Friday, July 30, 2010
Beaded Eyeglass Chains
I have been making beaded eyeglass chains and selling them around town for a while now. There was a serious lack of good quality, nice looking eyeglass chains in my little town so I decided to fill that little niche. My orders are small and pretty far apart so keeping up with it has never been an issue. Just when I started to wonder how am I going to make money and what do I do with all of my beads...I get a huge order! A few late nights in the studio and the order is done and on it's way to Morro Bay California!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
I May Never Be An Etsy Success
So I have joined the SAHM club. (Stay at home mom) Which caused the people around me to say: "Oh how nice, will you be working more on your little Etsy thingie"?
Leaving the patronizing tone aside for now, I thought "yes I probably will have more time to work on my little Etsy thingie" So I went out to my studio, put on my business hat, and took a look around.
~Oy Vey! Not good!~
I have a terrible business model/plan/structure. Whatever you want to call it, it is not good!
1. Materials: I obsessively buy beads and materials like a crazy hoarder. I have bits and pieces squirreled away in jars and tins with no idea how much they cost.
2. Hours Spent: My work takes forever! I never keep track of hours spent on a piece. I know my Butterfly Wall Hanging took me 3 months, but I have no idea how many hours it took me. So how do I price things to make up for my time spent?
3. Inventory: Because it takes me forever to make each piece, how on earth am I going to keep a steady flow of inventory. I see many people suggesting re-listing new items constantly will help with sales....not gonna happen unless I work 24-7!
OK...business hat what do I do?
*start selling off my excess beads, start a supply shop, catalog and keep track of all supply spending, no more fun shopping sprees.
NO MORE HOARDING!
*keep a log of my hours spent on each piece, like a time clock... like a JOB!
*find more time in my packed day... wake up early, go to bed late, stop eating and showering.
Now I am getting stressed, How the heck am I going to make this work? With so many successful Etsy stories...how do they do it? Again.. Oy Vey!
Then I remembered a quote from the chick-flick of all chick-flicks: Hope Floats (feel free to make fun of the fact that I have this memorized)
"You find something you love and you twist it and torture it and try to make money at it. And at the end, you can't find a trace of what you started out loving."
Sweet relief! What on Earth am I doing to myself??
Reality check...This may have to remain just a hobby for me, it may never be a booming business, and that is OK. So my friends and family will continue to refer to it as my "little Etsy thingie". So what! Comparing myself to the many successful Etsy shops out there is totally unrealistic. The nature of my product will not make me a rich woman anytime soon. This is such a diverse community, what works for one person may not work for me. The creativity and talent that flows through this place is staggering! I can see why there are so many success stories, but not everything is possible... even with hard work. To those of you who can make money doing what you love...my hat is off to you! To those of you who are stressed out, worrying about quitting, and disappointed by slow sales, don't forget what you started out loving.
Leaving the patronizing tone aside for now, I thought "yes I probably will have more time to work on my little Etsy thingie" So I went out to my studio, put on my business hat, and took a look around.
~Oy Vey! Not good!~
I have a terrible business model/plan/structure. Whatever you want to call it, it is not good!
1. Materials: I obsessively buy beads and materials like a crazy hoarder. I have bits and pieces squirreled away in jars and tins with no idea how much they cost.
2. Hours Spent: My work takes forever! I never keep track of hours spent on a piece. I know my Butterfly Wall Hanging took me 3 months, but I have no idea how many hours it took me. So how do I price things to make up for my time spent?
3. Inventory: Because it takes me forever to make each piece, how on earth am I going to keep a steady flow of inventory. I see many people suggesting re-listing new items constantly will help with sales....not gonna happen unless I work 24-7!
OK...business hat what do I do?
*start selling off my excess beads, start a supply shop, catalog and keep track of all supply spending, no more fun shopping sprees.
NO MORE HOARDING!
*keep a log of my hours spent on each piece, like a time clock... like a JOB!
*find more time in my packed day... wake up early, go to bed late, stop eating and showering.
Now I am getting stressed, How the heck am I going to make this work? With so many successful Etsy stories...how do they do it? Again.. Oy Vey!
Then I remembered a quote from the chick-flick of all chick-flicks: Hope Floats (feel free to make fun of the fact that I have this memorized)
"You find something you love and you twist it and torture it and try to make money at it. And at the end, you can't find a trace of what you started out loving."
Sweet relief! What on Earth am I doing to myself??
Reality check...This may have to remain just a hobby for me, it may never be a booming business, and that is OK. So my friends and family will continue to refer to it as my "little Etsy thingie". So what! Comparing myself to the many successful Etsy shops out there is totally unrealistic. The nature of my product will not make me a rich woman anytime soon. This is such a diverse community, what works for one person may not work for me. The creativity and talent that flows through this place is staggering! I can see why there are so many success stories, but not everything is possible... even with hard work. To those of you who can make money doing what you love...my hat is off to you! To those of you who are stressed out, worrying about quitting, and disappointed by slow sales, don't forget what you started out loving.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
New Hair Cut
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
Why I Am
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Baby Blue Bird of Happiness
This tiny beaded blue bird of happiness is so cute, you can't help but smile when you see him. He is made to perch and looks darling sitting on the edge of a book shelf, candle holder, or whatever decorative item you feel needs a little extra sparkle. This little bird is completely covered in size 11/0 glass seed beads. Each bead was glued in place by hand with tweezers.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Momma and Baby Bird
Friday, July 2, 2010
Dinky Baby Bird
Thursday, July 1, 2010
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