I just realized that I put the wrong URL for my Shoppe on my business cards!

In case you got to my blog from the business cards, the real Shoppe address is:


The link on the cards pulls up a 404 Not Found error.

Incorrect Link to the Shoppe

I'm so sorry for the confusion!

Apparently I had forgotten to type /users/ on the card. (Which is strange, because I totally remember not having that in the URL, but oh well!) Now I've got some 20 leftover cards to fix. I might just stick little stickers on the back so I don't have to waste perfectly good cards. :)

...as can be seen in these pictures.

My first charm bracelet. { HERE }

Wear two on one wrist!

I can't help but jiggle my wrist when I wear these...

Attach the clasps of the bracelet to the clasps of a chain for a fashionable necklace!

Two bracelets and a chain-- overboard? Not so much!

Just two charm bracelets attached together make a great choker necklace.

It's called layering.

Muahahaha. Can YOUR glasses do that?

I wrote this post on the second day of November. Since then I've realized that I will not be able to keep up with the 30,000 word goal I originally set. I likely will change my goal to 10 or 15 K and only work on it during the weekends and Thanksgiving break. There is something called school... and major tests... and life being busy...

For the uninitiated, NaNoWriMo (or National Novel Writing Month) is the Ultimate Challenge. Every year, thousands of writers sign away their sanity and aim for the goal: 50,000 words in 30 days!

The goal is to get you writing... just writing. Leave your inner editor behind the in dust. Revel in typos. And never stop writing.

{Go to NaNoWriMo.org for more info}

Last year I participated with my first novel, Nevdroonia. It was, um... a bit of a flop. I had no idea what I was doing. Never before had I written anything longer than 3 pages, and here I was shooting for 175.

I was also not prepared. My goal was to write what came to me.... Nevdroonia began as an imaginary land that I made up, and my friends and I spent long afternoons jumping off the neighbor's retaining wall, swinging on the rope swing, and landing in a war-torn fairyland. Nevdroonia, the Novel (lol) was my attempt to combine various adventures we had in my backyard. I slapped on some characters and thought I was ready to go.

I had no plot.

That's bad news for any writer.

And did I mention last year was a flop? I finished my 50,000 words and left it.



This year I am going crazy again-- but not to the same degree.

YWP NaNoWriMo (can you tell these people love acronyms?) stands for Young Writer's Program. It's for those 17 and under, and lets you choose your own word goal.

{Go to YWP.NaNoWriMo.org}

I'm starting with a goal of 30,000 words. However, I'm seriously considering lowering that, because I have so many other responsibilities keeping me busy.

Priorities are no fun. Look what order mine are in:

1. Getting caught up in schoolwork
2. Doing OK on all my midterms this week
3. Exercise
4. Settling into the new city
5. Staying ontop of my Shoppe
6. Writing

Family time gets to trump all of that, since we've had so little family time while we were trying to move. My parents are trying to convince me that "cleaning up" belongs at place #4 or 5. And sometime in there I need to sleep.

I'm still not prepared... But at least I have a plot. I am working on my novel Colored Eyes, which I planned out over the summer for the Inkling's Resolve. Unfortunately, the Resolve kind of dissolved after a couple of months, right about the time that I became insanely busy with life.

I found a fun plot and make character sketches... I scribbled down 5 pages of notes...

September came around and all my friends on the Fairy Tale Forum started getting hyped for NaNoWriMo. I loved my Colored Eyes story and wanted to do NaNoWriMo, but knew I was too busy.

I found the Young Writer's Program, and on one fateful October day signed away all my free time. (I mean, I'm still free to quit. But that would be giving me guilty free time. :D )

I did no planning in October. There's something called life and it happens and keeps you from having days of free time. I DID review my notebook, however.


And now it is November! I've been writing during most of my free time (I have writer's block/headache at the moment, which is why I am posting on my blog.) I'm behind because of my first couple days.... I'm seriously concerned about how to advance the plot...


But it's all great. Someday I'll have a novel to show for it.

(Oh, and did you know that my 9-almost-10-year-old-brother is doing the YWP, too? His goal is 2,000 words [aLOT for him] and he is writing about him being the youngest astronaut to go into space. His story is very, very awesome. I'm trying to convince him that I need to be an alien princess who kidnaps him for ransom. He's still thinking about it.)

The winner of my blog's very first giveaway is Jessie. Congrats, Jessie! 
{ Check out her blog here-- she has some very creative crafts and has used some of my tutorials! }


Thank you to everyone who entered! I was especially touched by all the loverly comments you left about my blog... You made my day!

 Allow me to quote R.A.'s beautiful comment:

"My favorite thing about your blog is that is so inspiring to see a teenager making such beautiful and well-crafted things!... Because we live in an age where people will settle for ugly, badly made things because it's easier that way, it's so great to see someone making beautiful quality art! It inspires me to work harder at my crafting. :)"

Needless to say, that made me very happy. By the way, have you seen R.A.'s blogs? She has a beautiful medley of { poetry } and { paintings }.


For those who didn't win-- Don't worry! I'll be doing another giveaway pretty soon. Time for a vote, though. Leave a comment suggesting the next giveaway item! You can suggest anything that you have seen on my blog. 

Jessie-- please leave a comment with your mailing info. I moderate my comments and promise not to publish it. If I do not hear from you within a week, I will pick a new winner.

Click to enlarge

They took forever but are so fun.

I used up every clippie I owned-- and some of my sister's, too. :)

My original hair clip. See my old blog post HERE.

And again.

 I thought you might be interested in seeing what goes into the making of a Shea and Bergen comic. On the other hand, you might not care in the least, in which case you may go ahead and skip this post. :P

{Shea and Bergen is the comic I write for Ink and Fairydust magazine. It's about a fairy and a dwarf in the real world. I&F is a free e-mag full of faith and creativity, check it out!}



The first step is the hardest-- finding something to write the comic about. Something funny... unique... hopefully ties into the season or the theme of the issue... Yeah. Not easy.

Step two: Sketch it. This is my favorite part. Shea and Bergen is drawn in a semi-realistic style, the easiest for me to replicate month after month. ^_^ If I've got my idea picked out and the "boxes" organized in my head, then the sketch is sooo much fun.

Click to enlarge

Step three: Ink it and erase the pencil lines.

Click to enlarge

Step four is coloring the comic. This is where I usually ruin my drawing.... lol! I forgot to take a picture half-finished coloring. I use my little pack of artist markers (hard to use with limited colors!) and my favorite Prismacolor colored pencils.


Want to see what the finished comic looks like? Check out the November 2010 issue of Ink and Fairydust! 


My photograph is on the front cover, too! :D






{Look out for a post about this "NaNoWriMo" thing in a couple days!}

Click to go to the Fundraiser

Remember how I mentioned the "Shadow of the Bear Artfire Fundraiser" a little while ago?

Well, we reached the halfway mark and then things started to die. Elena, the director, really needs this software as quickly as possible in order to finish editing the film before the premeire this summer.

Here are a few of the items that I made for the fundraiser (click the images to go to the listings). 100% of the sale goes towards the movie!





Those three designs haven't made their way to my Shoppe yet... They would make perfect Christmas presents, and you'll be supporting a great film, besides. :) And making some die-hard fans very, very happy.

(Did you know that those earrings are handwoven out of silver plated jumprings? Such a special present for a friend, or even yourself!)

Check out the awesome things that other forum-ers have made:



Want to donate, but don't want to buy anything?

Go to "The Shadow of the Bear Official Movie Blog" and click the button the the left-hand side!

THANK YOU! It is because of YOU that this movie will become a reality by this summer!!!

I started this blog just over a year ago, because I was cluttering my personal blog with too many art-related posts. Right about the time that I began Shealynns-Faerie-Shoppe, I started learning how to make jewelry. It kinda grew.... and grew.... :)

And I made so many things that I could never possibly wear them all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took a bit. For one, I had to wait until we moved.Then I had to find time. I still don't think I've got time, but I've got a Shoppe all the same. :) Now maybe my "wasted" time spent on crafts won't be quite so wasted.

Most of the items I made, cluttering my dresser.

I chose Artfire because they have an option for a basic store-- you don't have to pay them a dime. Of course, you miss out on a bajillion awesome features. Etsy is more popular than Artfire, but my goodness! Do they charge you for everything!


Want to know what it takes to make a Shoppe? Before you begin, research, research, research. Figure out what other people did right. Learn about scams. All sorts of good stuff.

You have to have something people want. Something quality, unique, and affordable. Yes, you can make beautiful necklaces strung with beads. But so many other people do that... find your niche. My Shoppe specializes in chainmaille, fantasy, and religious jewelry (but there will always be an eclectic mix of other things!).

Next, make about 40 things.



Now comes a really fun part: designing your "look." Your look is like a brand name-- you know how Google and Coca-Cola have great typography? how you'd recognize the Blogger "B,"r the Yahoo "!" and Macy's "★ " anywhere? Examples of good branding.

This is where my budding inner graphic artist went, "YEAH! YAHOO! I get to go CRAZY and take over Shaylynn's brain!"

I designed my fairy (see how it progressed), who would become the new face of Shealynn's Faerie Shoppe. My logo. The little sprite who won't leave me alone. After the fairy came a whole design theme.

She's sitting on nothing... 'Cause she's magic. :)

Using this "look," I made all the graphics I needed: banners, headers, logos, favicons, buttons, business cards... the list goes on.

A look isn't any good if it's applied only to the store, so I re-did my blog. 


(Want to see what my blog used to look like way back when? Check out this old post.)



 I'd go into all the design details here, but I'd bore you to death. Suffice it to say that I have MANY new features.

I also updated my Facebook page to reflect the new look. (Check it out, I've got a giveaway going there!)


Next up: photography. 

You've really got to be a mini-professional photographer to sell jewelry. Who's going to buy something when it's picture is all blurry?

You don't need a fancy camera. You just need good lighting-- preferably natural-- a camera with a macro setting, and an editing software. But I'm sure if you have a fancy camera that you can take even awesomer pictures. :) My little guy is like 10 years old.

My photography studio. A Tshirt next to a window and a lamp with a sheet of paper taped onto it.

After this it's all boring... Getting a checking account. Getting a PayPal accoun
t. Writing up your policies-- blech. Spending a couple hours writing creative descriptions for some 30 things-- I'd like to see you try. Learning how to ship jewelry safely and nicely... oh. my. goodness. Did you know it's going to cost me almost $3 to securely ship a pair of earrings?

Research prices. Seriously, this is a headache. How much did you spend on supplies? How much is your time worth? How much to other people charge for similar quality items, and how much of a "base" do they have compared to you?

You don't want to overcharge, but then you do have to pay for your supplies and time. Only if you are well known can you really make a large(ish) profit.

Until you make your first sale. Boring-ness = gone.

My friend C. has the honor of being my first customer!