Happy New Year!

Can't believe it's been a month since I last blogged. Well I can really! November and December were completely manic with my new bling range selling like hot cakes. Then came the Christmas break, when I haven't lifted a pair of pliers for a couple of weeks. To top it all off I got featured in the Etsy Finds email a couple of days before Christmas, which was fantastic but which would be been ever more fantastic a couple of weeks earlier before the last Christmas shipping dates.

Anyway, just wanted to wish everyone a healthy, successful and peaceful New Year.

Black Friday, Cyber Monday Sale

I've decided that for this years Black Friday, Cyber Monday sales I'm just going to have a sale section

With up to 50% off it's time to catch a bargain :)

Honey and Amber Cluster Bracelet Was $28, Now $14


Kelly Green Memory Wire Bracelet Was $19, Now $14


Denim Blue and Black Cluster Earrings Were $18, Now $12

Weekly Round Up

This past week or 2 I've been adding to my bling range of pearl bracelets I had the idea that most people like a bit of sparkle and glitter to wear over the christmas festivities and they've been selling well, so I think I was right!

I've added a few colours and there's a few more to come.

Turquoise Bling Pearl Bracelet


Pale Pink Bling Pearl Bracelet


Ivory Bling Pearl Bracelet

And the winner is....

Thank you all for entering my giveaway/liking my FB/following my blog

I used the random number generator to pick the winner.

And the bracelet is going to K Mayers!

Thanks again everyone :)

1000 Sales and a Giveaway

Today I reached the amazing goal of 1000 sales in my Etsy shop. I have been hoping to reach it before the end of the year, so I'm delighted that I achieved that goal :)

To celebrate, I've decided to have a giveaway of one of my pearl cluster bracelets.

In order to win this maroon bracelet


simply either -
1. become a blog follower
or
2. have a look in my Etsy shop and tell me which item you like best
or
3. like my facebook page

Just leave your contact details and a comment here and I'll pick a winner on Wednesday at 12 noon.

Good luck!

I've Been Featured

I've become pretty obsessed with the new shop stats on Etsy and yesterday found that I'd been featured in Halogentv's fabulous fall etsy finds

It was this Aubergine Pearl Cluster Bracelet which sold overnight.


Pretty exciting!

Wedding Jewellery

One of the best things about making jewellery is when you see it being worn by someone else. I've never stopped getting a thrill out of every sale and when someone choses my designs for their 'Big Day' it is even better.

Today I got a convo from Lindsay, for whom I had made her bridesmaids jewellery. So I thought I would share as the photos were so gorgeous! I made necklaces, bracelets and earrings to match her 5 bridesmaids, all in different colours and am so delighted with the results :)

Weekly Round Up

This past week I've been adding a new 'bling' range to my shop, in hopes that when peeps start to think about Christmas parties and winter weddings they'll have an eye towards sparklies!

Here's some bracelets in the range -
Sparkling Black Pearl Bracelet



Sparkling Teal Pearl Bracelet


Sparkling Deep Red Pearl Bracelet

Half Price Sale

I've decided to have a half price sale of some of the older items in my shop, so check it out here if you want a bargain :)

Fuchsia Pink Pearl Cluster Bracelet


Blue and Gray Sparkling Memory Wire Bracelet


Black and White Pearl Cluster Bracelet

October Already?

Wow, I knew that my blogging had fallen by the wayside but I'm amazed my last posting was in August! I see then that my sales had stalled and I was on 899 sales. Well, I'm now on 951 so that goes some way to explain why my blogging has been few and far between. September has been my best month to date on Etsy and with Christmas just around the corner, I am hoping to reach the 1000 sales mark before the end of the year.

I have spent many, many hours trying to work out how to be found on Etsy with the relvancy changes and my upturn in sales suggests it's been time well spent.

Basically one day the penny dropped that titles are more important than anything else with relvancy. Tagging and descriptions are important but a very poor second and third.

And with titles, it's important to change what the first 3 words are in your listings. So eg with this White Pearl Cluster Bracelet (one of my best sellers) -


my previous title was simply White Pearl Cluster Bracelet. Now it is the rather clunky 'Bridal Pearl Bracelet, White Pearl Cluster Bracelet, Bridal Bracelet,Chunky Pearl Bracelet, Wedding Jewelry, Winter Wedding' With Etsy allowing the pairing of appropriate words in tags I now use things like - pearl bracelet, wedding jewelry, chunky bracelet. And it is working!

Any other relavancy success out there?

Weekly Round Up

How has everyone elses shops been faring since the great Etsy relevancy change over? I've found that I've become completely obsessed with my shop stats, keywords and traffic sources. And even though 'search' is now my top traffic source my sales have stalled. I'm sitting on 899 sales though and just a reminder - I offer a discount of 15% to my blog followers. Just use the coupon code BLOG15

Just a couple of new items this week. A new Purple Phlox Pearl Cluster Bracelet


And this best selling Golden Brown Pearl Cluster Bracelet with Mint Green Flowers returns.

Weekly Round Up

This week I've been working on some new memory wire bracelets. I love making these as they are quick and easy and don't involve any wire wrapping!

Deep Teal, Blue and Aqua Pearl Cluster Bracelet


Magenta, Lavender and Pink Pearl Cluster Bracelet


Chocolate Brown, Burnt Orange and Ivory Pearl Memory Wire Bracelet

Happy Birthday Alex!

Today my daughter Alex turns 13. I can't believe she's now a teenager, though perhaps the fact she is still lying in bed watching her new Justin Beiber DVD at 10.30am should prove it!

Weekly Round Up

This week I've been making nothing but pearl cluster bracelets. I've more or less caught up with all the ones that I've sold and have added a couple of new ones to my range. I've also spent more hours than I care to count, tweaking my listings and titles for when Etsy search reverts to relavancy only. Hope it's been worth it!

New this week -
Forest Green Pearl Cluster Bracelet


Lavender Purple and Silver Pearl Cluster Bracelet


Quarry Blue Pearl Cluster Bracelet

Recent Purchases

I've been doing some buying from Etsy and thought I'd share with you.

I bought myself this Tote Bag - contemporary print from fellow UK chat thread regular MoaningMinnie It was beautifully made and got lots of outings when I was on holiday.


If you are looking for well made hats, neckwarmers, headscarves and more, check out this shop!

Weekly Round Up

I did a massive stock take this week and realised that I've lots of pearl cluster bracelets that I've sold recently that I needed to make more of, so brand new items have been a bit sporadic.

So newly relisted this week -

White Pearl and Sterling Silver Bracelet with Birthstone Swarovski Elements - Pick your Own


Aubergine Pearl Cluster Bracelet


Coffee and Chocolate Brown Pearl Cluster Bracelet

Back from my hols

We've spent the last 2 weeks recharging our batteries in Cornwall. I was internet and jewellery free for most of the time and now feel ready to start crafting again. One thing I've noticed since I reopened my shop is how dismal the views have been - what on earth has been going on????

Anyway, some pics of my fav place on earth :)



In Blue Bar, either having another latte or another Pinot Grigio


Alex reading


Jamie's sandcastle

SALE!

I've decided to have a sale section which includes memory wire bracelets, pearl cluster bracelets and some earrings.

All items are 25% off and include this Mint Green and White Pearl Cluster Bracelet



this Purple Beaded Memory Wire Bracelet


and these Bridal Ivory Pearl and Cubic Zirconia Floral Earrings

Facebook Page

One of my New Year resolutions was to get a business FB page up and running. I did set it up a while ago but did absolutely nothing with it.

So my attempt this week is to get it sorted.

Please check it out and any likes would be appreciated!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/AMIDesigns/187334354619698?v=wall

Weekly Round Up

I've introduced a new range of bracelets to my shop this week. Staying with the pearl theme, the focal point of the bracelets are the clasp and charms or flowers, which dangle beside them. At the minute I've mainly used bridal colours (you cannot imagine how many hundreds of ivory/cream/white pearls I have!) but hope to expand the colour scheme soon. Any feedback welcome :)

Ivory Pearl and Champagne Crystal Bracelet in Antiqued Gold with I Love You Charm


Old Gold Pearl and Floral Bracelet


Aubergine Pearl Bracelet with Leaf Charm

Etsy Finds!

For the first time ever yesterday I made it into Etsy Finds! It was this Teal Pearl Cluster Bracelet



Getting in the Finds is the next best thing to being featured seller on Etsy and makes for interesting stats.

The bracelet itself hasn't sold but has had a total of around 800 new views and 49 new hearts.

My shop has 52 new hearts and around 2200 views in the past 18 hours. And my items - excluding the featured bracelet - have around 100 new hearts.

Forgot to say I've had 1 sale and 2 custom requests as well.

So please can I be featured again soon LOL!

Etsy Wedding Divas

I recently joined the Etsy Wedding Divas team on Etsy and thought I would showcase some of their work today.



1. Custom GARTER SET by SweetlyFallenBridal

2. Love Bird Nest Willow Bearer Pillow by CountrySquirrelsRUS

3.Macey Peacock Bouquet by Jillianns

4. Wedding Card Box Money Holder by TheWeddingMainSt

Front Page!

This weekend I spent time with my parents, sisters and their families. We had a bit of a party for the Royal Wedding. I even dressed up for a short time in my wedding dress, but looked more like a pantomine dame than a blushing bride! My daughter has become a bit of a wedding obsessive now and we've had to buy several magazines so she can have a look at the happy couple in many different photos.

This weekend I actually made it to the Front Page of Etsy for the first time since last November, thanks to Kimiko611. I was an alternate in her treasury and had a few moments of extra exposure with this Blueberry Pearl Cluster Bracelet.

Etsy's Taste Test

There's been so many different changes to Etsy recently that I've been a bit slow to try some of them out. One of these changes is the implementation of the taste test. In order to access it, you need to be logged out of Etsy and then you are offered a selection of different items. Any of those that you like, you click on and Etsy somehow works out similar items that you might like.

However, like everything else on Etsy, these items are limited to a few out of the many hundreds/thousands for sale and therefore there is the whole question again about admin promoting their favourites and many, many sellers being ignored.

My biggest gripe is that I now can't get rid of the taste test off my front page and the items are exactly the same as they were a few days ago - great advertising for the chosen few.

Have any of you tried it? and are any of you one of the featured sellers?

Weekly Round Up

This week I've decided to add to the earrings in my shop. I've been working with czech flowers with pearls for bracelets and think it's time to add to my earrings with a new Posy range. Some of these earrings will match the pearl cluster bracelets in my shop, others while others are simply using up spare flowers :)

First up are these delicate Pale Pink Pearl and Flower Cluster Earrings. I hope to make a matching bracelet for these this weekend.


Next I've made these Denim Blue and Black Floral Cluster Earrings to match this Bracelet


And finally, Champagne Crystal, Latte Floral and Pearl Cluster Earrings
which are made to match this Bracelet

Etsy Fee Calculator

I came across this handy etsy fee calculator on the Etsy forums and thought it that's a useful link to bookmark.

Sometimes it's hard to work out if you're losing money or making a profit when you are deciding on pricing. This great calculator takes into account both Etsy fees and your Paypal fees as well as shipping costs.

Give it a go, you may be pleasantly surprised!

Catch Up

First off, apologies. It's been forever since I blogged. March was completely manic, both personally and on Etsy. I hade multiple orders for bridesmaids jewellery and in fact, it was my best month yet selling online.

Personally I was in Scotland for 2 long weekends with old friends, which was brilliant :)

The disadvantage of big custom orders is that I get so little time to make new items. I've been trying out a new range of pearl cluster bracelets with czech flowers, like this Golden Brown Floral and Pearl Cluster Bracelet


I've also been finding some new colours of pearls, which always surprises me as I think I've got most of them covered!I've found these lovely pinky-coral pearls and combined them with faceted glass beads for added sparkle.
Coral Rose Sparkling Pearl Cluster Bracelet


And finally, a new pearl cluster necklace in an elegant off white.

Weekly Round Up

This weekend I'm going to Edinburgh with some old friends and while I'm there I'm hoping to meet up with Ali, Mike and Angel, all regulars from the Etsy UK chat thread - so exciting to meet up with people I usually only chat with online!

This week I've entered one of my bracelets in the TheHandmadeGiftGuide voter If you have a minute could you please click on the link above and vote for my Rose Gold and Champagne Floral Cluster Bracelet It's number 44 - thank you!


This week I've added a new Navy Memory Wire Bracelet


I've also got a new floral/pearl mix bracelet, this time Smoky Grey Floral and Silver Pearl Cluster Bracelet