Grow (W)here You Are Planted

 So I FINALLY got into jewelry making.  I take silver sheet and wire and turn them into rings and chains.  I can also make boxes and bracelets and all manner of interesting things. I am the happiest woman in the world. Also, I am losing my mind.   Every day I design, research, clean, shape, cut, bend, solder, file, file, and file some more.  I spend a lot of time taking pictures, editing pictures, and then posting them on my socials with music so folks find themselves interested and want to go to my website (www.lolaandspike.com) and buy jewelry. Only problem in this whole process is I've only had one sale.   I am superbly thankful for that sale.   I am ready for more sales considering it is the only way I can continue this dream of mine.  This dream I've had since I was 17 years old and took my first jewelry-making class in college. It helps that, when I do feel a major panic attack coming on, I can make something and change my focus. Anyway...What I'm saying is GO CHECK O

 OMG! I DID IT! I have started making jewelry again and, today, I opened my first store! There's 9 rings and I love all of them.  I am already working on the next collection and I can't even express how fantastic this feels. Now to get things sold. Check it out!   https://www.lolaandspike.com/

 I have been on the path of introspection and growth for a long while now.  All my life I've considered and questioned 'why' and 'why not' along the way, always secure in myself as self and never really questioning or doubting myself. Image by  monicore  from  Pixabay   Whether the passing of time or the happenings in it, perhaps the combination of both, brought me to the point where I no longer felt safe as myself.  My main safety blanket left this world about 13 years ago and I became afraid.  Fear, in and of itself, is not an issue.  It is not a problem to be solved but a curtain to walk through.  Fear had become for me a wall.  A solid wall covered in loudly voiced neon signs telling me to stay away, to not go near it, to not even question what may be on the other side. It took some time but I realized, as I sat with this fear and let it wash over me until I almost drowned, that fear is a mirror and the girl looking at me is scared of me too. So, over time and w

 Yep...still making journals everyday-ish.  Next are sketchbooks and music composition workbooks.  I've got it down to a science.  I have my step-by-step set up so I can get everything done in 5 minutes and then, during the approximate 2 minutes it takes for the previewer to load, I either work on something else or I get to watch a little tv. Image by  Pexels  from  Pixabay   Check these out!  As always, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.  I hope you get to enjoy a few of these.  I will be creating bigger ones, 400 pages or so, to allow for daily journaling and I am creating some guided material as well. Take care!

 So I'm obsessed with notebooks and journals. I found out recently that I can design journals, also called low content books, in Canva.  I also use some other apps for some of the flair I like to add to things like NEON! I also found out I can take those journal designs and upload them to Amazon KDP and then they appear for sale on Amazon.com. I am losing my mind.  I really love having different notebooks for things and, the cooler the notebook, the better my handwriting becomes.  Anyway, What I'm trying to say is I am really into this whole process and, though I received some incorrect measurements early on, things are good to go now. My attempt at a handmade mockup...hmmm I tested my most recent measurements for the cover and the pages inside by creating 5 journals 4 days ago.  Yesterday, 72 hours later, I received emails from Amazon that they were live on the site and ready for purchase.  I'll add links to all 7 I have for sale so far.   Over the last two days, I designe