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.

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 :)

The Big Day

So it's been an extremely long day.  My amazing husband, Dale Mitchell, is a graphic designer and he stayed up all night creating these amazing tags for my jewelry.  It only took so long because I couldn't make up my mind what I wanted.

He designed this wonderful logo an came up with the tagline: "Every Design One of a Kind"

Then the entire fam spent all morning hand cutting the tags and attaching them to the jewelry.  We next took them to Edge Collectibles but the hooks weren't working right so we spent the next several hours going to nearly every store in Janesville to find something.  We finally came up with some cute ornament hooks that we bent to fit in the slots of our display.  The display is actually old slated closet doors.

I think it turned out really nice and I really appreciative of the help I received from my family.  I couldn't have done this without them.

 Of course you can still visit my online store at: alyxandreadesign.webs.com

Big day

Today is the day!!!  My husband was up all night designing a logo and the tags for the store and he is about to print them off so we can put them on the jewelry.  Then we're heading over to the store after 10am. !!

Brick and mortar

So it's official...I will have a display to sell my jewelry at Edge Collectibles at 4 E. Fulton St. Edgerton WI.  I will start on 12/1.  I'm soooo excited.  I absolutely can not believe that something I made is going to be on sale at an actual store.

Here's a pic of the necklace I was wearing to make the sale.

I also brought in ornaments and other jewelry to show her.  She loved it and is excited to have my products in her store.  She even told me to raise my prices!