continued upgrades/improvements, looking for some advice/feedback, this week's progress

I made a new banner and avatar for my Etsy shop tonight.  Please check it out and let me know what you think! The old ones were all right, but as I started redoing my blog design and considering other changes that I should make to my Etsy shop, I decided that they needed an upgrade, too.  My work does continue to change, and I think that my shop and blog should reflect my more recent work.

As I've been going through all of my listings that I did not complete before the Arts Festival, I've been uploading new pictures to my Flickr photostream.  You can check out a handful of items that aren't up on Etsy yet as well as work in progress and craft fair pictures that you may have missed on here.  I will continue to edit and upload all of my button stud pictures on Flickr.  I'm debating listing some of my button studs as grouped listings: i.e. three button stud earrings for one price.  It doesn't seem worth it to list them all individually, but I think that they could sell on Etsy.  If anyone has any thoughts on this, please let me know!

In another effort to boost my Etsy sales, I think that it is way past time to get a postal scale and start offering delivery confirmation through PayPal.  Many many Etsy sellers offer it, and it's one thing that I could do to make my shop more competitive.  I would be able to use it for some of my used book sales on Amazon as well.  I don't need a scale that's equipped to weigh textbooks, but I could use it for the smaller hardbacks and all of the paperbacks.  For all of you out there who do use postal scales, let me know if you have any preferred brands or if you were able to find good deals at any specific stores.  The general advice on the Etsy forums seems to be that most smaller models are more than adequate, but it's always worth getting a second opinion before purchasing.

I've been working on the earrings for my Arts Festival raffle winners this week, which are green designs that I've made before.  I'm making additional pairs that will be for sale in my Etsy shop at some point in the near future since green does continue to be a very popular choice for earrings.  After I get those done, I really need to work on my Art Beads summer piece.

silver embellishment, sneak peaks

I listed a new skinny embellished peyote cuff today. I decided to make this one after I did the remake of my spring garden fringed peyote cuff. Both bracelets use the same green cubes in their bases. I got the metal button for this new cuff in my Christmas button stash. I have a whole Ziplock full of them! I'd like to attempt a button charm bracelet with a bunch of them. It would involve a little wire wrapping, which I've never done before. But I think that it would look really neat. For now, though, here's my new peyote cuff.



I put together the leaf sets for two new leafy bracelets last night: a remake of my original autumn design (left) and a new neutral design (right). I also put together the seed bead mix for the autumn design as well so I'm ready to start that later today.

I finally upgraded my Flickr account to pro. My paid livejournal account is going to expire soon, and after much thought, I'd decided that I'd rather put the money into a pro account on Flickr than a livejournal renewal. So you can now view works in progress pictures like this here. I will be working on adding more photos like these over the next few months.

new listing, success with pictures

It was a gorgeous, sunny day here. It's really starting to feel like fall. I was finally able to take some pictures outside, including the ones in this listing.


I love turquoise and red. I can't believe that it's taken me this long to make another piece with that color combination.

I also got thinking about turquoise and red this week because Carol Dean of Sand Fibers started a new Flickr group called Beadwoven Beauties. When she asked me to join, she left me a comment about the group with this picture. Complete coincidence, although I know that she does love turquoise. I am honored that she asked me. For those of you who are fellow bead weavers, I highly encourage you to join the group. The submissions have been amazing so far.

I have been encouraged by how many hits my newest listings have received since I joined Twitter and started posting there about my new items. Hopefully that will continue. :)

I made a few purchases on Etsy this weekend, including a few of the items that I posted about recently. I will post more about them as they start arriving. I'm sure that I won't be disappointed!

Facebook Etsy page, new Flickr group, new listing

Happy New Year's Eve! :)

A fellow members posted this awesome tutorial on the Facebook Etsy Sellers group yesterday. Thanks to that tutorial, I now have my own Facebook Page for my Etsy shop! You can check it out by CLICKING HERE . If any of you have facebook, I encourage you to make your own page. Please let me know if you do! The link for my page is also on my sidebar under a new section for my non-Etsy links like my flickr photostream.

One of the group admins from the Flickr group Alternative Material Jewelry invited me to include two of my button bracelets in the group pool. This is the first time I've been invited to add photos to a Flickr group so I was pretty excited about that. I'll be adding more pictures of button bracelets there in the future.

My new listing for today is an idea that I've been tossing around for quite a while. I had an all black cat for 14 years growing up that I named Sky because she reminded me of the Night Sky. I have always had a soft spot for all things having to do with the night sky since then. I made a simple strung beads bracelet similar to this listing back in college. I like the current listing so much that I made one for myself, too. I hope you enjoy it. :)