My New Jewelry Supplies Store

I've been working hard to get things rolling with my Bay Supplies Jewelry and Craft Supplies store and it's coming along really good.  I made my first sale. Hooray!! I continue to add different components and findings  I've been making copper earring findings, hook and eye sets (which I will be adding soon) and of course my fused glass cabochon which I make regularly in an array of beautiful, rainbow colors. 

I've also decided to bring vintage beads and findings into my store.  I'm all about recycling whenever we can.  You'll also notice the different cabochons made from my recycled, bottle glass collection. 

These cabochons are perfect for wire wrapping, wire work.  I've made many different pendants and earring sets with these and they look great!  Here are a couple of pictures with jewelry made from my glass cabs:

Custom Order

Here is a photograph of the custom order pendant that I made.  The customer brought in a stone and wanted it wrapped in a 14k gold filled wire design.  The stone is really thick on one side and gives it kind of a unique look; I brought the wire up on the sides as a wire basket support. 

Here is the picture -

I also made her a ring that I'm not quite finished yet.  I need to put the finishing touches.  I'll be posting a picture later. 

The Ball is Rolling

I'm not sure if I deserve a pat on the back because I didn't quite accomplish what I set out to do yesterday.  I did work on my custom orders and finished the pendant (I'll add a picture later today), and I did add the swarovski crystals to my Bay Supplies Store and my Artfire store which I'm really happy about.  Before judging me, you must know that the only reason I didn't work on the glass project (I know what you're thinking, but this is not an excuse, I assure you) was because I passed some quality time with my hubby (now your thinking: ohhh how sweet!)  Sometimes you just need to set your priorities straight and husband goes before work... Right??  OK, so now that I've got that in the open, I feel much better.  I've posted a picture of some of the beautiful crystals I was talking about.  See below. 

Aren't they gorgeous!  I just love the awesome turquoise color - they would make terrific jewelry for the new spring and summer collection!  I really like the teardrop shape; these would look great in any wedding or fancy jewelry design or tiara.  They're a really nice size too.  They measure 8x12mm which I find to be the perfect size for any design.  Of course these are crystals so they sparkle like diamonds in the light.  I also have them in pink, light sapphire, peridot, topaz, amethyst. 

What's on my schedule for today:  I want to start that ring I was dreading to do and I will be working on adding more supplies to my Bay Supplies Store and Artfire Store and if I have time this evening, I will begin a glass project. 

If all goes well, I should be able to accomplish everything, but we never know what can come up during the day.  We'll just see!

Schedule for Monday

I've decided to make my schedule for this week and I'll be posting my progress with each day.  Today, Monday, February 7th, I want to do the following:  Work on custom, jewelry orders; work on a new glass project; prepare and add swarovski crystals to my Bay Supplies store. 

The custom orders I want to work on are a wire wrapped pendant in 14k gold-filled (I will post a picture of the pendant once I'm done).  It's my customer's stone and she has brought it for me to wrap.  The stone is a little thick, but I think I can work with that, although I prefer flatter stones; they always turn out better.  I also have two rings to make - they're not my favorite, but I'll power through it. 

It's a beautiful, sunny day and I'm inspired to work.  I feel like the ideas are flowing and I'm anxious to get work.  I'll keep you posted.

I did It!

Oh yeah!  I did it!  I made a to do list and stuck to it.  I accomplished what I wanted to do.  I knew I could do it. 

By the way, my glass experimental project from last night... a flop.  I'm not surprised, every time I have an idea, it usually takes a few tweaks before getting it just right.  It's all about learning as we go along.  I'm the plunge head first type of person and I take it from there.  I won't have time to work on a new glass project tonight, but I'll probably try tomorrow.  You're probably just dying to know what it is I'm working on...  I'll give you a hint:  it has to do with recycled, bottle glass.  That should get your mind going. lol

I have a little project (something completely different than what I'm doing), something I've been dying to try.  I won't give you any details, but it involves carving somewhat and it's not wood.  I'll be starting on that once I've caught up with my custom orders. 

I took the cutest shot of my dog the other day; it's a bit out of focus because he's always moving, but it's still so adorable.  See it below.  The stuffed bear is fighting back and he's got Sammy, the Min Pin, in a nose lock.  I wonder who will be the all time champion?  Will Sammy be defeated by this girly, lilac, stuffed bear?  Surely not!

Well, since I don't have a maid cleaning up after me, I guess I'll go clean up my kitchen, catch up on some reading and get some well deserved rest!

My New Etsy Store - Bay Supplies-

I finally did it!  I kicked myself in the behind to get my wheels back into gear and I'm back to work.  When I told a good friend of mine I was putting together a work schedule so that I can manage to do what I plan to, she laughed slightly...  What was that??  I guess my reputation's made.  I'm not quite the schedule type person.  But I have to admit, I always thought I followed a schedule... somewhat anyway.  Do sticky notes all over the fridge count as a schedule?  lol.  Whatever...  I decided to make a weekly schedule and that way I won't overwhelm myself with work and it'll be like taking baby steps and then when I re-open my store in May, voila, I will have accomplished what I wanted.  Well, that's the plan.  We'll see.  I'll prove my friend wrong.  I can do it.  I know I can.

I'm off to a great start.  The first thing on my agenda was to setup my new Etsy shop "Bay Supplies".  This new store will be offering craft and jewelry supplies.  Many of the jewelry supplies I will be making, such as glass cabochons, sterling silver, copper and 14k gold filled findings such as ear wires, eyes and hook sets, components and more...

I'm happy to say I've organized everything for the Bay Supplies store and now I'm filling it between washings, dishes, putting the dog out, cooking (reheating left overs), eating on the fly and taking a coffee break with my neglected husband. 

Next thing on my agenda is to catch up with special orders that I've been neglecting; I'll be beginning tomorrow morning... I will really.

Wow!  I thought I didn't follow schedules... Doesn't that look like a schedule? lol

Take a moment to checkout my new supplies store - it's a little empty at the moment, but I will be filling it up a little each day... another scheduled event.

Well enough with the whole schedule thing.  I have a couple of fused glass projects I will be adding to the kiln.  I'm going to pop in a chick flick while I babysit my baby glass projects.  I'll be done by 10:30pm.

If the project looks good, I'll be adding a picture tomorrow.  This is an experimental project and I'll only post it if it was successful.

Good night!

Photography

Well I've been a little lazy during this vacation time of mine.  I've made many plans, but have only been taking pictures, pictures and more pictures.  Actually I think it's a good thing to finally have a bit of time to improve with my photography.  I've been experimenting with landscape and still life's and low light and more...  I don't really know what I'm doing yet, but it's beginning to somewhat come together.  My dad, my sister and my brother are all really good and I'm trying to catch up by studying what they do. 

Good pictures are a very important factor in selling my art and learning this skill will prove very useful not just for the pleasure of taking beautiful photography, but to promote my products in the best light possible.

Here are a couple of pictures I took lately.  You may view more by going to my flickr, click here.

Finished the Replica of Sheryl Crow's Earrings

I finally finished "THE" earrings!  This was the first time I had actually done silver metal work.  I had already done a bit of copper metal work, but it's a bit different when your metal is sooo much more expensive!! 

As I mentioned in a previous post about this project, cutting metal with the small jeweler's saw is quite the job.  It's especially difficult to get the curves just right.  I've learned one very important lesson:  Always cut outside the template line; then use a grinder or other similar type tool to do the more precise bit of work such as getting the metal even at the template line.  This method gives you some wiggle room for little mistakes. 

The overall design for these earrings was fairly easy to do.  The most difficult part for me was the center cutouts, but in the end I think they turned out quite well.  I'm happy with the finished product and my client seemed very pleased.  Since they're a gift for my client's daughter in law, I cannot wait to see her reaction.

These earrings are made of .925 sterling silver sheet, cutout, hammered and drilled.

If you wish to have a pair of these earrings made, please contact me for a quote.



My version of Earrings worn by
Sheryl Crow-







Earrings worn by Sheryl Crow on cover of
magazine.

New Recycled Bottle Bottom Dishes Made in New Brunswick

I just added to my Go-Green Collection by making a series of fused glass soap dishes/ candle holders out of recycled bottle bottoms.  These are an awesome collection; they are definitely conversation pieces.  These dishes can also double as coaster, men or women's jewelry dish, paperclip holder for your desk,  votive- holder, candle/pillar holder.  I've also made a couple of deeper dishes which can easily hold sauces, pot-pourri and that sort of thing. 

Each bottle bottom is a unique item, reflecting the lines and curves in that particular bottle.  The colors always depend on the color of the bottle, naturally, but these here vary from beautiful, emerald green, light olive to deep olive. 

You can see these new items in my Etsy store.

"Handmade in New Brunswick"

I'm always looking for ways to get more traffic to my etsy store and my artfire store.  The handmade jewelry industry is colossal and the competition is fierce.  Trying to get my handmade, wire jewelry noticed is very difficult.  Since I've been on Etsy (a couple of months), I've noticed the shop local section and that gave me the idea of targeting these as my potential clients.  Shipping is cheaper versus shipping national, and plus I'm supporting artisans in my area.  With this in mind, I just learned something very interesting that I never thought about before.  If you want to be noticed by local customers, it's a good idea to mention in your title "Made in New Brunswick" or wherever you come from.  Isn't that a neat little trick??

I am going to try this in both my etsy baysidewiredesigns and my artfire baysidewiredesigns2 stores.  We'll see what happens.  I'll add a comment in this blog as to what the outcome is.  I'll give it a couple of weeks to see if I generate more local traffic.

Another thing I also learned is to add unique content for each post.  Google robot likes unique content.  This little bit of information really hit me because I make a collection of glass, housewares items out of recycled glass bottles and my introduction always remains the same.  I'm not too sure if this affects the robot or not, but I will experiment to see what happens. 

I also noticed something interesting:  while I was listing some of my recycled glass items.  I could not include the word "wine" in my title or my description.  Then I realized, if google doesn't accept this on artfire, it doesn't on Etsy either, and I'm probably sabotaging my own business by not knowing these things.  Then it struck me that perhaps there are many types of words that aren't very friendly to google... I'm going to research that area as well.  It really would be too bad to put so much effort into building a store and adding all of your items and not have anyone find you or not be selling to your fullest potential.  It's most discouraging to do all this work in vain and I'm determined not to work in vain!!
If you know of any other tips and tricks to bring more traffic, please add your comments.  I would love to hear from you and how you succeed.