Warm and Fuzzy

So ... about 6 weeks ago I received a note from someone on Flickr about ordering this bracelet ... he was wonderful and patient. Sent me emails through both Flickr and Etsy. Needless to say - since I have been such a slacker in the "creative" department ever since little Baby Rhodes showed up on the ultrasound ... I was in none too much of a hurry to get it done.

Thankfully ... this man was the most patient person I've ever encountered. He calmly and gently nudged me to creativity ... and for that I'm thankful.

I was finally able to complete and send the bracelet out earlier this week (didn't even take photos of the final product).

And this was the email I received today ...

Hi Tabitha,

I had to let you know that I received the bracelet today! And the timing was perfect. I was going to give it to my wife as a Mother's Day gift. We've been married 35 years, and I have a chronic illness and as a result I have not been given much longer to live. Yesterday my wife had an especially horrid day at work - was outrageously accused by someone of fraud, etc. She was devastated - my wife is the most honest woman I know - so while the charge is completely bogus, it hurt her deeply that someone would think that.

So today I was feeling well enough that I could get out, your package came, and my helper dog and I went and visited my wife for lunch giving her the gift. The timing great! And her tears flowed.

Thank you so much for making this a truly special day,

Rick

I admit ... it brought a tear to my eye ... I am so touched by this man's incredible patience and love. I'm all warm and fuzzy!

Slowly but surely coming back

Well ... it's been over a year since I touched a bead (other than to move them into our new home) and my tools have rusted ... my beads are dusty ... and I'm definitely out of practice! BUT ... I am slowly but surely coming back to the land of beading.

My main focus right now is making personalized bracelets and gifts ... I've been receiving interest in my "Breathe" bracelets and have some fun ideas for mothers days (just as gifts right now).

Hopefully we'll get the bead collection moved inside and the photo shot area set up and I can take some pics of what I'm working on ...

Until then ... keep sending me encouraging words to get off my butt!

t

Bodacious Babes Bodyfest

I will be selling my jewelry this Saturday at the Bodacious Babes Bodyfest, from 6-9pm, at the Southwest Community Center, 6820 SW 45th Ave.

This (ladies only) event will have many indulgences, including:
- Pampering Spa Treatments
- Mini-massages
- Class demonstrations
- Music
- Drop in Fitness Classes
- Wine tasting
- Tasty bites
- Local vendors selling their wares

As an extra incentive, my good friend Tara will also be there with her YUMMY cheesecake kabobs!

It would be wonderful to see you there to join in the fun. Come out and spoil yourself – you know you deserve it – this is the perfect time before the Holidays get nutty!!

Procrastination

So as you can probably see … I have fallen very behind on my “year of jewelry” blogging. In an effort to catch up, I’ve backdated posts, trying to remember everything from a month ago. It’s amazing how quickly I can fall behind and be so overwhelmed by trying to catch up that I just … don’t.

So I’m sitting on a plane on my way to my friend Monica’s wedding and a Rhodes family visit and figured … why not catch up. So here I am … maybe THIS is a better way to keep a running log of everything. Keep it in a word document, then when I find a free moment to catch up … post everything online.

Hmmm … guess I’ll try that moving forward.

Ladies Who Launch LIVE! Event

Wow … what an amazing day. A day filled with inspiration, positive energy and tremendous support.

My day started at 7:30 am when I woke up, showered, dressed up and put makeup on (yes … surprising I know but this was a special day). I loaded my bin of boxes, table clothes and displays, as well as my jewelry, into Dolly (our Subaru) and headed for the Lawrence Gallery in the Pearl.

Upon arrival I could sense the excitement of the ladies who were there. Rebecca (our leader) was buzzing around – finally the day she had worked SO hard for was here and everything was coming together splendidly.

As I set up my vendor table, one of my “egg mates” (we did the August Incubator together) Leslie came over and was admiring my handiwork. She wanted several pieces and I just giggled. Once I pulled this lovely turquoise triple strand necklace out – she HAD to have it. So she slipped it on and … looked … AMAZING in it!

After all the vendors were set, the ladies attending the day started to appear. After grabbing coffee and yummy treats from Java Nation they buzzed around, admiring the handiwork of the vendors and chatting with each other. I really enjoyed talking to ladies who were new to the organization (ie this was their first event) or considering the incubator program. Such an amazing group.

After that, we had some wonderful presentations from local and national LWLers, including interviews with the founder of Portland Picks and a panel of Incubator graduates who talked about their experiences and successes.

Then back to the vendor table to show off my goodies. Lunch … more speakers … then Tara’s YUMMY Sweet Treat Company cheesecake kabobs. It was her “launch” and we cut the ribbon for her (ADD PHOTO). She was thrilled … and so were we.

Overall the event was amazing. I only sold two pieces – Leslie and Tara. My egg mates and biggest supporters!! Though overall the sales $$ weren’t great – the event was. I think I got my name out there to a large group of wonderful and influential ladies. Fingers crossed something comes of it all.

Donation to Café au Play

One of the greatest joys for me is giving away jewelry. Of course I realize that making money will only keep my business afloat in the long run – so I also enjoy sales. But my true passion is … giving.

I love the look on a lady’s face when she receives a piece of TK Jewelry that’s EXACTLY what she wanted – either as a gift or as a purchase.

So when I learned through the local PDX Etsy group of an opportunity to donate some jewelry for a raffle at Café au Play, I jumped at the chance. My new friend Gretchen – Salmon Street Studios was the coordinator of the Halloween event on October 19 and I really enjoyed chatting with her during the process.

I ended up donating the divine long necklace and matching earrings set (pictured here) – which Gretchen told me were well received at the event.

Though I wasn’t able to make the event – it looks like it was a ton of fun!

BOO!!

My new Etsy Shop

I have had my tkoriginals etsy shop for about a year now. My friend Suzanne recommended I “get on there cuz they have some great stuff!!” So I did.

Mostly I posted one of kind pieces cuz I still had the TK Originals/Jewelry site at that point.

BUT with the shopping cart down … looks like Etsy is gonna be my TK Jewelry shop for a little while at least. Hubby is focused on getting my TK Bridal Jewelry portfolio online … which is really a priority.

Etsy totally works. It’s got all the functionality and networking capabilities I need for now. So I decided to get a TK Jewelry etsy URL … check it out www.tkjewelrydesigns.etsy.com.

Most of the stuff there now is what was on the TK Jewelry site … but I will also be adding one of a kind stuff and when I get my butt in gear with photography things will really get flowing!

I love me some loyal ladies

Thank goodness for my regular customers for without them I would love my motivation and then I’d just have many many beads and no jewelry!

My friend Nicole has been buying from me for about 4 years now. I met her while I was working at Volt Services Group in San Francisco. She’s a regular customer and always comes to me for gifts. AND she’s gotten her family and friends into buying from me as well. Loves it!

My friend Bree is also a very loyal TK Jewelry lady … she has been a IT Security Contractor for the last couple years and recently landed a full-time position at Autodesk. She wanted to get a little something for the ladies she worked with at her contracting job, and asked if I would pull together some fun earrings for 4 different ladies she worked with. We talked about each of their styles and I presented her with about 12 options (I always overdue it). She picked out 4 pretty pieces … and the ladies loved them!!

Photographing Ideas

Hit this great store today called Paper Zone. I had to figure out something for my gift bags for the LWL Live! event and figured they would have cute bags or boxes or something I could use. I found just what I needed – inexpensive cellophane bags. $4 for 100. YEE HAW!

I had also been thinking a lot about my photography. How I need a “brand” … a look and feel to all my photos that would allow for recognition when seen (a little something I learned about at the Trillium Workshop with Ryan of Littleput Books.

So I picked up a few things – 2 photo albums (one teal blue like the site and one black) as well as a sheet of while textured paper and a sheet of red textured paper. I want to create a landscape for my photos that brings in the “heart” … the red of the heart in the logo, as well as photos of the people who inspire my jewelry making.

It’s going to be another big project … but I wouldn’t who I am if I didn’t take on too much … right?

Mirror Debacle

So with the upcoming Ladies Who Launch LIVE! event coming on October 25, I wanted to come up with something really cool and creative to include in the gift bags that each attendee will receive. After scouring several customizable product catalogs I found these really cool mirrors on 4Imprint.com. My idea was to have the TK Jewelry logo on one side and then this amazing new TK Bridal Jewelry logo my friend Amy designed for me on the other. Great right? Perfect little gift for ladies to throw in their purse – and a constant reminder of my websites.

With Amy’s help we came up with a great design – silver mirrors with white writing. Their site says 5 days to print and ship. The deadline to get the bag stuffers was October 19, so I figured I was golden. I sent through my order … THEN received notice from the company that they actually would need 7 days to print. ACK – what was I thinking waiting til the last minute. Darn!! Oh well … on to the next idea. These cute little purse mirrors, I could just add a sticker to them. I placed my order (and paid extra for shipping) so they would arrive on Friday the 19th and I would have the weekend to sticker 300 of these bad boys. Done ... and done.

More bad news … the mirrors were waylaid since the shipper decided to send them Ground instead of 3 day (which I paid for) and a train mishap delayed them. They wouldn’t arrive til Tuesday. TOO LATE!! So I contacted the company and they apologized and gave me a full refund.

PLAN C … candy. I got cellophane bags and dove chocolates. Every bag had my card in it, 5 dove chocolates (mixture of milk and dark) and was tied with a cute red bow. Whew … the project took about 5 hours … but it was done, at a fraction of the price of the mirrors. And who doesn’t like chocolate.

Now … to get ready for the show!

Etsy workshop

Tonight I attended a workshop at Trillium Artisans in SE Portland. It was led by Ryan from Littleput Books, a very successful seller on Etsy.com. Since we’re on hold with the site til hubby figures out a viable shopping cart option, Etsy is looking like a great option for TK Jewelry right now.

At the workshop Ryan focused a lot on how to be a successful seller on Etsy. She talked about everything from taking dynamic photos to tools for successful marketing (both on etsy and off). There are definitely some amazing photographers and sellers out there, like TQB Designs and Gemmfactix. Ryan herself is a self-proclaimed etsy-a-holic. She spends a lot of time on the site, renewing listings, adding new listings and networking on the forums and through treasury’s and other tools. She has also building a very successful international wholesale business. Her stuff rocks … I’ve purchased a few of her pieces for myself and friends (these two pieces).

The workshop was amazing and it was fun putting faces with names of some of the sellers I see regularly on the PDX Etsy forum and website.

Designs … Designers working together

My friend Amy is an amazing designer. I met her while working in San Francisco. She and her hubby were from St. Louis and recently moved back there – where she started her freelancing career. She helped me design our wedding invitations and has such an amazing eye for style and femininity I knew she would be the perfect person to help me design my TK Bridal logo. When I asked her if she’s be interested in trade (my jewelry for her design services) she jumped on it. Amy also commissioned her bridesmaids jewelry from me when she married her hubby when they were married a few years ago.

Amy designed this beautiful logo and helped me with the designs for the mirrors for the Ladies Who Launch event (which didn’t work out). Next project is some beautiful TK Bridal Jewelry postcards I can promote that line with.

Now … for a copywriter exchange … hmmm … anyone interested in the job?

Shopping cart woes

My hubby is great. He is not only an amazing graphic designer (designed my TK Jewelry logo and “the girl”) he also strives to make the TK Jewelry web site as modern and functional as possible. He’s always looking for new cool ways to make the site more dynamic. Yes – I am totally stealing his lingo – but I sound like I know what I’m talking about right?

Anywho – we had some trouble with VirtueMart (our online shopping cart through Joomla). It seems that VM has been having some trouble for many folks. Which sucks cuz all the inventory and descriptions are in there … hours of work … gotta be tossed.

He looked into a couple other options (Zen Cart is at the top of the list), however given the time constraints of several upcoming shows, I’ve opted to use Etsy.com instead. There’s a lot of built in functionality to Etsy, including options to add up to 4 photos, lots of networking and cross-marketing potential. In addition, their prices are very reasonable.

I have a lot of work ahead of me – taking newer, better, more dynamic photos and writing descriptions. There’s always something!!

A weeks worth of blogging

The daily blogging has been hard ... especially with all the other things going on in my life lately. This week was crazy - all kinds of changes in my day job - and my roller derby team kicked some major butt at our bout last night.

I'm tired ... but I'm determined not to drop the ball on my YOJ project. It's definitely keeping me motivated and thinking about JEWELRY all the time.

We've had some technical issues with the TKJewelry website -- shopping cart issues specifically. But my webdesigner (hubby) is a rockstar and I'm confident he will figure out the issue in the next few days. In addition, this week I went through my bead collection and pulled some stuff that I don't think I'll use - you know, like the clothing rule. If you don't use it for 2 years it's gotta go. I'm excited to donated lots of fun stuff to the craft swap on October 7th here in Portland.

I'm also completing applications for several craft shows this holiday, and gearing up for the Ladies Who Launch LIVE event on October 25. I've been brainstorming some ideas for my "giveaway" item and think I've found the perfect item - compact mirrors printed with TK Jewelry logo on one side and the TK Bridal logo on the other side. I'm super excited.

I think I also found a couple other local ladies to donate to the gift bag ... I'll let you know once they're finalized.

If you are around and available on October 25th ... you should attend this event ... it's going to be amazing and the gift bags alone are worth the cost of attending ... NOT to mention the amazing speakers at the event.

Whew ... it has been a busy week!

Shopping cart ... down

So hubby has been struggling with the Joomla/Virtumart shopping cart on the site ... and we need to figure out a new cart option. He's looking into several options, but in the meantime if you want any jewels -- just email me.

Ack

Monica wedding jewelry re-do #2

Monica asked that I add a little chocolate brown to this branch style necklace and earring set for her wedding jewelry set.

Here's what I came up with ...

they remind me of the fall ... the lovely changing of leaves and crisp chill in the air. YAY!

glad it's Friday!

This week has been ... L O N G ... today was super busy at work ... I'm exhausted. Will think about beading and all things jewelry this weekend ...

still looking for ideas for giveaways ... hubby suggested wine charms ... I really like that idea - but am not sure I can pull off making 300 sets and getting ready to be a vendor at the LIVE event.

ugh - too tired to think about it now.

Monica wedding jewelry re-do #1

My good friend Monica wanted me to add more pearls to this necklace
... so I recreated the necklace adding a 6th strand ... pearls and chocolate brown crystals.

It came out very nicely I think ...

and will go swimmingly with these earrings.

LIVE event coming

So tonite I went to the LWL Ongoing Monthly Meeting ... such fun! such inspiration! I met several ladies who I think I can work with to the mutual benefit of TK Jewelry and their projects ... including an ovarian cancer fundraising website, a jewelry sales website ... and others TBD.

I'm very excited for the LIVE event on October 25th (yea I thought it was the 4th but I have remedied that now!). It's going to be amazing -- 300 positive, talented, amazing women all helping each other and learning how to be successful in their endeavors. I'm very very excited.

Biggest project now ... figure out what my giveaway item will be for the event -- can't be just a card or piece of paper, has to be something tangible. So am inviting ideas ... want to keep the TK Jewelry brand in tact - something that won't cost a fortune or keep me busy between now and the event making ...

Any ideas?

Lists and to-dos

Today I had to go the Dr. (some freaky ear thing) ... while I sat in the waiting room for about an hour to be seen (yes absurd but I was distracted by my tasks) I completed several applications for upcoming Holiday Craft shows ... I always say (in like November) that I'm going to SELL some stuff around the holidays ... but they creep up and I don't ... and I say "next year."

Well ... not this year.

This year I'm applying for several of the lovely craft shows in Portland, including (but not limited to):
Bodacious Babes Bodyfest (November 10th)
America's Largest Christmas Bazaar (tho this one scares me a little because it's 6 days ... DAMN!)
Crafty Wonderland Super Colossal Holiday Sale (December 16th)

There are some others ... but I've overwhelmed at the moment.

I'll be a vendor at the Ladies Who Launch LIVE-Portland, OR. It will be an amazing day ... and one I'm confident will create LOTS of movement for me. I have so much to prepare ... ah. I get overwhelmed just thinking about it.

I need to just keep making lists ... those keep me sane ... keep my brain in order. Whew!