"About" Me

So Etsy has this nifty little section of our shops, that allows us to share more about ourselves, our craft and our processes. When I first started designing jewelry to sell, I really thought people couldn't care less about "who I was" and weren't really interested in the person behind the designs. But I was so wrong! Had I realized, I would've named my shop differently. Simply Susan, Simply Suz ... something like that. My Happy Things still suits me very well, but I find that people tend to remember my name before remembering the shop name. 

 

ANYWAY since the "About Me" section became available, it's been in my "Ooh - this is great, I can't wait to do it some day" file. I think it's a wonderful idea. We all want to know something about the designer behind the design - if only how they look. We love that touch of human connection, that human piece of the puzzle to this entity we've come to know in our heads. For me, Eileen Fisher is a good example of this. I love her designs. They're effortless and casual, but have so many fine points of style and special-ness. I remember the first time I saw a photo of her - it totally completed the vision in my head of the brand and what it's about. She looked exactly like what I thought someone who would design her brand, would. It was so satisfying to know a little bit about the woman behind the brand and made me love it even more!

 

Although I'm totally on board with the whole "About Me" shop thing on Etsy, I've been reluctant to actually sit down and do it! I'm a dreamer and I always have this unattainable dream of "perfectly fabulous" in my head. I'll never reach it. I'll never get it down on paper, in a jewelry design or whatever medium I'm working on at that particular moment. And so this high expectation or standard I have set for myself - floating around in the sky of perfect fabulousness - has kept me from putting anything down at all. I finally decided that I needed to find a "safety zone" in it, to allow me to at least start something. And then it dawned on me - it's digital. I love digital, because it can be ever-changing! I can type something one day and then go in and change it the next! It's the whole reason I switched from paper scrapbooking to digital scrapbooking, to document my cute little guys and our days and moments together during their childhood. It's freeing to know it doesn't have to be perfect (at least yet!)!!!

 

And so I decided to embrace it as a "continually changing, work in progress". And with this, I was finally able to put a little something to begin with, down for those who are interested to see. Whew! So I'm sharing the photo I've included and the little blurb I put out there this afternoon. It's a start ... at least it's a little something. I haven't done any "process" photos yet, although I have some ideas I'm kind of excited about. I'll have to tackle that another day ... you know, when I have the "perfect light", "perfect angle", "perfect set up", "perfect idea".  ;)  

 

It seems so permanent ...

... to put my story down in print! I'm a dreamer who loves "larger than life" and the potential for there to be "fabulousness" in everything, but also appreciates organization and orderly, systematic processes. The process part of me loves the idea of having a place like this to so neatly share more about me and my craft, but the dreamer in me knows I'll never get it all down to perfection, so I hesitate to even start to try!

I love the vision, I love working to color it in. I love to stop and take mental pictures, freezing random moments trying to savor them in my mind forever. I love jewelry (always have), how it can be extra-special, how great textural pieces feel so good, how it makes you smile to know you're wearing something you enjoy. I love how with a glance, it can put a little smile in your day. I think it's amazing that some people can start from nothing but raw materials (i.e., glass, clay, etc) and create something fantastic (artisan materials like ceramics and lampwork glass)! This appreciation and awe, leads me to love working with artisan pieces whenever I find something special. It's like I'm taking the little piece of wonderful and presenting it on a stage and announcing to the world, "Look how spectacular this is!" ... all by just designing a piece of jewelry with it. I love that designing jewelry is a process, that you get to try over and over again. It's okay to commit to one design, because there will always be more ... and my mind can keep dreaming!

So for now, that's a little bit "About" me, here at My Happy Things. Oh yeah, I'm an ex-Marketing Executive who's now a stay at home mom with two cuter-than-cute little boys. I've always been a dreamer ... I don't know what I'll be tomorrow ... but I promise to come back here and share some more with you, including some pictures of how I work! Until then ... be happy!

 

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today, and reading a little bit "About Me"! :)