Off schedule so soon :(

Well this is the first week that I decided to make a schedule and stick to it, and wouldn't you know something came up. My grandma is staying at my house while they work on the water line in her condo complex. While she is so much fun to have around, there is not much time to make and post much. I promise I will as soon as she goes home.

This weeks schedule

This month's theme is St. Patrick's day and spring cleaning. Here is the schedule for this week.

Mealtime Monday: Broccoli, rice and cheese casserole
Tipsy Tuesday: Organizing your workspace
What's New Wednesday: ChaCha bracelet
How to Thursday: Learn how to make a ChaCha bracelet
Funny Friday: With my kids who knows what this will be about!
Spotlight Saturday:  Annie Dee's Designs

Blog post schedule

Well since I started this blog I never really had a plan about what I would do with it. I mainly started it because so many people raved about how much extra business they recieve at their Etsy shop as a result of thier blog. So I started the blog thinking, well it could kind of be like a virtual diary about my jewelry that everyone can see. What was I thinking?/! I have never been much of a diary person, so I should have known that I'd never keep up with the blog with that mind set. I decided to join a blog team on Etsy to motivate me to spend more time on my blog. As a result, I spent the week sitting with my blog post open most nights and start typing, then delete, and try again, before I  would finally log off fustrated. 

I decided to ask my blog team members what they do for thier blogs, and recieved many wonderful suggestions. As a teacher I find that planning ahead is very beneficial for me, so when I read a suggestion to make a schedule of what I want to post each day, I had one of those slap yourself on the forehead DUH moments and decided to create a schedule for my blog. Anyhow here is the tentative schedule that I will follow:

Meal time Monday                     A recipe of the week
Tipsy Tuesday                            A business related tip                   
What's new Wednesday             What I am working on this week
How To Thursday                      A little project you can try to make
Funny Friday                              Something funny that has happened this week
Spotlight Saturday                      Putting that spotlight on an Etsy shop

If it all works out this week, this will be my blog schedule. Feel free to leave comments- I love hearing feedback on what you like and what needs to be improved.

Pics of Custom Items in my Etsy shop

Here are some pics of new items in my shop.

This fiirst pic is of the custom stretch necklaces that can be made in a variety of patterns. I have one necklace that us multiple colors made from these beads and ALWAYS get a compliment on it when I were it. These necklaces are perfect for women, teens, and school aged children. 

Here are some more options that I made over Christmas time for a charity

As you can see there are many options with the design of the necklaces. Each necklace is $10 and bracelets made with the same beads are $5. They would make excellent Easter gifts and party favors. Follow the link to my Etsy website found on the left of your screen and Convo me if you would like more than one necklace or bracelet. I will offer a discount on mulitple necklaces/bracelets. Plus you can still use the coupon code for this month (found in my shop's announcement) for an even better discount!


The Fringe Bracelet $40-$55

This necklace is very cool and funky. It can be made in a variety of colors and with so many different beads. The hot pink and black bracelet is made with catherdal beads and Swarovski crystal it is finshed with a sterling silver clasp. It costs about $55 due to the quality of materials. The purple bracelet is made with gemstone chips- in this case amethyst- and is finished with a sterling silver clasp. It costs about $50; depending on the gemstone used the price could be higher or lower. The blue bracelet is made with acrylic beads and costs $40. It is finished with a handmade clasp.

Fringe bracelets are very time consuming to make because each bead is hand "stitched" it can take about a 3-5 days just to make. But they are well worth the time and effort since they are so beautiful!

Busy Bee

I have been a busy be this week and have loaded a bunch of new lotion candles, custom jewelry options, and a new line for men.

Since the weather is warming up, I have tried to locate some spring and summer inspired lotion candles. I have created a multitude of scents for the season and also sale samples of all my scents should you want to try any out. My newest scents are Summer Smoothie, Lemonade, Cherry Passion, Banana Split, Gone Bananas, Sage and Citrus, Fun in the Sun, as well as 2 men scents called Cool Dude and Hot Dude.

I have noticed that custom jewelry seems to sale well on Etsy, so I have attempted to jump on the band waggon. I created 3 custom options, 1 for a custom necklace and 2 for custom bracelets. My target market here is as party  favors for my stretchy necklace and bracelets, and hope to get some custom orders for my fringe bracelets too. I will also be adding a custom option for some Cha-Cha bracelets in the near future.

An area that seems to not have much competition in Etsy is products for men. While there are many amazing things on Etsy, most items aregeared toward women. At first I was afraid of making men's jewelry because I thought it might not be that creatively inspiring but I was wrong. I found that the creative challenge with men's jewelry is knowing when to stop. For women jewelry, one can go all out- the possibilities are daunting- I often find myself planning, then taking apart, and planning again. Whereas for men jewelry, simple lines are key and the only issue is what beads or color combinations to use. I found this limitation to be helpful in focusing my creative energy since it has been a while since I have made jewelry items in general.

Anyway, hopefully all these additions help bring in more sales- we'll see...

Man Product Line?

I'm thinking of starting a product line for men. Some soaps, maybe some lotion candles, and jewelry. I am a a loss for what scents to get for bath products and what designs to make for jewelry. I like mixing scents when I am making candles and making intricately designed jewelry so this is hard for me. I feel limited and confined because men designs are simple (no offense). My hubby will be my guinea pig with whatever I make. I'm thinking something earthy for both bath products and jewelry but can't put my finger on exactly what. What are your favorite manly scents? What type of jewelry would you buy for a man?

Friday Feature

It has taken me a while to create another blog post. I have to remember to log on once a day. We've been having so much going on here that I kind of forgotten until I received a convo from a Etsy friend.  She featured me and my Etsy shop on her blog. Here's the link feel free to check it out.

http://silverrosesewing.blogspot.com/2011/01/feature-friday-jazzy-custom-creations.html

It was a really in depth interview and really lets you get to know me. She happened to catch me on a long winded day so my responses are pretty lengthy! Enjoy!