Twilight DVD Release

March 21st. I can't wait! *sigh* My husband thinks I'm nuts.

I'M nuts! I'm nuts because I can appreciate a man who wants to do the right thing for the woman he loves? I'm nuts because it appeals to me that two people love each other so much it tears them apart? I'm nuts because Edward is so fargin handsome I don't care if he's 20 years younger? Well, I told him that Edward is the most romantic man I've ever seen, even if he is dead. Or should I say-undead!

Ah, young love. He thinks I'm nuts because he doesn't like having emotions and he doesn't like to admit that he used to be romantic, way back when he used to be my Edward. But I remember, lol. And that's all that matters.

So, what are your Twilight DVD release plans? I won't be standing in line at midnight waiting for the stores to put the DVDs on the shelf. But I'll be buying a copy, that's for sure!
Clicking on each picture will bring you to two different shops of mine. Both shops have both pendants!

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Pre-Spring Specials at Handmade Fuzion

Handmade Fuzion is by far one of my favorite selling venues (I have two). My favorite feature ever is the ability to mark down all my items quickly and easily for sales.

And one great "Sale Feature" are the voucher codes. I'm able to offer a discount on all my items to whomever I choose to give that voucher code to!

With the thought of spring being just around the corner I thought it would be so totally awesome of me to offer you a 15% discount on all purchases made at my Handmade Fuzion Shop! Just use voucher code "BLOGSPOT" upon check out in the "Voucher code" section and you will automatically get a discount! Give it a try, quick and easy, and you can save some $$ too! Discount good until March 31st, 2009!

See you there!

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IS THERE A HAPPY MEDIUM?

Recently, I took time off from my Etsy shop to spend some time with my family. Also, it was way too cold here (below zero, most of the time) to keep the garage warm enough for me to make beads. So, I decided I would just take the holiday season off.

Yay for me, bad for business. Since I couldn't really control the weather, I had decided to invest in other means of making money. However, it seems to me that the only ones making money are the ones I was buying supplies from. lol

I realize times are tough, and a lot, I mean A LOT of people like to do-it-yourself. But I feel like I'm lost in a desert all alone! : (

Am I whining? Yeah, a little. Mostly because I have spent the last couple of months researching online articles on how to market the internet. Do this, do that, blah blah blah. Well, quite honestly, all I've done is waste a bunch of time which I should have been spending more creatively! So I'm whining because it's my own damn fault. Yeah, I said DAMN!!

I've also spent money buying those "GUIDES" that are supposed to tell you how to be successful on this site, and that site. Well, you know what? All they really do is tell you what they think you should be doing, not what you really should be doing.

Quite honestly, what works for one, never works for another! I've offered free shipping. Seriously...FREE SHIPPING! No raised prices, no additional rates. Has it helped? NEVER!

I even opened another shop to sell my oopsies on. Really cheap prices, with some beads that were not perfect. Did they sell, yeah, they sit there for a long time, but they eventually sell.

So, now what? Now it's time to get off my butt and do something and stop whining. I need to come up with a game plan that is going to work for ME!

People, trust me when I say...you can pay all the money in the world for self help and how to information. But the only way to really find out what works for you is to try something yourself!

Now here's what I've learned NOT to do:
~Free shipping will drive the majority of people away. Not sure why, I love it!
~Being invisible to buyers doesn't work.
~PIFs (pay if forwards) only give your stuff away, they don't bring you big KARMA sales.
~Buying guides for internet selling is money better spent elsewhere. I recommend that if you really want one then just buy one. They're all basically the same.

Here are my suggestions for corrective action:
~Have reasonable shipping to cover your costs. Excessive shipping drives people away just like free shipping does.
~Stay active in the forums and list, list, list!
~PIFs are great once in a while, to bring visitors in. But don't expect huge KARMA sales. Karma loves a good guy, but it's not going to give everyone a business boom.
~Trial and error is really the only way to learn what works. And remember, a case study isn't done by short term methods! Log, log, log what you do. Keep track of everything! It will come to you!

My COSMIC observations to make big $$$
~~~You really want to make money? You know what you need to do. Sell supplies, selling/marketing guides or tutorials. Seriously! That's what's selling.

Me? I'll just keep making beads and jewelry and let Karma take me where it may :P

Good luck! ~Jamie : )

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I need a time machine

It's true. I definitely need one. Or one of those little stopwatch thingies that really makes time stop. I've told my husband over and over that I just don't have time to work a 9-5 day job. But he insists that he doesn't want to work two jobs. Now how selfish is that? I know, I know, but he starts fires in the garage for me, so I can make beads, and he's got a cute butt. I mean, he's really nice to me (except for the 'making me have a job' thing).

Anyways, I've been super busy, and I'm even more excited to announce the famously, gotta-go-there, fabulous market that I was privileged to be a part of. I am like a superhero or something. Really! I am the designated blogger. So I best get my blog on.

But first, I need to introduce to you-the one, the only, the amazing ====> Jewelry Artisans' Marketplace! Woohoo, yay, whoopee! We worked long and hard. And chatted a lot and played with graphics. Well, Lee did most of that. Then other people jumped in. And then we had a ton of different graphics, and we were all like, "Whoa, tone down the psycodelicness of the variety here". What we actually did was create a ton of graphics so we had choices. I think our category boxes turned out pretty darn nicely, if I do say so myself.

So please, come visit us on 1000 Markets. It's totally awesome. Seriously, I'm not just saying that. It's so true!

Oh, and don't forget to stop by my superbly awesome shop. Click here====> Glasstastic Treasures

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There's nothing better then...

...waking up on a cold Wisconsin morning snuggled next to the warmth of the one you love. Except knowing that you are going the get the whole house to yourself for the whole day. Woohoo!!

Usually my house is full of kids and grand kids on the weekends. Not that I'm complaining, but you understand. So yesterday I had the whole day to myself. My hubby went ice fishing with my son. Wow, what should I do, what should I do?

Well, I read the forums, looked around my office, and had a lot of coffee. Then, I did a little cleaning, took the Christmas tree down. I also did a lot of thinking. It's easier to do when it's quiet, lol. But best of all, I made some important decisions about my internet venues.

Since I really love 1000 Markets, and it can only house finished products, it will now be the home for my finished jewelry and accessories. So, I will be moving all my finished items from my other venues to here.

The new plan:

~Summer months will be filled with making and selling my lampwork beads to designers on Handmade Fuzion and Etsy.

~Winter months will be filled with making jewelry and accessories for 1000 Markets.

You may wonder why that's such a big deal to me. Well, normally my focus is to create focal lampwork beads for jewelry designers. Since the winters are so cold here I can't create my beads, and after awhile I frequently find myself unable to create. I start to get lazy and depressed with my business, and pretty soon I don't want to do anything!

But since I've found 1000 Markets, which I adore, I am going to try my hand at creating more finished items, which I have plenty of time for during the cold winter months. See it coming together? I know, it's pretty simple! But when you get used to doing one thing, and the other slips into the background.

Sometimes, just coming up with a plan and making an important decision can make everything come together. And it feels good.

A new year, a new plan. sigh :)

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Happy New Year!!

Wow, another year. Can you believe it? 2009. I hope everyone had a wonderful and successful 2008. And I hope that success carries over into 2009.

The new year will definitely be filled with anticipation as well as concerns. Will the economy get better or worse? Will this effect online shopping more then it has? I know I have been buying less. And financial concerns are always at the forefront of our daily decisions.

Now is the perfect time to take a good hard look at what you are doing and how you are doing it. And a great time to decide how you can make yourself stand out in the crowd.

It's easy to look at what others are doing, and how well they are doing it. And it's easy to try to do that. But I think the best course is to do what no one else is doing. And that will be a good choice. So get busy, and get noticed!!

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