Catching UP

Welcome back, Jill!  I have just decided to get back on the blogging horse.  A lot has happened to me since January 22, 2012.  Rather than bore you with the details, I'll just give you the short version...

I had emergency abdominal surgery in May.  I was only in the hospital for 24 hours but it certainly took longer than that to get back to normal.

My husband and I are finally getting close to being done with our big move.  The downstairs is mostly complete.  The bedrooms still have some work to do but three of them are really close to complete.  The upstairs office is still a disaster.  We haven't started on the basement yet.

I've visited Cincinnati many times over the last few months for Grandparents Day at my granddaughter's preschool, for Sophie's 4th birthday and for the twins 2d birthday.  All of those trips were wonderful.

Marty and I have just returned from a glorious vacation in St. Petersburg Florida with our entire family (almost).  We rented a big house on the water and spent the week going to the beach and swimming in our own pool.  In addition to my kids and their kids, my brother (who lives in Cocoa, FL) and my big sister (who lives in Plano, TX) joined us.  While we were there, Marty's brother and his son and Marty's little sister joined us for dinner.  It was great to see and spend time with everyone.  The kids had a great time.  We took them to Disney World and spent about $700 walking around in the rain all day.  We did get to meet Repunzel and ride It's a Small World and Winnie the Pooh.  We visited the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse and rode the carousel several times.  We stayed for the Electric Light Parade before heading home at about 10:00.  In spite of the drenching rains, we managed to have a good time.  The kids were really great; no crying about the rain or standing in line.

I have been doing a lot of custom jewelry lately so it has been a while since I added new items to my Etsy store.  I've got about 5 or 6 pieces to add as soon as I get photos of them.  That seems to be the rate limiting step for me.  I can't seem to get the pictures done quickly.  I'm trying to finish one piece that I've been working on for a month or so.  I guess I don't want to take the other pictures until that piece is done so I can get them on the site at the same time.

My plan now is to try to keep up the blog on at least a weekly basis.

What is Going On?

I'm sure you are all wondering what the hell I've been up to.  It has been weeks since I updated the blog so I'm going to try to bring everyone up to date.

When I think about what has happened since the last time I blogged, the biggest thing beadwise was doing my first 2 shows.  The first show was not a huge success but I did make back my entry fee.  Of course, I immediately spent what I made on a wonderful handmade scarf that I gave to my daughter-in-law for Christmas.  I'm not sure that really counts as making money.

The second show was much better. It was kind of scary though because we were moving and I had to do the show by myself.  I was lucky that one of the folks I met at the first show was also doing the second show so I was able to go to the bathroom and have someone to watch my shop.  Although my take was only in the 3 digit range, I sold a number of my favorites.  It was hard to see some of them going away.

I am now convinced that I will do more shows.  In fact, I'm planning on entering some juried shows to see what happens.  Before I can do that though, I need to figure out how to make my photos meet their standards.  I've read the rules but I don't have any idea what they are talking about.  I obviously need someone to help me.  I'm not sure if I need a photographer or a computer nerd.  Maybe I need both.  The show I'm thinking of trying to get in is huge.  They average about 4000 visitors each year.  I'll have to start making things now if I want to have enough stock to last through the weekend.  What fun!

The other big thing that has happened is that my husband and I bought a new house and moved.  Our new house has an office/library on the first floor that is going to be my new studio.  I've always had to use a room in the basement or upstairs.  I've never liked it because when I was in the basement, I couldn't hear the doorbell and several people have told me they stopped by but I wasn't home when I was just downstairs working.  Upstairs isn't good either.  Now though, I'm right in the middle of everything and I love it.  I'll post a picture as soon as the room is done.

For some unknown reason, I've had a great December and January as far as sales are concerned.  I've not only sold quite a few pieces, I've sold some of my most expensive pieces.  I always wondered who would spend that much on online jewelry.  Would you spend four or five hundred dollars on something you haven't seen in person?  I'm not sure I would.  Of course, I offer a no questions asked money back guarantee so it is virtually risk free.  I had one customer buy a beautiful aquamarine necklace and then return it when it didn't go with the dress she bought it to go with.  I was happy to take it back.

Maybe all my hard work is finally starting to pay off.  I sure hope so.

Glutton for Punishment

Basically, I'm a glutton for punishment...I'm doing another show this weekend.  I hope to have a better sales record than last weekend.  I've committed to doing both Saturday and Sunday.  It is a much larger show that the last one.  This one has approximately 60 vendors so hopefully I won't get lost in the crowd.

For those of you that live in and around Baltimore, this show will be held at the Towson Commons.  Parking is free all weekend and you'll have 60 or so vendors of quality hand made gifts from which to choose that perfect last minute Christmas gift.  We're open 10 - 6 both Saturday and Sunday.

I look forward to seeing you there.

My First Show Part II

Well, the best I can say is that my first show is behind me and I learned a lot.  As you can probably tell from the tenor of the first sentence, I didn't make a lot of sales.  In fact, I didn't even have very many "lookers."  The crowd was steady all day but they weren't looking for jewelry and they certainly weren't looking for high end jewelry.  Even my $40.00 necklaces seemed to be too expensive for them.  Some of the vendors did fairly well but no one had a great day.  I did get a lot of compliments about my work which is always nice.

I did have enough sales to check out my new credit card reader and the square website.  Wow!  It is very cool and so very easy to use.  Customers sign the receipt with their finger on my iPad and then I can email them a receipt.  Within 24 hours, the $$ actually show up in my bank account.  Now I'm wondering if I can link my pay pal account to it?  That would be sweet since I try to keep my business funds separate from my personal accounts.  I'll check that out for sure.

I really liked my table set up although I was wishing I had more room to put out more necklaces.  I was only able to show 15 necklaces at a time.  I guess I'll have to be creative about how to get more space out of that small 8 ft square.  Maybe some sort of rack that I can sit on the table and use more space above the table.

Here is my table:

My banner looks so small up on the wall behind the table.  I think I need to order a larger one.

Here's hoping that my next show results in more sales!

Christmas Craft Show

I'm doing my first craft show this Saturday, December 10 from 11:00 to 5:00 at:

MD State Boychoir Center for the Arts

3400 Norman Ave

Baltimore, MD 21213

You can find a vendor list posted at www.charmcitycraftivists.com

If you live in or around Baltimore, please stop by and check out some fabulous hand crafted items just in time of Christmas gift giving.

Stop by my booth while you are there.  I'd love to meet you!

Thanksgiving

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.  ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

More New Listings

This is the first piece I have ever made using blue lace agate.  I found this pendant at Bead Fest Philadelphia and knew right away that I had to buy it.    The necklace itself if made from smaller blue lace agate beads and seed beads all highlighted with sterling silver.  The clasp is also sterling silver.  This will list for $88.00 on Etsy.

These coordinating earrings are fun!  I strung blue lace agate, seed beads and sterling silver on sterling silver beading wire and used jump rings to attach them to an earring post.  These earrings list on Etsy for $18.00.

This classic look will impress even the most conservative person you know.  I haven't posted this one yet because I'm having a hard time remembering what this stone is.  Whatever it is, it is spectacular.  The wonderful green stones in decreasing sizes are separated by 22 kt gold plated sterling silver bead caps.  I'll have to force myself to sell this one.  I'll list it for $175 on Etsy as soon as I remember what the stone is.

The coordinating earrings are great too.  The wonderful green stones (whatever they are) are separated by 22 kt gold plated sterling silver bead caps.  The earrings dangle from a circular ear post that is also 22 kt plated sterling silver.  Lovely!

These are simple but beautiful earrings.  Perfect amethyst briolettes wire wrapped and suspended from sterling silver "C" shaped and pounded ear wires.  These will be listed for $35.00 on Etsy.

I'm into creative mode now since I need to have a sufficient collection to display at my first craft show.