Stuff I Forgot About Selling Online

Decent pictures.

Solid descriptions.

It's surprising how much time just those two simple concepts can eat out of a day. I've spent the last three days photographing and listing a number of items for my Etsy shop.  So that I'll have time for other things, like beading, I've limited myself now to just listing 4 to 6 items a day.

I'm doing a little bit of everything right now - some bead crochet, bead embroidery, and making beaded beads.

I've been making these Chinese lantern beads for The Jade Dog in exchange for beading supplies. Works well for me. She sent me some really interesting vintage striped Czech seed beads - I was worried I'd get dizzy working with them, but I managed all right.  And they are fun to make.

I tried to download the Etsy phone/tablet app, "Sell On Etsy," for the purpose of putting up those "Shop Updates." Unfortunately for me, my phone and tablet cameras don't take very good pictures. And I have trouble texting more than a sentence, let alone type out an update on anything. It's a shame you can't post updates from your computer - I have a really decent camera, and I'm much more comfortable with a full-sized keyboard. Maybe that's one of their "soon to be" features.

I like the idea of the Shop Update.

Since that's kind of what this blog is.

More later.

Etsy Shop Re-Opened

I brought my shop back out of vacation mode for the next two months, since my relocation has been put on hold for a bit longer than I expected.

And at long last I have some new work to offer there - I've posted the pictures here before, but I hadn't quite made up my mind to sell them.  But here they are:

I made a dozen of these; I gave a few of them away as gifts to friends, and several sold through the bookshop - and after picking out the one I loved the best, I ended up with only six for the Etsy shop.

I can still remember when I found that strand of dendritic agate drum beads. It was the first time I went to Tucson with The Jade Dog on one of her buying trips. Attending the Tuscon Bead Show was the most overwhelming experience I've ever had - and that includes my first glimpse of the Ginza in Tokyo.  So much dazzle, shine, and color.  But when I saw these little drums - they took my breath away. I'd never seen anything like them before. I hovered back and forth - could I afford them? What would I do with them? I picked them up and put them back down half a dozen times, and finally I just gave in to the impulse. Had to have them. And now, so many years later, the Right Idea came to me at last.

It's my intention to continue adding items to the Etsy shop each day until I have everything in my inventory listed.

More later.

Because I Need To

I've shelved the design for my friend's lanyard for now, since I've come across something else that needs doing before I move. I went through my bead stash and realized I need to reconfigure the storage and condense things down as I prep for my Big Move.

So I got that 80% done, and came across multiple containers of finished and partially finished bead works. I separated out the stuff I felt was sufficiently interesting/polished to put in my Etsy shop, some I felt I needed to keep for myself, and other things I felt needed to be cannibalized for parts.

I'm in the process now of going back and forth between re-making/reworking designs and tearing stuff apart.

First, I wanted to rework a couple of bangle sets I'd made for myself some time back. They were patterned bead crochet and they were just too loose - making the patterns meet for a seamless join they ended up being way too big. So I opened them back up, shortened them, and joined them with these great metal ball beads in an antique silver finish.

I'm on the fence about keeping these - I loved making them and I love the pattern work, and now that they actually FIT rather than flop around on my wrist, I'm leaning toward keeping.  For now.

And today I'm doing wholesale slaughter - slashing some things down to the beads and findings. This is actually big fun - enough time has elapsed since I made or started some of this stuff, that I don't have that "But I worked so HARD!" attachment to them and ripping them up is cathartic.

I need some catharsis right now. Some feeling of forward momentum, and accomplishment.

This is the piece I'm destroying at the moment. See those little scissors there? Under my glasses? I knew I was going to do this, so on Monday I went to the knife sharpener guy and bought a brand new pair of Italian steel embroidery scissors. $30. I KNOW. But I was so tired of trying to make do with cuticle scissors and my old embroidery snips were so dull, but the blades were too short to sharpen, and I decided I was tired of limping along with cheap tools, so this was where I made my stand.

They're going to get a massive workout here in the next few days, so it's a smart investment. It is. Really.

This is my Reworks container. It weighs 25+ pounds.

WHEE.

More later.

And It Was. Scary, I Mean.

December was a complete roller-coaster of so many emotions. Closing up a used bookshop that's been a community staple for 40ish years was not something I did lightly. It was reasoned, planned, and the last week of business leading up to Christmas Eve was hectic and bittersweet and filled with the faces and good wishes of many old friends. People who couldn't make it in for The Big Finish called instead.

Christmas Day was spent doing inventory with a helper who was no stranger to the procedure - my best friend, who has helped with the task nearly every year since I've owned the place.  The week after that was a blur of packing books and shipping them off to their new homes. We had to take a Snow Day in there too - but we got it all done and on New Year's Day, the final load of books and store fixtures rolled out of the parking lot. I went back on Monday to give the place one final sweeping before handing over the keys the following morning.

I still have a few chores to tackle with regard to closing the bookshop, but by and large my time is now my own and I have so many projects in every conceivable phase of completion I'm having trouble narrowing my focus.

So naturally I started something new.  I've been commissioned in a way to make some Chinese Lantern beaded beads, using those wonderful Picasso beads that are now available in 11°s. I practiced at first, trying to remember how I used to make these, using some matte metallics from my stash.

These are some of the matte metallic lanterns. 

And these are some of the picasso lanterns.

After this, I've promised to come up with a sturdy, attractive lanyard for my BFF - the design for which will consume and entertain me for at least a week.

But first, the lanterns.