My daughter, who is now officially a teenager
created a TON of kids jewelry over the summer and I am finally getting a chance to take pictures of them and get them listed on Etsy.
Follow me during my daily trials and experimentations as I try to survive 40+ hours of over-the-top stress working with people who are homeless while balancing home life and now trying to make it in the jewelry making business. Yikes!!
Showing posts with label bead necklace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bead necklace. Show all posts
Friday, December 13, 2013
Kid-ding Around
I'm nearing the end of a very long first semester of graduate school. I just submitted my final assignment which was a policy analysis of Public Housing...yawn. So I can get back to focusing a little bit of attention on AlyxAndrea Design again.
My daughter, who is now officially a teenager
created a TON of kids jewelry over the summer and I am finally getting a chance to take pictures of them and get them listed on Etsy.
My daughter, who is now officially a teenager
created a TON of kids jewelry over the summer and I am finally getting a chance to take pictures of them and get them listed on Etsy.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Sweet Corn!!! & My So Called Life :)
It sure has been a LONG summer! I think I over booked myself just a tad. Full-time job has gotten too stressful for words and then I started a part-time job facilitating groups for men on probation and parole. It's something I've done before and REALLY enjoy it. However, 12 hour days just aren't for me.
Got some great news though, I got into graduate school so I'm actually going down to part-time at the one job and switching from working with women who are homeless to families who are homeless The families are not yet in the shelter because we have a long waiting list. I'm sure no one really thinks to get put on a waiting list before they become homeless! So, it will be nice to go down to part-time but I'm not looking forward to seeing kids who are sleeping in cars or on the floors of other people's homes. But working with single women gets difficult too because there is so much mental illness that makes everything so difficult. NO ONE would deny a person housing solely because they have cancer or heart disease but a person with severe mental health issues really struggles to obtain and maintain housing sometimes. It bothers me tremendously that people seem to think that mental illness is some sort of choice or a consequence for poor choices or something. Mental illness is biological and develops by no fault of the person.
Check out blogs from this insightful and amazing woman who was homeless if you want to learn more: http://www.squidoo.com/Homeless-Experiences
I really do have a passion for helping people with mental illness and I could probably go on all day about the injustices but I am BURNT OUT. I very much plan to return to mental health related work but if I don't take a break I may end up quitting forever. So, I'm going to work with families for awhile and see how it goes.
As far as AlyxAndrea Design goes you may have noticed that I've been a little absent. I've been doing a few art fairs but my on-line presence has been nearly non-existent. Just too busy but as I switch to part-time soon I'm hoping I will be back in full force. I also only have one more craft fair of the season which is the:
Sweet Corn Festival
Saturday, August 17 and Sunday, August 18
Sun Prairie WI
http://www.sunprairiechamber.com/Sweet-Corn-Festival.68.0.html
This will be my first 2 day show and I'm a little nervous that my fibromyalgia body won't be able to handle it. But, I am excited because it is a really large festival and I'm hoping for some good traffic. Many of the other fairs I did this summer have been really slow. But since this was my first year I'm treating it as a learning experience. I rather expensive learning experience but I'm hoping I will do better to choose shows that will work for me next year.
Coming soon....I need to finally share my experience at the RAW Artists Showcase. I need to tweek a few things and get that up because it has been 2 months. I'm excited to share how it went but just haven't had time to write it all down.
I wish had some new products to share today but I haven't made much time for creating. The only thing I've been doing is getting products for a $10 and $5 table for craft fairs. My daughter made a ton of kids jewelry to be sold at $5 and I made some really simple adult jewelry for $10. I'm not planning to put any of the kids jewelry on Etsy but maybe whatever is left of the adult stuff after my last fair.
I've listed this one sad pair of earrings recently:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/158362036
http://www.sunprairiechamber.com/Sweet-Corn-Festival.68.0.html
This will be my first 2 day show and I'm a little nervous that my fibromyalgia body won't be able to handle it. But, I am excited because it is a really large festival and I'm hoping for some good traffic. Many of the other fairs I did this summer have been really slow. But since this was my first year I'm treating it as a learning experience. I rather expensive learning experience but I'm hoping I will do better to choose shows that will work for me next year.
Coming soon....I need to finally share my experience at the RAW Artists Showcase. I need to tweek a few things and get that up because it has been 2 months. I'm excited to share how it went but just haven't had time to write it all down.
I wish had some new products to share today but I haven't made much time for creating. The only thing I've been doing is getting products for a $10 and $5 table for craft fairs. My daughter made a ton of kids jewelry to be sold at $5 and I made some really simple adult jewelry for $10. I'm not planning to put any of the kids jewelry on Etsy but maybe whatever is left of the adult stuff after my last fair.
I've listed this one sad pair of earrings recently:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/158362036
Thursday, May 2, 2013
AlyxAndrea Design will be at the 2013 Fresh Air Craft Fair
Music: Local folk/pop musician Adam Rostad will be performing from 12pm-3pm. This versatile artist creates original songs and unique covers in many different styles and genres. Don’t miss this up-and-coming artist!
Date: May 11th 2013, 10am – 3pm Rain or Shine
Location: Elver Park, 1250 McKenna Boulevard, Madison, WI 53719
What is the Madison Parks Fresh Air Craft Fair?
Madison Parks is pleased to host the Fresh Air Craft Fair on May 11th, from 10am-3pm. Local artists and craft vendors will be showcasing and selling their original works including jewelry, pottery, paper goods, glass works, and other handmade items.
Activities
Kids: There will be plenty of activities for kids including spring themed kid’s crafts. The Wisconsin Kiter’s Club will be flying kites for demonstration, as well as hosting a kite making workshop, so kids can bring home their own kite creation. Also, Madison Parks hayrides will be available for $2 per person around Elver Park.
Food: Attendees will be able to purchase snacks from Curt’s Gourmet Popcorn and Jim’s Kettle Corn. The Santa Fe Food Cart will be serving burritos, tacos, and other southwest classics. Music: Local folk/pop musician Adam Rostad will be performing from 12pm-3pm. This versatile artist creates original songs and unique covers in many different styles and genres. Don’t miss this up-and-coming artist!
Vendor List
- Jenny Blasen Pottery: Handmade stoneware pottery, coffee mugs, yarn bowls, ceramic plates, and soap dishes.
- Copper Heart Designs: Handmade jewelry created using a variety of metalsmithing techniques including etching, enameling, soldering and wirework.
- Makers Guild: Paper and Fiber Arts with a focus on eco crafts - felted crowns, whimsical up-cycled fiber critters, felted wool balls and blocks, pin cushions, journals and stationary
- Meredith Dillman: Watercolor fantasy art
- Danidorem: Handmade Eco-Friendly Jewelry
- JS Designs Studio: Custom children and infant clothing and accessories with comfort in mind
- Three Fates Design: Beaded art work
- Twisted Planet: Upcycled jewelry and crocheted stuffed animals
- Hazy Daze Glass: Unique handmade glass items
- One Thirty Jewelry: Handmade jewelry: Rough cut stones. Wood. Metalwork. Vintage chain. Organic. Asymmetrical. One of a kind.
- One Thirty Jewelry: Jewelry that combines metal techniques with traditional materials, including wood, semi-precious stones and vintage beads
- Shari Wittman: Paper creations including envelopes and note cards, as well as origami items
- Deirdre Adele Thompson: Beaded jewelry
- The Gourd Lady: Painted bird house gourds, butterfly houses, wood bird houses, and suet feeders, as well as solar garden art
- Mrs. Bow Wowz: Handmade dog treats
- Akarim African Enterprise: Hand woven baskets
- reVINYLized: Repurposed records created into fashionable jewelry, clocks, and other items.
- Randee’s Rock Gardens: Container gardens
- Aych: T-Shirt Design, Screen Printing, and Drawing
- N*Studio: Functional pottery/ceramics with a touch of color and whimsy. Textile goods, including handbags, quilts, and home accessories.
- ECE’s Candle’s: All-natural 100% Soy Candles
- Valora Vintage: Vintage rings and earrings, as well as hand blown glass ware
- Ashley Schultz: Handmade polymer clay sculpture and hand beaded glass/stone jewelry
- Selina De Haan: Beaded jewelry – Bracelets, earrings, and necklaces
- Bibi’s Arts: Handmade sterling silver, copper and brass jewelry
- AlyxAndrea Design: Beaded ribbon jewelry and accessories
Admission
Free
Parking
Parking will be available at Elver Park in parking lot adjacent to the Craft Fair as well as in the additional lot at Elver Park.
Monday, January 21, 2013
Etsy Teams and Another First
It's been about 3 months since I first opened a shop on Etsy. I took a picture of a necklace I made using my phone, uploaded the pic to my store and added a price. Absolutely nothing happened because the picture was terrible and the description was worse.
Then I discovered teams. Teams are little forums with groups of people with common interests. There are teams for asking questions or posting new items or for just about anything you can think of. I found a lot of good information and even got a full shop review from the "Helpful Relevancy Team."
The best team a person could ever find is the "Promotional Frenzy Team." You need to have 500 people following your shop in order to join which I had to work really hard to get to. But once you are welcomed into this amazing group of people that are becoming friends the rewards are limitless. I have gotten a ton of advice on how to improve my pics, descriptions and other aspects of selling on Etsy. My views have skyrocketed because everyone on the team must participate in activities which involve promoting each others items on Etsy and with social media.
I can also thank these incredible people at "PromoFrenzy" for helping me get my first sale. It happened less than a week after I was allowed to join.
I spend a lot of time on this forum both chatting with team members and promoting their items. It's fun and extremely helpful. If I'm feeling discouraged I get encouragement, if I'm having difficulties with my photos I get advice, if something positive happens I get applause.
I've actually withdrew myself from most of the teams I joined initially because they were basically just post and run teams. Meaning you post a link to your item and it just sits there and no one does anything with it. Basically a huge waste of time.
One other fairly helpful team has been the "Wisconsin Craft Fair Explorers." They don't seem to be terribly active but I found out about a craft fair that will be in Madison on February 9th. So I applied for the "Art from the Heart Craft Fair" which is juried and got excepted. I was really excited for about 2 seconds and then I realized that I had no idea what craft fairs involve and I have nothing to use for a display.
So I started Googling and got some ideas. I decided to see if I could find anything unusual to use for displays at thrift stores. I hit the jackpot on my first try.
The store had a ton of these new but not put together well table top easels.
I bought 6 for $6 each!! I tightened the screws and good as new. I also bought 2 tall candle holders with leaves that will be great for hanging necklaces off of.
I used ornament hooks to hang necklaces off of the raised part of the easel and ta da.....
I'm still a little nervous about the fair. I'm not much of a salesperson, I'd much prefer to give things away. Plus I'm terrified that no one will like my jewelry.
I took the 2 days before the fair off work so I can prepare and also shield my co-workers for my neurotic self. I'm sure I will be a nervous wreck and I will wonder around asking everyone I meet if I'm nuts for thinking I can do this and complaining I'm going to fail miserably.
Of course I'm fairly certain I will be just fine and I really do think I design jewelry that is unlike anything else available for people to buy but also beautiful and looks good. Sometimes there is a reason why no one makes something - it's not good but I don't think my design is one of those things.
So if you are anywhere near Madison WI on February 9th, stop by Union South on University Ave. for Art from the Heart.
Then I discovered teams. Teams are little forums with groups of people with common interests. There are teams for asking questions or posting new items or for just about anything you can think of. I found a lot of good information and even got a full shop review from the "Helpful Relevancy Team."
The best team a person could ever find is the "Promotional Frenzy Team." You need to have 500 people following your shop in order to join which I had to work really hard to get to. But once you are welcomed into this amazing group of people that are becoming friends the rewards are limitless. I have gotten a ton of advice on how to improve my pics, descriptions and other aspects of selling on Etsy. My views have skyrocketed because everyone on the team must participate in activities which involve promoting each others items on Etsy and with social media.
I can also thank these incredible people at "PromoFrenzy" for helping me get my first sale. It happened less than a week after I was allowed to join.
I spend a lot of time on this forum both chatting with team members and promoting their items. It's fun and extremely helpful. If I'm feeling discouraged I get encouragement, if I'm having difficulties with my photos I get advice, if something positive happens I get applause.
I've actually withdrew myself from most of the teams I joined initially because they were basically just post and run teams. Meaning you post a link to your item and it just sits there and no one does anything with it. Basically a huge waste of time.
One other fairly helpful team has been the "Wisconsin Craft Fair Explorers." They don't seem to be terribly active but I found out about a craft fair that will be in Madison on February 9th. So I applied for the "Art from the Heart Craft Fair" which is juried and got excepted. I was really excited for about 2 seconds and then I realized that I had no idea what craft fairs involve and I have nothing to use for a display.
So I started Googling and got some ideas. I decided to see if I could find anything unusual to use for displays at thrift stores. I hit the jackpot on my first try.
The store had a ton of these new but not put together well table top easels.
I bought 6 for $6 each!! I tightened the screws and good as new. I also bought 2 tall candle holders with leaves that will be great for hanging necklaces off of.
I used ornament hooks to hang necklaces off of the raised part of the easel and ta da.....
I'm still a little nervous about the fair. I'm not much of a salesperson, I'd much prefer to give things away. Plus I'm terrified that no one will like my jewelry.
I took the 2 days before the fair off work so I can prepare and also shield my co-workers for my neurotic self. I'm sure I will be a nervous wreck and I will wonder around asking everyone I meet if I'm nuts for thinking I can do this and complaining I'm going to fail miserably.
Of course I'm fairly certain I will be just fine and I really do think I design jewelry that is unlike anything else available for people to buy but also beautiful and looks good. Sometimes there is a reason why no one makes something - it's not good but I don't think my design is one of those things.
So if you are anywhere near Madison WI on February 9th, stop by Union South on University Ave. for Art from the Heart.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Rollin'
Maybe the sales aren't exactly "rollin" in but I'm getting a couple. I got my very first sale on Etsy today. I screamed so loud I nearly gave my husband a heart attack. A woman actually purchased 2 already made pieces and requested a custom made necklace in order to have 3 necklaces with heart pendants to give to her 3 grandchildren. I also sold 2 necklaces at Edge Comics and Games/Art Market in Edgerton WI. Combine that with the few items I've sold to friends and I may be breaking even :-p
Another bit of excitement was coming in first place in an Etsy contest this week. It was kind of funny because the first contest I was in I places at nearly 200 out of probably 200, who knows. Each time a piece was featured I went up a little by little and I was happy to rank under 100 in the last one. The most recent pick was actually a necklace my 12 year old daughter made (the Alyx in AlyxAndrea Design).
It's been a really tough week at work so it was good to have some good news. I client of mine died of an overdose after 2 years of sobriety. She had suffered a lot of loss over the last year and I guess it got to be too much. What is really tragic is that she was was using her experience with addiction to help others. She was returning to school for Human Services, volunteering and sharing her story at speaking engagements whenever possible. My husband had interviewed her awhile back for a documentary he is doing on homelessness in the city I work in. I'm thinking it will be very painful to watch when it is finished. If possible I hope that her legacy will live on as evidence of the devastating affects of addiction. You can work so hard, go to treatment, by motivated to your core and it can sneak back up on you just like that.
So like I said, it was good to get some good news. After typing this I feel a little guilty about being so excited about something so trivial in comparison but part of working in social services it separation. Separating yourself, your life and you feeling from you job. Sometimes I feel like my heart is turning to stone because I can hear the most unimaginably tragic stories of trauma in the lives of people without safe homes and it barely fazes me sometimes. As a whole it takes a great toll on my mind, body and spirit but I have to put up a little bit of a wall to protect myself. Everyone in this field experiences a little bit of secondary trauma meaning that we are actually traumatized by hearing and empathizing with the traumatic stories of others.
One of the things I really enjoy about making jewelry is that it helps me take my mind off work and having other people like what I make is an very exciting added bonus.
Another bit of excitement was coming in first place in an Etsy contest this week. It was kind of funny because the first contest I was in I places at nearly 200 out of probably 200, who knows. Each time a piece was featured I went up a little by little and I was happy to rank under 100 in the last one. The most recent pick was actually a necklace my 12 year old daughter made (the Alyx in AlyxAndrea Design).
It's been a really tough week at work so it was good to have some good news. I client of mine died of an overdose after 2 years of sobriety. She had suffered a lot of loss over the last year and I guess it got to be too much. What is really tragic is that she was was using her experience with addiction to help others. She was returning to school for Human Services, volunteering and sharing her story at speaking engagements whenever possible. My husband had interviewed her awhile back for a documentary he is doing on homelessness in the city I work in. I'm thinking it will be very painful to watch when it is finished. If possible I hope that her legacy will live on as evidence of the devastating affects of addiction. You can work so hard, go to treatment, by motivated to your core and it can sneak back up on you just like that.
So like I said, it was good to get some good news. After typing this I feel a little guilty about being so excited about something so trivial in comparison but part of working in social services it separation. Separating yourself, your life and you feeling from you job. Sometimes I feel like my heart is turning to stone because I can hear the most unimaginably tragic stories of trauma in the lives of people without safe homes and it barely fazes me sometimes. As a whole it takes a great toll on my mind, body and spirit but I have to put up a little bit of a wall to protect myself. Everyone in this field experiences a little bit of secondary trauma meaning that we are actually traumatized by hearing and empathizing with the traumatic stories of others.
One of the things I really enjoy about making jewelry is that it helps me take my mind off work and having other people like what I make is an very exciting added bonus.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Ho Ho Ho
I took the last hideous necklace apart and made a new one. https://www.etsy.com/listing/117989629/steam-punk-watch-gears-pendant-bead-and I'm calling it "Steam Punk" because of the watch gears but I'm not entirely sure if this will appeal to the steam punk crowd. I'm still working on getting my titles and tags perfected to draw in the right customers. Suggestions welcome (wink wink).
I'm also gearing up for the holidays by creating gifts for friends and family. I'm working on a custom piece for a co-worker would like a gift for a friend who just found out she has a brain tumor. I making necklaces for my nieces and ornaments for all the relatives,
Just for fun I put an ornament up on Listia. http://www.listia.com/auction/7296156-ribbon-and-bead-ornament I'm giving this away for free so I can get Listia points to get free stuff for myself. Genius idea!! So if your not in the mood to purchase something bid on a free something :)
As for my last rant...I'm feeling a little better about work. Homelessness still sucks and I don't know if I'll be able to listen to these terrible stories forever but I do feel like I'm making a difference. Many of the ladies I work with are truly appreciative of my help and I'm glad I am able to do what little I can for them. Even if the only thing I have to offer most days is a sympathetic ear. I guess I'm not quite ready to move on yet. If you too would like to help all you have to do is ring bells for The Salvation Army :)
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Hello all...Below is a pic of my newest creation. I really love this piece because of crazy cool glass filled seashell pendant.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/117295377/seashell-necklace-with-beads-and-ribbon
So that's that happy bit, now I need to grumble a little. Having an Etsy shop is HARD WORK. I'm barely getting any traffic and not a single sale yet. ( I hope the items have have at Edge Collectibles are doing better.)
I'm staying up way to late but instead of making jewelry I'm browsing through tutorials and forums on how to improve my shop. I just spent 5 hours updating my listings and titles and I only have 25 items for sale. At this rate, by the time I actually sell something I'll have made about 2 cents per hour. Not that one sale will get me out of the hole. I'm starting to think I just have a really expensive hobby. You don't even want to see my accounting which of course took me several hours to set up too. I'm in social services which roughly translates to no business sense and terrible at math. All I really know how to do is help people.
Even just the process of taking the stinking pics is way too time consuming because I always have to edit them. I can't take a good pic to save my life and the #1 advice all the forums give is have good pics. Arg!!
OK, I'm done ranting....I feel better now. Maybe I should get to sleep so I'm not completely exhausted...again :(
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