maoiliosa

whew! where has the time gone?!

2011-12-27T21:36:00.000-06:00

hi everyone!

yes, i am still alive (hah!), and i have survived my first really, really big holiday season since opening my shop in 2008!

there really is no excuse for my long absence from my blog... time just has gotten away with me. i've been keeping insanely busy selling at fairs, making merch, and packing orders. in fact, early this month i hit a milestone: 10,000 pencils made by my own little hands :). i think now i'm floating somewhere around 10,700, even! crazy! but i am still loving it, of course.

i guess this post isn't terribly interesting, but i did want to take a moment and thank you SO much for all your support this year and every year - maoiliosa loves you :).

i have so many new things planned for 2012, so please do keep in touch. i can tell you right now that full-sized pencils are coming, as well as a new line of home decor items (secret for now ;D) and, of course, brand new patterns in your favourite items: mini pencils, pendants, bangles, and more!

happy new year, all!

♥,
m

a much-needed vacation

2011-07-26T17:44:00.000-05:00

hello, internet darlings!

i am about to go on a long-awaited and much-needed vacation. as you might remember, a friend of mine won a trip for two on a caribbean cruise and invited me to go with her - i'm terribly excited! i am leaving this friday, and will be soaking up the sun in the bahamas, st. thomas, and st. maarten until the next saturday.

before i go, though, i wanted to share a new pencil set i've whipped up:

this stunning set is called 'dreams of a geisha' and can be found in my shop here.

all pencil sets are created equally, but shhh, don't tell anyone: this one is my favourite ;).

i will have dozens of new items available as soon as i get back from the cruise and get settled into my routine again, so stay tuned!

also, just a quick mention well in advance: if you are in the austin area, maoiliosa will have a booth set up at the caffe medici autumn art fair taking place 11 september, so be sure to stop by and say hi to me!

that's all for now!

♥,

aloha!

2011-07-05T16:01:00.000-05:00

exciting news!

if you are lucky enough to be able to visit honolulu, hawaii, or are even luckier to live there, you will soon find a selection of maoiliosa pencils on the island!

these beauties were packaged up this morning and started their journey across the ocean to their new temporary home, the adorable 'sugarcane' boutique. i say "temporary" because, well, let's face it: locals and tourists will be taking these pencil sets to new homes soon enough, right? ;)

so if you're in the area, stop by 'sugarcane' and say aloha! to my pencils! better yet, grab some while you're there, and use them to journal about your hawaiian adventure!

♥,

melissa

giant update

2011-05-27T16:24:00.002-05:00

hello, all!

i know, i'm a terrible, terrible blogger... i haven't blogged since last year (!). it's been a very strange and stressful 2011 so far (with the worst behind me, thankfully), so i think you will understand when i explain myself a bit. just a warning: this post will be quite long and detailed.

as you might know, as long as i've had my business, i've had problems with endometriosis. it's not a pretty tale, but suffice to say i was at stage iv when i was finally diagnosed 4 years ago, but due to complications (it had adhered my lady organs to my colon, for one thing - not fun!), i was never really rid of it completely, even after 2 surgeries and a 6-month round of an awful medication called lupron. i started having a lot of problems last april and may, and after a few months and lots (and LOTS) of tests and procedures, it was discovered that an endometrial lesion was pushing through my colon wall, blocking the inside and killing about 5 inches of my colon. i began another 6-month round of lupron in october, and for those who aren't familiar, it makes life pretty miserable. i continued to work (after all, launching my business was what kept me distracted from the bad stuff going on through the first round), but when my surgery date finally approached, i had to close up my shop for a few weeks. thankfully, the surgery was a huge success: yes, i had to have a hysterectomy and colon resection, but it looks like the lupron did its job, as my surgeons found no active or living endometrial tissue in my abdomen, meaning i should be rid of endometriosis once and for all at this point. recovery has been difficult at times, easy at others, but i am glad to have this chapter of my life come to a close so i can finally LIVE. having endometriosis really screwed up my metabolism over the past decade, but soon after surgery, i began to lose weight, and happily i have lost 17 pounds so far (i was a beanpole before all this, so i am thrilled i'm finally getting thin and healthy again!)

as soon as i was cleared for work by my doctor (6 weeks post-op), i began making up for lost time. i participated in 2 art fairs recently and also offered a deal on heartsy (like groupon for etsy sellers, if you're not familiar), which kept me plenty busy for a while ;).

i also created new chiyogami bangles, released some sets of stud earrings and wine glass charms, started selling to a few new brick-and-mortar shops, and began an email newsletter (you can sign up in the box in the top right corner of this page ^).

it feels great to be productive again :).

here are some photos from the art fairs, starting with 'japan-aid' which took place on april 29th:

the middle of my display table

my pencil sets on display

and the 'may day' art fair at caffe medici in austin, tx on may 1st:

my set-up. ignore the computer and sign in the background - those aren't mine :p

the middle of my table again, only this time i upgraded my price tags

my pencils on display again. these were so popular!

and i have to say - i've got a really great husband and wonderful friends! brandon helped me out for 'japan-aid', and my best girl friend brandie assisted me at the 'may day' fair. she was so awesome that i'm going to have her help at future shows, too. here we are at a restaurant afterward, celebrating a job well done:

i will be doing more art fairs this year (i have 5 planned), so i will keep you updated on the details for those.

life outside work has been good, too. my husband and i took a short trip to galveston island on the texas coast right after the 'may day' fair, which was lovely, though i wish we could have stayed longer (we were only there 2 nights and 1 full day). also, my friend carena won a cruise for her and a guest through her work, and she invited me to tag along. i've never been out of the country nor been on a cruise, though i have always longed to travel, so i am very excited. the cruise is in august, and sails to the bahamas, st. maarten, and st. thomas. then, in september, brandon and i will be going to new mexico (a first for me) to witness his cousin hudson marrying my fellow 'shana logic' artist lauren king (small world, right?), who is now, after discovering this happy coincidence, my friend. it's going to be a fun rest of the year :).

so now you're pretty well updated, at least on the major things. whew!

oh, one more thing: my mother bought me a tassimo coffee machine as a 'get well' gift, and i have now become a coffee-lover. if you'll excuse me, i'm going to go make an aromatic cup of maxwell house french vanilla coffee right now ;).

♥,

melissa

ps - thank you SO much to all of you who have sent kind messages my way throughout the last few months - your support means so much to me!

'metamorphosis'

2010-12-13T18:24:00.003-06:00

today, i was featured in this gorgeous butterfly treasury. i love this theme!

here is my 'fanciful flight' pencil set up close:

i hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season!

♥,
melissa

'grey green asian persuasian'

2010-11-30T21:55:00.001-06:00

my 'japanese teahouse' earrings (secretly my favourite pair!) have been featured in a most stunning treasury on etsy (thank you so much, beadyeyedmonster!) and i wanted to share with you:

i hope you all are having a wonderful start to your holiday season! thankfully, i think all my holiday shopping is done, but if you need some wearable japanese art for the people on your giftlist, you know where to go ;).

happy holidays!

♥,
melissa

it's time for holiday shopping!

2010-11-24T20:15:00.001-06:00

and to celebrate, i'm happy to offer a holiday sale:

shop the maoiliosa etsy store now through november 30th, enter the code HOLIDAY at checkout, and instantly receive 10% off your entire order!

happy holidays!

♥,
melissa

okay, so i may be a little pencil-crazy ;)

2010-10-21T15:00:00.000-05:00

i can't help it - every time i sift through my hundreds of sheets of washi paper, i find another design (or two... or three...) that absolutely need to be made into a pencil set!

when you're passionate about something, you can't help but immerse yourself in it. fortunately, my passion is being rewarded by all you lovely customers - i have sold over 700 pencils through my etsy shop and my wholesale and consignment vendors since i introduced them 3 months ago. i've made over 1000 total pencils (that's a lot of pencils!) at this point, and i'm still loving it!

this pencil set is my favourite of all:

'beauty at sunset'

i made this one to replace the limited-edition 'autumn arrival' set that i am sold out of (i'm trying to get that paper back in stock, but in the meantime, feast your eyes and fingers on this!):

'autumn afternoon'

and this one is just plain fun for artsy people and fall-lovers alike:

'within the branches'

thank you, thank you, thank you, fabulous customers, for allowing me to earn a living doing what i love!

♥,

melissa

'winter wonderland' is back!

2010-10-18T16:54:00.000-05:00

my popular holiday necklace is back again this year and has been revamped: it's now a skinny necklace!

grab yours here. keep in mind that this piece is limited edition, as i only make a few each year.

yay!

i also added a new ribbon necklace to the shop today:

this sweet little rabbit has been made for months now, but i haven't had time to list him until now.

3 new pencil sets are coming to the shop within the week, as well. as you can see, i've been busy! 'maoiliosa' has proved, once again, to be an excellent distraction from health issues. it's looking like i will be having surgery in january or february. if you'd like to know more, or if you'd like to donate to help me with my medical costs, a few of my good friends have set up this blog for that purpose.

of course, every purchase from my shop also helps me directly - thank you to all my wonderful customers for your support!

♥,
melissa

okay, ONE more pencil set...

2010-09-27T17:07:00.004-05:00

this is 'namaste', my newest pencil set, available in my etsy shop.

i love this paper probably more than almost all of my other washi papers - the lotus blossoms are so detailed and gorgeous! i simply had to use this paper for a pencil set :).

enjoy!

♥,

melissa

ps - on a personal note, i finally got a diagnosis on my health issues: intestinal endometriosis. i had stage iv endometriosis 3 years ago, and it can recur at any time (even after menopause, if you already have a history of endo!), so i can't say i'm terribly surprised, but... in my colon? positive thoughts and well-wishes are GREATLY appreciated. this has been a hard time for me, as you can imagine.

and another one ;)

2010-08-30T09:32:00.005-05:00

i've got one more new pencil set to show you for the time being:

bound to be a classic! this is 'swimming lessons' - koi on seafoam green and blue water :).

i can't believe how popular my pencils have been. i'm even starting to get copy-cats on etsy... i guess imitation is the most sincere form of flattery? ;p my pencils, however, are the only ones that come in this adorable size, with the best quality washi paper available from japan, and with no corners cut during assembly. and they are the only ones to come in a gift box ;).

that promotion is still running for a free pocket mirror with purchase of pencil set, but it's not going to last much longer (until the 15th of september, maybe?), so get in on it while you can!

in other, less exciting news, i recently found out that i most likely have ulcerative colitis, a chronic condition which is no fun. i've been having pain and extremely unpleasant symptoms for about 5 months now, and finally was able to see a gastroenterologist. i have a colonoscopy this week to confirm the diagnosis; happy thoughts are more than welcome! :)

♥,
melissa

new pencil sets in stock!

2010-08-23T10:13:00.003-05:00

my pencil sets are a huge hit! this morning, i listed 4 new sets for your writing pleasure:

'fanciful flight'

'spring and summer'

'rain or shine'

'autumn arrival'

this last set is a limited edition, with only 2 sets available.

and i'm still running the 'free pocket mirror with purchase of pencil set' promotion, so what are you waiting for? ;)

♥,

melissa

pencil set promotion

2010-08-11T09:57:00.003-05:00

i've got a new sale to share with you! for a limited time, you can get a free one of these:

with the purchase of one of these!:

purchase any maoiliosa pencil set and you get your choice of any one maoiliosa pocket mirror free!

just add a pencil set to your cart (along with any other maoiliosa merch you'd like to purchase), mention the mirror you'd like in the 'message to seller' box during checkout, complete checkout and pay as usual, and ta-da: yours :). if no pocket mirror is mentioned, i will select one for you at random.

i am completely in love with these pencil sets, and i know you all are, too! since the launch a few days ago, various sets have been included in 6 treasuries on etsy, and have also been featured in two blogs! and all the new 'hearts' on these are really making me smile - 'kawaii koi' is in the lead, but all the other pencil sets are getting love, too :).

happy shopping, and happy back-to-school!

♥,
melissa

introducing: maoiliosa washi-coated pencils!

2010-08-06T20:13:00.010-05:00

you have no idea how excited i am to show you these pencils! i'm really happy i was able to get these made and available in time for back-to-school.

'kawaii koi'

each small (3.5 inch) pencil is, of course, covered in japanese washi paper, then packaged in a gift box, maoiliosa-style ;). these are great gifts for teachers, office-supply-lovers (ahem, me!), writers, and students, and are awesome party favours, too!

'whisper'

'blithe blossoms'

'vibrant lotus'

'tsunami'

'night and day'

'believe'

'rice petals'

available here, in my pencils section. i hope you like these as much as i do!

♥,

melissa

contest! get in on it!

2010-08-05T15:49:00.002-05:00

do you 'like' maoiliosa on facebook? earlier today, i posted details on my facebook fanpage of the contest i'm currently running to celebrate the launch of my newest line of merch, which is due out tomorrow!

if you're not a fan yet, you're missing out - join now and enter to win! :)

♥,
melissa

'etsystalker.com' feature!

2010-08-03T11:30:00.005-05:00

i'm very excited this morning, because my 'too koi' pendant necklace has been featured by violet of 'etsystalker.com'!

you can see the feature in the 'goldfish' post.

yay!

in other news, i've been concocting a line of new items for the shop, and while i'm not going to give it away just yet, let me tease you with this: these new little things are super useful and oh, so kawaii! ;)

more later!

♥,
melissa

'christmas in july' sale! woohoo!

2010-07-14T22:03:00.003-05:00

IT'S ON! free shipping (plus a free surprise!) with every order from the 'maoiliosa' etsy shop until the end of july! get your stuff now!

'sundown' skinny necklace - available here

(ps - yes, i am alive! and i even GRADUATED COLLEGE! i know i am way overdue for an update - so sorry i have neglected you, but i shall blog again soon and fill you in!)

♥,

melissa

maoiliosa catalogue and some other things

2010-02-21T18:28:00.004-06:00

i thought you might like a glimpse of what my new catalogue looks like, so here it is:

this page shows some of the new skinny earrings that will be available in my etsy shop soon!

and my newest kabuku piece, 'denim swallow', now available in my necklace section.

and one more thing:

i found these adorable little bowls (they're only about 3" long!) at the container store this weekend and just had to buy them! the best part is i can make an icecream treat in them and have just enough that it's satisfying without eating too much, because let's face it - when you've got a normal-sized bowl of icecream in front of you, you've got to eat it all, right? ;)

♥,

melissa

introducing: skinny necklaces by maoiliosa

2010-02-21T15:28:00.004-06:00

as i suspected, i haven't been able to blog much so far this year, but i have been keeping so busy! my number of sales per month didn't go down after the holidays (!), so i've been packing up orders and making replacement items just as quickly as i can.

i've also been making new items. i'm proud to introduce my first run of skinny necklaces! these sweets can be found in the necklace section of my etsy shop and are $13 (on a chain, too!) the designs measure .5" x 1", so very skinny and cute!

here are a few:

'jasmine'

'cotton candy'

'koi on blue'

'chococherry malt'

'ohm'

there will also be skinny earrings and some new magnet and bobby pin styles listed in the shop over the course of this coming week.

in addition to making new items and packing up orders, i've also made a new maoiliosa catalogue for my spring line. now, when stores want to buy wholesale from me, i can simply mail them a hard copy, email them a pdf copy, or drop by with a bound copy! i spent a lot of time on it and i'm very pleased with how it turned out. if you're interested in having a copy for yourself or your business, feel free to email me at maoiliosamerch@gmail.com.

last but not least, i got a job at a floral shop that will be opening up near my house. i will be managing the store when the owner isn't present, making floral arrangements, etc., and my maoiliosa items will also be for sale there. i'm excited!

so that's a pretty sizeable update for you ;). i'll of course keep you posted on all the other new merch that will be making its way into my shop soon!

♥,

melissa

did you know?

2010-01-27T08:52:00.003-06:00

all of my pocket mirrors have been reduced to just $3! i'm trying to clear them out, people ;).

here's where you can find them.

oh, and of course the "$2.50 each when you purchase 10 or more" still applies! contact me for details and i'll make you a reserved listing.

i am running very low on certain styles, and they're selling quickly, so get it on this while you can! i do have 30+ of some popular styles that would make excellent wedding/party favours, like the 'taking flight' and 'sakura in the clouds' mirrors. and don't forget - free shipping on your entire order until the end of the month! (maybe longer, i haven't decided yet ;D).

♥,
melissa

mmm thai

2010-01-06T16:32:00.002-06:00

brandon and i have been going to this excellent thai place in town and it is SO good! we just get the food to go and bring it home to enjoy :).

oh, and happy new year! as you can probably tell by now, i'm not able to blog much anymore due to college and the stresses of life, but i promise to blog when i can. i am currently taking my final class for college (a math class, ugh!), and i will be graduating in may, so things will be busy for me between now and then.

hope you are all keeping warm this winter!

♥,
melissa

1000 hearts!

2009-12-28T21:37:00.002-06:00

i'm so excited because i just checked the hearts situation in my etsy shop, and i'm at 1000 now!

2009 was awesome for 'maoiliosa', and i can't wait to see what 2010 has in store for me!

thank you to all of you who have supported my little business venture over the past two years - i am so grateful!

( and happy holidays, by the way ;) )

♥,
melissa

"snow" day

2009-12-06T20:19:00.004-06:00

it actually snowed here on friday! i know you're thinking: "snow? in TEXAS?! melissa is a liar!" but no! now, of course, none of it actually stuck to the ground and accumulated, but we did get a brief flurry of honest-to-goodness snow!

sadly, this is the best picture i could get of it:

yeah, like 5 white specks :p. the camera didn't really pick up on the flakes well :(.

but guess who came out to see the strange event...

pete! here he is on our driveway, and you can see a few flecks of snow in the air.

so cute. we started leaving some worms outside for him every few days (extras from what we feed our leopard geckos), and he loves them so much that he hangs out around our house all the time now with his lady friend :).

i wish it snowed here in central texas more often. we get a little bit of it every 5 years or so, but mostly in the winter we just get ice. i'm originally from ohio, and haven't seen bunches of snow in person since i was really little, and i miss it!

♥,

melissa

ginger, the cutest dog ever

2009-12-06T20:17:00.002-06:00

squee! i love my dog! ♥ we couldn't even make the bed without her burrying herself in the freshly clean and warm sheets to be super cute :).

♥,

melissa

i love odd jobs

2009-12-03T20:45:00.003-06:00

i was commissioned earlier this week to make asian-themed centerpieces for a party that is happening tomorrow evening. i earned a quick chunk of cash and got to use my creativity, so it's all good :). here's how they turned out:

and as part of that, i was asked to make 60 of my washi fortune cookies!

odd jobs are great, but i also need steady income, so i bit the bullet and applied for a job that i'm grossly overqualified for but need nonetheless. working in a video store can be fun, right? :p i just need something until we move back to austin, where i've got a better opportunity lined up. gotta sell our house first, though! we buried our little st. joseph statue the other day (google 'st. joseph real estate kit' if you aren't familiar and want a good laugh ;)), so hopefully someone will want our house soon!

♥,
melissa

busy busy busy!

2009-12-02T15:00:00.003-06:00

whew, this holiday season has been soooo busy so far! i thought i'd take a moment to update you while i can :).

first:

it would appear that pete has a lady friend! my husband and i call her 'patty' because we're silly.

here's pete from the other day, and you can tell they're two different roadrunners because of their patterns and one has more orange by its eyes than the other.

fancy feet pete :).

also, i've been writing a novel in my spare time (!). i used to write all the time, but since an unfortunate occurance in my life when i was 18, i haven't written much... until recently! it feels good to have those creative juices flowing again after 7 years of a dry spell.

the holidays are coming up quickly, and i can barely keep up! i hope you're all keeping warm and being happy and enjoying family and friends - i don't know about you, but this time of the year always makes me especially grateful for everything i have :).

♥,

melissa

another little thing

2009-11-13T15:09:00.010-06:00

i found this pretty little guy outside when i went to check the mail this afternoon.

please forgive the state of my nailpolish - as you might have gathered by now, i work with my hands all day ;). also, blogger is being dumb, and that's why this picture is sideways for some reason (anyone else having this issue with some pictures?).

"oh hai!" :).

that's all!

♥,
melissa

moon

2009-11-06T14:15:00.003-06:00

the other night, the moon was huge and super bright.

that's all, just wanted to share :).

♥,
melissa

new fabulous items just listed!

2009-11-02T17:19:00.006-06:00

if you've looked in my shop at all today, you might have noticed something exciting: nearly 20 new items, mostly from my new and popular 'kabuku' line!

some of my favourite newbies:

'vintage crane' wall scroll

'tropical blossom' kabuku necklace

'plum branch' kabuku necklace on one of my new 18" gunmetal chains (also sold separately)

'chakra flower' kabuku necklace

'winter wonderland' is back for the holiday season!

a new style of ring: rectangle wood pieces for the perfect kabuku look

and finally...

kabuku wrapped bangle bracelets! these are $20 each and are in very limited quantity currently (i only have 2 of the purple, one of the red, and one of the branches). hopefully i will be able to get ahold of more bracelet blanks soon, because i love these!

whew, well, i've spent the entire day either taking pictures or sitting on the computer listing these new beauties, and i think i deserve a break! time for me to go relax and drink one of these delicious hot chocolate things i whip up :).

♥,

melissa

little things

2009-10-28T13:36:00.004-05:00

brandon and i found this little guy hanging out on our patio a few nights ago. look how tiny he is!

he was a sweet little guy, too. didn't even pee on me! :p

and i spotted this creepy baby scorpion on our house. it's getting cold outside... what's he doing out in the open?!

♥,

melissa

get 'em while you can!

2009-10-28T13:31:00.002-05:00

head on over to the clearance section (where everything is half off!) in my shop if any of these cuties catches your eye... once they're gone, they're gone!

♥,
melissa

emerald orchid

2009-10-01T08:52:00.001-05:00

my newest beauty from my 'kabuku' line, available here .

♥,
melissa

fallen

2009-09-28T09:53:00.004-05:00

one of our sage bushes in the front yard. the recent rains knocked the flowers right off the bush.

♥,
melissa

meet pete

2009-09-25T10:44:00.003-05:00

we have a little roadrunner friend who hangs out around our house. he's an interesting little guy! i love his call - it sounds like a dove, only almost electronic sounding, as it echoes. i call it the "electronic dove". we named him pete, who knows why :p.

i'll miss pete when we move!

♥,

melissa

almost a sakurashroom

2009-09-24T16:08:00.003-05:00

while cleaning up our yard yesterday to prepare for our realtor to come over (our house is now on the market!), i spotted this little cutie. i am a sucker for mushrooms - i think they're so adorable! i hate the way they taste, though :p. i couldn't help but notice that if it bears a stricking resemblance to a cherry blossom! if only it had one less "petal" ;).

oh, would you please wish me luck on selling our house and getting our new one? i'm extremely nervous about it (i'm a total worry-wart!). we found a house we want near austin, where i grew up, so i hope we're able to snag it in the same timeframe as we sell our current house! keeping my fingers crossed!

♥,
melissa

little odd things

2009-09-23T08:54:00.004-05:00

i've got this little teak wood box in my bedroom where i keep all kinds of little treasures from throughout the years (do any of you do this?). i came upon it the other day while i was cleaning, and, as i sometimes do, i opened it up to explore its contents.

inside are some of my favourite kinds of stone (obsidian, jasper, aventurine, hematite, carnelian, and citrine mostly), old tea tags (i collect the pretty or cool-looking ones after i drink my tea), some old coins, a tiny gold japanese fan, an origami dragon someone gave me way back in high school, a charm with the virgin mary i once found, and other little things. you might think these things are of no importance, just junk maybe, but to me, each thing in that box represents a memory of something happy. and every time i think to take the box off the shelf, sit down on the bed, and open it up... well, it's like a little treasure chest from my past, and it always makes me smile :).

when i first saw the film 'amelie', one of my favourites, i was surprised to discover that a character in the movie did the same thing. it was kind of neat to realize i'm not the only silly person who collects tiny wonders.

just wanted to share :).

♥,
melissa

back from oregon!

2009-09-03T11:04:00.005-05:00

we just got back from our trip to oregon! it was really great to meet my friend lea in person and spend lots of time with an old friend from high school, brittany, and her partner, daphne. i can't even being to explain how breathtaking oregon is... from the mountains, to the trees, to the ocean, everything is just magical, if you ask me. and the weather! oh man, brandon and i did not want to come back to hot and humid texas after experiencing the fabulous oregon climate!

anyway, here are some pictures from our trip. if you're my friend on facebook, you can see the whole album (i took a lot of photos!).

me on the plane! this was my first time flying, believe it or not! (ps - that necklace is a new 'kabuku' piece of mine which will be available in my shop soon ;D).

mt. hood, as seen from the plane, as we descended into portland.

portland, as seen from a viewing area on top of a big hill.

oregon sunset.

ecola state park. it was so moody and perfect with the mist and the cold air!

the water was so cold on my feetsies! it felt awesome!

the astoria bridge, as seen from the astoria column.

the columbia river gorge.

me and brandon in front of multnomah falls in the columbia river gorge. i'm a sucker for waterfalls!

we had such a great time! thanks to brittany, daphne, and lea for showing me and brandon a great time - it was our favourite vacation so far! you guys are the best!

♥,

melissa

new family member: ginger!

2009-08-14T15:08:00.004-05:00

i finally have a free moment and some exciting news to share!

brandon and i now have a dog! we named her ginger, and she is soooo sweet! someone abandoned her, and we tried for days to find her owner, but no luck, so now she is ours :D.

she is just the sweetest dog ever and we already love her. this isn't the best picture of her, but it's the only one i have so far. i'll bet that you'll be seeing a lot more of this cutie here on my blog in the future, though ;).

hope everyone is keeping cool and having a great summer! times have been very stressful for me lately, and long story short, i won't be graduating until may. a few of you have scolded me for not being more writey on my blog lately, and i'm sorry! stress stress stress.

i'll post again soon, i promise :).

♥,
melissa

last night, for dinner

2009-07-07T09:28:00.002-05:00

eating healthier is sooooo good :).

♥,
melissa

my first craft fair

2009-07-06T17:18:00.005-05:00

july 4th (independence day here in the states) was my first ever art/craft fair, and especially considering only about 50 people showed up, i did very well!

i made my first sale before i was even completely set up (a bobby pin set), and the day progressed from there. the day started off super hot, though, as it is texas in july :p, so my one complaint would be that i was dying from the heat! i think it kept more people from showing up, too.

another fair is supposed to be happening at the same location in early september, so i'll definately be participating in that, as well! i had a lot of fun at this one - met some new people, made some money, and got to hang out and listen to music with my husband :).

some pictures for you:

my banner, made by a very nice etsian. love it!

and some different shots of my booth set-up:

believe me, people came in for the cold water! we had a big cooler with loads of ice :).

brandon looks exhausted because we had just finished setting everything up :p. i'm so glad he helped me out!

yay!

in other news, i am busting my butt the next 2 weeks to prepare for my epic french exam and complete the two classes i'm currently enrolled in, so you probably won't see much of me here on the blog. once all the craziness with school is done, though, i have lots of new things to take pictures of and list, so do keep checking back!

stay cool, y'all! ;)

♥,

melissa

introducing... 'kabuku' by maoiliosa!

2009-06-16T13:55:00.006-05:00

as you may know if you follow me on twitter or are my friend on facebook, i've been working on these new necklaces for a few weeks now, and i'm happy to say they're finally here! they're called 'kabuku', which is the word that kabuki comes from, and it means "to be out-of-the-ordinary" in japanese. fitting, yeah? :D

i am just so excited about these new pieces! each is made using a kind of washi paper (of course!) called katazome, which is stencil-dyed instead of being silk-screened like chiyogami washi paper is. the result, as you can see, is bold, delicious colouring, which makes for very dramatic and fun pendants.

i've been wearing my test piece, which is just like the red lotus necklace above, everywhere i go, and i've received SO many compliments already! i set out to make a fresh, funky, chunky, indie-chic line of necklaces, and i think i definately succeeded :).

the pendants are approximately 1" by 1.5", and are a bit thicker than the other pendants i make, which i love! also, each pendant is pierced with a thick-gauge sterling silver ring and suspended from one of my 18" silver-plated chains. they're $17 each.

here are some of the others available in my etsy shop:

and in true maoiliosa fashion, they each come gift boxed like this:

how do you like them?

♥,

melissa

zoo

2009-06-02T10:35:00.003-05:00

as promised, some of my favourite pictures from my trip to the san antonio zoo:

♥,

melissa

going to see tori amos soon!

2009-06-02T10:28:00.003-05:00

oh my goodness, can life possibly get any better? i stumbled upon the most amazing thing the other day: tori amos is coming to austin on july 25th!

am i going? oh yes, i am! :)

i can't really explain what a huge inspiration tori amos has been to me throughout my teen and adult life. sometimes, i just hop on youtube and watch her taped concerts for hours. she's an extremely powerful performer, with such skill with words and melody, and her lyrics and tone really speak to me on a number of levels. i feel so lucky to be able to watch her perform in person in less than 2 months from now. i'll probably cry :p.

brandon is, of course, going with me, and we don't really have the best seats, but we are on the lower level, so that's enough to be grateful for! i can't wait!

okay, thanks for letting me share my excitement :).

♥,
melissa

sale on all pocket mirrors!

2009-05-28T10:00:00.003-05:00

my pocket mirrors are on sale for just $5 (regularly $6) right now! plus, as always, buy any three pocket mirrors and get one of your choice free! go get 'em here.

enjoy! :)

♥,
melissa

so much going on!

2009-05-27T09:47:00.006-05:00

well hello, my lovely internet friends! i see that it's been almost a full month since i last blogged - inexcuseable! ;)

i have been a busy girl lately, and that is my reason for not keeping in touch. i know i'll probably leave some things out by accident, but here's what happened this month:

honeymoon! brandon and i escaped from the texas hillcountry to... another part of the texas hillcountry :p. we made the hour and a half drive from the marble falls area to one of our favourite cities, san antonio and stayed there for nearly a week, spoiling ourselves (hey, we deserved it!) and enjoying spending time with each other. we went to the zoo (pictures to come later), sea world, lots of neat restaurants, the rivercenter mall (which is on the riverwalk... if you've never been, you really should! it's beautiful!), and on our way into town, we even stopped off at a cave for a long and strenuous cave tour. if i haven't mentioned it before, exploring caverns is one of our favourite things to do!

the day before our honeymoon, we saw nine inch nails in austin for their final tour.

with my fancy new camera, i was able to get this awesome shot :).

blurry, but me and brandon before nine inch nails. we decided to sit this time, instead of rock out in the moshpit, because we didn't want to be worn out during our honeymoon! we had excellent seats, though, because i got presale tickets (presale people are given the best seats in the house).

i'm going to be selling in two new austin venues starting this week. the first is 'beth's book box', a second-hand book shop (which also sells local artists' wares). i've been helping beth out a bit with businessy things lately to help her get everything in order for the store's opening. the second venue, which happened almost by accident, is austin's famous 'capra & cavelli', an upscale men's/women's clothing boutique, which also sells local artist merch. the buyer for the store just happened to be visiting 'sweet tempered', one of my favourite clients, and saw my items. she really liked everything i make, so she asked my friend jenny, the co-owner of 'sweet tempered', for my contact info so she could have me selling at 'capra & cavelli' asap! so starting this weekend (or shortly thereafter), my items will be available at their location inside the hilton, downtown austin! needless to say, my little fingers have been super busy making close to 500 items for these two venues!

brandon and i broke down and bought a wii finally! it'll be here in a few days, i'm so excited! we got a wii fit with it, and a few other ultra-cool games, and i can't wait to start having fun!

living out in the middle of nowhere makes for a sad social life, so lately, b and i have been working hard at seeing friends more often, whether it's having them out to the house, or us visiting them in austin. my super-great friend whitney was recently in austin for a visit from nevada, so i was grateful to get several days of girl-time in while she was here!

speaking of whitney, her birthday is tomorrow, so i gave her one of my pieces that i thought she would adore. looks like she does ;).

that's 'sakura flourish', and it can be found here if you want one for yourself! also, congrats to whit for closing on her and her husband's first house tomorrow! yay!

i've been preparing for my first craft fair, which will be july 4 at an event that my step-father-in-law is organizing here in cottonwood shores. that should be a lot of fun! oh, and speaking of cottonwood, did i mention our road got paved? yessss! so nice to not have to drive on dirt anymore!

i've also been preparing for my french examination, wherein i must test out of 16 credit hours of the language. that has to be done by the end of june, so wish me luck! i also only have 4 more college courses left until i graduate!

i've mentioned before that my husband and i love going to comedy shows of our favourite comedians. by two strokes of luck, just a few days apart, i was able to get 4th row seats to mike birbiglia (i'm in the future also) at the paramount theatre downtown austin in november (we donate to the theatre, so we get top seats. it pays, people!), and also ::drumroll:: 10th row seats to the one and only dane cook at the toyota center (same place we saw nine inch nails last august) in houston june 20th! so pumped!
our geckos are all back to optimum health, yay! their eyes are so big, bright, and happy now, and their tails are getting so fat! i'm so glad all my nursing paid off - i love those little lizards!

i think the only other major thing that's going on with me lately has to do with nerf guns :p. brandon and i are about to bust out like huge nerds and participate in this LARP (live action role-play) game called 'aftermath' which takes place monthly (i think?) in dallas. we bought several nerf guns, a bunch of nerf darts, and have been having nerf shoot-outs with each other almost daily, haha. such nerds we are! the next step is to get our costumes together. i'm going to be playing this class nicknamed 'gloomies' (emo, right?), so i got these wicked parachuters' boots (hot!), and i'm about to buy this "vampire" jacket and steampunk top (i'll post pics when i have 'em)... it's kind of hard to describe the look i'm going for, but it'll make more sense to you AND me once i put everything on together, heehee. brandon is modifying our guns and painting them (he's a skilled miniature painter, so this is right up his alley). is it sad that i'm so excited about this? ;p

so yes, i've been very occupied lately with all these goings-on! i'll be sure to update you more often :).

hope you all are busy with adventures and opportunities of your own!

♥,

melissa

lizard life

2009-05-05T21:38:00.005-05:00

hi there!

i talk about my leopard geckos on here from time to time, so i thought it might be helpful if i showed you their homes, with them in them, looking cute :).

when people find out we have no dogs or cats, but a handful of lizards, we generally get strange looks. don't get me wrong... we love dogs and cats! if we had the room (read: a suitable yard), we would definately have a dog by now, at least. but i have always had a warm place in my heart for geckos. when i was younger, i would catch the little house geckos that would hang out by the patio lights outside at night and catch them, give them a tiny little kiss, and let them go. i was a strange child :p. okay, it continued into adulthood, don't judge me! ;). i only learned after i had a real pet gecko that you can get salmonella from kissing lizards, so i don't do that anymore (you think i'm so weird right now, don't you?), but i do have a lot of fun watching and caring for my little critters.

that's asuka on the top left. she was a gift to me from brandon, on our first christmas together ♥. the first time i held her, she bit the crap out of me, so i named her 'asuka' after the bitchy anime character on my favourite anime, neon genesis evangelion.

trent is on the top right. he's called trent because he looks mad all the time, and that reminds me of the most dreamy, angsty man alive, trent reznor ♥.

sonny is on the bottom (you can only see his illusive tail in this picture, sticking out of the hole in his rock on the right), and he is an albino leopard gecko. he may not be as pretty and colourful as the other two, but he has a lot of character to him (they all do, actually! they each have their own personality and behaviours), he's very sweet, and he often looks like he's smiling. i call him 'cling peach' because of his colouring and how he grabs onto my thumb when he's in my hand. brandon named him after the character from his favourite movie, the godfather.

sonny had a brother named mike, but he died last fall after being very sick and a terrible mishap at the vet :/.

anyway, those are my little ones! definately not your standard pet, but they're low-maintenance (which is great for me!), silly, and bring joy to my little life :).

see what i mean about personality? asuka's being sneaky in her hidey-hole :p.

♥,

melissa

featured in the storque!

2009-04-29T22:07:00.004-05:00

i am on cloud nine right now! (and oops, so sorry for not updating my blog in forever!)

my 'beautiful day' washi fortune cookies were featured in etsy's blog, 'the storque'!

here's a link to the article, in case you missed it (i sure did! i had to ask in the etsy forums why my cookies were getting so many 'hearts'!)

wow, i never ever thought i would get featured by etsy... i'm so grateful!

life has been crazy since i last posted, but everything's going great - business is running smoothly and keeping me busy, and i've only got 4 more classes left in college (and it looks like i'm going to graduate summa cum laude, even!), but being insanely busy is all worth it when recognition comes, as it did today :D.

i hope you all are having a fabulous spring, as well! and a big THANK YOU to everyone who's supported my 'maoiliosa' business venture - you all are the best!

♥,
melissa

new happy customer-ness!

2009-04-08T08:33:00.002-05:00

remember that giveaway i'm holding for customers who submit 'happy customer' pictures of themselves wearing/using my merch? (if you need a reminder on the details so you can participate, go here, and don't forget: submitting means you get free stuff!)

a camera-shy friend/customer of mine submitted this photo. she is wearing 'fresh', one of my washi-scape pendant necklaces, and might i say, that's the perfect necklace for that outfit! way to go, anonymous friend ;).

and just a reminder: free shipping in my shop until april 15!

♥,
melissa

free shipping!

2009-04-01T09:52:00.002-05:00

(too koi - a washi-scape pendant necklace, available in my shop)

yay! free shipping on everything at 'maoiliosa', now through april 15!

what are you waiting for? ;D

♥,
melissa

hail is bad

2009-04-01T09:43:00.004-05:00

4 broken taillights. 1 window pane shattered. 2 broken outside lamps. other minor damage.

i hate it here :p.

(this was last week)

♥,

melissa

fellow austinites...

2009-03-08T20:29:00.003-05:00

'maoiliosa' merch is now available at 'aviary'! if you're in the austin area and are jonesing for some japanese flair in your life, head on over to 2110 south lamar and take a peek at my necklaces, pocket mirrors, magnet sets, bobby pins, and earrings in person!

i'm excited to be able to offer my wares and more and more local and national venues. when you love what you do, i guess you want to share the love with everyone, huh? :).

on another note: sorry i've been kind of m.i.a. lately, my dear readers! school has really become my priority this semester, and i am eager to finish. i'm so close to having my degree, i can practically smell it!

not much exciting has been going on here that i've neglected to tell you, other than i finally bought myself a new desk chair (it was LONG overdue, trust me!) and a fancy new camera! it's a canon powershot sx110 is, and i am in love ♥. the only problem is i haven't had a lot of spare time to fiddle with it yet; you might notice a good chunk of the photos in my shop are entirely too dark, and this is because i prematurely uploaded the pictures i took with my new camera without even thinking about proper lighting (i can be a scatter-brain when i'm giddy about something, haha!). so i do apologize for the crappy photos, but as soon as the sun comes out again, all will be mended :).

♥,
melissa

the origins of maoiliosa

2009-02-17T21:17:00.003-06:00

if there's one thing i get asked the most since i opened my business and called it 'maoiliosa', it's "what the heck is a 'maoiliosa'?". well, i'll tell you!

'maoiliosa' (pronounced 'mow-lee-oh-sah' or 'male-lee-oh-sah') is roughly the irish gaelic equivalent to 'melissa'. my beloved great-grandmother baldwin, who passed away when i was a teenager, not only gave me her part-irish ancestry, but also boasted that the family had japanese blood (this one is still up for dispute). she avidly collected japanese items, and when she died, the items went to me. as we both had shared a love of a good story (i've got some good ones!), being crafty, and all things japanese, as well as redish hair (a trait not common in the family), i always felt a close bond to my great-grandmother, and in honour of her, i took up the moniker 'maoiliosa' to commemorate the irish roots i got from her.

thus, while the name 'maoiliosa' isn't the least bit japanese, i feel a special connection with it, and i'm happy to use the name for my japanese-inspired brand. it's my hope that my great-grandmother would be proud of me for everything i have accomplished, and that she would adore the items i create, as she so loved japanese items.

so that's the story of that :). now you know!

♥,
melissa

why i hate wind

2009-02-12T14:16:00.004-06:00

okay, so this isn't actually the reason i hate wind (that would be because it messes up my hair :p), but look at what happened the other night:

a 67 mph wind rolled through central texas (where i am), found our house, and woke brandon and me up at 2:00 a.m. to a loud "SNAP!" as it popped half of the fascia off the side of our carport's roof :p.

luckily, this is all the damage we got, and it won't be expensive to fix, but ugh!

we had to gather all the pieces of the broken fascia that had been scattered all over our yard.

so let's see... wind:

messes up my hair
woke me up at 2 in the morning
damaged my house

yep. i definately hate wind :p.

updating my photos

2009-02-09T19:56:00.005-06:00

i spent most of the day today redoing most of the photos in my etsy shop. the majority of the pictures i've taken so far aren't in the shop yet, as i still have to resize and edit them, but WOW it feels good to have been so productive today!

i get so many compliments on my rice-and-river-rock photo motif, but i am branching out a bit on some pictures to include different props. above is a silly picture i took of my "rice and rock" set-up :p.

as of right now, my wall scrolls and pocket mirrors have updated photos.

mmm, pile o' mirrors ;D.

i am also slowly listing new washi wall scrolls and rings, so stay tuned to the blog and shop for those!

♥,

melissa

the first happy customer photos are in!

2009-02-08T18:12:00.003-06:00

happy 'maoiliosa' customer (and marvelous friend!) whitney sent me these darling photos of her and her sweetie-pie daughter ceili, and thus, these are the first of the 'happy customer' pictures that i will have the pleasure of showing you!

whitney is wearing the 'crimson petals' pendant necklace, although she was smart and bought it in the (now extinct) 'spring's arrival' gift set (those things were a great deal!). i know it probably seems as though ceili is protesting having her picture taken, but in actuality, she is so excited about her mommy's 'maoiliosa' wear that she is doing the "rocker fist" move. you know, like you do at a badass concert. okay, maybe that's just wishful thinking, but still! ;p

whitney is also wearing the matching earrings (available as 'love in bloom'). whitney, they look so pretty on you! and look at little ceili striking a pose ;).

so like i was saying in my last post, everyone who submits a 'happy customer' photo featuring themself in 'maoiliosa' merch gets a free necklace or pocket mirror of their choice from my shop! yay whitney - happy choosing!

see my previous blog entry for info on submitting your 'happy customer' photos (and of course getting free stuff!) too!

♥,
melissa

attention all 'maoiliosa' customers!

2009-02-05T10:32:00.005-06:00

(me in a custom 'maoiliosa' necklace i made for myself)

have you purchased 'maoiliosa' items in the past? well, i have a fun task for you!

i am currently on the look-out for 'happy customer' pictures! if you love your 'maoiliosa' merch and want to show it off, email your pictures of you wearing/using your necklaces, pocket mirrors, wall scrolls, etc. to me at mrogers09@gmail.com .

i will be posting the pictures here on my blog once they start coming in.

but you wanna know the best part? because i looooove my customers, i will be thanking every person who submits a picture of themself using my products with a free necklace or pocket mirror! free, including shipping, and the choice of necklace/pocket mirror is yours from what's available in my shop :). (one free item per person)

i'm going to keep this as a running opportunity, so even if you haven't shopped for 'maoiliosa' cuties yet, no worries! the offer will stand for quite some time, at least through july. this offer extends to items made by me but purchased from a venue other than my shop, as well, so all you shanalogic, trendyshoppes, and sweet tempered customers are included, too!

happy photo-taking! the more creative the better! ;D

♥,
melissa

washi wall scrolls are on sale!

2009-02-02T08:57:00.003-06:00

'enchanted sakura' washi wall scroll by maoiliosa

sweet deal alert! just barely in time for valentine's day, and in addition to the other 2 sales i have going on right now in my shop ("buy 3 get 1 free" on pocket mirrors and "buy 2 get 1 free on necklaces"), i have temporarily reduced the price on my wall scrolls to $30! that's $10 off, people!

♥,
melissa

feature friday: boygirlparty

2009-01-30T07:00:00.006-06:00

i am so excited to begin my 'feature friday' series with popular etsy artist susie ghahremani of boygirlparty!

having been completely infatuated with susie's etsy shop since, well, practically since i discovered etsy, i recently decided i owed it to myself to partake in some boygirlparty items that i had been adoring from my favorites!

what i bought:

yellow owl to do list notepad, $8

as you probably know, i loooove owls, so of course susie's whimsical version of one of my favourite creatures was a must for me to own! this notepad is very practical; i am always scribbling ideas and plans on post-it notes, which are definately not as cute :), and also, having this one notepad keeps everything in one place, not scattered across my desk! my favourite part? the "do later" column ;D. i am such a huge procrastinator!

there is also a blue version of this notepad, also for $8.

what i got as gifts:

my birthday was january 13th, and my beloved husband took the hint that i wanted a very etsy birthday :). he bought me these goodies:

finch notepad, $6

soooo cute! i admit the paper is so pretty i am hesitant to use it, but i just love this! the bird is darling, and the stick trees and stylized hills make nice accents to this stationary!

owl notecards, $12

my obsession with owls continues! while brandon bought these for me, i'm sure he'll be getting the majority of them back when i write "love you" notes or birthday messages in them for him (he also loves owls!). or i might just hang them up as little mini pieces of art!

other notecard styles are available in susie's illustrated paper goods section of her shop.

favourite things about my shopping/receiving experience:

susie is incredibly friendly and sweet! also, i thought the packaging was lovely, especially the vividly-coloured tissue paper she uses to wrap up each order.

what i still want:

hedgehog piano giclee print, $20

well, if i could buy everything available at boygirlparty, i totally would! but right now, my most desired piece is this precious little hedgie! look at his little smile, awww!

boygirlparty is truly a fabulous shop. with all these unique, functional, and affordable goodies, you can't go wrong! it's no wonder susie is so successful :).

♥,

melissa

(all photos courtesy of and copyrighted by susie ghahremani of boygirlparty)

new news

2009-01-29T09:51:00.002-06:00

hiiiii, the internet! i didn't forget about you! i have been overwhelmed with grown-up problems (ack! this 25 year-old is not ready for that!) and writer's block this month, but i think my head is on straight again, and i'm ready to blog blog blog :).

first thing's first:
extended/expanded sale going on now at 'washi by maoiliosa'!

that's right :).

all pocket mirrors are 'buy 3, get 1 free'
all pendant necklaces are 'buy 2, get 1 free'

you know the drill, just tell me which items you want for free in the 'message to seller' section when you check out :).

also, be sure to check back tomorrow for the first of many posts in my brand-spankin-new segment, 'feature friday', where i highlight one fabulous etsy seller per week whom i'm ordered from in the past! i'll be kicking off this segment with none other than the talented susie ghahremani of boygirlparty! don't miss it!

♥,
melissa

in 1969, even before i was born, i was on etsy...

2009-01-07T20:11:00.004-06:00

apparently, although i was not yet born (and wouldn't be for another 15 years), i listed many items on etsy, which did not yet exist :p.

just a funny bug that i thought i'd share!

don't be discouraged: more important blogs will resume soon ;). i've been a busy lady!

♥,
melissa

ps - speaking of being born, my birthday is this coming tuesday! little-known fact: i was born on friday the 13th... ooooo...

the big 'thank you!' celebration!

2009-01-01T16:54:00.003-06:00

as a special thank-you to you all, in celebration of the new year and of my business being open for its first full year:

30% off your entire order from 'washi by maoiliosa', now through january 31st!

just enter "new year" in the 'notes to seller' section at checkout and i will refund you, or you can wait for a revised invoice from me.

i can't thank my friends and customers enough for such a fantastic year... you all are awesome!

i'm really excited to begin 2009. i've been busy the last few days doing little repairs around the house that i've been meaning to do forever (redo the curtain rods namely, which looked hideous before as it was only supposed to be temporary) and doing inventory.

i've also got a whole bunch of new things planned for the shop this year, and i've already met my first goal for the year: redesigning my packaging for more effective branding! i'll be sharing pics of those with you sometime soon (in the next few days), along with a short series of blog posts outlining lessons i learned from 2008 and tips for going forward in 2009.

my next goal is to redo all my shop photos, whether they're "okay" or not. i've learned a lot about revamping photos to meet their highest potential over the course of this past year, and it's time to clean up the shop and give it a new, fresh look with crisper, better pictures :).

there are many things i'm looking forward to this year, such as graduating college (finally!), pushing my business to the next level of success, and of course, my honeymoon with my husband! that's going to be especially awesome - we've decided to go to oregon for a week or so, see all the natural beauty of the pacific northwest, get me on a plane for the first time (no joke! so lame, i know!), see some dear friends (shoutout to lea and ryan!) while spending the largest chunk of our time in the fabulous city of portland (potential relocation in the next few years... ;)), and simply spending time with each other away from home. home is great, but vacations are necessary to my survival, and quite frankly, i don't take them enough, considering all the stress i'm always under with school and such ;p.

so here's to 2009, you all! may all your dreams and goals be addressed amply this year :).

♥,
melissa

happy holidays!

2008-12-26T10:02:00.005-06:00

i wish you all a joyous holiday season this year, whatever you celebrate (or don't!).

brandon and i spend a big chunk of the day at the movie theatre watching 'the spirit' and 'valkyrie', and i made spaghetti alfredo for dinner :).

we decided not to exchange gifts this year, as money is tight, but i sneakily bought him a kyooooot owl painting from my good friend lea, and he loved it :).

(the owls sculpture was a wedding gift to us from my parents)

and he sneakily bought me a year's subscription to 'national geographic' magazine! one of my favourite things to do is make creepy, huge collages from the pictures in the mag.

i was also fortunate enough to make a sale on christmas day! yay!

happy holidays, everyone! i love you all!

♥,

melissa

a close encounter...

2008-12-19T16:41:00.003-06:00

"nom nom nom"

"huh? i'm being watched?!"

"aaaah! time to go!"

, she seemed to say. i was about to go out and check the mail the other day (note: the crooked mailbox. that's because the ups guy decided to back up into it - he insisted on doing a u-turn right there. ugh. you should have seen me and brandon tugging on the post to get the mailbox into a semi-straight position again.), and this sweet little deer was eating the grass ::coughweedscough:: right in front of our house. i just had to grab my camera, sneak up to the window, and take some pictures of this precious lady :). she soon became wise to my paparazziness, however, and darted off across the street (by the mailbox, which is where i was going in the first place, and i scared her a second time when i approached it, ::sigh::).

ps - aren't our "streets" awesome? :F. god, get me outta here and back to austin... soon!

♥,
melissa

actually...

2008-12-07T21:59:00.002-06:00

... if you want a gift set or set of star earrings from my shop, get it quick! as of wednesday morning, they will be pulled from my inventory. i found a good home ('sweet tempered'!) for the ones that are still in my shop by the end of the day tuesday :).

and speaking of 'sweet tempered', those ladies rock! i just gave them a bunch of my stuff on consignment last night, and they've already sold/reserved a bunch of pieces! so wednesday, i will be bringing them even more maoiliosa goodies to share with the world! well, austinites, at least ;D.

♥,
melissa

washi wall scrolls are here!

2008-12-05T10:25:00.004-06:00

i am so excited to share with you my newest line: mini washi wall scrolls!

i thought of the idea for these many months ago, but it took time to find out exactly how i wanted to execute my plan and make this beauties as perfect as melissa-ly possible ;).

finally, i am proud to show these off to you!

3 styles will be listed today in my shop, with more to follow in the coming days.

a few details on these:

each wall scroll measures 12" x 9" when hanging, and is suspended by a little ribbon loop. the entire item was hand-sewn by me. the scrolls come lightly rolled inside these gorgeous silken gift boxes (some scrolls come with red, some green) :

a simple set of care instructions and a special gift come with the scrolls, as well. the complete gift comes well-packaged (as always!) and is mailed by priority mail (u.s. only for now - sorry international friends, you know i love you! it's a matter of shipping cost :( ).

this is the first wall scroll to be listed.

wow, i am delighted that these turned out so well... in fact, they are exactly as i envisioned before i started!

feel free to comment on these - i am excited to see what you think!

♥,
melissa

get 'em while you can!

2008-12-04T22:00:00.006-06:00

just giving fair warning: after christmas, a bunch of my stuff will be given a fond farewell to make room for new things for the new year.

here are some of the things that will be going bye-bye:

all of my gift sets. they just didn't sell! they were a great deal at $27 for a necklace and matching earrings (a $30 value), but alas, people just don't seem to want a whole matching set. you don't have to wear the necklace and the earrings all at once, though. oh well, i have reduced the price to $25. out of what's left after christmas, some sets will be broken down and sold as earrings and necklaces separately, and the others will be scrapped for parts :p. so if you like any of these gift sets, get them while they're still available!

'starfish' - a star washi magnet set. while this set is super cute (and brandon was so clever to think up the name!), the stars are a pain in the butt to cut the washi for (each piece of wood is slightly different than the next, ugh) and i am nearly out of supplies to make these sets, anyway. these little guys are $10, and there are 5 little magnets in the set, plus the matching washi-coated tin :). oh, all the star-shaped earring sets are being discontinued, as well, so check my earrings section for those!

'winter wonderland' - a washi-scape pendant necklace on a silver-plated chain. this is a seasonal piece, so i will stop selling it after christmas. i have several available at the moment, so if you're feeling festive, you can show your holiday cheer with this little cutie for just $10 :).

also leaving my shop for good: everything with 'clearance' in the title. just search my shop for 'clearance', and you'll see some really sweet deals!

but while it seems like my shop might be barren after the new year, don't fret! i have two awesome new lines coming out in the near future (one will be released this friday - stay tuned!), plus i will be beefing up my selection of rings, magnets, and bobby pins. and of course i'm always creating new pendant necklaces!

now's a great time to take advantage of some great deals in my shop! when the stuff listed above is gone, it's gone forevers ;p. and don't forget:

buy 3, get 1 free on all pocket mirrors (duplicates, too!)
free shipping on all orders over $50
all pendant necklaces have been reduced to $10 or less for the holiday season

and as always, your order arrives to you gift-ready :).

♥,
melissa

new pocket mirrors!

2008-12-04T07:00:00.004-06:00

'seafoam koi'

... and ...

'winter sakura'

... are my newest additions to my selection of pocket mirrors!

each mirror is still just $6 (they make great stocking stuffers!), and all of my pocket mirrors are still on sale: buy 3, get 1 free (duplicates, too!).

pretty dang exciting, huh? ;D

♥,
melissa

wedding day!

2008-12-03T16:10:00.005-06:00

during the ceremony

i've been married for almost 2 months already! and i'm just now getting around to sharing some pictures of my special day with you... i really need to learn to manage my time better, huh? priorities, melissa, priorities! blog comes first ;).

anyway, here are a few of my favourites:

my dad walking me down the aisle

that's love :)

actually, THAT's love :D

this is probably my favourite ♥

at the reception

cutting the cake!

our sparkling cider bottles

that cake was SINFULLY delicious! thanks, 'sweet tempered'! and they just so happen to be carrying my brand in their store/bakery as of this saturday, yay!

thanks also to my good friend melissa ferro cole, my photographer. it was awesome having a friend do my wedding photos!

i really couldn't have imagined a more perfect wedding day... i am so blessed :).

♥,
melissa

tree day!

2008-12-02T07:00:00.001-06:00

every year on december 1st, brandon and i decorate our christmas tree (and the lizards' homes, as you can see, heehee!). this year, we decided on a woodland theme for the tree, and i like the way it turned out!

we have several squirrels dangling from the tree this year (how cute!).

can't forget that christmas favourite: the beaver! :p

i love this little guy! a pinecone hedgehog! anyone who knows me knows i adore hedgies ♥.

our house has dozens of owls strewn about, so it's only fitting that we have owl ornaments, as well. this one looks particularly creepy.

and here are some of the non-woodsy ornaments:

our double-happiness chinese take-out box ornament, complete with fortune cookie (the fortune, when you pull it out of the cookie, says "how fortunate to have each other". awww! we bought it last year to commemorate our first year in our new house.

and our yearly ornament: this year's edition from the 'frosty friends' collection! i love these little guys! we have 3 now, 1 for each year brandon and i have lived together :).

and we always finish off 'tree day' with a smooth and frothy cup of hot chocolate, made melissa-style!

and might i add: i love prelit christmas trees! our tree never takes more than half an hour to take out of the box, set up, and decorate - awesome! and it was only $25 at our grocery store! what the heck, right?!

what are some of your holiday traditions?

♥,
melissa

how much do YOU love quidditch?

2008-12-01T18:30:00.002-06:00

yes, i'm talking about that game from harry potter.

do you ever find yourself wishing you, too, could play?

well, you're in luck! apparently you can play 'quidditch for muggles' ... if you attend certain outrageously expensive and elite universities :p.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UfPij5ABdo

my favourite part is the snitch :p.

enjoy!

♥,
melissa

cyber monday sale!

2008-11-30T15:32:00.006-06:00

30% off everything in my shop this monday, CYBER MONDAY, 12-01-08!

this sale is in addition to my other sales that are going on right now:

buy 3, get 1 free on all pocket mirrors! on duplicates, too!
pendant necklaces reduced to just $10 each!
free shipping on all orders over $50!

don't miss your chance to save big this holiday season!

the sale will run all day, starting at midnight monday and ending at 11:59 monday night (central time).

this is such a crazy time of the year! you'll be relieved to know (well, i was, at least!) that i got an 'a' in that biology class that i put off forever :p. i now have to do an entire sociology of deviance class in just one week (but don't fret for me - i just need to write a bunch of papers, which just so happens to be my forte!). i have 2 other college courses beginning this week (gotta love self-paced classes!), and i need to apply to take that gigantic french test soon so i can test out of all my foreign language credits i need to graduate.

on top of that, i am still waiting to hear back on the final result of whether or not the retail shop i am supposed to manage will open, and whether or not what the job entails will suit me and my schedule. and on top of THAT, i have been working on a secret new project that will appear in my shop this coming friday! all i can say is it's nothing like anything you've seen on etsy, and you're gonna LOVE it! :D

and i did finally get my wedding pictures, so i will be sharing a few of those on tuesday. i already have them in an album on my facebook account, so you can peek there for many more photos than i will be able to post here :).

i hope all of you had a tryptophan-tastic thanksgiving! ;D haha, sorry, that's my favourite (and thankfully only...) thanksgiving gimmick!

♥,
melissa

holiday specials!

2008-11-16T14:23:00.005-06:00

just in time for the holidays!

buy 3, get 1 free on all pocket mirrors (like the one above, 'bubblegum koi')! contact me for duplicates!
pendant necklaces are now just $10 through the end of the year!
free shipping (even international!) on orders over $50!

sorry i've been away the past week or so; i was recently offered a potential job that i am very interested in: manager of a brand-new retail store! i have been putting a lot of though into that lately, and let me tell you, i am so excited! there are many details to iron out, but i am hoping to finally be able to put my retail management skills back into use (after a 2 1/2 year break; i was the manager of a wicks 'n' sticks for 5 years, my first job!). also, school has been taking up a ton of time, as expected. i still have a lot to do if i want to graduate by july (and you know i do!).

talking about "i do" (heehee), i should be getting my wedding photos any day now, so i will be posting a bunch of those here soon! i got a preview of them on my photographer/friend's website, and i love 'em!

♥,
melissa

finally!

2008-11-05T21:08:00.008-06:00

hello! didja miss me?

after basically a 3-week hiatus from blogging, i have returned to you ;p. things have been so eventful the last few weeks that i haven't had time to sit and blog, believe it or not! but i missed it, so here i am :)

let's see, where to begin?

the nine inch nails concert on october 23rd was AMAZING. it was definately the best nine inch nails concert i've been to, and of course that means it's the best concert i've been to overall ;). here are some pictures:

as you can see, we got REALLY close this time! ah, to be close to trent reznor...

... but i am a married woman now, and even though trent's hair is dreamy, his voice is dreamy, his muscles are dreamy, his butt is dreamy... no! no more of that ;p.

we eventually had to retreat a bit, but i could still see mr. reznor perfectly fine, in all his yelling glory. i got a few really good videos of the concert, too.

the acoustics were much better at this venue than the one in houston, and i was blown away.

the opening band, ghostland observatory (from my native austin), was super awesome as well. the singer really struts his stuff on stage, and it's hilarious and very engaging! look them up on youtube for some examples of what i'm talking about. and yes, the other dude in the band is wearing a cape :p.

i like their music a lot, and brandon and i are going to see them in austin on november 15th at the place where i attended my very first nine inch nails concert :). i'm sure we'll have a blast! they're a lot of fun.

and of course no concert would be complete without a silly pic of me and brandon!

halloween was mostly uneventful (would you believe that not one trick-or-treater even came to the door?!), but it gave me an excuse to wear my platinum-pink wig!

i love this wig! brandon bought it for me for my birthday last year, and i just adore it ♥.

my etsy friend heather (auryndesign) is a super-sweetheart and featured me on her blog recently. that means a lot, especially since we are each other's competition, you might say. she is a good friend with a lot of talent, and we each have our own totally unique spin on the washi-paper-jewelry front, so it works out :). so yes, i am excited that i was interviewed for a feature, especially from a friend :D.
you might have noticed a bunch of brand new things in my shop. well, that's because i put a bunch of brand new things in my shop! ;p. more on those in my next blog entry, but feel free to head on over to the shop and check out the new pocket mirror and pendant necklace designs! the new pendants come on 18" sterling silver-plated chains!

this pocket mirror is called 'natural beauty', and is $6 in my shop

also, i've decided to no longer do my "monthly goals" blog post, as i rarely felt i was meeting my expectations, and it's just a reminder that i didn't do as well as i hoped for the previous month, if that makes any sense.

but the main reason i've been away from my blog is college work. i am finally done with everything but my final in my biology class, i've studied a lot for my huge french test (i have to test out of 16 credit hours of it), and now i can complete my deviance sociology class with nothing else in the way!

oh, and i still don't have any more wedding pictures to show you; they are supposed to be on their way to be by next wednesday. i'll share as soon as i get 'em :).

and one final thing: i don't like to talk about things on here that might offend people, but i just have to say that i voted for barack obama yesterday, and i am feeling extremely, overwhelmingly, and fantastically proud. his winning speech was so moving that i got all choked up. i know many of you probably would have loved to see mccain win, but hopefully president obama can show all of america how his intelligence, instincts, and know-how will give this country at least a few of the things it has been severely lacking. i have faith in that, and hopefully you guys on the right-side will be impressed with him before too long :).

okay, no more preachy-yeswecan-hope-mongering! ;D

for those of you who have been checking in to see if i'll ever blog again (haha), thanks for sticking around! oh, i'm on twitter, too (see it on the top-ish right?), so you can follow me there!

♥,
melissa

my fellow americans...

2008-11-04T08:40:00.002-06:00

GO VOTE! :)

normal blogging will resume soon, i swear! i know i'm behind!

♥,
melissa

itty-bitty bookworms feature :) and my new cute hair :p

2008-10-21T09:29:00.007-05:00

i was recently contacted by a super nice stay-at-home-mom named tara, who operates a wonderful company (itty-bitty bookworms) that makes preschool lessons for little ones :), and also runs a blog that shares her ideas with the internet at large.

tara asked me if i would be interested in participating in one of her blog giveaways, and as anyone who knows me knows: i love giving people things and making them happy! so of course i said yes :).

the blog post is here if you'd like to take a look. the whole blog is really cute, and while i'm not a mother, i enjoy reading tara's posts :). of course, if you do happen to be a mother of a young child, it's that much more interesting!

in other incredibly pressing news :p, since the wedding is over, i was able to finally chop off my hair!

i was true to my word (to brandon, who wanted me to have longer hair for the wedding) and resisted the strong urge to chop off my locks. ugh, i just hate when my hair is long! long to me is shoulder-length, haha. my hair looks SO much better short, and i am feeling free and happy now that i don't have to deal with sticking my hair up in that silly bun every day anymore, heehee!

can you guys related to the hair thing? does your partner want you to have a style that is the complete opposite of how you think your hair looks good? am i the only one faced with this burden? haha.

well, the nine inch nails concert is in 2 days (!), so i am grateful for the short hair! i've got to look my best, you know, just in case trent reznor approaches me (riiiiight...) ;p.

♥,
melissa

my first consignment experience

2008-10-17T16:42:00.002-05:00

i just returned from my trip to austin for my first-ever consignment deal (with sanctuary home.bath.garden), and it went well!

i brought the owner a little bit of everything from all of my lines, and she ended up deciding to keep almost all the magnet sets i brought, a few pocket mirrors, 4 scape pendant necklaces, and 3 sets of earrings. hopefully they sell well for her :).

♥,
melissa

goodies

2008-10-16T19:33:00.004-05:00

3rd post of the day?! i'm on a roll! :p

i was just so proud of my little self that i had to show you this:

it's the basket full of things i'm taking to my consignment meeting tomorrow! it's all lookin' so cute in that little basket :).

and speaking of goody baskets...

behold: the cutest giftwrap you'll ever see that also looks like everybody's least favourite halloween candy! :p

brandon has a little half-sister named hannah (who is the sweetest little girl ever, and is just 3 1/2 years old), whom i just met for the first time at the wedding. normally, little girls don't like me (although little boys love me for some reason!), but hannah really did like me, which is fortunate, as we are now sisters :). she is the only semblance of sibling i will ever have, so i wanted to do something cute for her for halloween, my favourite holiday. at the wedding, she went on and on about how much she likes reeses peanut butter cups, so i got her the miniature ones in halloween foil wrapping, and also some tiny hershey's bars (heehee, hopefully she doesn't eat it all in one go... brandon's dad and stepmom will probably kill me the next time they see me! haha!). i wrapped it all up in this fun jack-o-lantern and candy corn tissue paper i found, and stuck it all in that adorable, glittery, happy giant candy corn gift bag (complete with googly eyes! yes!). and of course i made her a little card to go along with it, telling her 'happy halloween' from her big brother and new big sister. i hope she likes it :).

i never got to be around kids growing up, or even as an adult thusfar, and i can't have any biological children of my own, so it's important to me to spoil my new little sis :).

anyway, i just had to share!

♥,
melissa

oops! almost forgot!

2008-10-16T09:38:00.003-05:00

i forgot to stick this in the blog post i just made:

last week, i updated all the gift sets in my shop to have the 18" sterling silver-plated chains instead of the ribbon! what do you think?

and another important thing: from now until probably forever (heehee), every order from 'washi by maoiliosa' over $50 receives free shipping! international, too!

♥,
melissa

and now i'm married :)

2008-10-16T08:54:00.003-05:00

photography by 'i heart photography'

well friends, i am finally married! and i have to say, it feels great to be melissa a. griffith :).

the picture above is, so far, the only one i have to show you (the others are being edited as we speak), but you can clearly see that it was a gorgeous day; there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. don't worry: i'll post more pictures as i get them! :D

the day itself was... exhausting. brandon and i barely got to eat anything because everyone and everything required our attention, and i had a terrible migraine through much of the day and night, but it really was lovely and i wouldn't change a thing about it :).

we stayed at the hyatt in downtown austin (right on town lake, which we had a beautiful view of from our 14th floor window), and were greeted with chocolate-covered strawberries and champagne. how romantic! the next day, we went to north austin and met two of brandon's friends for bowling, which was a lot of fun, and later, we met another of his friends for dinner. after that, we swung by my parents' house to get our wedding gifts and such, and then we headed home. we pretty much spent the whole weekend recovering from thursday and friday, haha, and this week, for me, has been all about catching up on things like cleaning, emails, and school, as well as preparing for my meeting tomorrow and working on my name-changing. i'm a bit worn out, but glad that everything has worked out really well.

so now that the stress of planning a wedding is behind me, i can refocus on the other important things in my life: my shop, my health, and my schooling.

i have an appointment tomorrow with a nice lady near austin who owns an upscale home decor and personal accessories shop called 'sanctuary home.bath.garden', which i am really excited about. this will be my first experience with consignment; i am generally leary of it, and much prefer wholesale, but she runs a very reputable shop, so i am going outside my normal boundaries of selling comfort for this opportunity. she says that if the consigmnent works out well, we'll switch to wholesale for simplicity's sake :). her shop is stunning, and i am extremely honoured that she contacted me. also, brandon and i are often in that area (my absolute all-time favourite thai restaurant is there, 'thai kitchen'! mmm!), so making deliveries/checking my stock and picking up checks will be very convenient. i am feeling really fortunate lately, and this is part of the reason why :).

on the health front, my good friend lea recently told me about this "self-hypnosis diet" book/cd that she found, and was saying how astonishingly much it has helped her so far, and recommended it to me. i have undergone some hypnotherapy in the past, which worked out very well, so i decided to buy the material and give it a try. i've got to say, it's incredible how much power your mind has over your body! i started reading the book on monday, and i've already lost about 3 pounds, simply by altering the way i think. for instance, instead of telling myself, "no matter what i do, i can't lose weight", i now think, "i am becoming thin and healthy". it may sound silly, but it obviously has helped me so far, and i haven't even tried the cds yet! i have not changed my eating habits (which were mostly healthy already), and have merely continued with my semi-regular exercising (other than cleaning, i've really only exercised by playing 'dance dance revolution' on the playstation, haha). i am hoping i can get into a routine where i start doing the abs-ball exercise every other day, and pick up pilates again. i love pilates, but i tend to put it off because it takes over an hour to do. however, i feel so much better at the end, and really there's no excuse for me not to take an hour out of my day to do that. so anyway, i'm going to keep thinking positively (whereas i'm used to simply thinking realistically), not say that i'm going to "try" to do things to get healthier and instead actually do them (do or do not, there is no try! :p), and add more exercising into my daily life.

i am working really hard on not getting blue about college. it seems a little overwhelming sometimes... all the courses i have to complete before i can graduate. but really i have less than a year left, and i am grateful for that. i think the main thing that really bothers me is that i will have to take out another student loan, but with the banks as they are currently, i'm worried i won't be able to get any money. at that point, i would be stuck, because i won't be able to continue my current lifestyle: i'd have to get a full-time job in addition to my shop, which in turn would make my schooling suffer, as that's less time i would have working on my classes. and let's face it: bills have to get paid :p. so i'm in a bit of turmoil here. hopefully, all my worrying will have been for nothing (that's usually the case, haha), and i will get my loan and everything will be fine. it would also be great if i could make a living wage off my shop! ;)

so those are the things that are currently on my mind.

oh, and as for shop updates: i have decided that after the holidays, i will be slowly switching to the glossy, waterproof finish for my items. in general, people seem to prefer the glossy look, and i will still be able to make items matte-finished on request. also after the holidays (or perhaps before, depending on if i run out of ribbon or not, haha), i will be switching all my pendants to the 18" sterling silver-plated chain. as many of you have mentioned to me, it looks nicer and is more durable than the ribbon (although the ribbon is so cute!). the ribbon necklaces will be available on request, like the matte-finish. i think these are the best ways to push my merchandise up to the next level of awesome, and i hope you agree :).

well wish me luck tomorrow (i am shy!), and i'll update you later! :)

♥,
melissa

i'm getting married tomorrow!

2008-10-08T20:08:00.001-05:00

:D :D :D

wish me luck!

♥,
melissa

psst, want a free chain? :)

2008-10-01T11:15:00.002-05:00

i already posted today, but here's something fabulous!

the holidays are fast approaching, so if you're going to be buying handmade for gift-giving (i know i am!), pick up a few maoiliosa pendants! if you've bought from me before, you know everything arrives to you ready to give as a gift, or keep for yourself and feel special :). and this month is the best month to buy from my shop, because you can choose to upgrade your pendant to chain-strung for no extra cost!

SPECIAL OCTOBER OFFER! all month long, when you buy a maoiliosa pendant necklace, you can choose to have it strung on an 18" silver-plated chain at NO EXTRA COST! if you want the chain instead of the ribbon, tell me in the 'notes to seller' section upon checkout :).

the offer does not include clearance pendants, but the chain is still available in my shop for $5 separately.

i'm offering the free chains to see how many customers prefer them to the ribbon. with the help of your poll answers and the results from this month's special offer, i will be able to decide whether to:

continue to sell the pendants on ribbon, but still offer the $5 upgrade
switch all the pendants to chain-strung, but offer ribbon as a special request at no additional charge
sell the pendants by themselves, and offer ribbon and chain necklaces as upgrades

thanks for your help, and enjoy the special offer! :D

♥,
melissa

september summary, october goals

2008-10-01T10:54:00.003-05:00

is it really october already?! yes, the internet, it is! and i couldn't be more excited!

i'm getting married in just a few days, college is going well, and my shop is seeing much more success than in previous months!

to recap, here were my goals for september:

sell 25 things in my shop and fulfill at least one wholesale reorder
reach 560 hearts
finish all the wedding planning
finish most of my biology class, and be prepared to test out of all my french requirements for college
redo all the primary photos in my shop.

i ended the month with 26 sales, so i met my sales goal! i did not reach 560 hearts (ended up at 525), but that's okay. i am (mostly) completely prepared for the big wedding day next thursday, also! and as for the biology and french - i only have to type up a few lab reports and mail them off, then take the final for biology, and i have studied french a lot over the course of the month. out of the 1000 vocabulary study cards i bought, for example, i readily know ~850 of them. the words i'm having the most problems with are adverbs, conjunctions, and prepositions. studying my old french textbooks has helped a lot in jogging my memory, too. also, i did redo most of the photos in my shop! overall, i'd say i feel pretty accomplished for september.

looking ahead to october, here are my goals:

get married! yay!
push myself more with the french thing, and complete biology by mid-month
register for 3 more courses
complete my sociology (deviance) course
sell 35 things in my shop
reach 600 hearts
redo the rest of my shop photos

also, please take a moment to answer my poll questions (at the top, on the right) if you haven't already. changes are coming, and i value your input!

here's to a fruitful october!

♥,
melissa

two questions

2008-09-29T21:08:00.004-05:00

well hello, the internet!

i'm currently pondering some changes to my products, and i want your opinion! please take a moment to answer the two polls on the right side of this blog.

question one concerns shiny versus subtle sealer. i have always used a matte finish so that the design on the pendant speaks for itself, but i recently have been testing out a sealer that has a hi-gloss finish and *gasp!* is waterproof! i really like the idea of making my jewelry waterproof, as it makes each piece more durable in general.

question two concerns the method on which my pendants are strung. i currently offer a silver-plated chain upgrade in my shop for $5, but personally, i am starting to prefer the look of the chain to the ribbon altogether. do you think the ribbon is essential to a maoiliosa pendant necklace? or would a maoiliosa pendant on a chain be way more awesome? which would you personally prefer to wear: ribbon or chain?

i'd like to hear what you have to say on these issues! feel free to comment with an explaination of why you voted for your choices :).

♥,
melissa

changes

2008-09-23T14:08:00.007-05:00

you may have noticed, the internet, that i changed the colour scheme of my blog. you may have also noticed that i haven't posted anything new in a little while. well, i have a good reason!:

as you probably remember, i'm getting married very soon (in less than 2 1/2 weeks!), and this major change that's about to take place in my life has made me think about changing other things, as well. kind of like spring cleaning. i just feel like now is a good time to sit and take note of the things in all levels of my life that need re-evaluating and adjusting, or scrapping altogether.

what this means for my shop is that i spent a lot of time improving it at the perhaps most important level: my photography. i have to admit that taking photos of each piece, from each and every angle, is the most tedious and unpleasurable part, i find, of maintaining a shop. however, while my old photos were okay, they certainly didn't represent my pieces in the most enticing way possible, so i spent a really long time over the past few weeks redoing all the item photos, paying special attention to the primary photo in each listing. here is the result:

this photo is much more appealing than the one it replaced (the pendant, in less-appropriate lighting, propped up on a clear box). i like how the river rock adds not only texture to the photo, but a better sense of dimension and depth, as well.

so all the pendants in my shop are updated with all new photos. my next task is the earrings, gift sets, and magnet sets. i didn't bother correcting the photos on clearance items, as it probably isn't worth the time :p.

also, it's good every once in a while to spruce up your profile and to make sure that everything in your shop policies section still applies. i spent a little time on that the other day, and even added a "shout out" section for some of my favourite etsians :). i'm super grateful to everyone who's made a positive impact on my life, and it's important to me that these people know they're appreciated!

especially with the holidays approaching, it is important for me to make sure everything in my shop is in the best possible shape. with so much competition, it's crucial to present your shop the best you can for potential customers!

so that's what's changed in my shop. also, i added more items to the clearance section to make way for new things that appeal to a larger audience, and i'm running a 10% discount sale through the end of the month.

for my life in general, several changes are in order. one obvious one is that i will no longer be "melissa a. rogers", but "melissa a. griffith". with that change of name comes a new sense of responsibility as a wife. there is room for improvement in how i treat brandon, and also how i treat myself. there's no better time than the present, right?

i don't know, i just think that autumn is the best time of the year to reflect and see about making some positive differences all around you. here in texas, we don't experience the gorgeous fall foliage colours that indicate that autumn has arrived, but i often dream about one day living in an area where i can watch the leaves turn, then fall. even just thinking about it is very cathartic.

can you tell i've been meditating a lot lately? :p

i encourage you,too, to look within and without yourselves and invite change in if there is need.

and hopefully you like the new blog look!

♥,
melissa

famous friend!

2008-09-16T14:15:00.005-05:00

the coolest thing happened today! brandon and i have this friend named bob, who used to be brandon's manager at work. bob is married to an amazing artist named kim roberti, who, like me, is buddhist.

here's me and kim at a wedding a few years ago. i knew that she was a talented artist, but i never expected to get my dick blick studio catalogue in the mail and find the art of, of all people, kim, someone i know, on the cover! i didn't want to post a picture of the cover because of copyright reasons, but here, on the back of the catalogue, is a snippet about kim:

how cool is that?! i'm so excited for her, and now i definately have something to talk to her about when she and bob attend my wedding in 3 weeks :).

so if you order from dickblick.com and get the catalogues in the mail, now you know who the artist of the 2008-2009 catalogue coverart is!

♥,

melissa

nin again!

2008-09-11T13:29:00.003-05:00

(a photo i took at the nine inch nails concert i attended in august)

brandon and i thought about it really hard, and we're going to another nine inch nails concert on october 23! ah, my first concert as a married woman ;).

money has been tight around the rogers-griffith household the past few weeks, but this is something that's really important to us, so we're going! this time it's in san antonio, which is only an hour and a half away from us, so we won't need to spend nearly as much money on gas as we did last time. plus, we love san antonio! normally, we go every year for our dating aniversary (october 6), but this year, since we're getting married on the 9th and staying at a nice hotel in austin (the hyatt on town lake), we were going to forego our annual trip to good ol' s.a. now it looks like we'll be there this year, after all! :D.

well i am just way too excited right now, and probably shouldn't be typing, as i'm sure my sentences are half-way incoherent, but i just had to share my happiness!

♥,
melissa

ALREADY in a treasury!

2008-09-09T11:06:00.005-05:00

my little cranes pocket mirror ('taking flight'), which was just listed yesterday, has already been featured in a treasury! many thanks to buddysan on etsy :D.

yep, i think the pocket mirrors are going to be a huge hit!

♥,
melissa

pocket mirrors!

2008-09-08T08:36:00.005-05:00

some time ago, i had this awesome customer from the u.k. who requested pocket mirrors with the washi designs i use. well, here they are! well, some of them ;).

at the moment, there are 5 designs to choose from, but considering the fact that i sold one (the koi cutey pictured above) immediately after listing it, i can tell i'm going to be expanding to even more designs very soon!

you can use these 2.25" handy mirrors for checking your makeup, your hair, or my favourite use: peeking around corners like a super sleuth! ;D and each mirror comes prettily packaged in a matching organza bag, ready to give to a friend or toss directly into your purse!

and at only $6 each, how can you say no?! every girl needs one of these!

if you see any washi designs in my shop that you think are just dying to be on a pocket mirror, leave me a comment and let me know! you can name a pendant, magnet set, etc. that uses the design you're thinking of so it's easier for me to know which one you mean.

yay, pocket mirrors!

oh, and ps - these were a total bugger to photograph! lea, now i know what you had to go through with your pocket mirrors!

♥,
melissa

become a fan on facebook!

2008-09-05T09:07:00.003-05:00

good morning, the internet :).

just thought i would inform you that i have created a "fan" page for my shop on the popular social-networking site facebook, so if you would like updates on things like sales, new merch, etc., please join!

here is the fan page, although you might need to be logged in to your facebook account to see it.

thanks to those who have already joined! hopefully we can have some fun with this :).

♥,
melissa

august summary, september goals

2008-09-01T21:01:00.003-05:00

alright, here were my goals for august:

sell 20 things, bringing my total to 126
make it to 450 hearts
finish preparing inventory for christmas
a whole bunch of wedding planning
get serious about college
list at least one new thing in my shop each week
clear out the clearance section of my shop

well... i sold 15 things. that's not so bad, but i definately need to start selling more if i'm going to be able to continue to, you know, eat :p. i surpassed my heart goals by reaching 480, though! i did prepare more for the holiday season, but not as much as i would have liked to. i think i have all the supplies i will need for a long time, so that's a relief. i accomplished a lot of my wedding-planning goals last month, as well, and planned out a wedding-preparation schedule that runs from now until the big day! also, i finally got serious about the college stuff i was putting off. i might have waited too long on the biology class, because now i'm in the middle of a nervous breakdown about that, but i did start it finally. new items showed up in my shop nearly every day, so i met that goal, and while i didn't clear out my clearance section, i sold a few things from it and added some new great deals!

so, my goals for september are:

sell 25 things in my shop and fulfill at least one wholesale reorder
reach 560 hearts
finish all the wedding planning
finish most of my biology class, and be prepared to test out of all my french requirements for college
redo all the primary photos in my shop. i have an idea planned :).

happy september, the internet!

♥,
melissa

i love pretty packaging!

2008-08-29T10:23:00.006-05:00

yes, i love pretty packaging, so it just comes naturally that i would want to make each package that i mail out to one of my customers as presentable and fun to open as possible. after all, that's how i want things that i buy to arrive to me!

here's my latest finished order, 100 custom washi fortune cookies for a very nice customer's upcoming wedding:

i hope she loves them! they look just like the ones i made for my wedding: boxes stuffed with these pretty little paper cookies!

it really makes me start thinking about my wedding. it's only about 40 days away, and i'm starting to get butterflies! i still need to get my dress altered, sign the contract for our photographer (this just came about yesterday! an old high school friend of mine, mel ferro cole of i heart photography, just found me on facebook, and we didn't have a professional photographer yet, so we thought, what perfect timing!), get our rings polished (and my band, from my mom's set from her marriage to my biological father who died when i was 6 months old, resized), get our marriage license, sign the contract with the catering, and a few small details. not much left, really!

i have a busy fall ahead of me, that's for sure. i'm tackling 5 distance learning college classes over the course of this semester, plus testing out of 16 credit hours of french, plus the wedding, christmas, the busy holiday season that's about to take hold in my shop, and more! phew! wish me luck, is all i can say ;).

♥,
melissa

i don't do scrabble pendants

2008-08-26T10:20:00.003-05:00

the one exception:

this beauty! her name is 'lotus', and i will be adding her to my shop later today. i got my hands on some of those gorgeous burgundy scrabble tiles a while back, and instantly knew this paper would look stunning on it. the other special thing about this little pretty is that she doesn't come on a ribbon necklace like the other pendants in my shop: this piece is strung on one of my elegant silver-plated chains (otherwise available as an upgrade in my shop). i love this necklace so much that i greedily made one for myself :p.

so if you love this piece as much as i do, you can buy one for yourself :).

and don't forget my 15% off sale that runs till the end of the month! it applies to anything in my shop, including clearance items!

that's all for now! i'll leave you with a picture of the amazing sunset we had a few evenings ago:

♥,
melissa

in the works

2008-08-24T14:27:00.003-05:00

all kinds of new pendant necklaces are coming soon to my shop!

also, BIG SALE! everything in my shop is 15% off through the end of august! just purchase your items as you normally would, and i will promptly reimburse you 15% of the item costs. good deal, huh? jump on it! ;D

♥,
melissa

coming soon to my shop...

2008-08-21T09:02:00.005-05:00

washi bobbypins! what do you think?

they'll be added to the shop over the course of the next few days :).

♥,
melissa

i'm all rocked out!

2008-08-18T19:25:00.008-05:00

nine inch nails was amazing! i might talk more on this later, but for now, here's a photo to hold you over:

i took this (not so great quality...) picture of trent reznor ♥, along with many, many others. unfortunately, my camera doesn't have a "concert" setting or anything like that, so i had to settle with "sunset". tsk tsk. but at least i got something, right? :D

okay, one more:

we had a blast! my legs are still tired from jumping up and down!

and since i took my laptop with me, i was able to post some new gear in my shop:

'japanese teahouse' earring set

and

18" silver-plated chain upgrade!

plus many more items, and even more new ones to come this week!

stay tuned!

♥,
melissa

front page premier!

2008-08-10T11:06:00.005-05:00

i woke up this morning, checked my etsy stuff, and noticed i received a lot of item hearts and store hearts, an unusually high number, in fact. what was the reason for this, i implored?

unbeknownst to me, my 'japanese wedding' washi fortune cookies were featured in a treasury (with many other talented etsy paper artists!), and that treasury made the front page! :D

this is the first time anything of mine has made it to the coveted "fp", so i am extremely excited!

in other news:

yesterday was brandon's birthday. he loved all his gifts (i bought him 'rockband', which he has quickly become addicted to, and thanks to which i finally own some semblance of a drumset, a wish of mine since childhood), and we had a great time with our friends playing blacklight mini-golf and having a nice dinner together.
i finally got together with my soon-to-be mother-in-law. after our 6 months of silence, she finally came through on our plans to have dinner as a family (brandon, me, his mom, and his step-dad), and it was... awkward, but fine. i was civil, and everything went okay.
also, my sage plants bloomed!

pretty, huh?

the nine inch nails concert is less than a week away! i am pumped :).
one other really important thing to mention:

starting tomorrow, i'm going to be introducing all kinds of new cuties to my shop, including washi bobbypin sets and new gift sets, earrings, and pendants!
be sure to check in throughout the week to see all the new goodies!

alrighty, time to go jam out on the drums some more ;D.

♥,
melissa

what did i do to deserve this?

2008-08-06T13:22:00.002-05:00

nothing, really :). i just decided to indulge in one of my favourite treats: chocolate cream pie and a vanilla frappucino. are you drooling yet?

today has been productive so far. i packaged a few orders (including my first sale to australia!) and brought them to the post office, and i'm finishing up a custom order and that wholesale order. also, i took care of some school stuff, and even squeezed in a little etsy shopping (not for me! for my friend's birthday, i swear!).

the day is only half over, and there's still so much more to do! now that i've enjoyed my tasty treat, it's time to get back to work :).

♥,
melissa

busy bee me

2008-08-05T10:58:00.003-05:00

yes, i'm busy with another wholesale reorder from my first wholesale account :). along with the usual reorder, this order includes 20 pairs of 'yoko', a new addition to my client's store! i still feel super honoured to be selling to such a popular venue.

also, my sales have magically picked up in my own store! looks like my dry spell is quite possibly over :). yay, i can pay bills again, haha!

and how do you like my new store banner ^ and avatar > ? if you're in the market for a really cool banner/avatar set for your etsy store, i strongly suggest henryrabbit . amanda is awesome!

oh, and here's one of those martinelli's sparkling apple cider bottles we bought for the wedding:

so cute! it's got little red sakura blossoms on the sides of the label, too! these little bottles are the perfect size for each person to toast with at the reception. i'm so excited; i'm getting married in just 2 months! :D

well, time to prepare some bagel sandwiches for brandon and myself :).

♥,
melissa

july summary, august goals

2008-08-01T08:28:00.003-05:00

i'm sorry i've been away for so long! here, have a cat to make it up to you:

okay, so here were my goals for july:

sell 45 things in my shop
complete all these wholesale orders and delve into the new ones
reach 430 hearts
introduce my new washi fortune cookie line
start preparing my inventory for christmas
attend my bachelorette party
take care of the rest of the wedding stuff
plan brandon's birthday
do all that biology and french stuff

... uh ...

i totally didn't meet any of my goals. it's rather depressing, really:

i did not sell 45 things. i didn't even sell 4.5 things. i sold 4 things. that does not feel awesome!
i completed the wholesale orders from last month, but all my opportunities for new wholesale accounts fell through because the people who wanted to buy from me went out of business. boo.
i did not reach 430 hearts. i reached 400 hearts.
i was so unmotivated due to the above failures that i didn't even put anything new into my shop last month, including the washi fortune cookies i had planned.
i did start preparing my inventory for christmas, but i didn't get as far as i planned.
my bachelorette party was fun! it was just 4 of us girls, but i had a good time. nothing crazy happened; it was just nice to hang out with a few of my closest friends.
the only wedding thing i took care of last month was that i ordered individual mini-bottles of martinelli's sparkling apple cider for the toasts. they came out looking really cute with their cherry blossom labels! i'll show you some pictures in a later post. i guess i really need to get my butt in gear this month with the wedding planning, huh?
brandon's birthday is pretty much planned. i got him an awesome present! more on that after he opens it :).
... i didn't do any of my french or biology stuff. i did manage to find my biology textbook and put it on my desk, but that's as far as i got with that! today, i'm going up to my school to talk to my new advisor about this whole french mess. i'm actually not supposed to have to take a foreign language since texas has exemptions based on how much you took in high school (i got 5 years of high school credit in french, including 1 advanced placement class and the a.p. test). so today i'm ready to fight, because my degree audit says i need 16 hours of french, but they have my high school transcript, so they should know i don't need foreign language. ugh.

so basically last month wasn't very good, you all. i am, of course, grateful for the 4 sales i did make, and my first wholesale buyer placed another reorder with me, including a new piece (yay!).

i'll keep my august goals modest:

sell 20 things, bringing my total to 126.
make it to 450 hearts.
finish preparing inventory for christmas
a whole bunch of wedding planning
get serious about college. i can't keep putting this stuff off!
list at least one new thing in my shop each week.
clear out the clearance section of my shop (just added!). almost everything in there is $4-5, so check it out!

congratulations to everyone who sold well in july; i'm not really sure why my sales were so low, but my competitors stayed steady :/.

to a better august!

♥,
melissa

so many magnets...

2008-07-19T22:36:00.002-05:00

as i mentioned, i'm gearing up for the holidays while business is really slow. today, i made over 250 magnets for more than 50 magnet sets. oh. my. god. when i close my eyes, all i see is the reflection of tons of silver circles.

so i guess you could say my day didn't have a lot of variety to it :p. oh well, it had to be done sometime!

♥,
melissa