A Challenge and a Contest

So, a lot of you know that I've been working to start my own little side business creating and selling hair clips and headbands and whatever else I get excited about. I really got off the ground with it about a month ago and I've been so excited! I started a Facebook group and currently have 121 fans- of whom I only "really" know 71! I've made about 38 sales on my Etsy site and I've learned a lot about the whole process. It's been really fun. Here are some of my favorite things I've made this month.

The "spring" flower clip that goes with EVERYTHING Nora wears...

The fun flower I made to match Gymboree's Glamour Safari summer line (because I'm a total Gymboree freak).

Perfecting the "Nora Bow," my favorite style of ribbon bow, just right for adding a splash of color.

Making some custom "Carolyn Bows" for a cyber-friend I "met" on Etsy.

And a custom set of flower bows designed as requested by another new Etsy friend.

And my favorite thing I made this month: my first two "collections" designed to specifically coordinate with particular clothing lines. I started with my favorites: this collection to match the Gymboree Pop of Daisies spring line...

And this one to match the Glamour Safari line.

I've really been busy!! Just the right amount of busy. I relish the hours spent in my "secret lab" downstairs in my basement. It's creative, it's art, it satisfies some deep need to be productive, to have something to create that is an expression of the part of me that is just "me," independent and unrelated to my many other roles in life. My clips are born from something inside that just jumps to escape and purrs with satisfaction when it gets a chance to roam free for awhile.

I have so many ideas for this business. Sometimes I just fly up on the wings of a great idea, and often have drifted off to sleep this month with visions of ribbon colors and yarn balls dancing in my head. I know that making clips will never replace the income we will be doing without when I leave my pharmacy job this summer, but the $ made doing this is just the best kind to have- the kind that's not quite enough to have to account for, but just enough to pay for some of the little extras you'd normally do without. So I've been pretty excited- as anyone who's been around me this month can testify!

But... I've hit a bit of a snag this week. I realized in the course of trying to register for a domain name to match my ittybittyclippies Etsy site that there is another person doing business as ittybittyclippy.com. Seriously, I'm not making a whole lot of $$ here, but I don't really want to find out 6 months or a year into this venture that I have to turn around and change the name.

So... that brings me to the point of this post, and the contest I will be beginning today and continuing for the next few days. I am taking suggestions for new names for my business. Take a look at my site and these pictures and see if you can get a sense of "who" I am in this creative process and what words might describe the essence of what I'm trying to do. And leave me your suggestions for a new name! I'm hoping for some great new ideas to supplement the ones I'm currently chewing over. Comment please! Please! I'll be posting the suggestions as a poll and the suggestion getting the most votes will win a choice of any clip in my shop, shipped directly to the address of their choice. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts!