Time to start building momentum!

Well today was not all that productive L had physio appointment, that’s a good she’s lovely and makes the pain go away for a while. Then got home with plans but spent a lot of the day waiting for a phone call. And then joy of joys cleaning.

Did however manage to get a listing up on etsy and few more prepped to go, really need to get more pictures, please, please let it be bright tomorrow morning! Can get a little photo shoot in before Siobhan arrives, looking forward to seeing her J

I got a bunch of hits today on etsy courtesy of the new listing so that is very much what I need to be doing. Also bought a showcase spot on Monday which is a way of promoting your shop or a certain item for the day. Going to see how that works, fingers crossed! Time to start building momentum!

Conan is back from his weekend away and very cute curled up asleep on the sofa, think he would kill me if I put a picture up, but it is very tempting. If a bunny jumps up on him there will be no stopping me! The girls are running around the room chewing carrots I’ve left around. Tis a nice evening.

It’s just gone 10pm and I’ve just stepped away from my workbench, been at it pretty much since 2 just a few breaks to eat and stretch and I feel exhilarated!

One of those days where I’m left feeling that I can definitely live the dream and make a living being creative! Great day all round, bit of a hiccup when I couldn’t get the printer to work, but changed the designs to colour and twas fine. Blank ink has been ordered. Majority of today was making different types of rings, got to order some more colours of resin tonight and then hopefully have my resin rings ready to go by next week. I’ve been doing a lot of very intricate sawing too and going through blades like nobody’s business so have to order some of those too.

Now to get ordering and get some listings ready on etsy and folksy.

Anywho hope everyone is in as good a mood as I am J

Ooooh plans!

Ooooh I’m very excited! I have a silver bunny ring and bracelet in the polisher at the mo! Was working on another different style of pendant and earring but it isn’t playing ball and I’m out of time today, got a night out to get ready for!

Also happy I finally got some silver D shape wire I ordered about 2 weeks ago to make rings out of, the company I order from is usually really good but they were out of stock. Typical!

Been rummaging around online for a decent supplier for boxes and I think I’ve found a winner, so I just have to order a few and see what they’re like. I managed to get some really nice little brown card ones before, but only one left and can’t seem to find them again, grrrr! But on the plus side these boxes are made from recycled card so that’s a plus.  Also gonna order myself some marketing stuff and try get the word out around town. Thinking postcards with bunny and jewellery pics on them, make them nice and memorable. But all of that has to wait till tomorrow, now it’s time for dancing, or at least for getting ready for dancing! Hope everyone has/had a good Saturday night.

Results day

GCSE results were out today so a good chunk of the day was spent going to my old school to find out how the kids did, I’m very happy, particularly with my P3 class, they all got A* not too shabby for my first time teaching the course! And only one B in my P2 class J

Did however get to the bench when I got home, after some delicious curry chips. Didn’t return to my war with the bunny ring but did instead work on some bracelets. Finished the yoda bracelet and the damn dirty ape bracelet both in copper, will try get pictures tomorrow. Also got a good chunk of a silver bunny bracelet done, had hoped to be able to wear it tomorrow but the evening flew by and then it was too late to hammer. I think it’s best not to annoy the neighbours too much so I don’t hammer past 9.

I have myself a call back 2^nd interview tomorrow, for a teaching job starting Sept, so best get myself to bed! Orla has gone to bed already so just a Gráinne to get in!

I will not be beaten!

Attempting to make a very intricate bunny ring, it will not beat me! Tomorrow sarah v's the ring!

Pretty stones

Well bunnies are running around my feet, I’ve stuffed myself on chow mein and a ring and 3 pendants are in the pickle pot J not a bad day. I was out in town today found a few really nice stones to set plotting as I type, even got a little ruby, well corundrum which is the same mineral. Got the yoda bracelet mostly cut out, will finish it off in the morning. Yoga tomorrow evening but the rest of the day to craft. I’m setting myself up on folksy for anyone that would rather use that site, but its slow going uploading the pics, so only a few items up so far. http://www.folksy.com/shops/Fragments

Going to do me some fun accounts and enter some invoices I found into my spreadsheet, yay!

Not much else to report so here’s some photos of soon to be for sale items.

 

Teepeed cage

Well today was a creativity no no, I had an interview for a really nice school, it went pretty well, I think, or at least I didn’t walk out thinking “oh no why did I say that.” Should hear more by the end of the week. The interview was in Penarth a nice seaside town so we went with a friend for fish and chips and ice cream and a walk along the pier and a pint so it was a pretty damn nice day.

Of course when we got home we found the bunnies had teepeed (a phrase I have no idea how to spell) their cage. They do seem to be getting on again though, touch wood.

So big creative plans will happen tomorrow J yoda copper bracelet is being made and planet of the apes one too. Hopefully some more pictures will be taken as well. For now for anyone who’s considering starting something different and taking a risk here’s an interesting blog to look at http://whenigrowupcoach.com/2010/04/08/i-quit-my-day-job-are-you-next/  

Upcoming listings

Well I’m more than a little worse for wear from last night, got in at 3ish in the morning and then got rudely awakened by fighting bunnies at 7am. We had put the two cages together while we were out for the night and when we got home they seemed to be getting on well so we left them together. Yep not good, never ever ever leaving then sleeping together, it always seems to be at 7ish in the morning, and they are well violent when they get going! They’re a little wary of each other today and Gráinnes eyelid has a little cut. We’re prob gonna bring her to the vet tomorrow, but it’s Sunday so would only get emergency vet today and last time we did that the vet didn’t know bunnies at all, so we’ll try our normal vet tomorrow. Conan cut their giant claws as well and he’s clawed to bits now the poor boy. Orla’s claws were scary!  

Since I’m a little fragile, and its nice and bright and shiny I’ve decided to take pics today of items I’m going to be listing soon, here’s a few taster pics.

 

Once I’m feeling a little better I’m going to continue work on a little bunny ring I’m making, yes I have a bunny problem but so what they’re cute! I’m trying to work on rings still, I have 3 prototypes in the mix and I’m waiting for wire to arrive that I ordered last weekend but the supplier was out of stock! Unimpressed I’m still waiting!

Watching some of the V highlights on TV, quite missing concerts! Interview tomorrow so fingers crossed, and think there needs to be some epic dancing next weekend!

Yoda-ing it up....is that a word? Can I make it one?

I have been told I have to update daily! Gulp! Will do my best! Already failed by missing yesterday but it was a day that seems to have had no time. I had the best of intentions to get lots done, especially after Conan showed me up with a lovely ring he made on Thursday night. But I got a phone call for an interview Monday for a job I really want (fingers crossed) so then there was phone calls and plotting etc. I did get started on a silver ring with bunny cut-outs all around it (yes I have a bunny problem) and courtesy of the boy my giant sheet of copper is now in more manageable sizes so let the copper revolution commence!

One of the nice apps etsy has is shop stats that show you where traffic to your shop comes from and what words led them there and my shop seems to be getting a lot of hits on behalf of the word Yoda so Yoda inspired designs are being plotted mwhaaaaa! Bring on the nerdy! Need more time!

For anyone in Cardiff, I headed to the drones comedy night in Chapter last night, tis def worth a look £3.50 entry and we got a good 2.5-3 hours of solid laughing. Every second Friday at 8.30.

Right got a cake to bake and then rings to make! Hope everyone is well J

I can Sew!

Well pretty good day today, started by taking my glass out of the kiln got some stuff I’m very happy with, of course now NEED to buy more glass! Then had nice breakfast with the bunnies running around and put some silver from last night into the polisher, got some stuff I’m very happy with there too! Some bunny inspired  but also wolf and birdies and a particularly nice little girl with an umbrella, pictures to follow; once I get a nice bright day for a photo shoot.

Decided today to try my hand at sewing, we have a machine and I need a new bag that I can bring to school come Sept and I don’t look like one of the kids. So I got some scraps from a costume I made last year and made a prototype, I’m quite happy with it, it’s full of mistakes but I know not to make them when I get the really good material. I have my eye on cartoon style, world map, or French newspaper print. Also going to try make a top out of some scraps and then can get enough good material for top too, going to try use a pattern for that though! Wish me luck.

Since I have stolen the sewing machine for the day, Conan has stolen my workbench and tools! He better be kind to them! He’s been working on setting glass in copper and I’m really liking it, I see a whole new bunch of ideas for both of us!

So in other news, as market research I bought Cosmo and Elle yesterday, thought it would be good to have an idea whats coming up fashion wise for the autumn, and I completely remember why I don’t buy them! Grrr angry Sarah!  According to Cosmos’ editor, one of the things I now know that I wouldn’t have known before I read the mag is that....drumroll.....you can’t always tell how many women a man has slept with just by looking at him! Shock! Horror! They even gave a picture of a bunch of guys for you to try guess which had the highest magic number, and you know what turns out you can, cause myself, Sabrina and Conan guessed correctly!

In bunny news, we went to get the little boy but the pet shop then told us they wouldn’t guarantee taking him back if he didn’t get on with the girls, so we had to say no L They really don’t encourage you to adopt! So still just the two bunnies.

All fired up!

Well the kiln is on, only 12 or so hours till I get to see what I've made. Working with the kiln is very strange business, kinda exciting, you can plan and organise and then fire it up and get something completely different to what you expected. Hopefully this will be a good firing. I'm not known for my patience and it kills me waiting till tomorrow morning to open it! But open it too early and the glass cools too quick and you get lovely broken glass everywhere, so I'll hold off!

I also got a bunch of silver pendants mostly done yesterday; I do a process at a time with the batch I'm working on, so yesterday was the cutting out of the designs, texturing and polishing will probably be later today. It's a little more time efficient rather then work the whole way through one piece, it also means that when I get in the zone with my saw, I can really get some good quality work done! I'm also almost finished building two little silver nests, pictures to follow. 

On the business side there has been more research done, I'm been looking at http://www.wonderthinking.com/ they have quite a few handy things there. Its their business plan that I'm using to guide my way. Definitely their site is worth a look.

I also found some more glass invoices to add to my spread sheet. I think it's important to know how much I have spent on everything so I can know when I actually start making a profit and not just when I think I'm making a profit.

On a personal note, I went to the pet shop yesterday to get bunny food (for our two little girls Orla and Gráinne) and saw the most adorable bunny, that’s up for adoption. He's 5 months old and was fighting with his brother, and I presume the owners weren't willing or didn't know to suffer through puberty like we had to with the girls. I'm very tempted to get him, the pet shop said we could take him for a day, see how he got on with the girls, and then give him back if world war 3 broke out. Don't know if I could give him back though! I am leaning towards getting him this evening and giving it a go!

Hello there

I am a mostly self taught jeweller living in Wales with big plans to have a successful business up and running, asap!

I’ve spent the last 4-5 years learning my trade, soldering, sawing, fusing, piercing and polishing. The last 2-3 years gathering equipment to put together a workroom at home. And the last year sussing out how to run a business, where to sell, how to sell, what people want and the legalities of it.

I have set up my etsy shop www.etsy.com/shop/sjegan I have business cards printed, I have a business plan on paper and I am ready for go!

The purpose of this blog is to get the word out there about my shop, but also to help others that are trying to set up, so that hopefully it doesn’t take them 5 years. I’ll be posting the how to of getting going, as I go along. As well as updates and pictures from the workroom.

The plan is, to register as self employed come September, and to release an item a day, this last few weeks of August is my uber creative time. I am making sure I have enough top quality pieces to release as well as dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s.

So feel free to browse my shop, more to come very, very soon! Comments are welcome as are questions I’ll do my best to answer them, promise!

For the rest of today I shall be glass painting and depending on time firing up the kiln.