StormRising Designs Handcrafted Artisan Jewelry

Ametrine and Bali Silver Earrings

2009-12-08T00:33:00.003-06:00

I have earrings on sale at StormRising Designs through Thursday, December 9. All earrings are 25% off regular price. Tonight I just completed a pair of lovely ametrine and bali silver earrings. I've uploaded a picture of them. They'd make a great holiday gift!

Holiday Sale at StormRising Designs

2009-11-29T09:23:00.004-06:00

It almost seems impossible that it is almost December - just a few days away. Autumn here in Kansas was a bit strange. October was so cold but then November was much nicer. The last couple of days here were beautiful with temperatures above normal in the 60's. I think today is probably more normal with highs forecasted to be in the 40's. Before we know it the holidays will be here. So it's time to shop! Click on over and shop the Holiday sale at StormRising Designs. Right now all jewelry is 30% off. I have beautiful jewelry that is perfect for your Hanukkah, Christmas or Kwanzaa gifts. Time is short - there aren't many shopping days left. Sale ends December 5, 2009.

Featured in Colored Stone Magazine

2009-11-17T12:13:00.003-06:00

Several months ago I was contacted by Colored Stone Magazine. They invited me to submit an article on feldspar and amazonite as well as images of jewelry from my website, StormRising Designs, that were made from feldspar and amazonite. The other day I received a copy of the magazine with my article and pictures of my jewelry. It was a great feeling to see my beautiful handcrafted artisan jewelry in a national magazine. Here are the pieces included in the article:

Bracelet sale

2009-06-27T09:30:00.005-05:00

I've got all my bracelets on sale at my online store, StormRising Designs, through July 9. For some reason I haven't been making much jewelry lately. I think the distraction of having a new grandchild probably has something to do with it. Or perhaps it is the lack of sales in the store since we got into this depression. Talk about depressed! I like to have extra money around and that's what my handcrafted jewelry store brought me for years. It's just hard knowing that I still have to pay for the online service that allows me to have the store but not have money coming in to pay for it. I'm sure a lot of people are experiencing this both online and out there in the land of "brick and mortar" businesses. I want to hold on long enough to get some holiday gift business at the end of the year.

I've got some designs on my board which should be made and into my store soon so keep tuned!

Come on over!

2009-03-07T11:02:00.002-06:00

How about a new handcrafted bracelet to celebrate the change in seasons? I am having a sale at StormRising Designs right now through March 13 - 20% off all bracelets! Here's a pretty new one in spring colors. It's called "Primavera". I even made the chain that the crystals and glass leaves are attached to. There was a lot of twisting going on!

New handcrafted jewelry

2008-12-10T20:02:00.005-06:00

Although I'm busy making custom jewelry for people for the holidays I put a few more new pieces on my web site. I had fun making a "shaggy" bracelet the other night. I actually made the chain base myself from 18 ga. brass colored Artistic Wire. Then I used 22 ga. brass colored Artistic wire to fasten clear iridescent and amber colored Czech glass beads to the bracelet - over 60 beads! I mixed in a few clear glass leaf beads and some fire opal colored Swarovski crystal bicone beads. It's warm and sparkly! This piece (and other pieces) is for sale on my website, StormRising Designs. Here's a picture - you can click on it to see the details:

Holiday Shopping

2008-11-26T17:51:00.003-06:00

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the US. I have a lot to be thankful for this year. It's been a great year for me as I am in good health and lots of good things have happened. Tomorrow I will join with other members of my family for a wonderful gathering with good food and lots of company.

Tomorrow is also the start of a 25% off sale in my online store, StormRising Designs, where I feature my handcrafted jewelry. I hope you will take some time and visit my store to do your holiday shopping. The sale will last through Friday, Dec. 5. Here is one of the new items, a pair of exotic earrings, special for the holidays:

Have a wonderful day!

New Fall Designs

2008-09-20T23:09:00.003-05:00

New jewelry designs for the autumn season are now shown in my online store, StormRising Designs. I have a selection of necklaces, bracelets and earrings. I expect to be adding to the collection within the next few weeks. I also have a 20% off sale on necklaces, not including the newest designs. The sale goes through the end of the month so don't miss out!

I enjoy making new jewelry but I seem to get bogged down from time to time - an inability to put things together even though I have some great ideas. I'm not sure what causes the stall, could just be an acute case of laziness - LOL!

Here are a couple of the new pieces of jewelry - you can see all of the new ones at my site:

Sale is over!

2008-08-14T00:13:00.004-05:00

So sorry you missed the sale in my store. Almost everything was 50% off and I only do that a couple of times a year. There will be other sales though so keep tuned. Right now I am finishing up the new collection for fall/winter. I should be uploading the pictures and descriptions just in time for Labor Day so remember to check back and see the new styles. There are still lots of stunning styles in the store. Get a load of this gorgeous abalone and Thai Hill Tribes necklace.

My next project before I get back to creating more jewelry is to remake a right angle weave bracelet for a customer. She has ordered many pieces of beadwork from me and I recently made a custom necklace for her. Now she has sent me a bracelet made from carnelians. One of the beads fell off the bracelet. It's fragile. I am going to see if I can just put new thread through all of the beads but there might be a problem with getting the thread into the clasp. I may have to redo the bracelet and put on a new clasp. Here's the necklace I recently made for her to match a bracelet she had purchased from me. It is the same as the Fairy Dust Necklace except for the colors, an intricate double spiral rope that takes lots of beads and lots of patience. The slide is then made in peyote stitch and trimmed with bead fringe.

Just a reminder...

2008-08-11T10:50:00.004-05:00

My handcrafted jewelry is still on sale. Most of the bracelets, necklaces and earrings are 50% off regular price right now so you'd better check them out. I have a nice batch of new handcrafted jewelry for the fall collection that I am finishing up and I will start uploading the pictures and descriptions to the store during the next few weeks. Run on over to StormRising Designs now and buy while the prices are low - LOL!

I haven't done a lot of seed beading lately for the store but I do have a couple of bracelets I will be finishing up soon. One of them is flat herringbone (Ndebele) stitch and it is gorgeous (to my eyes at least). I also want to do a couple more like the Peacock Dreams bracelet, which is a simple brick stitch bracelet with extra design elements that make it very special. I have a group of friends I bead with once a month and usually I choose a seed bead project. But last time I worked on a twisted wire necklace. It turned out OK but it's not ready for prime time. I think I made the twisted wire stalks that the beads are on a little shorter than I should have so the necklace isn't as graceful as I would like. I will continue to work with this technique and get some necklaces made.

Last Christmas my future daughter-in-law (now my son's wife) gave me a Pashmina stole - brick red. I already had another one in light brown so this was a nice addition. Recently I discovered that there are stoles even more beautiful - called Jamavar stoles. These stoles are done in gorgeous paisley and floral designs using the same soft wool as in the Pashmina ones. I've been eyeballing a couple of them but since I only plan to buy one, choosing which one is going to be difficult. I want the scarf to go with my blue denim jacket, camel tweed jacket and my brown winter coat so I've been printing out pictures and holding them up to to jackets/coats. It's hard because it seems like each one is more beautiful than the last.

I think it's easier to think about autumn this summer than most because it hasn't been all that hot. Usually at this time of year in Kansas we've had 100 degree days but so far we haven't had any and not too many days even in the 90's. Here we are at 11:00 AM and it's only 75 degrees outside - unbelievable! Yesterday caught me trying on my fall wardrobe.

Finally!

2008-08-07T00:19:00.003-05:00

I had a lot more on my mind this year than I ever thought possible and I haven't thought to post. We had a wedding in the family and several other life events I won't go into. I haven't added a lot of jewelry to the store but I have a lot of new work on the design boards. I have about 20 necklaces that are almost finished - just need clasps and there will be even more!

Meanwhile I am having a sale 50% on most of the jewelry. That includes about everything except the newest pieces in the store. So rush on over to my little handcrafted beaded jewelry store - StormRising Designs and buy while everything is on sale. Sale ends on August 13.

Saturday was Funday

2008-02-17T22:24:00.002-06:00

I got together with a group of bead buddies the other day. It was a cold, rainy afternoon but we didn't mind a bit. We sat around a table in one of the women's big kitchen and beaded. Yes, we all made bracelets or necklaces or earrings from beads. Some worked with seed beads to create beadwork and others worked with glass beads, gemstones and metals. One woman, a dentist, learned to crochet with wire and beads to create a necklace. Time flew by so fast! Several people had brought goodies to snack on but we were so engrossed in our hobbies that most of us forgot to eat. I made a beadwork bracelet. It's done in brick stitch and I strung together three brick stitch triangles with strands of small seed beads and crystals. I have it for sale on my site. In fact I was so pleased with how the colors looked together that I did one shot for my opening page. I think I've told you before that my favorite piece is always the last one I completed and that remains true - LOL!

Valentine's Day II

2008-02-13T14:05:00.003-06:00

Once upon a time I loved to get candy as a gift. But since I lost a bunch of weight last year I look at candy as a dangerous item in my life. Just the same some candy is sitting there for me this Valentine's Day. I think anyone who loves sweets adores getting a box of candy as a gift - LOL!

I did make some Valentine's Day jewelry for my online store this year - see my previous post. But if you are looking for a gift and have run out of time, you can get a gift certificate emailed to your beloved from my store. I need to redo the gift certificate portion of the store as I think it's a bit difficult to understand. I tried to make it easier to choose the denomination but made it confusing, according to the last person who decided to purchase one. I think he's right and I will be redoing them. Meanwhile you can get a gift certificate from StormRising Designs and your recipient can choose a piece of jewelry or have me make a custom piece just for them!

Valentine's Day

2008-02-01T21:51:00.000-06:00

I can't believe we're in the middle of winter already. It seems like we just had Thanksgiving and Christmas. I've been so busy with one thing and another that I kept forgetting to post to my blog. So I finally remembered tonight that I really should post to let you know that I am still around and that I still have an online store.

Here's a lovely carnelian and crystal necklace that I just finished making. It's quite long and when I put it on the pendant almost goes to my waist, but I'm rather short. It can be wrapped twice very nicely for a double strand necklace. The heart is glass enameled on metal.

Great finds!

2007-09-23T22:08:00.000-05:00

After I went to visit my mom today I went to three bead stores to shop. I was so lucky. In each one I found great things to buy. I can hardly wait to get to work creating more jewelry. I got a large pendant stone that is mostly pale green and golden yellow. I have no idea what it must be made from except that it is a semi-precious gemstone. It is probably a type of jasper. I think I will be putting it with some flower jade beads but haven't played around with it enough to make a final decision. I also bought some round disk beads - rather large. They are jasper of some sort and very dark, almost black but with lots of different flecks and strips and spider web type markings. They have quite a bit of mauve so I bought some mauve Czech rosebud beads to put with them. Then at another store I found a square pendant with a hole in the center - square donut. It is a combination of different stones put together with a laminating process - made in Italy. It has shades of gold and pale green but is predominately brown. I found some brown glass beads in my stash that really bring out the colors in the donut. Then I scored some pale green "lemon" jasper which could go with a number of pendants and other beads in my stash. I got some unusual copper spacers and a glue-on bail. I'm going to have so much fun this coming week with all my goodies! Watch the store for some new jewelry coming soon!

Fall Jewelry Collection

2007-09-12T12:09:00.000-05:00

We're close to the change in seasons now! I have been working on jewelry all summer to get ready for the fall season and finally last week I uploaded all the product information and pictures of the new jewelry. I have a few pieces to finish up and some moore pictures to take. It's always an ongoing process because I will continue to make more jewelry to get ready for Christmas but more than 50 new pieces of jewelry are now online at StormRising Designs. Here are some of the new fabulous pieces for sale on my site:

Some like it hot!

2007-08-15T09:21:00.000-05:00

But I'm not one of them... Like a lot of other places here in the US, the area where I live is very hot this week with temperatures soaring into triple digits. I had hoped to get through the summer without having to have the air conditioning repair folks come out to add freon to my unit. It has a leak. Sunday got very hot, the dog got sick, and I didn't feel well by evening. I have a two story place and the downstairs was not all that bad at 84 degrees but the upstairs was like an oven. But the worst thing was that it was far too humid inside. I felt the air coming out of the registers and it was barely cool. So Monday morning I called the firm who services my unit. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they could be out to my place by 1:00 PM! By mid-afternoon I was once again basking in coolness although a little lighter in the wallet. I was thinking to myself that we didn't have air conditioning when I was a kid. We didn't even have those paddle ceiling fans. I guess we were just hardier back then.

I want to remind anyone who wants beautiful handcrafted women's jewelry at sale prices that I still have the sale going on at my online store, StormRising Designs. The sale will end on Friday, Aug. 17. Most of the jewelry is on sale and some at 50% off the regular price. I have been working hard making jewelry for fall and expect to get the new jewelry online in the next week or two. Meanwhile I have some good deals on the current stock. When the sale is over some items will be taken offline when the new things go up. The jewelry that is taken offline will be remade into new items. Here's one of the items that is on sale at the moment.

Time to clean out the old stuff

2007-08-09T21:06:00.000-05:00

This applies to my personal life as well as my online store. I have gotten rid of a lot of useless things like old clothes and unused household items this year but there is still a lot of "stuff" around the house. Unfortunately it's too hot to clean out the garage but I can gradually work on the rest of the place as long as I get done each day before late afternoon. Because of the extreme heat this time of year the house heats up by then and the AC just can't keep up.

I am having a big sale in my online store starting at midnight. It will run for just over a week and will end on Friday, August 17. I have placed most of the jewelry on sale - up to 50% off regular price. Some of the older stock will probably be withdrawn if it doesn't sell and I'll take it apart to make new items. I've already done that with some of the jewelry. Visit my store, StormRising Designs at http://www.stormrisingdesigns.com and save some money on handcrafted jewelry.

Summer

2007-07-15T15:17:00.000-05:00

In some ways it feels like I am taking the summer off. The weather has been pretty nice here even with excessive rain up to about a week or so ago. It is finally drying out. We did have a quick thunderstorm blow up last evening but it wasn't too bad. I don't think my silly hound hid out under the bed for very long.

I've been making a lot of jewelry lately but I haven't uploaded it to the store. I've been trying to learn some new techniques. I took a class at a local bead store to learn how to make beaded beads from crystals. The same technique could be applied to any round of faceted bead. I have made a couple of pairs of earrings with them so far. I took the free class at Heartland Bead Market. Carol offers a lot of different classes, some of them free (you have to buy your supplies for the class there). Although the other shops offer classes she seems to offer more that are "different". Plus although she does provide the same basic classes time after time, she seems to revolve the more advanced projects better than the others. I shop almost all of the bead stores in my area and have found that each one has their own little niche - they are all different.

Today a person asked me via email for the name of my store provider because they liked the layout and features. I sent them an extensive review of what I get and how much it costs. That surprised them. I don't mind advertising good service and I think InstantEstore provides great store software, decent templates and good support. My store is one of the featured stores but I didn't ask them to feature mine. I've used this provider for over two years now and I am very pleased. What is interesting is that this person who asked me has a bead store out in San Jose, CA. She had a really interesting class posted for a necklace. I told her I wished I lived closer so I could take the class. Guess what, she is going to send me the instructions! So if you are a beader and live near San Jose, hop on over to Beadz.

Mother's Day

2007-05-08T19:26:00.000-05:00

I am happy to say that my brother is coming for a short visit so we can take my mom out for Mother's Day. Also my son is taking me out that day also. I have two brothers and I am glad that at least one of them can come into town long enough to honor his mother. I must admit that he's within 4 hours driving distance and the other one isn't. He'll stay at my house and we'll get to talk.

Having a guest means that all the beading supplies need to be put away as the room I use for beading and making jewelry is my guest room. So starting tomorrow through Mother's Day no jewelry will be made!

Remember that you can still buy jewelry for Mother's Day or any occasion from StormRising Designs and probably receive it in time for the holiday if you choose Priority Mail. I hope you've already bought the gifts for Mother's Day though. Don't foget we have free shipping through the end of the month. Just type FREESHIP into the Discount Coupon box at checkout!

Free Shipping at StormRising Designs

2007-05-03T16:44:00.000-05:00

The weather has turned gray here in the heartland but at least we can't complain about the cold anymore. Today as I look out the window of my little office I see a light rain drizzling down on the landscape. This will make the grass grow ever greener and longer too! Hopefully we will have some flowers soon. We had a killing frost in April that did away with all of our flowers and turned the leaves on some trees black. I can't remember another year when that happened. The bushes had just burst into full bloom. It really seemed strange not to see any lilacs blooming this year. Hopefully we won't have a repeat of this next year.

We don't plan on running any specials this month but you can take advantage of free shipping on all orders through the end of May. Just enter FREESHIP in the discount coupon/gift certificate box at checkout and you will get free shipping on your order. This is not a one time offer - you can use the code on all orders through the end of May.

Mother's Day, graduation and weddings are coming up this spring. We have lots of lovely jewelry that will be perfect gifts. Come on by for a visit and shop at StormRising Designs today!

Busy, busy, busy at StormRising Designs

2007-04-26T23:18:00.000-05:00

This has been a wonderful week on many fronts. The weather was really nice except for today. We had some rain and we had some sun and it was nice and warm for a change. As I said, today was the exception - didn't get above 51 and I had gotten used to temperatures in the upper 60's and lower 70's. But tomorrow it promises to get back in the groove with warmer temperatures again!

I was very excited to work on a necklace for a wedding this week. Best of all the customer wanted a beadwork chain on it so I did a nice silvery spiral rope in a combination of silver lined glass beads and galvanized silver coated glass beads. It has a nice Swarovski Austrian Crystal Baroque pendant. It is not quite finished as I am waiting on the final length wanted before I attach the clasp.

Also I received an order where a customer wanted me to alter a necklace to suit her by exchanging some of the beads with another variety. I was happy to do that for her. She wanted it to be two strands instead of three. She also requested a pair of chandelier earrings to go with the necklace. It's waiting for her approval before I finish the pieces just in case she wants some changes.

We are having our weekly sale this Saturday in the store. I have put together a nice assortment of things, including some purses. These pieces of handcrafted jewelry and handmade fabric purses will all be 20% off their regular prices. So come on over to StormRising Designs on Saturday and check the On Sale page. Here's a couple of items which will be on sale:

Restructure

2007-04-18T22:53:00.000-05:00

This week I've been doing a bunch of work on my store at StormRising Designs. The main thing was to add category headings on the left side navigation dividing some of the items into groups, hopefully making it easier for people to find things. I also added the Jewelry By Metal categories of Copper Jewelry, Gold Jewelry and Silver Jewelry so that people who have a preference in the color of metal used in their jewelry wll be able to find all of the jewelry in the store that meets their criteria. I hope my customers will find it easier to shop.

This Friday, in keeping with our weekly sales, we are having all of the Gold Jewelry category on sale at 20% off, just for Friday. So be sure to check out the lovely jewelry that have gold beads or accents. You will find them at the ON SALE page on Friday, all day long. Here's a lovely pair of earrings that will be among the items on sale on April 20.

Are you ready?

2007-04-12T00:41:00.000-05:00

This Friday we will have all beadwork on sale at StormRising Designs. This includes bracelets and necklaces, including the peyote stitch cuff bracelets. After this Friday I plan to mix it up a bit and decide spontaneously when to put things on sale. So while it will probably still be once a week, it may not be on Friday. This is to keep all of you on your toes - LOL! Stay tuned! Meanwhile check the ON SALE page this coming Friday, April 13 and get 20% off all beadwork.

I made a cool necklace today and uploaded it to the store. It has a gorgeous focal bead made by lampwork artist Vickie Warburton that I made into a pendant. I have wired groups of beads on copper wire together to form the necklace portion. It has some what looks like "antiqued" jade, various "antique copper" beads and Swarovski crystals in it. I attached a copper Ginko leaf charm to the bottom of the pendant. Here's a picture of it - click on the picture and it will take you to my store where you can buy it!

New jewelry at StormRising Designs

2007-04-10T13:09:00.000-05:00

I just finished up some new pieces of jewelry for spring and they are in my store for purchase. Get on over to StormRising Designs for a look. Hopefully you'll be so tempted that you'll buy some lovely jewelry to complement your spring and summer wardrobes. Or maybe you'll find some lovely gifts! Here are a couple of the new pieces of jewelry:

Sale news for April 6

2007-04-05T00:15:00.000-05:00

In keeping with our weekly "Fabulous Friday" promotions we are having a 20% off sale again at StormRising Designs. This week we are featuring all jewelry that has lavender, amethyst or purple beads. This sale includes both bead jewelry and beadwork. We have a nice selection of bracelets, earring, necklaces and even a ring for you to choose from! So drop by the StormRising Designs on sale page this coming Friday, April 6, and select some lovely new jewelry for yourself or for a gift. Here are a couple of items that will be on sale:

Sale coming on Friday!

2007-03-28T21:02:00.000-05:00

We are having another Fabulous Friday this coming Friday, March 30 at StormRising Designs Handcrafted Jewelry & Accessories. You know what "Fabulous Friday" means. Yes, it means you can get goodies at a lower price. This week's specials on jewelry will feature pieces with shell products such as abalone shell, mother of pearl or clam shells. These items will all be 20% off their regular prices. Sale is on Friday, March 30 ONLY! Check out the On Sale page on Friday. Here are a few of the necklaces that will be on sale:

Fabulous Fridays

2007-03-22T17:01:00.000-05:00

It's almost Friday! That means that some of the beautiful jewelry at StormRising Designs will be on sale. You're not going to want to miss it this week. Jewelry with Thai Hill Tribes silver focal beads is 20% off regular price. That's only on this Friday, March 23, 2007, so don't miss out. Here's your chance to buy some gorgeous pieces of jewelry at discount. The jewelry below is only a small sample of what's for sale on Friday so come on over to StormRising Designs On Sale Page!

Faraway Places Thai Silver Flower Beaded Pendant Necklace

Regular Price $85.00

Sale Price $68.00

Vista Del Mar Handmade Beaded Bracelet

Regular Price $65.00

Sale Price $52.00

New spring jewelry at StormRising Designs!

2007-03-21T15:41:00.000-05:00

I had a real burst of energy the other day. I finished a nice batch of new jewelry and the pictures and descriptions have been uploaded to my store, StormRising Designs. I have some necklaces and earrings in soft pastels made from green calcite, rose quartz and aqua amazonite. I also have some jewelry pieces made in bolder colors like the wild enameled copper earrings and dichroic glass pendant necklace below. Come on over and shop! Here's a couple of samples:

Latest Fashion Colors

2007-03-10T23:08:00.000-06:00

One thing a person needs to stay abreast of when creating fashion items such as jewelry is to pay attention to the colors which are supposed to be "in" each season. There are several sources of this information. Very often I go to Pantone to see what's supposed to be popular the next season. A friend of mine sent me an URL to a site that has links to several such pages. I couldn't help but notice that they do tend to disagree a little on what's "in". Check them out at Fashion Trendsetter.

Keeping that in mind, one of the hottest fashion colors for the spring season is brown, all shades of brown. Brown is a great neutral that mixes well with almost any color. StormRising Designs has many pieces of jewelry with brown stones such as smoky quartz, dyed mother of pearl, horn, etc. If you go to my shop you can use the search box to bring up the different pieces of brown jewelry. Here's a beautiful necklace in that hot spring shade that is available for purchase:

Friday Special (for March 9, 2007)

2007-03-08T21:15:00.000-06:00

I'm having a special deal tomorrow (Friday, March 9, 2007). I plan to repeat this every Friday - have one item at a special discount! If you are quick enough you can get this necklace for 15% off. This is a stunning cloisonne type pendant with a butterfly and flower design hung on a necklace of freshwater pearls. There is only one of them and it goes to the first customer who checks out with it in their cart. When you go through checkout you will need to enter discount coupon code FRIDAY to get your discount. This necklace is regularly priced at $72.00 but with the coupon code you can have it for $61.20. This is a lovely handmade piece of jewelry.

Eastern Treasure Cloisonne Pearl Pendant Necklace

New purses up!

2007-02-19T16:19:00.000-06:00

I have been very busy sewing the last few weeks, in addition to my regular routine. I have eight new purses in my store for purchase with more to come. These are fabric handbags with purchased handles. All of them are fully lined and they have a double inside pocket for holding keys or cell phone, etc. I sew all of these myself and I think they are a nice compliment to the handmade jewelry that I make and sell in my online store. Here are a few of the new purses. Come on over to StormRising Designs to shop!

Sewing purses

2007-01-24T16:55:00.000-06:00

I don't just make jewelry but I also sew purses. My stock of purses is really low right now because I haven't sat down at the sewing machine in quite some time. I was looking at my site statistics and discovered that I had a LOT of people finding my site using search words that told me they were looking for purses. I am losing potential business! Today I started on a new purse and I hope to get it on the site by sometime tomorrow. I have more new purses planned. Shortly my customers should see a nice selection of new purses for spring.

A brand new year at StormRising Designs

2007-01-23T21:40:00.000-06:00

I've been taking a bit of a breather from blogging lately. Time to restock the store - so many pieces of jewelry were sold in the last three months of 2006 that I am not sure how long it will take me to make enough jewelry to replace it all. It seems like an overwhelming task at times. Also I need to make more purses. People are coming to my site searching for purses and going away empty-handed because my stock of handmade purses is low.

I do have some new pieces that are especially for Valentine's Day so come on over and view the Valentine's Day category and take a look at the Latest Designs while you are visiting! I have some really beautiful new jewelry in stock.

Ready for the Holidays?

2006-12-12T10:38:00.000-06:00

The holidays are just about upon us. Hannukah starts on Saturday, Christmas is in less than two weeks and Kwanzaa starts the day after Christmas. I've had lots of business over at StormRising Designs and I sent off an order to Wales the other day. The exchange rate must be very, very good. It was a repeat customer. I made my first charm bracelet and sold it within 48 hours of uploading it to the store. I think I may make a couple more and see if they get sold quickly. It's good to get a feel for what sells and what doesn't. I made my first rings. They are made with sterling silver ring forms with Swarovski crystals wired to them. They are really gorgeous and sparkly. I have two of them made and uploaded to the shop - http://www.stormrisingdesigns.com/cat_swarovski.cfm.

The jewelry items I posted here last time have sold as have many of the items which I featured on the front page of my site. Maybe the trick is to make an item a feature on the front page. I change the picture once or twice a week. Looks like I need to take more "glamour shots" of the jewelry and let them languish on the front page, waiting for someone to fall in love...

I turned the "stock notification" feature in my store. Although I pretty much make one-of-a-kind jewelry I will make something similar so I reworded it to say "Notify me if a similar item becomes available". This feature has given me several notifications already and I was able to make a custom bracelet for a woman and I have made a pair of earrings too. I have plans to make another necklace similar to one that has sold. The good part is that when I make the new item, I upload the new picture and change the information under the old item and update the stock level. Then when I "submit" this the customer gets a notification that a similar item has become available. I've done this with the pair of earrings but haven't yet heard from the person who wanted them. I hope I didn't do all this work for nothing - LOL!

Even with business in the online store and having to wrap up jewelry to be sent, I've not gotten around to preparing for the holidays at my house. I just bought my Christmas cards yesterday! I haven't done any decorating. I am doing some housecleaning because one of my brothers is coming up a few days before Christmas to spend a couple of days before going back home for the holiday. It's misty today and until the weather clears I would rather not be hanging holiday lights outside. I notice many of my neighbors don't have their decorations up either. I think it must be the weather. We had terribly cold weather for a couple of weeks, including an ice/snow storm. And now it has warmed up quite a bit and it doesn't seem like December at all. We're having the "January thaw" a month early. I still have to get a few more gifts.

It's a good thing I am having a guest next week as it forced me to clean up my beading area which is also my guest room. I had gotten completely disorganized and there were beads all over the place. I couldn't find the things I needed so I did an overhaul of the whole area and bought new bead storage - looks more like storage for small hardware items but it works. I took several days and went through every bead and finding and now they are organized in the new little drawers. I even labeled the drawers. About the only bad thing is that these organizers must sit on the floor - it would be much better if they were at eye level. However I can't put them on anything and I am not going to hang them on the wall. So I just have to pull the chair over and sit in it while I find the right drawers for the items I need. No biggie...

Time Flies

2006-11-25T11:20:00.000-06:00

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is over and that the Christmas season is upon us. 2006 is almost over. This year has flown by so fast! It's been a very good year too.

I sent out the promotional using Constant Contact for my online store, StormRising Designs, hoping to take advantage of the holiday business much in the same way as the brick and mortar stores. I am offering deep discounts at this time - the more you spend the larger the discount percentage you get on the jewelry. This time the promotional lasts two weeks so I am hoping this will generate additional business. Come on over and select some beautiful jewelry for yourself or as gifts for others.

I have some really lovely pieces of jewelry in the store. Here's a couple. You can find them in the Latest Designs area.

Bead Embroidery

2006-11-04T00:19:00.000-06:00

As those of you who read my blog may know I got rather excited about doing bead embroidery back in February. Unfortunately I never finished my project. But I got a real kick in the pants to get off my duff and try this again. I was over looking at Beadweaver's blog and she just finished up an absolutely GORGEOUS embroidered bracelet. I love the colors and I love the flow of the beads. I wish I could learn to lay out my beads so they would flow so nicely. My attempts at this look really choppy compared to hers. Go check out her blog at http://beadweaver.blogspot.com/ and get a look at her bracelet all you bead lovers!

Browsing jewelry by price category

2006-11-03T23:54:00.000-06:00

Although people can use advanced search on my site to search by price I am not sure how many people actually use the function. As a result I just added categories of jewelry by price. I did $25 and under, $26 - 50, $51 - 75, $76 - 100 and over $100. I hope this makes it easier for my customers to find what they want. I am also considering listing some necklace categories by length. Stay tuned!

I just finished a spectacular three strand necklace done with turquoise and apatite with Bali silver. The stones cost me quite a bit so this is a higher priced offering on my site. Here's a close-up of part of the necklace. I also made a pair of chandelier earrings to go with it. You can find them both at http://www.stormrisingdesigns.com/cat_new.cfm.

Freeform Peyote

2006-09-09T13:57:00.000-05:00

I took a class the other night to learn how to do freeform peyote. I am already quite acquainted with the peyote beading stitch and have made many bracelets using this stitch. How to do it in freeform style has escaped me completely - couldn't figure out how they did that! I was ashamed to find out that it is really easy to do - at least the technique is easy. It's just that you work it lengthwise instead of across. The tricky part is getting it to look interesting and not have colors clash and being able to blend your colors well, add suitable embellishments, etc. I am looking forward to doing more projects. I did a bracelet in class but I don't really like the colors i used and it isn't finished yet - needs a button and loop.

I really liked the gal who was the instructor. I'd met her before at a beading buddy's house but this time I felt we really clicked. She was very impressed with a bracelet I made recently and thinks I should teach a class on how to make it and sell kits and instructions through another friend who sells at some of the Bead Renaissance and Bead Mercantile Shows. If you attend those shows look for The Bead Corner and buy beads from Maureen Olson and her husband, Terry. Here's the bracelet:

Latest Designs

2006-08-29T12:54:00.000-05:00

I don't know exactly what got into me but after months of not being "in the mood" to create, suddenly I don't seem to have enough time in a day to create! So I have almost two pages of new jewelry on my site. Don't be shy - come on over for a look - StormRising Designs. I still have more jewelry designs laid out on my table and hope to get them put together soon. Here's one of the new items. This is the Dancing Feathers Necklace. There are earrings to match.

I also finished up a beadwork bracelet the other day. It's done in peyote stitch and the shape is dictated by variation in the sizes of the beads. It's a rather whimsical piece and I named it "Out on a Whim". I personally think it might be perfect for someone who is a member of the Red Hat Society.

VIP List

2006-08-16T01:18:00.000-05:00

I have decided that rather than have people sign up for a newsletter, which leads people to believe I actually send out nice newsy informative communications, I will have them sign up to get news of sales and discounts. That's what people probably want anyhow - at least I know I like to save money. There is a sign-up box on my site. But in addition to the sign-up box, I have a link to "VIP List" where they get an explanation and can sign up. Hopefully the "VIP List" verbiage will get more people to sign up. Who knows how many people will sign up to get news of money-saving opportunities? I was actually surprised at how many people have already signed up for the newsletter when I went to send out my first email promo. When I added that list to my customer list I had a nice little group to send them out to!

I've been busy the last couple of days creating new jewelry for autumn. Although it is still hot the fall season will be here before we know it and the holidays soon after! I noticed the other day that the cloud patterns had changed to what is called a "mackerel sky". I've noticed this every August - even the light seems to change getting noticeably paler. Autumn is usually my premier selling season so I want a good stock level and lots of nice new attractive jewelry. I have about 6 new necklaces ready for their clasps!

Hot mama discovers email marketing

2006-08-09T23:13:00.000-05:00

"Hot mama" is the truth. I am literally hot - the weather hasn't cooled down here. The bank sign around the corner said it was 111 and my car claimed it was 110. My body told me that was close to the truth when I trudged across the hot asphalt into the grocery store this afternoon. Currently it is 87 and it is almost midnight. Thank goodness for central air conditioning but even at that it is still quite warm in the upstairs part of the house. I am getting anxious for autumn to make its appearance.

I finally decided to start sending out email promotions to customers and newsletter subscribers. I don't have large lists but larger than I thought. I signed up for a free trial with Constant Contact and sent out my first promotion. I was exceedingly surprised at the response. 50% of the people actually opened the email and 50% of those clicked the links to the store. Best yet I made lots of sales as a result. I have decided that maybe I'll do a promotion every month or so. The next one will be only for customers and subscribers and they will have to type in a coupon code to get their discount. This next promotion will still fall under the free trial period. After that the cost is $15.00/month for the number of people I have on my lists. My first run was quite successful and I am more than pleased with the results.

I have noticed that there are quite a number of firms online where you can set up email marketing yourself using their templates and achieve fairly professional looking results. Of course it would be nice to afford a firm who would do the whole campaign but that's a little beyond my reach - LOL! Maybe after I send out this next promotion under the free trial I might try another firm, especially if they too offer a free trial. I have a lot of them to choose from. I found a place that ranks them. The one that sounds the most interesting to me (and I didn't check before I signed up at Constant Contact) is IntelliContact. Vertical Response sounds good as well as BenchMark, StreamSend and Campaigner. You really don't know how good or bad they are until you actually set up a campaign and send it out!

I wish I could tell from the advertising I get in my own email which firms they use. I suppose a lot of big firms have in-house advertising or the name of the firm isn't evident in the email. The only two that I have figured out are Charles Keath and Hallmark - they both use CheetahMail. Looking at the CheetahMail site I realized that even though it doesn't list prices it is completely out of my league - looks like an enterprise solution and not one for a tiny business like mine. They have a very impressive client list!

I want a solution that has easy to use software and gives me good reports. Naturally I also want them to have good rapport with the big ISPs so my emails get to my customers. With Constant Contact I've had to do a fair amount of fooling around with html and tweaking the stylesheet. That's OK because I know how to do that but I feel like maybe they just don't have enough to offer me in a creative way. There is only so much you can do with their templates without designing your own template. As far as the other firms are concerned it's hard to tell from looking at their sites exactly what they offer and how easy it would be to create a campaign using their software. After all, they all claim to be great! If you want to see my advertising campaign in action you can sign up for my StormRising Designs newsletter and you'll get the promotion due to go out on September 8 offering you a discount coupon to be used at checkout on the StormRising Designs site.

So hot!

2006-08-01T09:19:00.000-05:00

The weather here has just been awful but I suppose that most of the US has been the same. I have been helping a friend move to a new house. Two weeks ago we started off by painting the kitchen, followed by the master bedroom and vanity area (70's house). That was pretty hard on my old body but the worst was yet to come - the actual move. My friend had done no packing whatoever. She didn't even have boxes to pack things in! Plus she had paperwork all over the house - paperwork she should have gone through before it was time to move. If that wasn't enough, my friend got sick and could barely help out at all!

She did have professional movers pick up the furniture and move it to the new place but I was left with doing the rest. As she went through all the papers, I hauled stuff to my little Passat. It's pretty tiring when it's 102 degrees in the shade and you are carrying items one by one to a car parked in the sun. We did eventually get boxes but they were the kind used for computer paper and we didn't have enough. All this time she's been taking me out to eat lunch and dinner. Today should be the last day of it as we only have a few items plus our cleaning supplies. We'll pack up my car and her SUV (permanently clogged with items she carries around every day) with all the stuff after we've cleaned and get out of there.

But that's not all! Her new place is now jammed with the items we took over and nothing has been put away. You can barely find a place to sit in the great room and you certainly couldn't cook in the kitchen. Other rooms are certainly better but it's going to take her a long time to get things moved and stored in their proper places.

My jewelry making has suffered greatly as I haven't had the energy to make a thing. I'm lucky to have the energy to do laundry to have clean clothes. My dog thinks I have moved out and only come for visits ;-)! And I haven't been able to go visit my mom in over a week. She depends on me to even get the mail out of her mailbox. I usually go over to the assisted living place every Sunday and either eat the main meal there or take her out. Then we get the mail and write checks for bills. If she has things she needs from the store I go do that too. Last week the date got moved from Sunday to Tuesday and I had to move the date again this week. It's going to be tomorrow.

I need to get started on a custom beadwork bracelet for a repeat customer. I've made numerous pieces of jewelry for the woman during the last year. The next piece will take me a while to do. It's like the Persian Garden Peyote Cuff Bracelet but it will be done with silver beads instead of the gold and deep blue beads instead of the green. I'll need to shop for a button. Fortunately it doesn't need to duplicate the one on the other bracelet.

Wild beads

2006-07-03T16:29:00.001-05:00

I found the coolest beads last week at one of my local bead stores. They are a bit unusual and certainly not for everyone. They are flattened handmade glass ovals with stripes that remind me of tiger stripes. The stripes are mostly black but some beads had a few thin stripes in orange. The background color is a pale sage green with tinges of yellow in some of the beads. Originally I put them together in a necklace with only one color with a smaller bead - yellow jasper. Then I added black beads for contrast. But in the end I used a number of different beads with them and I really like the look. You can have a look at them at http://www.stormrisingdesigns.com/pd_wild.cfm. I also made a bracelet and earrings and I still have a few beads left to use in something else.

Disappointment and Custom Work

2006-06-23T12:03:00.000-05:00

Far too often to suit me, custom work is returned because the color isn't quite what the customer thought it would be. I feel badly that their expectations weren't met. Of course this isn't the fault of the customer but is because of the differences in our computer monitors. Last time I got a new monitor I was shocked at the color differences between the old and the new. So I can understand the disappointment at receiving new custom jewelry and finding out that it isn't what was expected.

Add to that the disappointment on my end that the customer is returning the fruits of my labor and through no fault of my own nor theirs. Custom work often involves hours of work getting the design to the satisfaction of the customer and time spent taking pictures and posting them to the web or sending the images in an email and days and days of emails flying back and forth. Often it involves purchasing materials I wouldn't normally buy. So I end up having to eat the cost of materials and labor in these cases. For each transaction I get charged a transaction fee and on a refund I take that hit a second time. I lose both money and time on these occasions on returns of custom orders. Sometimes I can put the jewelry pieces up for sale in the store but sometimes not.

I suppose I could charge a restocking fee on returned items or I could ask for a non-refundable up-front fee for making custom pieces but my site software isn't set up to do this and I would have to handle it all manually. Tracking it would be a nightmare. It just isn't worth it to me. So with much regret I have taken all references to custom design work from my site. I just can't cope with it anymore. Yes, I will consider custom work if asked but I am not making any obvious offers to do that kind of work.

Beadweaver: Bead It Forward

2006-06-20T13:22:00.000-05:00

Beadweaver: Bead It Forward

This is a really worthwhile cause for beaders to participate in. The quilt will be auctioned off at the annual "Bead Artists Against Breast Cancer" fundraising event. Beaders you have almost a year to bead your square. Check out this link for details. Got this from SuzyQ's (Beadweaver) blog.

Awesome technique

2006-06-20T13:06:00.000-05:00

I love to find new ways of making jewelry and new design ideas. Last friday I walked into one of my local bead stores and looked at examples of jewelry they offered classes on. One of them was a pendant - sort of spherical - maybe a cube, made from Swarovski bi-cone crystals. I HAD to learn how to do this so I signed up for the class. Yesterday I had my class and we each made three of these objects. Then I went home and made another one from pearls, And then last night I made up a pair of earrings using faceted Czech fire-polished glass beads and I also used seed beads to give some contrast. I LOVE the results but I think my technique still needs work. I'll have to take apart the earrings to get them right. I added extra beads to them to be able to make the earrings in this fashion but I want to do it differently.

A spurt of creativity

2006-05-16T16:16:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day. We honored my mom - took her out to dinner at her favorite Chinese restaurant and gave her candy and flowers. She resides in an assisted living center so it's a real treat for her when she goes out to eat. Last friday they sponsored a Mother- Daughter Tea that a friend and I attended with her. The place where she lives is really nice.

The "Spring Bling" promotion in my shop is over - ended on Mother's Day, but there are a lot of new designs to check out. Hop on over to http://www.stormrisingdesigns.com/cat_new.cfm and take a look!

Here's a new pair of earrings made from blue coral, lapis lazuli and sterling silver. There is a lovely necklace to match.

Not again!

2006-05-04T11:17:00.000-05:00

Yes, I did yet another site revision. I got some feedback from acquaintances that the site was "too girly" with its somewhat overwhelming peach color template. So now I have a simple neutral scheme with a few color accents. But I did keep the same logo because I just love the "windblown" tree. The new design lets the jewelry be the star of the show. Go see for yourself - StormRising Designs.

Mother's Day is coming up soon so don't forget to buy a gift. You can find many lovely items on my website to give "Mom". The 15% off "Sprint Bling" promotion ends May 14 so take advantage of the savings you can get now!

New Jewelry

2006-04-26T00:48:00.000-05:00

I finished a few new pieces of jewelry in the last few days. You can go see them by clicking on the title "New Jewelry" at the top of the posting or by going to http://www.stormrisingdesigns.com/cat_new.cfm. I got on a spurt - not sure why, but it sure was welcome. I'm going out be out of commission for a day or two starting Thrusday so maybe that's what got me going. I'm still working on my site. I'd like to make changes to the links pages and all the customer service stuff that gives people information on shipping, payments accepted, returns, order cancellation, how to track their order, registering, etc. I want to set up one page that will link to another couple of pages. I will keep like items on the same page but the links will go right to the item selected via anchor names. It's going to take me quite some time to get all that arranged. I'm actually working up the pages using MS Frontpage but I will just have to cut and paste the html because my site does not accept uploads of html pages. I have no idea how long it will take me because I am not on a schedule to get it done!

Here's the detail of one of the new necklaces.

Spring Bling Time

2006-04-14T02:36:00.000-05:00

Time out for a commercial break - after all, I am a struggling artist! Here's the scoop. Do you have a tax refund coming? Money burning a hole in your pocket? Need a birthday gift for your gal pal or mother? Don't just stand there - hurry on over to my jewelry and accessories site StormRising Designs and take advantage of my month long special discount promotion! Create your own sale during my Spring Bling Time promotion. Get a 15% discount when you spend over $15.00 through May 14, 2006. Use discount code SPRING06 at checkout. Remember my stuff is all one-of-a-kind.

Thanks!

Site Renovations

2006-04-13T00:50:00.000-05:00

I just completed renovations on my website design. I really like the new layout and colors. I have started taking new pictures of all the jewelry, giving them a more uniform background. I think it will be a better presentation of my jewelry. I also have some new items on the site. To see the latest designs, please visit http://www.stormrisingdesigns.com/cat_new.cfm. Don't forget that Mother's Day is coming up in a few weeks. I'm sure your mom or wife will love to get some gorgeous jewelry! Here is my personal favorite:

Two weeks...

2006-03-15T20:03:00.000-06:00

Yes, it took me two weeks to completely get over what got me! I was well enough over the weekend to go about my business but certainly suffered from a lack of energy. I was awakened on Sunday morning by the tornado warning siren - pretty scary. I grabbed my jeans, put on shoes, tried to get the dog out from under the bed then grabbed cell phone and purse and went to the basement. Once I tuned into one of the local TV channels I left the basement and thought about going back to bed. It turned out that my county wasn't really impacted but boy did they suffer a lot ot damage in the next county west and in the county diagonally to the northeast! My son had slight damage at his house (to my northwest) as he was almost in directly in the path of the storm.

On Sunday I went to visit my mom and ate dinner with her then had a second tornado warning on my way home. Once again it was a false alarm. Under a clear sky I took the dog for a walk but suddenly the sky darkened and we hurried back to the house, narrowly missing being hit by hockey puck sized hail as we got inside just before it hit. I think my dog spent most of her day under my bed - poor baby!

On Monday I put together a bracelet that was a custom order. I had to run to Hobby Lobby for some crystals. I sent a picture to the customer that evening and asked if she wanted earrings to match. Then yesterday I designed two different styles of earrings and waited to hear which ones she preferred. Last evening I finished up the bracelet since it had been approved and today I put together the earrings the customer chose. She has approved both and will make her purchase from my site tomorrow. Visit my site StormRising Designs and take a look at the jewelry and handbags. You can order jewelry and accessories from there or contact me for something special. Here's what I made for my customer.

Lack of progress

2006-03-06T01:13:00.000-06:00

Just when I had a zillion new ideas and some time to work on them I got body slammed. I came down with a nasty case of bronchitis. Started last Tues, with a slightly sore throat but I felt better the next day UNTIL around 3:00PM. All of a sudden someone turned on a spigot inside my head and the nastiness began. I dragged myself to the doctor's office and they gave me antibiotics. I don't actually think that the antibiotics help when you have a cold but because I am more susceptable to illness I guess they are making sure I'll be okay. I was also told to get Mucinex, that product they advertise on TV with that slimey looking green cartoon character. I was so surprised to find out that it does a super job. I'm still not well but I'm almost there. Tomorrow I will be busy all afternoon but I think I may actually have some time this week for creative activities like BEADING or maybe some sewing.

Decisions

2006-02-27T00:54:00.000-06:00

Something funny happened last week and it seems that I somehow picked up on a strange vibe because I had a dream that signaled this might happen. I had the dream on the morning of Feb. 21 and that day I went to lunch with a friend and told her I'd had a dream that my old company wanted me to come back to work for them. We both had worked there and we laughed at the idea.

Fast forward to the afternoon of Feb. 23. My friend calls and tells me that she had just gotten off the phone with a contracting company as she is trying to get a job in her and my field. Get this... it seems that my former employer, who laid off almost the entire programming and analysis staff (over 150 people over the period of a couple of years) for a gigantic computer application to send the work overseas has now made the decision to bring the programming and analysis back to the states. They would like to contract with people who have experience with that computer application however they can't find people who are willing to do so for one reason or another. Logic would be that they would try to contact some of the folks they laid off. Maybe they did contact the ones they wanted to come back - I don't know. All I know is that they didn't contact me, unless you want to count my dream as "contact" - LOL! I do know the hiring manager though - have known him for 25 years.

I retired from the company after one year of severance pay but I had to take early retirement as it was the only way to keep my health care coverage. Since I have a chronic disease I sure didn't want to have it lapse. I've had no luck finding another position at my age. At first I was exceedingly angry about the layoff, not that it came as a surprise. I was laid off early in the process as they gradually got rid of non-essential positions. It's hard to think of yourself as "non-essential". Lo and behold my health began to improve. Stress went away and I lost almost 25 lbs.

Although I am always a little short of the money I'd like to have to do projects and upgrades to the house I do enjoy the lack of stress. My mom is elderly and I do have to do things for her every week, although her health and other issues improved after I got her moved to an assisted living facility. I have my jewelry business - StormRising Designs too. I am not sure I could juggle going back to work full time, even on contract, after a three year lull. When I worked there I was so exhausted from the stress that when I got home from work I'd have to take a nap before I even had the energy to fix supper. As a result I had no time to do anything for myself.

At any rate I need to make a decision on whether to submit my resume to the company that is trying to find experienced people for my old company. Yes, I'd like more money. No, I don't want more stress in my life. Perhaps working on a contract would be different from being an employee and I could probably always quit.Of course at that company a contract doesn't mean anything. They always find ways to get around the terms of a contract. So although the contract might be for 6 months or a year you might actually only work there for a month! I don't know that I need that uncertainty hanging over my head.

Slavin' Away

2006-02-20T16:38:00.000-06:00

I'm still working on the search engine optimization project for my StormRising Designs site. I think this will probably take me a long time and probably it's going to be an ongoing project. I know I've only optimized the tip of the iceberg as of now. Plus I don't know if I've done it right. As I have found out, getting someone to your site doesn't always mean they will buy something from you. You have to have what they want to buy (or convince them they want it!) and at the price they want to pay.

The worst thing I have encountered is having a person inquire about something, particularly custom work. Then when you reply to them you find out that your response has been blocked by either their spam filter or their ISP's spam blocker software. I encountered that today and it's disappointing to me and probably the person who doesn't get their response will probably blame me! That's very annoying.

Time's a wastin'

2006-02-16T20:23:00.000-06:00

I guess I can say that because I sure have been wasting time lately. I don't have much of a sense of accomplishment. I just haven't felt very creative lately. I was getting ready to bead a necklace for a contest and the contest was cancelled. That shouldn't have been a blow but it was. Nevertheless I will be putting that necklace together. The drawings are done and many of the beads are laid out. I just need to give myself a kick-start. And I never have gotten back to the bead embellishment although I did get the bugle beads on there around a copper colored pearl. They are like spokes on a wheel. Looks pretty but I just haven't been in the mood to work on it.

I have been cleaning and putting things away. I got rid of a whole lot of paperwork, carefully shredding some of the papers. I still have more to go but the office is looking much better and soon I'll be able to start on the taxes. I think that's what started the cleanup - the idea that I'd have to find all my receipts. They are all nicely sorted now.

I've been working on my website StormRising Designs, getting it optimized for the search engines. I am certainly not finished with the process but I did get two sales last weekend so maybe something I changed worked! The site does seem to get plenty of visits but not enough sales to suit me. At the moment my inventory is lower than it has been in quite some time so I do need to get my rear in gear and start creating again!

The most recent jewelry I made is a pair of Egyptian Coil earrings. This isn't the first time I've done this design. It's very much like a copper bracelet I did last year except it was a lot less work - LOL! I did these in silver Artistic Wire with nuggets of turquoise. You can buy them if you like.

Still, Already, Yet

2006-02-03T00:22:00.000-06:00

I still haven't completed the bead embellished cuff bracelet. Laying out the design is a little more work than I bargained for. Part of the problem is that the stone I chose for the centerpiece is a small piece of leopardskin jasper I had hanging around; I wasn't overly impressed by it. Still, I used two colors to cage the edges after I glued it onto the backing made of Lacy's Stiff Stuff and I think it adds impact. I have been playing with some beads and I think I may have come to a decision on what will be done next.

Tonight I worked on the lining of the bracelet. You glue Ultrasuede to tbe back of the brass bracelet blank. The piece has been cut larger than the length and width of the bracelet and you take your thread and sew across the front face of the bracelet pulling the edges tight. It got a little tricky at the ends, especially going around the corners but I think it looks nice and neat. This part will never show as it will be covered by the bead embroidery. The interior of this particular bracelet is a camel/beige. The beads will be silver, camel, black, bronze and maybe some cream. This will develop as I go along. The next beads that I will sew on are bronze bugle beads. Hopefully I will have a picture to post soon so you can see what I'm doing.

Beautiful Dreamer

2006-02-03T00:10:00.000-06:00

I just got back from reading Beadweaver's blog. What a lot of wondeful beader's sites she has provided us with in the last couple of weeks! Most of the work makes me feel so inadequate. I have a lot of learning to do. Still it's great inspiration to look at the artwork of others. The rich colors and the ways the beads are woven are so beautiful to look at. Envy sets in while I am drooling - LOL! Click on "Beautiful Dreamer" above to go to SuzyQ's site so you too can go on a little beadin' tour.

Search Engine Optimization

2006-01-23T23:24:00.000-06:00

I signed up for a class late last week to learn how to optimize my website and another one to learn marketing techniques for web sales. I probably need yet another one to learn how to make my graphics so that they load faster. So far the SEO class hasn't been easy. It works almost in concert with the marketing class. Both are quite interesting and VERY informative. Some of the stuff I had already done to the website while some it is very new to me. You only work on one page of your website and then at the end you apply all you have learned to the other pages. My only worry about that is that I might not remember what to do at that point. I cannot believe that the training is given FREE! I really think all this work will result in better position in the search engines and more sales from the site.

I am trying to get the work room cleaned up - office too. Things seem to have gotten scattered around over the holidays and it's time for a clean slate. I've given up on my sewing project so I'll put the sewing machine away. I have some new techniques I want to learn. I saw some awesome cuff bracelets where you bead a design with seed beads and large cabochon stones onto fabric. Then the beadwork is applied to a metal form to create a bracelet. you line the inside with Ultrasuede or similar fabric. I would like to learn how to do that. I have two bracelet blanks and the rest of the supplies assembled but I have to get my imagination in gear to come up with a design! SOme of the ones I have seen on the web are awesome and they sell for big prices - not surprising considering the work that went into them PLUS their beauty.

Of course in the middle of this the International Jewelry Designers Guild started discussions on branding last week so all of a sudden I got interested in changing my logo and making all my materials match, etc. Right now they plan on having a new discussion every two weeks but there is some hope that these topics will run for an entire month - there's just s much information to digest. This also entwines itself with the classes I am taking as it is all geared to us being able to achieve greater success with selling our handcrafted jewelry.

Don't forget to visit StormRising Designs and pick out some jewelry for yourself or as a gift for someone!

Rockin' now

2006-01-09T16:57:00.000-06:00

Even though I feel under the weather I finished up another piece of jewelry today. I made a fancy clasp for a double spiral rope bracelet. I don't even want to think about how many bitty beads are in this bracelet. Yes, it did take a long time to make it. I wouldn't do this type of work unless I enjoyed it. Some days I can't work on beading at all but sometimes I can go for days on end. Since I don't really feel like going out with this cold this keeps me busy. After all you can only watch so many cooking and decorating shows on TV before they all start to blend together! Don't forget to visit my site at StormRising Designs and buy some jewelry from me - LOL! I tried to upload a picture of the bracelet for you to see but got an error. I'll try again later!

On minor ailments

2006-01-08T20:39:00.000-06:00

Yecch! I absolutely hate little sore throats that linger a while and dampen my spirits. I don't even have a major complaints but I am very impatient about this little malady. It has stuck around since last Tuesday morning. Mostly it's just annoying. Sure my voice is husky but I have been able to get a good night's sleep most night - last night being the exception. Fixing a piece of toast at 4:00 AM after not having had any sleep is not my type of joy! Once I fed the rumbly stomach I was allowed to fall asleep. Makes me wonder what the chemistry of the toast and my digestive fluids had to do with that. So far it hasn't affected my nasal passages much except for an occasional sneeze. Coughing is another story...

I finished up the "Loop de Loop" bracelet the other day (the one shown in the blog the other day) and the custom "Ice Berry" bracelet tonight. I'll be uploading them to my site late tonight. I have a bunch of updates to do as the US Postal Service raised rates today on domestic mail AND I decided on a price increase in the shop. I have been told repeatedly that my prices undervalue my work so I am trying to fix that situation. Basically I guess I had my prices set at what would be wholesale and then when people asked if I did wholesale I had to turn them down because I couldn't afford to.

Joys of January

2006-01-06T17:02:00.000-06:00

The temperature has been up and down lately. It's hard to know from one day to the next whether you'll be cold even with a coat or having to leave the coat open or even take it off! That said, the forecast the last couple of days hasn't been too accurate. It was supposed to be much warmer today than it was and I was disappointed in a way. Original plans included taking the dog out for a very long walk if it was nice out. Unfortunately I awoke this morning with a scratchy sore throat and a cough. I took one dose of cough syrup and decided to go back to bed "for a few minutes". Next thing I knew it was just past 1:00 PM!!! I presume I really was ill - that's my only excuse.

I worked on two beaded bracelets this afternoon. The one I completed needed only a button loop. It's luxuriously embellished with looped fringe - very lush. The other one is for a custom order and is embellished with glass leaves, glass flower buttons, fuchsia jade beads and Swarovski crystal bi-cones. This evening I will be adding fringe to it. It's very icy looking except for the small fuchsia jade beads. Here's a picture of the one with the looped fringe. It isn't posted to my site yet. It looks like it is done with several colors including pink and blue but it is mostly done in grayish iridescent beads that show highlights in pink, blue and green - very pretty and glittery. There are also some areas of clear silver lined beads in a small pattern.

Happy New Year!

2006-01-01T22:32:00.000-06:00

It's a fresh new year and boy we started out with fantastic weather! I can't believe it was in the 60's today. I ate dinner at my mom's assisted living place and then later I took the dog out for a long walk and didn't even need a jacket. Strange weather for January 1 in Kansas!

Livvy got into it with another dog as we were walking. She and the black dog on the corner do NOT get along and before I could shorten up her leash she ran right up to the gate and got personally involved. By the time I pulled her away she'd been slightly injured. She's been licking her bloodied lip all afternoon and evening but it doesn't appear to be anything serious. I've never figured out why these two dogs have it in for each other. He's a perfectly nice little dog when she's not around and she's a great dog when she's not around him.

If you are a beader or make jewelry be sure to check Beadweaver's blog (see links) today. She has information on the new Spring 2006 color trends. She also has a link to instructions for a fabulous beaded ring by Margo Field.

I uploaded a few pieces of jewelry to my online shop today. I made a spectacular pair of earrings the other day. They are made with handmade lampwork beads, Bali silver and each one has a beautiful Thai silver leaf hanging from it. As I said - spectacular as you can see! Would you like to buy these earrings? Then go to my shop at StormRising Designs!

Christmas Past

2005-12-28T16:20:00.000-06:00

It's the truth, Christmas 2005 is now in the past tense. The last family get-together for this year is now over. I really didn't want to go to last night's party because I was feeling slightly under the weather - nothing specific but just a little down in the dumpers. Going cheered me up in nothing flat but maybe the hard cider had something to do with it. There was so much food and all the inlaws and outlaws (people who used to be married to family members) mixed well. It really is a great family because they kept all the folks who might have been considered as outcasts by some families. "R" and I haven't been married to the brothers for over 20 years but since we are the mothers of some of the grandchildren we still get invited to all the family events. Since the children are all grown now and have homes of their own the parties are usually at their houses.

Last night we opened gifts, starting with cranky little children who were overwrought with excitement. We had to endure normal things like not wanting to share and insisting one child's gift actually belonged to another. Some of the gifts were a bit flimsy and I wonder if not quite 24 hours later if they still exist or have perhaps the pieces have made it to the trash bin. It was rather fun to watch especially when it's not your own kid being the "crankster". Then of course they didn't want to get to bed so the adults could enjoy opening their own gifts. I received a rather nice tea light candle holder that was like a little bird's next among some tree branches. The tea lights were cinnamon and smell heavenly. It was the perfect gift for me!

One of the nieces liked my square stitch bracelet so much that I will be making one for her. She has yet to decide on a color but thinks she wants a matte finish on the beads. It should be fun - hope I don't obsess too much about it!

You too can own one of my bracelets or other jewelry. Don't miss a chance to save money at my holiday sale at StormRising Designs!

Almost ready

2005-12-23T15:05:00.000-06:00

The gifts are bought and wrapped and the decorating is almost finished. I still need to do the top of the china hutch but I'll do that tonight. I just finished vacuuming and except for the kitchen floor the cleaning is done. I'll do the floor tomorrow night because I still have to bake some cookies and do other prep work for the "big day". Being me, there's always something I spill on the floor during my baking! Strangely enough I'm looking forward to the smell of the spicy ginger thins cookies even more than how they taste. Of course they taste excellent but they smell divine! It just seems more like Christmas with spicy smells in the house.

I actually got a sale last night in my shop. It's for one of the purses and it's going to an FPO address somewhere in the Pacific. I won't be able to get the order out until after Christmas as I will need to find a box that is larger than the ones I use for the jewelry I make. Yesterday I made a pair of earrings and uploaded them to the shop. They are a different design than I usually make - a bit intricate. It took me several hours to make them. You can view them at http://www.stormrisingdesigns.com/pd_ancient.cfm. I think they are pretty cool!

Negativity

2005-12-18T22:12:00.000-06:00

For some reason I decided to page through some other blogs. Whew, what an experience! I didn't realize what a negative attitude so many people have. I always thought I was negative but comparatively speaking I am QUITE upbeat! Here's to being happy, healthy and giving!

The party's over...

2005-12-18T21:20:00.000-06:00

Yes, I went to the dinner on Friday night at the country club. It was quite cold out and I didn't wear a coat, although I had one in the car. I was dressed perfectly for the occasion and received compliments on my outfit. The dinner was absolutely delicious with the exception of the green beans almandine. Unfortunately they were frozen and hadn't been cooked enough. I enjoyed prime rib, roasted potatoes, green rice, salad (notice I didn't list the green beans...). There were cookies and brownies for dessert. I snagged myself a raisin spice cookie. The coffee was fantastic and I'd love to know what brand they had. Usually it isn't something you can buy at the store but it still would be nice to know.

I got home a LOT earlier than I thought I would but that was OK. Unfortunately Cheryl got chilled and couldn't warm up. Finally she had a terrible coughing spell and we decided to leave. She dropped me at my house around 9:00 PM and I changed clothes and vacuumed the house because my brother was driving up on Saturday. Usually I go out to lunch with Cheryl at Andre's every Saturday but when I called her she sounded terrible. So we cancelled our plans and I just waited on Steve to show up. He arrived at 2:00 PM and we talked for quite a while before going over to visit our Mom. Steve took us out to dinner and Mom ordered steak again! Steve and I had chicken. I'd had a steak at Wednesday lunch, pot roast on Thursday and prime rib on Friday so I was ready for something besides beef - LOL!

Mom had me write some checks for Christmas gifts and then she slipped them into cards which she gave to Steve to take home. Since all his kids will be with them for Christmas this was easier (and cheaper) than mailing them. Then she had us take some of her wall decor with us as she didn't want to "clutter" her walls at the new place. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with all this stuff from Mom's place - half of the garage is starting to get filled up! If it weren't winter I'd have a garage sale.

Steve left early this morning and I had the whole day to myself more or less. Cheryl called to tell me she was a lot better and Trey called a couple of times before stopping by before supper. He was meeting friends for dinner and wanted to change into some new jeans he bought. He's been stopping by a lot and I like that. I love my "little boy", not that he's little anymore! I learned a new jewelry technique and did some wire coils around the tops of some briolettes - part of a pair of chandelier earrings. I used copper wire and Swarovski erinite color crystals in three different cuts. I love them! I uploaded them to the store and they can be bought here. I may redo the picture as I am not so impressed with the background color. It just doesn't highlight the earrings at all. They are much more attractive than in the picture.

Time to go - I need to scan yet another pair of earrings that I made with the cranberry glass beads and some turquoise. Saronaya!

Closing in...

2005-12-16T11:58:00.000-06:00

It's just over a week until what some folks call "the big day". It used to be that way for me when my son was young and both of my parents still alive. This year I still haven't put my decorations up except for the ones outside the front door. I never expected that when I stored the decorations in the big plastic storage boxes and put them into the far corner of the storage room that I wouldn't be able to get to them easily. But since the family room construction never took place I never was able to move a lot of the things that are in front of the storage boxes back into the room. It's going to take a very big effort to get to the decorations! I thought I'd get to it this week but I've been making jewelry, shipping jewelry, taking my mom to the doctor, going to supper. I'm exhausted by the time evening comes. Right now I'm getting ready for my brother to come up for a short visit. He's going to be shocked that I haven't decorated for the holidays with Christmas just over a week away. AND I have a party to go to tonight! I guess the important thing is to get some decorations up before my guests arrive for Christmas dinner - LOL!

I finally made some jewelry for myself! I made a pair of crystal cluster earrings using Erinite, Indian Red and Crystal AB bicones. Then I made a necklace out of the same colors.

Returned

2005-12-12T22:26:00.000-06:00

Part of the jewelry that was at the L. J. Singer Gallery in Palm Springs has been returned to me and is now uploaded to my website. I also uploaded an updated file to Froogle so the new stuff will be on view there.This was the jewelry that Jill wasn't keeping over the holidays. I found it interesting that most of the jewelry she returned was the "strung" jewelry - semi-precious gemstones. She kept most of the hand beaded woven items, the kind that are quite labor intensive to make and involve thousands of tiny seed beads. As a rule not as many people are interested in owning the intricate seed bead items but I hope they sell at the gallery!

The snow that hit us last week is mostly gone now, thanks to temperatures in the 40's over the weekend and today. The forecast for tomorrow night is somewhat "iffy" and I hope it changes for the better as I really don't feel like taking my mom to her appointment at the eye doctor in bad weather. The original forecast had some ice but now I see the moved up the rain to Tuesday and the falling temperatures into Wednesday afternoon. If that holds it should be just fine for our outing. She's almost 93 and I don't like taking chances with her - always afraid she'll fall.

I still have not decorated my house for Christmas although this isn't the latest I've ever waited. I haven't done mother's either. Her space is small so I can't put up much but I have a nice topiary for the shelf outside her door at the assisted living facility and a nice pretty candle for one of the end tables with the Fitz & Floyd Santa on the other. I think her table tree that we used to put into the bay window is too big to put on top of the TV so I will just take the lovely ceramic Fitz & Floyd Christmas Tree cookie jar that Barb and Steve gave her and use that. It's quite large - over a foot tall. Mom likes an uncluttered look anyhow. I'd put a wreath on her door but the automatic door closer mechanism is in the way of a wreath hook and the door isn't metal so I can't use a magnetic hook. I can't quite figure out how my M.I.L.'s wreath is attached to her door (she lives 3 doors down). I need to take a look. But the topiary will be fine and it's a great piece - I think she'll be pleased. I'll take this stuff over and put it all up after the appointment with the eye doctor.

My luck with the sales has continued and I put another nice order into the mail today. They may taper off now as we are getting close to the holidays and people are more concerned about getting their shipments on time. Maybe some folks will have some Christmas money to spend. My sale and discounts continue until the end of the year. I am considering having a post holiday sale in addition to the one I have now. So if you want to give ME a happy holiday , consider buying your jewelry gifts at StormRising Designs! I have gift certificates for sale too in case you aren't sure what to choose. Let the "giftee" make their own choice(s)!

Dumped on...

2005-12-08T14:03:00.000-06:00

Yep, lots of "the white stuff" out there today. It started yesterday morning and it snowed all day and all evening. I'm not sure what time it quit but by the time I got up this morning there must have been 10 inches or so on the ground. Yes, they cancelled school but it's so darn cold that I haven't seen any neighborhood kids out playing in the snow. It's just 12 degrees.

The patio courtyard seems to have more snow in it than anywhere else, much to the dismay of the hound dog. I think she's only been out about three times since the snow started. My son came around today to shovel my walk and half of the driveway and to diagnose a problem with the lights in the "big bathroom" upstairs. The switch is either loose or needs to be replaced. It turns out I can wiggle it a bit to get the lights to stay on. Sounds a bit unsafe to me but he'll replace the switch this weekend.

Meanwhile I'm staying inside where it's relatively warm, not that the downstairs of my house is ever warm in winter with the vaulted ceiling in the living room. All the heat goes up! I don't need to go anywhere so why get out on the roads? I understand the roads are in pretty good shape so if I do need to get out there shouldn't be a problem.

I don't believe this!

2005-12-04T01:04:00.000-06:00

Yes, more sales! I am so glad I set up that sale and discounting for the holidays. Quite a number of things are 15% off and then I set up the volume discount pricing based on the dollar amount for everything in the shop. People are taking advantage of this and I can still make money on it. I am close to running out of the little gift bags I put each piece of jewelry in (inside their boxes). I have some on order but they probably won't be delivered until late in the week. I guess if I run out the jewelry will be "naked" inside the boxes. Perhaps I can find some locally to fill the gap, so to speak. I think Michael's stocks them.

I uploaded a few new pieces and probably will upload some earrings tomorrow. Take a peek at some lovely Christmas gifts that you can get your hands on!

http://stormrisingdesigns.com

And the beat goes on...

2005-12-02T19:56:00.000-06:00

Another couple of sales, that brings it to 7 sales in 7 days and the last two were sizeable! That's terrific. I barely got the Cranberry Ice earrings uploaded when they got sold. I have more of those beads. I guess I should design more earrings using them. I think they are lovely and obviously the buyer thought so too. See them at the left.

If I sell enough jewelry maybe I can replace my old PC that keeps crashing! Don't forget to visit my site and shop for jewelry! http://stormrisingdesigns.com

Yippee!

2005-11-30T16:50:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it, my 4th order in 5 days in my shop! I certainly hope there are going to be more to make my own holiday a happy one. Don't forget to check out my shop at http://stormrisingdesigns.com. Buy some jewelry for friends and family for the holidays. Attention men: Most women LOVE jewelry as a gift!

Tomorrow I am helping a friend set up her real estate web page. She's going to pay me money too even though I said I would do it for free to help her out. Business hasn't been all that good for her lately as several deals have fallen through.

Jewelry at a gallery

2005-11-30T01:50:00.000-06:00

Twenty pieces of my handcrafted jewelry creations were at a show at The L. J. Singer Collection, a gallery in Palm Springs, California the week before Thanksgiving. Naturally I hoped some of my things would sell but they didn't. Fortunately the gallery operator asked me if I would leave nine items with her. I am quite pleased with this and hope they will sell over the holidays. She says my things are beautiful and that I am in touch with the market but it's fickle out there. This darn economy! I really could use some cash for Christmas (and bills and incidentals...) and chances are slim to none that I am going to win the lottery!

If anyone is interested in seeing what is at the gallery (and wants to buy some of the beautiful jewelry) please check out this page at my online shop for pictures and details - http://www.stormrisingdesigns.com/cat_the.cfm

Relaxin'

2005-11-23T21:20:00.000-06:00

I got the bathroom done last week and my brother came up and stayed with me over the weekend and used the bath. He always liked the "old" bathroom but was overwhelmed at what a great job I did on it. My son and my best friend also like the way it turned out. I am pleased and this week I decided to rest - LOL!

Today I got things ready for Thanksgiving. The stuffing is made and in a casserole in the fridge. I made some Waldorf salad too and tonight I baked some pumpkin custards. Normally I bake pumpkin pie but after years of watching family members leave the crust on the plate I decided to do little individual cups of pumpkin pie filling. I always liked my crust but many of them leave theirs. I won't really miss the calories in the crust. The little white cups look cool full of the pumpkin pie filling. I know they will be absolutely great. The turkey breast is defrosted and ready to cook.

Actually it is going to be a rather weird day. I invited my elderly mom over to eat but she didn't want to "put me to the trouble" so I accepted her invitation to eat over at the assisted living place where she resides at 1:00 PM. But then I am fixing a Thanksgiving Dinner at home because I LOVE turkey and I want leftovers. Also my grown son is ill with Shingles and feels he really can't go out to any relatives homes to eat so he is going to eat dinner with me in the evening. He sure wouldn't want to give someone Chicken Pox! I've already had it. SO I get to eat out in early afternoon then go home and cook in the evening! Unfortunately I am fixing the kind of stuffing I like and not the stuff he likes. He likes the Stove Top stuffing mix and I like apple and onion dressing. If he wants his kind of stuffing he'll need to buy some and bring it - LOL!

Painting walls

2005-11-15T22:03:00.000-06:00

Have you ever taken wallpaper off a wall that has never been painted and tried to make it smooth enough for painting? What a chore! I have worked on this (in the main bathroom) for days and I am still dissatisfied with the way the wall just above the toilet looks. It is still messy looking. I don't know what they put on the walls before they wallpapered but part of it peeled off with the wallpaper and it looks very unattractive. I have spackled and sanded and spackled and sanded and still it is not nice and smooth. I may end up having to go with a faux finish. I primed it today but I can tell that this particular wall still needs work before I can put on my paint.

I'm getting old!

2005-11-14T20:48:00.000-06:00

And tired, and slow and cranky! I can't believe how much my feet and back ache from the work I did on the upstairs bath today. I got all the wallpaper paste and paper that was still stuck off the walls. Then I washed the walls down - hopefully I got all the paste off or I will have a problem! Then I patched all the holes and irregularities in the walls. I just finished picking up all the debris and washing up the tools. Tomorrow I will sand the walls. Hopefully I won't have any more work to do before I prime them. I expect to sand late tomorrow afternoon and then prime the walls after supper if I can.

Shipped out two pieces of jewelry today - Yay! One was a repeat customer (another Yay!). Now I get to put my feet up or maybe I won't. My dog has that look in her eyes. Perchance she wants to go for a little walk? My feet say no, but in my heart I know I have to make this small sacrifice. The fresh air (39 degrees) will be good for me (cough, cough).

I just added some new jewelry to my web store. You need to buy some pieces of my jewelry! Go to http://stormrisingdesigns.com and take a look at my lovely handcrafted pieces. All of them are made by me - no imports and no slave labor. Buy American!

Such a long time...

2005-11-13T21:46:00.000-06:00

It's been almost nine months since I did any blogging (almost long enough to have a baby!). So much has changed! I now have a completely new website where I sell my jewelry. Be sure to check it out! http://stormrisingdesigns.com

My poor old mom got sick in March and it's really been a huge trial trying to get her well and into assisted living after several falls, hospital stays, nursing home stays, etc. It took quite a bit of my time and my energy and I didn't seem to get much else done. Things seem to be on an even keel lately and let's hope it stays that way! She now is in a little studio apartment but gets lots of personal care and after almost a month she is feeling more secure and I am getting a good night's sleep again!

I was invited to participate in a gallery show. Yes, my jewelry is now at the L. J. Singer Gallery in Palm Springs, CA. The show starts tomorrow and runs through the 19th. I am so excited. I worked night and day to get new pieces ready for the show. The majority of the pieces are made from seed beads, woven bead by bead. It's very time consuming. Here's some of the pieces:

It's been a while!

2005-02-27T13:26:00.000-06:00

I got totally into creating a new website. I signed up for a 30 day trial with instantestore and I've been busy creating my "look". I loaded a few pieces of jewelry so I could see how things work. Unfortunately you can't really set everything up until you sign up so if I decide to go with instantestore I figure I'll have a month overlap on my accounts while I transfer everything over from ShoppingCartsPlus before the cut.

Meanwhile I have created a couple of bracelets in Right Angle Weave. I also have some custom orders that I need to get to work on. For one of them I will have to find a new source for the post earrings because the supplier I selected the first time for the post cannot fill my order - bummer!

Frustration with custom orders - Bah, humbug!

2005-02-10T17:34:00.000-06:00

I make one-of-a-kind jewelry and I also will make custom pieces to order. Recently I had a customer who had already bought a necklace and earrings from me ask me to make a necklace similar to one on the site but in a different color. She also wanted earrings to match. So I went out and bought all the stones to make the pieces and I made up several prototypes for her to look at, each using a slightly different color of accent beads. Several weeks have gone by and I sent the same pictures via a different email address. Tuesday I sent her more pictures. I have heard nothing from her about the custom order. I will finish the pieces as I please and upload them for sale on my site. Some of the silver beads in these pieces were costly and I wouldn't have ordinarily bought them. This is so frustrating! I don't understand why people don't respond. A simple note saying she was no longer interested would have sufficed!

Lollipop?

2005-02-09T14:17:00.000-06:00

I won an auction on eBay for a beautiful glass pendant. It reminds me of a lollipop (probably because it is shown on the mandrel here) and has wonderful warm swirls of color. I will probably make a beaded spiral rope to hang it from. This was made by Lori Robbins and she sells under the name of flaladybird if you are interested in looking at more of her work.

Snow!

2005-02-08T16:23:00.000-06:00

It has been snowing for about 4 hours in the KC area and it looks like we have almost 4 inches of the nasty white stuff out there. A friend reports that her drive home was a trial because so many people were spinning out on the icy roads. Oh joy! They forecast 4 - 8 inches before the storm is over but who knows what will happen.

When I was a child I lived for days like these. I'd pull on all those heavy clothes and run around in the snow, making snow angels and attempting to make a snowman. Those were the days! Today's kids don't get a chance to goof around in the snow - at least not the ones in my neighborhood. They all go to organized activities after school. I think it stifles imagination. I'm sure glad I had a childhood where I was free to daydream and pretty much do as I pleased as long as I got my homework done and didn't get into any trouble. That's pretty much how I raised my son too. I realize that times have changed but I honestly don't think they've necessarily changed for the better.

Rise of the Phoenix - How we got to where we are now...

2005-02-07T15:42:00.000-06:00

[aside to audience] “Yea verily… What am I to do with all this glittery stuff and heavy stones? This is going to cause a serious storage problem here in the cottage and I can’t afford a castle! Plus my spreadsheet shows a serious shortage of monies in my bank account. And to make it worse, I LOVE this stuff!!!!”

Well yes, it was rather a mess. I decided that I was going to sell my stuff on the web because I spent so much time on the web anyhow. It seemed like the perfect solution although I knew it wouldn't be easy. Nothing comes easy to me. So I set about creating web pages with FrontPage. I took pictures with my scanner (still do for the most part), created thumbnails, created descriptions. I couldn’t believe how tedious this was and even on my own PC the load times were not good. I was going to use the PayPal shopping cart. Mind you, this was in July 2003! I decided that creating each page from scratch wasn’t going to fly. I needed a template! So I found some free CSS templates on the web and downloaded one to modify for myself. By this time it was September, 2003.

The one thing I really didn’t like was that if an item sold and I was to remove it from my page, I would have to completely rework at least that page and maybe all of them. There was no good way for me to rearrange my products easily. So then I thought maybe I’d be better off at one of those mall solutions. I continued to make jewelry and put off my decision for a while. Thanksgiving week, 2003, I decided to sign up with an online mall that featured antiques, collectibles and jewelry.

I got a good start right from the beginning and actually made some sales, enough that I reached “Silver” status in only a few months. Things were humming along for a while but suddenly they made some changes in the way they handled the meta tags, which they claimed didn’t make any difference, and the number of customers looking at my jewelry dropped dramatically. Then there were rumors of increased costs, so I started looking once again at other solutions. I looked at templates once again and I started looking at places that hosted storefronts.

One of the gals I knew from online discovered a place called ShoppingCartsPlus and I signed up for the trial. However before I actually had much time to work on the site, the mall deleted my store over some postings on a message board completely unrelated to their site. Quite a number of shops suffered the same fate. Another antiques and collectibles mall came to our rescue and from what they could find on the web, resurrected our stores at no cost to us for about 60 days I believe. I am very appreciative of what they did but I soon found that although I had a shop, I wasn’t making any sales. Meanwhile I continued to work on my “standalone” site at ShoppingCartsPlus (SC+). Shortly after I completed my shop in June, 2004, I started getting business. By that time it had been about a year since I first had the idea of having an online shop.

I kept the shop at the second mall for several months but closed it in November, 2004 due to lack of sales. Meanwhile my shop at SC+ continues to grow and develop and I have seen the number of visitors and sales increase steadily in that time period. I have great hopes for the future. I know the phoenix is a mythical bird but I feel much like I have risen out of the flames just like the phoenix, newly created and flying in the blue skies!

SHAZZAM! How this jewelry venture started...

2005-02-07T01:28:00.000-06:00

I used to work for a living as a software engineer. But suddenly I was laid off and since I was almost at the age when a lot of people retire (I hadn't planned on it quite this soon), I did retire. Sure I would like to have found another job that paid just as much but reality set in when I discovered that no one was really interested in hiring anyone in my field who was over the age of 50. I won't bore you with how many resumes I sent out.

So what do you do when you retire? Some people go play golf, some hike, some birdwatch, some get into gardening, all nice healthy pursuits, but I never was the outdoorsy type. The outdoors doesn't seem to agree with me. I get sunburned, I freckle, I break out in hives at the slightest brush of a plant, bugs bite me at their leisure, etc. Some people travel, but I don't like to travel alone (most of my friends were laid off too and we are all broke!) and quite frankly I can't afford the kind of travel I would really like to do... I never liked playing cards.

So what's a gal to do? I did consider learning to do stained glass. Tried it once and found I wasn't afraid to break glass. Made a hot air balloon suncatcher. But I don't like the idea of cutting myself so I lazed (is that a word?) around for a little while. I slept late and stayed up late. I ate meals when I was hungry. I lost weight without dieting. I ENJOYED myself. But there did come a time when I got a little bored with all that. And although I didn't consciously go looking for something to occupy my time, my subconscious apparently did...

Now I always was the artsy-craftsy type. I like painting decorative items. Flowerpots never stayed the color that I bought. Objects got sponge painting and stencils and handpainted geometric designs. Vases and furniture got antiqued and glazed. I painted and wallpapered. I made slipcovers and curtains, pillows and shower curtains, even clothes. I loved fabrics and texture, color and design. I loved jewelry...

Yes, I loved jewelry but really wasn't consciously thinking about jewelry when I was daydreaming one day. Out of the blue came a voice, a male voice. The voice commanded in an authoritative tone, "MAKE JEWELRY!"

Yikes! It scared me so much I came straight up off the couch and for some reason went straight to my PC to take a look at jewelry. Then I went off to buy some magazines. I ordered some catalogs. I found the local bead stores and I signed up for a class where I would learn to make a bracelet and earrings. I went around at warp speed for weeks. I made some jewelry. While shopping in a bead shop I saw some really cool pieces of jewelry made of teensy beads. One was like a little rope and there were these clever cuff bracelets...

I signed my name and paid my money. I took the classes to learn to work with these little things I needed a magnifying glass to see clearly. Gradually I got to where Peyote stitch and Spiral Rope became second nature. This took months and it kept me busy. Gradually I accumulated a bunch of lovely jewelry. And then I realized I had a problem. I loved making this stuff but I wasn't going to be able to afford to continue to do this without increasing my income. What was I going to do about this quandary?