It's Over!

November was a VERY long month!  My Grand Opening, my failed NaNoWriMo, the remodel of my craft room, and everything that happened in between really took it out of me.  A quick update on each...

Wire Willow had a pretty good grand opening.  I sold quite a few items, all of them were sold to friends and family, but I now have a site that looks more experienced and popular.  My only disappointment was that I still can't seem to break into the Etsy clientele.  Just means that better marketing and research is needed.  Why are they important?  There are WAY more of them and the hard core etsy shoppers spend a lot more and shop more often.

Failed NaNoWriMo.  I was about 6,000 words into my book when I decided, it sounded too much like a romance novel.  No, there wasn't any hanky panky, but the mood and POV wasn't a sharp enough contrast to what I've written before.  I want to scrap the whole thing and this time REALLY try to make something different.  That means I need to slow down, really think about it, and then tip-toe ahead.  NaNoWriMo is fun, but not everything can be done at a sprint.

My room.  I know, still haven't taken pictures of it.  Well I have but they didn't turn out very well.  Until my husband has time (hint hint) to get some great ones taken you'll just have to take my word for it.  The room looks wonderful.  I've already begun to retreat to it more often.  And while I haven't gotten much writing done in the small closet retreat that I made, my cat sure does love it!

So what does December hold?  If I survive the holiday then I'll call that good enough.  I need some time to just relax.  But I wouldn't say no to more etsy sales!

Painting Splatters

A few before pictures might be nice

I've been working my butt off with this Etsy sale, even taking my two days off to make jewelry so that I wouldn't run out of pearl items to be posted (I underestimated how many of them my mom would buy...). 

It was when I got off work yesterday and went into my craft room to write that I realized, I could not write in that room.  Since we moved in it has become a bit of a junk center.  Don't want something cluttering up another room?  Shove it under the bed.  Don't want to sort through some papers, well I've got this closet of death that fits stuff like that quite nicely.  And the worst part...they had painted it pink.  Almost every wall in our recently purchased used mobile home was splashed with a very pale shade of off pink.  I think that it has finally driven me batty.

This picture was taken when it was mostly 'clean'.

So when my husband woke up an hour and a half later he found a huge pile of junk in the living room and me in my craft room with ratty clothes on and white primer streaked in my hair, on my arms, and even on my back.  (Hey it is hard to paint in those tiny closets!)  Luckily my husband is awesome and he even helped out by spray painting a lamp for the room and slapping on a bit of the paint color while I was asleep.  Although it is a tiny room, painting every one of those nooks and crannies is going to take forever!  So don't be looking for finished project pictures yet but I'm hoping that within the next week I'll be able to show you what a couple of cans of paint and some spray finish can really do!

And that book of mine?  I've still been trying to work on NaNoWriMo but it hasn't nudged too far past the 5,500 mark. Right now I'm not too worried about making that mark.  Like I said, I couldn't concentrate to write in that room.  After the remodel I'll go back to pounding it out and getting it ready.  That might mean that the book isn't done until sometime in December but I'm not going to freak out.  At least not like I did on my craft room!

Who Doesn't Love Pearls?

Fun Fresh Water Pearls!

Okay that's kind of a silly question.  But while some people go gaga for the standard white salt-water variety, my passion lies with freshwater pearls.

Baroque

Coin

They are usually dyed to achieve a wide array of colors.  The styles range from perfectly round to the strange world of 'baroque'  and coin pearls.  I love the textures and varieties that you get from fresh water pearls.  I like to mix them with other beads, like hematite. They add a fresh twist to the old classic.

Recently I was able to get my hands on a large batch of freshwater pearls that have now been made into beautiful necklaces and earrings that will be popping up on my WireWillow site during the month of November for my Grand Opening sale (more on that next time!).

Fresh water pearls really are my passion.  I try to limit the amount of jewelry that I make for myself, otherwise I'd keep everything.  So I only have about 30 sets that I've kept over the past 6 years, 20 of them are different pearl necklaces with matching earrings!

Some fun facts about pearls: 
They are graded from A-F based on flaws and irregular shapes.
The really pricy ones are the perfectly round A grade because they are so rare.
I work mostly with B-D grade because I love the surprise that 'flaws' can bring to the piece.
The F grade pearls aren't sold for jewelry, they get ground up and are then used in most types of eyeshadow!  How many women realize that they are putting on a bit of pearl every day?

Want to see more pearls?  Check out my etsy shop during the coming of November!  Use the code GRAND and receive 15% off!

Wire Willow Update

I haven't been very good about sharing pictures of my newest pieces for sale on my etsy shop, Wire Willow.  For the past couple of months my collection has continued to grow and now has over 60 items up for sale!  Now that it is fully functional I have decided to host a Grand Opening sale.  The sale code will be GRAND for Grand Opening and it will earn you a 15% discount!  It will run for the entire month of November so that you can get your Christmas shopping done in time for gift wrapping.  There will also be over 60 new items by the end of the Grand Opening sale, with new postings daily, so check back often!

And check out a few of my most recent items.  Or visit my shop by clicking here.

Wire Willow Part 2

My newest Wire Willow Designs from my Etsy store!

Somekind of Normal

I keep waiting for things here in Bangor to get into a some kind of pattern so that I will no longer feel like I am stumbling along here.  How is it that it took less time to settle into Maine the first time than it has when I just moved a couple of hours north?  Then again hind sight is a bit rosy and I'm not so sure that I did settle into Maine as quickly as I seem to remember.

I'm going to be working some night audits again which should help me get around to posting my blog more often,  I have to admit that night audits not only help me get things done but they somehow remind me that I should be keeping up on here.

As I mentioned last time I am now starting up with an Etsy shop for my jewelry.  I'll soon post pictures of the latest set of jewelry that is now in my shop.  It has been a lot of fun and I am so proud of myself that I've been able to keep plowing along and posting new items.  The more I have up for sale the more likely it is that I'll sell something.  I have had one sale so far (thanks again Penny!) but I know how hard it is to really get these things up and going.  Most people who post to Etsy aren't able to make it past the first few hurdles.  The first step is making something unique and the second is making sure that it can be found.  The third is where it gets really hard, patience.  I'm not always good at that last step.

For now I just keep looking up my etsy shop and smiling with the knowledge that so far I'm passing one of the biggest hurdles...I'm not giving up.

Wire Willow Shop is Now Open!

First Jewelry items on my Wire Willow Shop!

In between moving to a new area in Maine, starting a new job, and hosting various family members on vacation I somehow got talked into opening my own Etsy site.  Yeah, I'm still not sure how that happened, but it did.

I've been making beaded jewelry since about 4th grade and selling it at my parent's store back home.  I usually made enough to go out to a movie once a month and not much more.  About five years ago I learned how to incorporate wire into my jewelry and it just took off from there.  I love giving jewelry as gifts to family but have been convinced by others that I should share what I make on a much larger scale, we'll see.

Mostly my etsy shop will be a fun way to brag about what I'm making and show family back home my latest designs, hey I might even sell something!

My Cross Stitch of Waterhouse's 'Psyche Opening the Golden Box'

The thing that I'm really curious about is my cross stitch projects that I'll be posting.  I love making huge cross stitch projects, most of them represent my favorite pieces of art.  I'd never thought that there was a market where people would want to buy finished pieces, I believed that they were just a bit too old fashioned.  Well it turns out that cross stitch is posted and even sold on etsy so again, we'll see.  For the right price I'd be willing to share my hard work with others, the one above took me over 700 hours to complete.  For right now let's just admit that I mostly posted it for bragging rights. 

So please run on over to my new etsy shop and see what I have to offer and check back soon as I will be posting many more items in the weeks and months to come.