It has been such a hard decision for me but I find that, like many other bloggers, having a Blogger site is hard to maintain and keep relevant. I have so much enjoyed this blog and posting memories. Thank you for following me. I'm hoping you will follow me on Tumblr here. If you prefer to know the URL, it is: http://sillyhappysweet.tumblr.com/. I've been able to post there daily! Or follow me on Instagram @sillyhappysweet or my personal IG site @carolynmae18.
Father's Day is coming up. Have you though about what you get the man who has everything? How about a Daddy & Me bracelet set? Or a manly cuff? Visit my Etsy shop!
I'm giving away a customized leather cuff. If you win, you pick the cuff, let me know your phrase and I'll make it for you. To enter, visit me on Instagram at sillyhappysweet. It's super easy--you just comment and/or regram. You have a great chance to win--nobody has entered yet!
Starting next week, I'll have some sliced leather riveted cuffs in my Etsy shop. These cuffs are so light, you don't even realize you are wearing a bracelet! I love the extra bling that the rivets provide.
I'm going to let you in on a little secret about one of my favorite things. I'm going to tell you where you can find the best selection of the best quality iPhone cases. Trust me, I've searched high and low.
Zazzle is the place to find or customize your case. You can bring in images of your own to create your case. Many cases allow you to add your initials. The selection is so amazing, I guarantee you will find what you are looking for and then some. Each case comes in a Barely There form (just a light cover), Tough form (a more heavy-duty form but still light enough), and the one I always buy--Tough Xtreme. Tough Xtreme is for those of you that buy Otterbox cases because you are hard on your phones. Here are just a few in their various tough forms (cute, right?):
Zazzle has a promotion going so that if you enter BLOOMSAVINGS you can save $5 to $35 depending on what you spend.
My daughter read Wonder by R.J. Palacio. She enjoyed it so much, which made me want to read it. Because it is a young adult book, it was a rather fast read. What a sweet book. It's mostly narrated by Auggie, a boy born with a facial abnormality. Other characters occasionally narrate, which becomes interesting mid-book. Wonder takes you back to junior high, when nothing you did, wore, or said made you fit in. Only for Auggie, this isn't an existence that will end for him. Ever. In reading this book, you gain a new appreciation and can put in perspective the level of bullying or insecurity you might have ever felt. That's one reason I think it is such a good book for kids/middle school-aged kids. They can realize that not only could it be worse but they can recognize their own abilities to be kind and thoughtful to others who might be different. I gave Wonder 4 out of 5 stars. I would have given it five but I had a problem with the changing narration.
An interesting note is that I read filming for the Wonder movie will begin this year.
Another book slated to be a movie in the next year is Me Before You by JoJo Moyes. This is a book that will stay with you for a few days after reading. You will go through aspects of it in your head over and over. I don't want to give too much away. Will Traynor is a young, handsome man whose fate leads him to become a quadriplegic man through a motorcycle accident. Lou Clark is a woman responsible for his daily care. Will isn't exactly warm and friendly to Lou but Lou is no shrinking flower and can definitely hold her own against Will. The book takes you through their moving story. And that's all I'll tell you! I gave this one 4 out of 5 stars. My reason has to do with Lou's mom's response to something I didn't think was necessary or normal.
Are you on Goodreads? Follow me here.
Mommy & Me and Daddy & Me braided leather bracelets are available in the shop! There are many more colors available than those seen here so check it out!
Kids love to wear the same bracelets as their parents. These make great gifts! Mother's Day is coming up so keep them in mind!
I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to listen to Darrell Scott speak at a recent conference I attended. Darrell is father to Rachel Scott, the first high schooler killed in the Columbine shooting.
I can't even begin to put into words the amazing impact that this young girl's life has made. Prior to her death, Rachel, inspired by Anne Frank, kept six diaries of her thoughts and feelings. After her death, her father found her diaries (one of the was in her backpack the day she was killed and had a bullet hole through it). Her diaries offered her family insight into Rachel's deepest thoughts and now serve as her legacy.
I know it is cliché to say it but it does really seem like God takes the good ones much too soon. Rachel is no exception. The amount of compassion and love in this one young girl's heart was beyond her years. Her father played video of the many friends she had--popular or not--who all expressed how in times of rejection, Rachel was right there to extend friendship and kindness to them. Her dad displayed a paper Rachel wrote shortly before her death where she wrote, "I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion, then it will start a chain reaction of the same. People will never know how far a little kindness can go." These weren't just words to her. She lived out these words. She frequently expressed to others that she had a desire to make an impact in this world. Sadly, she wasn't alive to realize her impact as her words have outlived her but what an incredibly amazing difference her life made.
Her father started Rachel's Challenge, an organization based on the writings of Rachel, that promotes anti-bullying and visits schools around the world to create a culture of kindness. To date, more than 500 kids have contacted the organization to state that after hearing Rachel's story, they reached out for help as they were contemplating suicide.
Rachel was a regular teenager. She went to prom shortly before she was killed. She had big dreams. She wanted to change the world. She said as much to her teacher the very day she was killed. She had an uncanny knowledge that her short life would change lives. She drew a picture right before she was killed, and, I don't want to give it away because you should read her journals, but that image has amazing significance and insight into the events that took place that very day. She didn't know what was about to take place but on some spiritual level she was preparing. I can't explain it. It gives me chills.
God Bless this sweet family. The hurt that they've endured is immense but then they actively try to seek out good and live out creating a legacy that their precious daughter believed in so deeply. Please read about the life of this special girl. I feel so changed after hearing her dad speak about her.
I'm almost caught up with my book reviews! Here is the last batch from 2014 and all the way up to January of 2015. I've read two more books since these but I'll post on those later.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini--Five stars (I have loved every book he has written!)
Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham--One star (I was surprised. I like Lena but this book wasn't for me.)
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry--Four stars
Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline--Five stars
Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld--Four stars (I loved American Wife by this author too; see review here)
Smart Money Smart Kids: Raising the Next Generation to Win with Money by Rachel Cruze and Dave Ramsey--Five stars
Still Foolin' Em' by Billy Crystal--Three stars
The Andy Cohen Diaries: A Deep Look at a Shallow Year--Four stars (What can I say, I love all things pop culture. It intrigues me.)
Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult--Two stars
You guys--I am so humbled by the success of my Kickstarter campaign. I seriously can't thank you enough for your encouragement and help. I'm so blessed to have good friends and such a great support system! Thank you!!!! My campaign ended on Sunday, Feb. 15. It ran for 30 days and was 117% funded!
That said, I've had a lot of people ask me questions. I want to help anyone else who is considering a Kickstarter campaign. I went into it having one idea of how it would turn out and ended up realizing that nothing will just fall into you lap without a lot of dedication and hard work. I really thought my idea would sell itself and I could sit back and watch the dollars roll in. Ha! No, it took some work, and knowing what I know now, I would have done more research beforehand. Here are some of my tips.
1. Never and I mean NEVER launch a campaign without a video. Do not expect that having pictures will suffice. Most campaigns without a video don't ever make it. Make sure that you watch a lot of videos before you make your own. I used Windows Movie Maker. It was easy and I'm no expert. Along with a video, make sure you have good music. You can't use copyrighted music. My ideal song would have been "Speak Life" by Toby Mac but using that would have been illegal. I downloaded a song I purchased from iStock.com.
2. Take good pictures. Pictures matter. Make sure your pictures are crisp and clean and void of clutter. The simpler the better.
3. Start a Kickstarter Instagram account. I didn't do this but now I've connected with people who did it and I think it is a great idea. Before launching their Kickstarter, they use that IG account to generate hype about their campaign. This is probably more common with campaigns seeking more money but even a small campaign would benefit. Develop an IG following and then launch your campaign. Those followers are a great first start for some backers. Go on IG and look up #crowdfunding and #kickstarter hashtags to see what is out there and what they are doing to develop a base before they launch a campaign.
4. Develop a straightforward business plan. Nobody will want to back you if you don't seem like you've thought through your business plan. Make sure to spell out exactly how you will budget this money. Show that you have a good head on your shoulders and are thinking through it all and taking it seriously. I made sure to spell out my plan in three key areas: Advertising, Trade Show Participation, and Stocking Up Inventory. Those are the three areas where my money is going.
5. Have a strong support base. Ok, so this is where I was completely taken for surprise. I thought most of my backers would be total strangers that are searching on Kickstarter. I definitely had that happen but only 25% of my money was funded this way. The other 75% were all people who I know. When Kickstarter tells you to let everyone and anyone know about your campaign, they aren't kidding. I have little Moo.com business cards that I would hand out if the subject came up. I sent email messages to my closest friends when the campaign started, halfway through and right before the end. I was terrified about bugging people. I hated the idea of posting it on my personal Facebook page. I think I said it in another post--failing publically seemed scary. I was so surprised how much encouragement and support I received. Also, think about the businesses who help you create your product. The vendor who supplies my snaps and rivets gave to my campaign (Minkus Margo). Kelly at Minkus Margo has become an amazing support for me. You never know unless you ask!
6. Use social media. I used Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, this blog, Twitter, and Reddit. When you use your social media, don't just announce it but hashtag the heck out of it. I was on the treadmill one day and watching the Today Show and Donald Trump's daughter was talking about the #womenwhowork hashtag. So I started using that hashtag. If something relevant was in the news like that, I used it. I attached pictures and posted links to my campaign on every Kickstarter-related post. Here's a type of image I would post:
7. Make sure to offer many different backer levels. I ranged mine from $10 to $150. Everyone is in a different place in life financially so make sure you offer a variety of backer levels. I was actually surprised at how many backers I had who just gave and didn't want a reward at all--7 of my 24 backers. Here are some images from my backer levels:
8. Take your time creating your campaign. There are many facets to the campaign--the video, the pictures, the backer copy for each level, the About Me section, the My Story section, and more. Don't think you can plan it all quickly and launch it just as fast. I took two months to develop the copy for my campaign. I studied other successful campaigns and thought carefully about my titles and descriptions. I wanted to make sure if people did a search that mine campaign would pop up.
9. Probably the most important piece of advice I have is to be extremely conservative in the amount you set as your goal. Every single day that went by without one single backer or very few page views (Kickstarter lets you see how many views you get), I questioned the amount I set my campaign for. At the halfway point I was 47% funded. I kept thinking about how if I'd only set my goal at $1000, I'd be there. I had to work so hard for that 47% funding. I just couldn't believe I was only halfway there. Remember that if you are only at 90% funding at the end of your campaign, you don't get any of it. Think about your support base and be realistic about your goal. Looking back, I am glad for the goal I set but at the halfway mark, I was pretty discouraged. Things came together at the end for me somehow, someway.
10. Last, make sure your rewards are realistic and that you will be able to deliver. The last thing you want to do is not deliver to the people who believe in you! Make sure you can deliver your rewards in a timely manner. Don't leave people hanging.
I am grateful to Leslie Mader, Jerry Honeycutt, Doug Steen and Fayth Sims for their generous support to my campaign. They gave at the $150+ level. Thank you to every single one of my backers. I am so grateful!
I met my Goodreads goal for 2014 and read a total of 28 books. Rather than review every single book here, I've been posting a collage of pictures of the book and giving my star rating for each book (this is out of five stars).
Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs--Three stars
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn--Three stars
The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls--Three stars
Spelling It Like It Is by Tori Spelling--Two stars
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman--Five stars
The Giver by Lois Lowry--Four stars
The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith--Two stars
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt--Three stars
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak--Five stars
Follow me on Goodreads here.
I can't believe we are coming up on Valentine's Day! Where does time go? I'm trying to not be so last minute this year and have been looking for ideas on Pinterest but more on that later!
First, the shop is stocked with blingy Valentine's cuffs ready to customize and is also stocked with red and hot pink braided leather cuffs. Both are really fun to stack. Kids love the colorful braided leather bracelets. So check out my shop! I can customize the cuffs with an inspirational message of your choice.
Now, back to Pinterest ideas. Don't you think Valentines have become so much more elaborate since we were kids? I stepped up my game last year with these Minion Valentines. Never again! But they were cute!
The year before we made felt heart pins. I felt better about these because I imagined the kids will pin these cuties on their jacket or shirts even days after. Cute, right?
This year I think we'll make these cute bookmarks. Easy enough!
My son won't be down with those so I found these cute hoppy ones. Check out Lil' Luna's site for these. She has printables and said you can find these cute hoppers at Target.
What cute Valentine's Day ideas do you have?
I'm finding it hard to keep up with writing book reviews. So, I thought I'd create a collage of the books I've read. Titles and ratings below (out of five stars). I hope to write more detailed reviews in the future.
Blue Plate Special: An Autobiography of My Appetites by Kate Christensen--Two Stars
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green--Five Stars
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg--Four Stars
The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Café by Mary Simses--Two Stars
The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomons--Three Stars
Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson--Four Stars
The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson--Five Stars
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter--One Star
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith--Four Stars
If you are on Goodreads, follow me here.
When someone suggested Kickstarter to me, my first thought was "no way, that sounds scary." I've posted links to my Kickstarter campaign on my Facebook page and Instagram feed and I figured it was about time I share about it on my blog. So click on link to view my video!
Kickstarter, if you didn't know (more on this later), is a crowd-funding web site where you post a video along with a dollar amount you'd like to raise and the reason you are trying to raise it. You offer rewards at different backer levels so as to entice people to give. If you don't meet your funding goal, you don't get any portion of the money people have backed. If you do, or even surpass it, you get that money for your specified purpose and you then have to reward your backers based on the dollar amounts they've given. Anyway, back to someone recommending it for me...I envisioned failing but not only failing but actually failing PUBLICLY. I'd much rather fail silently than in front of the world. But you know what? I really got to praying about it. Nothing worthwhile I've ever achieved just came easy and fell in my lap. So when I shifted my attitude I thought "ok, let's do this thing!"
Kickstarter encourages you to share about your campaign with every single person you come in contact with. Share, share, share. Every. Single. Person. Ugh. Not my personality. It's one thing if someone comments on the leather cuff that I'm wearing. Perfect opening. It's a whole other thing to just tell people you are trying to raise money. I was at the eye doctor today and was so close to sharing about it and giving him my card but I just couldn't do it. He's a super nice guy I enjoy chatting with him and is even a USC alumni and we talked about his kids trying to get into my kids' school and I invited he and his wife to a special night we are having at the school. So I really had an opening to just give him my card and be humble but I couldn't. I have to go back and get my lenses so maybe I'll get braver. I'm working on it....
I'm sure he wouldn't have minded and of course I would never let anyone feel pressure. It is just good experience to share about your company and product and general. I'm learning that people don't really understand what Kickstarter is and when you share it with them they are so congratulatory and excited for you without knowing that they can actually help you. I hate to say it is a generational thing but I think it is. Most people under 35 get it automatically. Anyone over that age (my MIL is an exception--yay Les!!!) doesn't understand that you are asking them to participate. But that's fine. I am just happy people are happy for me.
So I will share with you my blog followers what I'm doing because I am safe behind my computer giving you my spiel. I'm a crafty person at heart. I love to create. It makes me happy. I love thinking of new things to create and building upon current designs. I love hearing people tell me how much they love their sweet cuffs and what an encouragement they are to them. I feel like I've found my thing. This is a corny story but my dad would make leather goods as a kid. I remember his leather tools in his rolltop desk. His family would make fun of him--this little boy making leather accessories and selling them. Oh how I wish I had his tools today. When he tells me his leather stories I laugh because it makes sense why I love working with these leather cuffs and bracelets so much! It's just, well, fun. Each cuff is different and has a different sentiment. Also, I've met people who have very sentimental items of their loved ones--belts, straps--who want to turn those items into a cuff they can wear to keep with them close every day. That's beyond cool.
So, I've started a Kickstarter campaign to raise $2K to grow my business so that I'll be able to advertise, take part in a popular local craft fair and increase my inventory. I offer rewards starting at the $10 level. Every little bit helps me. I have 25 days left to raise money. I'm 10% there. It's an UPHILL climb no doubt and I've shared on IG, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, email and more. I have asked my husband and friends to share my FB post. Honestly I don't know that I will hit my mark. I'm going to do my very best. I have a PR/Marketing background so believe me that the wheels in my brain are always turning. If I don't hit my mark, well, actually I'm not even going to go there. I hope you can help me either by backing me or spreading the word. Thanks for listening. If When I do hit my mark, I'm so happy to share my tips with you if you want to launch a campaign. Either way I think I have ideas and am happy to share them.
I've moved my shop to Etsy from Big Cartel. So my shop link is now here.
You can find me on Instagram @sillyhappysweet.
I have a few premade cuffs left for purchase. See images below. Shop link here. If I get it in the mail by Wednesday (12/17), it will likely arrive to its destination by Christmas. Get yours today!
