Explore!

Because my former hobby (making jewelry) has become my business, I needed a new hobby - which has become photography. My long time readers will remember my early posts about the frustrations I was experiencing in trying to photograph my jewelry for my on-line shop and the less than desirable results I was getting. So one day, out of desperation, I decided to go outside and practice with my new camera. After a few photo safaris/practice sessions, I discovered that I wasn't as bad as I thought I was and with after getting to know my camera better along with a little practice, my photography skills dramatically improved. I'm happy to say that I can take a decent picture of my jewelry.

Another thing I've discovered - I like taking photographs. So much so, I will tell you thatone of my hobbies is photography. Aside from the cost of the camera, it's cheap entertainment (no film to develop - it's digital). Every now and then I take a photograph that I think is good when that happens I download that photo to a photo sharing site called Flickr.

Flickr is a pretty cool site (http://www.flickr.com/) - it's a sort of social networking site dedicated to photographers. You get photographers from every skill level from around the world downloading their photographs to share with the world. From all the photos downloaded to the site each day Flickr will choose 500 photographs to post on their "Explore" page. Here's a blurb from their web site that explains the significance of being chosen:

"Flickr labs have been hard at work creating a way to show you some of the most awesome content on Flickr. We like to call it interestingness. Explore the gorgeousity by choosing a point in time..."

In this case the point in time is March 30, 2008 - http://flickr.com/explore/interesting/2008/03/30/page9/ (scroll down to the 5th picture on this page). There I am - 84th out 500 pictures!

Another web-site says this: "Explore is a swell way for photographers to be seen by thousands of people, but the only way to get there is to take great photos and upload them to Flickr (so what are you waiting for?)."

I thought being chosen was pretty damn cool!

The first day of my "Dream Life" is today...

Next week I'll be taking a break from my day job (the one that is currently paying the bills) to get ready for my next show on May 10th (see the right side bar for more info). I'll also be working on the show that I am coordinating with friends that will happen this summer the last weekend in July (more information regarding this show is forth-coming). While I'll have lots of work to do next week, I intend to have FUN, FUN, FUN!!! I mean, I'll be living my dream life, which is that of a successful, busy, in demand jewelry artisan. :) I'm one of those people who likes and thrives in "solitude" and know that I would do well if I worked at home. As I write this I'm thinking about the routine I would establish, it would be the perfect combination of work and personal time. I'm one of those people who likes to work in spurts and then take time to recharge my batteries. So, I would set a routine that would be like this:

My schedule for next week (Monday - Friday):

• Rise at 6:00am - 6:30am. Make coffee and drink 2 cups while standing in the kitchen watching the early morning news (Yeah, I got a TV in my kitchen - I like to watch the "Food Network" while cooking or cleaning
• 6:30am -7:00am. Take Bruce for a walk. He's not a very demanding pooch but when he wants to go for a walk he's quietly persuasive and it's best to get such demands out of the way as soon as I can.
• 7:00am (or 7:30am) - 2:00pm. Sit down at jewelry bench. I'll either be working on designs or creating my findings.
  
• 2:00pm - 4:00pm. Take a break or run personal/work related errands
  
• 4:00pm - 5:00pm. Clean up jewelry bench and wrap it up for the day.
• 5:00pm - 9:00pm - Domestic chores and spend time with family.
  

Will I be able to maintain this non-harried schedule? Probably not - only because I'm sure there will be nights when I've got a creative streak where I'll tell my husband that he's on his own for dinner and will work at my bench until all hours of the night. Which will throw off my schedule for the next day. And I'm sure I'll get sucked into watching some daytime TV - so I'm going to avoid the siren song of the BIG TV and the comfortable couch in the living room. My TV daytime TV will be confined to either my kitchen or at my jewelry bench.

So that's my plan.

What else have I been up to? Well, I've been terribly remiss in tending to my shop on Etsy. It hasn't been very busy and truth be told I was avoiding it. Yeah, not the best plan. So, add it to my list for next week: Pay attention to your shop on Etsy!!! This morning, I added more earrings to my shop. Next Sunday, I'll be adding more stock to my shop.

Now I've got to go and get ready. My husband is getting his documentation together to renew his passport. We need to go to the notary today. We're planning a trip to visit his family in England this summer.

I'll be back later.

Until then, Best Regards.

martha

I'm featured in a blog!!!!

Aquamarine 2
Originally uploaded by Dancing Monkey Jewelry

Take a look at the earring to your right - they were featured in a blog today. :) This is very exciting for me. If your curious and want to check it out click on this link: Capitolagirl - it's worth the mouse click to visit. Go on...you know you want to take a look.

How to generate sales in your shop....

So, sales of have been less than robust in my shop. I do alright at the craft shows but it's my goal to do the bulk of my sales on line. To that end, I'm running a special in my Etsy Shop - for the month of April I'm offering 20% off on all items in my shop. Also, as an added bonus, I'm offering 20% off for life to my first three customers.

Would that offer entice you to purchase from me? Does it pique your curiosity enough to see what I'm offering? If not, what would do it for you? Now is your turn to change the direction of an up and coming shop. :)

For those of you who are allowing your curiosity to get the best of you, here's a link to my store on Etsy:

http://www.dancingmonkeyjewelry.etsy.com


Best Regards,

Martha

Triple Treat Earrings

Triple Treat
Originally uploaded by Dancing Monkey Jewelry

More jewelry that I am planning on posting in my Etsy shop.

Three white freshwater pearls are stack neatly one upon another. They are dangling from hand formed French ear wires and have been oxidized - which contrasts nicely with the whiteness of the pearls.

If you make jewelry, you'll want to check out this web-site

I'm really excited to find this web site because it is a fantastic resource for those of us who create jewelry or those of you who want to create jewelry. I'm sitting here thinking I wish I knew of it's existence when I first started out. It would have made my life easier.

The name of the web site is: Jewelry and Beading.

This link will take you directly to my favorite page, "The Basics - information and tutorials to get you started. Now if I could only figure out to display some photos from this web site my life would be somewhat more complete.

I'm back...

Gerbera Daisies
Originally uploaded by Dancing Monkey Jewelry

I'm making up for last weeks lack of posting in this blog with my second post today. One of the many things I've learned since opening my "shop" on Etsy is that I love taking photographs. When I first started selling I had no idea just how hard it was for me to take a decent photograph of jewelry. Part of the reason was I wasn't used to my new camera and the other part was I was just plain crappy at it - I still struggle with that "depth of field" concept. :) However, I do believe that my skills have rapidly improved and with the help of photo editing I can turn out a decent photograph. My photographs are more of my interpretation of the subject - not necessarily a true representation. Where's the fun in that?

I've been considering the prospect of offering some of my photographs for sale in my Etsy shop. Again, I might be heading off in this direction under a false sense of talent. You see I've had a couple of friends buy some prints from me. I was coerced by a co-worker (Tanya) to enter the Staff Fine Art Show at work and another friend has commissioned me to take some photographs for her daughters-in-law. But these are people who know me and like me and are my friends.

So, I'm testing this prospect out. I've already posted on photograph on my Etsy shop. No one has rated it as a favorite yet but it's received a fair amount of viewings from others. I figure I will see whether or not my photography will sell to those who do not know me.

No matter what, I like my photographs and I will continue to go out on my "photo safaris" whether or not I can sell them.

My Etsy Store...

I don't know how it got passed me - seeing how I watch my Etsy shop like a hawk - today I received my 100th "Heart". For those of you who aren't familiar with Etsy - receiving a heart just means that there is another Etsian out there who likes your shop. It give you some exposure to other Etsian out there - who may take a look at your shop - it's like getting a "High Five" from your peers. It's a great feeling to know that others like your work.

Of course, I still haven't made a sale from my Esty store. I've been told that it can take some time, given that jewelry is a somewhat over saturated market. However, I'm going on two months here with out a sale and I will admit that it's been a bit on disconcerting. Hell, I even tried to tempt buyers with the promise of a free gift (a pair of pearl earrings) in hopes it would cause a few sales but it didn't. For the month of March, I'm offering free shipping to anywhere on the planet. We'll see if that affects my sales. If not, I'll think of something for April - I'd love to turn those "Hearts" into "sales". Anybody have any suggestions? I'm all ears.

Starting this Monday (March 3rd) I'll be adding a new weekly feature to my blog. The new feature will be "The Recipe of the Week". I love to cook and I have a reputation for being a good cook. My husband even tells people that he married me for my cooking abilities. Also, I come from a family of people that like eat and who like to cook. Which means I have access to some fabulous recipes which I will beg, borrow and/or steal (if I have to) to post on my blog.

There's more to life than jewelry and work, right?

I promise you this is the last one...

Climbing Hydrangea 5
Originally uploaded by Dancing Monkey Jewelry

This is another one of the photographs I'm going to enter in the Staff Fine Art Exhibit at work. I'm a little nervous - there are lots of very talented artists where I work - who actually know what they're doing. My skill lies in the fact that I get lucky every now and then.

Fuzzy

Fuzz
Originally uploaded by Dancing Monkey Jewelry

I've had more fun practicing my photography and have been pleased with some of my photos. So pleased, in fact, that I've entered three of my favorites in the Staff Fine Art Exhibit at work. Here is one of the photographs.

Where is the jewelry/business angle of this post? There isn't one - this is just for fun.