As seen on The Vampire Diaries - The Story Behind the Scenes.

This week has been a pretty exciting one!

On Saturday I found out that my Swoop necklace was worn by the character Bonnie on The Vampire Diaires.  I immediately started to watch the latest episode online.  With clothing sometimes in the way, and the typical dark set on The Vampire Diaries, it was difficult to completely know what you were seeing.   With each passing scene I thought that maybe they had made a mistake and now with only the last scene left I was starting to feel doubtful.  But then there, yes, I can see it looking so beautiful on the actress Kat Graham who plays Bonnie. It really is a thrill to see your design on screen.

This is a story of not just that excitement of having that confirmation of someone else, a stranger, feeling that your design is worth having one of the main characters in a highly rated show wear one of your designs. No, that is amazing but that's the bonus. What this really is is a story about patience, hopefulness and believing in yourself.

It was almost two years ago when I had the opportunity to send one of my designs to the stylist of The Vampire Diaires through The Artisan Group (TAG). I'm so proud to be a member of TAG ~ "which is a premiere entertainment marketing organization that is on a mission to introduce Hollywood and celebrities to the best of the handmade movement". Being in the midst of these extremely talented, creative, supportive and high achieving members is highly motivating.  Most of them are woman running their businesses from their homes just like me.  

So yes, almost two years ago I signed up to send something to The Vampire Diaries Season 6. It was one of my first times to send a design for consideration and I remember feeling nervous and excited about it. Keeping the show and characters in mind I spent many hours trying different ideas. I eventually came up with my Swoop necklace and I kept coming back to it so I knew it was the one.  I thought it was the perfect style that fit the show but it wasn't too 'costume-y' that it couldn't be worn in real life.  A duplicate was made (as required by the show) in case of damage or breakage in a scene and my package was sent to California.  The waiting begins.

Season 6 premiere aired and I was excited and hopeful to see my necklace but no, not that episode. This went on and on until Season 6 was over.  Oh well, I gave it a shot and it was not meant to be.  Throughout this time I continued to send designs to different shows with the hope of one being used.  When Season 7 started I didn't even really think about it anymore because a new selection of designs had been sent and I didn't participate.  So it did come as a real surprise to me as I hadn't even thought it was a possibility at this point. 

This brings me to the believing in yourself.  When running my own business from home, no matter how supportive my family, friends and customers are it all comes down to me.  Through the years, the ups and downs, the learning curve, the competition, the ongoing changes of e-commerce all above and beyond making jewelry there definitely has been some questioning on my part but also an underlying hopefulness, even shall I say, confidence in what I do and an overall belief in myself. 

The Vampire Diaries gives me that added boost, a skip in my step and the excitement of what's to come.  So yes, I am proud of this little company of mine but yes, I'm also proud of myself and for me that often can be something difficult to say out loud but when I hear it, it just makes me smile.

As seen on The Vampire Diairies.
Episode 719.
Original Airdate: April 22, 2016.

Check out TVD this week as it airs on The CW and CTV at 8p.m. Friday.  I have my fingers crossed that since Bonnie was wearing it in the very last scene from last week's show that she might continue to wear it this week.  You never know!!