Need to get with the program

It seems like I have forgotton about my poor blog. I'll try to get here and post more frequently. My daughter's bridal shower was last Saturday at her future mother-in-law's home. I finished one bracelet and one necklace for the girls to try on before making all of them. It seems that I will need one more strand of small lavendar pearls and possible more ivory pearls to complete everything. I'm still working on my daughter's jewelry. I'd like to make mine as well and I still have a little to do to finish the veil. Her first fitting is next Thursday so I guess I need to get with the program in that department as well. My sister doesn' know it yet, but I am going to ask her to do the place cards when I get all the response cards back.

Weight loss has slowed down quite a bit, but I am getting there. In four more pounds, I will no longer be overweight!!!

With everything that has been going on I have really let my shop on etsy slip. Of course, with the general state of the economy, I'm not sure how well I'd be doing anyway.

I'm Bummed

Weight loss has come to a standstill. I'm told this is normal, but that doesn't make me like it any better. I guess I need to get back to walking on the treadmill again.

My sales on etsy aren't doing well either. I did do 2 Open Houses and did almost $300 worth of sales, so I guess I shouldn't complain too much. I guess I'll just have to try some different designs to try to appeal to a larger audience.

It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is almost here so Christmas won't be far behind. I'm finding it hard to get into the spirit of things. The thought of Christmas shopping just overwhelms me right now. Hopefully I'll feel differently in a few days.

Only 2 more days at home...

...then it will be back to work (school). I still tire fairly easily, but I do have a few more days to rest. My principal told me that if it is too much, I can do half days for a few days.

The grocery store manager wants a very specific note. I called the surgeon's office and the nurse will send another note and we'll see what happens. The nurse was not happy about having to do another note. My next appointment is 11/20/08.

The time went so fast. Being in the hospital the extra week really cut into time I had planned to do other things. I did some work on my daughter's wedding jewelry and I did get some things listed/relisted on etsy and I'm working on reviving a couple BNR's that I am on. I also wanted to get some items made for some holiday open houses and I did get a few made. If they don't sell after the open houses are over, I will list them on etsy. I have today and tomorrow to get as much done as I can.

On a happy note, I'll be able to get back on the scooter tomorrow!!

An Even Happier Day!

My computer is acting weird and I have no idea how to fix it. I trued to add photos to my last post, showing photos of all the stuff related to my TPN, which is nutrition through a PICC line, which is sort of like an IV on steroids. Let me say it was a lot and I had forgotton to take photos of some of the items because I only used them for the first 10 days. Anyway, I had 4 appointments yesterday, and I was able to have the PICC line removed! At this point, I am on liquids only, but will be able to try things like mashed potatoes and applesauce by the end of the week. I'll be going back to work on Monday.

I'm relisteing some things on etsy and trying to get some pieces made that I won't list yet because I want to have an open house mid-November. If theu sell at the open house, I will have saved the etsy fee. If they don't sell at the open house, I'll have some items ready to list afterwards. i'm still working on jewelry for my daughter's wedding and her veil. When I saw the price of a veil in the bridal shop I almost fainted! Same thing with the tiara. The bridal shop one was more elaborate and the jeweled area larger. I told her I will add some crystals and pearls to the Wilton one so it doesn't have the "just-out-of-the-box" look.

I have an item I want to relist today, some Christmas earrings to find, and since I had a sale, a package to mail. I also need to finish the protein fortified jello.

Longaberger Baskets, etsy, and countdown to surgery

I had a sale on etsy today! Christmas is coming and I sold one of these cute mini stockings. Go here to see the details. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=14805493

My sister and I are trying to qualify one of us so that when we go to Dresden in November we will get discounts at the factory store there. There is a sale at the online factory tore until September 4. Go to www.longaberger.com/donnamarsh andyou'll save money and I'l get a little closer to my goal.

Surgery is scheduled for October 1! It can't come soon enough.

A new week!

Over the weekend the weather was so nasty. We had 60 mph winds that made it seem really cold and some areas had hail. It was cold this morning, but did warm up a bit as the day went on.

I've been a little lazy in doing my features so I need to get with the program. Today I am featuring art2theextreme. In her profile she writes, " I am an elementary art teacher from Indianapolis, Indiana. I graduated from college with a Visual Arts Education degree and a Ceramics concentration. Travel is a HUGE part of my inspiration to create art. I have been to England, Scotland, Mexico, and lived in Italy for a short period of time to study art.I love working with ceramics, printmaking, and fibers most of all! In my free time, I create art to share and sell, as well as scrapbook.Art is all around us. It is everywhere and in everything. " Wouldn't you like to color with the pictured crayon? You can check out all of her offerings at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5429966 She also has a blog http://art2theextreme.blogspot.com/

Another day

Yesterday was an inservice day and amazingly, both presenters were pretty interesting. As a bonus, we got to go out for lunch and we got to leave 30 minutes early! It takes so little to make my happy.

Today I am featuring aprettyrock. She writes, "My name is Yazmin. I am a jewelry designer. I've always been an artsy-crafty person, but it seems like I just moved into jewelry unintentionally. In 2004, I went to the Yellow Daisy Festival for the umpteenth time and found a pair of beautiful hair chopsticks with beaded ends. I wore them for about a month straight! They were a true obsession.I spent a lot of time thinking about the chopsticks and how to make my own. This led me to local stores like Michael's and Joann's, but it also led me to several boutique bead shops... Many gemstones and wire later and here I am!" I think this ring is really neat. Check it out as well as her other items http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5380 You can also read her blog http://www.aprettyrock.com/blog

A little time off.

I took a few days off blogging. Yesterday I spent over an hour on the phone with my favorite ISP (NOT!) because of poor service. Now on to more fun things, like featuring another etsy shop. Today it is BerryBeads. She specializes in beaded lanyards. In her etsy profile she writes, "Hi! My name is Rosi and I have always loved crafts. It is especially nice when the things I make are practical as well as pretty. I have many different interests and making jewelry is a new passion to bring out my creative side." To see more of her designs visit her shop http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=88241 You can also visit her blog http://www.blog.berrybeady.com/

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.

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.

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?