Why I am who I am....

Let me explain a bit of who I am....

My name is Shauna L. Howard.  I am a student at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA where I study classical voice and opera.  During the holidays and any large breaks of time away from school, you can usually find me in NC with my family with some yarn crocheting something.

I'm learning that I'm stylish even when I try not to be.  I enjoy being a minimalist in most every facet of the description.  At my age, I'm learning how to live a life of quality over quantity.  I don't like to work.  I know what financial hardship looks like and I'm more afraid of being unhappy.  As long as I have access to food, shelter, entertainment, and an occasional phone call/ visit with my friends & family, I'm a happy gal.  For that reason, I opened a business selling my crocheted goods.  I wanted to provide resources for myself doing something that I enjoyed rather than making lots of money.  I may make a lot or I may make very little, but I am an attractive woman with an even more attractive personality that doesn't need much to be happy.

With that being said, I called my business Diva-In-Training Designs because, well, I'm studying to be a "diva".  One fuels and funds the other, so that's why I call it such.  Welcome to my life, my Bohemian, minimalist, music-loving, salsa dancing, crocheting, laughing because it's my hobby, happy, genuine life.  :-)

Yoga socks

I've been asked to create lots of things for friends, family, new customers, and the like, but lately I've been trying out some patterns for yoga socks.  Somehow in my obese, overly-indulgent Philly-girl life, I've managed to meet lots of people who are into fitness that have requested items for yoga, exercise, etc.(go figure!)  Therefore, I'm working on a pattern to create yoga socks first.  Maybe I'll make some yoga mats, yoga bags, etc. in the future, but once I get this design down pat, I'll be very happy (and hopefully very wealthy)!

Here's a picture of what I want to create:

The first of many items for men!

One of my goals for 2011 is to create more items for men.  After taking stock of my life, I realized that I know way too many guys to not have a men's line in Diva-In-Training Designs.  I have to rectify this immediately - fast, I tell you! 

So to begin, I've designed a simple wool-blend cap.  My daddy was probably the best model ever - I snapped these photos while he went out to get the mail two days ago!  I originally made this for one of my salsa friends, but I needed someone to try it on to make sure I was making it just right.  My daddy kept eyeing it so much that I eventually gave it to him - he wears it every time he takes the dog outside!!

"Outsourced" and new customers :-)

On Election Day, my friend Michele and I met a woman that was so impressed at my scarves and neckwarmers that she wanted to donate some buttons to me in exchange for two items for herself and her daughter.  I made them and shipped them out just before Thanksgiving.  On Wednesday night, the daughter called thanking me for her item and asked me to make her a matching hat, to which I created, delivered, and collected payment on Thursday afternoon.  Keshia, the daughter, enjoyed her hat so much that she passed my cards around to her friends and co-workers - within a couple of hours, she called me again placing an order for a custom-made black, white, and hot pink neckwarmer and matching hat/ tam!


I'm very excited about the growth of my business, but I'm especially happy when customer trust my customer service. I've made the hat now, so I'm off to have some lunch and design the neckwarmer.....I'll be watching a movie called "Outsourced" on Netflix!

Free Yarn!

This week I responded to a post on Freecycle.org.  A woman was downsizing her home and wanted to get rid of some skeins of yarn.  I met her at 27th and Poplar today around 1pm.  She gave me yarn made from Lion Brand, Patons, and Bernat (some of the good stuff!).

If you haven't heard of Freecycle.org, check it out!

Featured in a Treasury on Etsy!!!

My item was featured in a fellow Etsian's teasury!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4d02c64516bc8eeff46b9211/wishing-you-a-red-christmas

Sunday morning thoughts and ramblings....

I've been thinking a lot about how to market my business.  I'm learning that there's a community of people that appreciate handmade items, yet they're not online as much as my peers.  I'm thinking that I should create a brochure that I can use to introduce my business.  So, as I was preparing for service this morning, I printed out a template of brochure that I found in Microsoft Word.  I made notes during the sermon today (sorry God) on how I can configure the layout. 

There's so many things that my business needs but it simply can't afford.  I always thought I was turning a profit when it was just me, some yarn, and a friend that wanted an item, but now I have expenses that I wasn't planning for.  I wish I could afford to hire someone to create these items for me, but there's something rewarding (albeit time-consuming) about doing it myself. 

Another example -

I got some free business cards from Vistaprint back in September.  A couple of days ago, I got an e-mail saying that I was eligible for more free cards (as a special offer).  I sent about 4 hours (off and on) designing the perfect card, only to realize that it wasn't free!  I decided to reorder the original cards that I bought in September, but I'm saving my pennies for the new cards!
 
 At this point, what I'd like to have are about 8 milk crates to store my novelty and multi-color yarn.  I've learned this year that I'm a visual learner; therefore, I'm more inclined to be more productive if my yarn and supplies are organized and visible.

Off to take a nap now....sending you and yours love and light :-)

Welcome to my blog!

Hi everyone!  Welcome to my blog!!!  I created this blog to share my thoughts as I create all of my items hopefully, this blog will be filled with humor, inspiration, and lots of goodies!! 


Enjoy!