Just A Few Notes

One- Check out Beaducation's Facebook fan page and read the review I got to do of the new Soldered Rings & Bezels DVD! They're hosting a giveaway as well!

Photo from the Beaducation blog

Check out their blog for details! CLICK HERE

Two- Don't forget that the coupon code YEARONE is good until Aug 20th in the shop as a part of my one year on Etsy anniversary!

Three- To continue the festivities, there is a great selection of items for sale over on the fan page. These are priced so that I don't have to take them when I move, celebrate my one year and show off some new designs!

Finally- Keep checking back both here and the fan page so that you don't miss out on any chances to get some early holiday gifts! New items are being made every day and they'll go out regularly so that you always have something available.

Speaking of, check out the new birthstone bracelet that was just put in the shop this morning!

The Yellow Ribbon bracelet also got a bit of a makeover. The new larger ribbon is now on it so the yellow really pops out and can be seen. There is still a $5 donation to the USO with every purchase.

Time to Celebrate!

I've reached my 2011 Christmas goal early! I set out to get 100 sales by the end of the Holiday season in 2011 (or Christmas) and I was blessed with sale #100 last night.

There is so much going on, I'll try to remember everything I want to say.

First- THANK YOU! I started out making small pieces for friends and family and didn't think I'd be where I am so early.

(Found this Noahs Ark themed Thank You at RoseMaryCompany.com)

Second- Check out the totally kick butt giveaway from Beaducation on their blog(<--click the word BLOG)

Third- There are some big changes coming, everything will switch to either silver plated or copper with sterling being an optional upgrade. There will also be two new chain options thrown into the mix. I'm doing this because the cost of the sterling chains have more than doubled and I doubt your wallet likes the unnecessary expense without it being optional. Silver plated is just as beautiful!

Fourth- For MY celebration........A GIVEAWAY AND A SALE!!! First thing's first. The sale. Use the code NUM100 for 15% off of your order! This code will be posted in the announcement, twitter, Facebook and here for EVERYONE to see and use.

Want to win one of these unreleased designs for FREE?




*don't worry, they'll be personalized for you* ;-)

Comment below for one entry. Earn extra chances of winning this great prize, post a link to this blog post (not just my blog as a whole) on your blog, Facebook (be sure you're a fan so you can link to my Fan Page) page, or your Twitter feed (use #Made_by_NAC on Twitter so I can see it).

Make every social post a new comment here. All bundled in one will be one entry. For example, one comment to enter, one comment to let me know you posted on FB, one comment for Twitter, etc.

Comments can be taken up until the evening of the April 4th. The morning of April 5th I will announce the winner that is drawn at random!

I'm a learnin!

I'm so happy to say that I am practicing some awesome wire-work. I've also been working on some custom pieces and I want to show them off!





I also cut a butterfly in half and made a best friends necklace. Silly me forgot to take pictures. Maybe I can talk them into sending me some. Haha.

Anywho, I'm working on practicing with copper and colored aluminum for other nests and getting some birthstone color pearls.

I'm also working on a 'square line' of necklaces, bracelets and key-chains. Here's a preview!



There will be some big changes coming up! More on that tomorrow. I'm pretty wiped. Take care!

Waiting and waiting

I'm very excited to get the newest design stamps. I'm also very excited for "Mothers Day Season" to start. I'm getting antsy from not stamping as much!

Right now I'm working on a butterfly necklace, a best friends necklace set and a cuff. Other than that, there's only one more order and I'm waiting on supplies!

In two more sales, my Christmas goal will have been reached. Last Christmas I decided that 100 sales would be this Christmas's goal. So, once that beautiful number is reached, there will be a celebration! There will be a giveaway AND a special Mothers Day sale will start. Yay for happiness and free stuff!!!

Here's a peak at the stamps I'm expecting any day now!




I also just ordered this puppy paw for a special memorial piece!


Well, I'm off to the post office! Take care

Final day!!!

Today is the final day for preparations. I still need to go get the gift bags and tissue, create the info packets, get featured seller info together, price items and get it all for movement!

Sadly, we're expecting rain all weekend, so I hope that nothing gets wet! Yesterday I took a butt load of photos, and today, I'd like to show some off.

These are earrings I created just for the party:


There are some cuffs too!


I also did a small set-up of the new displays. The trays came bare, so I cut up some scrapbook paper to add some colorful pop to them.




Well. I am off! Too much to do and too little time to do it! Take care

Down to the wire!

Well, it's just two days to the party and I have no clue how I'm going to be ready in time! Haha

What I still need to do:

Price items
Create order form for each piece of jewelry (ex. necklace, bracelet earrings)
create a packing list
Make a few more "free" earrings
Prepare the gift bags
Create information bits about the featured Etsy Sellers
Make a mock layout so I make sure it all flows well

Tomorrow night everything will get packed up and ready to go. We're expecting rain all weekend, so we'll see how transport and my shoes/dress hold up with the rain. Eek!

I also am excited/nervous for the earrings. Hopefully they don't close around the hoops that are in. The hoops have a smaller gauge than the earrings from LimeGreenModern

There will also be a ton of picture taking and catalog making today as I prepare. Hopefully tonight or tomorrow I can update with some really cool pictures!

Take care

I feel crafty!

As signs of life are starting to come back in Noah and I, I'm starting to get motivated for the jewelry party in 18 days!

I really wanted a fun and crafty way to display the earrings I'm working on. So, I decided to take a picture frame (with no glass) and put up a few rows of knotted hemp. I think I'm going to add two more to even it out. Originally I was going to have the earrings on earring cards pinned on with mini-clothes pins.

Here's how it turned out!



My mission over the next two weeks is to complete this to-do list for the party (along with filling any orders that come in, they take priority of course)
Earring cards
Displays
Compile packages so items are ready to take home
Stamp boxes
Make 'thank you' tags
Create new items
Make 10 more pairs of free earrings

Once I fully kick this cold/head cold/sinus infection/whatever I'll be able to hit the ground running. Noah's still working on kicking his croup and ear infection. It doesn't help that he got a new molar in the midst of his sickness.

Until later. Take care and stay safe!

How has my business changed?

I've been going at this for 6 months now (just hit my 6 month-aversary on the 19th) and looking back, I think I've gone forward very well. Sure my path may have had pot holes, speed bumps slowing me down and stop signs making me take a break, but I've loved it.

There are two changes that really hit me the other day. My product (given) and my photos. I no longer use a plain white background, I use color. My practice has made perfect.

This is the best example I've found. On the left is my very first calendar necklace. The right is one of the most recent.



Instead of straight on photos against white in a harsh light, I use soft light against a colored background at an angle. I've also gotten better about lining the numbers/letters.

Who knew metal stamping could be so much fun and so hard at the same time? I remember when I first got my practice set, I thought "how hard can this really be? You put numbers and letters next to each other.....". I guess I learned my lesson. I've gotten some great advice from Beaducation and fellow stampers on Etsy along with a couple of those who have provided my supplies!

Now, 6 months later, I'm finishing my first wholesale order, preparing for my 2nd jewelry party, designing lines of products and scheduling work hours. I know about taxes, suppliers, packaging, shipment, cost of goods sold and how to write a line sheet.

Who knew........

Take care and enjoy your week!