A Selling Milestone

I need to let  you in on a little secret.  I absolutely love making new pieces of jewelry, but.... I am really bad at getting them listed for sale.  I mean really really bad.   I post new pieces on Facebook all the time, but when it comes to listing it on Etsy or my website,  nope.   I procrastinate, put it off, find something else to do, get distracted by beads.  You name it,  I find an excuse.   I can't tell you how many times my pricing files and my Etsy shop have sat open on my taskbar never to be touched.   

I was looking at photos the other day, and I noticed I had beautiful pieces that I loved creating that went back to July!  It is almost October and I hadn't listed those pieces.  So,  I put my nose to the grindstone this weekend and got some listings done.  I am now up to the middle of September and feel like I have accomplished a lot!  Yes, I have more to go, but progress is progress!  And it really does make me feel better to see the products listed.   

To add to that, I made it to 100 active listings on Etsy.  That is a milestone I have been trying to reach.  So in honor of me accomplishing it,  I am offering 20% off using coupon code HUNDRED.  Check out my Etsy shop Forest of Jewels

So what have I learned from all this?  Procrastinating doesn't make the work magically disappear.  It is still waiting for me and the beautiful jewelry sits, waiting to be cataloged and put away until it is sold.  And what else did I learn?  By not listing my products quickly,  I don't get to really allow them to reach their real purpose...making someone happy because they are wearing one of my designs.

From now on Monday will be listing day.   I will be dedicating some time each Monday to make sure that my listings are current.  Once I get out of the back log that should only be a few listings a week.  Monday is good for me because I usually photograph my designs on the weekend.  No reason to make things sit and find a way to put it off.  After all, taking little bites always make the project manageable.  So, if you are a designer out there who puts off listing your work, give it a try and let me know how it works for you.

September We're All Ears Challenge Reveal

Hello!  Welcome to the September reveal of the We're All Ears challenge hosted by Earrings Everyday  Every month, Erin is our hostess and she chooses a great inspiration photo for all those who participate to create from.   This month,  the inspiration was macro photography.   Check out her post here to learn more about this type of photography and why she chose it to work with this month.

I  wiggled for joy when I saw this month's photos.   Trees!  Bark!  Lichen!!  How could Forest of Jewels not love those pictures?  I was excited to take my favorite design themes and work with them this month.   I decided to focus on the trees and the colors in the photographs to design my earrings.

I wanted the earrings to be linear to reflect the main photo in the collage above.   Brown was a focus color, but I also wanted to bring in the soft green and beige from the other photos.   The rod shaped beads are fossil stone and I highlighted those with small green aventurine rounds,  and small round sesame and red jasper beads.   The top half of the earrings are larger green aventurine lentils and the sesame and red jasper beads.

I am so in love with the delicate fluidity of these earrings.  The colors really reflect what the forest looks like outside my window.   It was a pleasure to work with different types of natural gemstones.   My love of stones are what got me into designing my own jewelry in the first place.

Thanks again to Erin,  it was a great challenge and I look forward to next month.   Make sure you stop by the challenge page to see what everyone else has designed!

Anchors Aweigh!! Design Challenge and Blog Hop Reveal

It is time for the Anchors Aweigh Design Challenge Reveal!!!  The wonderful Rita over at Toltec Jewels was kind enough to put together a blog hop featuring the absolutely beautiful beads created by Diana at Suburban Girl Beads. The Sweet porcelain anchors just called to me and my love of the sea.   I was so happy to be chosen by Rita to participate,  and I appreciate all of the hard work she puts in to making these blog hops such an enjoyable experience for everyone.

I was certain that I took a picture of my sweet little anchor beads when they arrived, but after searching my very well labeled photo files, I couldn't find it. So, I borrowed Rita's photo to show you how cute Diana's beads are.   They were such a pleasure to work with and I am excited to share with you the necklace I created.

I knew I wanted to make a necklace, the anchor beads deserved to be the focus of a sea themed piece.   It only took me a few minutes to decide to use cultured sea glass, but I wanted to add a bit more; maybe challenge myself a bit with the piece.

So,  I took a Vintaj brass blank,  embossed it with a sand dollar and then added a soft blue patina and glaze.  I wanted the brass round to remind you of a coin from a ship that had sunk many many years before.  A treasure that can be found in many places very near by.  If you ever get the chance to visit Florida, Sebastian Inlet has a nice little museum that includes a lot of information about sunken treasure.  

What do you think?  Does it remind you of a coin who has spent 200 years at the bottom of the ocean?  I added the porcelain anchors to a strand of small round aqua cultured sea glass, then my signature touch of sparkle with some aqua crystal spacers.  Half way up the necklace, I created interest with aqua blue lampwork glass.  There are some small rounds and the nice square pieces as well. 

Earrings you ask?  Of course I did earrings!  I just can't resist making a pair for a challenge :)  I used the same aqua cultured sea glass rounds, an aqua crystal spacer and added some Vintaj  brass sand dollars to carry along the theme of my necklace.

Thank you so much Rita and Diana for creating such a fun blog hop.  It was a pleasure to participate and I can't wait to see what everyone else has made.   To check out all the participant's designs, please use the links below:

Anchors Aweigh!! Design Challenge & Blog Hop 

Participating Artists

Featured & Honored Artist:        Diana Ptaszynski

Diana's Shop:                           Suburban Girl Beads

Diana's Blogs:                          Suburban Girl Studio

                                                 Art Jewelry Elements

Hostess: TJ                               Jewel School Friends

Bobbie Rafferty                         Beadsong Jewelry

Chris Eisenberg                         Wanderware

Heather Richter                         Desert Jewelry Designs

Michelle McCarthy                    Firefly Design Studio

Kathy Lindemer                         Bay Moon Design

Dini Bruinsma                            Angaza by Changes

Cynthia Machata                       Antiquity Travelers

Kathleen Breeding                     99 Bottles of Beads on the Wall

Linda Younkman                       Lindy's Designs

Robin Reed                                  Artistry HCBD

Marla Gibson                              Spice Box Designs

Gina Hockett                               Freestyle Elements

Renetha Stanziano                      Lamplight Crafts

Marianne Baxter                          Simply Seablime Jewelry        

Christina Miles                             Wings N Scales

Marybeth Rich                            A Few Words from Within the Pines

Shai Williams                              Shaiha's Ramblings

Cheri Reed                                  Creative Designs by Cheri

Monique Urquhart                      A Half-Baked Notion

Jennifer Reno                             Musings of a Crafty Jenny

Shirley Moore                             Beads and Bread

Tammy Adams                           Paisley Lizard

Melissa Trudinger                       Bead Recipes

Jill Bradley                                  JillyBeads