Sometimes You Have To Listen To....."YOURSELF!"

 (Crochet Clutch Back Flower Pins by Wuglyees)

      I'll just tell you 'right off the bat' that this post is dedicated to.....ME! ^_^ Well, not 'me' so much as valuing 'my' thought process...Yes, I know you don't know what in the world I'm talking about!! LOL

      It's a simple thing really. About this time last year I was selling my crochet boutonnieres 'left and right' in my Wuglyees Etsy shop! In other words, I was selling a LOT of them!! And I was a very happy girl! :-) But I listened to some conversations on the forums that were talking about 'valuing your work' and 'pricing correctly'...and I decided that "Yeah! I need to raise my prices and value 'MY' work too!!!" So I raised my prices.

       I didn't raise the prices by a lot...except for shipping. Ugh! (The post office decided to 'value their work' at the same time I did! Grrrr!) Long story short....Uhhhhh...my sales have been bottoming out ever since!!! It's been slow...sporadic...and aggravating! Not to mention 'pocketbook depleting'!! LOL

      So, for those of you who are concerned with me not valuing what I do, or maybe making it harder for other crocheters to have their work valued because of pricing my work too low.......Shushy!!!!! LOL
       

      Meaning no disrespect, I say to you: "It's all nice and good to have your work valued...when you can afford to not eat! ^_^ But I have to eat!!!!" ^_^ Therefore, all of my boutonnieres and lapel pins have gone back to their original selling prices...$10 for boutonnieres and regular brooches...$9 for lapel pins...$11 for 3-layer brooches.

      Hopefully this will bring some 'cash-flow' back to my shop, because lately the only fun being had at 'wuglyees' is by the 'silence inducing' crickets in the shop!! LOL

    Yes, I still value my work!...but right now I'm a 'starving artist'! And I need to get some 'actual' value for my work! The kind of value you can take to the bank and come away with lunch money for! ^_^

     One of these days...maybe!...^_^...I'll be able to hike my prices up to some ridiculous 'brand name' kind of price. You know, the kind of price where people wouldn't care what price it was, and would pay anything simply because...."Oooooo! I have a Wuglyees original!!!!"...and where other people would ask: "Ooooooo! Where did you find it?!!!!" LOL

      Okay...so maybe I've been losing too much sleep, getting up at unheard of hours to watch tennis!! ^_^ But hey!.....it could happen!!! ^_^ In the meantime, I won't hold my breath!!...I'll just keep watching to see if my sales come back!! ^_^
       You YOURSELF...have a nice day!! ♥

"I Love Me!"

I love me.
I love the happy me.
I love the fact of me.
I love the silly me.
I love me.

I love the confident me.
I love the cooking me.
I love the sexy me.
I love me.

I love the cuddly me.
I love the caring me.
I love the beautiful me.
I love me.

I love the supportive me.
I love the sporting me.
I love the giddy me.
I love me.

I love the quiet me.
I love the talkative me.
I love the pensive me.
I love me.

I love the sensitive me.
I love the thoughtful me.
I love the world, with me.
I love me.

I love the patient me.
I love the stylish me.
I love the smiling me.
I love me.

I love the creative me.
And the one who created me,
because he helps relate to me
why I love me.
And I do love me!

Sunday 'Take-It-Easy-And-Look-Around' Time!

 (Extra Large Vintage Sheet Music Paper Rose by TheHappyLibrarian)

      Sitting here sipping on a cup of hot chocolate, and staring into the backyard at the slightly snow-covered ground, and the partially-eaten bird suet, while watching the weather man, out of the corner of my eye, talk about the snow and freezing rain that's on the way later today, I contemplate what this day will bring.

      Winter doesn't officially come until the 21st of the month, but, oh yeah, it's starting to feel like winter!...I'm finding it harder and harder to get enough light through the windows to take decent pictures, and I'm craving soup, hot apple cider, and hot chocolate. :-)

      It's funny how a 'time-of-year' can change the way you look at the world, but winter does that. It makes you wanna 'hunker-down'. :-) Instead of wanting to 'Go!'...you wanna 'Stay Put!' Instead of craving sun and beaches, you crave 'comfort food' and warm blankets....Or, at least, that's what it does to me! ^_^

      It also makes me more aware of music....soft music. Creativity. Well-spoken words. Quiet. And nature....Is that why these particular items caught my attention in my Etsy scroll this morning?!.....Who knows! :-) That could just be the randomness of my brain! LOL But whatever!!...They caught my eye just the same! ^_^

 (Pumpkin in Plaid Fabric Tote Purse by BerkshireCollections)

 (Green Grey and White Patterned Flower Petals Tote Bag by BerkshireCollections)

 (Dark Brass Sideways Butterfly by bsueboutiquesupplies)

 (Red & Yellow Crackle 10mm Glass Round Beads by LIKEITNOLOVEIT)

 (Flower Tube Agate Necklace by jillsgems1)

(Handmade African Picture Jasper Necklace by jillsgems1)

       I can also tell you that this time of year  has made me give a second look to my scarves that I've made! I was thinking of deleting them from my shop all together, but I found some yesterday that are all nicely packed and ready to ship...but they were never listed in my shop!! O_O I had them ready, but needed to take photos of them...and forgot!! O_O

      They are so soft and nice! I just can't leave them in my house! So I've decided to list them in the shop. I'm gonna ask a reasonable price for them. Enough to cover the shipping to...wherever! And if they sell I'll give thought to putting the others that are in my 'expired' list back in the shop too.

      I took pictures of the six or so scarves that I found. I put one online in my Wuglyees Etsy shop yesterday. It's a gray and white alpaca and Caron Simply Soft yarn scarf...

      I almost wasn't able to get it listed...My hubby kept talking about how 'NICE!' it was...and how 'NICE' it would look with one of his suits! ^_^ I've already made him all kinds of scarves. He's even given one of them away, because a relative 'fell-in-love' with it and begged it away from him! LOL But if it doesn't sell in the shop, I'll give it to him anyway. :-) He's certainly earned it by way of much cooking and back rubs. ^_^

      I'm not sure if I'll list the other scarves today or not. I'm all about taking it easy right now. It's quiet. There's a little ground snow. Birds are pecking at the suet. The smell of muffins and ham are in the air. All of my Watchtower, for the meeting, has been studied. And I'm mulling over in my mind the conversations I've had with my sister and my father....Ahhhhh! Sunday. :-) ... Have a good one, Everybody. ♥

Snow

Yes, I knew you'd finally get here.
Every year you come around.
Even when you're not so punctual,
you always make it to the ground.

No, I'm not always glad to see you.
Every sighting leaves me cold.
Even when you're kinda pretty,
you always remind me that I'm old.

Yes, you make me kinda grumpy.
Every word of you brings woe.
But even when I call you "white stuff",
you still fall as poetic, snow.

I'm Loving These Things Right Now!!

           {When it rains it pours-Fine Art Print by idillard}
    No, after almost five days of it, I'm not loving the rain right now. But if I have to experience it, it's nice to have someone as talented as idillard give me a nice way to experience it!...I'm always so in awe of artists and creative people! :-) By the way, the rest of the things in her shop are fabulous too!
    Besides beautiful drawings of it, the other good thing about the rain....especially this much rain!...is that it puts me in a whole other frame of mind...{since I can't crochet, I mean...joint pain and all} I tend to be calmer, more mentally creative on rainy days. (this is usually the time most of my poems are born)
      I also start looking around more during rainy days, to get inspiration from what other people are doing. That's how I wandered upon a lot of things I'm loving right now! And I thought I'd share them with you. :-) Of course, the first thing I'm loving this morning is the sale in my Wuglyees Etsy shop overnight!

       My Up-cycled Doo-Dad Dangle Crochet Brooch is going to be off to play in the sun later today! :-) Woohoo!! ... Now, I'll have to work on getting this Abstract Fun Crochet Flower Necklace out of my shop...

        ...before I have to renew it again!!!...NOT fun!
      Okay, moving on!......I don't know if any of you have seen it lately, because she's a fellow blogger, but Cindy of CinLynn Boutique's Blogspot just recently made the cutest little tote bag for her Etsy shop!

      I'm loving the green checkered pattern! I also saw one she made in red. That'll probably be in her shop pretty soon too..."I'm loving the way you're branching out, Cindy!" :-)
      I'm also loving the hats in the shop of a new friend I just recently met! Her shop is called LeChapeau, and she has the cutest hats in there!! I'm especially loving this Black and White Straw Hat!

      Don't you just love that white ribbon rose she made for it?!...Perfect! But this hat is only the tip of the iceberg of hats, so to speak, in her shop. Please go by and check it out for yourself. You'll be able to tell pretty quick why her hats caught my eye! :-))
      Some of the things I'm loving right now are things that are right in my 'wheel house' (area of expertise), and they're things that could make me more proficient at what I do. Like this gorgeous Leather Journal by Kreativlink.

      I could see myself sitting for hours dotting words back and forth on these pages! :-) I love that cover!....but I could fall in love with almost any one of the journals in her shop! If you go and look, you'll see what I mean.
     And since I have to write some cards of thanks to some people...(Thanks for my little ring box, a delicious Chili and cornbread meal I just received, and also...last night...a friend made us homemade spaghetti! I hadn't had it in a while, and it was soooooo good! {Note to self: Maybe you should make something for other people sometime!!! You do know how to cook! LOL})
      ...wouldn't these cute Fuscia and Green Note Cards by BBDesigns be perfect?!

      Simple and to the point...THANK YOU!...Not to mention the nice Photo books they have in their shop too! I certainly could use one of them...or two...to organize some loose photos I have laying around!...I'll have to give it some thought.
       Which brings me to something else I'm loving right now. I'm loving that there's a PDF Tutorial on how to make wire crochet pears!! I saw this in Yoola's Etsy shop!

      I don't know if I want to make pears, but knowing how to be more proficient at wire crochet could be very helpful to me going forward. I'll have to do some thinking on this too!...But whether I get it or not, I'm certainly loving it! Hmmm...do I have any pears in the house?! ^_^ ....I digress!
     Last, but not least, since I'm not spotting any hummingbirds in my backyard right now...especially because of all of the rain....I'm loving that I spotted one on this beautiful Aqua Marine Hummingbird Necklace by javaredesigns!

        And it's a pretty one too! In such a beautiful design. People are so creative!! 
    So that's what I'm loving right now. What are you loving right now?!


I'm Loving It Right Now!

The 'Hunt for red October'?
No! My hunt's for hummingbirds.
I'm loving them right now,
So much, I hardly find the words!

Speaking of 'the words',
I'm also loving Poetry,
and I'm loving pretty journals
and my feelings all set free.

Speaking of 'set free',
I'm free of fondness now toward rain;
Yet I do love how the rain has focused
my creative brain.

Speaking of my brain,
With all this rain, I just say WOW!
'cause It's keeping me together,
and I'm loving that right now!