Elemenopie Designs --- the name --- (oh, and a special announcement!)

I have really revamped myself on Etsy, putting lots more time and energy into really becoming a part of the Etsy community and getting to know people.  I have met so many amazingly talented people.  I constantly have to remind myself that I am there to sell MY stuff because I just want to buy, buy, buy!!!

Over the last couple of weeks, I keep hearing the same thing over and over...."I love your shop name!!" or "You have the cutest shop name ever!"  First of all, thank you!  I personally love it.....sure, I like it because it's cute, but I LOVE it because of what it represents to me.  So, I decided to share how I came up with that name.

2 years ago, I decided to create a business to sell my creations. It started with handpainted wall art and gradually shifted to include bow holders and hairbows.  And if my girls have anything to do with it, we're going to be adding crocheted items before long!  :)

Anyways, speaking of my girls, I was telling you about my shop name.  When I decided to set up a shop, it had to have a name....and I wanted something catchy and fitting, but I also wanted something that was meaningful.  Because my 2 girls are the inspiration for lots of what I do, I wanted to include them in the name.  Their names are Ellie and Emmalynn (and mine's Nikki), so I started just playing around with stuff.  I was sitting at my desk at work, talking out loud to myself....and I said, "L....M.....N...." and then it just kinda came out..."L  M  N  O  P".......and being the word nerd that I am, it finally became "Elemenopie".

The inspiration behind my creation

My youngest, Ellie, tells me all the time that I spelled it wrong.  She says it looks like "L M N O pie" but I like it just the way it is!

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Now for my exciting announcement:  I was asked to stock a section of a local boutique gift shop with my bows!!!  VLM Designs is opening shop locally, and they have asked me to handle all of their hairbow needs!!  I am VERY excited about this opportunity and look forward to working with these fabulous ladies!  I'll provide info later for locals about this....for now, I have a month to get some inventory made up for them!

Workspace....what workspace?!?!?!

So my PF team members asked me to blog and show my workspace.  I thought about it all week and almost decided to do something different for this blog because I don't really have a designated crafting area.  Unfortunately, it's called the dining room!  But then I decided I would show what it looks like when I'm working...#1 because, well, that's what it looks like and #2 because I thought it might be a little extra plug to the husband that I NEED a craft room!  I keep telling him we need to close in the carport!!!  Honey, if you're reading this, the house would be SOOOOOO much cleaner if I had ONE room to do everything!  (Ok, promotional plug over!)

Since I do bows and flip flops and painted items, I have TONS of supplies.  Right now I'm making use of lots of tubs and totes that I transport from one room to the next as needed.  The pics I'm going to show you are actually of a relatively neat crafting workspace.  When I'm getting ready for a show or doing lots of things at once, it can be much, MUCH worse!

The dining room table - half paint area, half computer area

We have a fabulous built-in bar in the dining room.  When we bought the house, I said it would be the perfect place for the girls to do their homework.  Unfortunately, it's usually covered with paints, ribbons, etc.

Ribbon, ribbon, and MORE ribbon....and this doesn't even show the ribbon stored in tubs in my bedroom!

Like I said, this is neat compared to some days....I didn't even bother to take a pic of my storage chest in my room...or the tub of already made hairbows...or the tubs of bottlecaps, embellishments, etc.  Oh well, it's my semi-organized chaos.

But if I can do what I enjoy doing (and make a little money off of it), then I'll take that!  Now go buy something from my shop so I can save money to FINALLY close in that carport!

Comment game plus I love my models!

I am loving what is going on with Elemenopie Designs these days.  I am having so much fun with it!  TJ is super supportive, too....or at least tolerant!  :)  He doesn't complain (much) about the mess when I'm making bows...and he lets me spend an awful lot of time on the computer.  I love that man!

So I tried my first comment game on my Facebook page last night.  I had 5 or 6 people play and sold some inventory AND even gave away some Hello Kitty clippies. If you didn't show up, watch for an announcement of the next game.  I am thinking it may become a Thursday ritual!

There are so many things I love right now....my husband, the weather....and my fabulous models! :) Em and El do such a good job of posing for me! They don't always LIKE it...but they do it. Yesterday, I had El modeling some flower bows --- she really gets into it.

Funny face!

Little Rascals!

Much love!

Elemenopie Revamped!

This has been an amazing week for Elemenopie Designs!  So many things caught up and so many new things in store for us....starting with this new logo design.  Isn't it fabulous???  Huge thanks to Brooke at Brooke Chanel Designs for designing it exactly as I wanted!  I ordered yesterday afternoon and had them before the night was up!  Amazing service and a supercute product!

Since I had the new look and some newfound ambition, I decided that I'd revamp this blog and just start over.  I set it up when I first started my shop, but I didn't really follow through with it.  Now I have Em helping me AND I have a whole new set of crafting friends helping me stay motivated.  I have to say, my new Etsy team members have been amazing at showing me the ropes of this whole thing.  Although they are states and maybe even countries away, they have helped me get Elemenopie Designs up and running even better!

Yesterday was the perfect day to get this blog set up...it was a cold, rainy day of Spring Break, so I did lots of computer work.  If you haven't already, check out my Etsy shop and "like" me on Facebook!  Today is fabulously sunny....so, I leave you with these pics from my new Spring flower collection.