OK So Lupus Still Had A Hold On Me And....

OK, OK! So I thought my Lupus was getting better and it wasn't! So I thought my Mom's medical condition was stable and it really isn't. So I thought when children get married they didn't need you so much and they do. So I'm not so good at thinking about these things. That's just life in the fast lane if you ask me.

On a better note, I've been selling more jewelry to people who see it. I also donated some to my church's Christmas boutique and the items sold out. I'm very proud of that. The jewelry I have online isn't selling very fast, but I'm starting to get some notice. My customers have been very happy with the few pieces I've sold on Etsy and Bonanzle. I must admit that I'm getting more attention on Bonanzle than Etsy which really surprises me. It seems easier to get noticed there with a little less work on the site and not so much pressure to buy from other people to get them to buy from you as there is on Etsy. Maybe that's because Bonanzle isn't all handmade items.

I finished my Christmas shopping over the weekend and now I won't have to go out over the last few crazy shopping days. I only have to wrap presents until I'm covered paper scraps, crunched bows and tape.

I guess I won't look as bad as this reindeer though and if he can keep smiling, so can I! My cards are going out late this year and we won't have as many cookies, but all the pumpkin bread will be cooked. The baking is thanks to my adult children who still pitch in!

We're looking forward to a quiet Christmas Eve of our immediate family. This is traditionally for us, the time we open presents. We usually have grandparents from both sides, my siblings and/or my husbands siblings and a sprinkling of cousins with us. This is just a strange year where it will be my Mom, hubby, daughter, son-in-law, son, his girlfriend and the grandpuppy. Of course, Christmas Day is going to make up for it in triplicate. There are going to be so many people at my nephew's house, I don't think I can count that high. This is also unusual for us and I'm glad I'm not hosting it!

For those of you selling online or in a B&M, I wish you Many & Happy Sales! For those that do not celebrate Christmas, I wish you a Happy Time of Year, whether you are celebrating another holiday or just enjoying the winter months. For those who will not be home for Christmas, be it military service, economical reasons, a rift in your family, or whatever it is, I pray that next year will be different for you. For all of us, I wish a Warm & Blessed Christmas with hopes and prayers for a true peace on earth in the comfort of our Savior's embrace.

Thank you for once again visiting my site!

Wendy

My Lupus Shot Me Down For Awhile

So you thought I disappeared from the blogging world, didn't you? Well, I thought about not coming back, I have to admit. Once you stop blogging it is always hard to start up again and I'm not sure how often I'll get here. I have decided that I really do like blogging, though.

I first got shot down by a huge Lupus Flare. Then my mom got sicker and then life just spiralled out of control. A flare can do that to you. My flare lasted a long time even as I was getting better. My mother has serious congestive heart failure and there is nothing more that can be done for her. She lives with us. My husband had to basically live out of town for several months working on a project to bring a new division to our town. My health issues just couldn't handle the stress.

I tried to continue to make jewelry. I couldn't get beyond the Etsy and Bonanzle inner networks to advertise it, so it hasn't been selling well. I haven't been making many new pieces either, so that doesn't help. I've made lot's of friends in both places who off good advice and support. Some have even twittered a few of my pieces.

I am now striving to bring some sort of order to my chaos. I need to care for my Mom, myself, my general home life, and yet I still want to make jewelry as an outlet both creatively and now therapeutically. I think its time to actually budget my time as best as I can. I've heard that many writers do this and some artists, such as sculptors and painters do this. So why not a jewelry maker? I'm just not sure yet how to do this, but I'm sure I can figure some sort of flexible time management that will work for me.

Lupus should not stop me from living my life. My mother's life slowly coming to the end fills me with emotions that just proves that life is continuous and changing. She lived a long, loving, caring and ever changing life. Nothing has stopped her, even now as she hears God's call ever closer to her ear. Mom paints. She has one last painting that she wants to finish. Its a slow process for her now to try to paint something, but I think she'll finish it. Parents never stop teaching. Children never stop learning.

Lupus shot me down for awhile, but not anymore.

Thanks for coming back to my blog!
Wendy

Selling in more than one place!

I'm finding it difficult to sell my items in more than one place though I don't list the same items in both places as some people do. I think that is taking chances!!! It would be easy to sell your item, especially a one of a kind, handmade item in one shop and before you have time to remove it, have it sell in the other shop. I just couldn't do that.

The reason I'm finding it difficult is the marketing aspect. First you have to establish how you want to have your shop look and feel. On Etsy that is pretty important. On Bonanzle, it is important, but there isn't as much flexibility. Then you have to make yourself known on the site. I've been on Etsy over a year and I'm still trying to reach a larger portion of the shops just to be seen. On Bonanzle I'm finding it somewhat easier to make myself seen, but not necessarily "known". I must say that both places are very friendly, so that is NOT one of the problems for me.

After marketing my SHOP, as its known on Etsy, and my BOOTH, as its known on Bonanzle, its time to reach beyond. This is the really hard part for me. There is always family and friends with hopes they will pass the shop name and address on to their friends. Then there is blogging, reading/commenting on blogs, ads on blogs, ads elsewhere, etc. etc. etc. Well, I would go on but you know about marketing or can read about it lots of other places. My point is that marketing is time consuming along with keeping up the booth and shop, promoting within the Etsy and Bonanzle communities and making the jewelry I make.

I'm not a major player in the handmade community. I'm not making super artistic jewelry that could someday end up in a museum. I'm making jewelry that I feel is an art, but its more wearable than that. Its more affordable than that. I'm also more at the level of a hobbyist. I can't take on too much of this marketing stuff.

As some of you who have been reading my blog for awhile know, I have Lupus. I am disabled by it. It causes pain in my joints and great fatigued. I also have several secondary diseases. These are diseases in their own right, but secondary because I had Lupus first and are known to develop in people with Lupus. This is my reason for being unable to do more, but other people have other reasons.

I don't know how some people are able to do as much as they do. Even when I was healthy it would have been hard to keep up and have my family, but I would have been able to do more than I do now. I'm not sure I'll be able to keep the second shop at Bonanzle running, but I'm going to try. I'll just keep it small. no more that 15 to 20 items in it. I can also sell other things in it like things from around the house, so that might be useful.

I'd love to hear from some of you how you manage to run your shop, keep it visible in its venue, whether that's Etsy or Bonanzle or elsewhere, market it and have a life outside. Do you struggle? What's harder keeping up with the shop, the venue or the marketing? Let's hear from you and if you have any suggestions or sites that might help, feel free to add them!!!

That's my view. Thanks for stopping by!

Wendy

Confidence in Yourself, Your Art

Today I was reading through some of the business threads on Etsy and one person wrote about closing her shop. Her reason for considering this really hit me and apparently a few others. Though I responded in the way I believe outwardly, I realized that my words did not reflect completely the way I feel inwardly.

This person felt she was not selling her jewelry or crafts on Etsy or to her friends because no one thinks of it as ART. Her friends have called her jewelry "cute" and have bought some, but want her to reduce her prices. It was obvious in her writing that she wasn't very confident that her jewelry or craft items were art. GUESS WHAT? A lot of the responses she received were people trying to convince her to stay on etsy, to sell in other places, not worry what other people thought and to have more confidence in herself and her work. I was one of those people.

I have to say up front, I am not always that confident in my art. I have a love of color that goes back to my earliest memory. The problem I had was no one to nurture it even though the people around me had artistic abilities. They knew I could dance, but no one saw any other artistic skills in me. I would try different things and as I look back, some attempts were not bad for a beginner. I just didn't realize I needed some guidance. Eventually a friend showed me the basics of jewelry making. My ideas of color are really coming together for me now.

However, I am still fairly new to this art. Stringing beads together is not looked at as art by some people. Jewelry to me, though, is art. Someone has to create it whether or not it is super "artsy" handmade jewelry or mass produced jewelry, somewhere along the line someone created it. Some is simple, some is complicated and some as the saying goes about ugliness and beauty, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

I use a lot of Swarovski Crystals in my jewelry because the colors are so vast and beautiful to me. This makes some artist turn their noses up at me - literally. I also like to work with other materials. My jewelry is mostly simple, because I like it that way. I will, eventually, expand myself as all artists do, but for now I'm happy. I enjoy it, I'm comfortable with it, and I like the colors I'm finding.

I am not confident like I should be. I don't refer to my jewelry as art to many of my family members and friends as I know I should. Which brings me back to the person and the thread on Etsy today. I learned a few things there that apply to all artists no matter what your medium or how broadly you are known.

• 1. Always refer to your art as art.
• 2. Always refer to yourself as an artist, even if you are a hobbyist artist.
• 3. Becoming known for your art takes time, so be patient.
• 4. Selling your art takes time and work, because you are building a business.
• 5. There are many venues for selling your work, online and offline and not all of them are suitable for all art forms.
• 6. Network with other artists, they are usually friendly and helpful, Etsy forums is just one very good example.
• 7. Know what your art is worth and don't let others talk you into selling it cheap.
• 8. Selling it cheap will not necessarily get you sales.
• 9. Getting to know your market, who are the people who will enjoy your art most.
• 10. Being an artist is a job, no one has to know its fun!

I hope some of this will help someone else. Just writing about it has made me stop and rethink my own vision of art and my own art. I don't expect to ever make a huge living out of making jewelry, but that's because of my health issues related to Lupus not because I'm a poor artist. I just can't handle physically the demands to build a business of any size. I can enjoy my art at about a hobbyist level, but that doesn't mean I'm not an artist. I intend to go forward with more confidence.

How about you?

That's my view today. Thanks for stopping by!

Wendy

Its Been A Long Time!

Its been a very long time since I've blogged! I just, well I gave up on it for awhile. No one really noticed me here. I tried visiting other bloggers, but only one two would politely visit in return. I decided I don't really have what it takes to be a blogger. But now I'm rethinking that. Maybe I'm not one of those fancy bloggers, or "out there" bloggers. But I think I might be able to hold my own and say what I want to say here. If anyone listens to me fine. If not, fine.

So what do I see from the sidecar? I'll have to start looking harder and share it with you.

Until next time!

Wendy

Doing a bit of catching-up!

I don't know where the time goes! I think I'll blog every day, but the days fly by. Hubby and I did get to Mt. Evans and Echo Lake. We had a wonderful time. The weather was beautiful for it. We set out to find 4 geocaches and found all 4 of them. Then we spent the night in Central City and did a little gambling. We won some and lost some and in the end we broke even. All-in-all it was a nice get away.

I've been making quite a bit of jewelry recently too. I haven't put much on my Etsy.com shop, though. I'm saving some of it for the craft fair at church that is scheduled for November 8th. I'd like to take a table, but I really don't think I'll have enough items. I'll probably just donate my pieces to the women's craft table. That's what I did last year.

On a brighter note, I have sold a few pieces recently. Mostly my smaller, less expensive items. I'm just glad to be getting noticed a bit. I do wish someone would take notice of my more expensive pieces. I work hard on them and I have improved so much. Most people who see my work "in person" like it and buy it. I'm still struggling with the pictures, but those are improving also.

I joined another etsy group the other day, Christian Artists Street Team. I've introduced myself on the team forum thread twice. It seems hard to get yourself "heard" there. I think I'm going to have to try to introduce myself on their regular message board. Maybe its less hectic on that board.

I really like the socializing on etsy overall. For me, its another way to meet people, though its not quite the same as being with them. I like the people and my Lupus keeps me somewhat home bound or at least limited in my socializing. Most of the people I've met on etsy are very friendly and helpful. Its a bit like taking a walk in a neighborhood.

Thanks for stopping by my neighborhood!

Wendy

A short note to update

The heat has finally let up and it is raining!!!!!!! It is a comfortable 80 degrees. So glad to get back to normal temps and be able to live and work normally again.

It all happened with good timing for this household. We have unexpected company arriving Friday and Sunday. Two cousins and a brother arrive first and then my son's girlfriend arrives Sunday. We'll have a houseful for a few days. It should be fun and exhausting. I just hope that it doesn't cause my Lupus to flare up!

I guess I won't be writing much for the next week or two, but at least you will know why. Please post a hello if you drop in. Check out my favorite blog sites and etsy shops if you can. There are also links to my shop by click on the banner at the top or the mini pictures at the bottom. I'll be back as soon as I can to tell you all the news about the family, geocaching, Lupus, and who is doing great at etsy.com!

Thanks for stopping by!

Wendy

Family life, Etsy.com shop, Lupus, A Shout OUT

Things in my household seem to be a little better. Hubby definitely has contract work coming his way by the first week of August, so fears of not having money to pay bills has become less of a problem. The same company that is going to contract him, is planning to hire him, but there are some details to work out, because they want to open a new division in our area and they want him to run the place. We won't feel totally better until everything is in place and all the paperwork is done! We're a bit edgy in that area.

We've been working on a project that would make us our own business owner and we are moving ahead with that. Since it doesn't interfere with what hubby would be doing with the company that wants to hire him, we decided to move to the next stage. It won't cost us anything to continue, so why not? We can always drop out before putting a bunch of money into it if we feel it is too much for us to take on with hubby doing the other job.

I'm still working at making my jewelry shop on etsy more known. I've done some more research into that and now I have to take some time to implement it. I think I can do it without putting so much time into it that I'm not really making any money on my jewelry. I don't really expect to get rich on it, but I don't want to lose money either. I think of my jewelry as a form of art. I don't make it to be "in fashion". I make whatever I "see" as I'm working with the beads. That may be why I sell more when people see my jewelry in person. I don't think the pictures do it much justice. Here is a simple pair of earrings that I thought would sell rather quickly, but haven't. These pictures show better in my etsy shop than here.

I call these earrings BLACK-EYED JONQUIL EARRINGS WITH GOLD because they are made of 6mm round and 4mm bicone Jonquil AB Swarovksi crystals and black rondells set with Crystal AB Swarovski crystals. I thought of the flowers, Black-Eyed Susans and Jonquils, then mixed the names. The earhooks, headpins and links are 14k goldplated.

The other thing that surprises me about my etsy shop is my CHARITY section. Nothing in it has sold. I sell for 2 charities right now. The first one is the ELCA WORLD HUNGER APPEAL and the second one is THE LUPUS FOUNDATION OF AMERICA, INC. There are links to these charities in the right hand column under My Favorite Charities, so you can learn more about them. I give 100% of the sale, less the shipping, to the charities. I've had lots of views, but no takers. I had really hoped this would be a way I could give to these groups and draw some attention to them. I'm not sure if I have even drawn much real attention to them, but I hope so!

Speaking of Lupus, the Lupus Foundation has an Advocacy group which needs people's help all the time. Two things that they are working hard on right now are these:

Number ONE

Lupus REACH Amendments
The Lupus Research, Education, Awareness, Communications, and Healthcare (REACH) Amendments legislation, S.1359/H.R.1192, was introduced in the Senate by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Senator Robert Bennett (R-UT), and in the House of Representatives by Congressman Kendrick Meek (D-FL) and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL).
We are working to get this bill passed in the 110th Congress. We are pleased that we have bi-partisan support with 84 cosponsors in the House and 16 in the Senate. The LFA government relations staff has been actively meeting with potential new cosponsors. Go to our Legislative Action Center to contact your Members of Congress! (http://capwiz.com/lfa/home/) You can learn more details about this bill, find out if your members of congress are on board with it and, if not, email them to join co-sponsorship.

Number TWO

Ban of Current Incandescent Light Bulbs
On December 19, 2007, President Bush signed the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (Public Law No: 110-140). Under the new law, all light bulbs must use 25% to 30% less energy than today’s light bulbs by 2012-2014. Since today’s incandescent light bulbs do not fit the energy efficiency standard, there will be a phase-out of current incandescent light bulbs. The phase-out will start with 100-watt bulbs in January 2012 and end with 40-watt bulbs in January 2014. By 2020, bulbs on the market must meet the 70% efficiency standard.
Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) already meet the 70% efficiency standard, which means that most public spaces and homes are switching to CFLs. As you may know, some reports suggest that there may be enough UVB radiation in fluorescent light bulbs to cause photosensitivity in people with lupus.
The LFA government relations staff has been working with other groups affected by this legislation to form a coalition: Sjogren’s Syndrome Foundation, National Psoriasis Foundation, Epilepsy Foundation, MAGNUM, and American Academy of Neurology. The LFA government relations staff and this coalition have scheduled meetings on Capitol Hill and are working with the light bulb industry to determine whether a new incandescent light bulb will be released before January 2012.

SHOUT OUT

I'd like to send a shout out to 3 etsy shops that I heard about through the Business Marketing thread on Etsy.com. Here's the thread if you want to see it yourself - these sellers didn't start it: Etsy Sellers Popped Up Inside A Kit I Purchased At My Local Book Shop http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5699160 They are featured in a book!! The book is called, The Softies Kit Instructions and Tools for Creating 15 Plush Pals by Therese Laskey. The three etsy.com shops are

craftymommy http://www.craftymommy.etsy.com/

sweetestpea http://www.sweetestpea.etsy.com/

threewishesdesign http://www.threewishesdesign.etsy.com/

Way to go!! Best of luck! Hope more good things come your way!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Wendy

I can't believe it has been so long since I posted last! Its been a busy time for my family once again! Or maybe I should say as always!! My husband was "separated" from his job. You can read that layed-off. We knew it was coming, but thought he had another six months to a year. We're worried, but not overly so. He has already had two interviews and we are working on a possible business venture of our own. My etsy shop certainly won't keep us afloat and my Lupus prevents me from getting a regular job. But we know there are MANY people out there today in the same circumstances and we have a strong faith. We may not live like kings, but we'll be all right!

On the lighter side, our son, daughter and son-in-law gave us a combination Father's Day present and birthday present for me. We got tickets to see Crosby, Stills and Nash in Concert! It was a great concert!!!!!!!!! They are still wonderful performers, still very political, anti-war, and a bit irreverent. The crowd was mostly fifty-something plus, but there was a healthy dose of the younger generation. They played about fifty percent oldies and fifty percent newer and brand new stuff. Stephen Stills can still play guitar like nobody else! I wish you could all have been there with us!

On my birthday, everyone was able to be together to go out to dinner. That doesn't happen often, so it was a real treat. We sat around the dinner table for quite some time laughing and talking. My hubby had to leave an extra big tip to make up for how long we sat there, but it was worth it.

After several days of being on the run, concert, my birthday, seeing some family, etc., my Lupus flared up. I crashed for several days. I was in excruciating pain. My joints were hurting and my muscles ached. I had vague nausea and I was extremely fatigued. I had a headache that would come and go. I had rashes and other symptoms I won't bother to go into. I couldn't sleep and I didn't want to be awake because it hurt so bad. This lasted about 4 days before it began to let up. I always seem to pay for having fun, but it is usually worth it! I hate having Lupus, but I am used to it and have learned to deal with it. I write about it to help educate people about it.

Now that I'm back to feeling better, I'm back to making jewelry for my shop and for my friends. I'm helping my husband search the web for work. I'm helping him formulate an idea for a new business option for us, well its really for him since I can't work. In general life is getting back to normal!

Thanks for popping in!

Wendy

Its That Time of Year Again...

Its that time of year again! Yep! The open road is calling! Hubby and I are thinking VACATION!! But just where to go?? The economy being what it is, we're not sure just how far we want to go and we've already done the Colorado tour.

Not to worry! We'll come up with something! Let's see, we've been to Montana, South Dakota and Las Vegas. We've also toured Colorado as mentioned above. Did I mention we're talking about doing this on our motorcycle? Well, we are, but now we have a sidecar of course. I get too tire and sore from my Lupus to ride on the back all day, but I used to do that "back in the day". Now I do it as much as I can! Not that I'm complaining mind you. The sidecar keeps me riding and keeps the Lupus from taking over my life.

Maybe we could head for Idaho? We've never been there before and it might be fun. Depending on when we go, we could go to Arizona to the areas we've never been. Or we could go back to Las Vegas and then drive through some of the areas there that we've never been. Hhmmm. Anyone have any suggestions???




Here's a picture from our trip touring Colorado. That's Hubby on the right and our faithful companion Taz sitting on the trunk bag. He was a gift from our kids and came dressed in leathers, has club "colors" on the jacket and an earring. The sidecar opens by lifting the front up which is why it looks kind of funny.

This trip, like most, we were doing some geocaching. Its sort of like treasure hunting with a GPS unit. Lots of people are doing it all over the world. You can do it alone, as a family or as teams. Sometimes the treasures you find are more junk than treasure and sometimes you find something really nice, but always you have fun just searching for the treasure!! You can learn more about geocaching at http://www.geocaching.com/ or click on the "button" in the right column.

Anyway, geocaching takes to places we would never go when we travel. First, the motorcycle often takes us off the main roads and then geocaching also often takes you off the beaten path. Hubby and I have learned more about history of areas, found more fun places and met more people this way than we ever would have traveling the touristy way!

Just talking about this makes me want to pack up my backpack and hit the road! Only one problem. Hubby took the motorcycle to work today!!!

Happy Travels Everyone!

Wendy