Selling Venues - Bonanzle

Today we're going to take a look at www.bonanzle.com. I've got a lot to share with you - so I'm going to have to break this up into two days :) In this post I'm going to share the response I got from a seller on Bonanzle. I'm just getting to know Terri, she's one of my twitter friends, and she's been incredibly helpful! The next post (in a day or two) will take a more in depth look at the site itself.

~ How long have you been selling with this site?
Selling on Bonanzle Since September 16 2008, (Just out of Beta) there were about 1700 members, and 30,000 listings then, now there are over 16,000 members and 600,000 listings.

~ On a scale of 1-10, (1 being hardest and 10 being easiest) how hard/easy is it to navigate and use the site?
Site is sooooo easy to navigate I have to give it a 8.5 to a 9, as I would give it a 10, but no site is ever completely perfect...only because there is a small learning curve. The live chat and  active forums, plus the Human nearly immediate support response make it very easy to find answers to your questions.

~ Have you had success selling on this site?
My top selling category is Jewelry and Jewelry findings. I also sell quite a few semi-precious and real gem stones.

~ Are there any key features that find especially helpful on this site?
The live chat is awesome, the forums are very warm and welcoming. I especially like the fact that I have over 1000 separate items listed, and have not paid a penny in listing fees....I can also include up to 4 photos, free. Final value fees are incredibly low. Up to $10 the fee is $.50, up to $50, it is $1.00.., and up to $100 it is $3.00. If you post a question in the forums, you most likely will get a hundred responses and welcomes from the members. You can chat right in your booth with friends or customers, either publically or privately. You can have 1 advertised "Bonanza" (sale) per month, and as many self promoted sales as you like. I am also an administrator of the site wide Meet & Greet called Tickle Me Tuesday, which allows people to get out and visit participating booths, have a sale, and get exposure for their own booths.

~ What's the community of artists like?
There is a huge on line community, not only artists, but sellers of many items. A large part of this community is comprised of ex-eBay Power Sellers, who have left for a variety of well known reasons. There is an entire thread of Hand Crafters, who chat, and help to promote each other. I belong to the Jewelry Integrity Group, (JIG) myself. Because we are a relatively new site and all know the bad feelings of poor customer service and high fees, the entire community bends over backwards, for the sake of Customer Service. The owners are very approachable for ideas and to solve problems.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Woohoo! Doesn't that sound pretty cool folks? I'm going to be doing some more research into the lay out and everything for the next post, but I have to say that this site sounds pretty awesome just from my initial research. Now to tell you a little more about Terri...

You can find her shop on bonanzle under blarney_stone, and she wasn't kidding when she said she had over 1000 listings! *whew* It wears me out just thinking of all that work... Terri is doing a SALE TODAY from 1:00pm to 10:00pm Central time - 20% off everything in her booth.

So what can you find in her shop? Well, being a jewelry-freak I of course started out by checking out her jewelry and findings section. Look at this awesome butterfly pendant I found! Only $3.99 :)

With over 1000 items you can well imagine that Terri has MANY different things to offer. One of the other items that I just fell in love with was this little miniature shaving mug and brush. It's adorable! Also only $3.99 :)

A Little Bit of Fun :)

After all the serious, business-orientated post that I've put up lately, it's time for a little bit of fun! To start with - I'm excited to report that I've been given a blog award!

Isn't that cool? Now - I'm lame and I don't pass these on to people - mostly because I can't decide who among all my lovely friends to pick! It's not fair to leave some of you out. I do want to say a HUGE thanks to the Simply Sticky blog for nominating me though! Make sure you check out the blog :)

Guess what? I got jewelry stuff for Christmas! My awesome mother-in-law bought me a jig so I can continue to grow in my wire work. I've started playing around with it, but I have a feeling it'll be a week or two before you see anything. I want it to look good!


In other news - remember my Firebird Necklace? Well, I originally created it for a challenge for Team Big Damn Crafters. Fire was first and foremost n my mind as I created this - and I played around a lot to find a pattern I liked. In the end I took a simple pattern for the base, and added on to it!

Well, I knew as soon as I finished this piece that I wanted to do more. I didn't know what colors - but I knew I wanted to do more! It just turned out so beautiful and I'm so proud of it! Well, after lots of thinking, and long conversations with my crafty Mom, I've decided to make this necklace the first in a series based on the four elements. I have the plans written up for the next three pieces, and hopefully I'll start working on the one for Air soon :) It all depends on when I'm able to buy the seed beads I need for it. That and I have a custom order to work on first... 

Can you tell that lately I have a million and half ideas lately? Well...you have no idea! :P

Selling Venues - Etsy

Now I might be naive, but I'm pretty sure most of my readers are familiar with Etsy.  Why? Because that's where I'm currently based and where most of my contacts have come from! I'm going to give a brief overview of how the site works anyway for those of you who've never explored it :) So if your one of my etsy friends, feel free to skip the next paragraph!

Etsy.com is a selling and buying venue for handmade items, supplies, and vintage items. There are many different ways you can search for what your looking for, forums for your questions, chat, blog updates from the staff, and options for requesting custom items. Most people use Paypal for payment, but you have the choice to use other options such as RME. There are "teams" on etsy that you can join.  These teams offer a lot of support and help with navigation and useful tips! I know this is a very short overview - so let me know if you have any questions!

(etsy people start reading again!)

A couple of days ago I started a thread in the etsy forums to get some feedback on people's selling experience. I did get some valuable feedback on other sites that I'll be sharing in later posts - but I got a wealth of replies about etsy itself! No surprises considering it was ON etsy right?

The questions I put out there were:
~ How long have you been selling with this site?
~ On a scale of 1-10, (1 being hardest and 10 being easiest) how hard/easy is it to navigate and use the site?
~ Have you had success selling on this site?
~ Are there any key features that find especially helpful on this site?
~ What's the community of artists like?

I got responses back from people with a wide range of experience. We had one respondant who'd only been on the site for 3 weeks, and we had one person who'd been on the site for just over 2 years! With the exception of three people and some of the newbies, everyone reported having been successful. 

Let's stop and take a look at a the term for a success for a minute. I didn't give any qualifications for that term in my questions did I? That's because success is a very subjective term. If I wanted to, I could set up some sort of arbitrary parameters that I consider the definition of success, but it wouldn't really apply to everyone. Some people are on here selling part time for fun, other people spend a great deal of time and money and their livelihood depends on it, many are inbetween, so success is going to mean something different to each of these people! Because of this, when I say the majority of people reported being successful, keep in mind that I mean that by their definitions. Also please realize that while some of the newbies (4 months and under) I catagorized under "just starting," and they reported no success yet, there were other newbies who reported wild success already!

The average rating of ease of use on Etsy was 7.6, with a range from 3-10. Many people said that it was easy to use in comparison to other sites, while others said that it was difficult to figure out initially. My personal experience with the site is that it can take awhile to learn where everything is, but that over all most functions are relatively easy to learn how to use.  Plus, when you get confused about anything there are a lot of helpful people to help you figure things out! I'd say a 7 or so rating is pretty accurate :)

Out of the features that people like; the one's mentioned the most were the conversation function, the forums, and the treasuries.  People also reported that the community in general is friendly and helpful. Granted, people aren't as likely to air their grievences in a forum, but it was still overwhelmingly positive :)

My personal experience has been that this is a really friendly community, and that you'll get out of it what your willing to put into it. Some products are harder to sell here than others, and jewelry in specific is a very saturated market. Which can be frustrating for me, because that's what I make! So putting a lot of "effort" into it doesn't necessarily mean you'll make sales, but it does increase the liklihood! That's probably true for most selling venues :)

As for success? I haven't been as successful on-line as I'd like to be, but I have definitely developed some incredible friendships and opportunities through etsy! I am looking to expand into some other venues though, and that's why I'm doing this research :)

If you sell in a venue other than etsy I would still love your response to these questions for each site you sell at! Thank you!

~ How long have you been selling with this site?

~ On a scale of 1-10, (1 being hardest and 10 being easiest) how hard/easy is it to navigate and use the site?

~ Have you had success selling on this site?

~ Are there any key features that find especially helpful on this site?

~ What's the community of artists like?

Upated List of Selling Venues

Alrighty - it's been a busy morning - and I'm gathering a lot of information already! I'll use this post and update it periodically as I expand my list of venues to sell your work in. Some of these venues that people have mentioned are more focused on a specific type of craft than others, but I'm including all of them because I know that I have all sorts of artist friends!

Wondering what I'm talking about? Check out my starting blog post for this series.

etsy.com
artfire.com
shophandmade.com
winkelf.com
dawanda.com
creativecafe.com
1000markets.com
ebay.com
hyenacart.com
http://lov.li/
http://www.mintd.com/
http://www.zazzle.com/
http://www.cafepress.com
http://www.redbubble.com/
http://www.imagekind.com
http://www.icraft.ca/
http://www.bonanzle.com/
http://www.handmadefusion.com/
http://www.ecrater.com/
http://bigcartel.com/
cultvult.org
daisycraft.com
creativecafe.ning.com
http://www.smashingdarling.com/index.php
http://www.boundlessgallery.com/
www.silkfair.com
Crobbies
Lollishop
Ravelry

Where Do YOU Sell?

There are many tips and tricks that seem to fly around the internet about the best way to promote your business and get your name out there. One that I've heard frequently is that it's wise to have your merchandise in more than one location. I can see the sense in that. After all you'll reach different audiences theoretically right? My main concerns with the concept has always been that I don't want to spread myself to thin, and then trying to decide which venues to even try!

My good friend Theresa of TiLTCreations mentioned to me the other day that she was planning on doing some research on the different on-line selling venues and I jumped at the idea! So expect to see more posts in the future as we do research into the different on-line venues, and review each one!

To start my research there's a few things I'm doing. For one, I'm creating a list of different on-line venues. I'm sure my list is incomplete, so please leave a note in the comment section of any sites I've missed!

The Starting List:
etsy.com
artfire.com
shophandmade.com
winkelf.com
dawanda.com
creativecafe.com
1000markets.com
ebay.com

For the next part - I need YOUR help! There's only so much I can learn by looking over each web-site, the best information come from the people who are actually using the site! If you have a minute please take the time to leave me a comment telling me what venues you sell in, and answering the following questions about each:

~ How long have you been selling with this site?
~ On a scale of 1-10, (1 being hardest and 10 being easiest) how hard/easy is it to navigate and use the site?
~ Have you had success selling on this site?
~ Are there any key features that find especially helpful on this site?
~ What's the community of artists like?

If your not comfortable leaving your comments on the blog, feel free to e-mail me at jedimarri@gmail.com :)

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

Christmas with the In-laws

I didn't end up taking as many pictures while we were over at Mo's parents house. I think I was a little bit too tired. I felt pretty good most of the time we were there, but I am still sick, and I fell asleep right when we got home! Which was only 5 pm...and I slept through the night too >_> 

Anyway, the group was much smaller than normal because of our abnormal snows this year. Even the people who did make it had troubles getting there... Poor Aunt Donna ended up in a ditch! Ouch! She's fine :) But still...

To meet a little bit of my hubby's family - click on our family picture below!

Christmas Eve Festivities

Christmas is always a special time full of family, fun, and remember the birth of Jesus. Since we added Moses to the family last year (I have a wonderful hubby now!) our traditions our changing some.  Mine more so than the rest of the family...

My Mom's family is from Cuba, and the tradition over there is to do your big festivities on Christmas Eve.  Now, we don't get to celebrate with her family very often (their in SoCal), but it's a tradition that's stuck with our family.  We always have our big meal Christmas Eve and then Christmas day itself is more relaxed. This works out perfectly with me being married, because it means that Mo and I can spend Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas Day with his!

The other big difference this year is it's our first time celebrating with out my brother Peter. He's currently living in Nepal, and while not having him home is always hard, the holidays are hardest.  The good news is - he was able to arrange to borrow a friends Skype account and call us! We had both video and audio for an hour and a half! That was Christmas morning (Mo and I had gone back to my parents house) and it was the best Christmas present I could have asked for :)


If you check out my Flickr photos (see below) you'll see some pics of my friend Kat. No - she's not my brothers girlfriend, just a great friend of ours that we ended up inviting over at the last minute - and I'm really glad we did!

Oh yes - and we had a TON of SNOW this year! It's crazy! Want to see some snow pics? Click on the picture below to be directed to my Flickr set of snow :)

Want to see my family Christmas photos and find out what had me freaking out? Click on the pic below!

Merry Christmas - Feliz Navidad!

I'm taking the next two days off from the internet world :) I'll be back to blogging and everything after the holiday! For now - I want to spend some time with my family :)

I'm Dreaming of a Wet Christmas...

Well, in most parts of San Diego you're going to be sorely disappointed if you expect a White Christmas but this year seems to be getting pretty darn close! We have snow in the nearby mountains and it seems that there will be soggy weather for everyone else throughout the holidays. Not that this is really going to impact me for more than a few more days as I'll be heading to the land of snow and ice for Christmas. Cross your fingers that the airports are quiet and uneventful- it's crummy enough flying on Christmas day without all the usual holiday travel woes!

Since my trip was scheduled on very short notice (I expect Christmas to be white and festive but not merry this year unfortunately) I'm in a frantic chicken with head removed mode so probably will not post again until the New Year. Here's what's been keeping me in the holiday spirit:

I think that they're pretty entertaining (in addition to having really excellent voices!). There are a few other videos of them on YouTube that are worth watching as well- a few days ago there was one posted of them performing this 10 years ago. Less polished but I thought it was even more entertaining.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year and Merry/Happy anything else you might celebrate this time of year! Enjoy your time with family and friends :)

Did you know Cows make Soap?

They do! Really! One of the most active team mates on the Etsy Bloggers team is affectionately referred to as Miss Moo, because she is the proprietor of spottedcowsoaps :) I was tickled pink earlier this month when I discovered that she was our featured blogger - because not only do I love her as a person - but I had an order for some of her soap on the way! I don't know why I haven't gotten around to posting this blog before, because the instant I smelled my order I fell in LOVE! Here's what I got...

Vanilla Whipped Scrub

Sparkling Champagne Bubble Bath

Both smell utterly devine - and I use the Whipped Vanilla Scrub  every single day! I'd use the Sparkling champagne bubble bath more if I could afford to buy it constantly :P Back to the sugar scrub though...

I've always LOVED the smell of vanilla, there are few other smells I love as much, and this soap is perfect! Not only does it smell devine, but it feels wonderful on my skin! My husband says I smell yummy :) I agree :) I could lick my skin! Of course eating soap is a bad idea...which is why I'll never be able to buy this soap...I'd never be able to resist!

Chocoholics Unite Soap

I'd put up a pic of what I'll buy next - but I can't make up my mind! I'm also kind of betting she'll come out with new scents by the time I finish the sugar scrub, so what's the point in making up my mind now?

Anyway, here's too Miss Moo, one of the greatest Etsy Bloggers around!

I Know Why I Blog - Do You?

My friend Terronda, of Unique Commodities, recently wrote a blog post that got me thinking. Terronda writes a wonderful blog called "Random Musings," in which she puts up whatever she randomly is thinking about, and it often has to do with building and promoting your business. I love it! This post was It was titled "Why Blog?" and presented the questions "Why do you blog?" Terronda not only laid out specifically why she blogs, but also gave some great tips on blogging, so make sure you go and check out her blog!

After reading her blog I thought I'd share why I blog! I actually have a LOT of reasons for blogging. Which is probably why I have three blogs...

Ok, so my most basic reason for blogging is because I love to write :) This lets me do lots and lots of that! But let me break it down by my three blogs:

Rose Works Jewelry (this blog):
~ To promote my store.
~ To talk about the creative process.
~ To share a little bit of who I am, as an artist and a person.
~ To promote the teams I'm on.
~ To help encourage and empower other artists.

A note on that last one - My most popular blogs to date have been my blogs on promoting your store and time management.  I've had a ton of fun writing both of those series and kinda dropped off because I was just too sick.  Current plan is to do a new series (promotions related) after the holiday :)

Rose Works Treasury:
~ To share awesome things I find on etsy (and maybe other sites soon).
~ To promote my fellow artists both in general and on my teams.
~ Ok, and I might once in awhile slip one of my own items in :P

A Jedi's Musings:
This is my writing blog - and hopefully I'll eventually be able to participate in the "paid to blog" world.  They like to have the blog established though, so these are my goals while building it, and while they may change slightly after I start getting paid to blog, I hope to continue on with these goals.

~ To improve the over-all quality of my writing by consistently posting quality blog posts.
~ To improve my fiction writing by posting at least one fiction piece (prose or poem) a week.
~ To improve my non-fiction writing by sharing short pieces that memoir pieces or otherwise non-fiction.
~ To share my thoughts on books, movies, web-sites, and anything else I happen to write a review for :P

So that's why I blog - now I'm curious - why do YOU blog?

Happy Birthday to Me!

Lucky lucky me! Must have been the extra birthday luck in the air- these beautiful earrings from Cindy Hoo are on their way to my mailbox as I type!

Thanks to Lorelei for the giveaway on her blog where I was able to win these pretties!

So I am off to do a little birthday bead shopping in the jewelry district then to see a performance of Wicked. I'm not usually the musical theatre type so we'll see what kind of impression I have after!

12 Days of Christmas - Part 2

Continuing on from yesterday's post, here's the second half of The 12 Days of Christmas - etsy style!

"On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me - seven swans a swimming..." Isn't this swan incredible? Bellacrochet has incredible talent and she's selling the pattern to make this swan for only $6.95!

"On the eight day of Christmas my true love gave to me - eight maids a milking..." I love the detail on this vintage ornament that smalls4utoo is selling for $15 dollars!

"On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me - nine ladies dancing..." I saw this card by paulapaula and just knew I had to feature it, not only are the ladies adorable in their whimsy, I love the fact that they aren't skinny! *wicked giggle* And only $3 for such fun? That's a steal!

"On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me - ten Lords a leaping..." I'm one of those crazy artists who always loves learning new crafts - and so I love seeing the different "make it yourself" kits that show up on etsy! Isn't this $3.95 card kit by popupcardmaking cute?

"On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me - eleven pipers piping..." Talk about innovative - this piper is painted on an old eyeglass lens!  I don't know where lowercaseg came up with this, but I can't believe it's only $10 for something so detailed!

"On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me - twelve drummers drumming..." Ok, so this drummer is from the "Little Drummer Boy" song...but that's one of my favorite songs...so hey! Who cares right? $65 for this lovely piece by Mysweetpumpkins :)

12 Days of Christmas - Part 1

John Denver - Muppets Christmas - The 12 Days Of Christmas

I heard a version of this song on the radio when I was driving with my Mom the other day and it got me thinking, which as you all probably know by now, can be dangerous! :P You see, Mom had heard people talking on the radio about how much actually doing the 12 days of Christmas would cost in today's dollars, and then someone called in and said, "Well here's a more inventive way to do it cheaper..." And of course my brain immediately said, "How about the ETSY way of doing the 12 days of Christmas?" So, without further ado, here's the first 6 days of Christmas, with an etsy twist :) I'll post the next 6 days tomorrow!

"On the first day of Christmas my true love game to me - a partridge in a pear tree." Here's a lovely mixed media collage of just that! Made with italian Stationary - it's only $6 right now in sushipot's shop!

"On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me - Two Turtledoves..." These lovely ornaments by GriffinCircle are made with silk, velvet, real feathers, and seed beads! Aren't they gorgeous? And only $25 for such lovely work!

"On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me - Three french hens..." By kikibonan - At $16, this is the perfect shirt to relax in this holiday season :)

"On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me - four calling birds..." Wouldn't you just LOVE to have this ornament by 00sarahelizabeth00 on your tree? I'd gladly pay the $9.95 for such beautiful work...now if only I had a tree...

"On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me - 5 golden rings..." This lovely print by TempestStudios is only $5 - and is part of a larger Christmas series! I love the colors in this piece!

"On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me - six geese a laying..." Ok, so there's only one goose on this stocking by devzbagz - but it's so cute! And only $14 for a handmade Christmas stocking? That's a steal!

I'll be back tomorrow with the rest of the song!

Lots going on - but when isn't there?

I've been really out of it the last few days with headaches that kept fading in and out of migraine level. It's been frustrating, so close to Christmas, and so much I've wanted to do! Instead I've curled up in bed, taken lots of medicine, and occasionally ventured out to read or do something else quiet.  Today's day 3 of my headache, but today I could function! My headache only got to migraine level once, and after some medicine and sleep I was able to keep going :) I'm exhausted, but I got stuff done, and that makes me incredibly happy! I was getting very restless...

The theory is that I have a sinus infection.  Not really sure.  I was at the doctors last week because I felt like a I had a chest infection, which I did, and she had theorized that something was going on in my sinuses that triggered it, but there were no symptoms at that time.  So I did a generic set of anti-biotics and I've been breathing much better, but then the migraines started.  I'm still not having any other sinus infection symptoms (except my cheek bones are a little tender) but the only times my migraines last this long are if I have a sinus infection or something else like that going on.  And I've had a few times where the doctors didn't believe I had a sinus infection because it was my only symptom...  And those times they have to give me super-antibiotics to kill it. *sigh*

I haven't actually been to the doctor yet since the migraines started because I have an apt. set up on Thursday anyway and we've been fighting with the insurance to get a CT scan anyway.  The CT scan was more to see if something in my sinuses was affecting my lungs (if you don't know me, short version, I have uncontrolled asthma), but it would obviously tell us if there was an infection right?

I called the insurance AGAIN this morning and found out the reason that they hadn't approved it yet had to do with my prior insurance.  Ok, short version, I got really sick and had to drop out of school, previous insurance was through the school, so there was a lapse in insurance while I applied for and was accepted to the state insurance.  Anyway, they've been telling me all this time that because of the lapse I'd have to wait 9 months for them to cover anything related to pre-existing conditions.  Then they called and said, "well actually, we may be able to waive that, give us your previous insurance info, if the break is short enough and they are comperable, we'll waive it." Which was exciting because there's no way we can pay for most of the stuff the docs want to try! And I'm getting really tired of my asthma being so out of control...

Anyway, after many phone calls over the last week (which I'm sure didn't help my poor head), I got a call this afternoon saying the pre-existing clause has been waived! *dances* It's like getting a Christmas present from my insurance company! We're still waiting on the CT approval - had to get the other stuff straightened out first - but I should know about that tomorrow. 

Now, since this is my jewelry blog...I'll tell you about the fun part of my day! I finally figured out what I wanted to do for my last Christmas present the other day while I was lying in bed cursing the dwarves mining in my skull...so even thought I'm still feeling weak... my brother and I went out to the bead stores today :D Not only did I find EXACTLY what I was looking for with that project, I also found an awesome sale on pendants, and I got a mixed bag of odd glass beads that I'm in LoVE with! I have a bunch of ideas for them :) Some will probably end up in keychains - some in hemp - some who knows?

Keychains and hemp you ask? Yes, I have the pictures taken, they'll be listed soon :) Hopefully some of it tomorrow in and around tackling the mail that's been piling up while I've been sicker this last week...

First Anniversary

Not feeling good today - so instead of regaling you with stories from the wedding AND giving you pictures - you just get a few pictures :)

The pendant that you see me wearing was giving to my Grandmother as her wedding gift from her parents.  She then passed it on to my Mother, who wore it on the chain my Dad got her as an engagement gift (couldn't afford a ring). So, whne it was my turn, needing something new to string the pendant on, and being a jewelry artist, I made myself my wedding jewelry using Swarovski crystal :) I could have made a more complicated design - but the pendant didn't match my wedding colors, so I just made it from nice, sparkly, crystal :)



The Wedding Party: My Evil Twin (Bethie), My Best Friend (Melissa), Me, Moses, Mo's Brother (Paul), My baby brother who moved the month after the wedding to be a missionary (Peter), and my middle brother aka geek consultant aka occasional jewelry slave (Gordon).

Pictures Galore!!!

I've just been ITCHING to take pictures of my jewelry over these last couple of weeks - but to no avail.  First it was simply a matter of being in the middle of moving, then I was getting ready for the bazaar and I decided pictures were a lower priority, and then I've been sick.  You put it all together - and I'm utterly amazed at how much new inventory I've amassed in my bins - and how little of it is on-line! Well, today, the stars finally aligned and I've been able to take pictures! Woohoo!

I prioritized and started by taking pictures of my Team BDC piece that I've been tormenting you all about, a couple of new Christmas pieces, and another bracelet that just happened to be sitting close at hand ;). That's probably all I'll get listed tonight because I want to try to get as many photo's taken as possible, and then I'll list like crazy over the next couple of days! I'm giving myself a break for a few minutes by typing up this post :P

And now to unveil my Team BDC piece! I'll include the description from the listing here so you know what my thoughts were in creating it :)

November's Challenge for Team Big Damn Crafters (in honor of the show
Firefly and the movie Serenity) was the episode "Our Dear Mrs.
Reynolds." In this episode we first meet Saffron, who has several
different names, and I decided to make my piece for her! Now this
Firebird Necklace isn't something you ever see in the series, but I
think it's true to the spirit of her character. Saffron has training as
a companion, which is like a very, very high class hooker. One of the
other characters in the show is a companion (Inara) and she often wears
very ornate jewelry. So this is a piece I picture Saffron wearing if
she was working as a companion, and I think it's very appropriate to
both her name and the colors she wears!

Now you don't have to be a fan of Firefly to love this necklace - I
debuted it at bazaar and received TONS of comments on it! Do you have a
fancy occasion to dress up for? Then this is perfect for you! This
necklace is made from hundreds of tiny seed beads, is my own design,
and is adjustable to fit a variety of neck sizes. It also comes with a
matching pair of earrings in Swarovski crystal. While the pictures
don't do it justice, the beads do actually go from a brilliant yellow,
to orange, to red, and back out again! If you love this look, but it
doesn't match the colors you have, I'd love to make this piece in more
colors! So send me a message and I'd love to customize one for you :)

This necklace ranges between 15 and 17 inches and the earrings hang 2 1/4 inches long.

And don't forget tonight running through tomorrow I have a 20% off sale in my shop! PLUS, from now on, every 5th order will receive a prize! So when I hit 50, and 55, and 60, and on it goes forever! So shop

Pictures Galore!!!

I've just been ITCHING to take pictures of my jewelry over these last couple of weeks - but to no avail. First it was simply a matter of being in the middle of moving, then I was getting ready for the bazaar and I decided pictures were a lower priority, and then I've been sick. You put it all together - and I'm utterly amazed at how much new inventory I've amassed in my bins - and how little of it is on-line! Well, today, the stars finally aligned and I've been able to take pictures! Woohoo!

I prioritized and started by taking pictures of my Team BDC piece that I've been tormenting you all about, a couple of new Christmas pieces, and another bracelet that just happened to be sitting close at hand ;). That's probably all I'll get listed tonight because I want to try to get as many photo's taken as possible, and then I'll list like crazy over the next couple of days! I'm giving myself a break for a few minutes by typing up this post :P

And now to unveil my Team BDC piece! I'll include the description from the listing here so you know what my thoughts were in creating it :)

November's Challenge for Team Big Damn Crafters (in honor of the show
Firefly and the movie Serenity) was the episode "Our Dear Mrs.
Reynolds." In this episode we first meet Saffron, who has several
different names, and I decided to make my piece for her! Now this
Firebird Necklace isn't something you ever see in the series, but I
think it's true to the spirit of her character. Saffron has training as
a companion, which is like a very, very high class hooker. One of the
other characters in the show is a companion (Inara) and she often wears
very ornate jewelry. So this is a piece I picture Saffron wearing if
she was working as a companion, and I think it's very appropriate to
both her name and the colors she wears!

Now you don't have to be a fan of Firefly to love this necklace - I
debuted it at bazaar and received TONS of comments on it! Do you have a
fancy occasion to dress up for? Then this is perfect for you! This
necklace is made from hundreds of tiny seed beads, is my own design,
and is adjustable to fit a variety of neck sizes. It also comes with a
matching pair of earrings in Swarovski crystal. While the pictures
don't do it justice, the beads do actually go from a brilliant yellow,
to orange, to red, and back out again! If you love this look, but it
doesn't match the colors you have, I'd love to make this piece in more
colors! So send me a message and I'd love to customize one for you :)

This necklace ranges between 15 and 17 inches and the earrings hang 2 1/4 inches long.

Would you like to be the proud owner of this lovely piece? Click on the button below to buy it now! Only $40 with $2 shipping and handling to anywhere in the world!

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And don't forget tonight running through tomorrow I have a 20% off sale in my shop! PLUS, from now on, every 5th order will receive a prize! So when I hit 50, and 55, and 60, and on it goes forever! So shop now!

The Witching Hours

Have you heard about the fabulous new radio program that started up last week on Blockhead Radio? It's called "The Witching Hours," hosted by agoodwitchtoo, who I like to call Witchy-dear :)  This show is designed to run in conjunction with the SNS specials thread, and it provides an extra way to get your shop name out there and your sales known! It will run from 5pm - 7pm EST each Saturday. And one of the exciting things is ... I'm a featured seller this week! Woohoo! I'm also on the treasure hunt :) To find out more about the show visit this blog post.

My SALE!!!

20% of the ENTIRE shop!!!

Every 5th Purchase (so 50, 55, 60...) will receive a free prize!

Mention this blog post to get the sale prices BEFORE the sale goes up!

Friday's Radio Review - TiLTCreations!

Last nights show was a ton of fun as we all got to know Theresa of TiLTCreations! The show went great, except for me tripping all over my tongue :P I've been sick and my mind decided to just go blank on me a few times :P

You can find Theresa's work on etsy and artfire. And you can learn more about her, and the artists she likes, on her two blogs! TiLTCreations and TiLTTreasuries :) Are you a massive Twitter fan like I am? Then follow Theresa on Twitter!

Here's a few fun things we learned last night.  Theresa is a Mom of two boys, ages 3 and 13, and her oldest even came on the air to talk to us last night! Her entire family is very "artsy," her husband is a write, her oldest is a musician and loves to do computer graphics, and we're sure her 3 year old will follow in the rest of the families footsteps!

Here's a fun fact about her work - if you love Theresa's bags - she creates most of her own patterns! Isn't that incredible? I can't even imagine doing something like that.  We were trying to convince her last night that she should sell her patterns on-line, who knows folks, they could be coming soon!

Here's just a few of my favorite items from TiLTCreations :)

Rose Calico



Donna Striped Rachelle



Bright Blue Zip Pouch

Did you miss last nights show and are totally heartbroken to have missed out on the fun? That's ok - because we're on archives! Just go to www.blockheadradiolive.com and click on the link for Thursday's Spotlight on TiLTCreations!

Looking forward to next week? We've had a bit of a change up in the schedule - but have no fear - it's going to be fantastic! We'll be interviewing the lovely Kim of KE Cookies!  Here's just one of the yummy items from her shop :)

Candy Cane Brownie Cookies

I'm still sick..

I'm still sick...but I think I'm getting better...maybe? I ended up sleeping half the day, prepping for the radio show, running errands, running the radio show, writing two blog posts, and now I'm crashing!  I just couldn't let this blog go another day with out SOMETHING new in it! So I'm just going to redirect you to my other two blogs - and hopefully I'll be back to normal blogging tomorrow :)

http://ajedismusings.blogspot.com/2008/12/shopping-guide-bath-and-body-products.html

http://roseworkstreasury.blogspot.com/2008/12/pluggers-united-3.html

Oh - and here's a fun tutorial I stumbled across a few days ago :)

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/beautiful_paper_snowflake

And while I'm making this a linky post - here's one of my favorite blogs to read!

http://whimsy-girl.blogspot.com/

Pretty Necklace by Jennifer

Jennifer sent a photo of this terrific necklace she made for a friend who is a music teacher.

She combined copper link chain and metallic crystal beads with a plum mocha sheet music pendant. I think it turned out beautifully!

Thanks to all of you for sharing your creations with me- I love to see where all of my little pendants end up (it's nice to know they make it to good homes!).

Bazaar Time!

Yesterday was an exhilarating and frustrating experience. I love the adrenaline of being in a bazaar/fair atmosphere, but I'll admit that my body isn't very happy with me as a result, but more on that later.

My brother (usually referred to as my geek consultant, but yesterday was operating as my jewelry set up slave), asked me yesterday, "Where on earth did the term bazaar come from? Is it because the stuff people sell is so strange?" I thought that was pretty cute, but it also got me curious.  So this is what I found:

"The word bazaar derives from the Persian word bāzār, the etymology of which goes back to the Pahlavi word baha-char (بهاچار) meaning "the place of prices".^[1]
During the time of the Crusades, when Europe and the Middle East had
their first major encounters and cultural dissemination took place, the
word was assimilated into Italian as bazzara, before being transferred to English in its current form, bazaar.^[2] While currently the word is most often used to denote outdoor shopping areas, particularly those of Islamic origins, the word is sometimes used loosely to refer to such places and events as flea markets or swap-meets." ~New World Encyclopedia

My wonderful Mom took that picture of me and my table yesterday! if I get healthier again, and I'm able to do more fairs and such, I have a lot of work I want to do on my displays.  This works for now though! I did get some ideas from another jewelry vendor on some cheap ways to create displays :) 

I didn't make very much money yesterday - but I did make some - so that makes me happy! My mother-in-law and I had a lot of fun chatting and working together.  We purposely had our tables next to each other so she could watch mine if I needed it and I could watch hers.  Part of that was because I left for about an hour to make an appearance at a family Christmas party, but an unspoken part of that was the concern that I might not make it through the whole day, and that my asthma would flair.  Fortunately it didn't! Not while I was there at least >_>

One of the amusing things about yesterday was a play on names.  My mother-in-law and I, for those who don't know, are both named Ruth.  So that got a little confusing at times! Usually people call her Ruth and me Ruthie, but some people call her Ruthie as well, and either way hearing "Ruth" called across the room would get both of us turning to respond!

The other really amusing thing was our "shop names."  Ruth doesn't sell as a business, she does it for charity, and she's been doing it since before we met.  I had my shop name in mind long before I opened it, and long before she told me hers.  So yesterday we had "Ma Rose" and "Rose Works Jewelry" right next to each other, and the two "Roses" run by two Ruth's was totally not planned! Well, I mean, we did plan to be next to each other, but the name thing wasn't! People were talking about it all day :P She's "Ma Rose" because, when she was a missionary to the Philippines, they called her Ma Rose because they were unable to pronounce the "th" in Ruth.  I've just always loved the name Rose and loved Roses :)

Now here's the set-back from yesterday.  My asthma has been getting much better, I'm still really weak and all, but I had high hopes for the future.  I still have high hopes, but yesterday showed me I'm not doing quite as well as I thought I was.  I've been having a lot of asthma problems and massive headaches since last night.  While I am getting better as the day goes on - I was pretty non-functional all morning. So, while I was hoping to maybe research and see if there were any winter fairs I could participate in, I'm currently thinking I'll need to wait until spring.  Which is frustrating, but it all balances out!

There have been a lot of good things going on in my business life that I can focus on instead of getting frustrated about not being strong enough to do fairs right now. As I believe I mentioned in a previous post, I'm going to be starting the process this week to set up a consignment account at a local bead store, I'm super-excited about that!  Then I got an e-mail from my mother-in-law today, apparently one of the gals from church who was at the bazaar wants to show some of my jewelry where she works! I have no idea where she works or what this might end up looking like, but that's exciting none-the-less! 

The other two things that I'm super-excited about it are Blockhead Radio and Pluggers United!  As you know if you follow this blog, last Thursday was the premier of my new show on Blockhead Radio co-hosted with the fabulous Lily of Tulips Treasure Box! We've gotten excellent feed-back on the show (Thanks guys!) and it looks like we'll be moving to a prime time slot as a result!

Pluggers United is a new etsy team forming as a result of Blockhead Radio. Rod, the King Plugger Lugger and producer of Blockhead Radio, has always had a focus on "plugging" other artisans.  Thus his title :) That's what the radio station is all about! Helping and supporting artisans.  Now his wife, Annette of Huckleberry Arts, the often unrecognized motivator behind Rod's work, has started this new team to help band together the Blockhead fans and to help organzing the work we love to do!  Here's the info about the new team:

"We are artisans for artisans....working together we can gain more exposure for team members and their shops. This is done through the radio shows, blogs, advertising, guerrilla marketing, entrecard generator, website, etc. We will be doing charity events also.

Only requirements for members:

1. Join the Yahoo Group and add your info to the databases. This is needed for team guerrilla marketing.

2. Place the Pluggers United badge on your blog.

3. Blog about one of your team members at least once a month. You pick them. This is done on the honor system and you do not have to
report it.

4. Try and sell on of your team members item during the month. Blog post, twitter, etc. One item specifically......honor system here too.

We will not allow any calling out, blasting sites, etc. This WILL be a fun and friendly team. We are here to support each other."

So come join the fun!

Cute Gift Tag Template

I came across the lovely blog P@perseed by Emily the other day. She has these lovely gift tags in a PDF file that you can download and print off at home...free! How cute would they be on your holiday gifts?! I love her graphics and choice of colors, how cute is that little bird? Check out her other free projects while you're there, especially if you can sew (I can't!).

Thursdays Interview - The Chain Maille Lady!

Yesterday was the first episode of Thursday Spotlight on Artisan, my new radio show with my fabulous co-host Lily, of Tulips Treasure Box! Many thanks go out to Rod, the King Plugger Lugger, for giving us this wonderful opportunity!   Each Friday I'll be doing a short recap of the show, and featuring some of the lovely items from that week's artist :) To listen to yesterday's show go here. It was a blast!

This week's interview was Lauren, of The Chain Maille Lady, and she did a fabulous job!  Lauren creates gorgeous chain maille jewelry.  She's been doing so for about 4 years now, and creates an incredible variety of pieces!  Looking in her shop you'll find bracelets, necklaces, earrings, dream catchers, celtic stars, and more! Quality is key with Lauren, and she works hard to insure that none of her pieces will ever snag your skin or clothes. 

One thing that Lauren is doing that I think is awesome is she's raising money for research to cure Polycystic Kidney Disease.  Here's a little blurb she wrote about that: For
the month of November & December 10% of your purchase from my shop
will be donated to the PKD Foundation (Polycystic Kidney Disease) in
honor of my father and uncle who lost their lives to the disease (I
also have the disease). For more information on the foundation please
visit http://www.pkdcure.org/. Thank you in advance for your support. Donation to date: $71.80

Want to learn more about Lauren and see more of her work? You can find The Chain Maille Lady on Etsy, 1000 Markets, The Maille Market, and on her Blog!

Lauren would tell you that one the best ways to get your work known on etsy, and to find support, is to join teams. She's a part of the California Crafters Club of Etsy, the Etsy Chainmaillers' Guild, and the Fantasy Artists of Etsy. 

Here's a few of my favorite pieces from Lauren's shop!

Large Celtic Star in Pink, Dark Purple, and Silver



Mini coat of Arm(or) II Bracelet



Pink Passion Earrings

On a more personal note - I mentioned last night that I had a friend coming over to teach me some chain maille work.  Oh my goodness! I have so much more respect for chain maille artists - and I always was really impressed by them!  It's a lot of very finicky work.  I've started learning the basic 4 in 1 weave, but I've learned that I can't do it when my hands are shaking, and so I wasn't able to work on it for very long last night.  But I will keep working on it! Because it's fun, and I'm one of those crazy people who wants to learn everything :P

Whew!

I feel like I've been going none stop all day long! I finally have internet access again and I've slowly started catching up on all the blog posts that I missed.  I felt so left out! I'm having fun reading everything, but it's taking me awhile :P So if I haven't been by your blog yet, don't worry, I should be soon!  I've been starting by catching up with my etsybloggers, and I plan on returning to my normal entre card drops tomorrow if at all possible!

Yesterday was really exciting! My dear hubby and I were talking as we drove to the bead store about building a web-site.  He's a geek-extraordinaire, and has offered to build one for me.  My first reaction was, "I'm managing enough sites with etsy and three blogs!"  Then, as I thought about it more, I began to see more and more possibilities for having my own web-site.  One of the things that I'd really like to do in the near future is start working on getting some consignment and wholesale accounts in the local area.  I was thinking I'd try to get cracking on that after the New Year.  So I was thinking that it would be fantastic to have a web-site that I could put in a brochure for consignments and wholesale accounts.  That way I can produce a small brochure, and then say, "for futher examples please see ...."  My dear hubby loved the idea and we talked about the whole to the bead store!

At the bead store I had several things I was looking for specifically, and I ended up in a long conversation with the store owner.  I have a new project I want to try, the patterns from a book, so I was double checking with her that I had the right materials.  As we chatted we ended up talking about many things, and I showed her a macrame piece that I had in my pocket (working on it in the car), she was very impressed! Which surprised me since I've just started working with macrame...  Anyway, next thing I know she was telling me that she loves to support local artisans and if I ever wanted to sell in her shop to let her know! 

I was floored, and super excited! We talked over details and I'll be going back in the next few weeks to set it all up! I couldn't believe that we'd JUST been talking about trying to pursue opportunities like this, and one was handed to me, dropped right in my lap.  Isn't that exciting?

Today was our first radio program on Blockhead Radio! I'll be telling you more about that tomorrow - so stay tuned!  I'll just say for now that I think it really well :)

I wanted to share a blog post with you that a friend of mine put together.  I thought it was really inciteful and I'm looking forward to reading the rest she has to share!  Go here to find the blog post :)

Oh yes, and for anyone who has been wondering, I do plan on resuming my promotions series, hopefully Saturday or Sunday. 

Tagged!

I've been tagged by Erin of Every Heart Crafts! Better late than never, right?


Here are the rules if you'd like to join in the fun:

1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog - some random, some weird.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.

4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


So, here we go with seven things you don't know about me...

1. I trained my Golden Retriever, Nana, to pass the Canine Good Citizen test. This in no way suggests that she does not continue to eat disgusting things off the ground when I take her for walks.

2. Referencing topic above...I once had to pull a dead, stiff, buck toothed, 7 inch rat out of her mouth. This was not a quick process and frankly I think I should stop reliving it. (and you all probably didn't need to know about it)

3. I'm a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist (say that 5 times fast...really... then I can see if you have a speech problem).

4. Along with my love of talking... um, I mean my love of language... I get in moods where I use alliteration for everything I say, resulting in a hopelessly horrified hubby!

5. I truly believe that poptarts qualify as a complete dinner (especially if we're talking about fruity flavors).

6. Food items should not be mixed and smushed-period. The divided plate is a brilliant invention.

7. I am a fanatical holiday cookie baker. No, seriously...we're talking at least 10 different varieties and dozens of each. We're talking full size gingerbread leaf wreaths, 10 inch tall stacked shortbread cookie Christmas trees and so on. I may need to seek professional help this year... hmmm, a legion of bakers perhaps?? Oh, you were thinking the other kind of professional help!

I think that is more than enough (and hopefully not too much information) about me!

So to pass along the favor, I'll tag the following folks (but I'm kind of going to be a rule breaker here and only tag 3 people since the other people I would tag have recently played!):


Rosanne of FabFibers

Heather of HumbleBeads

Christina of This Girl Beads

Hearts and Glazes

Some new designs and a new(ish) glaze to show off today. A big batch came out of the kiln a few days ago and I've been slow posting them to the website! There were so many that I feel like I have the start of carpal tunnel syndrome from all of the photoshop cropping and image cleaning just to get them ready to post! So the shape above is my new heart cut-out style, I have it available with the cut-out and hole centered or offset.
This is my newest glaze- I *think* it will be consistent enough to join the line up. I still need to come up with a good name for it though.... It reminds me of the good old Crayola "flesh" which wasn't an appealing name for crayons and I don't think is any better for ceramic! Any better suggestions?
I'm definitely liking my new flower loop pendants, they're chunky without being too big and I felt like I needed some more variety from the mostly flat pendants I offer. The one above is MINE, all MINE! (there's one with a single loop here)I don't usually hold back goodies from the kiln for myself but I have something in mind for this particular one. I do have the design in a top loop style in a couple of glaze colors from the last kiln-load so it's not that I'm completely holding out!

Once I get the feeling back in my right hand : ) I'll start adding things to the website-I'll have them up in time to qualify for my free shipping offer that continues through December 7th.

Quick view...

So here's a shot of my work area, it's kinda messy, but I decided not to clean it up for you guys because then it wouldn't be accurate!

As you can see my hubby and I are sharing a desk for our computers, but I get my own table for my jewelry! And all i have to do to go from laptop to jewelry creation is swivel my chair! Ahh bliss :)

All this stuff and there are sooo many more supplies I want to get! Anyway, I should have my internet back sometime in the next 24 hours and I'll be around more again.  Don't forget to come listen to my new radio show that I'm co-hosting with Lily of Tulips Treasure Box, tomorrow, 12pm EST. :) http://blockheadradiolive.com/