My jeans are getting tight after all that indulgent holiday eating. When the weather got colder in the fall, I didn’t like to walk outside as much and there’s nowhere to put a treadmill in our cozy house. So, I purchased a stair climber on eBay for $20. I figured it was a small investment in case I didn’t like it. It has a pace monitor and timer, but I get bored and focus a lot on the minutes which makes time go very slowly. The machine is positioned facing the chest of drawers in our bedroom and there’s a cable outlet nearby, so I just picked up a small, inexpensive TV from a local eBay seller. My cliche new year’s resolution is to exercise more. Other resolutions: blog more, practice bezel-setting sea glass, and learn how to make glass beads (lampworking).
Classes & Galleries
Now that my orders are finished and I have a little more time on my hands, I I moved some things around on the AnneMade Jewelry website: class listings and the gallery pages.
I have some new classes starting in 2006, so keep the new class schedule page bookmarked to see when classes are scheduled: bangles, barrettes, earrings, rings, charm bracelet, and another wirework class. Also, if you click on a class title, it takes you to a photo and description of the class, including the materials needed.
I understand it can be difficult to tell if an item in the gallery is a necklace or bracelet without an accompanying description, so I divided the gallery into pages specific to each type of jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and rings/barrettes). Hope this helps.
Merry Christmas, y’all!
It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas
A big THANK YOU to everybody who stopped by during the open house on Saturday! I have a few more orders to complete and one more party to have and then my busy season is finished. Being a one-woman operation has advantages like having my own personal touch on each aspect of my business, but the downside to that is I am pretty busy at certain times of the year. Now that my events are almost over for the year, I’m looking forward to finishing my Christmas shopping and even doing a little Spring bead shopping.
One of my biggest challenges when I started to sell my jewelry is that I had to think ahead and visualize the “opposite” season. In the summer when I was sweltering in my studio (before the A/C was installed!), I had to think in terms of deep browns, reds, and greens. Then with snow on the ground and Christmas yet to happen, I’m working with pink, lavender, & lime. I realize that some people wear certain colors year-round, but a lot of my clients like to see seasonally-appropriate colors, and I have to begin making jewelry for the next season waaaay in advance so I have enough stuff to go around when the weather changes. Let me know if there’s a certain style or color combination you think I should try for Spring 2006!
Let it snow!
I’m seeing big, fluffy snowflakes outside and it makes me want to cozy up with a blanket and mug of tea. I think I’m part bear because I tend to have decreased activity during the winter months. Part of it is because I get so busy before Christmas and I just need a break. I was in State College (Go Big Blue!) over the weekend to visit with friends and have a jewelry party. It was wonderful to just sit and chat and not have to be anywhere or do anything. We got 3″ of snow the night before I drove home, so I guess the snow season has begun! It figures that after a hot, dry summer we’d have a wet winter. I’m one of those people who doesn’t like to go out in the snow until absolutely necessary, so I joined what seemed like hundreds of shoppers at the grocery store and Costco today. Monday is my normal grocery store day; this week it just happens to coincide with impending snowflakes. The HVAC guys finally installed the AC/heat pump unit in my studio after the summer had ended and it wasn’t cold yet, so now I’m all set to hunker down and enjoy the snow and heat at the same time. Merry Christmas to you!
Ever wish you could clone yourself?
Hi, friends. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! This week I’m working on special orders and new jewelry for some upcoming events, so I haven’t gotten around to scanning my stash and updating the site. I haven’t forgotten and I’m still planning to do that. Meanwhile, I’m trying to outsource my sleeping, cooking, and cleaning and so far my husband has been able to help out with the latter two (dear sweet man).
On Thursday evening I have been invited to participate in opening night of the Council of State Governments annual conference. It’s at the Chase Center in Wilmington so I know it’s big, but otherwise I have no idea what to expect.
I feel like Santa’s elf. Back to my workbench…
Newbies
While many of my recent designs were sold this fall before making a debut on the website, I still have several items to upload now that the proverbial dust is settling. Stay tuned!
Festival of Trees
If you’re wondering where I’ve been, I’ve been peddling my wares at various locations across the region. This weekend happens to be the Festival of Trees to benefit Delaware Hospice, and before that I was a guest vendor at a big company in Pennsylvania. I have a newfound respect for crafters who sell at festivals. After three days of sitting/standing by a table of my work and making small talk with visitors, I’m about through with this kind of selling. I love to sell wholesale to stores and have home parties because both of these are over in a few hours or less. I’d rather spend more time making jewelry than selling it! Stay tuned for the remainder of my new stuff to be loaded on the AnneMade Jewelry website after the dust settles from these festivals…
1.21 Gigawatts
It’s not unusual for me to dream about beads, but last night I actually came up with this design while sleeping. My husband’s first remark was, “It’s like the Flux Capacitor.” Great Scott! Update 11/19: The lucky new owner of this necklace and it’s companion bracelet is Rosanne Fagan, owner of Polish Pottery Designs, Ltd. This gorgeous pottery is hand-decorated by artisans in Poland. Check it out, especially if you like cobalt blue!
What month is it?
We’ve been having above-average temperatures for the past week and it’s wonderful! I love the crisp air of fall, but I’ll take warm weather any day. Yesterday was about 75 degrees and Steve and I had a free afternoon, so we took the kayaks out on the Christiana River. We took off in the opposite direction for the first time because of the tide, but the exploration of this tranquil area so rare in Northern Delaware was eventually interrupted by I-95. So much for nature. We did hear birds calling to one another and saw turtles sunning themselves and took in the last of the brilliant maple leaves. I was just happy to be outside, especially in November.
Halloween – After
Four pieces left (we each had one before I took a picture), which means we had 48 kids come by. Apparently Almond Joy is not a crowd favorite… More for me!
Today I helped my friend Claire sell her jewelry at a large company in our area. It gave me a good idea of what to expect at my upcoming events. So far my practice has been limited to home parties and wholesaling to stores. Selling in a corporate setting is different and I was grateful to have the preview.
Thursday night I’ll be set up at Shopping Night at St. David’s School. 20% of the proceeds go to the school, so if you’re in the Wilmington area, check it out!