I have to say that I've tried selling items from my Facebook fan page and it doesn't work for me. But recently I noticed one of my lampwork friends posting about a private Facebook page for auctioning lampwork beads. I was skeptical, so I messaged her and asked a ton of questions.
When she told me her sales were better then anywhere else online and that she was closing down her selling Etsy and Artfire shops I knew I had to give it a try, and am I glad I did!
My auctions usually run for 24-48 hrs. And within the first 24 hrs I had already made a sale. And again the next day. I have to say I'm pretty happy. I haven't sold everything I've listed, but that's okay!
I love the idea of being able to interact with the buyers, and I'm available to answer questions if needed. What buyer wouldn't want that?
This group is called Artisan Lampwork Beads For Sale . This is a closed group, but you can easily join by clicking one button. They monitor it very strictly to make sure only artisan beads are listed. And that's really good. So if you make lampwork or like to buy it head on over there and sign up. You won't be sorry!
June 22, 2014
And It Only Took Me One Year!
I find it funny that I come back to my blog to write this and see that it's been basically one year since I last posted here. And that the thoughts I had posted were the exact same thing that I came back to post about today! So here goes....
I've made up my mind. And it only took a year! I will be discontinuing hand stamped metal. I won't be giving it up completely. I'll keep some supplies so I can stamp words of inspiration, but no more custom orders. But I'm very happy to announce that I'll be going back to lampwork beads!
It's been a really long time since I've been able to sit at the torch, years I think. I have a lot of catching up to do, and a million tutorials to read through for inspiration.
What changed my mind? I have a new day job which is going to be super busy with a lot of overtime from October through February. That in itself will make it impossible for me to keep up with custom orders during the busy holiday season. So I had to make the decision, and that made it a whole lot easier. And I have to say, a ton of weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
I've had a blast creating hand stamped jewelry, it's been very successful and a whole lot of fun. I feel this could have been something I could have quit my day job for. But as life moves forward and the need for health insurance becomes more and more important I need a stable job where health insurance is offered. I'm sure many of you can understand that.
I'm not entirely thrilled with this new job. I'll have to make collections calls at some point each month, which I will dread. But the people I work with are great and there are plenty of team members so I can now take vacations that are longer then 2-3 days. Which is something I sorely needed. After years of working with only a few days off at a time I was ready to go insane! So that was a trade off, for sure.
But I believe things happen for a reason so I'm thrilled to be back at a craft I love: lampwork. And we'll see where this new job takes me. I can always change later on. So stack of colored glass, HERE I COME!!
I've made up my mind. And it only took a year! I will be discontinuing hand stamped metal. I won't be giving it up completely. I'll keep some supplies so I can stamp words of inspiration, but no more custom orders. But I'm very happy to announce that I'll be going back to lampwork beads!
It's been a really long time since I've been able to sit at the torch, years I think. I have a lot of catching up to do, and a million tutorials to read through for inspiration.
What changed my mind? I have a new day job which is going to be super busy with a lot of overtime from October through February. That in itself will make it impossible for me to keep up with custom orders during the busy holiday season. So I had to make the decision, and that made it a whole lot easier. And I have to say, a ton of weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
I've had a blast creating hand stamped jewelry, it's been very successful and a whole lot of fun. I feel this could have been something I could have quit my day job for. But as life moves forward and the need for health insurance becomes more and more important I need a stable job where health insurance is offered. I'm sure many of you can understand that.
I'm not entirely thrilled with this new job. I'll have to make collections calls at some point each month, which I will dread. But the people I work with are great and there are plenty of team members so I can now take vacations that are longer then 2-3 days. Which is something I sorely needed. After years of working with only a few days off at a time I was ready to go insane! So that was a trade off, for sure.
But I believe things happen for a reason so I'm thrilled to be back at a craft I love: lampwork. And we'll see where this new job takes me. I can always change later on. So stack of colored glass, HERE I COME!!
June 21, 2013
Cross Roads, Which Way Will I Turn
As I sit here with two minutes to go before I need to get ready to work I suddenly feel the need to put this in writing. I've been so incredibly busy lately with work at my day job, family, friends and life. And I love it. But it leaves little free time for my wonderful handstamping work.
Just before Father's Day I took the week off from online selling and I have to admit I was relieved not to have to check my emails every hour and update listing and do this and that and the other thing. So I started to get this idea...what if....
What if I took the summer off?
But then this little question grew into....What if I just went back to lampworking and made beads when I wanted. No custom orders, no stamping, no pushing orders out the door. And I felt relief with that idea.
So, being a cheap skate I decided I would let my items expire over the summer and see how it goes, and see how I feel. I may yet just put my shops on vacation again, and give my brain some relief.
More to come....
Just before Father's Day I took the week off from online selling and I have to admit I was relieved not to have to check my emails every hour and update listing and do this and that and the other thing. So I started to get this idea...what if....
What if I took the summer off?
But then this little question grew into....What if I just went back to lampworking and made beads when I wanted. No custom orders, no stamping, no pushing orders out the door. And I felt relief with that idea.
So, being a cheap skate I decided I would let my items expire over the summer and see how it goes, and see how I feel. I may yet just put my shops on vacation again, and give my brain some relief.
More to come....
April 11, 2013
A Great Giveaway For My Wonderful Customers
I am thrilled to announce that I have a giveaway being hosted on Aquariann's blog Fantasy Art And Tree Chatter! So head on over there and sign up. There are a lot of ways to get your name in there for chances to win.
I'm offering a $30.00 gift certificate so you can create any custom hand stamped treasure you have in mind. It will be a great gift for you, or for a loved one as well.
I'm offering a $30.00 gift certificate so you can create any custom hand stamped treasure you have in mind. It will be a great gift for you, or for a loved one as well.
<a href="http://blog.aquariann.com/2013/04/jewelry-giveaway-mothers-day-gift.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee329/aquariann/blog/giveaways/125x125-dzignbyjamie.jpg" alt="Jewelry Giveaway" border="0"></a>
Click the picture above to head over to the giveaway!
And while you are over there check out her blog. It's loaded with great treasuries and other awesome giveaways. Enjoy!
February 02, 2013
Wellness Words Jewelry Challenge
I love reading blogs, and one of my favorites is Make Bracelets by Tracy. Tracy is very talented and I love to see what great creations she comes up with. For 2013 Tracy has challenged us with a Wellness Words Jewelry Challenge, how COOL is that!
We were asked to choose a word of meaning and create using that. I had a lot of words I wanted to use and it took more time to figure out which word I wanted to use.
As I was re-working one of my pieces I decided that it was perfect for the inspiration challenge. My word is FLY.
About a year ago I decided to expand my jewelry from lampwork to hand stamped metal. I've been so happy with the success and it's been so much fun!
So my inspiration word to everyone is FLY. Trying something new can be scary. But, if you don't take the leap you'll never know how high you can fly!
Check out the other great challenge entries here:
January 20, 2013
A Day Of Accomplishments
Wow, what a title! Makes me feel like I flew to the moon or something amazing!! lol But actually, yesterday was a great day of accomplishments for me.
Since I work a full time job and make jewelry and lampwork on the side, there's not much time for household necessities. I always manage to find time to paint or rearrange the furniture, but I rarely manage to get anything productive done around the house. Until yesterday.
About six years ago we tore the wall down in our galley style kitchen and widened it by two feet. It doesn't sound like much but it was an amazing transformation. And I was thrilled to finally have more storage. But, the weird thing was that it didn't seem like there really was more room for anything!
While browsing the webpages of Better Homes and Gardens the other day I came across some organization ideas for the pantry. And a huge light bulb went off over my head. Did you see the bright flash? I'm thinking you did!
So, Friday after work I made my way over to my local Target (LOVE Target) for some organizing supplies. I wanted some of those double tiered spinning lazy susans and some wire racks. I do have to say that I was really disappointed. They only had one size wire shelf, and no double tiered spinning anything. UGH! So, I settled with the one size they did have and went home.
I emptied out the whole pantry and the canned goods cabinet. While it was empty the marred white walls were screaming for a paint job. But I didn't have time for that. So I just wiped everything down and stacked my wire shelves and started putting the canned goods on them.
I threw out old food and packed up anything I wasn't using, and slowly filled the shelves, making sure I was making the best use of what little shelf space I had. And I was thrilled with the outcome!
I had been so excited to get started that it didn't even occur to me to get before pictures until I ran to get my camera after pantry was all nice and organized. Let's just say that it looked like everything was thrown in there by a monkey! That would be me :(
I managed to get most everything from the pantry back in there, along with all the canned goods from another cabinet, and boxes of bars from yet another cabinet! I put most of the snack bars in a basket for easy access and used my storage containers for other bulky packaged items (Tupperware-bottom shelf and OXO-top right).
I put the canned goods at eye level so they're easy to see, and the other boxed and bagged items are down below. And when the grand kids leave today they'll be taking their snacks home so there will be even more room down there!! Oh, the wire rack on the bottom shelf came from the cabinet were the canned goods used to be.
I'm so happy with how everything turned out. And now I have more room in three different cabinets!! How cool is that! And the cost of my pantry make-over: $9.98 plus tax!!
I'm no inspired to do some more organizing. I'm starting to enjoy it, and love getting inspiration online. I hope this has inspired you as well.
Happy organizing! You an do it!
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