Let's meet...beadstylin

I interviewed Jeannie some while ago...but promptly lost it in my marvelous filing system. Oooops. Have a look at the tagline in her banner - sound familiar? We're twins, beadstylin's shop and my blog!

Right - let's get to know all about beadstylin...

Quickies for starters:

Cats or dogs?
Cats! We have two black kitties. Our male cat is a polydactyl. He has eight toes on each front foot!

Star Wars or Star Trek?
Star Trek, but only if it's the 60's version. The other stuff just leaves me scratchin' my head.

Fruit or chocolate?
How about a chocolate-dipped strawberry? :-)

Favourite colour?
Peacock!



Favourite meal?
You mean like breakfast, lunch, or dinner? Or favorite food? I'll answer both. Favorite meal: supper. Favorite type of food: authentic Mexican.

City break or weekend in the country?
Country for sure!

Soaps or documentaries?
Documentaries, hand's down.



Bath or shower?
Nice hot shower with lots of fragrant Etsy soaps.

Now we’ve got you warmed up…

What brought you to Etsy? Tell us about your shop. Do you sell anywhere else?

Word of mouth brought me to Etsy. I sell handcrafted jewelry. I've been making jewelry for about 12 years now and absolutely love it. It's relaxing and addictive, as well as educational. I do sell at craft fairs and out of my home, but I much prefer selling on Etsy.



What’s the favourite item you’ve made so far?
My favorite item was a metalsmithed earring creation I named "Silverleaf". I toiled for hours over those earrings, soldering, sanding, and polishing.

What has been the most useful lesson you’ve learnt (about Etsy) so far?
Renew, renew, and renew.

If you could start again, is there anything you’d do differently?
I'd make sure I start with killer pictures.



How do you see your store developing?
I'd like to get a bit more into metalworking. And, once I get my new torch set up, I will continue to add my lampwork beads to my shop.

What have you been doing today that I’ve interrupted?
Not a thing. Just recovered from a craft fair, and it feels good to get off my feet.



What’s your top marketing tip for today?
It's all about presentation. There are others out there who are selling similar items, so you have to be creative in not just WHAT you do but HOW you present it. And that means outstanding photos, detailed, interesting descriptions, and excellent customer service.

Thanks Jeannie! If you're hankering for stunning jewelry, don't miss beadstylin's shop

Spam, anybody?

The text below was the comment above mine on a blog I visited recently. I've changed the link, but isn't it fabulous?

"Hello Friend ( the ), how are you? I am by developing an activity over the Internet very interesting , where the chances of earnings são realities. That's a system practical , simple & dynamic No cost she swims you she'll know - he , will be barely 5 minutinhos. Lighted meu link : http://www.blahblahblah
That your desires of conquest they may be realized as soon as possible."

Let that be our motto for today: May our desires of conquest be realized as soon as possible...in my case, it's the meerkat's dream of world domination ;-)

Happy birthday Sarah!

22 years ago today I was in hospital, expecting the imminent arrival of baby number 3. At that time I had no idea that March 17th had any other significance. The first nurse who saw me asked if I was going to call my baby Patrick.




No, I replied, and wondered if Patrick was maybe her favourite name.



Time moved on, and it seemed every nurse was interested in what I was going to call my baby.



"How about Patricia, if it's a girl?"

No.



"Well, maybe just have Patrick as a middle name?"

No.



I wondered for ages why they were obsessing about these names - eventually of course I discovered that it's not *just* Sarah's birthday, but also St Patrick's Day!



I can hardly believe how much my babies have grown! (She's standing on a step, she's not really head and shoulders over her brothers...though the 6" heels do help!)

Let's meet...SpringColors

Hadass of Springcolors is a fellow member of Etteam. She describes her shop as a place where we will find necklaces and bracelets made of crystals and beads, expressing the joy, optimism and beauty of spring, so I'm keen to get to know her a bit better!



Cats or dogs?

CATS! Hubby and I have 5 cats including two black ones. You can see them in rare moment of brotherly love.



Star Wars or Star Trek?
Star Trek. Hubby and I are long time trekkies and For many years I take part in organizing the Israeli annual sci-fi convention.

OH WOW! finally I meet a team member who is more of a trekkie than I am! Live long and prosper Hadass!

Fruit or chocolate?
Really hard question. First chocolate and then some fruit, especially the pink ones. I love anything pink.



Favourite colour?
Pink, fuchsia, rose, blush, flush, mauve! (I've just copied the correct line from the excellent tagging list).

Favourite meal?
Any meal which includes good bread with a hard crust.

Soaps or documentaries?
Star trek!

City break or a weekend in the country?
Hubby and I love to travel. Hubby dreams of storming the wild on a jeep with large wheels and I dream about finding a good restaurant nearby.

Now we've got you warmed up:

What brought you to Etsy? Tell us about your shop.

I make and sell handmade beaded jewelry. Each of my items is my design, handmade and one of a kind.

Since childhood I've been interested in all kinds of handmade. Four years ago, a friend showed me to crochet jewelry and I've became addicted to beadwork. Beadweaving is all about playing with colors and that is what fascinates me.

Since then, I've made a lot of items, kept them in a drawer somewhere and never wore them.

Last year I was diagnosed with cancer, had chemo and sat home for 6 month. I had the time on my hands, so I've arranged my drawers and decided to start selling my item. After all, I don't wear them, so why not let someone else enjoy them?! That how I've opened my Etsy shop.



What's the favourite item you've made so far?
My favourite item is always the last item I make. I try to improve my work with each and every item. Now I working on a pendant inspired by the Celtic Knot and I fascinated with this design.


What has been the most useful lesson you've learnt so far?
Every lesson I've learned was useful, I think.

However, I think the best lesson I have is about photography. I learned a lot about photography since I've started with Etsy, and got a lot of useful advices from ETTEAM members. Before that I was so cluless and afraid to use the camera and never thought I could get a good picture. My pictures still needs improving, but now I know how to make them better.




If you could start again, is there anything you'd do differently?
I need to promote more and better. I'm struggling with all the different promotion ways and not focused enough.

How do you see your store developing?
I hope to make better and more original and interesting beaded jewelry. I hope to sell my designs and not just the jewelry itself. And of course, I hope to see more sales.

What have you been doing today that I've interrupted?
I'm going to continue working on my beaded Celtic Knot.

What's your top marketing tip for today?
Facebook. Just signed in yesterday and already an addict.

Thanks Hadass! I'm very impressed by your positive stance towards the dreaded C, and wish you every good luck for the future.
Springcolors
www.etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com.

Selling my knitting patterns?

Several people have asked me recently if I'd sell my patterns. So far, I'm saying no for a couple of reasons.

The first is that I am very proud of my creations! It took me quite a long time to realise that making my own patterns up was even possible, let alone be brave enough to start.



Yesterday, midway through making a second corgi (which needed to match the first to some extent), I lost my pattern. Panic ensued - my fellow members of Etteam will agree that I was just a tiny bit cross!


When I eventually found it (well, OK, give him his due - Mr NiftyKnits found it, I was so cross I'd stopped looking) I thought I'd scan it in case I lost it again.



Having scanned it, I thought if I showed you just how professionally written out my patterns are, you just might guess another reason I don't put them up for sale...LOL it all makes perfect sense to me!



So anyway...anyone still want to buy a pattern?

When that fat old sun in the sky is fallin'...

I've had a song running around in my head for a day or two. It took me a while to place it, but finally I remembered it's Pink floyd, from Atom Heart Mother. I still have the original vinyl (yes, I am that old).



I thought I'd make a treasury picturing the song, and while I'm waiting for my old treasury to expire, I'll share it with my favourite blog-readers. (Yes, that'll be you!)

*STOP PRESS* Treasury is here! but as you know, quick or you'll miss it!

Can you match each pic to its place in the song? (Clicking on the picture will enlarge it)
Click here to listen


When that fat old sun in the sky is falling
Summer evenin' birds are calling
Summer's Sunday and a year
The sound of music in my ears
Distant bells
New mown grass smells so sweet
By the river holding hands
Roll me up and lay me down

And if you see
Don't make a sound
Pick your feet up off the ground
And if you hear as the warm night falls
The silver sound from a time so strange
Sing to me
Sing to me

When that fat old sun in the sky is falling
Summer evenin' birds are calling
Children's laughter in my ears
The last sunlight disappears
And if you see
Don't make a sound
Pick your feet up off the ground
And if you hear as the warm night falls
The silver sound from a time so strange
Sing to me
Sing to me

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Let's meet...RubySpiritDesigns

I met Tracy of RubySpiritDesigns on Folksy, and was keen to learn more about her. I always like to get straight to an artist's scifi credentials!

Star Wars or Star Trek?
Star Wars, purely for the Yoda factor. Ooh, and Ewan McGregor. But mostly Yoda!

Fruit or chocolate?
Fruit three weeks out of four - sometimes you just need chocolate. I don't think I need to elaborate...

Favourite meal?
Sunday dinner cooked by my hubby - Yorkshire puds and lots of veggies!

Bath or shower?
Bath.
In the shower your book gets wet.

What brought you to Folksy? Do you sell anywhere else?

I discovered Folksy by chance in December. It was during one of those freeflow internet bimbles, where you start off looking for something and then realise that a couple of hours has passed just following a random stream of links. I already had a shop on Etsy http://www.rubyspiritdesigns.etsy.com with a minimal amount of items, but felt really positive about joining Folksy with it being UK-based.

I was fortunate enough to be awarded a Local Enterprise grant last year and so I also have my own website
http://www.rubyspiritdesigns.co.uk. I have some items in a lovely gallery in the next village to where we live, it's called Projeto and is owned by another Folksyer. When littlest starts school in September I'll be able to put more daylight hours in and hopefully do a few craft shows as well!

"http://www.folksy.com/items/17138-Love-Freedom-Necklace">


My Folksy shop has the most varied stock, I try to keep a good range of colours, styles and also prices. Many of the things I make are one offs because I love to work with broken vintage jewellery, pulling it apart and making it into something completely different. As a family we do our best to recycle everything and I love the fact that I can carry that over into my work! It breaks my heart to think of all the beautiful things people throw away because they've got a broken clasp or have lost a few stones.


What's the favourite item you've made so far?


That would have to be the charm bracelet I made for myself, it has lots of little memories attached to it - bits of earrings from when I was a teenage goth, broken jewellery from my mum and my gran, a whistle from the first necklace I had as a child.



My favourite item in my shop would have to be the Secret Heart necklace. I love it so much I've even used the picture for my avatar!

http://www.folksy.com/items/17149-Secret-Heart-Necklace


What has been the most useful lesson you've learnt (about Folksy) so far?


To not feel uncomfortable about asking for advice or criticism in the forums! Folksy is still a phenomenally friendly site and people are very supportive of each other. It's so handy to have a group of like-minded people at your disposal for help and advice.


If you could start again, is there anything you'd do differently?

All I would have done is start sooner! I spent too many years working really hard for other people's benefit because I didn't have the confidence to start up on my own. Now I can't imagine doing anything else. It is a part-time operation at the moment but I have so many plans for September!

http://www.folksy.com/items/11549-Summer-Pudding-Bracelet


How do you see your store developing?

I'm planning on making some things entirely from scratch, including making lampwork glass beads. I'd like to make bespoke lampwork so that people could request completely bizarre colour combinations that you perhaps wouldn't normally see. We have a shed in the garden which needs a bit of work, but hopefully I'll be in there with my torch before the summer. However I love the things I've made by recycling old stuff so there's always going to be a lot of that going on! I'd also like to broaden my range to include things other than jewellery, so watch this space!


What have you been doing today that I've interrupted?


We bought an old Adana eight-five press recently and it has been an ongoing process of sorting the huge amount of type we got with it. At the moment it's in the kitchen, so it's just been ten minutes here & there whilst the kids are eating tea or whatever. This will also be going into the shed, hubby has a Folksy shop called Dig The Earth where he sells cards so he'll probably decide to sell some letterpress items as well. I just love the memories it brings back of setting type by hand at college!



What's your top marketing tip for today?

Have confidence in your abilities and believe in the things you create. This positivity will come across to your customers. Also wrap things beautifully and always include a couple of business cards, one for them and one for their friends!

Thanks for those insights - if you want to know more, this busy lady still finds time to write a blog! http://rubyspiritdesigns.blogspot.com/