid for everything and finally got home. I couldn't wait to start putting this one together. With some wreaths, it takes me a while and no matter what I do or how I arrange them, I can't seem to get them just right. That was not the case with this wreath - it all went together like clock-work! I had a hard time parting with this one. I pictured what it would look like on the front door of our new house (that we haven't even started to build yet), but then I thought to myself I can always make another one just for me!

I took the wreath up to work the next day and everyone loved it. My co-worker was very excited and she took a whole stack of business cards from me to hand out to her guests at the party! Hopefully I will get some new customers soon!

Business As Usual

The girls at work go crazy over any wreaths that I bring up there. When I brought one of the new Valentine's wreaths up to work, my supervisor loved it so much that she wanted me to make her one that was similar, but round instead of oval. So I created this lovely beauty!

I brought it up to work this morning and - you won't believe it - I got two more orders from a couple of the other girls!!! I'm going to have a very busy weekend! Woohoo!

Eat Your Heart Out!

I know that Valentine's Day is still a month away, but since I have been making Valentine's wreaths for about a month already I figured I would start posting the wreaths that I have made so far. Enjoy!

The inspiration for this first wreath came from the heart-shaped sign in the middle. I saw it in a store and knew that I had to create a wreath based on that sign - it was just too cute to pass up!






















I found the sign for this wreath when I was in Hobby Lobby. It wasn't even in the same area as the Valentine decorations, but the message was perfect! It reads "All Because Two People In Love".































When I was walking through the floral department in Hobby Lobby one day, I saw these anthurium flowers! I thought that they resembled hearts and knew that I wanted to create a tropical Valentine's wreath using them.





































Finally, I found this "LOVE" sign in the Valentine's section of the store and knew that I wanted to make a sweet, delicate looking wreath.

In with the New

Wow! My first blog post which I think is fitting at the first of the year! In my blog I am planning on focusing most of my attention on my designs and creations. So let me start out by telling you a little about me.

Making artificial wreaths and arrangements is truly my passion! I have been creating wreaths, swags and floral arrangements for family and friends, and they have always urged me to share my creations with others, so I am giving it a shot!

Let me start off with some New Year's Resolutions (or maybe just New Year's Thoughts) for my wreath making endeavor:

1. I want to buy a map and put a pushpin in each place I have shipped a wreath! Just knowing that something that I have made is half way across the country is the greatest feeling in the world!
So far:

• Ohio
• South Carolina
• Virginia
• Mississippi
• Texas

2. I want to push myself to fill up my Etsy shop with a huge variety of arrangements.

• By the way: check out http://www.southerngirlflorals.etsy.com/

3. I want to promote my butt off and get my name out there!

4. I really want this economy to turn around, but I guess that is more of a wish than anything.

5. I want to enjoy every moment!