Two New Shops!

I’ve been busy opening up two new shops!

First, I decided to part with some of my massive collection of jewelry supplies, so I opened a supply shop: All Things Beadiful. I got my first sales within the first few days of listing inventory. I’m so pleased that my lovely unused beads will be finding new homes!

Secondly, I opened an Artfire shop. Artfire is having a special for the remainder of the year, so although I joined back in June, I’ve only now loaded up the shop with inventory. I’m hoping for some good results. I’ve included both finished jewelry and supplies in my Artfire shop.

SPECIAL OFFER: Mention “two new shops blogpost” in the Message/Notes to seller in either of these two shops and receive 10% off your order. I’ll refund the savings through PayPal. This special offer is valid from now through October 15, 2009.

 

Jewelry Sale – Buy one get one 50% off!

I’m having a sale in my Etsy shop this weekend: Buy one item, get a 2nd item of equal or lesser value 50% off. All the details are in my shop announcement on my shop homepage.

Many JET shops are taking part in the Weekend Deals on Etsy. Check out the JetTeam shop for a complete list of participants. Or, search Handmade for “jetsale” to see almost 3000 jewelry and accessory items, all on sale!

Happy Shopping!

 

Wire Wrapped Pendants

I’m having a great time with wire-wrapping. It started with a tutorial I purchased on Etsy. I learned some great techniques from the tutorial and I’m having a blast finding new ways to create with them. Only problem…sore fingers! Boy, working the wire can hurt. But it’s worth it. I am so thrilled to take plain old sterling wire and turn it into something I love!

 

New Line of Rings

I’ve added a new line of rings to my shop, just in time for the Spring Fling Sale. Get FREE Worldwide Shipping on everything in the Spring Fling section of Beadiful Designs through March 22.

 

Spring Fling!

It’s that time of year! The Jewelry on Etsy Team (JET) will be holding a Spring Fling Promotion! The promotion begins at 8 am (Eastern) Friday morning, March 20th until 12 midnight (Eastern) Sunday, March 22nd.

Many of my JET team members will be participating; each boasting their own unique sales and specials. Information about each sellers sales or promotions can be found in their shop announcement and on the first page of our daily promotions thread in the Promotions section of the Etsy forums.

Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the daily JET Spring Fling Promo thread in the Promotions section of the Etsy forums to participate in super fun giveaways for a chance to win tons of prizes! You can win FREE jewelry and other fashion accessories! For a chance to win, we will simply ask participants to take a look at one of our shops and show us a link to an item they like and tell us what they like about the item.

My sale for the Spring Fling will be FREE Worldwide Shipping on every item in my Spring Fling Section! My everyday prices on Beadiful Designs jewelry are already a great value, so with FREE Shipping, why not treat yourself or someone you love to quality, handcrafted jewelry?

 

My New Obsession – Project Wonderful

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So, my home and life re-organization hasn’t been going as well as it could because I’ve discovered a new obsession…Project Wonderful. I’m woefully inept at graphic design, but I managed to put together two ads to experiment with. I posted these ads on about 20 sites. It’s fun to watch the number of clicks they receive add up, but so far no sales have resulted.

It’s easy to get obsessed with the bidding process for ads. I’m now trying to only check my ad status once a day, because the fluctuations in which ads are active at any given time are unmanageable.

I love the information Project Wonderful supplies for the ads. The one I’m watching most carefully is the Cost Per Click. Right now when I list something on Etsy, I can guarantee about 5 views. So I’m “buying” 5 views for $.20, or $.04 per view. (I realize that I get a lot more for my $.20 than just 5 views, but when comparing exposure, that’s the figure I’m looking at.) So far, the sites that have gained me the most views are the ones that get the most traffic (no surprise there) and the price of those ads has so far put them far above $.04 per click. As I experiment with different ads, sites, and bids, I’m sure I’ll see changes. And ultimately, the statistic that will be most meaningful to me is which method results in the most sales.

There has been a lot written on the Etsy forums over the past few months about how renewing/listing aren’t getting the same views they used to. I definitely have noticed this myself. I used to list something and within a few minutes dozens of views were tallied. Now, things can go days with only one handful of views. I wanted to try Project Wonderful to see if by placing ads I could gain the exposure that no longer is inherent in listing on Etsy. So far, I have to say that I still get more views through renewing/listing than I do with these ads. I’m sure that a large part of that has been the sites I’m advertising on, as well as the look of my ads, so I’ll probably keep experimenting to find the perfect mix of exposure.

 

One thing I love about the Flylady system is that they believe in starting where you are at. One Flylady mantra is “you are not behind”. If you find getting your home and life organized to be so overwhelming that you don’t know where to begin, they even have a day-by-day list of babysteps to get you started.

I’ve chosen to start with my Morning and Bedtime routines. As I started to think about the way I’d like to begin and end each day, I was sorely tempted to make veeeeery long lists. I resisted this impulse and kept each list to 8 items. This is how I will begin to conquer my household chaos.

My Morning Routine
* make bed
* shower/dress
* spot clean master bathroom
* start load of laundry
* empty dishwasher
* eat breakfast (yes, I do need a reminder to do this!)
* check calendar
* make today’s to do list

My Bedtime Routine
* pick up family room
* pick up kitchen
- clear/clean sink
- start dishwasher
- wipe table and counters
* check calendar for tomorrow
* get ready for bed (This obviously happens already…so it’s like a freebie!)
* pray

For the next couple of days (or however long is needed) I’ll just focus on accomplishing these two routines. I almost skipped my first item this morning…”make bed”. Lucy was sleeping on my bed and she looked sooo cute, curled up on her side with her paw covering her nose. I was tempted to let her keep sleeping, but instead I kicked her off the bed (not literally) and made it. Look at her sweet face!

Now I’m off to finish my Morning Routine. (Hey, I still have another 45 minutes of morning left.)

 

Getting My Home (and life) Organized!

Ok, I’ll admit it. My home is frequently a disorganized nightmare. With 4 active boys, 2 dogs, 2 rats, and a hubby, it’s hard to keep up. To be honest, I usually don’t work very hard at keeping up. I’m something of a procrastinator and usually crisis clean my home. You know how it is… someone is coming over so you have to clean the house. I’m getting pretty tired of that cycle.

I do love a clean, organized home and I know how to get my home looking good. I’ve just never been very successful at keeping it that way. Well, I’m about to embark on an adventure that will change all that. Many months ago (on the advice of a friend) I checked out the book Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley from the library. Marla has developed a system for gaining control of your home and when I read the book I was hooked. Marla writes with humor and it almost seemed like she’d been to my home! (She developed her system to get rid of CHAOS – Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome. Oh yeah, she’s been to my home.) I immediately made a few changes in the way I do things and I signed up to get Flylady daily email reminders…but I never put the entire plan into action. Every day I see those emails come in and every day I erase them, unopened. Not anymore. I’m committing to putting the Flylady system to work for me and my family.

I highly recommend reading the book, but if you don’t have the patience to wait until you can get it, you can find out about the Flylady system online too. I’ll be starting the Flylady system in full on Wednesday. Look out clutter, here I come!

 

Today is a rainy and all around yucky day in the Chicagoland area. It’s the perfect kind of day to fight with your brothers! Or, at least that’s what my boys always seem to think. Fighting gives me a headache, so I’d rather they found something else to do on rainy days like today.

Decorating a pillowcase is a nice, quiet way to spend an hour or two. This is a great activity for sleepovers, playdates, and rainy days too. There are a lot of ways to decorate a pillowcase, but my goal was to find a way to do this in the cheapest and cleanest way possible. Fabric paint looked fun…but far too messy. Fabric pens looked clean…but too expensive! Then I happened upon Crayola Fabric Markers. Yes! They only cost $3.99 for a package of 10 markers at Michaels. With a 40% off coupon, I had enough money left over to buy some stencils too.

Yep, quiet and clean…that’s my kind of kids activity. I held a pillowcase decorating craft class at the elementary school during lunch today with 10 kids. It was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. I love watching kids create. They’ll finish up their pillowcases on Friday. The Crayola fabric markers do need to be heat set, so read the directions on the package before using the pillowcase. Also, the markers will bleed through the pillowcase fabric, so be sure to put some cardboard inside the pillowcase to protect the back side. If you’re not into decorating pillowcases, this activity could easily be done with t-shirts, tote bags, room banners, etc.

Happy creating!

 

Another Wire-Working Experiment

I experimented some more with wire yesterday. I came up with an idea for a “peas in a pod” design using birthstone colors. The picture shows the pendant with my children’s birthstones. It was fun making this. I still have lot’s of practicing to do, and sterling silver is too expensive…so I finally ordered a ton of copper wire today. Can’t wait to get it and try out some new ideas!