Friday Round Up

Things have really been picking up for me this week.

My BOGO half price sale has been pretty successful, so I think I'll continue it for another few days. I still have lots of memory wire bracelets in the sale section, so check it out :)



This week I've added a couple of new Bubbles bracelets, including this tangerine one done on shiny copper plated headpins.



And finally, I've just added this Powder Green Swarovski Bubbles bracelet which I've done on antiqued silver.

Treasury East

I'm sure most Etsy sellers are now familiar with the new treasury east, which is in beta at the minute and the start of things to come, treasury wise.

Today admin have decided to devote the FP entirely to treasuries from here as opposed to those from the main treasury, treasury west or admin curated treasuries. I have 3 on the go at the minute but my favourite is this one - The Coreopsis Effect



I have mixed feelings about treasury east. On one hand I really like that it doesn't need flash to access the treasuries, so it's much quicker. I also really like that you can see the first 3 items of each treasury in the lists. But that's about everything I like.

I dislike that we can't find out which treasury east we are featured in, that there are currently 359 pages of treasuries (and 20 treasuries per page), that some of those treasuries have no items in them, that there is no expiration date, the 'hotness' of a treasury appears to be completely random, that you can't click easily on the items featured and the clicks don't register half time.

It's obvious my 'dislike' list is much longer than my 'like' list but I do appreciate that they are just testing things out and I'm sure it will improve soon.

Well, that it will improve sometime :)

Memory Wire Bracelet Sale

I'm running a sale on my beaded memory wire bracelets at that minute. If you buy one, you get the second half price. You can see which bracelets are included in the sale here. I will refund the difference via Paypal after the purchase :)

Friday Round Up

I don't know if things are starting to get back to normal views wise on Etsy, but I've noticed a definite upturn in sales again this week, after a pretty slow spell. I hit the 500 sales mark and have had a run of repeat buyers, which always pleases me as it means they like my work enough to come back for more!

I've been having a lovely week creating new pieces with the beads I bought at the bead fair.

One of my favourite bits is this Discs and Cubes Ceramic Necklace I did have a bracelet to match but it's sold already!



I've been using gemstone chips on memory wire again and am pleased with the results. This moss agate chips wrap is a gorgeous green.



And finally, how about a bit of bling for the weekend? I couldn't resist these starburst silver tubes, which are perfect with memory wire. Silver and Crystal Memory Wire Bracelet

Front Page!

It's been ages since I've been on Etsys front page, but thanks to this gorgeous treasury by Rasa at happyment, I was on there this morning!



That's one of my new gemstone chips memory wire bracelets on the bottom left.

Bead Fair

If I was to do a random poll asking what the best bit of crafting is would you say

a) the designing of a new piece
b) selling what you've made
c) buying new supplies

What would you say?

I'd answer (b) closely followed by the buzz I get from (c). Buying supplies

Twice a year there is a fair held in Northern Ireland which sells supplies for crafters. And it was held last weekend. I only found out about it at 2pm Saturday and it finished at 5pm but I managed to speed along and spend a couple of blissful hours spending far too much money on new beads.


Above is a small selection of what I've bought and I've been busy creating lots of new things for my shop. Watch out for lots of new items coming up soon :)

Testing, testing

For ages now I've been meaning to learn how to take a screenshot, eg of a treasury I've been featured in. Today someone in the forums posted a link to how to take a screenshot. One thing it leaves out is that you need to press F11 on your keyboard to make the page bigger before saving it to paint.

So I gave it a try and voila!


This is a gorgeous Peacock treasury I'm in at the mintue made by chaseylacey.

Weekly RoundUp

Thanks to all who entered my twitter competition. It was won by one of my twitter followers @mrsstacey1972. She's left it up to me to decide which bracelet to send so I've sent her a surprise!

This week has been a bit up and down. There's been lots of threads on the Etsy forums recently about low views and sales and I've got to admit that mine have been down a bit. However all that changed a couple of days ago with 4 custom requests and a great sale to a repeat customer! I think that's one of the things I still struggle with selling online - the highs and lows of selling.

This week I've added some new stock.

I've ordered some gemstone chips to make memory wire bracelets, like this Labradorite one.


This Coral Swarovski Pearl Cluster Bracelet is made from vibrant coral pearls, perfect for spring and summer.


And I've been working on some bridal memory wire bracelets, like this Swarovski Crystal, Champagne and Ivory Pearl one.

Win a Bubbles Bracelet!

I've been blogging for a year now and I think its time that I had another giveaway.

This time I'm letting the lucky winner chose a Bubbles Pearl bracelet (in the style of this one below)


or design one in their choice of colours.

So inspired by a competition that AliBaliJewellery held last year, all you have to do to enter, is retweet my tweet announcing the competition.

Obviously to avoid spamming twitter, please don't tweet more than once an hour.

The 500th tweet will be the lucky winner

If you want to participate all you have to do is follow me on http://www.twitter.com/amidesigns and retweet the giveaway

I'll announce the winner here and on twitter - good luck!!

London!

Last week Andy and I went with the kids to London. We lived in Oxfordshire for 3 years in the 1990's and have wanted to take the kids for a while. They are 8 and 11 now, so perfect ages to enjoy the sights.

Unfortunately we got off to a rocky start, with Alex getting so uptight on the plane that she was sick. Then she was reluctant to take the lift in the hotel, though after I'd climbed the 11 floors to our room once, I put my foot down and even though we had to stop at each floor, she was eventually OK about it.

I'd definitely recommend taking the open top bus tour if you've never been to the city before. It's a brilliant way of seeing the sights and learning a bit of the history. It also included a trip up the Thames, which the kids loved.

The boys did the London Eye -


and we spent Wednesday morning doing a tour of Westminister Abbey. There is a kiddies trail to follow, so that kept Jamie occupied throughout.


We also visited the Imperial War Museum, the Natural History Museum and the London Tower. And the kids favourite bit?

The hotel swimming pool LOL!

Friday Round Up

Today is my wedding anniversary. Andy and I have been married 16 years today. We met at Uni in the first term of first year and its been bliss(!) from then.

2nd April 1994

This week I feel I've got the work/crafting balance sorted a little bit. I think the lighter evenings really help as I feel inspired to do a bit of crafting then, rather than doing nothing but watch the tv!

This week I've added a couple of new memory wire bracelets to my shop.

This Rhodochrosite Wrap Bracelet is very pretty, though I maybe should have made it with 4 coils rather than 2.


This Tiger Eye Wrap Bracelet is new as well.


We are going to London from Monday to Friday with the kids, so I won't be crafting or blogging till my return. Will post some pics when I get back :)

Crafting Space

Every once in a while I decide that I need to sort out my crafting space - usually at that point when 'crafting space' has moved into 'every room of the house space!'

So I spent some time earlier this week finding my table top again.
This is my space on the landing
Before


After


And all my pearls on the bookcase -
Before


After


and now neatly in boxes on the window sill


I just wonder how long it will remain this way!