I have been playing around with treasuries on Etsy and Collections on Artfire -- really because I am kind of taking a bit of a post-holiday break from creating. Don't get me wrong, I have a ton of plans, but I am just taking a little breather and checking out what others have to offer.
Now -- I love both Etsy and Artfire, don't get me wrong. But with Etsy, there isn't the ability to create a widget beyond a "treasury pin" that I have found -- but on Artfire it's right there, ready for you to use.
I made this Hemlock Collection yesterday -- because it looks as though Hemlock is just a very slight variation from Mint (as in just a name change from what my eyes can see.) And I am embedding it here, because I think that ability is kind of cool -- plus I like to show what others are creating out there in the world.
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Baby It's Cold Outside...and gray, and black and white...
Indie Design
It's one of those mornings outside Seattle -- the gray, gloomy and cold mornings that frequent winters here. Luckily I woke up to find this fabulous collection featuring a pair of my black and white earrings. So much fun -- and black and white is always in fashion and elegant.
It's one of those mornings outside Seattle -- the gray, gloomy and cold mornings that frequent winters here. Luckily I woke up to find this fabulous collection featuring a pair of my black and white earrings. So much fun -- and black and white is always in fashion and elegant.
Monday, January 6, 2014
Non - New Years Resolutions ...
Every year before now, I've had New Years Resolutions. This year it's not so much about 'resolutions,' but instead just about focusing on the positive.
Here's the thing -- my Mother and I started working with beads literally ten years ago during the holiday season, and for us, that's quite a feat. See, we're both a little flighty in our own ways, and I wasn't really crafty before ten years ago. Sure, I could make certain crafts, and bought things at Craft Stores for the kids to play with -- but I was never into doing the whole crafty mom thing. My mother, on the other hand has been through all the crafts you can imagine before beading -- from knitting and crocheting, to tatting, to painting, you name it and while I was growing up, she tried it and got us girls into it -- for a time.
I, on the other hand, have always been super high strung and the thought of sitting down and creating something never seemed like a valuable use of my time. Plus -- my time was limited, first there were all those hours in the Army.
Then there were kids -- all born within three years of each other -- they needed me more than a glue gun or some bead stringing material. Then there was college, a job search that took six months and added too much stress to my already hectic life (imagine being unemployed, out of college, unable to get unemployment because you went straight to college from the Army, but having to keep day care, and paying for it so in case something came up you were not searching for care for three full-time care kids -- not a lot of fun). Then there were hours of overtime working for the government in the midst of two wars -- kids needing my time, a husband deployed seemingly all the time, etc., etc., etc. And after everything finally got normal, and the bills were met, and the time was there for everything, and bam! The Army tells you you have to move.
So we moved, and a job I was supposed to have evaporated in the ten days it took to drive from Washington to Texas -- seeing family along the way, and a new job search was upon me. Then the job I found was short - term and another job search was upon me. Then -- I became so allergic to the area, I had to move the kids to an area where I did get a job -- and that Term but will become permanent, we swear, if you just move here evaporates because Congress fights tooth and nail, where would one find the time or inclination to find a hobby that makes sense considering where you are in the world? It's amazing to me really -- and no I do not mean to toot my own horn -- what I have done in the past year.
Sure, I kept applying for jobs left and right, (and still do), kept working at perfecting that resume, and making sure my suits were ready at the drop of a hat in case I got that magical call for an interview. But it was harder than anything I have ever been through -- it's tough to sit there applying and applying and hoping something will work out and only getting the automated "we got your resume" followed by the "we went another direction" emails. It really wrecks havoc on the psyche.
So -- 18 months or so ago, in the middle of surgery while hubby was still stuck down in another assignment, someone bought a pair of earrings I had forgotten I had listed. Then someone bought a necklace that same month. It was a boon to my ego -- so I said, you know what? My resume says I can do all this stuff -- it's been a while, but let me prove it, if only to myself.
So I did. I relearned how to writing Marketing copy for my humble little shop -- I learned about SEO both on Etsy on off. I worked diligently at photography and 'staging' -- I worked at building my community. And now, here I sit -- looking back at the past 18 months and I am proud. Very proud. While it's been tough, and there have been days I have just wanted to pull my hair out, I can now actually add a few more keywords to my resume.
Tripled both revenue and sales in one year.
Increased interaction through social media channels.
But that's not the big thing -- that's not where my non - resolution is this year.
Where it is is this: I honestly started this year happy.
Sure I don't have a lot of money in the bank, and I work a lot of hours on the shop -- but I woke up on New Years day smiling, happy and ready to tackle this year with gumption and purpose.
And -- I figured out how to better edit my photo's which added to that already over-sized smile.
Here's the thing -- my Mother and I started working with beads literally ten years ago during the holiday season, and for us, that's quite a feat. See, we're both a little flighty in our own ways, and I wasn't really crafty before ten years ago. Sure, I could make certain crafts, and bought things at Craft Stores for the kids to play with -- but I was never into doing the whole crafty mom thing. My mother, on the other hand has been through all the crafts you can imagine before beading -- from knitting and crocheting, to tatting, to painting, you name it and while I was growing up, she tried it and got us girls into it -- for a time.
I, on the other hand, have always been super high strung and the thought of sitting down and creating something never seemed like a valuable use of my time. Plus -- my time was limited, first there were all those hours in the Army.
Then there were kids -- all born within three years of each other -- they needed me more than a glue gun or some bead stringing material. Then there was college, a job search that took six months and added too much stress to my already hectic life (imagine being unemployed, out of college, unable to get unemployment because you went straight to college from the Army, but having to keep day care, and paying for it so in case something came up you were not searching for care for three full-time care kids -- not a lot of fun). Then there were hours of overtime working for the government in the midst of two wars -- kids needing my time, a husband deployed seemingly all the time, etc., etc., etc. And after everything finally got normal, and the bills were met, and the time was there for everything, and bam! The Army tells you you have to move.
So we moved, and a job I was supposed to have evaporated in the ten days it took to drive from Washington to Texas -- seeing family along the way, and a new job search was upon me. Then the job I found was short - term and another job search was upon me. Then -- I became so allergic to the area, I had to move the kids to an area where I did get a job -- and that Term but will become permanent, we swear, if you just move here evaporates because Congress fights tooth and nail, where would one find the time or inclination to find a hobby that makes sense considering where you are in the world? It's amazing to me really -- and no I do not mean to toot my own horn -- what I have done in the past year.
Sure, I kept applying for jobs left and right, (and still do), kept working at perfecting that resume, and making sure my suits were ready at the drop of a hat in case I got that magical call for an interview. But it was harder than anything I have ever been through -- it's tough to sit there applying and applying and hoping something will work out and only getting the automated "we got your resume" followed by the "we went another direction" emails. It really wrecks havoc on the psyche.
So -- 18 months or so ago, in the middle of surgery while hubby was still stuck down in another assignment, someone bought a pair of earrings I had forgotten I had listed. Then someone bought a necklace that same month. It was a boon to my ego -- so I said, you know what? My resume says I can do all this stuff -- it's been a while, but let me prove it, if only to myself.
So I did. I relearned how to writing Marketing copy for my humble little shop -- I learned about SEO both on Etsy on off. I worked diligently at photography and 'staging' -- I worked at building my community. And now, here I sit -- looking back at the past 18 months and I am proud. Very proud. While it's been tough, and there have been days I have just wanted to pull my hair out, I can now actually add a few more keywords to my resume.
Tripled both revenue and sales in one year.
Increased interaction through social media channels.
But that's not the big thing -- that's not where my non - resolution is this year.
Where it is is this: I honestly started this year happy.
Sure I don't have a lot of money in the bank, and I work a lot of hours on the shop -- but I woke up on New Years day smiling, happy and ready to tackle this year with gumption and purpose.
And -- I figured out how to better edit my photo's which added to that already over-sized smile.
See?
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Playing with Fire
No seriously -- it's been a rough holiday season in my etsy shop. I have no clue what is going on with views and sales -- mainly I am concerned with views.
It's just such a strange phenomena -- to work incredibly hard throughout a few years to really build it from scratch -- then to have it explode into something wonderful. Something where you can almost see the light of "why yes, I can make this work." Then -- something changes. Something you really can't figure out what -- like you have worked on SEO for the shop, worked on photography, perfected your product and descriptions, and still you are often dead in the water.
It's a time to just maybe thing about having other venues. I have played with the idea of my own shop / storefront website, but to be honest I am not very good at coding. (Don't worry, I still try, lol). So, instead, I keep plugging away on Etsy -- feeling like a "new" or "undiscovered" shop this holiday season.
So -- I played around with Artfire -- another handmade venue -- which has a nifty Etsy import thing to make integration pretty easy. However, what Artfire doesn't have for me is an app that goes "cha-ching" whenever someone purchases an item. Also, not as easy to integrate into my Facebook platform -- also I am not familiar with how guilds work as opposed to teams, and since its the holidays, I really can't spend time I should be creating / listing / mailing on reading up on how to rebuild a shop again.
But -- I did figure out how to do this little thingy :)
It's just such a strange phenomena -- to work incredibly hard throughout a few years to really build it from scratch -- then to have it explode into something wonderful. Something where you can almost see the light of "why yes, I can make this work." Then -- something changes. Something you really can't figure out what -- like you have worked on SEO for the shop, worked on photography, perfected your product and descriptions, and still you are often dead in the water.
It's a time to just maybe thing about having other venues. I have played with the idea of my own shop / storefront website, but to be honest I am not very good at coding. (Don't worry, I still try, lol). So, instead, I keep plugging away on Etsy -- feeling like a "new" or "undiscovered" shop this holiday season.
So -- I played around with Artfire -- another handmade venue -- which has a nifty Etsy import thing to make integration pretty easy. However, what Artfire doesn't have for me is an app that goes "cha-ching" whenever someone purchases an item. Also, not as easy to integrate into my Facebook platform -- also I am not familiar with how guilds work as opposed to teams, and since its the holidays, I really can't spend time I should be creating / listing / mailing on reading up on how to rebuild a shop again.
But -- I did figure out how to do this little thingy :)
Check out directly from here. Fast. Secure. Simple.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Busy, Busy, Busy -- Weekend.
It was a busy weekend around here -- in and outside the shop. Several products sold out over the holiday weekend -- which is to be expected when its a small scale handmade shop here.
Which also caused me to do a little soul searching. I have been watching how things are going and have been planning a few changes for the shop come 2014: maybe my own website if I gain the energy to do my own coding in addition to all the other aspects of the shop, maybe a move from Etsy to another smaller, more handmade friendly venue. There has been a lot of chatter on Etsy of late because of the definition change of "handmade" within Etsy.
For some sellers its kind of a scary proposition -- having built up a community on Etsy, Facebook, Twitter, etc., of people who love your work -- and then it feels like with all the SEO work one puts into their shop that they are still put back in the back of the line for views. It's just a hard proposition.
Oh yeah -- did you know that my shop venue, Etsy, changed the rules on what can be labeled "handmade"? There is all kinds of chatter going on across the interwebs about it -- and it was a polarizing decision made by Etsy. Personally, I like the community -- but I feel like I am working too hard to re-list items to be seen even when I have pitch perfect SEO after a few years of tweeking. I even change my SEO according to the yearling changes that happen just before the holidays, sending us all into a tizzy as our "views" and "favorites" crash and burn, like clockwork, each year.
So, as a small handmade shop -- I've been soul-searching, between the cooking of the holiday meal and getting items set to ship this morning, and deciding how I am going to go about 2014, as the changes on Etsy become more pronounced. (Jan 1 is the day some changes go into effect -- which won't effect my shop as I am in compliance with it all, but it may shove me down the listings because I am a small, one woman shop, and can not compete with manufacturers. ).
Until I make these decisions, however, I will be plugging along making the most beautiful stuff I can muster. Ahh, love the garnets for the holidays.
Also, as a shameless plug at the end of this posting, check out the rubies, sapphires and emeralds I have in the shop for this holiday season. You know that's right :)
~Maggie~
http://www.etsy.com/shop/maggiesjewelry
Which also caused me to do a little soul searching. I have been watching how things are going and have been planning a few changes for the shop come 2014: maybe my own website if I gain the energy to do my own coding in addition to all the other aspects of the shop, maybe a move from Etsy to another smaller, more handmade friendly venue. There has been a lot of chatter on Etsy of late because of the definition change of "handmade" within Etsy.
For some sellers its kind of a scary proposition -- having built up a community on Etsy, Facebook, Twitter, etc., of people who love your work -- and then it feels like with all the SEO work one puts into their shop that they are still put back in the back of the line for views. It's just a hard proposition.
Oh yeah -- did you know that my shop venue, Etsy, changed the rules on what can be labeled "handmade"? There is all kinds of chatter going on across the interwebs about it -- and it was a polarizing decision made by Etsy. Personally, I like the community -- but I feel like I am working too hard to re-list items to be seen even when I have pitch perfect SEO after a few years of tweeking. I even change my SEO according to the yearling changes that happen just before the holidays, sending us all into a tizzy as our "views" and "favorites" crash and burn, like clockwork, each year.
So, as a small handmade shop -- I've been soul-searching, between the cooking of the holiday meal and getting items set to ship this morning, and deciding how I am going to go about 2014, as the changes on Etsy become more pronounced. (Jan 1 is the day some changes go into effect -- which won't effect my shop as I am in compliance with it all, but it may shove me down the listings because I am a small, one woman shop, and can not compete with manufacturers. ).
Until I make these decisions, however, I will be plugging along making the most beautiful stuff I can muster. Ahh, love the garnets for the holidays.
Also, as a shameless plug at the end of this posting, check out the rubies, sapphires and emeralds I have in the shop for this holiday season. You know that's right :)
~Maggie~
http://www.etsy.com/shop/maggiesjewelry
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Giving Thanks
Thanksgiving.
I love this day more than any other day in the year. It means so much to me that I place it's importance above my anniversary, my birthday -- literally any day.
To me it's not just about all day cooking -- or the perfect smells everywhere throughout the house. It's about the actual act of giving thanks.
Thanks for the simplest things can really be the most profound at this time of year -- for me, it's been a rough year and we certainly are giving thanks for the tiny things. I, for example, am so thankful for my absolutely perfect children. No seriously, I was telling my oldest just again today that if he were not my kid, we would still be friends.
And yes, I know the necessity of not being my kids' friend for the rest of the year -- but today is mine and today they are the three people I would most like to spend time with.
This year, thanksgiving is triply special for us -- because it coincides with Hanukkah. No, we're not actually Jewish -- but we love food, so this holiday brought out the possibility of dozens of new recipes we will try many of tomorrow. The other reason is that Thanksgiving is crazy late this year -- making the four day miraculously match-up to my birthday.
I will find a way to wrap it all together, I promise.
Until then, best of thanks to all of you fabulous member of this tiny community -- I am thankful for each and every one of you.
~Maggie~
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Playing for Keeps...
Little known fact -- my shop was actually non-productive yesterday. Not because customers didn't come browse, and not because I "couldn't" make anything new for the shop. Not because of anything "normal" that would cause a shop to be actually offline -- in fact the shop itself was online, I was just flapping in the wind struggling.
So, here's the thing -- my kids are tech-savvy little ones, often addicted to the plethora of electronics available today. On weekends, I often scramble around the house and the shop, cleaning, organizing, cooking, and this last weekend was no different. However, my youngest -- the super bright special needs one -- was playing with my laptop when he could, and when he couldn't he was playing with the desktop.
So, I log on on Monday and realize, quite quickly in fact, that in this adventure I call my etsy shop -- I am not only the owner, designer, marketing department, photographer, production department, etc., etc., etc., but now I am the IT department also, because my son has a thing for downloading things that should not be downloaded.
Nice.
So, I was lucky in that the shop was rather slow yesterday, I just had to mail a few items from the weekend and finish designing one custom order. My day was spent cleaning up the hard drives on two machines -- which are now working fabulously -- with two different versions of windows, while planning dinner, and the season ahead.
But -- that was not without moments of "I will never let this kid play with the computers again," and "where did my ruler go to measure this item," to finally "wow, I actually do have to use algebra in calculating how much wire to cut for custom sized hoops, who knew?"
By the way to figure out how much wire to cut for hoops, you either use Pi times the number of inches you want the for circumference, or ask my oldest to calculate it -- which is often what I do. I really thought getting a degree in Communications would insulate me from Pi -- but not so much. The oldest, or my human calculator as I call him (did I tell you he took the PSAT's WITHOUT a calculator?) is quite hysterical when I have to ask him for mathematics help in the shop.
But all in all -- with the downtime provided recently, I have been playing with dainty again -- and later today I will put up some mixed metal earrings that are just adorable, so watch out for those. Until then -- here are a few cute things I am playing with while I get ready for the show next weekend.
Now -- back to reality and working out a few more things in the shop, kitchen and on the laptop :)
~Maggie~
So, here's the thing -- my kids are tech-savvy little ones, often addicted to the plethora of electronics available today. On weekends, I often scramble around the house and the shop, cleaning, organizing, cooking, and this last weekend was no different. However, my youngest -- the super bright special needs one -- was playing with my laptop when he could, and when he couldn't he was playing with the desktop.
So, I log on on Monday and realize, quite quickly in fact, that in this adventure I call my etsy shop -- I am not only the owner, designer, marketing department, photographer, production department, etc., etc., etc., but now I am the IT department also, because my son has a thing for downloading things that should not be downloaded.
Nice.
So, I was lucky in that the shop was rather slow yesterday, I just had to mail a few items from the weekend and finish designing one custom order. My day was spent cleaning up the hard drives on two machines -- which are now working fabulously -- with two different versions of windows, while planning dinner, and the season ahead.
But -- that was not without moments of "I will never let this kid play with the computers again," and "where did my ruler go to measure this item," to finally "wow, I actually do have to use algebra in calculating how much wire to cut for custom sized hoops, who knew?"
By the way to figure out how much wire to cut for hoops, you either use Pi times the number of inches you want the for circumference, or ask my oldest to calculate it -- which is often what I do. I really thought getting a degree in Communications would insulate me from Pi -- but not so much. The oldest, or my human calculator as I call him (did I tell you he took the PSAT's WITHOUT a calculator?) is quite hysterical when I have to ask him for mathematics help in the shop.
But all in all -- with the downtime provided recently, I have been playing with dainty again -- and later today I will put up some mixed metal earrings that are just adorable, so watch out for those. Until then -- here are a few cute things I am playing with while I get ready for the show next weekend.
 |
| I just love this little dainty style. And in Emerald Green? Who could hope for a better stocking stuffer? At 28 bucks a pair for handmade sterling silver and gemstone earrings -- these are a bargain. Oh -- and free domestic shipping to boot. |
 |
| Okay, so these technically are not new -- but the photos are :) Just look at how much fun I had playing with the depth of field on these gorgeous Pink Garnet Hoops. Oooh, sparkly. |
 |
| These are kind of a new design -- really they are a total mix. Playing off of the dainty trio earrings, and the half moon / leaf ear wire, I wrapped a pink garnet that has a caramel undertone onto a sterling silver handmade "leaf" ear wire - then dangled and dangled some more. These almost didn't make it to the shop thanks to my teenage daughter. |
Now -- back to reality and working out a few more things in the shop, kitchen and on the laptop :)
~Maggie~
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)