JKC Creations Has Been Featured at SchulmanArt!

Miriam Schulman at SchulmanArt has featured JKC Creations on her blog today! Imagine my surprise when I went into Facebook this morning and found a blog post featuring me!

Miriam is an incredible artist, and we have been studying along side each other for a while now in the Build A Better Creative Business Course administered by Tim Adam and Lisa Jacobs. I have to say, there is no greater feeling than organizing a tribe of your peers and collaborating together to push through road blocks, walls, design ideas, and anything else that may stand in the way of creating the businesses that our customers and clients long to find and resonate with. It has been an incredible journey, and so rewarding!

I want to show you some of Miriam's work, as I think it is amazing! I love to watch this incredibly fun candy video featured HERE. Miriam has other great videos featuring how she goes from start to finish with some of her work featured HERE, on her Facebook Page. Miriam puts so much life into her work. She has a style all her own and isn't it a great style?

Just look at this skier skiing down the mountain. Can't you just feel the snow and the crisp, cool air?

Be sure to check out Miriam's page fully before you leave. If you have ever been interested in learning how to water color, she teaches classes and you can find her classes HERE. So go, have a look around and see if there is something that Miriam can teach you. If you are interested in owning a piece of Miriam's art, you can find it HERE. Isn't it just wonderful?

I hope that you are inspired today! There is no greater feeling than being inspired to create our art and put it out into the world!

Have a wonderful day, my lovelies!

Tanzanite and Sterling Necklace

Well, I have not created a piece of jewelry in quite some time. I have been working on a new project and it has taken me away from jewelry creation. On top of that, me and my husband just did a high mountain backpacking trip over Sundance Pass in the Beartooth Mountain Range. It was a trip that I will never forget! To see what I have been working on and to read about our trip, you can visit Journey To The Peaks. This is my new project. I created my website, with the help of someone great, and I have been putting a lot of focus into what exactly it is that I want to do with this website. I am hoping that as the days go by, the answers will present themselves to me with clarity and resonate. So far so good!

The other night, I did stop for a moment to create jewelry. I was asked by a special person if I could make a necklace for her. She had acquired a beautiful set of Tanzanite earrings from someone very sweet and she wanted a necklace to match them. I of course said yes, as it is always an honor to make something for someone as special as she is! I ordered a Tanzanite CZ that matches the earrings perfectly. Once I received the stone, I was overcome with the passion to create once more. 

The passion to create jewelry has not been so strong for me these last few months, as I have been working on my hiking blog and website. I have filled my time with a different creative endeavor that has filled my heart just as much as creating jewelry. It was so nice to feel the passion to make jewelry rise up again. I sat down at my space to work, not sure if I still had the touch. I was unsure of how the piece would turn out, as I had not made anything for so long. I took a chance and began. It was like riding a bicycle. I found my mojo and it was as if I had been creating jewelry this whole entire time. It was such an awesome feeling to know that I still had it and I could still produce beautiful jewelry with the turn of a wrist and a vision in my mind.

I created the necklace in just a short amount of time. I had never done a pear shaped stone before, so I was so excited to see it come to fruition. I didn't have to re-do it. I didn't have to take it apart and start over. The stone and the wire worked in perfect unison with my hand to guide them. I still crave that feeling...the tools, the wire, the magic of it all turning out the way that you see it in your minds eye. It was such a good feeling to work on a piece of jewelry once more. 

This is the piece that I created. I would love to hear what you think!

Facebook Fanpage Likes Really Don't Matter

We have all seen the comments and heard the complaints about not being able to get people to like our business pages on Facebook. There is always someone wishing they could figure out how to garner more likes and rise to the top of the sea of pages.

What if I told you that likes really don't matter? What if I told you that having thousands of likes on your Facebook page really is not what you should be concerned about? Would you think that I was full of it? Would you stop reading right now and turn to another post or another course that walks you through the steps on how to get more likes on your Facebook page?

Whether you are making jewelry and selling it on Etsy, or writing posts and putting them in front of the world to see, when it comes right down to it; likes really don't matter. You see, likes on a Facebook fanpage are simply a by-product. Yes, I just said that and I mean every single word of it. Likes are simply a by-product of what you are doing to engage fans.

Corbett Barr of Think Traffic says it best in one of his blog posts found here. WRITE EPIC SHIT! Oh yeah, I just said that! If you are not writing epic shit for your followers to read, then you are drowning in a pool with others that are not writing epic shit. If you are not focusing on reaching targeted fans, then you are never going to receive those likes that you crave so much. Why? because if there is nothing to like about the stuff you are writing, or the things you are making, then why is anyone going to be bothered with clicking the like button?

Do you really think that any of the big time bloggers or big sellers on Etsy go out and beg for likes on their Facebook fanpages? Do you think that saying, "Hey, come and follow my page!" really does anything to get a targeted fan to follow you? I guarantee that these tactics are overused and unproductive.

How many of you have friends that send you invites over and over again to like their Facebook fanpage? How many of those pages are putting out epic shit that you want to read or follow or have show up in your news feed? How many of those pages have you finally given in and hit the like button, only to turn around and hide posts from that page on your timeline? This happens over and over again, just because someone is hungry for a like.

Now, what if I told you that you can get likes over and over again and you don't even have to work that hard to get them? What if I told you that if you work really hard at putting out epic shit in your posts and your status feed, the likes would happen AUTOMATICALLY? It all comes down to what you are willing to write in your posts and the things that you put out into the world.

A friend of mine, Nicole Hanna of Nicole Hanna Jewelry, has learned how to put out epic shit! Her wire wrap tutorials are such a hit that she has figured out how to capitalize on them in a way that is truly epic! She does a thing called Treasure Hunt Tuesday. The first Tuesday of every month she hides one of her tutorials among her blog posts. If you can find it, you can download it for a limited time on that Tuesday for free! How crazy is that? Since doing Treasure Hunt Tuesday, she has come up with another idea called Finish It!, in which she has a tutorial that she has written and she gives it away, but there is a catch; she has left out the last part of the tutorial instructions and prompts her followers to 'finish' the tutorial on their own and share it. You can read about these and some of the other contests and giveaways that she is doing to drive traffic to her site here. Nicole Hanna has figured out how to put epic shit into the world that people hunger for. With all of this, she has done something else that she didn't even have to work very hard at, and that is get targeted likes to her Facebook Fanpage.

I believe that you must be willing to give something away for free to receive something in return. Whether that is a Facebook fanpage like, or someone to help you do something that you are having issues with, or whatever the case may be. When you find your 'community' you must work hard to keep them around. Begging for likes and focusing on 'me' instead of 'them' will get you no where in a hurry.

Here is a challenge for you. Figure out something (preferably virtual) that you can give to your fans for free, no strings attached. Promote your giveaway on your Facebook fanpage. It is OK to ask them to like and share the post for the giveaway, but do it in a way that benefits THEM and not YOU. For example, you could say, "Like and share this post so that your friends may get a copy, share in the benefit, get the coupon, etc. as well!" This turns it around to benefit them, in some form, instead of you.

Now, build a fangate on your Facebook page so that your fans must like your page before they can get the prize. This also increases new fans, because they are going to want what you are offering as well and the only way to get it is by liking your page. Put that fangate at the top of your Facebook page by using one of the custom tabs. Promote this giveaway as much as you can. Now sit back and watch what happens.

Not sure how to build a custom tab for your Facebook fanpage? This is the greatest tool I have ever used to do just that... Fanpageology! No it is not free, but if you own a business this could be one of the best investments you could possibly make. It is so simple to use and it is a very powerful tool. You can read about some of my success with using this tool here. Throughout my blog posts for the last couple of months, I have been talking about Fanpageology, so you may want to read some of my other posts as well.

I would love to hear about what kinds of epic shit you come up with to share with your fans! Tell me about it in the comments section below!

Sharing My Thoughts On The Etsy Theme App

I wanted to share some wisdom today that I think all that are using the free Etsy app, called Etsy Theme App, may find compelling. I have used this app in the past, and I too liked the ease of use. I liked that it got your Etsy shop in front of your fans on Facebook. I also liked that this app was FREE! But I have to be honest, FREE is sometimes terribly overrated and this just happened to be one of those times for me. There are some things that I really didn't like about using this app and I wanted to share some of those cons with you here today.

Here are some of the things that I found discouraging about this app. With this app, as well as many of the other free apps out there, I was advertising SOMEONE ELSE'S shop on MY Facebook fanpage. If you notice, at the bottom of your shop listings on YOUR fanpage, there is a featured set of listings that have nothing to do with your shop. It looks something like this:

All of these items are listed right on the bottom of YOUR very own Facebook tab and they have nothing to do with YOUR shop. I found this to be very discouraging. Also, you may not be aware of this, but there is another thing happening with this that you may find interesting.

Have any of you seen this at the bottom of your page?

If you click on this little button, that is on the bottom of YOUR fanpage by the way, it brings up this pop up window shown here:

Now I found this to be very deceiving, as it looks like YOU are the one giving away something from YOUR shop every week worth $50.00. But, thankfully, that is not the case. Thankfully for you, but not necessarily to your fans.

Now this is the kicker. When YOUR FANS click on one of the pictures on the ticker, shown above, they are instantly presented with this pop up window announcing that something worth $50.00 is going to be given away every week. They may, or may not, know that this item is not from YOUR shop. SOMEONE ELSE'S item has the potential to be sold directly from YOUR Facebook fanpage and that SOMEONE ELSE didn't even have to do anything to get the sale. YOU were the vehicle that they used. After that, perhaps thinking that they are going to win something from YOUR shop, YOUR FAN clicks on the button that says PLAY TO WIN. They are instantly presented with yet another pop up window asking them to share SOMEONE ELSE'S item to their timeline.

When YOUR FAN clicks the SHARE TO WIN BUTTON, another pop up window is presented to them. It looks like this:

You guessed it, they hit the green button and~ ta da~ SOMEONE ELSE'S item just got posted to YOUR FANS' timeline!

Is there anything in this post that refers people to MY Etsy shop or MY Facebook fanpage? Absolutely nothing! It all refers to the ETSY THEME APP and SOMEONE ELSE'S ETSY ITEM! How discouraging is this to you?

Now I know I am using a lot of itlaics and BOLD letters here, but I wanted to be sure to emphasize what all of this means. All of this means that YOU are promoting SOMEONE ELSE on YOUR Facebook fanpage, and YOU are not the one getting the benefits of this free app. The bottom line is that YOU are presenting YOUR FANS with an opportunity to be taken off of your page in the tiny beat of a heart, and the glitz of a golden embellished PLAY TO WIN button. The only people that are benefiting from this app are the people that made it and the other Etsy shop owners that are paying to get their items listed with them so they can use YOUR SPACE as a free marketplace.

One other thing I found to be discouraging about this app is that you have to use one of the templates that they provide. As many of you have found out, there is not a lot of selection in this area. I had to use a wedding background because it was the closest thing I could find to match my jewelry line.

OK, OK, enough with the bold letters and italics. I just wanted to be sure that you understand that by using this free app, you may be hurting instead of helping your business and driving targeted traffic away from your Facebook page and, ultimately, your Etsy shop. Why do I care? Because I feel passionate about all people that are brave enough to step out of the regular, everyday world that we live in and challenge ourselves to use our creative talents to become something more. I am part of the Maker's Movement, along with all of you, and I know exactly how hard it is to get in front of a targeted customer and present your talents to them. I know how hard we all work to get those hard earned sales in our Etsy shops. This is why I felt compelled to share this with all of you.

Now I don't want you all to feel as if there is really no way that this can be helped, or that there is nothing to be done about this. There is something else that I want to share with all of you. It is an answer to all of this, and it may just be more than you ever hoped for. It may even produce some sales for you in your Etsy shop.

I have found an incredible app that has eliminated all of this heartache and frustration for myself. It is not a free app, but I truly believe that you get what you pay for. I believe that, with this particular app, you may even get more than what you paid for. This app is called Fanpageology and it was designed by Tim Adam. For those of you that are not familiar with Tim, he is the mastermind behind Handmadeology and it is a wealth of free information for those with a creative business. I will share the links to both Handmadeology and Fanpageology at the end of this post and I really encourage all of you to go and check out both sites. I believe that you will be extremely pleased that you did. Tim has a lot of videos on the Fanpageology site that can help with some of the questions you may have about how it works.

The dark words in this post are links too, but I will post the links to both of the sites at the end, just the same.

Now, what I really want to do is share my experience that I have had using Fanpageology versus the Etsy Theme App. I have gotten over 150 targeted fans on my JKC Creations Fanpage. I have also gotten over 60 targeted fans on my Eternally Nature Fanpage. I just started my Eternally Nature Jewelry Line and I cannot believe that  I have over 130 fans and my first sale already! I launched my Facebook fanpage for Eternally Nature on May 2, 2013. I credit all of the success I am having with this to Fanpageology.

In all of the time that I was using the Etsy Theme App, I did not culminate one targeted fan. I believe the reason was because I really had no leverage over people that visited my page. Now, what I mean by leverage is this~ I did not have any incentive for those fans to like my page. I didn't have a way to use a fangate with this particular app. I just had a tab that they could click only to be taken off of my page and promote someone else's Etsy item. Sure, my items were shown to them, but they didn't even have to click the 'like' button to see what I had to offer.

With Fanpageology, I was able to create fangates. I believe that fangates are an essential part to a successful Facebook fanpage. My fans actually have to click the 'like' button before they get access to the discounts and other things that I offer under my tabs. I can create tabs that are cohesive with my page, another plus to this great app! The best part is that it can all be done with the simple click and drag method that we are all so familiar with.

I encourage all of you to take a look at Fanpageology and watch the videos. I can tell you, from experience, that subscribing to Fanpageology has been one of the best decisions I have ever made for my creative business. It has provided a way for me to create excitement for my pages, as well as what I have to offer in my jewelry lines. It has created a way for me to know when I get a targeted fan on my Facebook fanpage. It is extremely powerful and I know it can help you as well.

Now, I told you that I would share the links to both Fanpageology and Handmadeology, so here they are:

http://www.handmadeology.com/

http://fanpageology.com/home/

Please go and check these sites out, but if you only have time for one right now, make it be Fanpageology. I know that being part of the Maker's Movement, you too, can benefit from the power that it offers. Oh, and one more cool thing...If you have more than one Etsy shop and more than one Facebook fanpage, you only have to have one subscription to Fanpageology and it will work for all of your shops and Facebook pages. Now that is something to rave about!

Eternally Nature And Other Things...

Wow! Can you all say B-U-S-Y? I have been so busy lately. There is so much going on in my life right now that I am not sure if I am keeping up or about to die trying!
As many of you know, I have been working very hard to get my other jewelry shop up and running on Etsy. Well guess what? I finally got it done! Eternally Nature is finally up and running as my second Etsy shop. I have not stopped with JKC Creations, I have just started something new with Eternally Nature.
Eternally Nature has smaller pieces that are less expensive. By creating these pieces, I feel that I am giving more to you-the customer. You can now purchase a piece of my jewelry at a much lower cost than my one of a kind pieces. I have put forth the same thought to detail in these smaller pieces and they are just as much an heirloom, but these pieces can be worn everyday. Who doesn't love that?
Not only is Eternally Nature keeping me busy, but I am on a new path personally as well. As many of you may or may not know, I love to hike! I love to go to the mountains with my family and I love to be OUTSIDE in the summer months! My husband and I go on a week long hike every summer together and this summer will be the third year for us. I am so excited for this week to be spent up in the high country, backpacking in, cooking on a camp stove, sleeping in a tent... Oh man, this is totally my very favorite time in the summer. Fun times!
There is only one thing that I would do differently before packing up to go on this long hike and that is LOSE WEIGHT! I used to get up and go to the gym every single day at 4:20 in the morning. I did this for 3 straight years. Needless to say, I burned out and I quit. Well guess what? I am no longer a quitter! This is another *thing* that I am working on now.
I don't want to give this all away, so this is all I am going to say for now. If you are interested, I will be creating a new blog that is going to go into detail on what I am doing right now to change my life. I will be posting updates regularly and I will be sharing some things that are pretty hard to share. I also have another endeavor on the horizon and I can't wait to let you all know about it. For now, I just want to say 'Thank you!' Thank you for liking my jewelry and JKC Creations. I am not sure what the future holds for me, but I am sure it is written in the stars!
Flourish & Thrive Academy  is in full swing and I am learning a lot. Lots of good stuff to keep my mind reeling for quite some time, I am sure. I am hopeful that all of this learning will prove to be exactly what I need!

The Learning Just Keeps Coming!

Hello All!
Well, I start the Flourish And Thrive Academy: Multiply Your Profits Vol. 2 course today. It is a six week course that I hope to learn a lot from. I am so excited, but I am nervous as well. I am nervous because I know I need to change some things in my jewelry business and change is always a hard thing. I am nervous because stepping out of a comfort zone is always scary. I am nervous because I find self-doubt popping up on occasion.
I have been on an incredible journey for the last couple months. I have learned so much about myself and my jewelry line. The most important lesson I have learned is that I may not be on the right course just yet with my jewelry designs.
I have been testing the waters with a couple things and I am in the process of some modifications. I have a new line in the works right now, and I will be sharing it with you in the next few weeks. I hope that you will stay tuned for my upcoming news. I also hope that you may find the changes I am beginning to implement a breath of fresh air! You may get a small glimpse of what I am up to at my new Facebook page Eternally Nature. You can actually be one of the first to *like* my new page and my new jewelry line! My new Etsy shop is not active yet for this line, but I hope to have it up before too much longer. I just want to make sure I do it right from the beginning so that I am not going back to correct things later.
Have a look at my photos and let me know what you think of Eternally Nature. I would so love to hear from you!

Community Will Make All The Difference

Hello!
It has been amazing to see what Fanpageology has done for my Facebook page and my Etsy shop over the last month. It has inspired me so much. I have signed up for some more training with the Flourish and Thrive Academy to start on May 7th, and I have decided to put forth some effort into another passion of mine and create something new. I don't want to share the details at this time, but I can't wait to launch it. I still have some work to do before I am ready, but I am pretty excited about it.
All of this learning over the past few months has taught me so many things about myself and my focus. I finally feel like I am moving through this life with a purpose and I can't tell you how gratifying that is for me.
I have a little piece of advice to share with every single person that has a passion in life to become what they want to be. It doesn't matter what your dreams are, I think that every single person that wants to succeed needs to have a network of people that they can turn to for advice and to share their passion with. A community is the life blood of being successful. No matter what you do in life, you should have people that can relate to you. You should have mentors and role models that you can learn from and seek out. You should have people in your life that are non-judgmental and are willing to share ideas and help you. You should also be willing to share with others that may need help from you. As you become wiser and more focused you will have the potential to inspire others, and you should willingly share with them. Out of all of the training I have received these last few months, this has been the most vital lesson of it all for me.
Many of you may be asking the question, "How do I find that community?" My answer is this~ you must seek it out. You are not going to find that network by sitting by and wishing and hoping that it will magically appear. You must be willing to put in some time and effort and find the community that is right for you. You must also be willing to possibly pay a little to find it. Take a class that interests you. Find someone that inspires you and attend one of their seminars. Sitting idle and hoping that things change is not the answer. You are in control of your own destiny and you should put every effort into creating the destiny that you desire. There are people out there that want to help. You only need to put forth the effort and find them.
I was so fortunate to find a class that I took a chance on. I took that class not knowing what would actually come of it. I have found friendship and passionate people that share my dreams and aspirations. I found like-minded people that I can share my ideas and dreams with. I found a safe environment that makes me feel stronger and more on task. I found a community that I thrive in and there is nothing better than that!

Fanpageolgy~ What I Have Seen, What I have Used, And How It Will Help Your Creative Business

I have been asked a lot of questions concerning Fanpageology these last few weeks, so today I have decided to share with you how I have used it and how it has helped my business. I want to give a bird's eye view of how simple it really is to create great looking tabs and fan gates. I am hopeful that you may find this information useful and to your advantage when trying to decide if Fanpageology is right for you.
First of all; I know that there are free things out there that can be used to do the very things that Fanpageology can do, but I believe that Fanpageology may be a better choice because of the customization abilities of it. You are not limited on the backgrounds you can use, you are not limited to using what the free apps provide. YOU get to decide what your tabs look like and YOU get to decide the content contained within those tabs. You also have the ability of combining some of the content in some of these free apps under one app with Fanpageology.
Think about your Etsy Shop Branding for one moment. Do most of these free apps provide the ability to have your own branding within the tab itself? The ones that I have looked at and used do not. There is a very popular app out there right now that I have found a lot of people using, including myself, before I subscribed to Fanpageology.
You can change the color of the tab and you can change the theme of the app but other than that, it is pretty limited on what it can do. The themes for this particular app leave a bit to be desired as well. I had to go with a wedding theme because it was the closest thing I could find to match what I needed. If you get the free app, there is also a ticker at the bottom that runs other Etsy store fronts on YOUR page. Is that the ideal app for YOUR business?
With Fanpageology, you get to decide what goes into your tabs. You get to decide how the tabs look and you get to decide who gets to see the content under those tabs. I have never used any other tab app out there that gives you this much freedom. Wanna know what else? If you have two Facebook pages, two Etsy Shops, two Meylah stores, this app works for all of them under one subscription! You only have to subscribe once to get the full benefits across all of your online platforms. How cool is that? How many other apps offer this?
As many of you are aware, I have been using Fanpageology for a while now, I have been raving about it, and I have been sharing things that I think are important to share. Targeted traffic is of the utmost importance when you are trying to run an online business. Getting the right people to like your page and check out what you have to offer is the key to selling what you are making. I have never had the ability to present what I have to a targeted audience in the way that I can by using Fanpageology. I have gone from an average of 9 to 10 engaged users over the past 4 years to 112 just on my post for my necklace giveaway! Now granted, this is a giveaway and it generates a lot more traffic to my page, but isn't that what we ALL want? Fanpageology has finally provided a way for me to actually give something away on Facebook and not worry about how to do it and stay within the rules of Facebook! WOW! That is so cool!
If you have PhotoShop or any other photo editing tool, you have just opened up another door to the advantages of Fanpageology. You have the ability to create great looking tabs with pictures and content that will grasp the attention of your audience. In my opinion, nothing beats a great looking tab. It begs for you to click on it. It beckons you to have a look. This in itself is a reward. A little time and a little imagination can take your custom tabs to a whole new level.
My viral reach for the week ending April 10, 2013 was 4,239 people. I have never had that happen before. I have never had more than 350~ever... I believe that using Fanpageology has finally put me out there for the world to see... and I am so glad I have subscribed to this amazing tool!
I have made a little video to show you just how easy this is to use. It is a drag and drop platform, so it is so easy to do. Take a look, and if you are on the fence about this cool app, I hope this will help clarify some of the unknown.

JKC Creations Is Running Its First Contest!

It is official! With the help of Fanpageology, I have made it to my first contest! It is extremely exciting to finally feel like I can give something back without having to fear the Facebook Page Guidelines. Fanpageology has made all of this possible and I am so glad that Tim Adam, the creator of Handmadeology, has created another app that is so user friendly and provides the opportunity to do a contest without the fear of breaking Facebook rules. If you have not had a chance to check out Fanpageology, you really should do so. Especially if you are interested in driving traffic to your Facebook page and your Etsy shop. It has been a great additional tool for me and I am sure it can help you as well.
Without further ado, JKC Creations is running a contest to win one of these beautiful necklaces shown here!

All you have to do is go to JKC Creations Fanpage on Facebook, like and share the post found on the JKC Creations timeline, and enter the contest. Winners will be randomly chosen using Random.org and will be contacted via e-mail on May 1st. How exciting is that?
I wish you all good luck!

Upcoming Event!

Well, I have to say that using Fanpageology has opened more doors for me. I will be here to share some exciting news with you in just a bit, stay tuned! If you have not *liked* JKC Creations yet, I encourage you to do so. You will be happy that you did.
Talk to you soon!
Janet

Outright!

I hope that you all have had a chance to go and check out Fanpageology! It has been so incredible to use. I really love the fan gates! If you have not had a chance to go and click around, I encourage you to do so. It has really been a great thing for me and I know it can help all of you that have a Facebook fan page and an Etsy or Meylah shop as well.
The next thing I want to talk about today is OutRight. This is the accounting software that I use for my business. You can link your Etsy shop, your PayPal account, and your bank accounts to this highly powerful accounting software program. It automatically brings in the transactions that you make and organizes them.
This is a big time saver for me. I have to actually enter the transactions from my bank account because it is a small hometown bank, but even this is easy to do. There are detailed instructions to help you download the CSV files and plug them right into the program. If you are not familiar with CSV files, don't let that scare you. I didn't know what this was either, until I started using OutRight. It is just a spreadsheet of your transactions and it is quite simple to import the information.
I encourage you to watch this short video and see if OutRight may be right for you as well. I have found it to be  perfect fit my my small business.

OutRight actually gives you reports that you can use for your taxes. The reports are simple to read AND understand! I have not found anything that I don't like about this program. It is highly effective in providing the information you want right at your finger tips.
If you have not yet done so, go~ check OutRight out for yourself and just see what it can do for you and your business!

Handmadeology IS ALL it is cracked up to be!

Continuing on with some of the things I have done to improve my business, I want to tell you about a free source that you can have access to. You can get free tips on a regular basis and use the information to improve your business as well. The source I am speaking of is Handmadeology. There is so much free information on this site that you can literally get lost for days. The thing I like the most is that the information is there and you can find it and implement it at your own pace.
I have been a follower of Handmadeology for quite some time and I have to say, I have spent many hours there searching out the tidbits that would help me. Tim Adam is an incredible person with incredible insight into how to run and grow a business. He is the founder of Handmadeology. Tim is a generous soul that has shared his time unselfishly with me and a few others these last few months. He has been so energetic about my business and what I am trying to do with it. It has been an extraordinary treat to learn from him.
Running an online business can make us feel isolated and alone in our endeavor. It can make us doubt everything about what we are trying to accomplish. It can make us feel as if we are going in so many different directions that it is hard to know what the right path is. If you have tried to run an online business for very long, you know that the phrase, "If you build it, he will come"

is not necessarily the true way that it is. If you are like so many of us out here trying to do it, you have probably experienced the frustration and the heartache that can come with running an online business. If you are like me, you may have doubts about whether or not you have what it takes to pursue your dream of doing the thing that makes you the happiest.
Through Tim and Handmadeology, I have found a network of people that think like me, that want what I want, and that are pursuing their passion. I have learned from them, I have brainstormed with them, and I have come to know that I am not alone. Tim Adam, along with the Handmadeology team have brought focus to what I am trying to do.
Tim has just introduced the Fanpageology website. It is a website that helps you create fan gates and custom tabs for your Facebook Page. I have been watching for this for a while now and the minute I saw that it was live, I signed up. I have wanted, for so long, to be able to create tabs that can generate fans of my JKC Creations Page, and I finally am able to do it! I believe in what Tim teaches and I know that he genuinely wants ME to succeed. I know that he wants this for every single person that has it in them to pursue their dreams and go after what they desire. I was not even remotely apprehensive to sign up for this. I can't tell you how much it has helped my business already. I have increased the traffic on my Facebook page significantly! Want proof? Here are my insights that I just took a few moments ago...

I cannot believe that I actually have increased my weekly total reach 262.86%! I have never reached an audience such as this! Tim has helped me to see what I need to do and to get out there and do it.
Need more proof that Fanpageology can help your business? Here are my Etsy stats taken just a few moments ago...
These are the views.

These are the favorites.

These stats were custom dated to show everything from the time my shop opened on Etsy to the end of March, 2013.
If you are not already following Handmadeology and Tim Adam, my suggestion to you is to start. If you really want to improve your business and get focused on the important aspects of what you need to do to grow your business, my advice is to take a chance on some of the classes and things that Tim offers. I just took the course called Building a Better Creative Business with Tim and Lisa Jacobs. I have never learned so much in such a short time, and I plan to keep implementing the learning into my business.
Here is another source that I think is a great tidbit of information. I have gotten to work with a few people on this list provided by LaunchGrowJoy and I think that if you have an opportunity to work with any of these people, your chances of running a successful business will dramatically increase!
Though there are no guarantees in the world of running a successful online business, there are resources and there are people that you can become familiar with that can pull you in and help you. There is truly a network of people that you can get to know and that truly WANT you to succeed in taking your dreams and doing something with those dreams. I have provided the names of a few here, and I hope that number one on your list of people to connect with is Tim Adam! He will not leave you in the dark wondering what you could do better. He will actually take the time to show you...
Good luck to you all as you focus on your business and strive to make it more successful! I know that there is someone out there trying to find what each of us creates and I know that, with desire and hard work, we can all find those connections.
A big "Thank you" to Tim, Handmadeology and Fanpageology for helping me to find more ways to pursue my desires! You have truly opened my eyes to what it means to FOCUS!

Take the Guess Work Out of Pricing Your Jewelry!

Today, I want to share another tip with you that has helped my business. I came across a program in 2010 that has been so beneficial that I am unsure how I ever got along without it. It has helped take the guess work out of pricing my jewelry and has created an actual way for me to price my items that I believe to be the most fair, reasonable and accurate. It has become one of the greatest tools that I could have ever invested in and I wanted to share it with you today.
I do want to be very clear that I am in no way affiliated with the program or the company that makes it. I am merely sharing it with you today because I have reaped the benefits of having it and I really hope that someone else may reap the rewards of using it as well. It is just a phenomenal program that I use every time I price an item and I wanted to share with you how it works and some of the benefits that can come from using it. I have been using it since 2010 and it is still, by far, my number one choice for pricing my jewelry items. The name of the program is BeadManager Pro and it is incredibly powerful!
The price of this program is $147.00, but I can't tell you how small that price is compared to what it has done for me as a jewelry business owner. I get free upgrades for life, and let me tell you, there have been three major ones since I purchased it in 2010 and the latest upgrade allows you to share your pieces directly from the program to your Facebook page! The upgrades have been quite simple to install, they have increased the value of the program immensely, and it has been worth every single penny I paid for it! The program is incredibly helpful when it comes to pricing, taking the guess work out of it completely. My only wish is that I would have had this program before I started to purchase my inventory. Up until this point, I had never enjoyed working with a program as much as I enjoy this one. I use this program every single time I create an item or purchase parts to create my pieces out of. It tracks everything I buy and everything I create. It keeps my customers in a data base, it creates professional looking invoices, and it helps to save time every single day. I don't have cumbersome spreadsheets to keep track of, I don't have to do a bunch of math to figure out pricing, and I don't have to depend on formulas that may not be right for my business. This is the only thing I use for pricing and it is powerful beyond belief!
I have created this video to show you what I am talking about. I wanted to show you what it does and how the features work. I wanted to show you how much help this program can provide for you. I wanted to give you some insight into how you can be even more professional in your business.
This video does not cover everything there is to know about this program, but it does cover some of the most important attributes. As I said, this program even allows you to share your items directly to Facebook, and I didn't even go into that part. take a look at the video and see if it may be what you have been looking for!
P.S. I have friends that have purchased this program for other things besides beads. It could be useful in other ways and to other types of craftspeople in the world. Just imagine the possibilities!
Here it is folks, the video to show you just what this program is and how it works for me every time I create. Spend 40 minutes of your time with me, I promise you won't be disappointed!

$0 to $1,100.00 in Four Short Hours~Sweet Success!

Over the next few posts, I want to share with you some of the things I have done to improve my business. Some of them were big steps, some of them were baby steps, and some were just improved steps, but all of these steps together have made an improvement in my business. This being day one, I want to share with you the very first thing that I did to improve my business. I want to share with you how I went from $0.00 to $1,100.00 in four short hours! Now that is EXCITING!
Mastering the craft fair is not an easy task. It takes time, determination, and to be quite honest; GUTS! It is not something to be taken lightly, but it is something that can generate some great income in a very short time. In fact, I can only think of a few *other* occupations that can make this kind of money in such a short amount of time, but we will not be going there.
As described in my last post, I began taking my love for creating jewelry to the next level in 2009. This is the time that I did my very first community craft fair. I had been making jewelry for a while, and I had some friends that were quite interested in what I was creating. One of them was so bold as to suggest that I should really try to enter a local craft fair and try to sell my stuff to people other than my friends and family members.
At this point in my life, I really had nothing to lose as I had already lost my career

and therefore, the income that said career had attached to it. I decided to take that friends' advice and try to get into one of the local craft fairs. I began talking to people~that knew people~that knew people~that could actually get me to the *right people*. I finally found the right person that could help me enter my first craft show. I filled out all of the necessary paperwork, got it in (along with the check) before the deadline, and thus was entered for a ride that I have never forgotten.
Now, I come from a very tiny, close-knit community of 6,314 people. We have some towns that are close by, but we are the second largest in the Basin. There is only one town larger than the one I live in and it has 9,653 people. It is about a thirty minute drive from where I am at. Needless to say, we are lucky to be able to eat here:

And even sadder than that...they have some of the best food in town! I do have to say that McDonald's has it goin' on in our little bitty bite of the big ol' world. Their Grilled Southwest Chicken Salad is the very best salad you can get here~hands down! Your meal is ALWAYS fresh and hot because they have a rockin' business and nothing has time to get cold or stale. It is quite yummy! "Cheap but Good" has been an all time favorite motto of mine and when I say it, my friends know I am speaking of my local McDonald's! So, needless to say, I come from a *small town* and with that comes craft shows that aren't necessarily specifically designed for niche items.
My first show was to be held at the fairgrounds. It is with great effort that some of these shows can even get enough people to sign up for booths to make it a go. There really are no specific rules to the sort of stuff that can be sold, other than the fact that it must be handmade. I packed up my 

with my tables, tablecloths, displays and my wonderful wares and I was off to make my first million at my very first craft show!
Upon arriving at the fairgrounds, I had to unload all of my stuff, set it up, and be ready to sell within just about an hour and a half. I was a hot mess! It took longer than it should have, I get nervous under pressure, I am a perfectionist and, of course, NOTHING was right! On top of all of this, I didn't have any help! Man oh man, what the hell was I thinking? I hurried as fast as I could, got my stuff set up, wiped the sweat from my brow, and I was ready to sell~ or at least I thought I was.
I have to tell you, there is a lot of handmade jewelry in my little town of 6,314 people and I believe that every single person making it was selling it at this particular craft show. There were so many jewelry booths that one could have enough jewelry to sustain a queen for all eternity! It was a disheartening moment for the fictitious bubble I had created! It was an all day affair and I walked away with about $30 bucks in my pocket and that didn't cover the booth fee. I was disappointed, to say the least, but I was determined. One thing I am not is a quitter! I went home and regrouped. I was definitely not going to succumb to defeat!
I have come a long way since that very first show. My most profitable show was actually last year. I made $1,100.00 in 4 short hours and it was SWEET! I now have repeat customers that look for me at these events and they are loyal, loving customers that help me to know that this is truly what I want to do as my heartfelt career one day. You must remember that this is a community of 6,314 people, so this is a very good profit in my little neck of the woods. I have changed a lot of things since that very first show and I want to share some of those things here with you now. These are some of the first things that I changed to improve my business, starting with the way that I do craft fairs.
I, of course, don't have all of the answers to be successful at a craft show, but I do have some pointers that may help you out. Here is a list of the things that I think can be very beneficial to you. Be sure to click on the link at the end of this post to get some craft show check lists that I believe are invaluable, after all, they were created from trial by fire!

LIST OF HELPFUL TIPS:
1) Find your niche and do it better than anyone else. I cannot stress this enough, especially if you come from a small town and are doing small town craft shows.
2) Use table coverings that go to the floor. Don't leave the front of your table exposed, as this lets people see everything that you have temporarily stored under there.
3) Use binder clips to secure the sides of your table coverings. Attach them from the under side and *box in* your table. This creates an eye pleasing effect and it pulls the fabric up on the sides so people don't trip on it. I like the binder clips because they are much easier to maneuver than safety pins.

4) Layer your table covering with different colors and patterns. Be sure to have a solid color on the very top so that it doesn't distract from what you are selling.
5) Use table displays that showcase the items that you are selling. If your displays are great enough, they can be the item that attracts people to your table instead of the table of your competition.
6) Don't use bold add-ons. Use small items that don't distract from what you are selling. I sell jewelry so therefore, I use these:

They are very large faceted glass gemstones that can fit in the palm of my hand. I have three different sizes and different colors. I also use fake flower petals. These things can be purchased at craft supply stores.
7) Try to dress in a fashion that resonates what you are selling. My items are very Victorian so therefore, I try to dress in a Victorian fashion. I happen to own this and I wear it to a lot of my shows.

 This is not to say be uncomfortable. By all means, comfort is first priority but most of us create from the heart and it is what drives us. I have  a friend that makes all things leather from boots to saddles to everything in between. He is the guy pictured in the link above. This is exactly how he dresses for the shows. He wears his own handmade boots as well.
8) Wear what you are creating and selling! There is no better advertisement than you! You stand behind what you sell and there is no reason not to bring it! Now, if you are selling wood sculptures that you build with a chainsaw, as my friend the Chick With a Chainsaw does, then it is probably not that feasible. In this instance, be creative.
9) Have your money in a money bag like this:

 when you first start out. I still only carry the money bag because it is small and it can be moved easily. My tax is built in on my items I sell at craft fairs, so all of my pieces sell for an even amount. This makes it quite simple and there is no loose change.
10) Make sure your items have a visible price tag. Some people will not even look at an item if they can't see the price. A clear understanding is already made that you are there to sell and, most likely, they are there to buy; so have a price on your items so that your customers know how much it is.
11) Engage your customers in conversation. Try to start with an open ended question and engage them in a real conversation. If you see them looking, ask them what they like about what they are looking at. Talk to them! This was one of THE HARDEST things for me. I remember standing at my first show, never saying a word to anyone. I was smiling with my hands politely tucked inside one another in front of me, being passive and watching people come and go from my booth, never having been a word uttered between them or myself. I quickly learned that this was not going to gain me any sales. Believe it or not, you can determine if someone wants you to talk to them within the first 10 seconds of opening the dialogue.

If they throw their hand at you without looking up at you directly, and say, "Thank you, I am just looking." This is usually a pretty good indication that you can end right there with, "OK, if you have any questions, I would be happy to help." and leave it at that. Sometimes people look like they don't want to be approached, but give it a shot anyway. I had a customer that still crosses my mind now and again. She came across as a very stern woman, totally unapproachable, but I tried anyway. She wound up buying a $130.00 necklace, matching earrings, $150.00 necklace for her daughter, and earrings to match that as well. Proof that you just never can tell.
12) Be yourself. Talk naturally, engage with your customer naturally. If you are nervous, it is OK. Most customers can put you at ease within just a few moments. They are there because they WANT to be, and there is no greater comfort then knowing this. They usually have a bright smile followed by a compliment the minute you begin to speak to them. Who doesn't like that?
13) Have your boxes, bags, calculator and any other necessities within close reaching distance. Don't leave a customer standing at your booth while you spend 10 minutes trying to figure out where you left your calculator, or finding a box or a bag. It is not professional and it can spell the end of what could have been a good customer relationship.
14) Use professional looking signing and price tags. I print everything myself from my home computer. I have nothing that is hand written on my table. This also gives you an opportunity to use your branding that you have worked so hard to acquire.
15) Have plenty of business cards and brochures on hand. Have the proper displays for them. This is one that I suggest.

16) Have a brochure that your customers can take with them. In it, tell them about you, what inspires you, how you came to do what you do. Talk about your product or items and let them know why you feel your item is ahead of the rest. This has been one of the best things I could do. By the way, I print my own from a template that I had designed specifically for me. I wanted to be able to change it whenever I wanted and Mary at Graphic Confections did an amazing job designing it.
17) Use a Square or other device that you can accept credit cards with. This has been one of the best things I have done for my business in the craft fair world.
18) Advertise that you have the ability to take credit cards! I use a sign that, you guessed it, I printed myself incorporating the branding I have for everything JKC Creations, including my online presence. Believe me, it is one of the most noticed things on my table!
19) Use proper sign holders. Don't spread propaganda around your booth without a specific *home*. I use the acrylic sign holders so that the signs are standing up and they present a clear message from a distance.
20) If you do home shows, have brochures on hand that explain how they work. Be sure to mention that you offer home shows. I offer incentives at mine and my brochure details it out well. Home shows can be a profitable business and you don't want to leave this valuable information behind. Having the template that Mary made for me, I am able to customize it for my home show brochure and my brochure for my business. This is a GRAND thing, indeed!

Here are a couple pictures I took of my table last year at a craft fair around Thanksgiving. I have definitely come a long way since my early days!

And now, here is the free link that I mentioned at the beginning of this post. This list includes the things that I believe are important for a successful craft show. This document is based on the Show Checklists from the Definitive Guide to Selling Handcrafted Jewelry from Wire-Sculpture.com. I hope that you find the list interesting and useful. I am sure there are things that I have failed to mention here, but I believe that you get the idea. Dress for success, and that means everything that you incorporate into the craft show experience. Yourself included!
I have one item on my check list that I have used at every single craft show I have ever done, and I have never seen it on any other craft show list. I hope that you find this list as useful as I do! Enjoy!
Craft Show Checklists

Lisa, Tim, and Me

I know I have not been the blogger that I should be these last few weeks. The truth is, I am on a mission. I am on a mission to improve all things JKC Creations. I have been enrolled in a class for a while now called 'Build a Better Creative Business'. Tim Adam and Lisa Jacobs have been teaching this class. Tim also is the mastermind behind Handmadeology. This is my story of how it all began...
One day while perusing my Facebook page, haphazardly and not really engaged, I came across a free webinar to be offered by Tim and Lisa. I am a huge fan of Handmadeology and Tim Adam. Tim has been a person of influence for me for quite some time. I decided to sign up for the webinar because I am always trying to improve my business and this sounded like another opportunity to do just that. I tuned in for the webinar and in doing so, I set myself up for an unbelievable journey. The webinar gave me a taste of what I had been seeking for quite some time. It teased me with ways to improve my Etsy shop and other things that I had been dying to figure out. In the webinar, Tim and Lisa made me an offer that I could not turn away from. They offered the 'Build a Better Creative Business Course' for a ridiculously small fee. I immediately left the seminar and signed up. I have been on a course of self discovery and revelation ever since.
In 2009, I had a career that I absolutely loved. I had been at this place in my life for about eight years. I reveled in it. I loved it. I thought that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I had found my career and I was never going to leave. I have to tell you, even though I thought that this was 'it'~ the career that I had been dreaming about all my life; there was a part of me that was discontent and unsettled. I felt as if I was supposed to be doing something and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I felt like a part of my inner self was missing. My inner peace was not quite whole and content.
I continued on with my career, always there and always present, thinking that I had my dream job and I was going to stay at it for the rest of my working days. I had that dream come to a screeching halt in June of 2009. I found myself without a job in the middle of a time that it was extremely difficult to find another one. I was devastated. I went home and told my husband my heart wrenching news. He didn't get angry. He didn't get mad and throw things. He knew how badly I was hurting and he was compassionate and loving. He took me into his arms and told me that all would be OK. I wiped away the tears and began to search for another job immediately. I call it a job now, because I felt as if my 'career' was lost to me forever. I wrestled with my demons for many weeks after this. I found myself crying silently when I went to bed. I had nightmares of people in power sitting me down and chastising me and ridiculing me. through all of this, I continued to look for work. I was on the internet every single day trying to find something that I could do. I knew that I needed to find work before long. Outside of searching the internet, my days were pretty much empty.
I am not one to sit around with nothing to do so during this time that I was pursuing another job, I found a hobby. I had dabbled in jewelry making all through my childhood and teen years making little baubles for my friends and family along the way. I love beads and I love the feeling I get when I gaze upon some beautiful necklace or bracelet. Jewelry has always been something that has the power to speak to my soul. I picture myself somewhere else when I see a beautiful piece. It is like it has a will and a soul of its own. I took up this hobby once more, but with more determination. I made necklaces and earrings and before long, I had accumulated many pieces. In June of 2009, JKC Creations was born.
I still needed to find a full time job, as this jewelry thing was definitely not enough to pay the bills; after all it was just a hobby. I continued my quest to find a job on the internet but in doing so, I found something else. As I was searching for a new path, I became bored. I began to look at jewelry pictures trying to spur some creative juices. While doing this I came across a ring. It was one of the coolest rings I had ever seen! I gazed at it, totally intrigued by the design and the elements used. It was made with wire and I had never seen anything like it! I immediately knew that I had to have this ring. I didn't want to 'own' it, I wanted to 'create' it!
I left my desk and went straight to my jewelry bench. I had some wire that I got a while back for scrapbooking projects. I took that wire out and I created that ring. I loved the way it looked and I loved what working with the wire did for my inner self. I immediately began to scour the internet in search of more designs. I found so many things that spoke to me. I was totally engulfed in a world that lit a fire in my soul. I had to find someone that could teach me this artistic talent that I was so drawn to. That is when I came across wire-sculpture.com and Dale 'Cougar' Armstrong. She could teach me what I so desperately needed to learn. Wire Sculpture was selling Dale's DVD series at the time. I purchased every single one of them and immediately began teaching myself this incredible art form, with aid of Dale right in front of me on my computer screen. Right then and there, I became a self taught wire artist.
During the time that I was looking for a new career I honed my skills as a wire artist, always striving to do more and get better at the craft. I broke away from the patterns and started my own thing. I taught myself to weave wire designs and that is when I combined the techniques of weaving with the techniques of wrapping. From that moment forward I began creating pieces with my very own style, a style that I love.
Little did I know that this little hobby of mine was going to take on a life of its own. I was approached by a friend telling me about a local craft fair and that I should really try to get in it and sell my stuff. I had never done this before but one thing was for certain, I had a lot of jewelry! I took that friend's advice and I signed up. I didn't sell much, but I got my feet wet. I signed up for a couple more of them. I sold more, but still not enough to pay the bills.
I went back to work full-time in June of 2010. I had to get a job that could help with the family. Something happened to me though, that part of me that felt incomplete was no longer there. I had found what my soul was longing for all those years when I was at, what I thought was, my career that I loved.  Creating jewelry with wire is what my soul was craving all along. I cannot ever give it up.
I kept on with the wire creations, opening my Etsy shop in 2011. Since that time, I have been trying to hone my marketing skills and my online presence. I honed my wire artist skills and became brave enough to submit a piece to wire-sculpture.com to become the Wire Artist of the Month for March, 2012. Since my early days I have learned to master the craft fair, selling my items at several every year. I am still working full time at a real job, but my dream is to someday quit and be a jewelry artist full time instead.
Creating jewelry and implementing a business is a difficult thing to do with no one to guide me. I sometimes feel alone in my endeavor, but it is not enough to stop me. I don't know that I have ever been so passionate about anything as I am JKC Creations. I strive every day to do something productive in hopes that I can improve my business and create something wonderful for myself and my family by doing so. Tim and Lisa have been instrumental in putting the pieces in place even more to pursue this dream. I am part of the Maker's Movement, as Lisa calls it, and I am determined to be successful!
The 'Build a Better Creative Business Course' has given me more tools to add to my arsenal. Tim and Lisa believe in me and what I can bring to the table. Lisa says that to deny the world of my talent would not be beneficial for anyone so therefore, I will never deny the world. I have some new friends on my side and the loneliness has retreated one more step into the shadows. I plan to incorporate more of what I am learning in the next few months and build my business even more. I thank my lucky stars every single day for the social networks. Without them, I would have never found Tim or Lisa or any of the other people that I plan to let into my life in the near future.
Thank you Lisa Jacobs and Tim Adam for what you have given me during this course. I plan to take it to the next level and I hope that you will check in once in a while to have a look and see the changes that I will be incorporating. You guys helped me to see that I can take my purpose to another level and I can do what I feel in my heart I was intended to do. With sincerest appreciation, thank you!
If you have a creative business and you would like some guidance, please check out Handmadeology. If you ever have the chance to learn from Tim or Lisa, I would highly recommend it. They can teach you things that you didn't even know you were missing out on. They truly are in my corner, and I believe they would be in yours too.
I am continuing to implement the things that I have learned in this course. It will take some time, but I know that I am heading in the right direction. I plan to be more on schedule with the tasks at hand and I have put my Etsy shop at the front of the list. Once I have implemented the changes that I want to incorporate there, I will move to my blog and other places that I have an online presence. I am implementing small steps for right now, but I hope to be on track and have a better schedule soon. Until then, I hope that you will hang in with me as I strive to make JKC creations better than it has ever been.
And now I would like to show you what inspires a lot of my creative thoughts and designs. I would like to take you into a world that I never really leave. It is a place where my thoughts reside a lot of the time. I am not really sure why this is, perhaps I am a being that is unequivocally attached in some fashion to this long ago era in our history. What ever it is, I have an invisible line that draws me back in time to this...The Daily Wire Transfer.

New Jewelry Line~Wire Woven Indonesia Bead Necklaces!

I am so excited to share with you what I have been working on these last few weeks. The folks over at Handmadeology have been very busy creating a Marketplace for us to list our handmade items for sale. I know, I already have an Etsy Shop, but this is something different. It is another store front for me to utilize to list these...

My wonderful Wire Woven Bauble Necklaces. I have decided that it may be a good idea to have more than one shop, so as not to have all of my eggs in one basket~so to speak. I have found that my little Meylah Store is the perfect place for these little morsels. I have decided that I am only going to list these sweet little pieces of eye candy so that my Meylah Store remains cohesive. I really wanted these pieces to have a place of their own to call home.

I take great pleasure in creating these little treasures. The beads are approximately 20mm in size, so they make terrific focal pieces. I have paired the woven bead with a matching organza ribbon necklace. I have added drops at the bottom of the design and I really love the way they turn out. I weave the wire at the top and bottom of the design, making each piece a one of a kind.

These Indonesia beads have great color. I have so many of them and I can't wait to be able to sit down at my bench and create another one. My thirst to create these great little designs is having a hard time being quenched.

The colors and the materials used in these beads are excellent! They have crystal embellishments, colored dots, porcelain flowers, bead caps, among other great elements. I love working with them!

Just look at how gorgeous these are!
I have a bridal show coming up on February 16th and I am thinking that these would make such amazing bride's maids gifts. I am thinking the color palette of the ceremony could be matched fairly easily with these. I really can't wait to get them out there in front of some brides-to-be to see how they like them.

I have used some great bails on these as well. Very ornate in design and lovely to say the least.

Yes, I have even made my son's most favorite color. He absolutely LOVES lime green!

These are my two latest pieces that I have created. I have not listed either of these yet, but I am planning to do so tomorrow.
I would love it if you would leave a comment for me so that I can hear what you think. It would be so great to hear from you!
Talking about weddings made me think of a great blog post over on Etsy. I found it to be so beautiful and inspiring. There are some pretty amazing people out there creating some pretty amazing handmade items that can help create a wedding day that any couple would have an extremely hard time forgetting. I want to share it with you in today's Daily Wire Transfer. Take a look at the video and listen to this beautiful bride as she shares her amazing day with you...