Time to get ready

I'm leaving next week for a very long business trip, one of two long trips I make each year. This means that I need to shut down my Etsy shop and my eBay store for a month. Which always makes me sad! I hate closing them for anything. When I'm gone for shorter periods of time, I usually ask my husband to watch them for me, but for this kind of absence I really don't have a choice.

So I'm not restocking, and I will put both into vacation mode on Monday or Tuesday. If there's anything you want, now's the time to get it!

Hibernation

After a whirlwind holiday season with houseguests and lots of cookies and get-togethers, oh my, I am finally regaining my breath. Today the sun is shining, the snow is sparkling, and it's beautiful outside.

I'm restocking my eBay and Etsy shops for the last time before I leave for my annual month-long trip on Jan 21st. I have two major demarcations in every year; the Tucson shows and the Bead & Button, both of which require me to be away for a month. This year I won't be attending Tucson, but I will still be gone.

There's so much to do before I leave. State sales tax for the different states that I do shows in, for example. In three states I file taxes twice a year, and those are due right now. Plus I have to make certain that the money will be okay while I'm gone. I won't be selling online for a month, which makes a difference.

It's a period of introspection too, though. It's a time to think of what I want to accomplish when I get back, and how I want to do it.

I've wanted a website for ages, and time has only sharpened this. Etsy and eBay have their strengths, but unfortunately, because of the way they're set up and the way the fees work, I have a hard time justifying the listing of several of the same item. Having a website would make it easier to deal with this, because it would be possible to buy more than one of a single item.

So I think I've finally convinced myself that a website it a must.

I'm also thinking about jewelry, and how best to work with new designs and what to do about that. My issue is still photography. I looked at the pictures of my shop through another's computer and was not satisfied with the colors. I've had multiple issues with my monitor and with Photoshop and I'm still not 100% certain that what I'm seeing on my monitor is what the majority of people are seeing.

I'm still determined to work on the ideas I have for metal components. I really need to get that into motion, too.

My work is cut out for me in the new year, obviously! Hope you all have a brilliant, prosperous, healthful and lovely 2010!

Whew! Lots of new items!

I've been cropping and editing and putting together lots of new listings! Check out my eBay store or my Etsy shop for all sorts of new items.

These are really unique; they're large hole vintage Japanese glass beads. They have delicate murrine slices melted onto their surface. It's so nice to find vintage beads with large holes--these are nearly three millimeters wide!



I've also bought some really lovely charms and two-hole pendants made from sterling silver set with vintage Japanese glass cabochons. They're beautiful and versatile!

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.