What I've Been Up To

Yes, I know, I haven't blogged for a while.  Please believe that I have not just been sitting around twiddling my thumbs.  Before my addiction to social media, I was a very avid crafter.  From crochet, to cross-stitch to working with foam sheets to scrapbooking, I never had a dull moment.  Most recently, I took an interest in jewelry making.  I have a few videos dedicated to it on my YouTube channel (click the "I love YouTube" button to the left). 

Until the last few months, I wasn't that into jewelry but a coworker of mine began selling beaded bracelets and earrings.  I became one of her most loyal customers until I requested something that she didn't have time to produce--hoop earrings.  Having been patient for several weeks I decided to buy some wire, tools and beads and made my own earrings.

After I made that first pair I went crazy making earrings to match the clothes in my closet.  Then I thought, "Hey, I need some bracelets to match all of these earrings."

Now I never set out to start a business but I seem to be heading in that direction.  Everything I wear to work, I get one or two or ten people that want the same or a similar item.  So far I've only been making custom jewerly that the customers request but I'm probably going to start doing a feature item a week where I make at least six of one items to see how many people will buy it.. 

One thing I'm going to have to learn is to not give everyone credit.  I try to do POD (pay on delivery) but some folks don't pay when I deliver.  Yeah, I know everybody's money is funny, but I don't have the money to make stuff for free.  I mean if it was for advertising purposes, and the person referred a few people to me, I could give them a free item every so often.  Otherwise, I need my money honey.

To avoid not receiving payment, I'll just let people know when I have their items and tell them I'll deliver it whenever they are ready for it.  People with common sense know that means, "have my money ready".  I'll see how this jewelry making thing pans out over the next couple of months.

I plan to start making hats and scarves again for the winter.  The last time I did that was maybe 6 or 7 years ago.  I stopped because I was working two jobs and got overwhelmed with orders.  Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up with the demands this time.

Whew!!!

I promise I haven't completely stopped writing.  Sometimes I have to live a little bit to have something to write about.  Stay tuned.