You could have knocked me over with a feather...

There I was, reading the new posts on my Etsy Street Team message boards - something about members of our street being featured on the Front Page of Etsy (I made a cursory glance at the names - mostly the usual suspects) then I went on to about our team was mentioned in a Storque article...and then it hit me...I had to go back and re-read the names of the artists featured on the Front PAge and that's when I got the shock of my life! Dancing Monkey Jewelry was one of the artists. That's me!!!! Then my world came crashing down because I missed the front page...I missed it. I was devestated - I missed my own BIG MOMENT!!!! However, I did get a consolation prize. Margo, the team organizer, capture a screen shot of the front page - and there I was in all my glory (second row - on the right) - along with a few of my team members. I sat there basking in the glow of my computer monitor, takin it all in. Then I started sending out emails to all my friends - letting them know. And now I'm telling you - my loyal and devoted readers. What the heck is good about good news if you don't share it?

Oh, what a wonderful day. Thank you, Margo for being so vigiliant. If it weren't for you I would have never known.

But wait there's more - I'll be back to write Part II of this post. I want to introduce you to the other members of the Team EtsyRain Street Team that were there with me on the Front Page - they're a talented bunch and I would like to sing their praise.

Until then, take care and I'll be back later.

Best Regards,

martha

Yeah! I did it and survived to tell the tale!!!!

What did I do? I paid my 1st quarter taxes last night (nothing like waiting for the last moment). Thank god, for electronic filing and e-checks. I have a sneaking suspicion that I might have over paid my taxes - only because my records weren't as "organized" as they should be - but I'd rather over pay then under pay - it's just more pleasant to find out that you erred in your favor. My biggest worry is that I didn't complete the forms correctly - but the silver lining to this dark cloud is that I'm sure I'll find out sooner rather than later if I made any mistakes (That is if the Department of Revenue notices).

Because I haven't had any sales in the first month of the second quarter, I'm going to use this time to organize my financial paper work - just in case I get audited. According to the fine folks from the Department of Revenue - it's not if you get audited, it's when - so I want to be prepared. Sounds pretty ominous - doesn't it?

And finally, next week I'll get a taste of what it's like to be a full time artisan/business owner. I'll be at home all next week getting ready for my next jewelry show sponsored by my Etsy Street Team: EtsyRain in Edmonds. I'm excited about this show for two reasons: 1. It's an opportunity to make more money (my checking account is looking a little anemic) and 2. I'll get to meet more members of the team - some of them I know through the groups I belong to on Flickr and Etsy, and some that I've actually met at other shows like "I Heart Rummage" and classes. I'm hoping it's fun, I'm hoping it's profitable, I'm hoping to meet lots of cool people - I'm hoping that next week is productive and I walk away with a feeling of being satisfied with what I was able to accomplish.

So, my goals for next week are:

1. Take more photos of my jewelry.

2. Post more inventory on Etsy.

3. Have more productive sessions at my jewelry bench.

4. Organize my financial paperwork.

5. Get ready for my next show.

6. Meet with my co-organizers of my Bella Faire art show in Tacoma.

7. Design and get the web-site for the Bella Faire up and running.

8. Take Bruce for a walk every day next week.

9. Set up a routine for me to follow through out the week.

10. Start a feature on my blog dedicated to the artist's who's own web-sites drive lots of traffic to my web-site (Whew! That was a mouth full!). I'm also thinking of hosting a give-away once a month - maybe.

It's good to have goals. Better if you meet them.

Prehnite Teardrops Earrings...

Prehnite Teardrops
Originally uploaded by Dancing Monkey Jewelry

More jewelry waiting to be posted in my Etsy shop.

Faceted teardrop shaped prehnite beads dangle from hand formed fine silver French ear wires. The silver has been oxidized and have lovely warm patina.

Finally! Some Jewlery Photos to Show You!!!

I've been busy with my jewelry - believe it or not. Matter of fact, I'll be taking Thursday and Friday off from work to get ready for my next show at Chop Suey in Seattle. Tonight, I took another class from my bead shop - The Bead Factory. I'm thinking I'll take a couple of photos of the project that I worked on and will post them at a later date.

So, here are some photos of the jewelry that I'll be listing on Etsy soon. I'm not sure if I'll post before my next show or after my next show. I'll guess I'll do what time allows.

And now for the latest creations to come out of the Dancing Monkey Jewelry Studios (drum roll, please!)...


These are my new favorites - round aquamarine beads, hand-made fine silver fused rectangles and handmade fine silver ear wires.




Aqua Terra Jasper (aka: Impression Jasper) beads, sterling silver daisy spacers, and hand made ear wires.










Prehnite briolettes dangle from oxidized fine silver circles, hand made fine silver ear wires.







Pink freshwater pearls dangle from rustic fused fine silver triangles, hand made ear wires.





These are my edited photos. Now all I have to do is download these photos to Etsy and come up with a lyrical description of the earrings. Then I have about 100 more photos of jewelry that I have to edit (mostly cropping and resizing) before I can list them on Etsy and my icraft.ca shop. I can't believe how much work it is to sell jewelry on-line! However, if your curiosity gets the best of you, you can mosey over to my flickr site and see more of my jewelry photography -

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dancingmonkeyjewelry

Also, I still have to edit my photos from my last craft show - they're huge and take a long time to download. What will happen, most likely, is that the photos from my last show will be displayed from my next show (this Sunday).

I've got a lot of work to do between now and this weekend. Good lord, I had no idea how much work this would be. I'm off to bed.

Jewelry and photography...

Just don't mix as far as I'm concerned. So, I've spent most of the weekend taking photos, and deleting photos and taking the photos again. Now I'm going through and editing the photos that survived my first round of edits. This is the part that I dislike the most - the editing. Then once I've got that part done I get to download the photos to my Etsy shop. Then the part that I really hate is describing my jewelry. It takes all my skills, talents, creativity that I can muster to come up with somewhat adequate descriptions of my jewelry. Shopping for jewelry is a tactile experience for most people. Great photos and good descriptions of your jewelry (or product) is very important - it's the only way to build a connection with your customer. These are skills I need to improve on. It's becoming clear to me that jewelry design is becoming a small part of my business.

On an entirely different topic, it's 11:25pm (PST), I've got to go to bed as I need to get up and go to work tomorrow. I'm sitting on my couch, using my husband's computer and I just looked out the dining room windows and there's the moon in all it's glory. I can see it shining through the branches of the cherry tree. It's not quite full but shining bright, as I write this it's has risen so that I have to crane my neck to get a glimpse of it. It's so lovely. What is it about the moon that draws us to it?

With that, I'm heading off to bed - 4:30am is going to come too soon. Sorry - no pictures to show you - maybe tomorrow.

My next show: I Heart Rummage at Chop Suey on Capitol Hill in Seattle

Here's is some information about the next show where I'll be selling my jewelry. I'm really excited about this show and I've been waiting a long time to sell with this group. If you live in the area why don't you drop by and say "Hello". I'll give you a little present if you tell me that you read my blog (shameless, I know).

I Heart Rummage is Seattle's longest running cutting edge urban craft experience! Now in our new location: Chop Suey! 1325 E. Madison, Seattle Join IHR Sunday March 2nd for it's very first show at Capitol Hill's Chop Suey! IHR features 40 of Seattle's most innovative indie designers and urban crafters at Chop Suey from 12-4pm the first Sunday of most every month. Be sure to stop by March 2nd and shop the best variety of urban crafts, try out the new Chop Suey eats, and hear our own DJ Huggy, spin his tracks! Special guest for March is Urban Fashion Network. IHR always has the latest and greatest in urban crafts!

The first Sunday of most every month
12-4pm
Chop Suey
1325 E. Madison, Seattle, WA

www.iheartrummage.com

Taxes...

I got my business license in December. Shortly after I received my business license I got a letter from the tax man stating that I had to pay my taxes for my 4th quarter earnings of 2007 by 1/31/08. Which I did. I must say it was a lot easier than I thought it would be, pretty painless in fact. It only took me 5 minutes to complete my filing. I'm sure the fact that I didn't make any sales in December had something to do with it. I got to file my taxes via the phone. Of course, I waited until the very last day and because of that I couldn't get through to the automated system for several hours. All I would get is a busy signal. Which gave me a pause for a thought "Are there that many businesses in Washington State that didn't make a sell for the 4th quarter of their business?" I'm hoping they are business such as mine - small start up businesses who aren't depending upon the income from their business to be their sole source of support. That would be too scary to contemplate.

By the way, January started as my year ended - no sales. I hope this isn't a trend. Let me ask you a few questions: How many of you buy off the internet? If you don't, what would make you buy off the internet? What can I do to make myself stand apart from all those other jewerly artist on the internet? What if I offered a special enticement to the first 10 customers who buy off my web-site - say like "free shipping for life and 10% off each purchase and for every $100 you spend, you get a $10 credit. Would that be enough to turn you into a customer? Let me know what you think of my ideas. Heck, if you have a better idea, why don't you share it with me?

I know that out there, somewhere, is my first customer. I'm hoping that we meet soon.

I can't believe that I forgot to mention this....

I'm sure most of you know that bloggers like to track the visitors to their blog and I've been checking. I've been getting a few visitors everyday. Most of my visitors are from the USA and I appear to be quite popular in Canada. I've even had visitors from the United Kingdom, Australia, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Islamabad, Pakistan. All this is very exciting for me - my blog is international!

What you might not know is that I'm an "information freak" and I'm nosey. :) I need to find out how people find my blog - just because. Most referrals come from Etsy, Flickr, or from people I know that I've sent emails to and said "Hey! Check out my blog!" One of the most exciting referrals I have seen is one from someone who uses AOL for their internet searches. They did a web search for "Sundance Jewelry" and look what came up in their search - ME!!!!!!

So, for all of you out there who's knowledge regarding site locations on the web is broader than mine. I just want to say something "Don't tell me this is a fluke!" I don't need this cold dose of reality - not at this point in time at least (Yes, I'm living in Denial). At my daytime job, I've been working as part of a team to update our web and I've been told that this is something very big...and even if it's a fluke or something that would only happen on AOL I just want to let you know that I'm operating under the guise of "Ignorance is Bliss" and let me tell you I've never felt so good about being so ignorant. Let me enjoy this moment. My self-esteem is at an all time high. I'm having one of those Sally Field moments (You like me. You really like me!). It's a good feeling and sometimes that's all that counts. By the way, denial is almost as good as ignorance.

Dancing Monkey Jewelry Studio

So, here it is almost Sunday morning, and I'm still up. I don't know what it is but all of a sudden I've caught my second wind!! What better thing to do but write a post, right? I thought I'd show you a little bit of my world - the jewelry creating world that is - and take you on a very short tour of my jewelry studio (yeah!).

As you know, Dancing Monkey Jewelry is the name of my studio and I'm located in Tacoma, WA. My studio is very small but it has all the comforts of home, because it's in my home. My house is this delicious 1915 Craftsman Bungalow. Very charming houses with 9 ft tall ceilings on the first floor and the second floor is usually a converted attic. Why am I telling you this? Well, you shall see when you look at my studio is located on the 2nd floor - tucked up under the eaves. It's very cozy - nice in the winter but not so nice in the summer.

It's not a solitary existence in my studio. I do have company. Bruce is my constant companion - he's my much beloved canine. A little background on Bruce: We adopted him from the local animal shelter. My husband actually spotted him first. He said Bruce's calm nature is what appealed to him the most. I personally think it was his pedigree that really piqued his interest. According the paperwork at the animal shelter Bruce is supposed to be a "Pit Bull/Dingo Cross". Personally, I don't believe it. He's not built like Pit Bull - he's actually very slim and sleek. And the likelihood of him being a Dingo is quite remote. I just think he's a cute little orange dog (if you can call a 60 lb dog small) with pointy ears - but then I'm a bit biased. What I do know is that he's great company and I do find it very companionable to have tuck himself under my bench. My cat's will join me sometimes, but they would rather be sleeping on my bed or lazing over the heat vent.

Lastly, for me to have a truly creative night I have to set the right mood in my studio. How do I do that? Well, I've got have a cup of tea - it gives me the a great excuse to sit back and ponder my next move (such as: "What stone should I use?" or "This is cool. What am I going to do with this."). Then I like to have a candle burning - patchouli is my favorite scent - it's just smells nice and the candle light is nice. However, the most important that I need to set the right mood is having the TV on. It has to be something that doesn't require much attention from me - I usually watch movies. Some of my favorite movies to have on while I'm working are "Mystery, Alaska", "When Harry Met Sally", "Under the Tuscan Sun", "Big Fish" and especially "Sex and the City" - those girls are my muses. For some reason, I get a real creative flow when I'm watching "Sex and the City". It must be Carrie's wonderful, outlandish outfits. I actually created a necklace that was inspired by a necklace Carrie wore in an episode titled "Boy Interrupted".

So that's it for now. It's now almost 2 hours into Sunday and my 2nd wind is now but a memory. I hope that you enjoyed reading this post and learning a little bit more about me. I'll think of more scintillating tib-bits to tell you about in my next post.

Until then, take care.