Times They Are A'Changin'

German cut crystals that are true prisms
paired with a tiny abstract charm (a snowflake or a flower?)

Swarovski crystals in dark gray with a special finish

Swarovski crystals in a translucent white "opal" glass

Small black onyx beads wire wrapped to hand formed "stick" ear wires,
with free form hearts added to the ends
all silver is sterling silver

At the same time I've been designing quite a range of colorful earrings, the urge for black and white, for neutrals, also strikes. None of these are listed online quite yet. Posting new pieces is going a bit slowly right now except for the big push I had to get a nice collection of RED posted last week.

Things are in transition for selling my pieces right now. There are more "brick and mortar" outlets becoming available, some pieces are going to become "exclusive" in collections outside of my own shops (I'll be announcing them here when they launch), and I'm beginning to seriously restock my ArtFire shop again, where I can offer special deals, coupons and so on!

Etsy has gone through a lot of changes recently, not all good ones, in my opinion. There's this big internal push to connect the artists with each other via this feature called "circles." Now I don't mind getting to know more artists...but the reason I post my things on Etsy is to sell them, not to socialize about them, so I'm not clear about the changes and direction this huge monstrosity is going yet. It just keeps getting larger and larger even as the opportunities to get attention from buyers and new customers get smaller and smaller...so it's really just prudent to figure out ways to branch out, to spread things around a bit wider. In fact, that is what the company is pushing everyone to do--go out and promote themselves--except for that minuscule collection of Etsy favorites who grace the so called 'front page' ad nauseum (having nearly 200,000 shops means you just stick with your favorite 40 or 50, using them over and over, right?)

So as I roll with changes, my blog will remain my primary touchstone for all these kinds of things--new ideas and inspirations, new creations, and new places to exhibit my work and more. At least I can't get lost here!! So thanks for dropping by!! Have a wonderful weekend, and do keep warm!

New Work, New Info

Green Pressed Glass and Chrysoprase Necklace with Special Silver Chain

Small Wrapped Hoops with Smokey Quartz and Pearl Colored Seed Beads

What an exciting weekend! I ran a couple of Etsy "Show cases" and got quite a few views--a nice surge of visitors to my shop--and finally, during the last while they were showing, got a few sales, too. Whew, you have to hope it really is "only the bad economy" when you try this hard to get shoppers to your store, when you get this much traffic, but the wallets remain in the purses or the pockets.

I say that because, like many artists I know, there's a serious streak of insecurity in me and so I also wonder "Hmmm, this many folks looking, no one buying--what's wrong with my work this month??" It's pretty normal to have these moments, actually. Since I've been in this art business for most of my life, it usually doesn't get me down for more than a few minutes and I'm back making more new things, or trying to figure out some new way to do things.

In fact, last night, I wrote and published my first email/newsletter in about 11 months (see, I promised I don't spam when folks signed up! I say I'll write 3 or 4 times a year, though, and hope to do a little bit better.) And in case you're curious, yes, there IS a special offer included in it...why don't you sign up and see???? I know, I know, getting a business Facebook page together would probably be a good idea...I just haven't figured it out yet.

I'm grateful for the few sales that did come through over the weekend, though, and for the inquiries about possible special orders. So the first couple of images here are newish/in fact, the earrings haven't been listed quite yet. I was fascinated with the green glass I used in the necklace...it was so rustic and organic, it looked more like a stone than glass...beautiful color, too.

The bottom image here documents the "total views" I managed to get over one 24 hour period due to the "Etsy showcase" ads. Actually, I took this shot because in the Etsy forums, on a regular basis, the question comes up whether spending the $7 for a showcase is "worth it" or not (That's a 24 hour photo ad near the front page of the web site.) For me, it beats the pants off of any other means of at least getting folks to look at my shop--now whether or not any spending is taking place?? Well, that's another story!

But by hook or by crook I've managed to attract over of 1050 "hearts" for my Etsy shop now, which is kind of cool. (Etsy shoppers and artists know what I mean...sorry to bore any of you not following the Etsy stuff!) OK, back to work!! Have a great Tuesday, everyone!!