Light box or Cat box?

This is my cat Tally's favorite new place to sleep. It's rather annoying when I go to take pictures of some new pieces of jewelry and there is cat hair everywhere! Oh well, she is cute anyway...thought I'd snap a few pics.

My two year old just fell asleep. It's a miracle! Or, a wonderful birthday gift to me today. I think I'll go solder some more jewelry!

As if I didn't already have enough hobbies...

My husband bought me a glass kiln for my birthday. It's a super nice one, too. I am stoked!...no pun intended. I have wanted to try glass fusing for some time now. I plan on adding a whole new line of fused glass jewelry to my shop once I get the hang of it and come up with some creative designs. Luckily, the kiln came with some sample glass for me to experiment with. Then I will be able to order whatever else I need online, since I can't seem to find a stained glass supply store less than an hour away from here! :( Anyway, here are some pics of my new kiln.

Pretty big interior, big enough to slump a large plate.

Totally programmable!

New Listings!

Here they are...the first two pendants finished in Massachusetts, along with my new photography style. I am really happy with how the pics turned out. These pendants are now available for purchase in my Etsy shop. More to come...

Jewelry in Action

An old friend of mine from high school got in touch with me recently. She saw my jewelry online and special ordered eight pendants of the same color, but different shapes, for the bridesmaids and flower girls at her wedding. Today, I was browsing Facebook and saw some pics of the wedding. And, I saw my jewelry being worn! I normally send orders out and never get to see the recipient of my creations! It was a real treat.

Plugging along...

I haven't finished those new pendants yet, but I am up to 79 sales on Etsy. Now I really need to list some new stuff and pull in some customers!

New Projects...it's about time...

Ok, so I didn't do so great in the last two weeks accomplishing any of my goals. But I am happy to say that I'm trying to make up for lost time. I am finally working again!!! Last night I prepped several new pendants. I was going to just make one from start to finish, but as usual, I started cutting the glass and couldn't decide on just one design. So I did some sketching, then cutting, grinding and foiling. Then it got too late, so I couldn't do the soldering last night. Hopefully, I will finish a couple tonight. I am SO excited to finally be making jewelry again!

My Etsy Goal

I'm at 75 sales now on Etsy, and pleased with the positive feedback I've received from my customers! And I seem to continue making sales, despite my lack of new inventory. My main website, however, continues to decline in hits, because I know nothing about marketing. But I am prepared to let that go for now, because of the promising future I see on Etsy, and the success I've seen others have on Etsy. I think that the benefits will outweigh the listing fees I will pay.

I have also had much success with my recent clearance sale. I am excited to clear out my older designs to make room for the new ones coming soon. I have had a long vacation (if it can really be called that) from making jewelry during our transition across the country to our new home. But, my art room is almost organized enough to start working again.

I figured I would make some new goals regarding my business here on the blog. So here they are:

1. Post on my blog at least once a week to keep track of my progress on goals.
2. Create at least one new piece of jewelry to completion every day.
3. List at least one new piece of jewelry for sale every day.
4. Revamp my Etsy site - new pricing for new items, new chain/cord selection as separate listings, possibly a new style of product photography. (This goal may take a few weeks to complete.)
5. Ship out orders within one day of receiving payment.
6. Record sale transactions on my business spreadsheet to track expenses/profit.
7. Reach 100 sales by the end of August.

I'd better get to work!