Heat

I think I'm starting to get hot flashes. I can't tell for sure because the heat index here has been over 100 degrees for days, and it's so humid you feel like you need gills to breathe. Either way it's a drag!

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Photo Backgrounds

There is a guy who is a long-time customer of mine, who is a serious rockhound and who has a lot of spare time on his hands. He happened to come in one day a few weeks ago when I was working on photography and noticed the various backdrops I use to display my jewelry on when I'm taking pictures: a piece of wood with a light "interior" side and a dark bark "exterior" side; 2 different light grey patterned tile pieces, 1 beige patterned tile piece, and a small but very pretty piece of driftwood. (I also shoot outside on the edge of the courtyard water fountain, a cement bench, and various plants and leaves.)

The next day my friend shows up with a huge chunk of pyrite (fool's gold) for me to use in my photography. I'm not kidding, this thing is at least 10 inches long by 8 inches wide by 5 inches deep--the biggest chunk of pyrite I've ever seen. There's one section with glittering little square nuggety protrusions, and other sections where the rock is smoother but still has the "gold" flecks through it. A beautiful specimen, but my first thought was whether it would be too shiny to get a decent picture without glare from the flash.

A couple of days later he comes in with another big rock. This one is honey onyx--layers and striations of soft peach alternating with white, and an uneven, rocky face, which is perfect for displaying jewelry. Just gorgeous, and a nice neutral color that I thought would be great for a background.

Last week I finally got around to shooting some new photography using these unique pieces. You can see the results yourself--the same cameo pendant taken on both rocks. The pyrite is actually not as bad as I thought, but doesn't work well for every color of stone. With the right item, though, it's a really interesting background! And the honey onyx is fantastic--I don't think there was any piece that I tried to photograph that didn't look good on it. I'd love to get some comments on what YOU think!

Just a couple days ago, my customer brought in this FANTASTIC big piece of driftwood for me to use. It's got light and dark sections and lots of lumps, bumps, holes, and protrusions that are going to make for amazing pictures! You can see more examples of the pyrite, the honey onyx, and soon the driftwood in my Etsy shop or my Artfire studio. (Be sure to look at the jewelry itself while you're there!)

A Lovely Sale

I had a lovely sale yesterday. Yes, I'm here in my shop on Sundays. I don't get a lot of customers, but I usually get a bit of work done--complete a special order or two, write my newsletter, photograph some jewelry. Yesterday was really no different, up until about 3:00. This nice young man comes in and says his girlfriend's birthday is coming up, and that she had been in my shop and saw some things she loved and had been raving about them.... All that great stuff that an artisan loves to hear!

He brought me a beautiful piece of lavender sea glass to set into a pendant for her. I was so excited at the prospect of making a $20 sale on a Sunday that I told him I'd be happy to do it on the spot, rather than putting it into my pile of special orders. He seemed pretty impressed about that, and proceeded to ask if I had any chains to go with the pendant, so he could make a complete "presentation" out of it. Well, SURE I've got some chains--another $15!--let me show you....

While I was setting the sea glass, he wandered around the store looking at other stuff. It turns out he had a "budget" amount in mind, and darned if he wasn't going to spend it all! He liked a couple of my larger, fancier neck ring pieces and asked my opinion. I tried on the one that was sort of asymmetrical so he could see how it looked on a real person, but advised him that it was really a piece intended for a night on the town, not so much a wear-with-anything. He quickly decided on the other neck ring--a fantastic green dichroic glass bead set in the center of a gold wire neck ring (pictured above). Fancy, yes, but it will look great with a party dress or a T-shirt, and he loved the fact that it would accent her green eyes.

While I was wrapping that up was when he told me he was still under budget, and grabbed another neck ring off the display by the door. Fifty strands of colored steel wire in black (one of the few things in the store that is not something I personally made, but VERY cool!) with a spoon-shaped blue, black, and silver glass pendant.

He made some excellent choices, and I told him so. All unique, attention-grabbing neck accessories that are going to get his girlfriend noticed every time she wears one. (And isn't that what great jewelry is all about?!) But I also told him that the thing she was going to find equally important was that he paid attention when she was talking about something she had seen that she liked. He was pleased. I'm quite sure SHE is going to be pleased. (And I was over the moon about the size of my lovely Sunday sale!)

I know I titled this post "a lovely sale", but I think the moral of the story should be: great jewelry, and a guy who pays attention! What more could you ask on your birthday? Right, girls?

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Text-speak

I have the worst time texting. Partly because my phone is kind of old and doesn't have a QWERTY keyboard. So if I want to type an "s" for instance, I have to hit the 7 key four times. And I have to get my reading glasses to see the darn keyboard in the first place!

But my biggest problem is that I just cannot bring myself to use text language. I have always had an anal-retentive "eye" for grammar, and misspellings just make me crazy. Typos, too, but that's not done on purpose. I CANNOT use "u" "r" for "you are". I CANNOT use a 2 for "to" or "too". I CANNOT use a 4 for "for". I must use correct grammar. I must punctuate my sentences, and begin the next sentence with a capital letter. I CANNOT not capitalize "I" when referring to myself. So it takes forever for me to send a message. And of course the person I text most often is my 10-year-old son, who has absolutely no problem utilizing all kinds of abbreviated "spellings"!

I think encouraging text-speak in children is a really bad idea. I think they should learn how to spell and form sentences correctly before they start mangling them. Some of the things my son texts to me, I can tell it's just text-speak (and I hate it!). But some words, I'm not sure if he's spelling them wrong on purpose or if he doesn't know the correct spelling. So I get on him about it. And he says, "I know, Mom." Then I don't know if he really KNOWS, or if he's just feeding me that 10-year-old "I know, Mom" attitude!

I am quite certain that text language evolved out of laziness. And that's a shame, because I'm equally sure that it's here to stay. Except for the lone hold-out. Me. Anyone care to join me?

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Later Hours

This past weekend many of the merchants of Historic Cocoa Village started staying open later on Friday and Saturday nights. For a long time, most of us have heard complaints from the locals saying they wished the stores would be open later so they could come down after work. This is a good thing, IF they have the right mindset.

My concern is this: sure, there are those people who come down to one of the restaurants for dinner, then walk the streets window-shopping. They wish the store was open. They cup their hands around their eyes and press up against the windows of the darkened store. I know this happens, because I see forehead prints and side-hand prints on my windows occasionally. And I'm not even on the main street (although I am right next to a fine-dining restaurant). So, do they really want to do some SHOPPING? Or would they just like to window-shop INDOORS with the lights on? Because window-shopping indoors with the lights on doesn't do the merchant one bit of good.

Do people take into consideration the additional labor and electricity, if nothing else, that goes into staying open 3 extra hours? I highly doubt it. So if people just come to Cocoa Village and walk around pointing and saying, "ooh, isn't that cute?" but don't BUY the cute thing, then it's having a negative impact. It is costing the store owner money. I realize it takes time to get the word out that something has changed, no matter what that something is. We're working hard to get the word out to the local community that some stores are offering later shopping hours. For me, the operative word is shopping. To some of the people who might come down, the operative word is going to be some of the stores will be open.

In a shopping district like ours, with dozens of individually owned-and-operated businesses, you're never going to get everyone on board. It stinks, but it's a fact. There are some who won't even consider staying open late. There are others who are "waiting to see what happens". There are still others who will try it once or twice and if they don't make a bunch of money, they'll say "oh, that doesn't work for me". I wish it were possible to get everyone to see that an all-out, committed, group effort is good for ALL of us, even if every visitor doesn't buy something in every store every time they visit. Just as I wish it were possible to get the visitors to see that BUYING something is beneficial to THEM because it will encourage the shops to stay open and to be open the next time the evening-shopping bug strikes.

If the shops aren't open, the public can't buy. And if the public doesn't come and buy, the shops won't stay open. Catch-22? You bet. We'll see how it goes. I'LL be open every Friday and Saturday evening until 8:00 p.m. Come on down! And bring your wallet! I won't be upset if you don't buy from me (although it would be REALLY cool if you did!), but I'll be sad if you don't buy something, somewhere.

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Lots of Ear Cuffs!

For several months now, a very large number of the orders I've received online have been for ear cuffs. You know, the little adornment that wraps around the outside cartilage on the side of your ear...? An accent to earrings, or an accessory in and of itself. From simple bands to ornate sweeps, for young and old alike, they're a cute and comfortable, and mostly just fun! I've got several listed for sale in my Artfire studio or my Etsy shop. Pop on over and in just a couple of clicks you can order, pay through PayPal, and have your own ear cuff on its way to you. Trendy, maybe, but inexpensive enough where you can treat yourself and hop on the ear cuff bandwagon!

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Summer Schedule

The thing I love most about summertime is that I get to sleep in a little longer each morning, since I don't have to take my son to school. Not TOO much longer, because I do have to take him to the day camp he attends at his karate school, but long enough for it to feel indulgent. The downside of that lovely sleeping in is that I get to my store later in the morning, and have that much LESS time to get everything done that I need to before I open my doors. Like this, for instance. I'm blogging, and it's already time to be opening my store. I did list some new items in my Etsy shop, but I still have to update my Facebook Fan Page. I did take care of my eBay sales and made a new listing there, but I haven't written the bill payments that need to go with the mailman today.

Adjusting to my summer schedule will require a bit more focus than I am sometimes inclined to have. Today is only the first day. I'm not totally displeased with my progress so far this morning. I'll go update my Facebook Fan Page, write the checks to pay the bills, and then get to work on the gigantic pile of special orders on my clipboard! Since my doors are now open, there's the possibility that customers might walk in, but being in business to sell to the public is what makes all those other things even necessary, right? So if I have to get up from my desk to take care of a customer, that's a GOOD thing! The rest...I'll just keep muddling along!

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Another Custom Order

Sometimes customers themselves put together two or even three things that I already make to come up with a whole new design. Helps me think outside my usual "box" as it were! Donna was buying a 3-Bead Point Bracelet with clear AB Swarovski crystals. She wanted earrings to match. Now, Donna likes a bold earring, as you can see. She saw the J-Shape Hoop Earrings that I had, and held up the bracelet so the crystals were inside the earring. "Can you make it like this?" she asked. "Absolutely," I said. "I'm the Burger King of jewelry design--have it YOUR way!"

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