I'm in another treasury!

I'm a member of etsybead but haven't done much due to life getting in the way. When I saw the current theme I was excited because I already had items listed that fit the theme and since it is a 2 week theme it seemed worth the effort to figure out what I needed to do. One of the members snagged a treasury and selected one of my items to go in it. No sales as of yet, but at least more views, so a few more people know I'm out there.

I'm also a member of BBEST and had a convo with someone who lives less than 2 miles away. Maybe we can meet at Starbucks or someplace like that.

Only 2 more school days until Christmas vacation. There are so many special activities going on that the days just fly. Today the chorus from another school came and performed for us. Tomorrow is the holiday dance and Friday is our sing-a-long. Families are invited and we sing holiday songs led by our music teacher. It is a fun time.

Hard to Believe

I did not realize how long I been neglecting my blog. It seems like an eternity since I last posted. so much has happened. Thanksgiving has come and gone; the first one without Mom so that was hard. For the past 10 years the gathering was at her house. This year we went to my cousin's in Philadelphia. My one aunt, who usually came, was visiting family members in Boston so that was different. One of my cousins noted that this was the first time we were together without any of our parents present, so that was a bit emotional.

My sister and I had our annual "sister time" shopping for Black Friday bargains. It is not like that is the only time we do things together since we see each other 3 or 4 times a month and talk 2 or 3 times a week. We each got some great bargains.

I had been toying with the idea of an open house for my jewelry since etsy is not going well for me, and my sister scheduled one at her house. It went very well and when I have all orders filled I will have sold about 50 pieces. I had a smaller open house here and sold about 12 pieces so I am very happy. I am relisting etsy items that had expired, but I hadn't renewed in case they sold at one of the open houses. I'm also listing pieces that were made for the open house but had not sold.

My husband got his cast off this week and he does not have to go to physical therapy. His doctor said to ride the exercise bike to see if that would rehabilitate the foot.

My knee has been giving me problems again. I got a cortisone shot in it and was prescribed a knee brace. I'm waiting to see if I will be approved for Synvisc.

One of my uncles had brain surgery in October and passed away in November. One of my aunts (not the one whose husband just died) had gall bladder surgery this week.

I am still trying to get ready for Christmas. Our small tree is up and my cards are done. Still need to finish shopping and wrap gifts. I don't think I will be baking cookies this year. I just won't have time.

Busy Days!

It seems hard to believe that October is almost over. It seems like so much has happened in a very short time. I've been a bit negligent in posting, but things in my life are moving right along. DH and I celebrated our birthdays in the past 2 weeks as did my sister. I went on my first, second, and third scooter ride, however, on the third ride, we laid the bike down. I have a few bruises to show for it. DH, on the other hand, has a broken foot. The boot that he wore on his other foot most of the summer is now on the other foot. The first few days he was in considerable pain, but that has eased quite a bit and he gets around quite well with the boot and/or crutches. Tonight at Wal-Mart he rode one of the motorized carts which surprised me, but I'm glad he did. He goes back to the doctor on Wednesday. I'm not sure what they will be looking for, since it took a CT scan to see the extent of the break.

Last week was not the best at school. It was full moon and it seemed to be adversely affecting many of the students. I was really glad when Friday was over. Hopefully everyone will have had a restful weekend and be refreshed and ready for a new week.

I'm thinking seriously about having an open house for my jewelry to pick up some business that way. I guess I need to get busy creating so I have ample inventory to make a nice show. My sister spent last weekend with members of a message board that she is on. I had made a bracelet for her to use as a contest prize and she got orders for 12 more so I really do need to get busy. I not sure what I want to do about etsy. Do I want to relist items as they expire or just wait until after the open house so I have a lot of items to list, which will keep the shop coming up in the time machine?

Pictures are my biggest problem. Taking clear ones, selecting a background to show of the pieces to their best advantage, good lighting, editing, and organizing them--all of these cause me great difficulty. I have pieces I could list, but I'm not up to dealing with the photography aspects of it, so they are not listed. There is so much more to selling jewelry than making it and saying look what I made.

Back to work

Unfortunately all things must come to an end, and I went back to work today. I must say that I am tired and it wasn't really a very hard day. My knee is still a bit bruised and sore, but it is not too bad. I guess I'll see how tomorrow goes.

I found a thread on the etsy forum about exchanging blog links so I added a number of links to help people browse through etsy shops. Hopefully others will add a link to here and that will bring some traffic to my shop. BTW, I just added a few new pieces and expect to adding a few more in the very near future since I have a few pieces near completion. I also just got Photoshop; I now need to install it. I hope that will improve my pictures.

The big news is that on Saturday my DH passed the test for his motorcycle license. Now I need to get a helmet so I can ride with him. I'm excited about taking my first ride. His birthday was Saturday so he got a really good present.

It got cooler over the past few days so fall is here. I would like fall so much better if it didn't lead to winter. Of course, winter wouldn't be so be if I didn't have to go out in the bad weather

I've been busy!

I am quite excited! Since I have been off I spent some money at the bead store and I have 3 new necklaces completed and 1 that is a work in progress. All I need to do is take pics so they can be listed. The problem is pricing. These necklaces will be more expensive than anything else I have listed. One is a "floater" necklace. I wore mine the other day and received several compliments so I handed out my business card and figured it was time to get one listed. One of the other pieces is made featuring top drilled Sworovski crystals. I think the piece is absolutely stunning and I am quite pleased with it. I just hope that someone else thinks so and buys it. The third necklace is gorgeous. It is made with top drilled pearls, semi-precious teardrop shapes, and Sworovski crystals. I plan to donate this as a raffle prize for the playground fund at the school where I teach. When I calculated what it cost to make, I was a bit surprised. I am going to check around, but if I list a piece similar to this one, it was be by far, the most expensive item I've listed on Etsy.

It has been awhile

It seems like life is flying away from me. I need a 3 day weekend every week just to keep up, never mind get ahead. My surgery was on 9/28 and it went well. It seems like I spent all my time since the last post preparing for it. Pre-op testing had to be scheduled and done and I had to have my classroom in order for my sub. I'm going in Monday for inservice, since that will be computer work, but then will be off until the following Monday for sure, although the doctor said it I didn't think I could handle it he would give me more time.

My stitches came out yesterday and I got to see pictures taken during surgery. Thankfully, they were not bloody, but more like x-rays. (I have a weak stomach about such things!) It was explained to me that the inside of my knee was better than expected, however the outside was worse and needed more cleaning out. There was a piece of loose cartilige along with the tears. Arthritis was also found (no surprise there) but if One was to have arthritis in one's knee that would be a "good" place to have it. Have to look for the silver lining in the clouds!

I am getting back into making jewelry to list on etsy. I plan to try to get lots more done next week before I have to go back to work. I went to the bead store today armed with 4 coupons. Yipee!!! I have so many projects in mind. I would like to have a backlog of items to list on a regular basis, so even if I don't have to make things, I can list on a regular basis to keep the shop appearing in the time machine.

Of course, the bonus is 3 weekends off from the deli, but then it is 3 weeks with no pay from the deli. I guess everything has a trade-off.

Other big news is that my husband got a scooter, which is like a motorcycle but has an automatic transmission. There are other differences, but I couldn't tell you what they are. He had been looking and took me along and I talked him into a bigger one. I wanted a more comfortable seat and I liked the color better. Besides, I was thinking that with 2 of us on it, we would need a bit more power. The difference in price wasn't a big as I thought it would be. The first time he rode it, he was a bit intimidated by all the power, but he soon got over that and is glad I talked him into the larger bike. Everybody who sees it says they think it is neat and one neighbor pronounced it cute.

Right now, he is in the middle of motorcycle classes. If he passes the class, he will have his motorcycle license (he has a learner's permit now). Then he will be able to ride after dark and have a passenger. He's already said that before we head out on the road we will have to do parking lot practice, but first I need to get a helmet!

An eventful 2 weeks

It seems like I haven't made a post in ages. Much has happened. I found out that I will need to have surgery on my knee to repair torn cartilige. In a way I'm looking forward to it in the hope tht the pain will end. As a bonus, I'll have some time to work on making jewelry. I hope to get an inventory built up so I can list regularly on etsy, even if I don't have time to make many pieces. Soon I will have 2 IEPs to write and they can be time consuming and there will be a firm deadline. During that time, jewery making will definitely be on the back burner. Another bonus is that I will get time (unpaid) off from the deli.

School is going quite well most days. One of the students got a personal care assistant and having an extra adult makes things less stressful.

My husband and I went to my 35th high school reunion. It is the first one that I have gone to. I was able to recognize most of the girls, but the guys were another matter. I said it was because the girls still had their hair. Looking at those I graduated with, I've aged fairly well. That made me feel pretty good.

My sister and I went to the attorney who is preparing our inheritance tax forms. The amount of paper involved is unbelieveable. The forms have to be mailed in duplicate and each set is at least 1/4" thick. We owe some, but we paid most of it in March to get a discount and we saved over $500. Now all that has to be done is to complete the income tax return for the estate and pay all the taxes that are due from the estate, which is in addition to inheritance tax.

The biggest news is that I finally had my first sale on etsy! The feeling is wonderful and I am on cloud 9. Maybe since I've had a sale I'll gain some momentum. At least, now I feel the desire to be creative and make jewelry reawakening within me.

The first week of school is over, and it was a good week!

The first week of school this year was so much better than the first week last year. The deli was a problem this week, but I went to the store manager before I began work (the best defense is a good offense) and things went OK.

My crafting, and therefore Etsy, has stagnated since I went on vacation. I'm now trying to create a backlog of inventory so that I can list something regularly, even if I don't have time to create new items. Since I'm off tomorrow I plan on taking pictures of what I have finished. I'm also going to write the descriptions and save them in Word, so listing will be a pretty quick process. On the bright side, I've sold another piece locally. At least I now have the desire to make jewelry, which is more than I had going 2 weeks ago.

Busy week

This was the last week before school begins. I put in some extra hours at the deli because I am a kind person. I also went in to school and worked one day. On Friday my sister and I went to Gettysburg Village, a factory outlet center and then on to Boyd's Bear Country for the Longaberger Basket Fest. The weather was oppressively hot and humid, but we had a great time. We each wove a peg basket with teddy bear tacks along the top. We each ordered personalized wooden lids that say Basket Fest 2007 and have pictures of bears on them. They had oodles of baskets there so we had to buy some.

Today my sister came and we worked on laying a peel-and-stick floor in the office. The floor that was there was probably the one onstalled in 1956 when the house was built. The lighter color floor make such a huge difference in the room. It really brightens the room. It also makes the paint look somewhat pathetic, so I guess we'll be painting. Make that he'll be painting.

I would so love to retire from the deli...

...but all but one of my sales have come from there. It also helps finance my addiction to Sworovski crystals. The time I spend there is time that I don't have to work on promoting my etsy site and nothing is happening on my site so I do need to work on promotion. It seems like there is never enough help so I end up staying past my time to leave so I can get finished. I'm trying to begin networking with other bloggers in the hope of getting more visitors to my shop. I have a few ideas for pieces that I just need to find some time to make the items and that's is where the time at the deli comes in. During the school year I work there about 10 hours a week, which doesn't sound like much, but it really seems to cut into my weekends. You may ask why I just don't resign there are several reasons besides the ones listed previously. I guess the biggest one is that half of my pay (off the top) goes into a 401k. Another big one is I've been there almost 9 years and I do have paid holidays, 2 weeks paid vacation, and a Christmas bonus. Also if I resign and decide I need a part-time job in the future, I'd have to start all over. Sorry to ramble so, but the deli situation is problematic for me.

Can you tell I was excited about posting a link that works?

Success!

I posted a link and it actually works! Can you tell that I am really excited. However, it is way past my bed time and I do have to work tomorrow so I'd best get some shut eye if I want ot have any energy left to work on some jewelry tomorrow night after work and whatever errands I have to do. I did sort through some of my new goodies that I bought on vacation so that I can see what I really have.

I'm practicing a new skill, I hope.

I'm trying to make a link. I would like to place links to other blogs on my blog, but I don't even know how to make a link (except where I copy and the paste). So I'm going to try a few.

Purrfectlydevine's Jewelry Designs

Sales, but not on Etsy

As much as I would like to quit my part-time job it seems that is the source of most of my sales. I just can't seem to get things moving on etsy. Of course nothing new was listed when I was on vacation, but I've only listed one item since I've returned. I need to get myself motivated (and to the bead store for a few things I need to complete a piece in progress). I did make a pair of earrings tonight (for someone at work), but I need to become more productive, and fast, especially since school starts next week and my free time will be limited.

Inservice

The school year has officially begun. I went to inservice the past 2 days. They are necessary, but very exhausting days. The good part is that I got to see some colleagues that I rarelhy see during the school year because we work in different buildings. The downside, is that I am too tired to do any beading. Tomorrow will be a shorter day, so maybe I won't be so tired.

Back to reality

Reality will come crashing back tomorrow morning. After a week of sleeping in and living leisurely, having to get up extra early for work tomorrow will be such a shock to my system. Vacation was wonderful. We stayed with relatives north of Atlanta, GA. On Sunday we went to the Georgia Aquarium and the New World of Coke. Since we wanted to be back at my aunt's house for dinner that was enough for one day. We used the mass transit system so we wouldn't have to deal with a car downtown. Because it was so hot and DH had to wear an aircast walking far was not an option. We went back downtown on Monday and toured CNN and saw Underground Atlanta. We had hoped to get tho the Hard Rock Cafe, but in the heat 5 blocks was too far for my DH to walk. There's always next year. On Tuesday we went to the Kangaroo Conservation Center near Dawsonville, GA. That was worth what we paid to go see it. Both DH and I thought it was the best tour that we did. If you want to go, be sure to check their website, http://www.kangaroocenter.com/ for ticket availability. They do only 2 tours a day Tuesday through Saturday and it is amazing how booked full they are months in advance. On Wednesday we met a friend from one of my message boards for lunch and had a marvelous time. Wednesday evening we went to Georgia's Stone Mountain for the laser light show.

I discovered a bead store near my aunt's house that seemed to specialize in Sworovski crystals. I spent lots of money and could have easily spent more becuase they had shapes and sizes that I'd only seen in catalogues.

I really don't want to go back to work tomorrow; I want to stay home and organize all my crystals.

Vacation!

DH and I will be leaving tomorrow for a trip to Atlanta to visit relatives and see the things I haven't yet seen. I have been working on pieces that I want to take with me. I've made an aqua necklace, bracelet and earring set, a "switch out" necklace (use one chain and can change a 4 or 5 inch section that would be in the front. I have another set I am working on. So far I have the memory wire bracelet done and dangles for the earrings done. The necklace is a "work in progress" because I'm not sure what style I want it to be.

My husband found the dock for the camera, still in the unopened box, that disappeared when we moved. I put the camera on to charge last night. At least I'll stop going through batteries like crazy. I end up taking so many pictures of my pieces to post on Etsy that the batteries weren't lasting very long at all. Now, if I could just take better pictures.

Continuing to move forward

Today I joined Etsy Bloggers. As I understand it we will promote Etsy and each other in our blogs. Etsy is the website where my online store is. Lissa73 held my hand to help me join Etsy and get my shop set up. Several people from The Dingleberry Patch have shops on Etsy in addition to Lissa and me. PinkPurl has one and so does Larissa07. I don't know what their motivation to open a shop was, but mine was that I enjoy beading and have made more jewelry than one person can wear of give as presents. The shop is to support my beading addiction. I also made my first purchase on Etsy today. I got some crystals at a good price from someone on the "shops needing a sale" thread. I have noticed a few more views, but no sales yet. It is hard to be creative when nothing is selling.

I have some catching up tp do!

Last Sunday my sister came to lay a new floor in the office. The house was custom built in 1956 to include an office for the homeowner's insurance business and the tile on th4e floor was probably from 1956. We got about half of the floor done. My sister ended up with a swollen knee and I just ached all over. my husband helped some, but he has a stress fracture in his right foot and must wear this "boot" which is cumbersome. This week summer school ended with all the paper work that goes with the end of a school session. My hours have increased at the deli. Three new people were hired, but one has ben fired for stealing. I'm working a few extra hours this week before we leave for vacation on Friday. I'm looking forward to seeing my aunt and uncle.
Today was a fun day as we went to the company picnic for my husband's part-time job. There was good food, mini golf, Bingo, and door prizes. We won a $75 gift certificate to a local grocery store. The bad weather held off until it was almost over. Then we had terrible rain and it has been thundering ever since we got home.
This week I made a necklace, bracelet, and earrings set for me, as well as worked on some other pieces. I have a few unfinished pieces because I don't have the clasps I want to use. someone on Etsy has offered to make me a banner. I took pictures, but forgot to put the memory card in the camera. The pictures are in the camera's internal memory, but I don't know how to upload them to my computer. I guess I'll be retaking them. Back to beading for me.

a step forward

I've joined etsybead. It seems like a great group of beaders. Now I need to figure out how to navigate through all that it has to offer. I managed to get an item listed tonight and have a special on it. I get some views,but few hearts and no sales. I guess that I must learn to be more patient. I did get 2 orders for lanyards where I work part-time. At least it helps offset the cost of what I buy for myself since beads and findings seem to to jump into my hand. I guess I need to go make some lanyards.

I've opened an online shop

I've been having such a good time beading that I've made more than one person can possible wear. People have commented about my work and I've sold a few pieces locally. A friend helped me set up a shop and it is a work in progress. I've even ordered business cards and magnets. The items have been viewed many times, but so far no sales. I guess I just need to be patient.

The deli

I am trying to be nice and work there a little extra over the summer. They finally hired 3 new people, but one of them was fired last night for stealing. That person lasted less than a week. I hope the others are better. There were 3 new hires in the past 3 months and all of them are gone. Those of us who have been there for a while are getting weary. It seems like that you have to do the work of 2 people because there is never enough help. Things need to change.

First entry!

This is a new experience for me so I really don't know what to say. The past 6 months have been difficult more often than not. My mother fell and broke her arm and a month later passed away. It is unbelievable how much needs to be done to settle an estate. My sister and I have learned a lot as we have made our way through all the tasks that must be completed. We're not finished yet, but at least I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.