building word of mouth

So, last year I started up a small side business making decorative jewelry frames and re-purposing furniture. See an example of a custom piece below which is one of my faves. The fabric is actually a childs hand embroidered dress that my dad picked up for me in Mexico to go with this fun vintage Mexican made frame which got some old drawer pulls in brass & green glass for hanging items along the bottom.

I have been working on spreading some word of mouth by starting both Etsy.com & Facebook.com pages, now I joined Pinterest.com and thought why not use that too!

I try to "upcycle" as often as possible using frames and fabric that are looking for purpose. I do love a good vintage frame though so my shopping for material & frames takes place from antique/vintage stores to the local thrift store with a yard or estate sale here & there.

I was SO busy over the months of October- December that I got a little burnt out and have not done much in the past couple of months. My Etsy.com page (Etsy.com/BellaAvila) doesn't even have a single listing at the moment. I will say that I have sold more through my FB (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Bella-Avila-Design/233809599967900)  page & word of mouth than the Etsy site so I am not feeling super bad to have a nothing posted at the moment.

I am starting work on some new frames this week and am back to being excited about them once more. Sometimes I think you need to take a step back to appreciate and enjoy what you do.

I posted a few of my fave custom & created orders below, all of which have sold (yippeee)

This is the sweetest vintage silver frame with a cream cotton inset which I paired with a vintage cream crochet & tan velvet fabrics.

This was a custom order for a friend who found this amazing frame while we were antique shopping locally. I had this fun serape like fabric and the knobs at the base were from an old nightstand I re-furbished. She & I both adored how it turned out!

This was one I sold during the holidays and I have more of this fun flower embroidered fabric for future projects. My friend bought it for her niece & I think it is just so sweet & happy.

The funny thing I didn't set out to create any kind of a business, I just made one for myself....then a friend liked it & asked for me to make one and it spread from there. I love having someone enjoy the finished product and knowing that I created soemthing both pretty & practical.