Praying For Something Good

Since I went out on Thursday I've been laying low in the house for a couple of days making necklaces.  I made this light weight Rock Crystal, Tourmalated Quartz and Pearl necklace.  The Rock Crystal is clear so it has a very spring/summer look to it despite the darnkess of the Tourmalated Quartz.  I've been trying to make more necklaces that people would want to buy for the spring/summer time but it's kind of hard because when I go and buy beads I always gravitate towards heavy looking stones or darker colored stones. 

Aside from that I'm finally going to meet this guy today who would be helpful in getting the word out about my jewelry.  He runs a really good website for things to do in DC and we've been trying to meet for about the last month but something always happens where we can't meet.  But today is the day.  He's already seen some pictures of my work but it's nothing like seeing it in person.  It's going to be very informal at Bus Boys but you never know what can come of an informal meeting. 

You know the title of this post is Praying for Something Good because now I really need some additional prayers. I find myself doing things I would have never done before and it's getting really hard.  I'll just leave it at that.  I still have my Etsy shop which I check more than I want to on a daily basis only to see the numbers the same and no request to buy anything.  Just for fun here's the shop name http://www.jgirlred.etsy.com/  Oh but I do have some good news - I did find a site where I was able to make a free banner for my shop.  So instead of it being super bland with bad pictures, it's just bad pictures with a nice banner.  LOL!  Hey if I don't have a sense of humor who the hell will?  But my next purchase will be the necklace stands/statues.  It's a good investment especially when doing shows.  It shows the necklaces off instead of them just laying down on a table.

Ahh other good news, I got a response back from Crafty Bastards and they haven't posted their application but it will be up soon.  So I'm gonna keep an eye up for that.  If I can get in there it will be amazing.  Their next show is in October in Adams Morgan so you know that's gonna be big.  I must also say that I have this really good woman who's been helping me and I kind of look to her as a mentor somewhat.  We don't speak on a regular basis but she always sends me information for possible craft shows to sign up for. 

Anyways,  one more thing to be happy for is today is my 1 year anniversary. 

Here's the necklace I made yesterday.  My camera really sucks and this is under the best light in my house.  But I hope you enjoy.

Questions

Why do people leave you when you need them the most? 
Does being successful mean you have to be sad?
Is traveling your own path right if it makes you feel wrong?
What good is anything if there's no one there to share it with?
If you don't have anyone to talk to is it okay to talk to yourself?  If you don't know the answer then what good is it to talk to yourself?  Where then do you get the answer from when you need one?

I'm in a sad mood right now and since I'm the only person that reads my blog I guess no one else will judge or answer my questions. 

Good Night. 

Dainty and Feminine

It's been about a week since I've made a necklace and this morning I made a beautiful necklace with Rose Quartz and Pearl.  I wanted to do something dainty and feminine since my last two necklaces I made were kind of funky looking.  Considering the weather here in DC has been hot and sticky, this light hearted necklace goes perfect with the weather and would go perfect with something light and airy. 

Let me switch to another topic which is my shop that I have on Etsy.  I've placed 6 necklaces up for sale and haven't sold anything.  I'm not expecting for people to automatically buy my stuff because I realize that my shop isn't all that appealing.  I don't have a banner, no colors to catch peoples attention, and no shop name, just not so great pictures of my jewelry.  Compared to the thousands of other people that sale on Etsy, this shouldn't come as any surprise but I'm gonna be honest and say that it is a little shocking.  Maybe that's just my ego speaking because I think my stuff is great. 

However, because I want to be successful with my jewelry business and things are getting a little stressed for me and money isn't falling from the sky, I'm going to definately start working longer and harder to get what it is I need.  Don't get me wrong I thought I had been putting in long hours but I need to do more obviously.  Anyways, I'm going to leave you with a picutre of my new Rose Quartz and Pearl necklace. 

Enjoy!

I Love NY

With the New York trip finally behind me I can now tell you how awesome it was.  I left on Wednesday with a one-way ticket not knowing how long I was going to stay and not knowing what was going to happen.  Let me be clear when I say that was the BEST decision I ever made.  As you know, I finished the rosary for the girl and decided that it would be best for me to go to NY to hand deliver the rosary.  That way I would get a chance to meet her and I also thought that hand delivery would give a good impression and show dedication.  When I finally met her, she absolutely loved the rosary I made for her.  She said that it was just what she wanted and the colors were perfect.  I was beyond happy and still don't have any words to describe my feeling.  She was very nice and we had a good dinner where we were able to chat and just get to know one another.  During the dinner she took me by surprise and said that she wanted to sell necklaces and wanted me to make them for her.  She said she was really impressed with the way I kept in contact with her and my overall work.  I was stunned!  I was in no way expecting that but it just reassured me that coming to NY was a good decision.  And after we finished dinner, of course I had my jewelry bag with me, I showed her all my other jewelry made and she loved my work. 

Then I finally decided to leave NY on Saturday at 1:00.  Little did I know that a light was shining down on me because here I am standing in line and there's a young girl standing behind me.  We begin talking having a good conversation and we sit next to each on the bus.  She tells me that she works for NY Magazine and I tell her that I make jewelry.  She ask me do I have a website and I tell her no and she says that she makes websites and will make me one for free.  WTF!!!  She continues on to say that she makes websites for fun and they are pretty easy to make.  Thank you JESUS. We talk the whole trip down to DC and she's a really nice person.  We exchanged information and she tells me to email her on Monday, which I do.  The one thing I've been struggling with and I knew was most important to having a business just fell in my lap.  I couldn't have been more thankful.  So I emailed her today and she won't be able to start working on the site until this weekend.  However, she gives me a website to check out.  I can't wait for her to help me with this.  Once again, I'm blessed. 

Rosary Done New York Here I Come

I've finally finished the rosary that I was working on and man was it a doozy.  I think the last time I spoke about it I was still waiting for the letters to come and when they did I was disappointed because they were smaller than what I wanted.  They are 1/2" tall and when I saw them online I thought they would look fine with the beads that I had on, but instead they wound up looking small to me.  But I still put the rosary together and was emailing the owner back and forth and I took pictures and showed them to her.  To my surprise, she liked it and didn't have a problem with the letters.  She asked me to take pictures with the rosary on and I did in various ways since it is so long and now I'm just waiting for her response, I'm thinking I should get it tonight.  We've been emailing one another today and I'm gonna go to NY on Wednesday, just because I think it would look good for me to hand deliver it to her and I'd get to meet her.  I want to make the best impression I can because you never what could happen.  When I go up on Wednesday we're gonna have dinner and that way we can chat and talk and I'll get a chance to show her my other work and maybe I'll get more work from her.  To be honest, I don't mind going to NY because I love the city and hell it's a break from DC.  I wish I could show you a picture of the finished product but it's too long for one picture.  Literally I had to take 3 picutres just to show the whole thing.  CRAZY!

But other than that I haven't been doing anything, no jewelry made.  Unfortunately I was sick yesterday so my creativity was stiffled.  But I will blog tomorrow before I leave.  I'm super siked about meeting this girl.  I want to make the best impression I can.  Another reason I want to go to NY is because if she has anything she wants me to change I want to be available to do.  I want her to see my dedication to my work and my customers.  These are the things I have to do. 

Application Where Art Thou

As I predicted I wasn't able to blog yesterday but I'm back today with not much, but something to talk about.  So the weather is crappy and I've been in the house all day.  I had plans but the weather definately put a dent in them.  But I've dedicated the past 2 hours to surfing the Internet and looking for different art shows coming up to apply for.  Well luck struck not once but twice.  They are still accepting applications for crafty bastards which is having their arts & crafts show in Adams Morgan in October.  So once I find out where the application is I will fill it out and hopefully I'll get picked to be a vendor.  That's a huge show and I'm sure things will be good the second time around.  Plus I'm also gonna check out the Liberty North market here in NW and SW. 

Yesterday I went to a mixer for a Radio Station and it was cool.  I met a lot of nice people there and it was just good to get out.  I believe I said before that I'd been in the house for like 3 days, ugh, I know but it's good to relax sometimes.  I'm finding the more I relax the more I'm able to concentrate and

Oh I think I promised the pictures of the 2 necklaces I made the other day.  Well look no further here they are.  What do you think? 

2 Down How Many to Go

I'm sitting here on my bed working on this Kyanite and Goldstone necklace.  I've been wanting to put these two stones together and now that I finally have I'm wondering how it's gonna turn out.  The Kyanite is green and the goldstone is like orange color with brushed gold.  Don't know exactly how to describe it but the stone is a beauty.  Anyways, as I'm sitting here looking at it (not quite done), it's much different from my pieces in that it doesn't have the consistency of pattern as my other pieces do.  I usually stick with some type of pattern to give it a balance but this one doesn't have it.  Like I said, I absolutely love the stones but the pattern throws me off a little, but in a good way.  Maybe it's the mood I'm in.  You know my feelings have always driven me in the way the necklaces come out and this off balance necklace is exactly how I feel right now - off balance.  But that still doesn't take away from the beauty of the necklace.

Earlier this morning I made a necklace with turquoise and silver.  Ahh, talk about AMAZING!  That stone gets me everytime, especially when paired with silver.  But check this out, I did a U-turn and added another stone with it - HOWLITE!  That's right I did it - Turquoise, Howlite and Silver balls.  At first I was just playing around with the Turquoise and silver then I decided to try something different and those 4 Howlite beads I used were exactly what I needed.  It gave me what I was looking for.  I'm sure you're thinking by now what mood was she in earlier?  Well let me tell you I was amped up and in a funky, fun mood and that's what the necklace is - funky and fun. 

I haven't uploaded the pictures of the 2 necklaces to my computer but I will post the pictures tomorrow.  P.S. I got my contest necklace back and it's on the market for sale.  No I didn't win but one of the women who works in Beadazzled told me that she loved my piece.  She loved the funkiness of it.

So let me jump ahead to tomorrow because there's a good probability that I might not blog.  I told you about the React Radio Station premiere thing I'm going to, well it's not for me but my girlfriend but I'm gonna go and use it to gain contacts and show my jewelry.  It's early from 3-7:30 but there's a good chance I will go out afterwards and just try and sell or get more business.  I find myself always looking to meet contacts, etc.  My going out just to be going out days I'm noticing are kind of over because I'm always promoting myself/jewelry.  I guess that's what happens when you rely on yourself for income and not a bi-weekly paycheck.  Whatever, I'm not complaining.