About Me
I love my job - I get to make jewelry and sell it to people. There's something special about selling a piece of jewelry, knowing that whoever bought it really loved it.
This has been a busy summer, people! We had a stellar month in July - at least, it was stellar for us. We had six sales!! Last month sort of fell apart, but I've got high hopes for the upcoming holidays. I've had several custom orders come in - two through Alchemy over at Etsy and two were custom requests set from repeat customers! One of the customers wanted a fall - ish bracelet to wear and the other one was a customer who wanted me to make her wedding jewelry!! That was super-duper exciting! The custom bridal set came out great - she was very, very pleased with it, which made me very, very happy.
School has started here, and the kiddos are excited. One is in kindergarten and the other is in pre-school two days a week. Mommy now gets a little bit of quiet time to work on various projects around the house. (most of those involve little beads and wire, but, shhh, don't tell anyone!) I'm supposed to be on this mad Mommy cleaning spree. I do have some stuff out in the van to go take to a local domestic violence charity - I suppose I'll do that tomorrow. :D
I hope you all had a wondrous summer and I'll try to get my butt in gear and post more over here. Bye, ya'll!
Good things are happening at heartsabustin this week! I sold a pair of earrings, randomly, on Monday evening (backflip!), and I sold a bracelet this morning to a friend in Etsy chat! (double backflips!!) i even took the momentous step of printing my shipping label from PayPal - I don't know why I wasn't doing that sooner. Doh! *smacks forehead*
I've got two wholesale orders in the works, which is awesome. I really enjoy it when I'm given a bit of leeway on these projects, too. One of the ladies just wants some charms for necklaces she wants to sell - in bright colors. I think I can do that! LOL The other order was for some bracelets that are to be sold for school spirit purposes. It just so happened I had a ton of beads in the particular colors she wanted.
So, all in all, it's been a great week! I hope you're having a great week, too! Stop by for a visit - there's been some new stuff added. Have an awesome day!
I have had a very nice morning - I've had a very nice week of mornings, actually. My kids have been at Vacation Bible School at a neighbor's church all this week, which means I've had uninterrupted work time. It's been quite novel, actually. I can think in a straight line and even complete some thoughts! That's an unusual occurrence around here. I'd better enjoy it - today's the last day until school starts back full time this fall! The next VBS we do is at our church - I'll be helping with the crafts (how'd you know I'd say that?), so no rest that week!
Now for the WHOOT! We have discovered a cool little place called www.indiespotting.com. They feature handmade items from independent artisans like ourselves (and I mean mycraft in general, not just us!). The submission process is pretty painless, and it's quite exciting when one of your items gets chosen. A couple of weeks ago, I submitted one of my pieces called "Hearts A-Fire." Much to my surprise, it was accepted. ( I don't know why it surprised me, it just did!) This week, I submitted a piece of my mom's called "High Desert Bracelet." It's an awesome turquoise piece created in the Sundance style. Go check it out, and if you're feeling brave, submit one of your own pieces. You never know what might happen!
We're also getting ready to have an article run about us over at www.handmadenews.org. I found Cheri posting in the Promotion threads in the Etsy Forum a couple of weeks ago. We have since filled out the interview and sent it to her. We'll let you know when the article runs so you can go check it out. Feel free to contact Cheri, too. I know she'd love to hear from you. Her Etsy handle is www.itsmecheri.etsy.com.
Aside from the sewing and jewelry making, one of my favorite mediums is photography. Now I don't claim to be a photographer - shooting jewelry that sits still and doesn't go anywhere is pretty easy (though harder than it looks!). So I am always impressed when I find cool photographers on Etsy. I have found quite a few, but I'm going to highlight just one today. Her shop is www.sunshinestars.etsy.com , and like so many cool artists, she lives near Albequerque, New Mexico.
Now this piece here (you MUST go look - truly) is my fave:
I adore black and white, and I love it even more when someone takes a fantastic B&W photo and adds just a pop of color in it. I mean, what girl doesn't love a pair of red shoes? Everyone wanted a pair of Dorothy's ruby slippers when they were younger, right? I know I did! This girl has some fantastic photos in her shop, and it is definitely worth your while to go in and check her out.
As many of you know, I love to make jewelry. It's what our Etsy shop is all about - unique, beautiful handmade and vintage jewelry. I dream about new designs and different color combos and shapes suggest themselves to me in the strangest ways. However, before I was a jewelry maniac, I learned to sew.
I taught myself to sew about ten or eleven years ago - my dad bought me my first sewing machine for my 20th birthday (yes, I know I'm telling on myself). After years of struggling to figure out where I fit into the artistic niche I knew was there, I had discovered it. Sewing quickly became more than a hobby, it became a passion. I love fabric - I love touching it, working with it, making it into a piece of clothing. I have yet to take on the challenge of pattern-making, but I think I'm getting to that point. Sometimes I have an idea in my head and the pattern simply isn't out there at the moment.
Last week, I created two BEAUTIFUL dresses for myself. I found a Simplicity pattern that I loved and some fabric that I absolutely adored (it was 50% off - *swoon*), and I was off. The dresses turned out amazingly well and if I can get the computer to cooperate, I'll post the pics here. If not, you can see them at www.heartsabustinetsy.blogspot.com. Yes, I have two blogs - ambitious, huh? Anyway, I just had to show them off, because they were so awesome!
Hey, do something great for yourself today, and *hugs* all the way around!
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