Mimi-Toria's Designs

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Free to Be Me...

Hello my friends...

I hope this finds you all well and happy.

Yesterday was an interesting day for me,

to say the least.

It started out all warm and cozy here in Minnesota

and we had our first truly warm day

for like 8 months, which then

ended in massive storms with tornados and hail,

thus chasing our family into the basement.

Photos: Richard Burns

via ~ http://www.allaboutyou.com/

Here's what else came my way.

Many of you may know

that I've worked an office job

in addition to my jewelry design for 4+ years now.

It was always a juggling act...

further complicated by the fact that

my busy time at the office

which demanded me to work more hours,

correlated to my busiest show times for my

jewelry which was the Fall each year.

You see my position was created 4 1/2 years ago,

and was considered a permanent part-time position.

So yesterday, I finally heard the news...
after not being called into work for 9 weeks,
I finally contacted my office to see what was up?

Turns out my job was being eliminated.

Restructuring that has taken place the last two years,

and a lack of large projects and extra work

that they had needed help with

in the past, was no longer happening.

A relief in many ways...

as my jewelry design business

consumes my life,

and I feel like I never have enough time

as it is to get everything

that I need to do done.

Do you remember my word for 2011?

So, with a tinge of sadness

closing one chapter of my life,

it is with excitement that I am

now able to do what I feel I've

always been called to do...

and that is to be

an "Artist" full time.

Although this is a bit scary and a change for me,

it really isn't all that new,

but rather I now have a new mindset.

I now accept that I am an Artist

and have confidence

that God is directing my journey.

However, it still feels weird to say this,

but I do at times have self doubts

brought on by the enemy

often by using those people closest to me,

to doubt my worthiness of this label.

~ Redesign ~

It appears the Lord is redesigning my life...

little did I know when I chose this word late in 2010 for

2011, that this would be part of that redesigning.

So, I will set my eyes on Him,

the future,

taking one day at a time,

and see where God

directs my future path,

my Artisan journey,

and seek my comfort

and self worth from Him alone.

People may mock me along the way,

for being an Artist,

but I will choose to keep my sight on Him,

as well as what He's doing in my life

and where He chooses to lead me.

You my trusted and loyal friends

may have to occasionally redirect my eyes

to Him and keep me grounded.

I ask you to do that...

and to hold me accountable.

I am with a thankful heart.

I should now be able to

create more freely.

No more concern as to when I have to work,

my schedule is totally mine,

and no further wondering as to when my

"pesky day job"

will be calling me into the office

away from what I love to do...

~Create~

I am one of those people that

truly need to have

a creative outlet in my life,

or I'm afraid I'd wither up and die.

So excited to be free to be me.

So that's what is happening

in my little corner of the world.

What's new with you?

Monday, May 9, 2011

Jewelry For Sale on Blog

The time has come...

to finally list some items on the blog

which are for sale.

For those of you followers

that have been asking for me to do so,

and/or are from out of state,

and not able to attend my shows.

You may go directly to the

SHOP JEWELRY

at the top of this page,

or click here to go to

this page of items for sale.

Thanks for taking a peek.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

This piece was a labor of love. I had 5-6 hours of time in its creation. Jon's parents are in the focal, layered and layered beneath resin. A multiple timed process of pouring, waiting hours, waiting days, pouring again, waiting hours, pouring again, waiting days, etc. etc., until it finally was totally encased in resin and now had a nice dome on it.

This photo shows the full view of all of the elements on this necklace. Each piece was picked out specifically for a reason for the Mother that was to receive it.

The 5 represents the number of children she has, the music represents her love of music and organ/piano playing for years in church, the buttons represent her sewing skills and her job for years as a seamstress, the crosses and bible represent her faith, the bird and floral connector represent her love of gardening and nature, the kisses and xoxo represented her love of family and families love to her, etc. etc.

This mother has sewn all her life and even worked her entire career as a seamstress, so I incorporated as many vintage buttons as possible into the design of this. The cross is representative of her Christian faith.

A mother to 5 children, and a lover of flower gardening were just a few of the elements that were gathered to make up this memory necklace.

This mother is always creating something. She re purposed junk before it was cool to do so, and has continued to do so her entire life. Always making and giving of her talents. The create hand stamped charm was a given that it needed to be somewhere in the design to represent this large facet in her life.

I've worked extra much on this all week, to the neglect that I didn't even get the jewelry made for the give away. Sorry about that. Will have to get on that soon. Stay tuned for real.

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

300 Followers...

Wow!

Hello my friends...

Hands down to you all...

I can not believe that I've just hit

300 followers.

So exciting...

thank you for the honor

and privilege you have bestowed

upon me with your time.

Time is such a gift!

I appreciate each moment you spend with me

on this little blog of mine,

so thank you for being so loyal

through out these years as

I've worked hard to build my blog

and jewelry design business.

To celebrate...

I am going to have a

giveaway soon.

Speaking of gifts...

the greatest gift we have ever been given,

is when Jesus died on the cross for our sins.

Tomorrow we celebrate
His resurrection...

than

stay tuned for more on my
300th follower
giveaway later
in the week ahead.

~Gretchen~

*All photos are of vignette's in my home and taken with a smartphone. Sorry for the quality. :(

Monday, April 18, 2011

Creating "Soul" Series - Part 1

I've been thinking a lot about jewelry design and what sets one designers jewelry apart from another? I'm thinking that there is more to it than what many people may think. Or shall I be so bold as to say I think I finally figured out that there is a difference amongst the jewelry and the designers of "Made in China" jewelry, a non designer deciding to quickly make something out of things they find in a junk drawer, or antique shop, even yet others that make jewelry for a living financially, and than lastly someone like myself.

Not be mistaken here as self righteous in any way. Just feeling this... that "I'm truly blessed right now, loving the privilege I have of creating jewelry at this juncture in my life and truly feel that this is what my

"life's purpose is". For me to be able to minister to others through my jewelry business, is a gift! Whether it be those customers that God brings into my everyday life through selling off of my blog, customers I create custom pieces for, customers I interface with while selling at awesome shows, or those vendors/pickers I meet while buying for my business. I am blessed...

I think I've figured out something that my customers have been telling me for years, but I hadn't yet found a word for it. My jewelry has "soul".

What does this mean you may be thinking? Having soul means first of all...

1) Connecting ~ with customers. I love getting to know the heart and souls of my customers, and many of my closest and dearest friends I've met through my jewelry design business and they were once upon a time a new customer. I love this unexpected gift!

(This photo taken at Junk Bonanza shows me connecting with a repeat customer)

Q: How can you do this in your own business?

A: By creating relationships with your customers. Really caring about who they are, what they're doing, what it is they are seeking your jewelry for? Is it for an event? Is it nourishing their soul at a difficult time in their lives and giving them some joy? Or maybe it's a memory piece that brings them joy and closeness to the person their remembering through the custom piece I create for them and helps ease the loss of a loved one in their lives.

Also, by using social media opportunities. Including and not limited to a personal facebook, a business blog, a business facebook, twitter, linkedin, a personal web page, etsy and whatever else form you so choose to be involved in.

(All of these ladies started out first as customers,

and now I'm happy to call each one of them "Friend".)

And, last but more importantly, being friendly to your customers and truly making them feel and know that you care about each one of them. Providing time permits when you are interacting with them. At some of my large shows that is a frustration for me, as sometimes it is so busy that I'm barely able to write up a sale, much less truly interact like I would like to with each of my customers.

Do you try to connect with your customers?

If so, how do you connect with your customers?

If not, give it a try? I think you'll be blown away how cool it is...

I'd love you to leave a comment and share your thoughts on this topic.

(Stay tuned to a future segment of this series)

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Silver Handled Condiment Server Tutorial

The goods...

My as found piece of silver, which appears to be in the form of a vintage condiment server. Wash well with warm soapy water. Dry thoroughly. Measure the diameter of each of the cut out holes and write down, so you remember what size you are looking for when out shopping. :)

Notice beautiful details on the handle.

For my particular silver piece I needed to purchase 5 glass containers that measured the same diameter as the holes. I brought along my silver piece to the store the next time I was out running errands, so that I could be sure they would fit down in at the correct level. I highly recommend you do the same, and plan to bring your item with you. It saves time and $ now that gas is so high with returns if you buy the wrong size.