Craft Fair

I know most of you know this already, but I'm blogging it anyway. ;)  I am an official vendor at the Northwest HS Craft Fair!  It's all happening Nov. 7 from 9am to 4pm.  Northwest is located at 8204 Crown Point Ave right here in Omaha. 

I can't tell you how excited I am for this.  Scared out of my mind too, of course.  But mostly excited.  I've done the small shows at my church that they do every year, but that's basically just people I know.  And I've sold to friends, even had an open house, but again it was people that I know.  So to me, this craft fair will really tell me how I'm doing.  I am constantly wondering if my dear friends are buying to make me feel better.  Don't get me wrong... I don't think my friends would buy things they didn't like, but part of me wonders if they had found those pieces as a store, would they have put them back on the rack?  At this craft fair, 99% of the people that I encounter will be total strangers.  So if they're buying my things, I think I will really start to feel more confident.  Well, confident might be going a little far, but you know what I mean. =)

I have become increasingly aware that I really don't have much inventory.  But there's not much I can do about that right now, so I'm trying to not let that bother me.  Hopefully the next time I do this I will have more to present.  And really, what's the wort that can happen?  I sell everything I own?  Oh darn.  That would just be TERRIBLE.  hahaha

I did mention to Dave that if this doesn't go well then I'm calling it quits.  I really hope it doesn't come to that.  And I would MAYBE try Etsy out first.  But we shall see.  Hopefully I won't have to worry about that.  I think I'll do okay.  There are some things that I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't sell, and some that I'm very confident that they will sell.  It will be what it will be.  I'm TRYING to not stress about it.  (if you know me at all, you know just how funny that little statement is)

So here's to me.  =D

Question

Well, my friends, I have a question for you.  What is the most that you would pay for one of my scarves?  I'm struggling with pricing them, so I would love love love some input.  Thanks!

Baby Bracelets

My darling friend Linda asked me months ago to make a bracelet for her baby girl Lola (not yet born).  It was a little stressful, since I had no idea what size to make the thing, but it turned out really well.  But little Lola has outgrown her bracelet.  So that she can keep the origional as a keepsake, I made a new one and it is SOOO cute.  I'll take a picture of it later, hopefully.  And this lovely friend asked me to make a few others, too.  It's so exciting!  I just love these little bracelets.  I hope they fit (I'm VERY nervous about that part).  And I appreciate Linda so much for drumming up business for me.  It means a lot for a friend to do that.  Happy day people.  =)

Peace.

Scarves!

I finished my first scarf of the year! I really like it. =) I'm hoping to have a really good selection of scarves this fall. Sweet! It felt good to be being productive on my night off from 'work' Dave wanted to watch a movie, so I crocheted while I watched. Awesome multitasking, right? Right.

Peace.

Confidence

It seems I've lost it again. Sometimes I look at what I've made and feel pretty good about it. Other times I look at it and wonder who on earth would ever buy this junk. I drive myself crazy. I'm pretty happy with most of what I've made lately, but I look at the older stuff and just think it's ugly. That's a pretty bad attitude to have when I'm planning on trying to sell all of this stuff this fall. Yikes. And then I hit the problem of not knowing if people are being nice when they say they like something. Basically everyone that has ever looked at what I have has been someone I know. Not that I think my friends/family are liars or whatever. Of course I don't think that. But how do I know if they're giving a totally honest opinion, or just being nice to make me feel better. *sigh* I'm feeling lame-o dudes.

Peace.

Craft Fair and a New Toy

That's right, I've decided to participate in a holiday craft fair this year. I am completely nervous about it, but hopefully it'll be a good thing. I have no idea how much I would need to have in product, which is a problem. I'll basically be winging it. Usually I don't mind winging it, but with something like this it scares the *bleep* out of me! I've been making a fair amount of new items lately, which feels good, but is it enough? *shrug* I guess all I can hope is that I don't make a total fool of myself. (and if you know me at all, you know what a feat that will be!) And of course now I'm back to second-guessing everything I make/have made. Maybe it all looks really ugly and I'm just fooling myself. Very possible. Sheesh.

On a happier note, I bought myself a new toy yesterday. It's a seed bead spinner. Man is it cool, dudes. I can't even tell you how much time it will save me. Not that I work a LOT with seed beads, but now it will be a lot less time-consuming when I decide to. Very exciting. =)

I wasn't chosen for that book, but I didn't really expect to be. It's all good. I've been buying tons of stuff lately, basically soaking up every cent I make, but it's so FUN! I like to think I've been buying smart, at least. I really need to clean up my work area, though, dudes. It's a mess! I realy don't quite have enough space for everything. But that's something I can't really change, so no point in whining about it, right? Right.

I need some advice, dudes. I've sold some jewelry to Family Fun Cutz, which is super great for me. But... nothing is really selling. I'm really disappointed in that. And the problem is that I agreed that if something doesn't sell, then I would take it back and give them something else. But NOTHING is selling. (Except for like 3 rings.) I can't afford to buy everything back, and I kind of fee like if what I gave her won't sell, then nothing else will either. So I don't know what to do. *sigh* If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears.

I'll hopefully post some new pictures next week. I really have been making quite a bit lately.

Peace.

Book

So... two days ago I was checking my email and randomly read one and only one of the emails there. It mentioned an opportunity to submit a necklace design for a book that will be published next year. The deadline was yesterday. I figured that if the kids gave me the opportunity to get something submitted, then I would do it, and if it didn't work out then... that's cool. I managed to get it done! It's a little exciting, even though my chances of being selected are VERY slim. Worth trying, in my opinion. So that's my story. =)

Peace.

Holy Cow!

I suppose it's time to spread the word... my jewelry will now be featured at Family Fun Cutz! Holy Cow!!! I've never made much kid jewelry, but she just took a look at what I had and picked a few things for me to make smaller versions of. Very exciting. But it's a little scary. And extremely stressful. But that's mostly because we leave on a 2 week vacation in like 12 days. Sooooo I want to make sure I get this order filled before we leave. I don't want them waiting for a month or more. That's just silly. So I'm trying to work work work in the evenings. It feels pretty slow going most of the time, but I think I can pull it off.

And, in the middle of all this, I have had other orders coming in. When it rains...... but I'm trying to remember that it's a really good thing. So I shouldn't be stressed, right? Right. Riiiiight. It's a good kind of stress. =D

Peace yo.

New!

Finally some new jewelry! Isn't it exciting? Well, I think so at least. And what's even better is I went bead shopping today!!! WOOHOOOOOOO! Thanks to my inlaws being in town I got to take a solid 2 hours to go shopping for beads and supplies. I'm so excited to start beading some more. And on Monday I get to meet with a salon owner and see about maybe selling there. That's totally exciting. I'm curious to see how it would work. And it would mean I would have to become an official business..... which scares the *bleep* out of me! So hopefully I will have some serious thinking to do in the next few days on where I want to go with all this jewelry. But it feels good to be making some progress. =D So that's the word on the street, yo. Thanks for checking me out dudes.

Peace.

Getting Going

I'm finally getting going again! WooHoo!!! It feels so good to be making more unique jewelry. The baby blanket that I've been working on for the last 2 months or so (UGH!) has been taking up too much of my time. Never again will I make one, unless someone is paying me to do it! lol But I'm happy to give a homemade gift. So back to jewelry. It's so hard to motivate myself sometimes when I don't have a deadline, but I'm working on changing that. And trying to be more organized with everything. So much to work on! I should be posting some new pictures very soon. I'm really excited by the new things I've been making.

The one bummer lately is that someone asked me to make something, and then backed out of it and decided to make it herself. I'm not mad, by any means, that she chose to do it herself. Anyone can make jewelry. But I went to the trouble of making something, by request, and on very short notice. Oh well... I can always sell it or whatever...

*sigh*
Peace.

So far behind...

I don't know where the time has gone! Obviously, I haven't posted in a while. I've been making some new jewelry, which is always exciting. So I really need to get some pictures taken. Hopefully I'll get caught up soon!

Peace.

Fusion

I am SOOOO stinkin' excited! I get to go to a glass fusion class this week. I have been wanting to try this for like a year, at least. And it gets even better since some of my girlfriends will be there too. ROCK!

I have gone to a couple of other classes lately to learn some new techniques, and I've really been getting back in the groove of making jewelry again. It feels so good to be productive! I'm still really struggling with feeling like what other people make is so much better than what I make, but OH WELL. Maybe some day I'll get over that, but I kind of doubt it. *shrug* At least I'm getting things made, right? Right.

Peace.

Beading with Kids

Yeah, so it doesn't always work so well to have kids in the vicinity of where I work. Which is why they are rarely allowed to be near my stuff. They just can't leave it alone! They (actually I'm pretty sure it was only one of them, and I know which one... :/ ) not only undid one of my projects that wasn't finished yet, but totally knotted up the cord I was using. So tonight, instead of finishing my project, I spent an hour untying the whole mess. Argh!

*I love my kids*I love my kids*I love my kids*

Right? Right. *sigh*

Limbo

I feel like I am in a kind of limbo at the moment. The party is over. My one order is finished. I am so tired that I have absolutely NO motivation to do anything. Blah. Hopefully the class I'm going to next week will get me moving again. I tell ya what... this is ridiculous!

Peace.

Whew!

Well, my first party is over and done with. I had a great time! I don't know how I did as a sales person, but overall it went really well. I'm just so glad I had the opportunity to do it. I really hope I'll get to do it again REALLY soon!

And now I'm taking part in a blog giveaway! I'm really excited for that, too. (thanks, Megan!) Check out her blog http://newlywednewlybredinne.blogspot.com

I can now accept paypal, too, so just send me an email if you see something you like. =D b.accessorized@gmail.com

Peace.

More new items!

It's time to PARTY!

I am so so so excited that someone has booked a jewelry party! (thanks, Laura!) I'm really nervous to see if people will actually buy anything, or if they'll just be nice and say they like it, but not buy anything. This will be the first time people I don't know will be taking a look. So it's very intimidating. But it's a start! And my fantastic husband was going to surprise me with my own checking account, but I had to be the one to set it up... it was really great. So now it'll be so much easier to track what I'm spending and if I'm even earning enough for this to be worth it. So many crazy exciting things! I'd really like for my jewelry to be sold in a boutique at some point. I think that would be awesome. Or a salon... Somewhere. I don't know if I'll even be good at the 'selling' part, so I kind of think it would be great for someone else to do the selling. That might be getting ahead of things, though...

Peace.

New Stuff!

Finally some new stuff!

Finally!

I have finally finished all orders and have started making what my little brain tells me to again. It felt so good to start something new and fresh. *insert happy dance here* I have some really great ideas, and I just can't wait to turn them into something tangible. Now if I could just get some pictures posted, that would be fantastic. =D

Almost Finished!

I'm so excited that I am just about finished with my orders! Number one because people need to get what they ordered, right? And hopefully in a timely fashion. lol Number two because I have been dying to try some new ideas. I have a bunch of designs and plans tumbling around in this here brain o' mine, but I haven't been able to make them happen yet. Number three because I really need to get going on my pictures. Some of my working nights will become picture nights since I won't have any deadlines. WOOT! Well, at least until the bride I will be making things for decides what she wants. I'm pretty excited to do the jewelry for another wedding. It's a great way to spread the love around. ;)

I can't tell you how hard it can be to not work on new things when the ideas are right there, waiting to be let out. And my fantastic husband bought me the best gift ever for Christmas (beads!!!) and I haven't been able to really do anything with them yet because of the orders. But now I'm about ready to get to start in on those things. *insert happy dance here*

Now, don't think I don't like filling orders. I do. And these last two projects have been great because they are crochet hats, and I just haven't done enough crochet lately. I kind of missed it a little. Though let me tell you, it's hard to spend hours on a crochet project when you know you can make a piece of jewelry in less than an hour (well, depending on the project, but you know what I mean.)

So that's my rant for the evening. Later, yo. Peace.

Ugly Shade of Green

Rats. I hate being jealous!!! It seems like most people that make jewelry do a much better job than I do. It's hard because how do I really know how mine compares? I'm probably not the best person to make that kind of judgment, but I wonder whether people are honest about what I make. How do I know if people are just being nice when they say they like my things? Blast. I hate when I'm like this! =/ Okay, I think this pity party needs to end now. lol Peace, yo.

New Stuff

I'm working on organizing photos right now, then maybe I can finally take some pictures of my new stuff. Wouldn't that be fab? To post new items, I'm really going to have to get in gear. Some of the new things are going to be REALLY hard to part with, I love them that much. lol I'll just have to get on that, eh? Cool man.

For any of you that have bought something from me, would you let me know what you have thought? I'd LOVE to get some feed back, and find out what I can improve. Thanks.

Peace.

Well, it's a start, eh? I'll hopefully get more up soon, but that's it for now. Feel free to throw some suggestions my way! Peace.

Putting it out there...

I'm finally starting to put my jewelry out "there." WOOT! I'll be getting pictures up soon, with prices, and I hope you like what you see. Peace.