Not only did I experience some amazing highs this year with Love Sparkle Pretty but I also experienced another transition that made me realize why I do what I do and changed my priorities a bit as I took an extended shop vacation this past year as well.
I shall begin my 2014 year recap of Love Sparkle Pretty back to January including a few customer photos of pieces I created for amazing women.
- At the beginning of the year, I wrote a list of shop goals for myself which is something I never really did before. I wrote it on a large chalkboard door in the craft room to serve as a reminder. Having these writing down not only motivated me but I actually completed all but 2 (with my revenue coming very close but not quite-which is something I didn't even expect to get close too & I never finished my wedding/event planning course...but there's always 2015 right?)
- I started to work on my new craft studio.
- I debuted my new line of floral crowns with photos shot by Kayla V Photography.
- I was featured on Casey Wiegand's blog here and here which was pretty amazing to say the least. I had been following her blog for quite some time now and I had never reached out to a blogger before to feature my items. I guess I thought it was weird or my work wasn't good enough but one of my goals was to collaborate with with more people and since she was my number one choice, I thought why not, you never know unless you try! As soon as I got an amazing reply and the sweetest note from her about the crowns, it seriously made my entire year at that point. "I just had to say THANK YOU!!!!! Oh my heavens, I literally GASPED when I opened your gorgeous box today- AHH! WOW! Seriously WOW! We will get pics asap! THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!! **squeals**" -Casey Wiegand
- I attended Creative Tea Time for the second time to mingle with some wonderful women and connect on similar levels. Many of these women are also small business owners and mothers as well so it's a breath of fresh air when I get the chance to network with others and be reminded that I'm not doing this alone. See the recap here.
February
- I sent out my first monthly newsletter for the year! Another small biz goal of mine to check off. You can sign up for my newsletter here for updates, sales, etc. Pst! I will actually be sending out a coupon code very SOON too!!
- The Whimsical Floral Crown was featured on the front page of Etsy!
- I had the opportunity to collaborate with Tara Shiloh on this Winter Inspired photo shoot where I stepped outside of my comfort zone and created a headpiece to look like fox ears out of black tulle as well as wrist cuffs. This shoot was published in Artfully Wed, winter 2014 issue. See more of the photo shoot here.
- I wrote this blog post after becoming consumed in work at the start of the year: Giving up control and hiring my first assistant.
- Lydia, a bride in the UK said "I Do" this past February to her love and adorned the Vintage Inspired Lace Blusher Veil from the shop.
March
- I started the beginning of my new bridal line. It was actually supposed to debut this past year but I stopped working on it for quite some time to regain fresh creative insight on new designs. I am happy to say that it will debut in 2015 though! So excited about many of the new completed bridal pieces! See another little sneak peek here.
- The Ainsleigh Floral Crown was featured on the front page of Etsy!
April
- Had my first piece of work published in a print magazine! Pregnancy and Newborn featured the Willow Floral Crown in the April 2014 issue as part of a styled look, glowing goddess.
- The Shipwrecked Crown was given top pick on Etsy Weddings in the Nautical Theme Wedding category!
- Another goal of mine was to visit New York in 2014 which is exactly what I did in April 2014. My husband and I surprised my mom for Christmas with a round trip plane ticket to New York and I was taking the trip with her. The wait seemed like forever to finally visit the Big Apple but the wait was worth it! It was both of our first time visiting the East Coast and I hope to one day do it again. You can see the New York posts here, here and here (there are actually 2-3 more posts that I was supposed to do as well but have yet to get around to them....uhhhh another task for 2015 I guess). This made it to my shop recap because travel inspires my creative work and I wanted to set a goal that could be achieved by hard work paying off.
- This gorgeous bride got married to her love this past April wearing the intricately beaded feather headpiece from the shop for her Great Gatsby inspired wedding.
May
- The Annabelle Floral Crown was featured on the front page of Etsy!
- The Daisy Floral Crown was featured on the front page of Etsy!
- I attended my second year of the Elevate Blog Conference. I absolutely love all of the women apart of this event and I take so much advice and great experiences away with me each time. Not only is it a great way to network but I make real friendships and connections with these inspiring women. See the recap of Elevate here.
- The new Victorian-Inspired Collection officially made its debut in the shop. Photos were shot by Kristen Booth and featured vintage dresses from Chariot Marie. See a bit more of the photo shoot here and see the collection in the shop.
- I had a few of my children's floral crowns featured in the Summer issue of Artful Blogging (May/June/July). The pages featured Casey Wiegand and her family with her girls wearing the Ainsleigh and Apple Crowns. It was pretty darn awesome seeing those sweet faces in print wearing their LSP crowns!
- I collaborated with Kayla once again to shoot some photos for a bit of re-branding. I hadn't taken any head shots specifically for the blog or shop before so it was nice to step out of my comfort zone and do some updating. See more of the photo shoot and my thoughts here.
- I created my largest order of custom floral crowns for a sweet bride and her 12 bridesmaids. Nicole was so amazing to work with and I adore the way these pieces came out!!
Get your custom bridal party crowns in the shop!
June
- The Whimsical Floral Crown was featured on the front page of Etsy!
- The Grace Floral Crown was featured on the front page of Etsy!
- I made the change to separate my Instagram accounts to create one specifically for shop related content and one for personal use to share life behind LSP. It may not seem like a big deal but I know several shop owners who have struggled with this transition and whether or not to make the change. It definitely made a huge difference in the way I am able to share content and market as well. I can be me, the stay at home momma and wife on my @kayla.lsp account and me, the romantic creative on my @lovesparklepretty account. Read more thoughts on this transition here.
- I created this custom floral crown for a bride who said "I Do" to her prince charming this past June. This design later became available in the shop as the Everly Floral Crown. Thank you so much Brittany for your inspiration with this floral design!
Photo: Andria Lindquist
- The Leigh, Ainsleigh and Apple Floral Crowns were featured in the film, American Blogger by Chris Wiegand! See the film here.
July
- My pieces were featured in a boutique in New York as my first wholesale account was created back in April 2014. July, they were brought out to the floor as part of the summer collection. The store owner said so many great things but my favorite was when she told me about a past bride of mine (whom I created her floral crown for) was in that boutique shopping and recognized my pieces! Pretty amazing if I do say so myself.
- The Whimsical Floral Crown was featured on the front page of Etsy!
- I traveled a bit more and this time, with my dear friend Tara of Laila's Charming Pieces. We flew up to San Francisco (my first time visiting) to attend the CreativeLive studio for a 3 day workshop on marketing with Tara Swiger. See the photo recap of our trip here.
- This trip was just the start of a whole new turn in priorities for Love Sparkle Pretty. I started to think differently and make shop goals with a new mind set. These priorities changed the way I worked and wanted to work in the future including pricing, valuing my time and hiring. I posted two parts of these thoughts here and here which still play a major role in many of the changes that were made over the past few months.
August
- I started off this month with an extended shop vacation from August 1-Sept. 15th. During this time, I was able to finish up orders and take a bit of a breather while I re-prioritized and thought about my goals with the shop. I also worked on a bit of re-branding with my logo and made other changes as well. I desperately needed this time off and I am so thankful that I did it because honestly, I needed a whole refresh on everything...not to mention, I also found out I was pregnant with our second baby during this time so I was even more exhausted than usual.
- Bridal Musings featured this amazing bohemian engagement shoot featuring the Charlotte Floral Crown from Love Sparkle Pretty. Kristen Booth photographed this session and I fell in love with it the moment I saw the photos. Absolutely stunning and one of my favorite shoots of 2014! See the more photos in my post here.
- Ashley, a stunning bride who married the man of her dreams this past summer sent me some gorgeous photos adorning the Leigh Floral Crown on her big day. Deidre of Deidre Lynn Photography has some serious talent and her photos are too pretty not to share!
- As of August 2014, LSP Floral Crowns were made available in three new retail locations at The Dress Theory bridal boutiques! Visit The Dress Theory in San Diego, Nashville and Seattle!
September
- I collaborated with a sweet and talented photographer, Emily Chappell on this Whimsical Garden Wedding Photo Shoot which was recently published on Hey Wedding Lady! See more of the shoot here.
- I came back from my extended shop vacay Sept. 15th. With the reopening of my shop, I added a new veil design, the Gypsy Bridal Veil which was photographed on Megan Fay by Kayla V Photography. I adore this new piece which was just featured in Southern Bride Magazine!
- With reopening of the shop, I also debuted my new logo design and website design.
- This stunning couple said their "I Dos" in Iceland. Ashley, the bride adorned the Everly Floral Crown on her big day. "I will cherish my crown forever." -Ashley
October
- This stunning bride wore a custom floral crown for her rustic inspired wedding this past October. Love the fall colors and woodland design. Congrats again Jess and Bryan!
- I created my first newborn floral crown. I seriously didn't know crowns could even be made so small and look oh so ADORABLE! I made this crown to match the Harlow Floral Crown I made for this sweet girl's momma and her maternity shoot.
November
- I did my first boutique with Love Sparkle Pretty pieces (unless you count the craft show I did a few years back selling hair clips). Vintage Delight Shopping Social was a great experience. Not only did I get to meet and mingle with others in a similar industry as I am but I also set up my booth for the first time. Thanks to Etablir shop for letting me use her gorgeous vintage furniture! See the recap of this event here.
- I created this custom crown that I am in love with and can't wait to see photos of the gorgeous bride wearing this piece on her wedding day on the beach of Mexico!
- This beaded custom crown and veil was shipped to a wonderful bride who will say her "I Dos" this coming year! This is definitely my all time favorite custom piece so far. It may have taken me the longest to create (due to all of the intricate beading in the crown and comb in veil) but it was certainly worth it! I hope to add this piece to the shop this year!
December
- This Goddess Maternity Shoot featuring the Colette Floral Crown was featured on Rustic Baby Chic. Nicole of Southern Shutter Photography is so wonderful with her talent and so sweet to work with! I created floral crowns for her and her bridesmaids this past May as well (see above in "May") and she's simply amazing all around! Thank you so much Nicole for your love and support!
- Several pieces including the Gypsy Inspired Bridal Veil and Everly Floral Crown are featured in the winter edition of Southern Bride Magazine! The issue should be at my doorstep any day now and I can't wait to see the spread!!
The end of the year has come to an end and I couldn't be happier with the way 2014 turned out. It was definitely a roller coaster but it was pretty exciting! This year, my goals have changed for the shop. I don't have many high expectations or revenue markers that I'd like to meet. I love what I do and I will continue to do it but our little family is growing from 3 to 4 in just a couple months and I want to be present with the ones I love more often. Love Sparkle Pretty has allowed me to do so and create my own schedule to carve out time for my family as well as my creative passion and I am so thankful!
Thank you for being a part of this past year!
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