Monday, August 31, 2009

Job, Shop, My 1st Jewelry Purchase

Things are good.

I'm sooo happy to have a job. The store is preparing for labor day weekend, and I'm working every day this week. It feels awesome to get out of the house and earn some money.

The jewelry shop has been doing decently well. Every time I think it's been too long since my last sale, I get another one. They've really been spaced quite nicely. I think I'm almost to the point where I'm selling stuff about as fast as I can make, photograph, and list it. I keep trying to get to a second page of items, but every time I get close I get a sale or two. Not that I'm complaining... lol.

I made my first jewelry purchase on etsy yesterday. Yes, I know that's kinda sad. I'm just a very frugal shopper, I guess. Here's what I got (and check out the seller's other stuff too):

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Livejournal Kicks Blogger's Butt.

So... after a few months of blogging here, I've come to the conclusion that livejournal is just better. Why you ask?

Nested comment threads. Communities. Full posts on friends page. Interest searches. Interchangeable avatars. Better post protection options. More posts on main pages by default. Fewer annoying gadgets. Cuts.

I truly do not understand why etsians prefer blogger. Is there something I'm missing? The only redeeming factor I can come up with is that everyone on etsy is here. Can we start a migration to lj plz?

My livejournal is currently a personal blog, so I don't really want to give out a link to it. I'm thinking of replacing this blog with a new jewelry-based blog on livejournal. Will certainly post about it if I make that decision.

In the meantime, does anyone want to try to convince me that blogger is actually better (aside from the fact that the masses seem to prefer it)? I'm interested in hearing some opinions.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Etsy favorites

Don't have much going on lately. Here are some nice things I've found on etsy that I wanted to share.



Tuesday, August 18, 2009

I think etsy helped me get a job...

I freaking love etsy.

I've spent the last couple of weeks looking for a job around the city. As we all know, finding a job is tough right now. I've also never had a real job... just stuff at school... so I really have no experience with anything besides research and helping students. I applied to at least 15 different places. I was hesitant to list my etsy shop as "work experience" on applications, but I wrote it down anyway to see how things went. I had 3 interviews last week, and almost everyone told me not to count on getting a job because there was so much competition.

I got a call from Hollister last night with a job offer. I was extremely surprised to have successfully found a job after only two weeks of trying. I'm really really happy and can't wait to start.

I think that my jewelry shop gave my interviewers something to remember. It also shows that I know something about fashion, that I'm computer savvy, and that I can deal with customers.

Just wanted to share my story and let people know that talking about my etsy shop might have helped me get a job. Granted, it's a minimum wage, part-time, mall job... but certainly better than no job! And don't judge me, but I love Hollister clothes. So soft! A little known fact, but Hollister has the best pajama pants in the WORLD.

I will stop rambling now. Here are some new things in my shop to look at:

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

New Item - Crooked Elegance Necklace

I finished this necklace yesterday. Just got around to listing it today. Life has been pretty busy since I got married.



Made with Swarovski crystals in tanzanite, crystal AB, and jet. Utilizes white Swarovski crystal pearls and black bugle beads.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Free Alternative to Etsy

Yesterday I was messing around on myspace, and I saw an add for a free alternative to etsy. I clicked on it, thinking there must be some catch. So far, I have listed 7 items and no fees. No limit to the number of listings. I'm very happy.

Here's the site: www.shophandmade.com
And here's my shop: EmilysEscape.shophandmade.com

There are a few things I don't like about it. No forums or chat rooms to promote yourself, and no way of adding google analytics (that I've discovered). However, I think that can be an advantage if I look at it the right way. It'll keep me from obsessively checking my stats and just leave me more time to promote. It DOES track the number of views on each item, though.

I really love that it's completely free and lets you list an unlimited number of items. I think I'll be much more likely to create little things (like earrings) to list in my shop. It leaves a lot more room for creativity and experimentation. There's nothing to lose, so there's no reason to avoid listing something! I also like that it's smaller than etsy. My items appear on the front page for a really long time. I think it's great, and I'm going to be listing more stuff there soon.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Back!

Got back from the honeymoon on Saturday night. Since then I have been doing my best to get settled into our apartment. We spent Saturday night at my mom's so that I could get my stuff together. I moved in yesterday.

My wedding was BEAUTIFUL and happy and great. Best day I've ever had. It stormed a little in the early morning, but after that it was just about perfect. I felt so pretty in my dress. Our bridesmaids and groomsmen looked smashing and I'm SO happy I followed my heart and went with our color scheme (light green and pink). The reception was fun too. Nothing really went wrong at all. I thought everything was perfect. And now I'm married! The professional photos should be up in a few days. I can't wait.

We left for Toronto the next day. The honeymoon was a lot of fun too! We spent a lot of time walking around the city and seeing the sights. There were a whole bunch of underground shopping centers that seemed to show up wherever we went. We went up in the CN tower, saw a couple of plays, and went to an Incubus concert. We also rented a car for a day and went to Niagara Falls. That was probably my favorite part. And we got lots of cute pictures (there are more on facebook).



Yesterday was Austin's first day at work, so I was home by myself all day. It actually wasn't bad. I got a lot of stuff accomplished. Made and received payment for a custom order, listed a new necklace, started my med school application for next year, made a dermatologist appointment, washed new sheets we got for a wedding present, AND cleaned Austin's disgusting bathroom. Not bad.

Today I shipped a necklace and then headed off to the mall in search of a dumb job to keep me busy. I applied to 10 places. It took forever and I'm now I'm really tired. One place had me writing short essays about fashion. Like... wtf... just give me my minimum wage. I'm optimistic about a few places since a lot of workers are going back to school and or otherwise occupying themselves with something actually worthwhile.