A Little of This and a Little of That

Create Day 10. This has been one heck of a busy week.  Here are a few items I've been working on. The purse I made for my mother for her birthday. Mom if you are reading this act surprised. The necklace pendant I found on-sale at Michaels and I added some art charms (some I made and some were from a charm swap). The tree is one of many that I have now glued on base rocks as I am getting ready for a show this coming weekend. The wrapped tumbled stones are some that I've been working on. These will go with me to the show this weekend and most likely I'll give them out to the kids or hang them from one of the trees. If you follow my blog you might remember the picture tutorial from Sunday on my wrapped beach glass. Well you can wrap tumbled stones the same way.

Are you being creative this week?

If you are in the Western Washington area this weekend, come visit the Sound Sound Gem, Opal and Mineral show at the Puyallup Fair Grounds. We will be there Friday through Sunday demonstrating gem trees and I'll also be signing copies of my book.

Book now available from Amazon

I just had to share. I was doing some Google searches to make sure some of my products from ArtFire and 1000 Markets were showing up and low and behold when I searched for my book, there it was. Yes, it has  now been picked up by Amazon.com plus a few other book dealers. Thankfully Amazon is selling it for the same price that I am, but there are some used ones that are selling for less. If you have one of my books and would like to do a review on Amazon, I would love it. If you want to buy a book, you can buy one from me and I'll even autograph it.

Check it out.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1425177670/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=

What's Got You Down?

Mine has been the cold from H&!!. I still have the cough but am feeling much better. If you follow me on twitter, then you probably know that I had a show last weekend. It actually turned out to be a very good show. Sold lots of gem trees and a few books. We always make lots of new friends and visit with old ones when attending these shows. This show was in Castle Rock, WA, which is a very small town very close to Mount St. Helens. We try to do this show every year and have been for the past 6 years so customers have come to expect us to be there. This year I didn't take my jewelry and concentrated on marketing the book and gem trees and I did have a few customers disappointed that I didn't have my jewelry with me. While the book is still fresh and new, it's best to focus my attention in that direction for awhile... or at least at some of the shows I'll be doing.

I'm most excited about a couple of new wholesale customers that I just landed the last couple of weeks. One is just ordering small gem trees for the Tucson gem show and the other is ordering books and kits for a local gem show he is doing. Yea... I like that one as I don't have to make anything, just put everything in a box and ship. Right now, with this economy, I'll take any kind of order I can get. Obviously I don't make as much money on wholesale customers as retail, but a customer is a customer and I like them all.

If you are reading this post and are wondering what book and what kits, I have them listed on my Etsy shop, so take a look around. If you prefer jewerly then I have that too on my 1000 Markets and ArtFire shops. Links to my shops are at the right.

I did get out last week for a day to visit the beach. It just happened to be one of the best days there all Summer. No wind and warm. The dogs loved being off leash, especially Buddy the spaniel. I swear that dog can run 40 miles per hour once he gets going.

I hope everyone is enjoying their week. I have a fun tutorial that I'll post here on how to make a penny pendant necklace, so stayed tuned and check back later. Cheers, Dana

I'm so Finished

Okay, so finished is so final, but I can say that I am finished with competing with gem trees. I made my "Masters" at the Regional and National level and that was my goal. I updated my gem tree blog, so if you want to see the picture of me with my display and ribbon you can check it out HERE. I've included just a picture of my tree display on this blog. Several of the trees were some I competed with last year with 2 new ones. The palm tree I wanted to finish just wasn't up to competition standards, but I'll get the design down and include it in the next book.

This week has just been flying by. You wouldn't have known it the past couple of nights as I was stressing over my tree display and whether I would qualify. No more worries for now. I am selling books and teaching the next few afternoons here in Montana and that will be fun.

Next week I'll get back on my regular blog posting schedule so you'll see some new feature artists and fun new jewelry designs...hopefully.

What Have I Been Doing?

Yes, for the past few days I have been at a Gem and Mineral Show demonstrating gem trees and selling my book. Now I have to concentrate on getting everything together for our trip to Montana and the NFMS/AFMS annual show. This is the show where I will be competing with my gem trees for "Master" and teaching some gem tree workshops. If you haven't checked out my GemTree blog, you can find it HERE.

In all the commotion of getting ready for the show this weekend, I haven't had a lot of time to make new jewelry items, but this is one I did make this week. It is leather with leather fringe and a mix of gemstone beads. Something fun and funky. My husband thinks it is odd, but I tell you what, every time I wear it, I get more compliments then anything else I've made. Amazing. I'll write a tutorial about it when I get back from Montana.

I will still be posting some blogs while I'm gone, but will put my website on VACATION so that no sells will come through and just sit there. I hate to miss out on sales since they just started picking up with the book and tutorials, but I don't have a choice at this point and I don't want customers waiting around for me to get back to mail their purchase.

I'll post some pics of Montana and all the trouble we get into this coming week along with my competition case.

Friday Wrap Up

Well I made my first sale on-line of my book today, yea, and I only had it listed now for a couple of days. This is a good sign. I'm hoping that more people will find the value of making these little gem trees for themselves and for gifts. So, I'm excited.

I spent the morning finishing a tutorial to put out on my Etsy and ArtFire shops of the Standard Gem tree, so it is complete and ready to go. Those not wanting to purchase the whole book with 8 tree designs can just purchase the tutorial and I'll e-mail them the .pdf file. Simple for me and great for them as it is the same instruction as what is in the book plus a few color photos vs. the B&W.

This afternoon my husband and I took the boy to see the new Harry Potter movie. It was good. It had been awhile since I read the book and it seemed that there were parts missing....maybe I need to re-read the book. After that it was back to the house, where the boy spend a good 30 minutes playing with our dog Buddy and the water hose....I kind of forgot to have him change into his swim trunks. Oh, well, both dog and boy dry well.

Speaking of the boy, we went to the waterfront a couple of days ago with the dogs and I snapped a couple of shots to share with you.

Hope you all had a great week and I look forward to what the future holds.

Saturday Chores

Today was chore day or maybe a little late Spring cleaning. I started vacuuming the living room due to all the dogs bringing in leaves and twigs and then moved to the kitchen. That's pretty much were I stayed all day. It was a disaster area that really hadn't been organized or deep cleaned since we painted. So, out went all the items on the counter tops that never got used, cabinets were washed, pot and pan cabinet was cleaned out as well as the cabinet over the stove..yuk all that greasy build up. Then I moved onto the corner window with the plants and thinned those out before moving to the bar area which is a catch all for everything when we come home at night. So far it's looking pretty good, not sure when I'll get to the dining room, but my goal is to de-clutter the entire house while I'm off work. I would show you a before and after shot of the kitchen, but I didn't take a before and you might not be impressed with the after, but I am, and right now that's all that matters.

I wasn't very productive this week with the 11 yo in tow, but I did get one of my competition trees completed for Montana. I just have to glue it to a rock. Marketing items such as business cards and postcards were worked out with the printer, so hopefully I'll get a final proof early this week. My copies of the BOOK "Gem Tree Sculptures" should be in this week also. I'm sure it will be a busy week. I'll try to get some jewelry designs completed and pictures taken for next weeks post.

The Countdown Begins - Part 2

In my previous post I provided a little background on my pending job status. Find that post here if you would like to read what is leading up to this post.

What will I do next is the question? I will be watching my nephew for 3 weeks in July as well as keep up with my numerous blogs, I have three web sites that I sell my jewelry and gem trees on and one web site that is a gallery of my work that really needs to be updated. You can find those links on the left side of the screen. My Gem Tree Sculptures book is soon to be printed, the proof has been received and approved, so I will have all that marketing to do. I have upcoming gem and mineral shows this Summer and Fall that I will be demonstrating and selling at as well as teaching gem tree design. All in all, I will be very busy with getting ready for the shows, designing new jewelry and gem trees and marketing my book that I’m not sure how I would have fit a full time job in there.

I have no clue about marketing, but am trying to learn fast and reading a lot of good blogs on marketing yourself and book. I’ve gotten a quote for postcards and business cards that have the image of the book on one side and places to purchase on the other as well as my contact info. I’ve identified bead and rock shops in the area that might be willing to take the book on consignment. One of those bead shops I’m hoping will consider hosting a few of my classes. I have my list of gem and mineral clubs in the Northwest that I will be sending a postcard to as well as posting it on their newsletter. I’m attending a National show in Montana at the end of July where I hope I will have copies of my book available for sale and can host a book signing. I’ve already gotten approval of the show chairman to teach a couple of classes there. I have my short list of lapidary vendors that are willing to take the book on consignment and sell at the shows they attend and obviously if I am there, I will autograph a few.

Speaking of that National show in Montana, I will also be competing for my "Masters" designation in Gem Tree design and I still have two trees to make for that competition as well as getting my case ready. My trees last year were noted as being "Master" quality, but my showmanship (case and labeling) was not up to "Master" level. I did obtain the "Advanced" status that I was competing for. This year I have to do well in the case structure and labeling. The judging is very picky about these things and I usually put more emphasis on the trees themselves so I have to switch my efforts and get it right this time.

Now aren’t you glad you asked the question?

Jewelry Item of the Week

I didn't know whether I was coming or going this week as I was just trying to recover after last weekends show. I did make a pair of earrings for a challenge on 1000 Markets and a jewelry tree for earrings. The earrings are already for sale HERE, but the tree is not listed yet. I will get listed on my ETSY site once I get a little bit more organized with my completed gem trees and kits and have received all the copies of my book Gem Tree Sculptures. The book is for sale on the publishers web site HERE if you want to take a look at it. It will be for sale on Amazon in about 30 days.

The earrings challenge was from the Jewelry Artists Market on 1000 Markets and for June the theme was to create something based on your favorite song. Well, I have so many favorite songs as you can see from the music mixes that I create, but I chose Pachabels Canon which is a Baroque favorite. I found some Swarovski Baroque crystals and made some charm earrings. All the crystal dangles come off to add one or more at a time.

The jewelry tree was an ETSY alchemy request for a larger black jewelry tree. The only ones I had already made were green and orange and they are listed on my 1000 Markets site HERE, so that didn't work for her. Just waiting to hear back to see if this is what she wanted, if not then it will go up for sale.

Ready for anything

I know a lot of you read my posts and are thinking when is she ever going to tell us what she is doing....well that is today. My list of things I'll be doing this year.

• Marketing my "Gem Tree Sculpture" book (due out next week)
• Volunteering at the PVGMC annual show in the kitchen for 4 days June 4-7
• Working at the antique mall on our booth 1 day a week
• Watching my 11 yo nephew for 3 weeks starting July 6th (zoo, NW Trek, Mt. Rainier, Westport, Pacific Science Center) are a few things on the list for that time.
• July 25-26 Tenino Rock Show, demonstrate gem trees and jewelry design
• July 30- Aug 2 NFMS/AFMS rock show in Billings, MT to compete for my Masters in Gem Tree Design and to teach a couple of gem tree classes
• Aug 15-16 Yelm rock show, demonstrate gem trees and jewelry design
• Sept Western WA State Fair - volunteer at our gem club hobby booth for a couple of days
• Sept 19-20 Castlerock rock show, demonstrate gem trees and jewelry design
• Oct 9-11 Shelton rock show, not sure what I'll be doing yet as this is a new show
• Nov 13-15 Opal show, demonstrate gem trees and jewelry design
• Nov 13 Craft show at Russell Investments
• Dec 9-10 Craft show at the VA Hospital in Seattle, WA

All of this plus lots of other things I just haven't planned yet, like an open house for my jewelry designs.....another gem tree workshop or two this Fall, more blogging, tweeting and creating jewelry....oh and did I mention that I still have 3 gem trees to make for my competition in July along with getting my display case perfected.

I may have to schedule some time with my husband...LOL.