what the heck?

Okay I officially a cold air wussy... it gets under 60 and I am freezing! I have lived in FL too long! I get used to living in bare feet, the rest I can take or leave(okay kinda), but bare feet to me, are just a natural state.

In other things going on... my supply shop is at 1,363 sales since Feb. All I can say to that is WOW! And I better get to work making findings! ;)

I started carding earrings up last night and in theory my hang method works, but now I am thinking that hanging them by the ear wires might not be such a good idea if people are bending them at all taking them off the display... so back to the drawing board on that one. This is why I am not applying to any shows until I get my display done and set up right, that and the fact that the ones I wanna apply for want pics of your display, but that is good, it's making me actually set the stuff up and see how it looks, functions, sets up, and breaks down. The faster the setup and break down the better!

Besides it's been a month since I ordered silver, and it's about that time AGAIN! Geez, I ordered ten ounces last month! Oh well, supply orders and new jewelry use it up! I gotta save some more moolah to buy more, lets hope my last day of 2008 is a good sales day, then I can order tomorrow. The price is creeping up again it seems, just a bit, but it still hurts at the checkout!


So it's the last day of the year 2008. When I was younger, I never even thought about what I'd be like or life would be like now, I didn't even think I'd make it this far... so yeah.

I am seriously craving to play music again... so I think 2009, I am going to come out of my hiatus, play some music, hopefully record some too. I need to get ME some gear, so this time, there's nothing left alone in the recordings if the track is flat, or wrong in whatever way. Besides, I have had this idea in my head for years for my next CD, and I think the time for it is coming... I need to get it out. One of those things that will no leave me alone, like a lot of my jewelry designs. Yeah the creative mind is haunted with designs, ideas, things we must create to get out of our heads. I think that is a lot of where the drive comes from, a creatively induced type of madness. There truly is a fine line between madness and genius... Just look at some of the greatest artists, if you look at the person, most will find there is some kind of madness as well, to whatever degree. This is why artsy types tend to befriend each other, because our minds work differently from others, and I find that in close relationships of whatever form, that difference from non creative types is noticeable. People are creatures of habit, and we seek what is most like us, so it only makes sense that creative people would form friendships... this last year has been a year of major growth for me as an artist... my craft of jewelry is something I totally love, and seem to have a knack for. This year I have taught myself, how to solder, fuse, set stones, make settings, re size rings, make all kinds of findings, use a hammer to make a plain piece of wire into something beautiful, stamp metal, and a myriad of other things I learn with all this time in my studio, making things, trying things, and just basically having a ball... I started a supply shop that is now a steady flow of cash... I am sure of my jewelry skills and that I am ready to do shows now, I can see it in my mind, something I could not totally see before, even though I knew it was coming at some point. SO yeah 2008 has been quite a year... a whirlwind of all kinds of stuff going on, changing, growing, learning, and having fun at it most of the time.

Too tired...

I am just too tired today for words... I was out till very late last night, doing laundry... finally gave up on the dryers at about midnight(they just were not drying anything), and brought everything home. Well why was I doing laundry at that time of night? Cause the BF didn't have any clean work clothes, what does he do this morning? Yell about the clothes being wet, we get into a fight, and yeah, I get no more sleep... all this at 5:30am... oh joy! Due to the coffee I was consuming last night so I could stay awake to do HIS clothes, I didn't get to sleep till after 2:30am sometime. So yeah, not much sleep time between 2:30 and 5:30... of course I got up grumpy!

Hmmmm...

Well I have been on a earring making kick the last few days, made a good amount of those, so last night I figured I should make something else... Hm I know I ave lots of faceted stones just waiting for me to give them a home in some jewelry. Soooo I have had this idea for a tree pendant with a stone set in a bezel. Well I just happen to have a gorgeous round citrine, that would make a gorgeous sun! So I did the metalwork last night, set the stone this am, and then find one of my solder joints has come undone! Okay not one that hold the whole piece together or anything, but one that will make me not sell the piece, because I do not want to sell them if there is an integral flaw in the design. So I tried to get the stone out so I could fix the joint, but no go, and I didn't want to mess the bezel up, to break the stone, so I figure this one is going to have to go on my neck. Well looking at the properties of citrine, this is a happy accident, because citrine is a stone of success in all walks of life... well I don;t have any in my collection of jewelry thus far, might as well add this one. Besides, I don't have any faceted gem pieces in my personal collection anyway, and this one is nice! Plus is it a daily wear kinda piece, good promo for me, since i will always have it on!

Well that is about it for today... I need to get to work on making stuff! So much to do, and I can't let time just slip by, or season will pass me by, and then it's a long summer before next season hits!

Oh ha ha ha I read my week from hell post.. yeah we moved, and it is SOOOO much better in Sarasota than North Port, we are very happy to be gone from there. We moved back to our old house where we lived while I was pregnant with my son, and this is where I decided I wanted to become a jewlery artist for a living!

Well well well...

It seems this years key word has been change. Not just with the election, but with a lot of things, for me business is changing and growing, I am changing and growing, and my art is changing and growing. I know I keep saying I am gonna blog more, but somehow I never seem to get to it, so I am not gonna promise to blog more, I will blog when I feel the need, when I remember, or when I just have something to say I think should be here. Well now is one of those times.

So a couple of weeks ago, I was thinking about how do I switch the balance from supplies mostly selling, to jewelry mostly selling. I filled up my consigners' store down in Venice with new jewelry... Uptown Girls Boutique... got a few sales last month from that... started looking for other stores to approach with my line, but before I get too far I figured I better ask the universe what to do, because I could find more stores, and fill them up, not a problem. I am sure I could find many places in time to take jewelry from me. But was this the right path to sell my stuff? I don't know. I am sure some would sell, even just from a number standpoint it IS bound to happen. So I figured I better ask the universe, because my other thing was maybe I should be doing arts and crafts fairs. Every time I go to one, I feel like, "I should have a booth here!". So I asked the universe... do I concentrate on getting into more stores, and building that way right now, or should I do shows, and concentrate on that for a while? Well let me tell you info on how to get into these shows has somehow avoided me for a while. I have tried before to find info, and never got a thing. The only reason I got to do a small, crappy show earlier this year, was because my kid's teacher told me to go to a site that had local smaller shows listed. All these bigger shows, I keep feeling like I should be in, I never found anything on how to get in, only how to go as a shopper. Well after I posed my question to the universe, I felt like googling shows, so I did. The first page I went to out of the list was a dead end, but the second one lead right to a vendor application page... so I looked further... this was it, the info on how to apply for ALL these shows I keep going to, and a lot I've never been to. This was a promoters page that puts on shows all within about an hours drive from here, on most weekends through-out season! So I guess the universe answered my question. And the main thing I learned from the one little show I did do was, ask if they allow resellers there... I am an artisan and can not compete with resellers, nor should I have to. I should not have to explain that I create these items and that is why they are not $5 for two pairs of earrings... I learned by that, you need to be in a handmade market. Well the first rule of these shows is no reselling! "If you don't make it, don't bring it!" is what it says. Very good! They also want pics of your displays, so now the thing is I need a display! Well that came too, my BF and I were at wall mart and we saw the perfect canopy(or one that is good enough anyway), and he bought it for me... not something he normally does, so since he did that, I went ahead and bought tables, and started scouring places for things to turn into displays... I found quite a bit, and as it stands now, the last thing I need is material to make table cloths with. I am going with all black, and I got jewelry tags that are white with black lettering... so, yeah the universe spoke and I am putting my money into it, and following it to see where it goes! I will have to post pics of my display once it is finished! Yeah that is IF I can figure out how to post pics here???? I am not a pro blooger or anything as of yet, I just write, the rest I know nothing about. ;)