Infinite Possibilities Week 4

Day 19 Imagine how those you love will benefit from your success. This one is easy, the kids will have been set up in their own businesses and will be little successes in their own rights. The hubs can spend more time with the kids as they build their businesses. We all get some toes in the sand time.

Day 20 Meet your peers. Make a list of those who are where you wish to be, add your name to list. Sounds like my screensaver :) 10 days left and I was already doing so many of these on a daily basis. It’s nice to hear I’m heading in the right direction.

Day 21 Have a chat with someone who gets your dream and speak to them as if it’s already reality. Make it celebratory …. for each of you.

Day 22 List 20 things you love from the simple to the exotic if you love to do it, list it. Just a little reminder of the wonder that is in your life or could be. *I love puttering in the garden and around the yard with a butterfly perched on my shoulder. *Feeling the sun on my face and shoulders. *Snuggle time with the hubs. *That he brings me my coffee in the morning. *That 25 yrs together feels like no time at all.  *Listening to the birds sing, *watching the sun rise in the morning and *set in the evenings, *being awed by the immenseness that are the stars and *the curve of he world. *I love the satisfaction that only comes from doing it yourself and well.* I love being goofy with my kids *I love toes in the sand, waves at my feet, salt air in my face *I love listening to the chirpy purr of the Siamese and the instant deep I love you purrs of the other cats. *I love no matter how many times you give the dog a biscuit he ALWAYS takes it and puts in in the kiddos shoe before he eats it….. no matter where that shoe is lol *I love that we built this house together to live our lives in and we’re creating memories on a daily. *

Day 23 List 10 things you are deeply grateful for.

Day 24 Write a letter to yourself from an admirer, what wonderful qualities/inspiration/talents do you have? Shower yourself with love and appreciation. I see the potential for a revamp of my about page here. Like several of these activities I think I’ll work this one privately. I think this one has a great amount of potential.

Day 25 set your intention for the day. I already do this daily. I have a little pop up reminder that is set to run when I’m reading my e-mail. It says what do you want today? Some days it’s to get something done, some days it’s to enjoy the quiet moments, some days it’s about attitude. It’s really a nice way to focus on the days priority, whatever it is. Today I’m going to schedule this blog post, download tax forms, and decide on this weeks YoJ piece. I have several UFO’s and a handful of ideas for refinishing some pieces. Sometimes the taking away process was ended too soon and sometimes the piece was finished too early, either way it was called finished but it niggles until you realize it isn’t truly finished, hence re-finishing. I believe all pieces have someone who will love them, and being properly finished helps that along :)

Speaking of Year of Jewelry:

This week I kept it simple with matching bracelets for last weeks necklace set. Red Creek Jasper with a Shell focal and brass. And a skinny bangle of twisted copper and brass.

Over on my Facebook page I’m sharing hearts and flowers everyday until Valentines. Giving you a virtual bouquet, pop on over anytime you feel you need a pick me up or a flower to make you smile. If you haven’t already. hit that like button and receive notifications to get those flowers on a daily!

See ya next time!

Infinite Possibilities Week 2

When I write my posts up on my computer I do it on a single page in Notes. Once they’ve published on Blogger I delete them and start fresh. For whatever reason I only deleted the post back to the original goals. Turns out it’s pretty handy to have them there! Then I realized I had started this post on a different page so I wouldn’t lose the “journaling” aspect on the computer - *face palm* Good think I had it “backed up” on the blog!!

Day 5 of our Journey was to envision what life will be like once your dreams and goals have become reality. That one’s kind of fun a little day dream to start the day with, puts a smile on your face for sure.

Day 6 plan and write down at least 7 baby steps that can be taken immediately that will allow me to move towards my goals. 

Steps I can take

• meal planning
• start every morning with a few minutes of cardio
• scheduling days to concentrate on different areas of business
• scheduling posts on social media so I can share them across sites on different days
• break down current projects into bite sized chunks that can be done in a day or less
• input one invoice at a time into inventory and check current supplies for accuracy
• consider how to reorganize beads and metals 
• start current year receipt folders
• look around for replacement software
• offer to help photograph or write copy for the kiddos ceramics
• start listing and adjusting tags for Valentines and Mothers Day
• clean out a spot in the basement and create a tool/supply room for my son -

 Hahaha I dreamt once my basement had become a mini mall, it seems to be on it’s way, kiddos ceramics studio, office for the boy, wood working shop for the hubs, the gym, all it needs is a jewelry kiosk - now where do you suppose I could find one of those?!

Day 7 Pay attention to the words you think and say, self correct where necessary. I like this one. I’ve been doing this since I was 16, but it is really nice to have the reminder with all the negative we get bombarded with on a daily basis anymore. I have noticed the past several years those negative words creeping into my own vocabulary - that’s where the be kinder goal comes from. Kinder to myself, kinder to my family with responsible and positive words.

Day 8  Take a hard look at the story you’ve told yourself about your life, rewrite it so it becomes empowering.  This one is going to take some thought. I pretty much already do that….. but there is always room for improvement right? My Mom has always called me a rebel because of my “just watch me” attitude, maybe it’s time to wake that part of me up again? Kind of like that Meme This is the year I will be unstoppable. This year I will be fierce. Which is a pretty cool affirmation. Rewriting that to be empowering becomes  In 2016 I became unstoppable the moment I remembered that I Am Fierce!  

Day 9 Choose beliefs that enforce your goals. He gave a couple examples that I thought fit perfectly so to be “efficient” lol I grabbed a couple of those to add to mine.

• I chose to be here to succeed, I am finding my way, it’s all making sense. 
• I’m protected, guided, and loved; always in the right place at the right time.

Day 10 oops I had in my mind combined 9 and 10 before I even knew what 10 was….. ever efficient I am! :D Choose affirmations that enforce your goals. A Mantra - well can I say how efficient it is to have already chosen efficient? lol OK I’m having fun with it now. I knew this was going to be a great start to my year!

• I am grateful for all that is unfolding in my life and all that is yet to come
• My life is prosperous and multiplies all that I have, give and receive 
• I am open and receptive to abundant good

I can actually give credit for the last two to Katie over at the Red Lotus for these, I’ve had them set up as daily reminders for a year or so now.

http://redlotusletter.com

Day 11 Surround yourself with empowering resources. Ted Talks, Notes from the Universe, groups on FB etc etc Create a book list, video list, whatever it is that supports your choices.       done done and done  I actually do this a couple times a year it really helps to recharge the batteries so to speak.  Day 12 as this posts……. I hope you’ve been playing along, this has been pretty fun so far.

Week One of Year of Jewelry had us introducing ourselves and sharing our goals for the year. I know! Our Jewelry goals, what we want to accomplish by participating, since I only made it as far as April last year my goal was pretty simple, to finish out the year, if I stumble (or my Muse takes a vacation) I’ll just pick myself up, dust myself off, and continue on.  

This years theme is Color! Week two was Monochromatic…how fun!…….

Picture Jasper, Copper, Elk Leather
Wrapped, Coiled, and Netted
I love how the patina on the copper wire mimics the coloring of the stone.

Of course after I made it I discovered the color of the month had been decided and it was pink. I actually had Rose Quartz pulled for a bracelet but set it aside to make my Owl set. Coral next week and I’m thinking red and turquoise instead of pink. We’ll have to see what my Muse whispers in my ear over the next day or so.

All in all another very productive week. I need to price and write copy but I have several new pieces to list on Amazon that should mix really well with the pieces already on offer.

Thanks for stoppin by!

We'll see you next week!

the Infinite Possibilities Project

As you know last week I wrote about setting goals instead of resolutions. I had briefly touched on a couple of my goals and noticed efficiency seemed to be my mantra for the year. 

You may also recall I subscribe to Notes From the Universe (click here!! to see what that’s all about ) I love starting my mornings out on a good note and I encourage everyone reading to start theirs our on a good note too. The Infinite Possibilities Project (click here! to join in the fun) is the brainchild of Mike Dooley, who just happens to bring my notes to my inbox every weekday morning. I thought since the notes start my day so well THIS would be a great way to start my year. It’s 30 days of quick activities to help you achieve your dreams. Day one was all about setting goals, right up my ally! 

Since I talked about some of my goals with you last week and since it’s so on target with this time of year I thought I’d share my 30 days on the blog here throughout the month of January, and since it’s a new year and I have a new shop to fill up I’m also participating in the Year of Jewelry Project again this year, so I may sprinkle some new goodies in there from time to time as well.

5 goals in order of importance, ordering them was kind of hard because they all kind of intertwine with each other…… 

1: Health; Continuing regular exercise and improving on our nutrition. Because even Pizza Night can turn into a family meal with a salad.

2: Business; you’ve read this one already : Social Media Marketing, Inventory, Book Keeping and the business plan revisited for the bread & butter business. You might feel this one should be lower but once it gets rolling it will free up time for 1, 3 & 5 (my Mantra for the year) and will actually help create 4 but it is 2nd because health above all else, without it you can’t fully enjoy the rest.

3: Home; finish my existing projects, prioritize what needs to be done and get those started

4: Finances; my little business has been self-sustaining and has met it’s goals consistently, this is the year I want it to contribute to the household.

5: Family; help the kids build their dreams, be kinder, be happier, cook together. Once the kids were big enough to cook without supervision I backed out of the kitchen when they cooked to allow them to stretch and develop their skills. But I really miss cooking together, some of our best happiest and goofiest moments are had in the kitchen together. If they’re making pizza, I can make a salad. Which brings us right back around to Goal number 1.

Day 2 was about choosing a theme for the year and I immediately thought ha! I’m ahead of the game my word is efficiency. But then I thought no that’s not my theme, efficiency is the key to finding balance so that I can create abundance.

abundance |əˈbəndəns|

noun

• plentifulness of the good things of life; prosperity

Abundance of Love, of Creativity, of Time, of Success, of Health and sure of Wealth too. So the word might be efficiency, but the theme is Abundance.

Day 3 was getting into detail about day ones goals……. hahaha umm yeah did that on day one :)

Day 4 start a journal to record your 30 day journey lol again ahead of the curve I started writing this on day 2 because I loved how well it tied in to what I was already writing about.

Consider creating a vision board on Pinterest….. that might actually be fun too. If I decide to make one I’ll post it on next weeks blog for those of you following along and need ideas for your own board. Or I can do that now! (that's the magic of writing posts early lol)  Here's my Board! 

As this publishes for you to read it will be day 5  - I try to write my posts a couple days early so I can post them in the morning, and now you know why some posts are late.

All in all it’s been a productive week around here, I love the renewed energy a new calendar brings, it’s fresh and new and full of potential. just waiting for me to fill it up with wonderful things!

Speaking of Pinterest boards…… I have one for the Year of Jewelry Project, I started it last year so don’t let the dozen or so posts fool you I’ve only posted the one bracelet so far this year.  It’s here if you want to see.  https://www.pinterest.com/winddancerspin/a-year-of-jewelry/

Hand Crafted Holidays 2015 : Week 6, Gifts in a Jar

Hand Crafted Holidays 2015 : The Hand Crafted Kitchen

Week 6 Cookies and Gifts in a Jar

Christmas is this week! What better time to roll out gifts a jar and cookies than the week you might need some quick last minute gifts!

I have a board on Pinterest dedicated to simple cookie recipes and decorating - though mostly decorating. Like most of us I already have my favorite recipes tucked away in my kitchen and have just recently started gathering my favorites from around the web as a traveling recipe box for my kids.

Snowman Cookies, Simple Circles BIG on Cuteness Factor

Like these cute snowmen, you can make these in a flash using your own sugar cookie recipe (or  buy a tube of dough) Whip up some royal frosting and decorate to your hearts content!  If you prefer a different cookie you'll find the Snowmen come from a recipe for gingerbread on Bakerella.

Gifts in a jar have gotten really diverse in past years as more and more people have enjoyed this simple gift that is big on taste and heart.  From cookies, quick breads and soups to mulling spices and custom tea blends the ideas are limited only to your imagination.

Cookies in a Jar

Spiced Tea in a Jar Recipe

The cookie in a jar recipe and the spiced tea recipe can be found on my Hand Made Kitchen Board on Pinterest along with many others as well as some more great ideas I didn't share here or you can click above and go to them directly.

I do hope you've enjoyed this years series! I know I have enjoyed bringing it to you. Christmas is this weekend and I do hope you are surrounded with people you love and who contribute to your happiness and create feelings of being loved and cherished in return. No matter what religion you practice I believe that sense of love and well being is integral to what we are celebrating this time of year. I wish you all Happy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas!

The holidays are about sharing and caring, and I’d like very much to get the word out that hand made is heart made as is the holiday season. 

SO, If you like this post, and I hope you do! Please feel free to share it! Blog about it, Tweet it, Pin it, Instagram it and give it a shout out on FaceBook. Don’t forget to come back each week for another post in this years series: The Hand Crafted Kitchen

Thanks for stoppin by!

We’ll see ya next week!

Week 1: Vanilla = http://magpieapproved.blogspot.com/2015/11/hand-crafted-holidays-2015-hand-crafted.html

Week 2: Aprons = http://magpieapproved.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-hand-crafted-kitchen-week-2-aprons.html

Week 3: Mixing Spoons = http://magpieapproved.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-hand-crafted-kitchen-week-3.html

Week 4 Mixing Bowls = http://magpieapproved.blogspot.com/2015/12/hand-crafted-holidays-2015-week-4.html

Week 5 Rolling Pins and Pastry Cloths = http://magpieapproved.blogspot.com/2015/12/hand-crafted-holidays-of-rolling-pins.html

Week 6 Jars and Gifts in a Jar  Merry Christmas!

Just Keep Swimming!

Along with all the hand made goodness that has been consuming my life for the last couple of months I’ve decided it was time to give myself the gift of a lighter smaller stronger me.

I’ve always been very hands on in the construction of our house. When we started building it was really no different, I was very hands on and adamant about being environmentally conscious with the products we used. Having a big house made it even more so important as it’s a bigger footprint to be responsible for.  I even went so far as to source standing dead timber for our logs. 

Not wanting to use any more chemicals than absolutely necessary I opted for borate treating my sill plates over the arsenic filled pressure treated lumber for the basement. This meant my personally coating each piece of lumber with borate and while I was flipping 16 foot boards so I could coat the other side I tripped over a stack of boards the builder had set behind me. I went down, now maybe I would’ve been able to save myself had I not been holding a 16 foot board but all I could think of at the time was not braining myself with it so I held on. I held on as I felt the pop, I held on as I felt the burn. I held on as I hit the stack of lumber and slid sideways to the ground. 

My knee has never been the same and every time I’ve tried to get back to the gym or start running again my knee would tell me about. I’ve always been all out and gung ho so at first I thought I just needed a little more time to heal. Then I started gaining weight and the extra weight made it ache and I’d try to get back to the gym. Creating my own special downwards spiral. The more I tried, the more it hurt, the more I didn’t try, the more it hurt.

After several false starts - if you’ve been reading my blog for a long time you might even remember reading about some of them. I finally decided I needed this to be about the long term, slow and steady. No more all in or go home. That attitude had me going home and not achieving my goals - I don’t like not achieving goals. If I was going to make this happen I needed to allow myself to go at a slower pace. But going at a slower pace meant I needed some accountability, some one to keep me on track and give me a nudge every so often.

Every night as I drift off to sleep I think of the things I am grateful for. Special blessings of the day, some ordinary, some small, some big, reminders of the many things and people who are the good in my life. Sometimes I release things to the Universe, leave it up to God’s hands if you will. On this night I decided to release it and just do but I could use a little accountability to help me along. The next morning I had an e-mail from Bill Phillips on being over 50 and getting back to the gym, a challenge and a FB group to help keep you accountable. Believe it or not I had to take a couple days to think about it! My own personal GodWink as my friend Chris would say, and “well I just don’t know”…. I asked my son if he might like to be my work out buddy, he was my best  buddy when he was 4.  He and the kiddo had been working out together in the University gym but she graduated and he didn’t want to go alone so he’d been working out in our gym in the basement and hinting he needed someone to help keep him on track too. Make that a double wink.

So! Here we are about 5 or 6 weeks in, my scale hasn’t budged much but my measurements are shrinking, my clothes are fitting looser, my face is slimmer, I have a lot more energy and I’m a lot happier. My knee only hurt until I realized, it was the wrong knee and it was all in my head - just a little psychological self sabotage, a body at rest tends to stay at rest until a greater force comes along to change that.

But, a body in motion tends to stay in motion. Quoting Dori, Just keep swimming!

My 25th anniversary is coming up this next year…. I’m thinking Jamaica sounds like just the place to be for that! 

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming swimming swimming!

Have a great week! Thanks for stoppin’ by!

We’ll see you next time!    I think it’s just about time for our annual Hand Made Holiday Series!  

Goings On....

I’ve been hinting at lots of things keeping my attention away from blogging and making. I’ll admit it one too many things in the air and something is bound to get dropped, I know my limits and while I do push them they always push back lol So today, I’ll tell you about a couple of those wonderful things that have been perking around and about.

One: College finances have had me running in circles. My youngest is about to graduate, he’s been on scholarship this whole time but one of the rules to his scholarship is you apply for a Pell grant. They want to be sure you have every financial opportunity to help you succeed. This year the rules have changed a little bit on the University side of things, they want a whole lot more paperwork and we’ve had to jump through hoops as we’re self employed and just don’t have the paper work they’re asking for. I have provided all the alternatives necessary but it’s a pain to have to go round and round (especially when it’s ALL on file already) and it’s just emotionally draining and pretty stressful when they start talking about making him drop because the paperwork isn’t in order. But, he’s graduating this year! woo! I'm so Proud of the kid! He’s worked very hard for this.

Paige's Pottery She's on Etsy too HERE

Two the kiddo, my middle, graduated last school year, has finally gotten her kilns (yes TWO of them!) and has been ordering all the goodies she needs to get up and running. We have boxes everywhere right now, it almost looks like Christmas has come and gone! I’m excited for her, she’s been a little down, not being able to play in the mud but her face is becoming full of happy again and that makes me very happy! — first firing delayed there’s a problem with the plunger that turns the kiln on/off and the second kiln has the wrong plug, both fixable just means a few more days until her first firing, and she has boxes of clay calling her name. 

Three, The Artisan Group. I joined nearly a year ago. I’ve sat back and watched how things were done. Felt overwhelmed at times, felt so not ready at others and I have learned quite a bit. Enough so that I  took the plunge and sent some things in to stylists for Bones and Mariah Carey’s newest movie project. I have no idea at this point if either will use what I sent, but it’s very exciting for me to even be considered.

Four Amazon! I’m thrilled to announce HandMade at Amazon is now Live! You’ll now be able to find me there as well as on Etsy. This has thrilled and scared me simultaneously and so far it’s a been very very good thing!  I’ve been contemplating Amazon for quite some time now, I’m thrilled they’ve opened Hand Made and that I’ve taken the plunge. I’ve made several sales already and I gotta say I’m really enjoying that! I get the feeling this is just the tip of the ice burg….. lots of good things coming!    My Shop:  Wind Dancer Studios

It is by no means finished, I’ve taken over 400 photos, edited most of them and have only managed to list a handful of items. But, now I want to overhaul my Etsy too. After 400 clean no prop photos, my Etsy storefront feels….. cluttered. So my mission is to continue loading Amazon with pretties I think will do well there and now freshening the look on Etsy. Eventually I think I may want them to be unified in look and that may keep me busy for quite some time! 

And now that we're mid-way through October I really need to get my mind wrapped around the upcoming holidays.  Pull together some wonderful handmade goodness to share with you.  I've been sharing my inspirations lately, I think holiday gifting ideas will blend nicely. I hope you've had a chance to see all those gorgeous photos I've been sharing on my FaceBook page if you haven't, why not? lol 

So that's just some of what's been going on around here, never a dull moment it seems. 

Thanks for stoppin by!

We'll see you next time!

Amazon & Etsy

I have wonderful news! I'm both thrilled and terrified at the same time.

I love Etsy and am perfectly happy there but with the tinkering they've been doing I'm just not seeing the growth I expected. I could whine and complain but that doesn't change a thing. I have consistent sales and from what I've read that puts me above average and I'm good with that so I'm not planning on leaving or putting my shop on vacation or anything like that.

When Amazon announced they were planning a new Handmade Marketplace I applied.
I applied ...... and I was accepted!

Statistically Amazon has 10 x the customer base @ 250 mil customers so my sales should increase at the same rate which would surpass my goals for the year. Which would make me one happy camper.

Crunching the numbers I need only three sales per day to make an income sufficient to contribute to household expenses. I didn't realize how much I missed that until the thought of being able to pay the bills even when the weather isn't cooperating with the bread and butter business became a possibility.

Amazon gives me the opportunity to create more growth. A lot more growth! That's where the terrifying part comes. I know I can handle three sales a day, I can replenish stock fairly quickly depending on what's selling. The terrifying part is Amazon has the potential to create much higher sales than that.  Amazon does something Etsy doesn't do, advertise. Amazon knows marketing, everyone knows Amazon!

Then this morning, my note from the universe was this:

"The Evolution of a Dream" 

Dream is implanted into brain. 

Dreamer becomes thrilled. 

Dreamer becomes terrified. 

If no action is taken, terrifying thoughts grow into flesh-eating monsters. Dream is considered unrealistic. 

If action is taken, Dana, terrifying thoughts are revealed to be paper tigers. Confidence soars, miracles unfold, and dreamer begins to saunter. 

Either way, nothing remains the same. 

Gr-r, 
    The Universe

If you're going to dream, dream big right? It's all about taming those paper tigers!

Hey if Etsy sellers are known as Etsians........ will this make me Amazonian? Wonder Woman here I come! Hello, Diana's eyes are only a tiny bit bluer than mine! lol

Wonder Woman: by artist Alex Ross

Thanks so much for stopping by!
We'll see ya next time!

of Faith and Magic or Perception and Goals

I'm having a business/pricing crisis and since so many artists have difficulty with pricing/business I thought I'd post here as my crisis could turn out to be beneficial for someone else. :)

In one of the groups I belong to on FB, one of the members posted a set of wood/stone stretch bracelets she found priced at $175.oo. Set of 4. Cute but nothing extra special about them, just a single gemstone connector and wooden beads. At first glance I thought Wow! I am not charging enough. Breakdown the price and it's about $45 each bracelet. Looking up the components and how I charge for bracelets that aren't stretch the numbers seem to be about right. Poke around her shop and she has had 3000 sales, quite a few of these sets. That makes an estimated $90k a yr in sales.  Her shop is full of bolo leather, wooden beads, and single gemstone on a chain, prices from $150 - 890 Nothing that I can't make, using materials I have on hand. 

So why does this create a crisis for me? I look at my shop and then look at hers. She has mostly production pieces, things that can be made made quickly and easily over and over again. I have mostly one of’s with only a small handful of production pieces. We opened at almost the same time, days apart at most, I’ve averaged one sale a month, she’s averaged 11 a week and I haven’t come any where near 90k total. One third of my sales are production work,  20% is custom work, and the other half is one of. 

Until I broke down those numbers I felt the bulk of my sales were production work. I felt I wasn’t charging what I should be, I felt woefully underpriced.

When we compare ourselves to others it creates a "what am I doing wrong" thought process, and that is a dangerous place to be. It’s comparing apples to oranges.

My goal has never been $90,000 a year in jewelry sales. My original goal was a consistent one or two sales a month. Combining all sales from Artfire (I started there and moved to Etsy) sales on Etsy, sales on FB and offline I have met that goal. The whole idea when I began selling was for this to be a self supporting hobby, gold and silver, and all those sparkly things can get a little pricey :) To me meeting your goals is the definition of success, once met it’s time to set new goals.

This crisis though, has gotten me thinking about the direction of my shop, about my pricing, about business vs hobby. The moment I started selling it became a business and I have treated it more like a hobby. Oh, I’ve priced properly taking all things into consideration. Considered other avenues for sales and weighed those options for profitability, and added items based on sell ability. But still, there are things I would do as a business I am not doing now.

this showed up in my feed this am on FB pretty apt I think

Perception is a powerful thing. I don’t really like it when people say I ONLY USE THE BEST. This shop did that, she’s selling wood stretchy bracelets, and has managed to convince people they are something extra special. My hats off, she turned a simple inexpensive material into an only the best product. Maybe my crisis has more to do with marketing than pricing, as we do seem to price similarly. I understand marketing and, having been self employed since the age of 20, I know what to do. I’m not entirely sure why I resist it so much in this endeavor of mine. My hand work has always sold itself, someone sees, comments on it, a little chit chat, asks how much and orders. It’s just different online, and while I can still follow the premise it’s difficult to replicate that "in person” experience online, the warmth of the interaction, the smiles, the laughter, seeing their face when they hold it. I do however, have a couple ideas on how to maybe bring some of that warmth to the screen.

Ok then, having met my goals I suppose next is doubling, setting a dollar amount to aim for. 90k is more than I want, that’s full time work and I think I’m pretty happy with part time!  Up until now I have done nothing more than passive marketing, a little cross promotion working with Etsy teams but nothing truly marketing myself. I have felt like I might be ready to step it up a notch and have been laying out ideas and I think it just might be time to start developing those plans. End of year is coming fast and it will be time to implement them before you know it. So the next couple of months will be all about the holiday season and me planning my marketing strategy. Don’t worry I Hate a hard sell, I won’t even buy something I need if it involves a hard sell, so the plan will still include passive marketing. I’m just going to get much more creative about it.

Hopefully this has helped someone in some small way to remember to use a crisis to push you forward, don’t let it hold you back. You are worth it!

Til next time!

Thanks for stoppin by!

Happy 4th!

My hopping has slowed to a crawl and if yours has too Bead Soup is HERE!

Working on a custom order for the last couple of days and seem to have gotten ahead of myself along the way. I pulled the studs out of the tumbler yesterday only to realize I had not left myself a place to attach the dangles. Hangs head, the dangles are kind of necessary, they're the part she really really wanted. The earrings will be done just as soon as I can figure out how to connect the two pieces, and I think I may have done just that........ we'll see just as soon as I finish writing this post! Sometimes you just have to put it out there, say it aloud or as the case may be, type it, for the solution to come to you.

Last week I participated in my first SKIRT Team scavenger hunt. I had seen friends scavenger hunt treasuries but had never figured out the game. Can I just say.......they're a blast! Not only did I have fun but I WON! I have had the great pleasure of being in the "hot" seat in several Patriotic treasuries this week and have found some really cool shops in the process. There are still a couple days left before I get to choose this weeks winner but thought I might share with you some wonderful finds from those treasuries and the curators who featured them. Since it's Independence Day this week I'm carrying on the Patriotic/Americana feel.

An Americana Thank You to the Scavenger Hunt Curators!
SKIRT Team Scavenger Hunt #9

Thanks for stoppin By!

If you're in the US have a safe and happy holiday weekend! Even if you're not, I wish you the same!

See you next time!

Inspiration

You Are It!

Whoops! I came pretty close to missing this weeks post! I had one planned and even started to write it up but I got a little sidetracked with life and a couple custom orders. One of the best reasons if you ask me!. Now, just incase you're still hopping - I know I still am!! Bead Soup Post is HERE!

First thing Monday morning my FB feed had not one but two back to back inspirational posts, my daily note from the universe made it the triple threat and then to top it all off the feed for Pinterest and Etsy were both full of inspirational quotes. Well, with the constant feel goods I knew the week was going to be all about inspiration! And all about inspiration it was.

Believe!

We all need the reminder to believe in ourselves from time to time don’t we? Oh the mountains we can move when we do!

Believe, believe you can, believe you will.  Believe it and you can achieve it. I do believe and I hope you do too.

It’s nose back to the grindstone for me... The sketch and price have been approved so I have another custom order to work on.

Custom work is one of my favorite things to do, so it has been a very good week!

Thanks for stoppin by!

We’ll see you next time!

The Countdown has Begun

This has been another fun soup. I've been turning out 4-5 pieces a week and the ideas just keep coming. The Bead Soup Blog Party is this weekend and I haven't run out of ideas yet - running low on soup, yes, but the ideas keep coming anyway! I think I'm somewhere around 20 pieces made and right this minute I have 3-4 ideas swimming and jostling for attention still. My desk is a mess, beads and wire and tools everywhere, I'm running out of room to work and I can't seem to stop.

But I have to stop. I have to stop long enough to get some pictures taken, long enough to write up a blog post and long enough to schedule it for this weekend. Then if I'm really smart I'll price and draft listings. I usually keep a piece or two for myself and this time I really like everything I made and would be more than happy to keep it all so deciding which I'm willing to let go of will be hard.

I should get going. You know how many pics you have to take in order to get one great shot, I have 20 needing one great shot lol I thought I was going to use my daughter as a model but as it turns out, it's finals week and it's been stormy outside so the photo shoot I had planned is not happening at least it's not likely to happen in time for the hop. Maybe one more cup of coffee first...... maybe the clouds will part just enough.....maybe I can sneak one more piece in...... gotta run!

Thanks for stoppin by!
We'll see ya next time!

It's finally my turn!

I truly am blessed, my circle is a wonderful one. My family is loving and supportive, everything I could ask for, and so many of my friends are of the talented variety. Many of whom have been published in magazines and books and I just couldn't be prouder! A couple years ago I made the decision (actually resolved to - yup it was a resolution) to put myself out there as well, I started blogging, actually joined a blog hop and started sharing the jewelry I was making. When I was in my 20's this would have been a natural extension of who I am. But as I've gotten older I seem to have coccooned myself up here on my hill. It's safe, warm and comfy - it is my comfort zone and I like it here. I had almost forgotten how to put myself out there and it was scary but I finally did it.

While I had resolved to put myself out there it was my friend Jean Yates that got the ball rolling. I really didn't have a clue as to what to do, but she encouraged me and had me contact a few people. Resulting in some of the nicest rejection letters I could ever receive! Your work is beautiful, just not what we have in mind, please keep submitting we'd love to see more.

Finally I got the are you still interested e-mail and I definitely was! A Designer Challenge from Bead & Button. We were all given the same wonderful beads from A Grain of Sand ( I have actually been drooling over their website for some time now )and were asked to create something using the beads we were given. I LOVE this type of challenge and knew it was going to be so much fun! Psst! the issue is available on the newsstands now!

Once I received the beads, I got to work designing several pieces. I had came across the term parure and knew immediately that was what I wanted to create. A suite of pieces designed to be worn together or separately as the mood strikes.

I created a pair of earrings that matched the tassel on the main piece. A multi strand brass, crystal, and pearl necklace. A single strand of small pearls on brass. And of course the main piece with that gorgeous Mabe pearl and embellished RAW. The focal was my interpretation of an Art Deco piece I found while researching. I also made a multi strand bracelet featuring Vintaj filigree as the connectors/clasp. I love this set!

Close up of the connectors I made for the multi strand that was chosen for the magazine.

So there you have it! My first!! published piece. It's been several months since I was first contacted and I have to say I am still just as thrilled as I was the day I got the e-mail. I think I may have to keep putting myself out there, I had forgotten how fun it can be!

Thanks for taking a peek!
We'll see ya next time!

Of Family and Soldering…

and how simple changes can make a world of difference.

I want to to make stacking rings so badly that even though I have struggled and struggled to master soldering, I keep trying and trying and trying. For several years I’ve tried. I’ve struggled with the right torch, the right flame, enough solder, too much solder. I have adjusted every little detail I could think of save one.

This weekend I thought I would give it yet another try. Several hours and complete frustration later I was ready to give up. I didn’t though. I marched myself over to you tube and found my friend Melissa Muir’s videos. Melissa goes into great detail when she makes a video. She explains the what and the why right alongside of the how. Being left handed I need that as mentally I have to flip all I see in my head in order to mirror the actions and there are no classes local to me where I can just be told I’m doing something wrong and how to fix it.

I found a video that uses soldering and clicked. It hadn’t played for very long before I hear, you can’t just use any flux…. What? The solder won’t flow properly ….. serious? The ONE thing I never once considered.



Found a quickie how to make a boric acid flux and voila! I CAN solder! Happy Dance! I still need practice, obviously, but I am now wearing two copper stacking rings and am planning several more. This one seemingly small detail has made a world of difference for me and opens up another avenue of jewelry making I’m excited to explore!

As I mentioned in an earlier post my Grandma was gravely ill. They had decided it was time to send her home to hospice care and allow her to die in her own bed. I was heartbroken to say the least. But before my Mom could bring her home another Dr stepped in. He studied her charts and her file. Talked to my Mom and Uncle, actually listened and then made a simple change in her medication. This made such a huge difference he decided to take an xray of her chest and found a pocket of fluid pressing against her lung. She wasn’t suffering from congestive heart failure at all. Her recovery has been nothing short of miraculous! She’s currently in an assisted living center for physical therapy. She will be coming home, not to die but to live!

Never underestimate the power of small changes and persistence. They can pay off in very big ways!

oh and Yes! I am still going to donate my hair. I’m thinking another 12 inches is in order this go around. That leaves me enough to make another donation in the future.

Thanks for stopping by!
See ya next time!

Tesori Trovati Reveal!

This has been the most interesting nothing goes as planned creation and post I have ever had the pleasure of.



I'm sure I've told you of winning the bead from Erin of Tesori Trovati. We were to have a reveal hop in September. Erin made a wonderful (I'm sure) bead and sent it my way. It just never seemed to actually find me. Tracking has it being mis-sent across the river and then returned to Little Rocks sort facility supposedly to be sent here but then it just stops there in Little Rock, no more info and no bead.

So Erin, doll that she is, makes another one. Of course now I've missed the reveal so it was extra sweet of her in my opinion. This one arrived safe and sound, and was definitely worth the wait!

Erin, Paige and I had decided we would plan a reveal for the end of October. The last Saturday of the month, which was this last weekend. I had it in my head we had one more weekend. I did take pics this weekend so it was ready to go but instead of my being ahead of schedule I was behind. sigh I offer my apologies my head is usually better attached!



"You are a child of God, with credentials like that you can do anything." I would give my daughter the moon and stars if I could. I would move heaven and earth for her. I strung them on a chain for her instead.

Paige and I had played with ideas and had started working on some resin charms as I had originally intended to run a chunky chain through the bead as a start to a charm bracelet. But as this was a collaborative effort with my daughter things changed as we worked on it. While I love some embellishment, she prefers much cleaner lines.
Then the resin didn't want to set. It was a very humid and rainy day, so we warmed it to help set the Ice Resin. The larger charms with thinner layers eventually set up. The smaller with a thicker layer, still has not completely set two weeks later. It's slightly tacky and grabs anything that touches it. Lesson learned, this is not the resin I used in my youth. I made a few more charms with extremely thin layers and they have set up wonderfully. They will be used for the beginnings of a charm bracelet and if the smaller charm ever sets up, it will too.



To keep the bead from wobbling I punched a couple small discs and dapped them for a slight dome of their own. As luck would have it the arc is a perfect match to the bead caps I used. I love the added bonus of the two tone look it gives to the caps. I used a long eye pin I had on hand but I think with the length of the necklace I'll cut a short piece of wire and replace the simple loops with wrapped. This length invites playing with the beads and I prefer they be secure. Paige agrees!

So there you have it! A late posting of a late bead, with an on the fly redesign and it fits the kiddos personality to a T! This is my gift to her. She's been wearing the moon pendant since I gave it to her and is waiting for the new loops on her cosmos.

Thanks so much for taking a peek!
We'll see you next time!

Donation to Beautiful Lengths

This beautiful shot of the back of my head is a purposeful shot of my hair.



My Dad was a barber like his Dad before him. His brother was a barber and one of my aunts followed suit as well. When my Aunt passed a couple years back I donated close to 12 inches in her memory. I chose to donate to Pantene's ongoing drive "Beautiful Lengths".

Locks of Love may be better known but they do nothing to dispel the rumor they donate their wigs to children with cancer. They donate to children, yes. They donate to children with Alopecia Areata - permanent hair loss. If that loss happens to be caused by a cancer treatment then that child is eligible but that is the closest they get. Locks only makes a handful of wigs per year, they sell the bulk of the ponytails they receive. All the info is there on the website, you just have to dig around for it. Don't get me wrong. The very few children they help get custom fit wigs until they are adults and that is no small thing for those on the receiving end. It just isn't what everyone thinks it is.

Beautiful Lengths on the other hand donates wigs for chemotherapy patients. THAT was my intention for my hair the last time I cut it, and why I chose Beautiful Lengths to donate my hair to. My Aunt was deeply saddened at losing her own hair when she had chemo and wore a wig herself to hide it.

My Grandma won't face hair loss as she won't be facing chemo with her battle. Still I felt it time to make another donation. While my German/Russian and Scottish heritage comes from my Dads side of the family, my Native heritage comes from my Moms side. But rather than cutting my hair in mourning I would like to make it a celebration of life. To make someone else's life a little better is a glorious way I think and in keeping with that I'd like to include you.



That's where the ruler comes in. As you can see I have next to my braid an 18 inch ruler. Minimum donation is 8 inches, so no matter what is ultimately decided that much IS coming off and being donated. How much more than that is up to you. I will donate up to 16 inches. Keep in mind 16 inches of braid is closer to 18 inches of hair and more than double the asked for donation. So how much will I donate? Head on over to my FaceBook page and vote on the poll!

Thanks for stoppin' by!
I know you're wondering.... scribbles on the kiddos hand are glazing recipes. She's an Art Major and had just gotten home from her ceramics course. :)