So much stuff going on!

Wow...it's been one of those weeks!

So much has been going on and I haven't really been able to update much of anything!

Firstly, seeing as I don't think I really emphasized it, I'm now an extremely proud member of the EtsyQ Street team! It's a Team dedicated to seller from around Quebec and it's actually getting me to practice my French...*LOL*

Currently, the team is hosting an AMAZING Giveaway for the Holidays. Seriously! It's 215$ worth of goodies! Click on the banner below to go and check out what's up on offer. I'm SURE you're going to LOVE everything! I know I do!


Go! Go! Go! it's so easy to participate...:d There are instructions in both English and French, so people should be able to join easily...:)

Secondly, I posted a new item...XD It's a gorgeous necklace and so far, I've had really positive feedback from people for it!


I would LOVE your feedback on my new style of photograph. I am personally loving it way more than the plain white background, but I'm not the one who'll be buying it...so if you could tell me what you think in comparison to the other photos in this blog, it would be HUGELY appreciated!

I find the new photographs totally play up the assets of each piece and the photos themselves actually look like they took effort and that i find the pieces to be worth that time and effort. The only thing I'm still missing is the display picture so people can see how it hangs, but I'm hoping to rectify that next week...:)

Thirdly, I won a cool contest! The wonderful Pam from Cleopatra's Closet had a little contest running for this ring and I won! YAY! I can't WAIT to wear it...isn't it beautiful? Go give her some love and maybe YOU can win something gorgeous like that too!

Next, I made a Flickr account...:D It's not really ready yet seeing as I'm still editing all the shots I took of my jewelry. Yes, I was crazy enough to retake shots of ALL my jewelry! I'll be putting those up to showcase on Flickr as well as everywhere else. I'm hoping they will intrigue people a LOT more than my old shots!

What else...oh yeah! I'm in the process of selling the Peacock Pearl necklace and earrings set! I'm SO EXCITED about that. It's my first sale to someone I don't know IRL...:) She's excited too!

Now, if only I could figure out why Spellcheck just doesn't want to work in this window when it has no problems anywhere else...*lol*

Have a fantastic day and don't forget to go visit all the places I linked to above!

Interesting things!

Hi guys and gals! I hope you're all having a fun creative day! I'm feeling creative for jewelry, but I am at work and so I have to bottle it up for later...:D I'm crazy enough to have brought my tools to work and so I shall play jewelry over lunch...;)

So...some things that have been going on...:D

1- I got a treasury! Taken a look here and go clicking away!
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=17790
Here's a screen cap for you guys...it's so nice and colorful. PERFECT for if your stuck with cold and gloom outside!


2- I became a member of the FABULOUS EtsyQ Street Team! I'm so flattered that I was accepted and I had my first chat with them. It was brief but fun and I was nervous for NOTHING...:D My French needs some serious improving though!

3- I have about 4 different pieces in progress and I'm not progressing! I need to get a move on!

4- I bought colored paper and brought some props to work. I intend on retaking ALL my pictures for my items! I know, I'm nuts! Thank GOD I don't have THAT many!

5- I need to clean my house...badly.

6- I need to buy cat food. My girls were giving me the evil eye this morning! It's not MY fault that Jessie ate what you two left behind!

7- I need to set a goal and make a goal poster. I think it'll help envision what needs envisioning and get me on the right track to start my business RIGHT...:) I also need to go and try to register my business name!

8- I need to finish my two commission!

9- I need to join Flickr, Google Groups and the Unique Women in Business yahoo group!

So that's just a few things that are running around in ma brain right now...O_o
Tell me what's going on with all of you?
Do you have projects that need doing?
Are you putting them off?
If so, why?
Is there anything you're excited about?

Laters!

Weekend...:)

I went to hang out with my wonderful mommy this weekend...:)
She's awesome...Hung out with my sister too...:D

They brought me to a new bead store in Mascouche. It's quite reasonably priced and I like the fact that it's a bead bar type deal. You don't HAVE to buy a whole string of beads...only what you need.

What I DID notice, which actually had me quite surprised and a little annoyed, is that acrylic beads are as expensive, if not MORE expensive than the semi-precious and precious stones I've been buying on Etsy!

I think that's horrible! I can get a whole string of amethysts on Etsy for 4.00$, But to buy a focal bead in plastic costs me 2.00$? My amethysts were about 0.13$ a bead...I bought TINY acrylic ones for earrings and they were 0.40$ a bead. That just makes no sense to me. Unfortunately, I'm not really finding suppliers on Etsy for just regular beads. There are plenty of suppliers for vintage and buttons, crystals, glass and stones and spacers though.

The whole reason I was interested in purchasing what I see as 'cheaper' beads in the first place was to offer a lower price point to my potential customers. When I calculate everything it almost comes to the same thing! The only supplies that actually ARE cheaper are what I string the beads on and other findings. At least THOSE aren't more expensive than real silver!

So, in the end, my 'cheaper' items, aren't really that much cheaper...:( Especially if I work on them for a long time seeing as labor is included in the final cost. I AM getting faster as I go, but still....

All in all, it was a rather disappointing thing to discover because I feel it limits what I CAN create at a lower price point. I feel I've started branding myself with rather signature style pieces and, though I understand that I will be including some simpler work, I don't want to be forced to only make simple little pendants for those who might not have as much loose change about. I don't feel it's fair to those customers to offer something that seemingly didn't take as much work...:(

The trials that plague me!

On a completely different note, the treasury I was in on Etsy made it to the front page!

You can see the screen cap here: Etsy Front Pagers

My Agate Astray was featured...XD The irony? I MISSED IT! *LOLOLOLOLOL*

Yay again!

The lovely Cat of OublietteOubliette was kind enough to include me in a fantastic treasury featuring some of the best Montreal artists on Etsy.

I'm totally flattered and totally grateful!

Here is the treasury...go and see all the pretties!

Made in Montreal

New listing...It's a goody!

I posted a new listing today in my Etsy store: Agate Astray

It's a beautiful, classic necklace with unusually shaped and sized agate stones. I paired the agate with some beautiful deep burgundy mookaite beds and contrasted the whole thing with silver instead of gold or copper...:D

Tell me what you think of it. I know I LOVE it...it's light, it's pretty and when I tried it on for size, it made me feel like a fantastic Jewelry Designer and an all around successful diva...;D

I also nabbed a bunch of Project Wonderful spaces and I'm going to try Facebook again.

It was kind of weird on Facebook...I learned that people don't go on Facebook much over weekends...*lol* I got ONE click on Sat & Sun...but THIRTY-FOUR on Monday alone...so I'll try and create a more eye-catching ad and try different days to see which works best for me.

Today was a really quiet day at work...I managed to finish some projects, but some were seemingly already done before I got to them...so I'm a little confused. Mind you, a state of confusion isn't exactly surprising when it comes to me...but still...*lol*

I'm going to be going out with a friend tonight and I might drop by the craft store to grab some beads...XD We'll see how we're both doing time-wize!

In the comming weeks, I'll be posting a blog or two or three with Coupon Codes in them. Stay tooned and you migth get the chance for a discount! YAY! Who doesn't love a good sale!

Wow!

Not only do I get to toot the horn of fellow artisans by making a treasury, but I get my own horn tooted IN a treasury too!

Handmadehelp included me in one of her treasuries...I'm really honored and grateful...:)

Go check out her shop out, as well as the treasury, and see if you can help those dealing with cancer by finding one of her posted items it's forever home...:)

Great Gratitude Treasury

Enjoy! I know I have!

Treasury #3!

Yay! I got a treasury!

I swear, getting these is like participating in a sport! You just never know if you're going to get in! I tried yesterday and the count went directly from 340 to over 500...I never even saw it drop below 333....and now today I'm in...WEEEEE!

These items are really beautiful...go check them out!
pink & grey serenity

Tag, you're it!

And so I am...the lovely heatherknitz was kind enough to send me a poke with this fun little meme...I'm so weird...I love these things!

Here are the rules:

• Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
• Share seven facts about yourself on your blog – some random, some weird.
• Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
• Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

And here we gooooo!

1. I'm 'blind' in my left eye...except it's not normal blindness...basically, when my right eye is open, the picture from my left eye gets discounted. It's actually really interesting to read about: Amblyopia. Aside from that, I am nearsighted in the right eye, farsighted in the left (antimetropia), have Strabismus, Duane Syndrome and that whole melange leads me to having very little depth perception to the point where I'm only legal to drive in certain parts of the country...which means I am not going to be driving ever...:D I also have Nocturnal Myopia, which means my perception and light intake is further shortened at night...so going outside at night in areas unknown to me can be dangerous. Anyway...all those links are really facinating reads and all this doens't bother me at all seeing as I was born this way. I DO find it kinda ironic that when God went around tossing about talent, He chose to give the chick with the screwed up eyes a visual one...*lol*
2. I am scared of olives...really. The worst part is I know it's COMPLETELY STUPID. My step-father told me that the green olives with pimentos in them were baby eyes...and he proceeded to graphically tell me how they were extracted from said babies. I was 5 years old when he told me this. Needless to say, every time I even see just a PICTURE of olives, I get that conversation playing in my head along with all the visuals. I can't seem to get over it either. I don't run away screaming, but it takes a lot for me to even look at them. ICKKKKK!
   
3. I own over 40 pairs of shoes...:D
   
4. I'm a very proud Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant and I won the Name The Bear Contest to name our 2008 Teddy Bear...:D Tobee is his name and it's a reminder that the bee isn't supposed to be able to fly because of it's body proportions compared to it's wings, but it doesn't know that, so it flies anyway. Just like the bee, we too can be what we want to be...:) Tobee's proceeds go towards the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation which donates to the Look Good, Feel Better Program as well as to womens' shelters across Canada to help women and children dealing with Domestic Violence. It's an honor to have been chosen and Tobee proudly sits on my desk so that I too can be reminded that it's up to me to fly...:D
   
5. I kill plants...I don't know why. I can't seem to keep the poor things alive in my house! I've got a Money Tree at work and it seems to be growing, but I doubt it would live long if it were actually here!
   
6. I'm dyslexic. Thank GOD for Firefox's spell check...or you guys would think you're reading another language!
   
7. I have three beautiful cats all living with me in my one bedroom apartment...all three are seniors, gals and are various calico/tortie colors. That's purely by fluke as I adopted August and Jessica together from a wonderful friend at work and Kaleeka has been with me her entire life...I'll have to post pictures so you can see my babies! It's nice that even my cats match...;)
   

Now, who to tagggggg?????

lillyella

rosecreekcottage

conscientiascameos

fioretta

bathbodycandle

bloominglily

beadifulthings

Enjoy!

Wow...I got a few things done!

Though none of it was jewelry...*lol*

I'm actually waiting for a whole lot of findings seeing as I've pretty much run out of everything! Next Thursday, I'll be going out to buy a lot of stuff for my Casual Collection as well...:) I'll be able to make more things to offer differing price points...:D

So I went around and revamped all my branding on the sites I'm on to include my hot pink... I find it stands out a lot more than just the aqua. I also started making Project Wonderful ads. I'm hoping those will help people find me so they can be wearing my products...such an exciting prospect!

I'm feeling much better now...I was a little discouraged because my Facebook ad has netted me THOUSANDS of impressions (how many people SEE the ad) but so far, only 1 person actually clicked on my ad!

I'm not a quitter though. I'm sure I'll find a formula that works on Facebook soon enough...:D

To help me feel better, I did the revamp and made myself a FABULOUS fried-egg sandwitch with strong cheddar and ketchup on stone ground whole wheat bread. MAN was it ever good! I also made myself a simple smoothie with strawberries, peaches and plums in orange juice. I'm actually going to try my best to have a smoothie a day. That way, I'll definitely have more fruits in my diet!

I'm DETERMINED to actually start my exercises on Monday...I swear, if I don't, I never will! I've basically been told that it's either I lose weight, or I become diabetic...ick! As much as I like myself just as I am, Diabetes is no joke and I already have enough to deal with with Hypergycemia! It was suggested that I get down to 125-130lbs and I think that's crazy....I don't look anywhere NEAR my weight now so I will look SKELETAL at that weight! I told the doc that I would go to 140lb max and he said that was better than what I'm at now so he was OK with it. So that leaves me with 35lbs to lose. I'm actually worried about losing my curves...I like them!

So you all have my permission to kick me in the ass if I don't get up at 6am tomorrow! *lol*

HA!...my oldest gal is sprawled on teh bed and snoring...XD I need ot get a camera so I can spam this blog with kittie photos!

The saga continues!

So I made my Facebook page and now I've set up an ad. I got 100$ in free Advertising on Facebook and so I intend to use it to the best of my abilities!

Let's see if it gives me results! It's certainly a learning experience...:)