More Day of the Dead jewelry!

I've just listed the new earrings I made with Melanie from Earthenwood's awesome sugar skulls!



Super simple, I know, but the skulls are just so fun and pretty that I didn't want to embellish them too much.

You can find them here.

Off I go to another bead show

I will be at the Cincinnati Intergalactic Bead Show this weekend. Hope to see you there!

Jewelry all the time

I've been having fun making more jewelry. I haven't done this in a while, so I'm a little rusty, but it's been interesting seeing which beads I reach for now. I think there's a weird subconscious thing with beaders; whichever bead is your current favorite, that's what ends up in your designs.

I've been making a lot of chain-based jewelry right now.

Usually I make strung jewelry, generally like this:



I like both for different reasons. Chain allows a piece to move more freely, but it also twists more easily and sometimes bunches up while being worn, which bothers me. There are always pros and cons with every kind of jewelry design...

New Etsy shop, new jewelry

I've set up my new jewelry shop on Etsy, and I'm working on stocking it with jewelry, such as this set:



I love the Day of the Dead skull design. It's from Gaea and it's such a beautiful pendant.

I have my mini photography studio set up, and I'm experimenting right now with different options on the camera, trying to get things to look nice on the computer screen. It's a challenge!

I'm so excited about making new jewelry. I have a wonderful bead collection, honestly, and I just need to find the time to craft some new things.

Fighting against complacency

Occasionally I realize that it's been a while since I updated the content of my eBay or Etsy listings. I do change the pictures for each item, but I don't often look at the basic text, things like shipping policies. Shipping methods. Personal policies.

Now that eBay has stopped the purchase of shipping insurance on listings, I need to revamp all of my listings to remove the sentence about insurance. But it also occurs to me that this is a good time to review the text of my listings.

Recently I had a customer who mentioned that they felt my policies were too vague. In the ensuing emails, I had difficulty in communicating what I thought were very clear ideas. However, I am grateful to the customer for making me take a closer look. Rereading it right now, I noticed that I could change the wording to make it even clearer.

I think it's a good idea to continually test and retest our work, and even though the basic text at the bottom of the entry can hardly be considered "work," it still deserves attention.

To do, or not to do

One thing I struggle with incessantly is trying to decide what to do next. It's a very simple question, of course, but there are so many possibilities that it can often overwhelm.

Yesterday I decided that this weekend should be All Jewelry All The Time, but today I find myself emptying the last few boxes leftover from the move--framed pictures and decorations. I wish I had done this before the garage sale, as I'm finding a few items that I'd like to get rid of. Still, it's good to do this, but there is no jewelry being made. Nor photographed.

I have been fairly motivated about listing a piece of jewelry each day in my Etsy jewelry shop over the last few weeks. I have missed a day or two, but overall I've managed to keep it up. I feel like I'm posting it to the void, most days, but at least the shop is starting to look full. I am getting to the end of my original set of items, though, and I really need to start making new things and, more importantly, getting the photos together so that I can continue listing them.

I'm trying to understand what I need to do to be where I want to be. I am always thinking in a million different directions and sometimes I wish a giant glowing arrow would descend and point me to the Correct Path.

Spookyheads for me to play with

I have just received my special order from Melanie of Earthenwood Studio! These adorable little handcrafted ceramic sugar skulls are awesome and I can't wait to make new jewelry with them.