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SBC News (Part 2 of 3): My Tentative Painting Plan for 2012!

Sunday, January 15th, 2012

Hi Friends and Fans!

Yesterday I wrote about how I am changing Simply the Best Creations back to what it used to be…from business to hobby and I explained why and all that good stuff! You can read it HERE if you missed it.

On this blog post, I want to tell you my tentative painting plans for 2012. It is the plan NOW, but that doesn’t mean it won’t change later.

From now till the end of August this year,  I will be working on my own personal home decor projects. I have about 11 projects to complete (some are rather small so I combined those into one month) and so I gave myself one month to work on each big project. As I complete a project, I will share them on this website/blog. You can steal these ideas and use them to your advantage whenever and wherever you want. I give you full permission to do so. I may even come up with tutorials for other projects or make something completely different and share it with you on this blog too.

I also have over 60 clear ornaments sitting in my closet waiting to be painted. I have decided to go ahead and paint them for Christmas at least one more year (tentatively speaking). So, from September 1st till about November 20th or so (this year), I will paint those ornaments to sell. If that doesn’t work out or I decide not to paint those ornaments (as time gets closer to September), I will donate them to a church.

I am keeping my mind open to new and creative adventures. Right now, I am in the experimental mode and so I will be playing around with my craft and art supplies and seeing if I’d like to pursue something else. There are no limitations to creativity and I have many ideas in my head all the time.

I will still keep this website/blog and my ETSY shop to sell and share my stuff. I will no longer be exploring any other online stores to sell my stuff, at this time.

Tomorrow, Part 3 of 3, Getting Rid of Unnecessary Clutter and Streamlining Simply the Best Creations!

Devil's Bay Ocean in Oregon

Devil's Bay Ocean in Oregon

 

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SBC News (Part 1 of 3): Going From Business to Hobby!

Saturday, January 14th, 2012
Depoe Bay Oregon Sunset

Depoe Bay Oregon Sunset

Hi Friends and Fans!

After a few months of soul searching and heart changes, I have decided to make Simply the Best Creations back to what it used to be—a HOBBY! (like it used to be before 2009). At least for now—which means it could change later!

For the last three years I have worked myself to the bone on making Simply the Best Creations work as a entrepreneurial  career, but for the last 5 months or so I’ve been feeling the need to make some changes creatively speaking, and on focusing my attentions else where for the moment.

No matter what the experts tell you, the economy DOES have an impact on your sales. You have to work triply harder MORE SO than what you did a few years ago. I got an eye opener working at the holiday boutique in Upland this last December. The owner of this boutique enlightened me. He informed me that in the last 30 years of running holiday boutiques all over Southern California, the sales have dwindled down to about a third of what they used to be….and all the advertising and marketing was NOT the problem. People are just watching their money more. He has the facts to back that statement up. It’s called accounting.

But it isn’t just about the economy. You see, it’s not that I didn’t try or that I did or did not do anything I should or shouldn’t of done. Sometimes life just tells you to go another direction (part of it me knowing that living a more simple life is better for me too). I no longer feel as passionate about painting for a LIVING where marketing and being on the computer took up most of my time. Rather I feel as if I need to go back to doing it for fun, and not because I need to meet a deadline or to do a special order for someone.

When painting was JUST a hobby, sometimes I went a few months without working on any projects at all. I would work on OTHER hobbies and interests, as painting was not the only thing I was passionate about. In the last few months, I’ve been feeling a tug on my heart. I would  just paint and ignore other creative projects I liked to do as well, especially personal projects such as scrap booking my photos and being more physically active in my life. So, I am making the big switch over again so I can pursue that part of me once again!

I have enjoyed this creative  journey very much though! I have learned so much AND I have not given up the “entrepreneur” in me just yet either! I am keeping the door open for future opportunities.

I will still continue to paint and share my projects on this website and on my Facebook profile! Maybe I’ll even make jewelry, create greeting cards or make some embellishments for scrap booking. Anything. It doesn’t really matter. One of the reasons I named this business SIMPLY THE BEST CREATIONS was to be able to create anything I wanted without it just being dedicated to doing ONE type of art or craft!

I will continue to occasionally sell stuff on this website AND on my ETSY shop. I may even continue to paint ornaments for Christmas … but I will do this leisurely, and just paint when I feel like it! We shall see what life brings!

Thank you for being part of my creative journey!

Tomorrow, Part 2 of 3, my tentative painting plan (as a hobby) for 2012.

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SBC News: Happy New Year Sale on ETSY! FREE SHIPPING!

Saturday, January 7th, 2012

Happy New Year Sale: Hand Painted Ornaments, Candle Holders, Jewelry Boxes, Earrings, and More! On my ETSY shop only! 10% off and FREE SHIPPING on all items!

Happy New Year Everyone! I am late in saying this on my website, but better late than never! I trust you all had an awesome Christmas and holiday season. For me, I stayed home and enjoyed the company with my best friend and our two pet birds, Munchkin and Peepers. I opened presents, made brunch and dinner and hung out at home watching “A Christmas Story” and the Three Stooges! Fun times!

For New Year’s, I had friends over! We ate at a delicious and huge buffet at a restaurant right near me, and we laughed and played UNO (our favorite game), and Taboo. To bring in the new year we watched the ball fall in New York (on TV of course!), and lit off some firecrackers outside! We cheered each other with champagne or sparkling apple cider and hugged and kissed each other to bring the New Year in on a proper note.

I have some very important announcements to make in the next week in which changes my focus for this website and my Simply the Best Creations business. There will be a total of three blog posts (one blog post for three days in a row), explaining the what and why, the big changes about to take place, and my big plan on what I will be doing for 2012.

To start off the New Year, I am having a major sale on my ETSY shop which includes 10% off the original price (the price in my shop reflects the 10%), AND FREE SHIPPING on all items for the rest of January! Please use coupon code: JanSale2012 in order to get the free shipping when you go to check out in the ETSY shop. A lot of these items are seasonal (Christmas items and Halloween items), and a lot of them will never be painted again. Some designs I could do again later but I may not. If you are one of those people who like to buy gifts ahead of time to put away for next Christmas or perhaps for a birthday or other event, this sale is for you. All of my fall and Halloween items have been reduced 50% off (reflected in price). All of my every day earrings are also on sale. All items have been handmade or hand painted, and all jewelry has been made from scratch.

Here is the LINK to my ETSY shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ALihlBestCreations?ref=si_shop

Please remember to put in coupon code JanSale2012 to get FREE SHIPPING!

Have a blessed year Everyone! Until next time…..

Simply the Best Creations at Christmas On Euclid

Simply the Best Creations at "Christmas On Euclid" in Dec- 2011 Craft Fair!

 

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Ann Lihl’s Art: FREE SHIPPING on all items in my ETSY shop!

Thursday, December 8th, 2011

Hand Painted ornaments, candle holders, candy trays and more! Everything has FREE SHIPPING until December 15th, 2011. I am also discounting ornaments here and there on that shop as well, so check back frequently! I promise to mail out your order within 24 hrs (unless you order on the weekend, then I will mail it out on Mondays).

Check out my ETSY Shop here by clicking on the link below (to receive FREE SHIPPING)!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ALihlBestCreations?ref=si_shop

 

Christmas By Moonlight Gold Square Candle Holder

Christmas By Moonlight Gold Square Candle Holder

 

 

 

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Christmas Sale! 15% off Everything in My ETSY Shop!

Thursday, November 24th, 2011

Hi Everyone!

It’s time to celebrate the holidays! Christmas is just around the corner!

As a Thank You, I’d like to offer you a 15% discount on ALL items in my ETSY shop from today till December 2nd, 2011:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ALihlBestCreations?page=2

To get your 15% discount, you need to enter coupon code: HOLIDAY2011 at the checkout. You will not receive it otherwise!

Thank you for your patronage!

 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Christmas By Moonlight Gold Square Candle Holder

Christmas By Moonlight Gold Square Candle Holder

 

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SBC News: I’ve Changed My Mind Again and Other Things!

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

SBC Website Changes: Beauty Recipes, Featured Artists and one neat event I attended in August, 2011.

About a month ago, I decided to throw in the towel for posting any more beauty recipes and at that time I wanted to take down all the beauty recipes on this website. I was spending too much time figuring out what “new” recipe to put up every week and not getting the most important work done, such as being creative, painting, and other business priorities!

Anyways, something told me to just walk away for a while to see if this is what I really wanted to do, and I have decided to “KEEP” the beauty recipes up on this site so you can refer back to the recipes whenever you want. I just won’t be posting any new recipes this year UNLESS it’s a recipe for the holidays that is just too fun to pass up. Starting next year we’ll see how I feel about the beauty recipes (if I’ll keep them, post more of them, or what).

I will also keep the Featured Artist’s interviews on my website for now to show link love for my friends, but again, I will not focus on doing any new interviews for this year as my main focus is on creating and painting and other artistic endeavors which I will share with you here and there.

I can’t believe FALL is almost here! I have been working really hard on painting some new fall product, such as candle holders and earrings. I only do a few of each item, and most times only ONE of each item as a One of A Kind type thing. It’s been fun and I plan on sharing these cool projects with you very soon, amongst some other things I have been learning about, thinking about and about my mad growing adventures coming up.

On August 13, 2011, I was invited to a “Candles and Cocktails” party at a friend’s home. Her daughter Bella (as pictured below with me) was the best helper anyone could ask for at the party. She not only helped me at my table doing various small jobs, but she also was my best customer. She loved all the shiny glass objects, wanted to touch them all and even bought some for herself and as presents for others.

Bella and I at a party on August 13th, 2011

Bella and I at a "Candles and Cocktails" party on August 13, 2011

 

 

 

 

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SBC News: New Product Launch ~ Wearable 3D Art Jewelry!

Monday, August 8th, 2011

Hand Made From Scratch and Hand Painted Too-Introducing Simply the Best Creations “Wearable 3D Art Jewelry-Earrings”!

I am so excited today! I’ve been chomping on the bit to finally share with you something new and exciting for us at Simply the Best Creations. I am finally able to show off some new artwork (earrings that is!) that is made from hand with glass and copper, hand painted like 3D art, topped with hypo-allergenic backs (gold filled or silver filled) or nickel-free earring backs (gold plated or stainless steel), then wrapped in a velvet black bag!

Let me tell you the story of how this came about!

Over a year ago, I met Adam Castrejon, my jewelry art partner in crime, through KSGVRadio.com. He was the producer of several shows on that internet radio station, and on one of those shows, I met him through Dennis Graham’s Free For All Fridays!

Dennis Graham invited me to be on the air in January of 2010 and I had a blast. I had the privilege of being on his show quite a few times after that, the last show being where I was able to interview a vampire and we had 20,000 listeners on the air! What excitement that was for Dennis, Adam and I!

Adam and I got to know each other better and through the process I learned that Adam himself was an oil painter amongst other things that he has done in the past (he’s a creative soul)! He approached me this year asking if I’d be interested in him making glass pieces for me to paint on! I was immediately interested as I always liked the idea of making stuff from scratch! It would be something neat and original and something you couldn’t find in a store! Not yet anyways!

In the process of him creating candle holders and other things, and through many meetings over lunch, Adam showed me something one day that made the light bulb go on in my head. He had accidentally broken some heart ornaments in half. Rather than waste the glass by throwing it away, he proceeded to make small teardrops using the half hearts. Upon me seeing it, I knew what our first product would be—EARRINGS!!! Immediately I told him this is what we will do first and foremost!! He was to make more of this half heart earrings (and now I call them TEARDROP earrings), small and large, and also round earrings, small and large too!

So Adam has been busy making lots of earrings, pendants, ornaments and candle holders so far. And there’s more to come in the future. Right now we are just working on earrings, but in the future I will keep  you posted on the rest of the items we are making together.

So, with that said, I have several hand made earrings to share with you this entire week, starting with today through Friday…but it doesn’t stop there.  As they are finished, I will be putting them up for sale on my ETSY shop which is HERE:

ALIHLBESTCREATIONS  ON ETSY

Below are pictures of the first four pairs of earrings for today! Check back with the ETSY shop link above to see the other pairs the rest of this week. I will not be posting a blog post for each day. Just check this link, bookmark it or put me in your circle on ETSY if you yourself have a shop up there, OR go to my Facebook Business Page, where I will be posting pictures of each pair of earrings on the wall for you to see every day this week. Check back often this week so you can see all of them. Please leave me a comment below and let me know what you think of these. I would love your feedback. 

Small Teardrop Glass Earrings-Purple and Green Leaf

Small Teardrop Glass Earrings-Purple and Green Leaf

Small Round Glass Earrings-"Black Gothic Tree with Gold Leaves"

Small Round Glass Earrings-"Black Gothic Tree with Gold Leaves"

Large Teardrop Glass Earrings- "Lighthouse Scene"

Large Teardrop Glass Earrings- "Lighthouse Scene"

Small Teardrop Glass Earrings-"Black Cat"

Small Teardrop Glass Earrings-"Black Cat"

These are my favorite four pairs of earrings that I am showing today, and I can’t make up my mind which one is truly my #1 favorite of all. Which one is your favorite so far of these four?

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SBC News: New Product Launch Date!

Thursday, August 4th, 2011

Simply the Best Creations announces it’s first new product launch dates: August 8th-12th, 2011!

Ann Lihl, along with artist partner Adam Castrejon, announces a new product  with several bold and colorful designs starting on August 8th!

This new product will be the first of a few new exciting goodies that will be launched this year. Our plan is to launch several new items this year, just in time for the holidays.

Each of these new items have been completely hand made from scratch. Hand made first by Adam Castrejon and hand painted and finished by Ann Lihl. I will tell you more about the process on August 8th, what these items are made out of and what we hope to do with this in the future.

Each of these items will be listed in the Simply the Best Creations ETSY SHOP. Starting on August 8th and for the next 4 days following that day, 3 different designs each day will be posted on ETSY.

We would love to hear your feedback!! You can write a comment below in the comments section….

Adam Castrejon

My fellow artist partner Adam Castrejon

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