Well HELLO Again!

Wow!! It's been awhile since I've been on here! SO much has gone on - lifes, deaths, new friendships, but I wont bore you with that :)

So how's everyone's summer been? Anyone do anything productive or just plain cool?!

Well I did something totally kick ass!! My hubby, Ronnie, works as a bodyguard to the stars. He's worked for Mel Gibson, Steven Speilberg, big names like that. Well this summer, Ronnie was working at the house of Robert Zemeckis out in Montecito. He's that big time director of movies like Forrest Gump, Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, all kinds of things. So his company paid for us to stay out there while he was working as his bodyguard. So yes, I spent July like the rich... on the beaches of Montecito and checking out all the sites of Santa Barbara!! It was so friggin cool!!!!!! I was 5 minutes from Oprah's house, down the street from Maria Shrivers place, it was crazy! Everyone has nothing but huge houses, street length driveways and Mercedes or Beamers!! We were there when Prince William and Kate arrived at the Polo Club over there, we got to see their helicopter like 50 feet away. I didn't know it was THEM until later that night and we were watching the news and it talked about them and showed their helicopter, I was like HEY!!!! Hahaha! I got to sit on the bench Tom Hanks sat on in Forrest Gump and hang out at the guys house(s). Yes, that was plural!! He has two HUUUUUGE ass houses on one GINORMOUS plot of land with basically a PARK as a backyard. AND he's building another house on the land... I'll have to download the photos and show you, it's like ridiculously sickening! All I kept thinking was MAN! If I had just a 100th of this mans money I would never have to work again!! Hahaha Wishful thinking!! Of course I'd STILL have to make my twisted jewelry!! But it was a way cool experience to be out there for that long! Seeing nothing but the ocean was amazing!! No smog, no ghetto people, it was definitely NOT the LA area! Hahaha!

But we had to come back to reality when the job was over. Ronnie was just filling in for the regular guy who works for him as security who was gone for the month but it was excellent while it lasted :) I'm hoping that guy quits or something so we can move out there and Ron can have it full time... that would be SAH-WEET!!!

Hellooooo Lolita Lovers :)

It's been awhile since my last blog and I've come up with so many new items! I've gone back to using pendants for pieces but am combining them with my acrylic charms and resin... pretty awesome results so far! I've also started making some killer cell phone cases. Take a look...

http://www.etsy.com/listing/71874704/custom-smart-phone-leather-case-with
http://www.etsy.com/listing/71874377/custom-smart-phone-leather-case-with
http://www.etsy.com/listing/71873074/custom-smart-phone-leather-case-with?ref=v1_other_2

This is the end... Are you ready??

After starting our Etsy team Horror Couture, one member really stood out to me. She was friendly, super sweet and totally active in promoting the team and fellow members. She posted on Facebook and started blog features for each of our members. So I thought, "Who's going to feature her and brag about her stuff? Surely she can't do it herself!" (And don't call me Shirley, hehe! Let's see if any of you get that one) So, it's up to me to let you know what an amazing artist ZombieHolocaust is!!

"Not your grandmother's cake topper shop" is the tagline for her Etsy store... and boy is that accurate! Here you'll find everything from ghoulishly fantastic zombie keychains and earrings to the best of the best wedding cake toppers! Everything with a dark coolness to them...

Here's a tidbit about this phenomenal artist... right from the Zombies' mouth:

"I'm Christen, a 25 year old girl with a crazy little boy and an awesome hubby who also happens to be my best friend. I love to read and watch movies. I enjoy the macabre, weird and unexpected, Tea and basically anything with sugar. I am crazy for zombies at the moment, and Emilie Autumn and Abney Park have been filling my personal airwaves as of late.
I love to create all kinds of things, including but not limited to Sculpting, painting, sewing, and drawing. I LOOOVE to do custom things, because there is something just wonderful about helping someones vision come to life, I really get to know my customers this way too which makes the creation even better because I feel like I'm doing it for a friend. So check out the shop and feel free to ask for custom items as I may just be able to make it happen! "

Finding out all about her is a must so I suggest you find her immediately on Etsy (http://zombieholocaust.etsy.com/) or follow her blog (http://zombieholocaustmusings.blogspot.com/) and seep into the mind of a true Zombie lover!!

Back to the Horror...

I'm always on the look out for crazy, out-there horror flicks. Blood, guts and gore make me happy... when it's fake! I've seen a few sites that show real-life photos of death and odd murders, it was interesting. Seeing someones head cracked open by a helicopter propeller and brains splattered (literally) everywhere is not my idea of entertainment but it IS fascinating to me. So much, that when I first started college, I was taking courses to become a crime scene investigator. It wasn't until about two weeks into my first class that I realized it wasn't just adult corpses I would have to work with, but children also... and that's just something my heart couldn't handle. More power to any woman out there that can do it, but it wasn't for me. So, I stuck to looking at death photos and examining those. It used to be so interesting to me.

I came across a story about a couples 16 year old daughter who stole their corvette and sped off to her death. Apparently, photos of the crime scene were leaked and some truly heartless person sent them to the family in the most horrific fashion - email, with a message that was titled "Look at me Daddy, I'm still alive" or something along those lines. Now even if you HATE and I mean really, really have a deep hatred for someone, which is pretty hard to do, NO parent should be emailed photos of their daughter's mangled, bloody body! The family was trying to get the photos removed from the Internet and were suing the police department for letting the photos get out. Then I saw other related stories about the family and how they were not well liked in their community, there were some shady things going on with the dads business, the daughter was in trouble alot, real rebellious but didn't have many friends. The story intrigued me so of course, with my twisted mind, I started searching for these photos. That was the last time I ever wanted to see real life death photos. This poor girl, ugh, I can't even describe it, just thinking about it makes my eyes well up. It was just beyond horrific! Then I realized, THESE were the photos that were sent to her father, to her mother, and probably even seen by her sister and brother - with the cruelest note you could think of. I was sick! No matter what this family had done, nothing could excuse that kind of vicious act when they had already endured so much pain! That was the first time I felt like I had intruded on someones life... and I felt horrible.

My husband on the other hand has a far stronger stomach than I. He can take just about anything. A Portuguese documentary about Three Men & a Hammer was his latest search (and hard to find) but even that I couldn't watch. For any of you that don't know what that is, it's the title they gave a video of these two young men in Russia who beat a man to death with a hammer and some other tools including an ice pick. Not an enemy or someone they hated, just some poor guy who had the unfortunate timing of riding his bike home down the same street they happened to be on that day. They recorded everything on their phones, including other acts of torture on animals and such. They were finally busted and brought to trial. I never saw the actual video of the murder, it was something I knew I couldn't handle, but from what my husband tells me, it was pretty brutal. Not something I want burned into my head forever.

Now I think I've seen pretty much the worst of the worst, but I know there is more out there that my mind can not even comprehend or would even think to look for. So tell me, what is the worst thing you've ever seen on the Internet? I may or may not look them up, but I'm sure my hubby will - unless it has to do with children or animals, neither of us can handle that!

WARNING: Rant Ahead

Some people just really get under my skin! From the start of my crafting, I've always been one to support others shops. Even if they're direct competition with me, I figure there's far too many people in the world and someone is always looking for something I'll have that they don't and vice versa. I promote others websites, sales, contests whole-heartedly. I hate the dog-eat-dog world philosophy and think good customer service and a great attitude are worth more than an extra sale or two. Maybe because I feel this way, my little jewelry business will never be a world wide phenomenom - but I'm ok with that!

Being on Facebook, I've posted numerous happenings on pages I've liked to get a wider range of exposure, I mean, why not? Others post their info on my pages and I have no complaints about that - I actually encourage it! As long as no one is stealing another's one of a kind ideas - 'cuz that's pretty low! If one of my fans sees it and actually finds something they've been looking for because of that shops post, awesome!! I never saw a problem with this route of promotion. Apparently, others do.

This past weekend I had a pretty awesome 50% sale. The turn out was incredible! I promoted in on some of my favorite shops so their fans would know about it and maybe "LIKE" my shop, too. Not a ton, maybe 10 or so (after all, I didn't want the FB Gods to block me for "spamming"). I don't know if it actually helped or not, but I did get a handful of new likes that day so I'm guessing it worked a bit. Today I reposted a contest that a fellow team member of Horror Couture was having. Again, I reposted the info on some favorite shops pages. For some reason, I had the urge to go back and look at the posts I had made... I saw several shops had removed my posts completely - the one about my sale and the one about my friends contest. I was really actually shocked! I mean, were they THAT afraid of a little competition? I don't even have the same stuff as the ones that deleted it and neither does my team mate. It just totally struck a nerve with me, I mean, here I am promoting their shop on my page, my team page, my shop page, and they delete a posting about a sale and contest? Are they that hard up to keep their fans and customers all to themselves? I mean, it's not like they can supply every desire of their fans. I just thought it was rather rude to say the least and really let me see their true colors and no longer will I promote those shops! I'd rather be happy with who I am and have good karma rather than "hide" fellow crafter just for a few greedy bucks!!

Ok, end rant - I feel better :)

Something FAR more twisted than my jewelry!

Most people that know me, I mean really know me, know that I'm in to really f*cked up films. Cannibal Holocaust (although I can never, ever, ever watch it again) was amazing to me. Salo, gross but not all that bad. The Human Centipede, eh... a great idea for a horror film, but a disappointing delivery in the end. Long Pig, Baise Moi, I Spit On Your Grave, The Last House On The Left (and I mean the REAL one, from 1972, not that date night crap from a couple years ago), I've seen them all. Still, nothing has ever shocked me when it comes to movies. I have an extremely high tolerance for movies that I know are just a bunch of actors on film and at the end of the day, everyone goes home with a paycheck. I can watch anything when it comes to fiction. A friend of mine, who is very well aware of my love for these type of movies, warned me about one her husband had shown to her recently, A Serbian Film. She said it was the most grotesque movie she had ever watched, something that once seen, can never be unseen, that it totally mind-f*cked her. She advised that whatever I do, do not watch this movie... so I thanked her for looking out for me and said I would do nothing more than what she would expect me to do - OF COURSE I HAD TO SEE IT!! She was right... it was a movie that I will never forget. The word "horror" doesn't even begin to describe the madness that happened in this film. Rape, I can deal with. Death, the bloodier the better. Sex, bring it on! But this... whoa, this was so much more than your typical horror movie. I'm not going to give it away for those of you that are sick enough (like me) to watch this movie, but MY GAWD... as horrible as some of the events were, the delivery was AMAZING!! All of the actors, every single one, were completely believable - even the youngest! The thought of some of these situations actually happening, (and sadly, me being a realist, I know they really do happen) is beyond disgusting. It could have easily been another B-rated, naked bimbos running away from yet another ax-yielding, asylum escapee, but this was... well, just as my friend said, something that can not be unseen. It is definitely NOT OK for kids to watch! I think that is part of the disgust of this movie though, some of the young actors are subjected to things a even young adult should not be. There is a sadness to the story that can never be forgotten, events that will be burned into your head. The special make-up effects are Tom Savini worthy, perhaps better! Do I recommend you see it? Only if you're a true lover of great films and have a sinfully open mind about them - but I will warn you, it IS something more than disturbing. You may never see horror movies the in same way again... they'll seem so tame!

Discounts? YES PLEASE!

Wanna save some cash? How about some discount codes??

Save 15% when you use GND2011 here:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/GhoulNextDoor

Save 15% when you use TM2011 here:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/TwistedMindofMine

And keep your eyes open... I'll be listing coupon codes for your favorite HORROR COUTURE shops soon too!! In the meantime, check out our new Facebook Fan Page and LIKE it...
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Horror-Couture/205615769451649

NEWEST WINNER!!!

Congrats to our newest giveaway winner... My Darling Frankenstein!!!! Please remember to comment and claim your prize!! :)

Facebook Auctions: The Newest Trend?

With all the latest gizmos and gadgets, our world has definitely become dependant on getting all our information right in the palm of our hands, literally. At the sound of the ding! we are instantly updated on our friends locations, celebs latest complaints, news from all over the world and now, our favorite internet shops sales. I'm a fan of many Facebook shops, especially since starting my own FB Fan Page for my shop and no two are alike. Each shop has it's own style, well, as much style as they can have given Facebooks settings limitations. Now FB sales is a totally new concept to me... no listing fees, no sales percentage charges, it's totally awesome! Lately, I've seen more and more shops have eBay style "auctions" right on their picture pages. Instead of listing an item at a particular price, they have a whole album filled with photos of items they're willing to sell to the highest bidder. The shop administrator will list the rules of the auction right in the description section of the album or as a posting on their page such as how long the auction will run, when an auction winner has to pay by, how much shipping will cost and so on. Fans get to bid on the items by commenting the amount they'd like to pay on the photo of the item they want. If another fan wants the item, they must up the ante and outbid the commenter before them. At the end of the auction, whoever was the highest bidder, generally the last commenter, gets the item. Pretty simple concept, right? But what if only one person bids $0.50 on an items you spent more than $5.00 making and that's what they win it for? Well, I guess that's just a chance FB shops owners are willing to take. Not only do these auctions add a fun element to shopping, but they can also create exposure for your shop which in the end will result in more fans/customers. So think of it as a cost of sales, you may have lost $4.50 on that one piece, but you may have gained another 20 buyers in the process, so in the end, it's completely worth it! A few shops currently having sales are Miss Skull and Bones (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Miss-Skull-and-Bones/261211825290) & Bows ByCupcakes (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001856904039). So give them a check out, maybe find some items you just can't live without and put in a bid! Be sure to add my shop as a LIKE too (http://www.facebook.com/twistedmindofmine), I just may jump on this FB Auction bandwagon!!! Enjoy your night guys & ghouls :)

Etsy's Team HORROR COUTURE YouTube Video

So what are your thoughts on our new commercial?? :)

Did you say FREE?!? :)

So my first giveaway really brought in some traffic... I like!!! I loved seeing how in one day my blog had over 50 hits opposed to the 10 or 12 I was averaging :) Who liked the giveaway? Grant it, it was not my best video made, but we had gotten home late from our family's Superbowl party and I was in a rush to get it up, (I know some of you are on East Coast time or later), not to mention "other" issues delaying my motor skills *wink, wink*. I had a bit of a cough and sore throat from screaming along with the game that REQUIRED a shot (or two or three...) of Patron ;) But all in all, with the help of my little man as "The Shadow" I think it came out ok! Again, CONGRATS to the winner... I'm still waiting for her acknowledgment confirmation. Remember, if she doesn't claim her prize within the allotted time, it's up for grabs again - Good news for you, bad news for her! I love the rush of a good game so I'm sure these will be regular occurrences... keep your eyes open! And if you just feel like shopping around you can stop by either of my shops, http://www.etsy.com/shop/GhoulNextDoor or http://www.etsy.com/shop/TwistedMindofMine for all your jewelry and accessories needs :)

And the necklace goes to.....

VALENTINES GIVEAWAY!!

This weekend I will be holding my very first giveaway! In honor of the Sweethearts day coming up, I'm giving you a chance to win this beautifully detailed filigree necklace...

The winner will be announced some time this weekend so keep your eyes open... GOOD LUCK!!! :)

Check it, check it!!!!

Random Giveaways!!

Team HORROR COUTURE is really taking off (WOO HOO!!!!!), we're at just about 40 members in just over a month! In honor of that, some members have decided to hold giveaways, including my shops http://www.etsy.com/shop/GhoulNextDoor and http://www.etsy.com/shop/TwistedMindofMine!! To have a chance at your free gift, just click the FOLLOW button... it's really that simple! The point is to give our followers an incentive... as if my writings weren't gift enough *wink, wink* to keep up with our rantings, ravings and promotions blogged about here and hopefully gain many more readers (so feel free to share our blog site with everyone you know). Followers will be picked at random for all giveaways and each winner will be named in a blog at random times... so you better check back often!! :) If YOU are named as a winner, you have 10 days to comment on the blog and collect your gift. If after 10 days you have not claimed your prize, it will go to another follower so make sure you keep an eye out for your name frequently and get all the up to date info on my creations, our teams and anything else I feel like throwing out there :)

Be sure to LIKE my facebook page as well so get more info on other team HORROR COUTURE members, their blogs and giveaways: www.facebook.com/twistedmindofmine

HORROR COUTURE

A couple months ago, while I was browsing around Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/shop/TwistedMindofMine & http://www.etsy.com/shop/GhoulNextDoor) I stumbled upon "teams". Not really knowing what they were, I figured it couldn't hurt to become part of a couple. Some had so many rules, you must do this, you must do that, devote your life to us... blah blah blah! After going through about 20 teams and the 2000 rules they each had, I finally found a few that I could become part of... but even then, I was sent notices that I wasn't "participating" enough... yes, in less than 3 weeks, I was actually told that. The "captain" and "leader" of the team said we all had to be involved and promote eachothers shops, participate in all of the discussions they had on the team page. Then I started looking into these people demanding more of my time and attention. One shop had only made one sale... ONE, and she was open for more than 10 months! The other... two in a years period... yes, two! No wonder they wanted ME to promote their shops... I had 20 sales in less than two months and they wanted it to rub off of them. Now I'm all about sharing the wealth, I totally love promoting friends and even competitors, hey, there's plenty of customers out there, but to be told I had to choose whether or not I was going to engage in their silly discussions about team giveaways and what I thought of femininity and other subjects along the same crappy lines by a couple of shops that obviously weren't being helped in any way by being part of that team or be removed from the team, I decided that was not the place to be. It shouldn't be a chore to have some fun sharing ideas and thoughts with people with the same interests as you. Teams should be enjoyable, not irritating... I figured, hey, I love horror and I know there's a gazillion people out there that do too, why not start a new team without all the BS where we can participate if we choose to. The only requirement... the shop must be horror related in some small way, not too much to ask, right? I mean, we didn't want a shop with cutesy knitted puppets involved, it would kind of take away from the creepiness we aimed for! And so, team HORROR COUTURE was born :) In just 1 short month, we've already recruited almost 30 members and have had to turn down several non-horror related shops. Lately, we've recruited some awesome members who have totally been involved in real discussions about marketing and promoting. One member ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/ZombieHolocaust ) started the idea of using our blogs to promote eachother *awesome idea* and another ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/wildemoon ) started team treasuries *another phenomenal idea*! So, there's a couple of other awesome twisted shops for you to browse and hopefully find something your heart desires! I'm going to make it a habit to try and include at least one other shop per blog entry so that maybe we can really get our little crafty businesses really taking off *CHEERS*

Just a taste...

Tik, toc, tik, toc...

1:30 in the morning. Everyone is sound asleep... well, everyone but this little ghoul. Thank gawd for cable! I figured now was the perfect time to start thinking about new creations to start on this week. Ok, I didn't "decide" this, I just suffer from insomnia... and a mind that just wont stop working... grrrr! I just found out that you can add photos to these blog things *AWESOME* so I tomorrow I'll throw a few on here, just so you get a feel of my style. Actually, that may confuse more than explain... see, my "style" is a total representation of my mind, kind of all over the place! A bit girly but very dark. Everything from shiny pink rhinestones to blood splatter. Zombies and vampires mixed with Hello Kitty and Cinderella! Think Lolita, Rockabilly, Goth... but all mixed into one. I'm telling you... TWISTED :) I love how there's so many supplies I can mix and match and I dabble in ALL of it... clay, acrylic, resin, fabric, whatever I can get my tiny fingers on! My problem is I can never seem to finish one type of project before I start on another. For instance, I bought $300 in beads, no not all at one time, my husband would have given me "the look" for that... but within a few months I had ALL KINDS of beads in several baggies and bins lined up in my work area, a.k.a. the living room. Pinks, blacks, reds, blues, rounds, faceted, hearts, large, small... and in the last 3 months, I've used NONE of them. I'm just glad I know they're there in case I need them :) That's pretty much the story with a lot of my supplies... I go to the craft store to buy some background sheets, expecting to spend $5 and I walk out minus $75 and my husband saying, "I told you so!" It's ok... he loves me! :) Hopefully soon I'll have some feedback from any of you reading that will inspire me to put good use to the plethora of supplies I have on standby... I love that word, plethora, haha! Well, goodnight for now but don't forget, check out both of my shops :)
http://www.etsy.com/shop/TwistedMindofMine
http://www.etsy.com/shop/GhoulNextDoor

Popping the Cherry!

I'm sure everyone starts these things off the same way... "I've never done this before and am not quite sure what to write..." Haha! This really is my very first blog *bows* and I really am not sure what to write! I've never even really read any blogs so it's not like I have a template to go off of... but I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to find some! :) I guess I can start by introducing myself and explain why I decided to take this leap.

My name is Dolly, short for Dolores, which is actually my middle name, not my first... it's a whole long story of the first born girl being named after the mother for so many generations and blah blah blah but the point is, everyone just calls me Dolly. I've always a bit creative and come from a LOOOOOONG line of artists (sister, uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents... you get the picture) but I've also had a career in Accounting that took up most of my time... well, that and the fact I'm a wife and mommy. A couple years back I decided to take a stab at jewelry making. I mean, what girl doesn't love jewelry?! Ok I'm sure there's plenty, but then that ruins my story! Anyways, I started making some cutesy things, ya know, Hello Kitty, Disney Princess stuff... the "let's put our fingers down our throats it's so girly" stuff. People liked it... but then I slacked off. Hey, life gets busy! After awhile, I ended up getting hurt at work, was put on TTD  and I've had LOTS of free time the last 5 months. So... I revamped this twisted mind of mine and created Twisted Mind of Mine Jewelry & Accessories! Clever wording, huh?! ;)

I've been creating so many new things, my hands can't keep up with my mind! I've spent more money than I'll admit to my husband on supplies and have been a busy little bat coming up with new creations. The problem is... MARKETING! I've had my shop on Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/shop/TwistedMindofMine) and so far it's been doing pretty well. But being the persistant and impatient person that I am, I needed more exposure! And, VOILA... I was thrust into the world of blogging! I'm not a writer, (though I DO have lots of ideas for books) just a girl with a ghoulish imagination, lots of time on her hands and an understanding husband who hasn't yet thrown all my stuff out the window when it clutters our living room! So here's to hoping for some new business contacts, maybe making some new friends from this and most importantly SELLING MY STUFF!! :)