N.M. King | Independent Professional
When I first started crafting jewelry, friends would comment that many of my beads made them think of candy. Hard candy, to be specific. I laughed it off at the time, but as the years went by I began to see a recurring theme in the beads I purchased and, almost, in the way I put them together. The components all went to support how much the beads looked like candies!
Many of us never get over our love of candy. I know for me the trip to the Whiskey Hill Store to spend our can and bottle money on candy was the best part of our Summers. Jolly Ranchers were my favorite, and I know we loved Gobstoppers and Jawbreakers too. So why not embrace this theme in presentation, inspiration, and even how I market? Sounds like a fun idea, actually.
As I began brainstorming this post, I also started looking for a stock photo to use as the featured image. Photo after photo of hard candies set in artistic fashion made me realize that I should use this recurring theme of hard candy as a selling point during the Christmas season. Perhaps even during Halloween if I use the darker beads I’ve been hoarding (and, of course, the beads that are different shades of yellow and orange).
Candies can be crafted into so many lovely shapes and colors, and I’m looking forward to attempting to find even more beads that seem to play on this as their inspiration–and mine.
Tis the season for Christmas romances on the Hallmark channel. Some are corny, goofy, or cliche, but all of them are clean, sweet, and brimming with holiday cheer and happy endings.
Today I watched one that was particularly delightful, much to my surprise (since I’m one of those people who don’t really seek out RomComs or any heavy romantic movies). The title was ‘A Bramble House Christmas’ and it followed our heroine Willa and her son Scout as they took a vacation that was gifted to them by one of her clients (she is a healthcare worker) who had recently passed.
Watching the relationship bloom between her and Finn (the son of the deceased client) had me thinking about how a writer comes up with a holiday season romance. In my mind it doesn’t seem like it would be an easy task since so many things need to come into play before the season ends in the story… And I have a tendency of writing relationships that are months in the making.
So how would I do it? Would it work to have a Christmas season romance that spans more than one Christmas season? Maybe a collection of short stories that take place during the various holidays through the year? Is it worth the time and effort to take up this particular challenge? Maybe I should start looking into other romances that take place during the holiday season?
It’s definitely something to consider, especially since Christopher and Sara haven’t celebrated their first Christmas yet.