Entries from July 2006 ↓

I closed my FeeBay store this week. Believe it or not, their fees were too high.

I went to the Gem Faire this morning. They had wholesale hours in the morning before they opened to the public. I was like a kid in a candy store! I got a lot of stones in fall colors, and also got some nice sapphires.

Question of the day: Why do my cats like to sleep on my bead boards?

For the week of July 21-27, I will be donating 10% of my gross sales from Etsy (including custom orders) to the Silicon Valley Humane Society. I have procured a matching donation, so if we raise $200 on Etsy this week, we will have $400 to donate to the animal shelter. I will be continuing to look for other people and companies who are willing to match our donation this week, so we could potentially make a big contribution to the Humane Society!

We can’t adopt all of the pets, but we can help them all! This shelter does amazing rescue work. They also accept donations in the form of blankets, cat & dog food, and cat & dog toys. Please see the Silicon Valley Humane Society web site for more information.

Please pass this information along to any friends who might be interested.

Thank you!!

My Etsy Shop

How many migraines can one girl get? (Should that be my question of the day? Or this?)

Today was another jewelry-making migraine day. The cats have been incredibly helpful in the jewelry-making process. They can all wrap wire like pros now.

Question of the Day: Has anyone out there trained their cat to do something to earn its keep, such as washing dishes?

Today was near 100 degrees, and it wasn’t much fun at all. I added a bunch of new jewelry to the Lava Jewelry web site, just before the server went down for several hours.

Question of the Day: How many obligatory sci-fi plot lines can you list?

I’ll start:

1. Body swap episode
2. Stuck in video game episode

I’ll be selling my jewelry at this mini craft fair in San Francsico next month. All are invited! Please tell all of your friends who might be interested! It’s going to be a lot of fun. And to all of those guys who think that cupcakes and shopping sound dull, remember that there will be plenty of women there eating cupcakes and shopping!

Handmade Gifts and Cupcakes

Host: Marina Nelson
Location: 75 Everson St, San Francisco, CA
When: Sunday, August 27, 12:00pm to 4:00pm

Satisfy your cravings for sweets and shopping at a mini craft fair
with 12 or more artisans selling handcrafted cupcakes, paintings of cupcakes, jewelry, handbags, dog toys, stationery, knits, soaps, and much more.

For more information, please see: Craigslist

Free street parking. No Pets admitted. Free Admission.

Children must be strictly supervised.

Payment methods: Cash and Paypal

Please post all of your worst “lava” puns!

I spent all of yesterday taking photos that aren’t usuable.

I use a white background for my jewelry shots, so auto-metering makes my shots too dark. When I increase the exposure time, I get burn-out from the reflection of light off of the silver, and camera shake becomes a real problem. I went out and bought batteries for my camera remote last night, so I’m hoping that will take care of the camera shake issue, and I’ll be able to shoot longer exposure times. I’ll work on that later tonight.

In the meantime, I’m back to doing what I enjoy, which is making jewelry. Lucky for me, I got a custom order this morning, so I have an excuse to put off the photography a few hours.

Question of the day: Will someone please post some favorite summertime recipes? Thanks!

I’ll be participating in a trunk show in San Francisco next month. I’ll post a flyer here once I have a flyer to post. It should be a lot of fun – there will be food and a wide variety of arts and crafts for perusal and purchase! Mark your calendars!

I started working on my necklace for the contest today. Contest deadline is the end of August, so I’d like to get a jump on it. I made a bracelet to enter, but I’m not entirely satisified with it, so I’ll be restringing the whole thing. I have a vague design in mind for earrings to enter into the contest, but I’m still working out the details – I’m thinking amethyst, Swarovski crystals, peacock pearls for the earrings… I’ll be sure to post pics when I get my submission photos together!

I’ve gotta find my old point-n-shoot and get some shots of what I’ve been working on. I’ve been doing some wire-wrapped bracelets lately, and one pearl bracelet that I’m extremely pleased with.

Question of the day: Which sci-fi show has the best theme music? The worst? Best and worst opening sequences?

Last night, while tired and migrainey, I sketched some new earring designs. Today I’m trying to make them reality. Wish me luck.

I went to a bead show yesterday, and picked up a bunch of basalt (lava) beads. I also got a great deal on some rubies. Pretty exciting. So exciting, in fact, that I forgot to look for kyanite and sapphires… =/

I made several new lariat necklaces in the last few days. They’ll be available for sale online as soon as I photograph them. I love landscape photography, but product photography is not my favorite thing. I find myself putting it off as much as possible.

Question of the day: Is it possible to write a sci-fi tv show that has no inconsistencies? (I’ve been watching Andromeda and Farscape recently…)

I spent today with a migraine, making jewelry. That’s my typical day lately. Today I made many pairs of chandelier earrings. I made a few pairs with Swarovski crystal – very pretty! Most are my typical gemstones, though… carnelian, garnet, peridot, etc.

I’m having a hard time getting my sales started. I haven’t sold anything on Etsy yet. I hope that once I have some positive feedback, sales will take off. Perhaps I should have a larger inventory on Etsy? (If anyone from Etsy is reading this, I’d appreciate advice!) Etsy has user forums, so I’ve been reading them to try to get more marketing ideas.

I created an eBay store this morning. I only have a few items up now, but I’ll get more up soon. I have auctions starting a little bit below what I charge on my web site, so go ahead and put in a bid! eBay is kind of expensive, so I’m not sure it’ll work out, but I’m giving it a try.

Question of the day: Has anyone been having trouble posting comments on my blog? (Please email me if you have: chel@cheldodge.net.)