If you build it they will come.

One Spark was a month away, I had to come up with a plan. Mike's sister was so gracious and lent her and Tim's help plus their 3 car garage. Perfect! I was lucky to be given so many wonderful pallets from friends and the idea was born...

It was time for a bath, off to the car-wash I went. It was so much fun to see the transformation. After the second day, we broke out the pressure washer.  A lot cheaper than the timed machine at the car-wash!

   
The boys gave great supervision of course! I think secretly they were wondering what in the world I was doing and what were they getting themselves into!!  

Now that they are looking good it was time to sand them down and put the wall together! I have done plenty of art shows with the white tents and been truly scared that I was going to blow away. I didn't want this bad boy going anywhere!  6 pallets stacked 2 high should do :)

Lay out desired pallets 3 wide and 2 high. Attach each 2 tiered section with two 2x4x8 pieces. Give a quick sand and ready to go...

Corks! So with working in a restaurant, you come across so many corks. Me being a craft hoarder, I had bags full! I have seen so many cork DIY on Pinterest but really didn't want to soak the corks. I had hundreds to cut! .Well, I found a lovely small serrated knife in our drawer and it worked great!...oops...I didn't know it was a $300 serrated knife! Chef's with knives are like seamstresses with scissors.  No wonder the corks cut so nicely :) So for all the cork pinterest diy...a bad to the bone serrated knife will do the job., but not the wisest choice. I found an old bread knife and it worked just fine. A little carpel tunnel action towards the end but it will work for smaller projects.

 

 So with my cardboard letters and mannequins spray painted a metallic silver and an idea in place I was ready to start the arts and crafts section of this project...my favorite part.  I got Salt and Sol in place and started on the Sun. I had my little helper Caden and some good tunes and spent the next two weeks hovered over pallets and hot gluing corks one by one. It sounds tedious but I loved it.

  

Now that the sun is shining, time to set up the booth. We attached the three 2-tiered back wall pieces together with 2 additional 2x4x10's going lengthwise across the back, drilling into the first 2x4x8 braces. We constructed the side walls the same way and attached it to the back wall. We saved one of the best pallets for last and created a table for me to stand behind. We cut one pallet 2/3 the way up for the base and placed the remaining 1/3 on top to create the table top. Braced them with 2x4's and voila!

 Now the clutches needed a home, and an excuse to use the circular saw so I cut the scrap pallets and made some floating shelves to make the perfect home :)

It's starting to take shape and we have a booth! Now for the merchandising part, a little test run and we are ready to go!!

Day 1 of One Spark here we go!!!

I am starting fresh!

For years, I have been wanting to own my own company. Things just never lined up...I had self doubt, confidence issues, laziness and lack of focus. Over the years I lost what I loved to do. I forgot.

I have my fiancé Mike to thank for helping me find myself. I consider myself extremely blessed and fortunate to have him in my life. He has changed mine forever.

I am not here to brag or boast. I want others to know, it's ok to wait until you find the perfect match. I never believed anyone who said when you know, you know. I didn't think someone could be so sure of a decision. Well, the cliché happened to me.

The point is, I am 34 and just now embracing who I am and doing it with confidence. This is me, this is raw and un-cut. I had told myself over and over again, I need to be a designer. Well, I do, but I want to do it differently.

This is my journey...

Let's start with Salt and Sol.

Jacksonville has started a live crowd funding event. It was its 3rd year and I was excited to be a part of it. I signed up for Salty Treasures and was going to showcase my shirts, clutches and jewelry. The usual. While sitting at the kitchen bar, watching Mike cook dinner, we just hang out and talk, this topic was my business and me rambling on about all my ideas. I was chatting about One Spark and he mentioned how he hated the name Salty Treasures. I love his honesty. I didn't like it either. I have never truly fallen in love with all of my names I have had. Dejoc, Nicole DiGiacomo, Bluccello, Salty Treasures. Nothing ever meant anything to me or clicked.

We started racking our brains and spitting out ideas. I was texting our dear free spirited friend who is a decade younger than me asking what she thought was "Hip"!

A string full of ideas, Salty Soul some others, and then voila. Salt & Sol, it made sense. I have gone back to the beginning, instead of my dark hair and trying to straighten the curls, I embraced the blonde craziness. I fell back in love with Jax Bch. Maybe the spring days helped but it was all coming together.

Let the salt and sun guide your heart and soul. I wanted to encompass the love of the ocean and the free spirited lifestyle. I just knew this was the name. It said it all. From growing up by the Florida ocean to the beautiful mountains and culture of Ecuador where my Dad lives. It grouped everything together and my motivation, creativity and drive came back.

To New Beginnings...

I have always been the creative type, my mind just wonders and it doesn't stop. I find myself jumping from project to project but never really succeeding with one particular thing. Handbags to appliqued

onesies, jewelry, screen printed shirts, digital prints...you name it I wanted to create it.

Recently, I have been evaluating myself and really trying to dig deep and find out what would make me happy. I tend to stay on Instagram and Pinterest way to long overloading my brain with ideas and new ventures. I left the restaurant around 6 months ago and so much has happened, (details saved for another day!!) long story short, I ran out of money. I had to go back. I started to think about why I was failing yet again, and why I make so many excuses about why things don't work out. What it really was, was self confidence and maybe slight depression sometimes because you get so overwhelmed and don't know where to put your time, money and effort.  

Love this quote from TheInspiredRoom.net

So, I just kept plugging away at Etsy and lost the passion. I was growing bitter watching all of these Etsy sellers do better than me. Like it was a contest, not a business. It started to not be a fun marketplace to showcase your work. I was consumed with trying to sell things I knew how to make. I know how to screen-print, so I created tons of shirts with designs, truth is, I didn't even like 1/2 of them. I was just trying to sell, sell, sell and have as many products as possible on the site to compete with all of the other shops.

I lost what was important. I lost the love and passion for what I want to do.

After the Etsy realization and one really hurtful review. I was back at the restaurant feeling a little defeated but a bit relieved. I would start making money again and have time to focus on what is going to make me happy. This is my journey to the pursuit of my own happiness. 

How the Inspired Room.net Inspired Me...

I recently stumbled upon The Inspired Room.net I think it awakened my organizational spirit again! I love organizing, thinking of creative ways to store things, staring at the finished product and having such a calming feeling. Lately, I had a sense of being overwhelmed, nothing was getting done and I felt like I was getting nowhere. After reading Melissa's morning routine, I was excited to get up in the morning! I wanted to start a routine!! Melissa is relate-able, she started talking about not having a day to day schedule but have a routine. Duh. Why haven't I been doing this all along. Why DO I have to clean a toilet on Tuesday??? I would start to hate Tuesdays! I was hooked immediately.

Thanks to TheInspiredRoom.net I woke up and wiped the sink out after I brushed my teeth. That was easy and so gratifying, usually I would stare at it in anger and think of all the things that I should clean. I was excited to have my morning coffee without diving into Etsy emails and orders. I read a post from her blog and filled out my New Year's resolution sheet that she had provided. This "quiet time" is going to be my "get inspired time". I wrote a reasonable list of things to do for the day without worrying about the time of day and what I should have accomplished by now if I woke up early like most people.

Being with a Chef, our household hours are a bit strange. Our day usually ends at 1am. I wait up every night to see Mike. I think it's healthy to spend quality time with your partner daily. He is the most talented chef I know and along with being a talented chef, comes the LONG hours. When I say long hours, I mean going to work at 9 am and coming home around midnight with not having a complete meal. Being a newly "retired" bartender, I speak first hand, restaurant life is tough. Only fellow industry peeps get it.We stay up and talk while he usually fills his hunger with pizza. (a chefs choice for late night eating) In the past I made myself feel guilty for working from home and not getting up at the crack of dawn and watch the sunrise. I have started a routine that works for me and it doesn't rely on the typical rise and shine at 6 am. I am sure this will all change when we have kids but for now it works. I am awake and full of energy when he comes home late so we can somehow have a normal relationship when we see each other, even though it is in the middle of the night.

Click to Download The Inspired Room's Home Goals Sheet

Back to my day!....Ironically after reading about cleaning your toilet because it needs to be done today, not because it's a Tuesday, I cleaned the bathroom today. (Tuesday)

I wrote down my routine during my quiet time eating a light breakfast of granola and yogurt. I was going to do this! AND stick to it.

I started a load of laundry and decided when it was time to turn it over I would work out. Seems like a perfect amount of time to let the heater warm back up. Working out...new for me!!! After my work out I felt so great, why not mop the floors before the shower so it would feel clean all day!

The next piece of advice that I kept from The Inspired Room was getting fully dressed! It is amazing how different you feel when you blow dry your hair and put on "real clothes". After feeling so fresh and so clean I made a turkey wrap and decided to eat it at the counter instead of in front of the tv. You aren't getting me sucked in today HGTV! Instead, I took the dog for a walk to drop my orders off at the post office. When I returned, Caden was happy and I was refreshed and motivated to start on new orders. Yes, it is mid-day and most people are almost done with their work day. The point is, don't be hard on yourself because you don't wake up at 6am for that morning run before work at 8. Not everyone has a 9-5 schedule, my work day starts around noon after my morning routine and work out. Sounds crazy to some but I finally realized that it doesn't matter what time of day it is on the clock. Do what works for you and find your own routine. What makes you excited to get up and get your day started. Here is to a morning routine this New Year!

Mommy...did you make the bed just for me??

P.S. I even made the bed this morning. I highly recommend it. It something that I have rarely done in the past but every time I do, it feels so much better and you want to keep your room clean. Resolution: Make Bed, unless you and your partner plan on spending the day in it :)

Here's to a New Year!

After a year of finding myself along with falling in love with a wonderful man, turns out he was doing the same. 2015 is a start to a new me...minutes into the New Year, the man of my dreams kneels down and says the words I had been wanting to here...

During my surprise trip to Savannah, all of the music and the bustling of strangers ringing in the New Year, it was silent and all I could see was Mike kneeling in front of me. My life was changed forever. As the shock wore off and the phone calls started, it sank in, I was getting married.

I don't know if it's just me, but I love washing my hands, typing on the computer and doing dishes all a little more because I see this shiny ring of my ring finger that has been naked for 33 years. It takes me back to the moment and I get the same excitement all over again.

Join in my journey this year as I plan a wedding, launch my first ever handbag line, run 4 Etsy sites, my online shop saltytreasures.com and purging all of my clutter to start my new family with Mike and our Boston Terrier Caden. 

DIY Storage Box

The weather is perfect this time of year in Florida. It is finally not to hot to be outside! This is when my messy craft projects take over....

I spotted this great Gift Wrap at World Market a while back and knew I could do something fun with it. I bought the ivory and blue. It is recycled cotton so it is heavy weight and has a nice texture.

Since I have a bit of a shoe obsession, shoe boxes are easy to come by. I store different tools and such and label with permanent marker. Not the prettiest to look at.

To cover a shoe box it is much like gift wrapping. All you need is craft bond.

The paper is thick enough so it won't bleed through.

Take your shoe box and lay it out on the wrong side of the paper. It kept curling so I used my remote controls to weigh it down. Trace the bottom of the box to start with the base of your measurements. Next, lay the box on it's side and trace each side of the box.

Add 1/2" allowance on the longer sides of the box like shown below.

The smaller sides only need the allowance on the top.

Cut out your pattern and be sure when cutting on the smaller top and bottom cut to the edge of the box. On the larger sides cut on allowance line.

Get out your craft bond and head outside! You are going to spray on the bottom of the box first and line up all of the corners. Work carefully and fast! This stuff sticks... See where the extra paper is on the longer sides... you are going to fold it into the smaller ends so you get a clean finish.

Start with the long sides...

Fold edges in...

Shorter ends, then the raw top edges fold into the inside of the box.

Looking good! Now we want to measure the top of the box the same as the bottom and glue in the same order.

Last thing! Attach a label, I bought the Martha Stewart labels from Staples.

Voila!

Keep it Salty...

Wall Art

Look how great this turned out. My lovely customer from Etsy was so nice and sent me a photo of her entryway with my print!! I thought it turned out fantastic :)

 

Hope your inspired!

 

Purchase your own "Docked" print.....

 

http://www.etsy.com/listing/123395326/custom-home-address-print-nautical-theme?ref=shop_home_active&ga_search_query=custom