Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Black Friday Survival Guide: This is Not a Drill

There are numerous guides on the interwebs about Black Friday shopping. Some tell you were to find deal upon deal and others provide a rudimentary "guide" for navigating your big day. Rubbish, all of them. These sites, as useful as they appear to be, do not convey the life or death seriousness of Black Friday. It's real in these here streets, and you need to come out of this as king of the mountain. Luckily for you, I've prepared the definitive guide on making it out alive.

1. Bring a Bodyguard


Do you know anyone that will take a bullet for you? Anyone who would be willing to be trampled for you? Over a $39 digital camera? Can you easily maneuver so that if it comes down to you or them it's you? There's your bodyguard.

2. Learn Karate



If you are serious about Black Friday, you started this months ago. But don't worry if you're a new convert, it's not too late to learn the basics. Okay, forget the basics. All you need to know is how to do a roundhouse kick. Chuck Norris the sh*t out of everyone. Hand out one or two of these and the other shoppers will present their goods to you along with their daughters' hands in marriage and huge tracts of land.

3. Carry a Concealed Weapon


That seasonally-appropriate-festive-red sweater selling for an unheard of $19.99 at Kohls? It's yours. Yours. "No" is a foreign language to you today, and as a foreigner, you have diplomatic immunity. Brandish that gun with abandon and pistol whip those sales associates like they owe you money.

4. Get a Decoy


It's 2011. Everyone wants to be famous. You've got to know at least one stage mom with a cute-ish kid she'll let you borrow for a song. While little Suzy creates a diversion, singing and tap-dancing in aisle 6, you sneak off and gather your treasures. Make two trips if you have to and jet off in your car while your little star closes with the big number (jazz hands!). Suzy's fine, she'll find a ride home.


These fail-safe precautions will ensure that you, your new TomTom GPS and and your dignity make it out of the supermart in one piece. You will return home a hero, a ballad will be composed in your honour and generations of your people will sing it with gusto, heart over hand. Black Friday. The day you shopped. And lived.

Monday, November 21, 2011

I'm Having a Black Friday Sale

This year, I will be offering Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday deals. From the 25th to the 28th, every item will be on sale for 15% off, including Art Deco and Pinstripe Flowers.
Happy Shopping.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Looking for Product Testers!




I'm looking for a few good women to test out some new accessories. I need eight total of varying hair types (2 per category). Four of the eight will serve as alternates in case someone is unable to comply. Posted above is an image with the general hair type categories (click picture to increase size). I need two people from each category. Your hair in it's natural state must fit the category you apply for.

To apply:

Send an email to info@ododooriginals.com.
The subject line should read "Product Test + [your hair type: 1, 2, 3, OR 4]".
In the body of your email please include your name and address where products can be sent.

What's expected of you:

Answer a few surveys and respond to questions regarding the Ododo Originals products you will receive.

Discretion. As the products you will receive are in the testing phase, your discretion regarding their performance is appreciated.

What you will get:

Compensation includes any and all products you receive for testing, plus a thank you gift at the end of the testing period.

Restrictions:

US residents only.

UPDATE: All filled up! Thank you!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Game of Thrones!!!!!!!!



So I finally started watching this and caught up with season one yesterday. OMG! You HAVE to see this if you haven't. I've always been a huge fantasy fan so this was totally up my ally, but I swear, even if you aren't into fantasy you will "get" this series because HBO did a fantastic job with it.

I had the books on my list of books to read (over 500+ books long ack!) but after watching Season 1, I bumped it up because I had to know what happened to these characters I'm coming to love (almost posted a spoiler here, but I wont!). I will say that the HBO series is more friendly to the non-fantasy fan than the books, so even if you tried but couldn't get into the books, WATCH THIS. For serious. I'm now on book 2, Clash of Kings, getting my questions answered and finding even more mystery. Join me.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

New Stuff

So one of the items I've been working on is a new line of headbands for my store. Here are a few that are currently listed:








I'm really excited about this new venture and encouraged by all the support I've gotten over the years. I remember when this was just a hobby, and now it's what I do all day (well, plus writing. Oh, and watching Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones). I'm working on more headbands and love mixing colours (as you can see). Be on the lookout for some interesting fare.

Cheers.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Update: Summer 2011


Let's see:
I moved to Minneapolis (yay!)
I temporarily relocated to Louisiana to help my sister after a surgery(I'm back).
I started a set of locs (eek!)
I've done 3 shows, including the very awesome Creative Connection Event (see image above).
I've created 2 new lines of flowers.
And, most importantly, there's lots more on the way!

Cheers!!!

Monday, April 4, 2011

M.I.A.

Hello, internet. I've all but disappeared the last few weeks but I'm slowly getting more of my time back. I was in an accident mid-February that destroyed my vehicle, but thankfully left me physically unscathed. Dealing with the aftermath of that has been a full-time job and I barely had time to breath.


(This is not my car. Just how my car must have felt.)



In other, funner news, I've come closer to completing the new line of bridal/evening flowers! I've been experimenting with different designs and I'm currently almost happy with the fifth prototype. I'm aiming for a May debut, so fingers crossed.

If you follow me on twitter (@OdodoOriginals) you may have seen the preview of the multi-layered showpiece flower that I posted way back when in January. It took more than 15 hrs(!!) to construct and I've been working on getting that time down. I love the idea of losing a day just beading and relaxing, but it's not very practical, no? More on that lovely piece soon.

Cheers!

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Indie Wed Recap Video

Some lovely vendors at Indiewed Chicago put together a recap of the show and the video is pretty amazing! I'm on the last leg of my Kickstarter video and I'm so envious of whatever equipment they used for theirs! Anyhoo, here is is:

Indie Wed 2011 from I Do Films on Vimeo.



My flowers (and I think the edge of my arm) make a brief cameo towards the middle. My flowers were convincing, but my arm couldn't act its way out of a paper bag.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Neglect



I've been so busy with stuff that my posting fell to the wayside, "stuff" being preparing for Indiewed which took place in Chicago this past weekend! I had a blast and got to meet up with friends that live there which is always fun. It was also nice to leave my rural town for any length of time (maybe a big move is in my future?). I've been working on so many new items including a couple of new trios and a multilayer flower, but it never seems like there are enough hours in the day to make all the items rushing through my head! Until the next (more frequent) update, cheers!

Friday, January 14, 2011

Kckstarter Update

My project has been approved!! I'm so excited. Now I need to make a video and write up a project profile. This is going to be fun!

Monday, January 10, 2011

Just Listed

Added a couple of new flowers to the site today:

Tartan Belle


Bluebird


Limeaway


Golden Belle


Royal Blue Belle



I think my favourites of this batch are Bluebird and Golden Belle. It's funny because sometimes I can predict which items are going to be popular and other times it comes out of left field. For example, I love Eggplant, but had no idea how popular it would become. It remains one of the top crowd-pleasers both online and at shows. I'm working it into a new trio and also have a super cute Valentine's trio in the works. Stay tuned.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Girl With One Eye

Since most of my work is pretty solitary, I have to find ways to entertain myself. This means lots of Netflix/Hulu (I don't have a TV) and lots of music. I have a penchant for female singer/songwriter types and early last year a friend of mine introduced me to the wonder that is Florence + The Machine. The voice, the lyrics, everything hit just the right note. A few of my favourites:


Bird Song



Swimming



Girl With One Eye



I highly recommend this entire album("Lungs") with no reservations. I'm always looking for good music, so feel free to share any of your recommendations with me!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

To Kickstart or not to Kickstart?



If you aren't familiar with the awesomeness that is Kickstarter.com, click on the link and go there now. It's basically a site that connects users to independent projects that the user can fund in return for various "rewards". So independent film makers might offer intangible rewards like mentioning the donor in the movie credits, while those who create tangible objects, like jewelry, offer donors said jewelry as the reward. It's all very cool and kind of exciting to see if a project you've backed meets their goal and gets proper funding.

Well I was talking to a fellow crafty business friend of mine and I wondered, wouldn't it be cool to submit an Ododo Originals Kickstarter project? I'm getting excited just thinking about it. It seems like it would be something fun to do and move some product to boot. What do you think?

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Giveaway

So the Handmade Minnesota Etsy team blog is hosting a giveaway of one of my flowers! Head over there to check out the rules and sign up. The flower in question is Amber Lamps:



I have giveaways scheduled over the next two months so check back often for more chances to win!

Monday, January 3, 2011

Something New

Some time last year, things had begun to get a little stale. That is, I felt like I was playing the same lovely note over and over again with my flowers. I knew I wanted to shake things up so I began beading outside my comfort zone, experimenting with mixing colours and creating patterns. In my experimentation, I came up with this:


It's inspired by the art deco style of the 1920s with striking contrasts and bold, clean lines. I'm a strong believer in the power of simplicity and kept the pattern clean for that. These will roll out on the site pretty soon. I envision this as a brooch that would pair awfully well with red or as a lovely bridal piece for a retro bride.

I'm working on several colour combos including gunmetal and bronze, silver and gold, and others.

I've also been experimenting with changing the shape of my flowers, specifically with achieving a clean rounded edge. Every once in a while, I'll get a request for one and I hated having to say no. Again, after some experimentation (practice makes perfect) I perfected my method (and promptly destroyed the ugly mutant-looking ones that came before). Here are the new rounded petals in shades Vintage Pink and Colonel Mustard:





It's a softer look that I'm working into the new line (more on that soon!). If you see a colour you like in the Etsy store, but prefer round petals, just let me know!

Cheers,
~L.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Newsletter Info

I am currently switching from my old email list to a new provider. If you were signed up for the old newsletter, you should be fine (but let me know if you don't receive anything in a month or so). If you would like to sign up for the newsletter, follow this link or sign up in the little box on your (top) right. I promise not to get spammy and I'll just let you know about big developments and of course any sales. Newsletters go out once, sometimes twice, monthly. Cheers!
~L.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year!

And welcome to my blog! I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while now, but always put it off for one reason or another. What better time to start than with the beginning of the new year. This blog will focus mainly on my business (Ododo Originals) with a sprinkling of other interests. Ododo Originals has grown quite a bit over the last year and I hope to grow it even more in 2011.

Ahem...speaking of growing, I am working on a new line of flowers with the following colour palette:


I am deeply in love with "Mink", the third colour, which is a pinky-brown. The line will debut at Indiewed in Chicago at the end of the month(but you guys will get to see it way before that). This is but one of a few new items I'm working on. The new art deco-style flowers will knock your socks off :P.

Cheers,
~L.