What to do Now?

I've started implementing the ideas that have been floating around in my head for months. I have added two categories on my web site, one is Jewelry for Charities and the other is Chakra Jewelry.

My husband and I decided that we needed to start giving more to charities and I thought what a better way than to give a percent of my profit of sold jewelry items. I'm letting the buyer decide what charity the funds should go to and leaving it open as long as they are a 501(c)3 non-profit. Obviously I'm not doing this for all my jewelry, just those that I have labeled for charity. If you are curious, check out my web site.

My other idea was to create a line of Chakra inspired jewelry. All the jewelry in this category is made with gemstones. I have added the healing qualities of those gems and the Chakra that they support. I'm hoping to attract customers interested in the metaphysical properties of gemstones. I came up with another idea today to combine genuine copper with gemstones as copper has it's own healing qualities that people have been aware of for years. Look for some of those pieces early next year.

One of the other things I have been working on is getting my Etsy shop generated with hits so that I may get some buys off of it. I've read in several places that they way to generate sales is to have a lot of items for folks to choose from and to post something everyday. The fees for Etsy is relatively inexpensive, so if it brings sales, then I will give it a try. I'll let you know if it works next month.

Since this is the holiday season, I have three shows here in the next month and a half to get ready for along with updating the stock in the salon where I have commission items. I may do an open house after the holidays to catch folks with Christmas money to spend as I don't have time before. And if that isn't enough to do, I'm entering a juried competition for a local non profit show that is due mid December for a March showing.

Just recanting all this is making me stressed. I think the vacation that I have scheduled for Christmas time I will move up to get all this stuff completed. Sometimes the job does get in the way of the things we really want to be doing.

Thanks for reading and hopefully understanding. Dana :-0

What's New

Managing a full time job along with a jewelry business has been a struggle, but I am seeing a light in the tunnel. I've been trying to make some contacts with local retail businesses for consignment of my jewelry and I have also been putting the final touches on my portfolio. Next step is to take samples around along with the picture portfolio and see what they think. I know women like my jewelry and I have several customers that buy from me regularly, but the unknown is always a little bit stressful.

On another note, I have developed with my husband and a friend a workshop titled "Tree of Life". The workshop is designed to explore your inner self and be able to apply your experiences in a creative process in designing a gem tree. The arrangement of the tree and it's limbs is a reflection of who you are, who you want to be or what you see in others. We also cover some of the healing qualities of gemstones that are used in the design of the tree. It is a personal growth workshop that will definately be beneficial for me and I hope for my students. This workshop differs from the other gem tree workshops that I teach in that this one is designed for personal, spiritual or emotional growth and not just a craft class. Obviously, if this sounds interesting to you, please send me an e-mail and I'll get more information out to you.

It doesn't seem like I've done a whole lot yet this year, but the year has only just begun.