Stats

Ran some quick numbers for 2008.  Made over 200 pieces of jewelry.  Pretty good considering I only have around 3 hours a night to work on my crafts.  Of that, here's the sales stats:

Sold on Etsy (Feb-Dec) - 13

Sold at Jewelry parties (3) - 72

Sold by showing off new items to friends or wearing my necklaces:  58.

Resolved for 2009-have more parties, always wear my jewelry in public, work on marketing the on-line stores and diversify them.

Happy New Year everyone!

"Morning in the Amazon" can be seen here.

Meanderings

I'm all over the place today!  Listing vintage on Etsy, a new pair of earrings on Artfire and even put a couple of things up on eBay.  And I'm very excited  - I made the So. Calif. Elite on Twitter.  If you haven't graded yourself yet, it's a hoot!

I suppose I should take the time to feed my kids - they're playing Playstation and don't take regular breaks unless you force them too.

Hmmm, wonder who they picked that up from!

Come on 2009!

Looking forward to a new year.  Time to mix things up, try new directions, and tackle that mound of paperwork that always seems to pile up and threaten to take over my little work area.

My only New Year's resolution is to prioritize all half finished projects and actually finish them.  I tend to get great ideas on things while working on something else and jump in right away before I finish the current project.  

At left is one of my teen necklaces that I've just put on clearance.  I made several for my tween son and his friends and this one was made for sale.  Take a look if you like!

Happy Holiday!

Merry Christmas everyone!  

I've put my necklaces on sale on my Artfire site at 25% off (I couldn't figure out how to use the markdown manager effectively so I just did it manually).  And I'm running a BOGO sale in my Etsy store.  

You've bought for everyone else, now go buy something for yourself!

Looking forward to new hope, new dreams, new friends in 2009!

Hugs, Dee

Artistic Roots

Started painting again after years off.  I'm working in acrylics rather than the oils I trained in.  And, working in a teeny tiny scale, which is very different for me.

I've already painted several ACEO's, what a great size!  I've purchased a few and just love owning different styles of original artwork.  I also have a bunch of cute wooden pendants, I'm just trying to figure out whether I will frame them in copper or add an annraku bail.

If you once did something you loved, now is a great time to start again!  Happy Holidays everyone! Dee

Link to "Snow Trees."

2008 was an interesting year!  I've been selling collectibles on eBay since 2002.  When the new CEO took over, the changes that were made were challenging, to say the least.  

I began selling my hand made jewelry on Etsy in Feb.  I threw in a few of my vintage items just to bring more people into that store.  Of course, shortly after I did that, Etsy changed the search engine which sent the vintage sellers into a frenzy.  Their sales dropped dramatically and were much harder to find.  

Two weeks ago, I opened another store on Artfire.  

Sales on eBay have dropped for me, this Xmas season was beyond disappointing.  Where I usually make enough to pay for presents & my property tax, this year I barely broke even.  The fees are so outrageous, it's not worth even listing anything that can't be sold for a minimum of $10.  Etsy started strong, but the large influx of sellers fleeing the eBay fee hike brought views and sales down.  If shoppers can't find your things, they can't buy them.   So now what?  For me, it makes sense to shift my vintage collection to Etsy where final value fees allow me to price the items for what they're worth and not have to inflate them just to cover the fees.  Artfire will host my jewelry in hopes that I build up a great customer base before it becomes to oversaturated with jewelry sellers.  And eBay, well there are things that can only sell on eBay.  Some I will sell in lots, some will just sit until they sell.  Hopefully, retail will pick-up at some point next year and I'll be ready on all my sites.

Here's the listing if you're interested in this yellow bowl.

Techno Flunkie

I learned how to use computers on a Mac.  I admit it, I'm a plug and play kind of gal.  So I'm just going to jump in and figure out how to add photo's to this blog - without having to resort to asking DH for help.

I love this ring, it's called Heavy Metal.  It had 322 views on Etsy - pretty popular but no takers.  So, I'm experimenting by moving it to my Artfire store.  Maybe it just needs a new market.  

This combines my 2 favorite techniques, bending wire and adding a patina.  The copper has been fumed by ammonia and then heat treated, giving it a bronze colored finish.  The add on pieces were heated only, so they appear lighter.  A couple of stones and the finished product has a bit of a steampunk look without the actually cog pieces.

Here's the link to the listing if you'd like to see more of it 

heavy metal.

At least my photo uploaded easily!

Shipping Updates

I have 3 on-line stores, so shipping is a manageable thing (although, I really don't like it too much).  I'm in California, but it seems that 90% of my customers are on the East Coast.  The advantage to that is that all orders that come in before 2pm my time can be shipped the same day.

Until Dec. 18th, I'll upgrade shipping to Priority for any US purchase from my Artfire store (no extra charge) and in my Etsy store (for jewelry only) the upgrade will cost just $3.75.  I currently have free shipping on jewelry in my Etsy store, so I have to treat them a little differently.

If that's confusing, just contact me from the link once you're in either store.

Zakk Wylde and Thinking Outside the Box

For those of you who don't know him, Zakk Wylde is the guitarist that worked with Ozzy Osbourne starting in 1987.  When Zakk started playing the songs that were Randy Rhoades legacy, he did so with one problem - Zakk doesn't like using his pinky on his left hand to play the notes on the fret board.  In order to play the notes, he has to move either up or down the neck of the guitar to duplicate the notes his pinky doesn't want to play.

I remember reading that thinking, pretty clever!  So how does that relate to crafting?  I'm making a set of memory pillows this weekend for a friend to give to family members for Christmas.  The pillows feature a photo printed onto special fabric and then framed by coordinating fabrics.  They are basically simple, but the true way to do them is to use mitered corners.  Unfortunately, try as I might, I can't miter.  I've watched shows like Fons & Porter and even have an excellent step-by-step guide from Alex Anderson.  No use, my miters never land in line with the corners of the photo.

So like Zakk, I just needed to think outside the box.  I learned to quilt using the log cabin method.  It's an easy technique and the perfect solution to creating a frame for someone's precious photo.  I'll be taking photos of the process this weekend and will hopefully, be able to post a how-to at a later date.

So next time you're stuck on a technique, just go with your strengths and figure out another way - your way - and create a wonderful project!

Feeling Generous Secret Special!

The 1st person to sign up to follow my blog will receive 50% (yes, half off!) any item in my Etsy or ArtFire stores.  Just contact me and I will revise the listing or put (I blogged) in the notes to seller and I will refund the difference when I ship.  You can check out the stores thru the links on the side.

I love shameless promo's!

Oh Crap, It's Christmas!

I've been so busy trying to make some money for Xmas, I seem to have forgotten to actually prepare for it.  The tree is not up, the presents are not bought, the mantel isn't decorated...I better get going!

I haven't even managed to make my niece a gift.  She has the curse of having her birthday on Xmas eve.  I usually try to do something really special, but this year I may have to jump out to a retail store and pick up anything in purple.  I did buy a scarflette off Etsy - I just love that style.  This was by Mittens and if I knew how to put a link to her store, I would insert it here.

Happy holidays everyone and take a day off - yes, the whole day!

Dee

Setting Up Shops

I've been on Etsy for nearly a year.  Last week, I couldn't pass up the $7 a month for life on Art Fire.  But driving interest to my shops - well, that's a real challenge.  I'm setting up this blog with the idea that my random thoughts plus links to my various pages, will keep me organized and give me a real direction.

We'll see how it works.  Want to go through the adventure with me?