My First Artfire Sale

I set up a Studio on Artfire about 5 months ago. I have to admit that I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to it, only adding new items once or twice a month. I have many online venues to pay attention to, and Artfire is just another "basket" in which to put more of my "eggs". But I was delighted to see an email this morning announcing my first sale from my Artfire Studio! A little 5-Bead Ring like this one, in sterling silver. Size 3-1/2...can you believe it? Who has fingers that small?! Hey, if it's you, drop by and check out my stuff. I make almost all my rings in sizes 3 through 15!
--

On A Roll

I know it's been quite awhile since I posted, but I've got a good reason this time! I've been making stuff like crazy! And when The Muse strikes, I've learned to go with it.

In the past week, I've made 3 bracelets, 7 pendants, 31 pairs of earrings, and 9 anklets. Way too much to put all in one picture, so I just photographed the anklets. I have 13 different anklet styles available on the Chains page of my website. (The designs are also available in wrist and necklace sizes, too, but I sell more anklets than bracelets or full chains.)

So it's almost summer. Your shorts and sundresses are just begging for a little "ankle bling"! And you want something unique and different. You don't want to wear the same anklet styles as on every leg in town. Custom-fit to YOUR ankle size! Your choice of silver or gold, or both! Your choice of bead color--more than 30 colors to choose from! An affordable treat. Check them out!
--

My Extra Two Hours

My son goes to a Christian school about 12 miles from our house, so I drive him there every morning. I would be driving past my store to go back home again, so even though I drop Ricky off at 8:15 and I don't open my doors until about 10:30, I go in to work right after I leave him off. This is my "extra two hours", and it's usually pretty productive. I always try to get the majority of my computer work done before I open the doors to customers. Then I can be working at making jewelry after the doors are open. It's usually easier to put down my pliers when a customer comes in than it is to stop typing--or worse yet, uploading or downloading something. And with the state of the economy and the paltry number of bodies I have walking in my door, I want to be able to devote my full attention to any possible sale!

Local schools were on Spring Break last week, and I have to admit that it sure was nice to have that extra hour to sleep in, and the other extra hour to get ready for work at a leisurely pace. But I don't feel like I was as productive as usual. Because I didn't get here until 10:00 or 10:15, I didn't have my normal amount of uninterrupted computer time. And because I tried to squeeze computer time in between customers, I didn't get very much jewelry made last week. So although I hated rolling out of bed at the sound of the alarm at 6:15, I have to admit that I'm happy to be here at work early enough to get my whole "to do" list done today!
--

Happy Easter!

My son is 9, and doesn't actually believe in the Easter bunny any more (don't you hate it when they get to the point that they're not babies any more?), but he does still like hunting for eggs. So last night I stayed up hiding 85 plastic eggs all over the house. First thing this morning, he jumped up, grabbed his Easter basket, and started in. He found 84. I have no idea where the last one is. Maybe I should make a map next year? Ah well, I'm sure we'll find it...eventually!

--

Mini Pendant & Earring Sets

I have always offered a variety of earrings in the same beads and/or stones as my pendants. But I haven't really put them together as a specific set. Often I would get requests for matching earrings for certain pendants I had listed on eBay or Etsy, and I would always refer the customer to my regular website to view the Earrings page and pick something they liked. Sometimes they would, but more often they would possibly be overwhelmed by the choices and just not get earrings at all. Or worse, not buy the earrings OR the pendant!

So recently I've started making specific small post earrings to go with my mini-sculpted pendants, and I'm listing them together as a set in my Etsy shop and in my Ruby Lane shop. I've got half a dozen or so made and photographed already, and I plan to keep going until I have all my available stones made into sets in both gold and silver. That should satisfy everyone, right?

April in Florida

April in Florida. Warm and balmy and not yet too humid. Last week and the week before that were just perfect. I'm not kidding--literally perfect! In fact, the last couple of days were starting to feel more like summertime, with the temperatures in the high 80's and the humidity starting to climb.

I don't know what happened last night, but I woke up this morning to 50-degree temperatures and winds kicking up to 25 miles per hour. What the...? I had already put away all the jeans and sweaters. It's April in Florida!!!

Now the weatherman is saying tomorrow is going to be even colder. Record low temperatures overnight. Warnings that we should plan on waking up to temperatures in the 40's! What on earth happened to April in Florida?!

--

My March Top Droppers

Although I've been meaning to do it for a long time, this is the first time I've posted my top Entrecard droppers. Some just "drop" on by, some stop to comment, all are appreciated! Check them out:

Ruth's Creations
Gems By Jerri
SpicyBugz World
Three Fates Design
Las Vegas Baby
Tech-Blog
My Ark Full Of Worry-Free Thoughts 3.0
Shortinfosec
Between the Sand and Stone
Brick For Jade

--

What I Made Yesterday -- 4/2/09

I was going through my box of scrap wire and ran across a 6" piece of rope-design pattern wire. Cool! Let's add a few strands of heavy sterling square wire and make a terrific two-tone bracelet! It's for sale in my Etsy shop.

--