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!! :)