New Shop

So I have opened a new shop on etsy named Silver River Metal (silverrivermetal.etsy.com). I struggled with this a little bit since I already have two shops on etsy, silverriverjewelry.etsy.com and silverriverstitches.etsy.com. I am expanding my skills in the metal smithing area and truth be told I love it! It meshes better with my addiction to lapidary (rocks) than the wire wrapping does and broadens my horizans by leaps and bounds. The lapidary addiction comes from taking and ugly rock out of the ground and turning it into something gorgeous and wearable. It's like a treasure hunt and you never know what you are going to get when you open that rock up, slab it, trim, grind it and polish it. Plus I find the whole process very relaxing. Weird I know lol! The metal work just compliments the stone work. I don't have to stress about finding the perfect setting, I can make my own. (I haven't achieved perfection yet lol, in fact I am perfecting melting bezels into small balls of silver more than I am anything but it is improving.) Plus I really like playing with fire, at least this way I am using that for a useful purpose! While I am not giving up the wire wrapping and beading, I will be shifting my purpose more toward the metal work at this point. As you can see there is a big difference in the two styles. Should be interesting to see where it will go.

Expanding my selling horizons

So I have been gone for a bit figuratively speaking anyway. Nothing as exciting as a vacation or leaving town or anything lol, I have just been really busy. I have started several new avenues for selling and am pretty excited about it. I have always known that etsy was not the only area I needed to pursue to be successful although it will always hold a special place in my business heart. The direction at etsy seems to be changing and not for the better as far as hand made is concerned and while I took this into consideration it is not the only reason that I am expanding my market. The old adage to not put all of your eggs in one basket is a good one for many reasons.

So for those of you who don't know I also sell stitch markers for knitters and crocheters. That started out as a way to use left over beads and has morphed into into a line of business that is a lot of fun. I find that when I bead shop now some beads say jewelry and some say stitch markers. Some of them say both lol! Anyway my shop on etsy silverriverstitches
is doing quite well. I was approached by a wonderful lady with and offer to sell my stitch markers on line in her shop that caters solely to people who use yarn to craft. Yarny-Goodness
She offered me a great deal, and excellent contract and with the extra advertising she is doing my product will hopefully become more well known. This is one of the ways I have expanded a bit as far as going beyond etsy as a source for customers. I feel this can only be a good thing and I did some serious research before I jumped in. I made sure that the contract that was offered had what I wanted in it before I committed or sent any product. Pam has been wonderful to work with and quite frankly if this works out as well as I hope I may end up sending them all to her since she is the one doing the hard stuff like photographing the pictures, and doing all of the packaging and shipping.

So I am doing several other things with the jewelry including a local farmers market (which has turned out to be surprisingly successful), I have place a good portion of my higher end items in a fabulous gallery and I am building my own website from scratch with a web building program that will allow me to sell directly off my own site. (this is turning out to not be as difficult as I thought it would be, just very time consuming). Considering the amount of money I am saving building it myself, it will be worth the time it takes. And I like to do as much as I can myself anyway. I have designed a logo and applied it to my business cards, earring cards, price tags etc so that I have a "brand" that people will recognize. I will be showing those off in another post. I am also looking to possibly do several craft shows before Christmas.

Hopefully I will be posting a little more regularly in the future as summer winds down and we all spend more time indoors. For those of you who knit, crochet, and felt make sure you check out the artists on Yarny-Goodness for some great yarn and yarn accessories.

Round Four of my Favorite Etsy Artists

Okay so this week I am featuring two artists. One is a jewelry designer and one makes the most incredible bags... Anyway I chose these two not just for the items that they make (although they are well worth checking out) but also because of the way they respond to people in the forums. Always helpful and kind (and honest in a nice way when needed) they just really stand out as good people.

DesignedbyLucinda

Lucinda makes some really awesome jewelry ( I struggle with posting other jewelry designers on this blog , let's face it, it is competition for me so when I do decide to post a jewelry designer it will be someone I truly admire.) She has some really beautiful designs and quite reasonable prices. She stands out in the forums as well, always willing to help out the new people with good advice and is generally always patient and kind.

I have it on good authority that she has a ton more stuff that she hasn't gotten around to listing yet (although I know she is working hard on it lol) so if you are looking for something in particular just ask her she could very well have it. And if she doesn't I bet she can make it.

HerRoyalMajestyBags

What can I say? She has the most awesome collection of bags and I can't wait until I get some spending money. Veronica is from Maine and says that her husband is awesome! That alone gets kudos my book lol. Her bags are fabulous and very well made. They come in a wide variety of colors and styles so there really is no excuse not to buy something from this lovely shop. Vibrant colors and patterns that quite frankly make me drool.

She also has a lovely sense of humor and has posed quite a few thought provoking questions on our etsy forums, always geared at having people take a good look at how to improve their shops to get the most out of what they are selling. I always look forward to hearing what she has to say, I usually learn something that is to my benefit.

Well that 's it for this week. I really hope that you will check these two talented ladies out. You can find the link to their stores on the right under etsy artists.

Edition Three of My Favorite Etsy Artists

Well it's time to check out some more great Etsy artists. The more time I spend in the forums and browsing the treasury, showcase and time machine, the more wonderful work I see. I have a feeling that there are going to many more editions featuring Etsy artists. Here is this weeks list.

FujiiroFae
Cassandra makes the most beautiful hair ornaments using a Japanese technique called TSUMAMI KANZASHI. Tsumami is the technique of using squares of silk to make flowers, birds or butterflies and is apparently a very old technique. I think the bright colors of the silk and the delicate petals are very unique and charming. These would make a wonderful gift for the holidays so go check her out.

JaredArt

Jared In Kansas

Jared is a multi-talented guy. Not only does he do original drawings and paintings he also takes beautiful photos. (more on those in a minute). I am totally drawn to the simplicity <---and passion and the use of color in these pieces of art. Then there is the photo side of the equation ha ha(read his profile you'll get it) which also rocks. Two sides of the same coin equal some really great talent in both the paint and pencil arena and the photography arena. Definitely worth the look.

Those are my two artists for this week. You can check out there shops by following the links on the right side of my blog. I think I will keep this to two or three artists a week instead of aiming for four or five due to the holidays rapidly approaching. I will have an update on the puppies in the next couple of days.

Another Edition of Etsy Artists

Well I am a bit behind this week due to the puppies being born. I am quite tired so I haven't got as much done as I would have liked. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the two artists I have picked this week.

FLAMEWORKS
I purchased a bar of her vegan soap in a scent called Goddess.
I also purchased a jar of the sugar scrub in the same scents. Can I
tell you how pleased I was!?! It came packaged in a beautiful green box and she sent a sample of another fragrance with the order. The soap is very creamy, smells divine and left my skin feeling super soft. The sugar scrub was also a big hit and I think I am going to have to hide it from my fourteen year old daughter. (or buy her her own lol). Smelled great and between the soap and the scrub I did not have to use any lotion or perfume. Needless to say I will be a repeat customer as finances permit and look forward to trying some more of the scents and goodies in her shop. Pamper someone you love with a gift of hand made soap.


MORGANSILK



This artists work is on my wish list! She hand paints all of her scarves with watercolors and they are truly wearable works of art. She does go into some detail in her profile as to materials (silk charmeuse) and how she makes these lovely scarves. She also is dedicated to making her scarves affordable for every day people so her prices for this kind of item are quite low. Here's a hint from her profile about washing this type of art! Wash in lukewarm water with shampoo and rinse with creme rinse. She states that silk is an animal fiber and this works the best. I didn't you could wash silk with shampoo and creme rinse and I bet you didn't either! Check out her shop for some really elegant Christmas gifts for that special someone.