Wicked Smileys
Sarah Lyons
Sarah Lyons began as a vendor on Goth Auctions, selling unique hair ornaments and has recently launched her own business, Wicked Smileys.
The inspiration behind
Wicked Smileys was actually a “team” effort. My friends, online friends, clients and my husband finally convinced me that my designs really were that good, that I needed to expand as well as come up with design lines/categories, and that I needed to promote myself instead of just promoting everyone else.
So I sat down and started creating new designs for my website. I asked of few of the girls to come and model for me and I was able to get the most wonderful pictures! I was thrilled! My models just brought the new designs to life. I asked several of my friends about website designing and my hubby and I looked up quite a few things, and got the domain set up. Thank goodness Vanessa, a wonderful friend came to my rescue! She did an absolutely stunning job on designing the website! She was able to give it the perfect layout and graphics, I honestly cannot thank her enough. Gina, yet another wonderful friend came up with the tag line that you see on the website and my banners as well as my business cards: “Twisted wares for your wicked hair”. One of my clients started my entire Asian line, “Oriental flair”. So many different aspects of my website and my designs came from so many different people. I have the most wonderful friends and husband. I could not have done it without their support and love.
I began selling via Goth Auctions. Getting things off the ground as my own business was not as hard as I thought it might be. There were a few bumps, but I think that all small businesses go through them in some form or another. The name comes from my obsession with smiley faces and adding a bit of gothiness to it. ;) Doing all the business license and tax paperwork, finding new models and scheduling time, finding new materials, making sure that my designs are original in form, style and materials. Researching to see what people were wearing, looking for, but could not find. Pricing and naming designs, etc.
But with all that said, I feel that I have so much more freedom and so much inspiration then I ever had when I was just auctioning. I do not have to restrain myself to something that is “trendy” or “in style” or just something that is “going to sell”. I can create, design, customize or revamp designs for each person or just for myself. That is what I truly love doing, the creating.
As far as my goals this year, I am working on several projects at the moment. I will be attending “Oddball” in Santa Cruz, sharing a booth with a friend and selling some of my designs. I am really excited about it, this will be my very first “Gothic Bizaar”.
I am also creating specific designs for a fashion show at my favorite local club, Stiletto. They are having a “Black n‘ Blue Ball” on Feb. 13th, (Friday the 13th) featuring the infamous Leather Masters and several other wonderful local performers. It is going to be quite the event!
I am still tossing around the idea of being a vendor at C10, but even if I decide not to be a vendor, I still want to try and attend just so I can meet so many of the wonderful people that inspire me, support me and that are my friends. I want to expand my lines, update my website and just create.
You know, doing what every artist wants to do, create.
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