Welcome to the world of crafts and crafters......Handmade is the new BLACK! :)

Welcome to Crafts Around the World.

This blog is hosted by www.SweetestCharms.Com dedicated to aspiring crafters, work at home moms, entrepeneur, infopreneur, internetpreneurs. A secret place to learn how to sell your crafts online.

"Great treasures are meant to be found. After all, it's the hidden ones that are the most worthwhile discovery one might find in his/her lifetime." - Lin

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Our Morning Song For today :)



I always listen to this everytime the weather is a bit gloomy :)

Traits of an Entrepeneur

From Lists to Live by complied by alice gray and steve stpehens and john van diest

1. Drive - A high degree of motivation
2. Courage - Tenacity and persistence
3. Goals - A sense of direction
4. Knowledge - and a thirst for it
5. Good Health - taking care of one's body
6. Honesty - especially intellectual
7. Optimism - positive attitude
8. Judgement - knowing the wise from the foolish
9. Enthusiasm - excitement about life
10. Chance taking - Willingness to risk failure
11. Dynamism - energy
12. Enterprise - willingness to tackle tough jobs
13. Persuasion - Ability to sell
14. Outgoingness - Friendly
15. Patient yet Impatient - patient with others, yet impatient with the status quo
16. Adaptability - capable of change
17. Perfectionism - Desire to achieve excellence
18. Humor - Ability to laugh at self and others
19. Versatility - Broad interest and skills
20. Curiosity - Interested in people and things
21. Self - Identity - Self-esteem and self- sufficiency
22. Realism/idealism - occupied by reality but guided by ideals
23. Imagination - seeking new ideas, combinations, and relationships
24. Communication - Articulate
25. Receptive - Alert

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

WWW.OHMYSOCUTE.COM found Sweetest Charms




Just click on the link on what they have to say about us :) Thank you for appreciating our designs :)

Yours Truly,

Lin-Lin
http://www.sweetestcharms.com
http://simplylin.etsy.com
http://aroundtheworld.etsy.com

Because It featured cupcakes :) Teeehee ^__^

Enjoy this video :)

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Are you in a twitter twouble?



It's hilarious, I think I may be guilty of this. Oh no!! But I love twitter. It's really different now a days. How you can easily market your products through twitter or use it as a micro blogging and how someone random can instantly make random comments about what you just wrote. Nothing is really private these days even in Facebook and everyone is aware of that. But simply, NOBODY cares! Hehehe. But you just gotta love it.

And so, this is me twittering every miniscule details of my life. Wait! Let me twit that I just wrote this blog. Wait wait. tata :)

Updates

We sold this ate Simply Lin's. Have you gotten yours?

Monday, October 26, 2009

How do you make polymer clay beads?

First of all, I would like to discuss the tools needed to start the project.

There are different types of polymer clay available out there. But for me, my favorite is the Fimo. It's not too soft and not to hard. Just perfect :) But remember, it's up to you to decide which one is easier for you to condition.

Here is a compilation I got from Garie Sim




INFORMATION ON POLYMER CLAY

Polymer clay is nontoxic, man-made modeling clay material that work and feel like ceramic clay, it would not dry out when exposed to the air. The clay can be bake in a regular or toaster oven at a temperature of 275º F or 130º C as compared to ceramic clay which are fired in a kiln at 1500º F. Once baked polymer clay can be sand, carve, drill, buff and rebake eg.(when required to replace or duplicate broken feature to your creations). The clay is PVC (polyvinyl chloride) plastic. Similar plastics are frequently used in today's plumbing and water piping. Tiny grains of PVC are mixed with plasticizers and pigments. When the clay is baked at the proper temperature (varying from 212 to 275 degrees Fahrenheit depending upon the make and color), chemical changes occur and the particles fuse into a solid mass without shrinking. If heated again, the clay will soften slightly but not melt (technically it is similar to "thermosetting" plastics, but still has some characteristics of "thermoplastics"). Like many other plastics, if heated too hot it will darken, give off noxious fumes and possibly catch fire.
The clay are available in more than hundred of colors, depending on the brand of the polymer clay. Many colors are available, and most others may be mixed. The colors may darken slightly when baked. Transparency has not yet been achieved with anything other than one version of "Liquid Sculpey." (Of the solid types of polymer clay, "Transparent" clay is really translucent, though In very thin sheets it is almost transparent.) The newest clays are Super Elasticlay (it forms flexible and stretchy items when baked) and Liquid Sculpey (in clear and whitish verions which we are finding a number of new ways to use). There are also polymer clays which glow in the dark. Sculpey brand has several different glow colors, and Fimo Nightglow is also a glow in the dark clay. There are many options for artists, crafters and kids in using polymer clay, you can combined them with other materials and accessories to enrich your creations. Modeling with polymer clay can be time-consuming, but it is your passport to a rich and imaginative world of shapes, textures and colors. It will certainly help you to become a less stressful person. Polymer clay can help children develop fine motor skills and improve hand eye coordination. It motivate, encourage interaction, and turn the conceptual into reality. Creative play with clay creates confident artistic kids. It is most versatile clay art medium for the professional artists and crafters.
Polymer clay work well with surfaces like paper, aluminum foils, glass, ceramic, marble, granite, do not work well with plastic and finished wood surfaces. You can paint your models or creations with acrylic water based paints. Varnishing your clay creations with water based glaze (matt or shine) will improve the clay model and also removed some of your finger prints. When gluing polymer clays, used super glue gel or if you are experience liquid super glue. Beside super glue you can also use plastic cement, silicon glue and hot melt glue gun.
PRODUCT GUIDE
CERNIT NUMBER ONE
Cernit is a natural clay mixed with plastic and is known as an oven ceramic. The clay is soft and easy to work, right out of the package. There are 10 main color chart, Cernit Number One (28 colors), Cernit Nature's Colors New (6 colors), Cernit Glamour (12 colors), Cernit Glamour Neu (6 colors), Cernit Neon Light (6 colors)and Cernit Doll Collection (6 colors). The range are very wide, from the basic colors to natural's colors, pearlescent, metallic, luminescent day-glo colors and colors for doll making. The clay are of fine professional quality clay, no other materials will give you the translucence you get with Cernit Clay. When kneading the clay to its extreme softness, it does not stick to your hands or fingers. Over kneading the clay make the Cernit clay becomes too soft to control and shaping of your creations can be difficult. The colored clay does not stains your palm. If you are creating a very small miniature, you can also harden the clay by boiling it in water. The process of boiling to harden the clay cannot be done with other clay. You can harden Cernit clay at 100ºC.and can also use a hair dryer to repair your art work.Use cold water on Cernit to eliminate fingerprints or for separating Cernit from other materials and objects. Excellent for creating floating toys as it is not porous in compare to other polymer clay, it is strong and does not break easily. Cernit is a profession polymer clay material that requires experience to handle the clay, finishing after baking in the over is superb.
FIMO

FIMO is an easy-to-use, extremely versatile plastic-based modeling clay, it is divided into Fimo Classic, Fimo soft and Fimo soft effect colours, combining both it consist of 72 colors.
Fimo Classic- the reliable Fimo quality, the clay is specially stable, it is slightly harder than Fimo Soft, it must be kneaded properly to achieve good result, The Classic clay is ideal for detailed and filigree modeling works. There are 24 brilliant colors it can be blended into 100 new shades and colors. As the clay block is segmented into 8 portions on the reverse, it makes easy to blend and produced the desired shades and colors with the consumer brochure, containing a blending table to help achieve more than 100 of colors
Fimo Soft is easily kneadable and thus instantly workable, it is available in 48 topical colors, consist of 24 basic and 24 effect colors. The softness of the clay is ideal for kids to inspire creative activities and work of arts, as it is easy to use.
Fimo MillefioriArt are handmade canes with colorful motifs throughout the whole piece. They come in round and square shape, cutting or slicing creates mosaic-like surfaces. Excellent for creating fun and decorative jewelry and are suitable for decorating pearls. The square Millefiori canes can create tiles, patchwork design and rugs for doll houses. They are available in 10 different design in square or round shape.

SCULPEY

SCULPEY Products consist of many exciting and different ranges, starting with Sculpey, Super Sculpey, Sculpey III, Granitex, Premo Sculpey, Sculpey SuperFlex and Super Elasticlay. They are all nontoxic, man-made modeling clay materials, it won't dry out when exposed to air and it feel like ceramic. The clay come in over 90 colors and become permanently hard after baking.
Sculpey original polymer clay, most economical it is easy to condition and ideal for basic sculpture and moderate detail. The clay come in white and terra cotta colors.
Super Sculpey is the ultimate sculpting compound, used by movie animation studios and professionals worldwide for prototypes, maquettes and all kinds of dolls. Its excellent tooling qualities make it the preferred choice for casting and all types of sculpture. The translucent effect of the Super Sculpey make it ideal for creating realistic figurines. When baked and cooled it can be sanded, drilled, carved and painted with water based acrylic colors.
Sculpey III is a very popular clay and is soft to use without too much kneading. Fun and easy modeling medium, bakes hard with a smooth matte finish in a ordinary home oven. Its softness can be rolled cut and extruded through the Sculpey Clay Gun.
Granitex is the clay that you can take for granite! Tiny fibers mixed into the clay creates unusual stone like effect, that you can imitate nature, excellent for diorama little waterfall, miniature landscaping and creates flooring for doll houses, adds great touch to jewelry, home decor that are easy to condition and tool. Available in 8 color effects.
Premo Sculpey is the premium polymer clay.The consistency of the clay texture makes it perfect for all applications. It is firm, smooth texture, durability after baking, great for creating millefiore. The clay when kneaded does crumble easily. It is densely saturated colors create perfect shade and colors. Premo Sculpey are available in 32 colors.
Sculpey SuperFlex is bendable and flexible! It come in 8 colors and this colorful version takes you to another level of clay creation. Your creation remain rubbery and bendable after baking, combining with the other Sculpey makes excellent puppets with bendable joints. Fun medium for kids, create springing or pop-up model design.
Super Elasticlay is ideal for making flexible one sided molds, extra soft and pliable to shape around even the most intricate detail. After baking it is permanently flexible, you can pour plaster of paris to create relief or used it as a push mold for polymer clay. Can used for repairing picture frames and create molds of your favorite creations.



Now you can see the different types of clay available. We go now to tools. Instead of listing them down. I decided to look for a good video to help you see how the tools and clays look like.

Where to buy?

Photo Transfer on Polymer Clay

I've always wondered how this is done. And I didn't know that it was so simple. All you need is a piece of paper with picture on it and some polymer clay.

She makes it seem so simple :)

Our Disney Song for Today

Sunday, October 25, 2009

On the Spotlight

Who's on the spotlight this week?! This section is a collection of inspiring crafters where they will share their secrets, inspirations, creations, talents and much much more. TGIF for spotlight day :) Who will be our next artist on the spotlight. Take a look.

*On Metal Jewelry
*Ink Productions on the spotlight
*A Crocheted Baby
*It's Dinner Time - Chimes!
*A wonderful soap discovery
*A mad hatter's Pottery
*Need A Pattern? Check out Sew Bettie's - Urban Whimsy
*Crafter on the rise - Holy Craft!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Business with a Heart

I need to buy this to research more on Walt Disney.



I want to share to you something I read from John Maxwell's book,

"One thing I’ve noticed about romantics: They try to create a new and better world from the drabness of everyday life. That is Starbuck’s aim, too. We try to create, in our stores, an oasis, a little neighborhood spot where you can take a break, listen to some jazz, or ponder universal or personal or even whimsical questions over a cup of coffee.

Who dreams up such a place?

From my personal experience, I’d say that the more uninspiring your origins, the more likely you are to use your imagination and invent worlds where everything seems possible.

That’s certainly true of me."


Howard Schultz - Starbucks Founder
From: John Maxwell's Put Your Dream to The Test

What Walt Disney and Howard Schultz tried to capture was their customers hearts. I've been reading a lot on business books and I can recall those movies especially Sabrina with Linus Larrabee representing a heartless man, saying "a walking heart donor" I thought that method was interesting. Be heartless, it's not personal, it's business. But maybe... that's not me. That's not what Sweetest Charms, Simply Lin and Beads Around the world is.

Most business these days, especially on the retail department, people just come and go and purchase the things they need or the things they desire. But after a couple of days they'd forget about the product that they bought as if it was just a momentary thing.

Though I know that I sell products, but what's different is that behind those products, I sell service. You see, Disney didn't just sell products, Starbucks didn't just sell hot white chocolate mocha grande. They sold experience. Service. Creating a customer relationship bringing the customer back. Most of our customers here are comebacks. Approximately 75%. We guarantee our products. And most of all we deliver service.

I am still studying the ways of how Disney works and every time I watch videos, listen to Disney music it just captures my heart in ways I can't explain. It feels like magic. And someday, if not now, we will bring that magic to you through our products. Help us grow, help us deliver this rightful service to you. You may email us suggestions through info[@]sweetestcharms.com So we can provide a better service.

I love this line of Mr. Schultz

"Invent worlds where everything seems possible."


Yours Truly,

Lin-Lin
http://www.sweetestcharms.com
http://simplylin.etsy.com
http://aroundtheworld.etsy.com

Friday, October 23, 2009

Updates

To all Hands that Care members,

We are now an official group from Etsy :) It is already uploaded in their groups :) Yey!!

Lin

Friday, October 16, 2009

Latest

 

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