One Step Closer...

amber & cream cathedral glass with swarovski crystal pendant

It's Labor Day weekend here in North America. A few years back I blogged that I thought it should be New Years Day because the school year is new, the clothing lines are new, the TV season starts again. The holidays are kicking off. The NFL and college football start their seasons. So, Happy New Year.

green cathedral glass beads with 4mm faceted czech champagne crystal with key pendant

I was off on Friday for my last long weekend until Thanksgiving, unless I decide to throw caution to the wind and go up to Hope, BC in October, when my boss is at a conference in "the other Washington" (DC). I decided to finally suck it up and go to the bank and open up my business checking and savings accounts, and apply for a biz credit card. Took about an hour, but it's finally all ready to go. Later that day, I talked w/ my friend Josh, who I've known since Emerson. He and his wife sell their homemade soap on Etsy and I picked his brain on how to do it. Seems easy enough.....but the prospect of putting my stuff out there for sale is still overwhelming. And intimidating. I just hate selling my stuff. I'd much rather give it away. If one of my friends says, "I love that one", they will, more than likely, receive it in the mail. I just can't say, "well it's yours for the low, low price of $19.95! BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!!"

crackle glass cubes

crackle glass cubes with 4mm faceted czech amber crystal

Maybe it's that "Deadhead Tape Trading" mentality that I can't shake. The band gave away their music at the shows, and if you wanted to bring recording equipment to the shows, great. They even sold special "Tapers' Section" tickets. Their only caveat was after you record it, you make copies for free, for trading purposes. I've never had to rely on my jewelry for income, so I've gotten used to giving it away. I like to make people smile.

red glass with 4mm rose quartz

Now I have to spend the time organizing the jewelry I want to list and then uploading all the pics and info to Etsy. Because I am still dipping my toe in retail waters, I didn't do that this weekend and I know I should have. I just need to take baby steps right now and I will get the stuff listed. It's just, I have everything in baggies in a shoe box. There has to be a more efficient way to set this up and I'm still kicking around a few ideas on the best way to do it. My biggest stumbling block is also how to do shipping. Josh told me that's been the hardest part for them too. Normally I just put the jewelry into a white jewelry box w/ cotton inside, put that in a padded envelope, and then mail it. Costs about .95 or so. But should I use priority mail with confirmation notification for my business shipping? Then I'd have to charge my customers like $6.00 on top of the cost of the jewelry. Times are tough as it is, so should I take the less expensive route and hope that the US Post Office can get it from Point A to Point B without fucking it up? Let's face it, that's always a crap shoot. If anyone out there has any ideas and suggestions, I am completely open to them.

So I'm gonna go back to mulling over some more ideas for efficient organization, over at my craft table. Can you tell I like to work in blues? :o)

blue cathedral glass with metal dragonfly pendant

swarovski glass pearls & small pale blue cathedral beads with celestial pendant

millefiori cane glass with 4mm faceted garnet

blue cane glass with czech crystal