Hey Sandy

I can't decide whether the title for this blog post was painfully obvious, or if what it's referencing is a bit too obscure for it to be ubiquitous/cliche.  (Also, that's my second blog post title in a row that references Pete and Pete.  Seriously, my love for that show knows no bounds.)  But either way, Glen's use of #HeySandy on Twitter seems to have resulted in him gaining Mark Mulcahy (lead singer of Polaris and Miracle Legion!!) as follower.  So that's pretty awesome.

Anyway, by some miracle, we managed to survive the storm without so much as losing electricity.  The extent of the damage was a few branches in the yard and some shingles blowing off the roof of our already-falling-apart shed.  Our dog even handled the storm like a champ.  He spent most of it napping on the recliner, occasionally lifting his head to look around when a particularly strong gust of wind blew by.

In light of all the damage that occurred south and east of us, we are feeling incredibly grateful that all we have to deal with now is minimal driving in order to conserve gas, since the gas stations in our area are insane at the moment, and we'd likely waste as much gas as we'd be able to buy just by waiting in line.

Despite the fact that my area wasn't hit nearly as hard as the coast, there are still a lot of places without electricity.  My main employer has been closed since 2:00 on Monday and will be closed again tomorrow, so I've just been working at the library in the evenings.  Since I only live about a mile away, I've been able to cover additional shifts, which is a win-win for everyone.  The library has enough staff to stay open, and I get extra shifts, which means extra money, which is great since as I mentioned in Sunday's post, Glen needs a new car, and sooner rather than later.  (A venture that has been further complicated by the storm, since not a lot of dealerships are even open, and the one we were originally looking at was in one of the harder-hit areas of NJ.  We think we found one nearby though.  Keep your fingers crossed for us!)

And what have I been doing with my free days?  You'd think I'd be working on getting ready for my craft shows on November 10 and 17, or perhaps working on further converting my office into the baby's room, right?  But alas, I've been a lazy lump and have spent most of the past 3 days sitting on the couch and watching TV.  Tomorrow, I become productive again.  I'm putting it out here on my blog so I have no excuse to have yet another lazy day: I'm going to record my sales from last week's show and prep for my upcoming shows, move the rest of the things on my old desk to my new desk, and clear out my office closet to make room for baby things.  No excuses. ;-)

What Calm Before the Storm?

This weekend has been an absolute whirlwind of a weekend, some good, some not so good.

Things started out on a pretty sour note, when we found out that Glen's car is in need of a new transmission.  In light of the fact that he drives a '99 Kia Sephia, that's not an investment we're willing to make, so now we're on the hunt for a new car for him.  Not happy about having to spend the money, but excited that we will hopefully have not one, but two, relatively new, reliable cars.

We actually got the bad news about Glen's car in between his cousin's wedding ceremony and reception.  I spent the cocktail hour commiserating with my sister-in-law, because as you will see if you hop on over to her blog, October has not been a good month for the Tickle boys' cars.  Despite being bummed about the car situation, the reception was a good time, as evidenced by one of Glen's tweets from that night:

Gotta love swing dancing with my father-in-law!

I was up bright and early Saturday morning for my first craft show of the season:

I was pleasantly surprised by sales for the day.  October shows are usually a bit slower, since people aren't necessarily thinking of Christmas shopping yet, but I made a decent number of sales, and things usually pick up a bit more for the November shows.  I originally hadn't planned anything for December, but I'm debating trying to find a show on December 8.  Maybe my big 7-months-pregnant belly at that point will give sales a nice little bump. ;-)

After getting home from the craft show, we had to run some errands to make sure we were ready for the upcoming storm, making sure we were stocked up on dog food and degu food, as well as non-perishables that can be cooked on our gas range, should we lose electricity.  Lots of canned soups and Chef Boyardee, as well as pasta and oatmeal, and fresh fruit.  

Once errands we done, we took a drive down to Philadelphia for our friend Eric's 30th birthday party.  We haven't seen him since December, which is way too long, especially compared to the days when we all went to the same college and he and Glen were roommates.

Here's Glen with the birthday boy:

Don't be fooled by that casual pose.  They spent a disproportionately large portion of the evening hugging one another. ;-)

Glen and I spent a good chunk of the night hanging out in Eric's back yard, which was all brick and greenery and twinkly lights.  The weather was gorgeous, and even my chronically-cold self was comfortable without a sweater for the earlier part of the party.  Here's an cute photo Eric took last night and sent to me this morning:

We didn't get home until nearly 3:30 this morning, but it was totally worth the lack of sleep!

Now I'm just relaxing at home, recovering from the busy weekend and trying to figure out the odds that I'll be going into work the next couple of days, seeing as the governors of both NJ and PA have declared states of emergency due to the havoc Hurricane Sandy is expected to wreak.

I hope all my fellow northeasterners stay safe these next few days!  Is anyone out there hosting or attending a hurricane party?? ;-)

Maternity Monday: 24 Week Belly Pictures and Finished Curtains!

I'm finally not running multiple weeks behind on belly pictures!

As of today I'm 25 weeks, and these pictures were taken about midway through week 24:

 I'm pretty sure the papaya from week 22 was bigger than this cantaloupe...

...But my belly is way bigger than it was 2 weeks ago!!

 Sharing a shot from the front this week to illustrate how different I look from this angle.  

This is why most of my maternity clothes are still too big. ;-)

In nursery decor-related news, the curtains are done! 

Glen and I spent Saturday afternoon weeding through and organizing the storage spaces in the house so we can start to make more progress in the office-to-nursery conversion, and I've started gradually moving my jewelry stuff into the bottom section of the secretary desk.

I'm amazed by how much of my supplies fit in there!  Once I finish moving the rest of my supplies into the desk, I might have to do a post about how to fit an entire small business into a single desk, because aside the display supplies I use for shows (table, risers, tent, and a Rubbermaid container of tablecloths and jewelry stands), all of my office supplies and raw materials should all find homes!

Speaking of the jewelry business, my first show is this Saturday!  Eek!  It's going to be a busy week, but *slightly* less busy than expected, since my band rehearsal for tomorrow evening got cancelled.  I still need to fill in some gaps in my finished inventory - I desperately need to have more earrings on hand, and I still have an entirely new style of necklaces that I'd like to have available in a few different colors by that time.  If I have time, I also want to try out a new idea for added my logo to the gift boxes as well.

On top of that, I have a childbirth class at the hospital Tuesday night, an appointment with my OB after work on Wednesday followed immediately by a movie night at a friend's house (I will be bringing jewelry making supplies to the latter!), my usual Thursday night library shift, and a wedding on Friday.  And of course, putting in my 40-hour week at my day job.  Needless to say, I'll be spending most of Sunday napping!

Fall Craft Shows!

I officially have three craft shows scheduled for this fall!

I doubt I'll do more than that, except for probably hosting another open house, since i don't want to overextend myself.

I did, however, manage to bunch the all three craft shows within 4 weeks of one another, so late October/early November is going to be a pretty crazy time for me!  Here's my schedule:


Oct 27 @ Pohatcong Township School in Phillipsburg, NJ, 9:00am - 3:00pm

Nov 10 @ Easton Area High School in Easton, PA, 9:00am - 2:00pm

Nov 17 @ Palmer Moravian Church in Easton, PA, 9:00am - 3:00pm


If you'll be in the area, stop by and say hello!


I also managed to put some more listings back on my Etsy shop.  It's not a lot, but I'm hoping to add more listings over the next month or so.


Check back here on Monday for belly pictures, some nursery decor updates, and Stormageddon's big gender reveal!  Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!


P.S. For the Whovians out there - Check out this awesome bookcase!

I saw it on Bookshelf Porn the other day and it was love at first sight. ;-)

It's That Time Again...

Fall craft show time!

I've definitely been neglecting my jewelry business for the first half of the year, but I definitely want to try to fit in a bunch of shows this year, since I'm not sure what exactly will be happening next year. ;-)

Nothing is confirmed yet, but it looks like I'll be doing one show in October and two in November.  I'm on the fence about trying to find a fourth in December.  I'll post details for my local readers once I get confirmation on those shows.  I'm also debating hosting another holiday open house, since last year's was such a success.

Of course, this means that I need to start using my evenings wisely and making more jewelry!!

Pieces like those above seemed to be my big sellers last year, and they've made up the bulk of what I've sold so far this summer, so I'm mostly going to focus on variations on that theme.  I got some neat vintage beads over the past year, and I'm hoping to incorporate those into some of my designs.


I also need to stock up on packaging, specifically boxes and bags.  I didn't realize how much I went through last year! 

I'm leaning toward ordering boxes like this one from Rio Grande.  The 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 x 1 seems like an ideal size.  Large enough to accommodate a necklace like the ones pictures above if I wrap them around the inside of the box twice, small enough that earrings won't look ridiculously small in them.  I used to use the 2 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 7/8 for earrings, but when I started making my own earring cards.

I was so sure I had a close-up photo of said earring cards to share, but alas that is not the case.  And since I'm not at home at the moment, I can't take a picture to share.  You can get a glimpse of them in this post, though!

P.S.  Hopefully over the weekend or early next week I'll be able to share photos of a new (to me) car.  Assuming the deal doesn't go sour within the next 24 hours, that is.  We've been negotiating on this car for about a month and half now, because (as Glen will tell you) I am incredibly stubborn.  But the dealer finally budged on both the price and what they'll give us on a trade-in, so I'm prepared to walk in with a check tomorrow.  Wish me luck! ;-)

Gardening + Jewelry = A Match Made in Heaven?

Since warm weather decided to make an early appearance this year, I've already managed to fall horribly behind on my gardening.  The amount of weeds in my yard is absurd.  But at least some of the pretty stuff is also growing.

Here's the blue flax:

The clematis is already a couple of feet high:



And the cherry tree in the back yard is in full bloom:

And so far all I've managed to do is clean out our pond and replace the filter on the pump.  Funny story about that, by the way: I assumed our fish were all dead.  Imagine my surprise when I dumped a bunch of  decaying leaves on the ground next to the pond and found a little orange and black goldfish flopping around!  I returned him to the pond.  No idea if any of his buddies survived, but I will have to pick up a few more, just in case.

Anyway, this year it looks like I'll be merging my love of gardening and my love of jewelry, starting with the cherry blossoms.  I've decided to start pressing the flowers that grow in my garden, and using them to make pendants.  I've used pre-made pendants with pressed flowers to make necklaces such as this one, and they always seem to attract a lot of attention (and sales!) at craft shows. 

I think it will add a special something to my pieces if I can say I grew the flowers myself, as opposed to simply buying the pendant as-is.  I'm definitely planning on using the cherry blossoms and the blue flax.  I might try the rozannes for big, chunky pendants.  I haven't figured out which annuals to buy for my gardens this year, but whether they will look good on a pendant may factor into my decision.  Anyway have any suggestions??

Also: I finally did inventory!  I don't know why I insist on waiting so long.  I've procrastinated so badly on doing inventory for all 3 tax seasons that I have had this business.  And all 3 times, it's taken me no more than a couple of hours.  I just dread it so much!  But now I can finally finish up the 2011 tax return and really start moving ahead with projects for this year!

Highs and Lows

Fortunately, this past week has had more highs than lows, but it started on a bit of a low note.  Namely a general lack of sales at the craft show, despite lots of compliments on my jewelry and lots of people taking my card.  Oh well, you win some, you lose some.  And who knows, maybe some of those folks will show up at my other craft shows later this season and decide they need to buy some Christmas gifts! ;-)  Seriously, though, I have found that the closer a show is to Christmas, the better my sales seem to be, so hopefully that will hold true again this year.

Overall, I was pretty happy with my display, although I feel like it would look better with more of the busts for necklaces. The necklaces look so much nicer that way, and it seems a bit sparse with only three.  I think I need to make it a point to pick up a couple more next week.

My big high note for the week was finding out today that I got accepted to that juried show I was talking about! 

Other good stuff from this week included lots of hours at the library (including 4 more tomorrow afternoon!), finding out my dog is going to be interviewed at the super cute blog Coffee with a Canine, and my decision to finally join the 21st century and get an iPhone. 

That last decision was prompted by the fact that with an iPhone I can accept credit card payments at shows using Square, which just takes a percentage of each sale, with no monthly fee.  Since my business is pretty seasonal, it just didn't seem worth it to pay montly fees when I only do shows maybe 4 or 5 months out of the year.  An added bonus is that going to get the phone this weekend will also give me a chance to finally take advantage of the discount my employer provides with AT&T. 

I'm off to work on some much-needed signage for my jewelry display (including one saying I accept credit cards!).  Tomorrow I'll be going to the farmers' market, working, and getting dressed up and going out for drinks with my husband.  What are your plans for the weekend?

Jewelry Display Sneak Peak

Today I mailed out two more applications for craft shows.  One of them is juried, it's only the second juried craft show I've applied for so far.  I'm nervous!!!

Anyway, the application for that show requested photos not just of individual pieces, but also of our display.

As you'll recall, I picked up some new pieces for my display recently, including new jewelry stands and a new mirror.  Also, last week my wonderful father-in-law built a couple of risers for me, which will work wonders in making my display more versatile.

But, this also means all the photos I have from previous shows are outdated.  So yesterday I set up a somewhat scaled-back version of the new display in my dining room and had a little photo session.

Check it out:



I love that I can work more vertical display elements in beause of the risers!

Extreme close-up of the new mirror!

This shot mostly shows off the color scheme of my dining room. 

And I just realized I need to straighten that picture.  Oops.

So, what do you think?  Any thoughts or suggestions?? 

So Much to Do...

... and for a change I actually feel like I have time to do it all!

Despite the fact that I didn't have much time to devote to the jewelry business over the summer, I've managed to get a relatively early start on the fall craft show season.

I already have 3 shows scheduled, you can find the details on my website. My goal is to do 2-3 shows per month between October and December. I want to make a decent amount of sales, but I also don't want to do a show every single weekend and end up too exhausted to enjoy the holidays, either!

I'm also giving a lot of thought to how I'm going to display everything. I think I may need to build some sort of a riser for the back of my table. Typically, my setup is something along these lines:


But I really think I'd like to have the necklace and earring stands along the back set up higher so I can get more creative with the stuff up front without worrying about blocking everything in the back.

I'm a big fan of this cute little dress form jewelry holder from Hobby Lobby:


I picked one up last week, and I think I may get another one. They be perfect for displaying necklaces like these, since they don't really need to lay flat for the customer to get an idea of what they look like.

While I was at Hobby Lobby, there was an incredibly cute little mirror that caught my eye. It would take up considerably less space than the one I've been using, and it better matches my jewelry's personality, if that makes sense. Unfortunately I can't seem to find a picture of it on the internet, but I will post some pictures if I decide to buy it!

I hope you're all having a wonderful Labor Day weekend! I'll be spending this evening at my parents' house for a little cookout, then it's back to the grind tomorrow morning. ;-)

Garnet & Pearls

As I mention in my last post, I spent this past Saturday afternoon at a bead expo.

There was a ton of cool stuff there, but sadly I could not find any more of the cute little carved coral roses that I used for this necklace and this necklace. *sigh* Maybe next time.

I did, however, find some really cool diamond-shaped garnet beads and some gorgeous cream-colored pearls, as well as seed beads in a dizzying array of colors. Since variations of this necklace seem to sell pretty well, I decided to use the aforementioned beads to make these:

I also finally picked up some lapis lazuli. It tends to be kind of expensive, and I was hesitant to buy it when I was first starting out. I didn't really know what I was doing, and this whole jewelry thing is really just a side business so I had no idea whether it would last. I already know exactly what I'm going to use the lapis lazuli for. It will involve butterflies and antiqued brass. :-)

And speaking of antiqued brass: Until now I've mostly been using steel in an antiqued brass finish, since it's inexpensive and it allowed me to experiment a bit without sinking a lot of money into supplies. On one hand, it's great because I can make these cute little bird necklaces and sell them for just $12.50.


If I made those same necklaces using brass instead of steel, I'd probably have to charge almost twice as much. But real brass looks nicer and will last longer, and of course I want to offer quality products!

So now I need to decide whether I want to offer both options, or just gradually abandon the steel altogether in favor of antiqued brass. If I go with the latter, it would certainly help keep my raw materials inventory under control, but the former has the advantage of offering products at various price points... Decisions, decisions.

Anyone out there want to offer their thoughts or experiences on the matter, either as a business owner or as a consumer???

A Happy Mistake

Hey, 2 blog posts in as many days! I'm impressed with me. ;-)

Anyway, last week I ordered a bunch of supplies from Fire Mountain Gems, and the order arrived over the weekend. Among the items I ordered were some small, silver, cotton-filled gift boxes.

Imagine my surprise when instead of a bunch of these:


I saw these:


Originally I was going to return them both, since they obviously weren't what I ordered, but the more I looked at them, the more I started thinking about what I could make with them!

Now, both bags o' beads together amounted to more than 130 feet of beads. In other words, WAY more than I need of something I had no intention of buying in the first place. I'm still returning one bag (they're sending me a return shipping label along with the boxes that I didn't receive), but they let me purchase the other bag at the same discount level as my original order. Despite the mistake on my order, I have to give the folks at Fire Mountain Gems a lot of credit for having awesome customer service! Every time I've spoken with them, they've always been incredibly friendly and accommodating.

And really, how can I complain when I got an awesome deal on a product I otherwise wouldn't have found?

Now I'm off to dream up some designs for these beauties:

Getting My Hands Dirty

Now that spring is here, I've been spending a lot of time digging around in the many gardens around my house. There are six separate garden areas, many of which were not very well maintained when I first moved in, and I've been trying to tackle them one at a time.

Unfortunately, one of them got pretty badly overrun with grass, and I'm still sore from digging it all up, which took about 3-4 hours. About half of the gardens now have mulch, and I transplanted a couple of perennials.

Yesterday it was time to pick up some annuals. My mom and I took a trip to Cierech's Greenhouse, and my purchases included:

Mediterranean Apricot Broadeye Trailing Vinca


Snow Crystals Alyssum

Accent White Impatiens


Elation Crimson Dianthus


I haven't had a chance to plant any of them just yet, but I'm planning to take Friday afternoon off to do so. Can't wait for them to join the Blue Flax, the Gloriosa Daisies, the Rozannes, and the many, many varieties of Clematis, among others.

I can't wait to share photos of my gardens once I have everything planted!

And no, it's absolutely no coincidence that so much of the jewelry I make involves flowers. ;-)

Do you enjoy gardening? What's your favorite flower??

Tiny Brass Birds

A couple of weeks ago on my Facebook page, I mentioned that the new jewelry I was designing involves adorable little brass birds.

Well, over the weekend (which started off strong, but 3/4 of which involved me lying on the couch feeling sick, boo), I finally managed to get some pictures taken and some listings up on Etsy.

Since my asymmetrical flower necklaces have sold so well, I decided to do something similar, replacing the flower with a little bird. I used 4mm beads (instead of the 6mm or 8mm beads I used for the flowers) to make the necklace more delicate and feminine.

It's available in green aventurine, amethyst, shell, or red tiger's eye. And of course I made matching bracelets:


I also made earrings, which will hopefully be listed on Etsy soon.

Now I must get going. I need to protect Elvis from the impending snow. That dog is seriously afraid of everything. ;-)

My Super-Busy Weekend

I'm starting this week out exhausted already!

I spend all day Saturday wandering around NYC. I got together with two of my roommates from college with the intention of taking the ferry to the Statue of Liberty, but once we realized how brutally cold it was, we decided to wait until warmer weather.

We did spend a little time near the South Street Seaport, checking out the shops and looking at the Brooklyn Bridge.

We decided to add "walk across the Brooklyn Bridge" to our list of things to do - once it gets warmer.

And of course we took the obligatory self-portrait.

Faye, Jency and me, huddled together for warmth!

City Hall Park looked so picturesque as we walked to the subway station to go to SoHo for a little more window shopping.

Around this point, I just sort of stopped taking pictures. But once the former roomies and I parted ways, I met up with my husband and some other friends for pizza, followed by a taping of Wyatt Cenac's stand-up special for Comedy Central. We had amazing seats, in the 3rd row... So if you happen to catch the special on TV this spring or summer, keep an eye of for me! ;-)


On Sunday afternoon Glen and I went over to our friends' house. He was helping to bottle a batch of beer, and I was working on another custom order for a bridal party.

How sweet are those little daisy beads?

We spent the evening hanging out at the in-laws' house, watching football and eating junk food.

This week is looking equally busy: Band rehearsal, extra library shifts, a furniture delivery (I'll be sure to share before and after photos of the living room!) on top of my usual work schedule. Oh, and hopefully a few new Etsy listings to share if I can find the time!

New Price Tags!

I didn't get nearly as much done this weekend as I'd hoped.
I updated my spreadsheet somewhat, but I'm not quite sure how to go about updating my inventory of finished products, so I haven't tied in my new spreadsheet to the old one just yet. I think it's going to involve sitting down with all my finished products, making piles of similar styles, and separating out items that don't fit anymore so I can take them apart and reuse the pieces. Once I figure out what pieces still fit into my new, more focused vision for my jewelry, I'll assign the new inventory numbers.
I didn't reorganize my raw materials either. That's going to be an interesting experience, to say the least. But I really need to separate the parts that I'm unlikely to use this year and figure out what I'm going to do with them. Right now all they're doing is cluttering up my storage space and making it harder to motivate myself to sit down and make some jewelry.

But on a more positive note:
I DID clean most of my house, even if my office is still a mess. I'll take care of my office later this week, once I sort through my inventory.

On Saturday I finished up the custom order bracelets I was working on for a bridal party.

AND - I put together a TON of price tags last night. What do you think?

A mere fraction of my brand new price tags

I couldn't find plain silver ribbon, but I think I actually like the black ribbon with silver trim even better.
Also, I came up with a really, really cute idea for some necklaces and bracelets. Once I finish getting myself organized, I'll make a couple of pieces and post pictures here.
P.S. I know most of you are scattered all over the country, but on the off chance that anyone out there lives in the Lehigh Valley/North Jersey area and would like to host a jewelry party, please contact me for details! :-)

Weekend Jewelry Project

One of my favorite things to do is custom jewelry orders, and a specific category of custom orders that kind of cropped up unsolicited is bridal party jewelry. I have a couple of sets to do for weddings this spring, and my plan for this weekend is to complete one of those sets.

I don't do a ton of wire wrapping, but the set of bracelets I'm working on requires it. It came our pretty nicely, I think, though:

One down, five more to go!

Also on the agenda:

• This past week I reworked my inventory and sales spreadsheets, so now I need to tie those into my cash flow spreadsheet.
• Finish putting together my new price tags and earring display cards. I'll share pictures of them when I'm done.
• Re-organize raw materials inventory. Now that I'm planning to somewhat limit the styles of jewelry I make, I need to weed out the stuff that doesn't fit in anymore and find some use for it.
• Clean my messy, messy (by my standards anyway) house!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! :-)

Spreading Holiday Cheer

As I sat down to write this, it occurred to me that I've been playing the clarinet for nearly 2 decades now - that's 2/3 of my life!

I've played in concert bands, marching bands, pit bands, and most recently, a municipal band.

photo via EastonBand.com

One of the things I find most enjoyable is playing Christmas music a nursing homes, which we did this past Monday.

When I was scanning through local news websites yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised to come across a nice article on the Easton Patch website about the concert. If you look carefully, you can see me in a couple of the pictures - first row of clarinets, all the way on the right. :-)

Our last concert of the year is at 2:00 this Sunday, Dec. 19 at Lafayette College. Admission is free, so if you're in the Lehigh Valley area and want to listen to some Christmas music, stop on by!

Also, don't forget -‎10 more days left of free shipping on all orders from my Etsy shop! Plus 10% off orders of $20 or more with the coupon code "KITTY10" and 20% off orders of $40 or more with the coupon code "KITTY20"!

Festivities (and a Sale!)

How was everyone's Thanksgiving?

Mine involved waaay too much food (2 dinners!) but it was worth it.

Festivities continued on Friday night. I insisted on going to the Peace Candle lighting in Centre Square in Easton as a spectator this year. In the past I've played the clarinet at the candle lighting, and had to suffer through most of the evening with freezing, un-gloved fingers, so I wanted to enjoy it properly bundled up.




Afterward we spent a few hours at Pearly Baker's hanging out with friends, some of whom I haven't seen in months! (If you ever go there, I recommend the Aspen Brie Wedges, and the Boursin Duck Strudel - both were delicious!)

And... today is my birthday!

I brought bagels into work because I was too busy/lazy to bake any treats, and after work Glen and I heading over to my parents' house for dinner. My in-laws are coming too, including my youngest brother-in-law/birthday buddy. (Happy birthday, Keith!) Looking forward to it. :-)

Last, and certainly not least, as I promised in my last post:
Here are the details on the Michievous Kitty Jewelry Christmas sale!
The sale starts tomorrow, December 1, and runs through December 24.

• If you spend $20 or more, use the coupon code KITTY10 and receive 10% off your total order.
• If you spend $40 or more, use the coupon code KITTY20 and receive 20% off your total order.
• Plus, shipping on all orders, no matter how much or how little, is free!

I'm hoping to add some listings to my shop over the next couple of days/weeks, and as always I'm willing to do custom orders! If you see something you like but want it in a different color, length, etc., or if you'd like an additional piece of jewelry to match something already in my shop, just send me an email and I will do my best to accomodate you!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Is everyone out there ready for Thanksgiving? I definitely am, although it helps that my husband and I aren't hosting this year. We'll be eating an early dinner at my parents' house, then eating a second dinner at his parents' house, but we don't have to worry about entertaining anyone, so for the most part we can just sit back and enjoy spending time with family.

Right now I am most thankful for my impending four-day weekend, which will allow me to relax after an absolutely insane 2 weeks!

I didn't actually mean to take a 2-week blogging break, but one jewelry demonstration, two craft shows, last-minute library shifts AND my regular work schedule? I didn't exactly have a lot of free time.

I finished all my craft shows for the season. Some went really well, some were kind of mediocre sales-wise, but I made a profit at all of them, and I'm significantly closer to my goal of buying a laptop to replace my dinosaur of a computer, so I really can't complain. For the rest of the holiday season I'll probably focus on bringing stuff in to either of my day jobs and bringing in custom orders for Christmas gifts.

Interesting thing I learned while doing craft shows this year: Uniqueness (or the perception thereof) really depends on context.

On Etsy, I feel like my work really doesn't stand out. Asymmetrical necklaces like those I am partial to making (especially those with a flower on the side) abound there. My jewelry is just one of many variations on the same theme.

But at local craft shows? Or at my day job(s)? I get endless compliments on how pretty and unique my jewelry is, and those asymmetical necklaces sell like hotcakes!

In fact, the ones with the antiqued brass finish, like this one?




I've had to make so many that I've run out of what previously seemed like an endless supply of that chain.
By the way, I will be running a sale both on my Etsy shop and in person during the month of December, details to follow! :-)

Cuteness!

When I got into work this morning, I logged onto my computer, checked the news, and saw a link to this story:

Nipper the tiny flipper: Ten-day-old orphan dolphin is nursed back to health

I literally squealed when I saw how cute and tiny this little dolphin is!

I am also pretty sure my coworkers now think I am crazy.

Anyway, I did a jewelry demonstration last night, and I thought it went really well. Made a decent amount of sales, took orders for some custom pieces, and a few people expressed interest in hosting parties.

My sales struck the right balance between making the evening worthwhile, yet not depleting my inventory to a point that I'd be left scrambling to replenish it before my show this Saturday (at Easton Area High School from 9:00am - 2:00pm!!).

Which is good, because I got called in for a last-minute library shift this evening, which I was totally not part of my plan for today. But who can resist making extra money doing something they love, especially when it's almost Christmas shopping season? ;-)

Speaking of which, one of my resolutions for this year is to buy as many Christmas presents as I can either from other crafters, local businesses, or Etsy shops. And in some cases, of course, make the presents myself!