The print below can be found at gemmabear’s Etsy shop. The neat thing is that she actually lives in Norwich, just like me!

Valentine Print – You Are My Favourite

I love all her illustrations – the characters she creates are always are so endearing, quirky and sweet. Check out her shop for lots more awesomeness.

Anyway, I’ve been working hard on creating some new items for my shop, which will be listed tomorrow. Also, I’m doing free worldwide shipping in my shop right now (until Monday) – so feel free to take a look! Hope you’re all having a great weekend!

Got some great news yesterday, I’m being featured in The Storque (in the Weekend Deals article), which will be out later today! These are the earrings that are going to be pictured, hopefully the photo is so alluring to everyone that they’ll just have to click on it and check out my shop!

Poinsettia Drop Earrings – made with garnet, pearly green glass and oxidized copper

I’m very excited about it because it’s the first time I’ve been in one of the Etsy Finds articles. I’m hoping to get some sales, but if nothing else then at least it’ll be great exposure!

Anyway, feel free to stop by at my Etsy shop – I’m doing 20% off your final order all weekend!

The Calm Before The Storm – iolite and oxidized sterling silver earrings

Since this is my first year on Etsy, it’s difficult to know what to expect. Certainly, I know people buy lots around Christmas time! And after the summer slump everyone warned me about, I expected things to start picking up in September. But perhaps it’s too early. It’ll take me a while to learn what the different months are like in terms of sales, and just because one month is good one year, doesn’t mean it’s going to be the same next year!

So anyway, after a shockingly good August, I’m here, almost in the middle of September, with a dismal amount of sales! I won’t deny that it’s caused a fair amount of alarm, but I guess I just have to keep on going and hope that things will improve. I’ve been working hard on my shop, and now have almost 60 items. I’m aiming to eventually keep it stocked at around 200, but that’s a lot of work!

Etsy’s new ‘Rearrange Your Shop’ feature has been really interesting. I’ve been playing around with it for the last couple of days, and I love how it’s transformed the appearance of my shop! Feel free to take a look here, but make sure you’re viewing my shop in the gallery mode. I have to say, I think it’s looking pretty good! (I also found a new background which I’ve already used in some of my photos – it’s an old mirror with a painted flower frame – I love it!)

Anyway, another post will be coming very soon. I’ve really got a lot of stuff to write about, but apparently no time in which to do it! I’m in the middle of packing, as we’re going to be moving at the end of the month. And I’m also starting school on the 21st – so there’s a lot going on!

I should also mention that I’m participating in Etsy’s Weekend Deal (and I’m also in their Weekend Deal gift guide!). From 9/11 to 9/13, I’m offering *free international shipping!* – if you’d like to order anything from my Etsy shop, just type ‘weekend deals’ in the message to seller box, and I’ll refund your shipping cost via Paypal with great haste!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Firstly, I wanted to announce that I’m doing a weekend deal over at my Etsy shop! From 8/28 – 8/30, it’s BOGO time! Buy one, get one with 30% off (for the lower priced item)! Just mention ‘weekend deal’ in the message to seller box at checkout, and your discount will be promptly refunded to you via Paypal! How exciting!

Lily Pad Pendant – made with iolite, peridot and blue topaz on a sterling silver chain

Feel free to take a look at my shop – if you haven’t been there for a while, you’ll find lots of new shinies there! I’ll be listing some new items today too. I got a lot of new supplies this week, and I’ve been trying to list as much new stuff as I can – but the whole process of making something, photographing it, writing a description for it and listing it takes a long time! I don’t know how people do it, constantly listing new things! I really need to work on a way to be more efficient with my time. Especially since life is going to get even more busy for me at the end of September, which leads me nicely onto my next subject!

The Calm Before The Storm – iolite and oxidized sterling silver earrings

So, it’s been a considerable amount of time since I made a post here. I apologize for that! I guess I have a lot of things going on right now. At the end of September, I’m going to be starting my computer science degree. I’m also in the process of trying to find a place to live before I start school, and I’ll hopefully be moving within the next few weeks. Considering how quiet my life normally is, that’s a lot of stuff to happen in the space of a month! I’ve been trying my best to keep up with Etsy though, and I have been enjoying a nice little wave of sales lately. August certainly turned out to be a much better month for me than I could have expected, having listened to the warnings from other Etsy sellers about how August is always the quietest. I’m hoping I can continue to work hard on my Etsy shop while I’m at school – it just means that all of my spare time will be put into Etsy – which is pretty much what I’m doing now anyway. I used to play computer games and things, but now when I try to play something like that, it just seems like such a colossal waste of time! There’s nothing quite as satisfying as getting that magical ‘you’ve made a sale’ email, or reading the lovely feedback I get from people about my jewelry. Very, very rewarding – I’d never managed to sell anything in my life before this. I just wish I’d started back in 2007 when I first became aware of Etsy – oh well, better late than never!

Golden Erudite Pendant – made with golden rutilated quartz and sterling silver

Somehow these posts always turn into humongously long rambles. I’ll end it here – the photos scattered among this post are of some of my newest items from my shop. Hope you like them! Don’t forget to check out my shop and take advantage of my weekend deal!