Wedding Wishes

For a Special Bride & Groom

I have the best customers in the whole wide world.

Today, my customer from England, surprised me with the beautiful photos of her reception room.  Last week I created Wedding Wish Love Notes for her and she wanted to share with me how she used them on her tables.

Whenever I get a special request, or custom order in my shop, I'm always curious how my customers are going to use the pieces they order and what the final look will be. With the wedding being tomorrow, she has truly shown me just how appreciative she is of my work by taking the time to think of me and sharing with me these photos. 

When my customer first contacted me, we didn't have a lot of time to work with. She first wanted to know if I could make the quantity she was looking for and I told her yes, most definitely.  Then she wanted to know if she would be able to have them in time for the wedding, which was only 10 days away.  She informed me she lived in the UK and my answer was still, yes.

Papers had to be pulled (so she could decide the color pink she wanted) and she asked if they could be customized with her name and date.  Again, I told her yes. I normally stamp the top of the envelope with a 'Love Note' stamp and had never run these through my printer, I wasn't sure just how it was all going to transpire.  I love a good challenge and knew if there was a will, there'd be a way to give her just what she wanted.  I learned a long time ago; give the customer what they want, not what you think they want.
 

As you can see from the above photo, these wonderful Love Notes are printed with Mr and Mrs Silk, along with their wedding date.

They were all created in one day, beautifully wrapped and carefully packaged, and sent via 3 day mail. She received them with 4 days to spare and was so excited when they arrived on her doorstep.

When someone asks me what I create on Etsy, I tell them 'SMILES'.  I love what I do. I love spreading love between people. I love helping others create memories through my paper products I make. I love that others love what they receive in the mail, but for me, it's all about making others happy.

With our crazy world and all that is happening out there, we all need to keep spreading the love and keep putting smiles on peoples faces.

Peace & Love to all ~

Barbie

Ya Gotta Have Heart

Valentine's Day is a romantic time of the year. Couples get engaged, flowers are sent and candy is given. When I was younger, I loved to receive; now that I am older I love to give.  Maybe it's because I had children and the world was no longer centered around me.

I've been busy the last couple days creating my Mini Love Notes for my shop. It gives me great pleasure when someone purchases these love notes.  I don't care about the money I make, what I care about is other people spreading their love to anyone that matters to them.  It's truly a simple gesture and should be done everyday.

I have one customer who has purchased many Love Notes over the past year and she knows just how to say "Thank You" and "I Love You" to all she meets.  I won't get into how she personally uses them, (that is a private conversation between my customer and myself) but I can share other ways she uses them.  M (is what I'll call her) hands these Mini Love Notes out to anyone who helps her, whether it is in a professional setting or personal. Her daughters have told me she hands them out to people on the street or anyone who "makes her day".  In my estimation, M is the epitome of Love.

It only takes one person to put a smile on someones face or to let them know in little ways they truly are loved. I have been blessed with all the stories my customers share with me knowing love is being distributed one little card at a time.

Barbie

30 Years of Love

Anniversary mini Love Notes

This special project was a joy to create.  This was for a customer who really wanted to share her memories and good times with her husband of 30 years.  

In our busy every day world, we often cannot find the time to accomplish everything we want to.  There are days where my husband and I are so busy with work and special projects, the yard and all of it's demands, our twins needs and activities, we often do not speak until the very end of our day or in the early morning over a cup of coffee.

Our world is full of text messages and e-mails,  we often forget what is like to really sit down and have a heartfelt conversation with our loved one.  When my customer contacted me about a Love Note,  she was first interested in one of my Valentine Love Notes with a little modification from her end.  When I knew what she was looking for, I told her to give me the night to sleep on her idea and I'd get back to her with a couple samples she could choose from.  I wanted these to be special, seeing this was a special anniversary for her.

When I sent her the samples she was thrilled.  She finally decided to take a few ideas from each card and put them into one.  The above card is what she choose and they are beautiful.  I am not only grateful she choose me to help her create special cards for her husband but I am pleased I was able to help her.  She told me in an e-mail she loves to craft, however, she has been putting long hours in at work and she is pulled in a lot of different directions at the moment.

I've always loved helping people and making sure everyone has a smile on their face. Even though technology has somewhat taken over, it's assuring the Love Note between true love lives on.

So the next time you want to send your loved one a heartfelt note, a small quip, a basket of memories, or the three most important words you could ever say to someone ~ consider sending them a handwritten Love Note.  I know they will simply love it.





peace and love to all ~
Barbie 

all ABOUT me

I just finished completing the ABOUT section in my Etsy shop.

The About section is for my customers and window shoppers to peek inside my life and discover a few things about me and why I started my business.

I love to write, it's quite obvious, especially if you've been to my Reflections from the Tail blog. However, I do not like to write about myself.  What a hard task this was. After 5 days of going back and forth, changing lines, adding sentences, omitting the blah, blah, blah, I believe I have come up with a nice story and a few nice photos that are related to my world.

I invite you to stop by to see how and why Nellie and Ruth Designs evolved. But mostly, to get to know me a bit better and why I am all about the you, the consumer. I'm sure I'll put a smile on your face.

The Production Room

In one of my blogs from Reflections from the Tail, I wrote a piece titled - A Room With A View - talking about the window in my office and all I see when I look out over the landscape.

I now sit at a different desk most days, in the same room, but my view is now of rainbow colors where my imagination can run wild with creativity.

On this particular day, I was making 25 Mini Valentine Love Notes to be sent out for a very special customer.  How thoughtful it was of her to purchase these notes to give to some of her customers as a Thank You for the business they had brought her way.

This is why I create.  It's not only an outlet for me, but a way to put a smile on my customers face and the faces of others knowing joy will be spread throughout this wonderful world we live in.

There are days when no sales come my way. There are days when I become obsessed with what I am doing and let everything else go, and days when I get discouraged and ask myself if it's all worth it.

As you all know, patients is a virtue I do not possess, but I've come to realize, no matter what path my Etsy shop takes me on, I can't complain because it's all about the smiles. 





Barbie

Welcome to Nellie and Ruth Designs. 

What you'll see in this blog are my handmade creations that are featured in my shop at Etsy.  When I took a break from my blog - Reflections from the Tail - to create crafts for a craft show, I found how much I missed creating, so I decided to continue and start my shop.

Pearl Earrings

I love to buy necklaces from antique shops, take them apart and create new and more interesting jewelry.I recently purchased two necklaces from our local salvation army, tore them apart and am still deciding just how to use the beads. That's the fun part.

Necklace of blue stone beads, copper discs and brown glass beads

My mother was a big crafter of Christmas decorations. Recently we raided her attic for paper beads, small pearls and other findings she used many, many years ago.  I've created some interesting necklace using the paper beads I found in her attic.

Pink glass beads, silver charms, pearl beads & topaz crystals

I've learned a lot about displaying and photographing the jewelry I make.  It's all trial and error, however, the key is to have good images showing your product. Natural lighting is the best, so outside I go and now that winter is approaching I've learned I need to purchase a pair of fingerless gloves when shooting photos, and I know just the shop to purchase them on.

I hope you enjoy my wares, photos and are able to take the time to visit my shop at Etsy!