Where oh where have I been?

It feels like forever since I have posted. I have been getting on the net but have been a bit lazy with my blogging. I think I just ran out of steam a bit. I have been furoiusly applying for new jobs, I am sooooo over my current one and somehow I don't think I'm going to make it big in the world of online selling in the extremely near future. I was dreaming about it the other day though. Chris and I were driving along the road to Nubeena and I said, 'we need to set a lucrative internet business so that we can come and live in the middle of nowhere!' Ah to be able to work from home like that would be heaven.

Something else had been keeping me occupied over the last couple of days also. We have new addition to our family. On Saturday we welcomed Orion the husky pup to our household. Whilst Ghost the big husky pup is rather excited about it he is still a bit overwhelmed.

But here they are looking ever so friendly and cute togther. This was just after thier big walk this afternoon.

What surprised me the most about the whole excercise of bringing home a new pup was that it only took Ghost a short time to decide that rather than kill him it might be better to figure out what he was first. Orion caused more of a problem. The fact that Ghost scared the poop out of Orion when he first arrived meant that Orion wouldn't let Ghost anywhere near him and kept yapping at him and snapping at poor Ghosts nose. Finally, about 4 hours later Orion decided that it might me ok if Ghost had a bit of a sniff and they sat nicely together for the first time. We have had a few times since then where they have been less than friendly but we have figured that it is all part of the process of establishing the pecking order and that as long as we keep an eye on them they will be alright.

With that, I think I will leave with a couple more cute photos.

Tool of the Year!

Ah, my round nosed pliers, oh what I'd do if I didn't have them! I think I could almost make anyof my pieces of jewelry with just my round nosed pliers if I had to. Not that I'd really want to, because that would definately make life much harder, but I could do it. No other tool would be a substitute. Imagine attempting to turn all those loops without round nosed pliers - I can't even begin to imagine the ugliness that would ensue if I had to use chainnose pliers instead!

Being a relatively newcomer to jewelry making, my loops are probably the thing that I am most proud of. My designs are simple and nothing too extravagant, I like to dabble in what I can do and build up slowly. But as far as I'm concerned I have my loops down pat. Take away my round nosed pliers and I would have taken away my most prized part of my jewelry making!

I'm sure one day when I start to venture into more advance techniques like soldering and metal work (which I really want to try) I will find the multitude of tools that I think I can't live without. But for now, leave me with my round nosed pliers and I'll be happy (well happy enough)

Tulips Treasure Box - EtsyBloggers Feature

Tulipstreasurebox is the EtsyBloggers feature for the month of August. She is participating in the EtsyBoggers Street Team sale and has some beautiful items to offer.



These items are available for sale in Tulipstreasurebox's Etsy shop located at
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5508373&section_id=5417430

If you hurry there you will get a real bargain, Tulipstreasurebox has really embraced the EtsyBlogger's team sale and has reduce the prices on a huge range of items.

Tulipstreasurebox also has a blog located at: http://TuLipsTalking.blogspot.com

Here you will find some info on her beautiful items - plenty more eyecandy for you to drool over!

Keep On Keeping On

So, I have had my membership approved for EtsyBloggers, very exciting! I am getting ready to dive into writing my feature for this month. I am in the process of checking out previous ones to get an idea of how it all works. I love that the process for EtsyBloggers is so involved - I do hope that I am able to keep up with the requirements.

I have managed to make some more jewelry, so I met one of my goals that I made for myself. These are my latest creations:

I bought some new beads/findings the other day and they came in the mail full of inspiration. So I was pretty happy with that.

In other news, we have a new addition to our family. Well, he's not actually here yet, but he will be soon. We picked out a new puppy on Sunday. Will be posting with updates after he settles into his new home which should be about 2 weeks away.

I will be back to post later on today or tomorrow because I feel I must get this feature article written - I am looking forward to it anyway, it will be an excellent start to the idea that I had to do that myself anyway.

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That....

Over the last few days I have made some progress. I have signed up on Etsy for two teams. DUST (Down Under Street Team) and EtsyBloggers. I am currently waiting for approval from EtsyBloggers.

I have also been trying to promote my blog more, I shamelessly mention it whenever I have he chance! Although I have been seeking out other people's blogs and adding their links to mine. I think this is a really good way of networking. I feel it's likely that they will mention my blog to others if I tell them that I have added their link. Well I would hope so anyway, and if it doesn't then it is a good way for me to bulk up my potential feature article pool.

I have been extremely lazy with my creating of jewelry, I am hoping to get into this today, I have heaps of ideas rollig around in my head and really want to get them out. It has been really cold and this has put me off I think, cold fingers don't like fiddling with wire! Also I like to spread out when I'm building and I don't like to spread out when I'm cold!


Another exciting thing that has happened is that a 'stranger' commented on this bracelet of mine that I have pictured on Facebook.





I have pointed her in the direction of http://flickr.com/photos/tracylacytrinkets due to the fact that it has more and much better photos of my things on there.

This has prompted me to update my Facebook photos now though, as I get alot of exposure to my existing friends through Facebook. I feel like I can get around the issue of feeling like I'm soliciting to my friends.

I am really looking forward to getting involved with EtsyBloggers. Although I already had plans to do feature articles. I was intending on doing this primarily with jewelry makers and suppliers. Now I will hopefully have the chance to look at other creations and creators.

I have decided to up my prices on my items in order to see whether it makes any difference. After reading some article on Etsy I feel like I was previously seriously 'undervaluing my craft' as it is called. I don't seem to have seen a difference as yet, but I haven't added any new items for a while so I haven't expected that I would have any extra exposure recently.

I am currently in the process of searching for a feature artists. Hopefully I will have that finished later today - if I can fit in around everything that I have planned for today.

So, here are my plans:

- search for a feature artist
-dix my Facebook photos
-promote my blog in http://www.beadingforum.com.au/forums/index.php
-MAKE SOME JEWELRY!
-I also plan to look for inspiration outside my normal sources.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.