Okay friends, a little update and a little favor to ask of you...
I am planning on doing a couple of tutorials soon. One on what I think are your necessary basic jewelry making supplies, and one on how to do some simple repairs for jewelry(store bought, homemade, otherwise). Which will probable lead to or be combined with a tutorial on basic techniques that can be used to make almost all of the necklaces you can find in my shop. I may even eventually do a tutorial or two on specific necklaces.
So the favor I ask is this...if any of you have any broken jewelry I would love to use it as part of my tutorial! If you live close enough to get it to me, that would be fantastic, I will fix it for you and I can take step by step pictures. If you don't live close enough to me, send me a picture or two and/or some info on what exactly is broken and I'll figure out a way to teach you how to fix it here on the blog.
I am doing this for a couple of reasons. 1. I cannot guarantee that jewelry you buy from me will never break, and so if it does, I want you to know how to fix it. and 2. Store bought jewelry does break! I have a necklace from Maurices that I LOVE, but it pretty much "breaks" every time I wear it. I just fix it again, and it only takes like 5 minutes.
And here is the main reason. Generally it is so EASY to repair your broken jewelry! And if I can help you fix something instead of get rid of it, how awesome would that be? Not all broken jewelry is repairable, but most of it is and I think every woman should have the basic skills to fix her own, even if she isn't interested in making her own.
Hopefully some of you out there have some broken jewelry you've kept around in hopes of figuring out how to fix it one day, if so, let me know! If none of you do...well this tutorial will just have to wait.
Also, a reminder that there is a 25% off coupon code currently active in my shop. You can find the code in my blog post before this one. And, a heads up, my friend Aubrey, who has a fantastic little blog called Sweetness of the Everyday is going to be hosting a giveaway for me sometime in the next few weeks, so stayed tuned for that announcement.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Saturday, June 23, 2012
New Listings, Why Behind Prices, Discount Codes, and a Question
So, first of all, there are six new items in my shop. Most of them are styles I've already made in new colors, but there is one new design based off of Anthropologie's Shepherd Moon necklace. You can check out in my shop or on my necklace designs page.
Second of all. Sometimes I wonder if I'm charging too much for my necklaces, especially since I know a lot of you don't necessarily have a lot of money to spend on such things right now. But then I do something like go and spend 70 plus bucks in one trip to Michaels (like I did today) and I remember, supplies aren't cheap! I do actually keep track of what supplies I use in each necklace and how much they cost. Then you have to add in the hours I spend on each necklace, which can range anywhere from one hour to probably about four or five, perhaps more. I've never really kept track because if I priced based on the time I put into them, my necklaces could end up costing a lot more. Lastly, I have to add in the costs I accrue up by using etsy. They do charge a small listing fee, and a percentage from each transaction. So, when I really think about all that goes into my necklaces, I do feel like my prices are reasonable. I hope you all feel the same way, because I want to share this hobby/talent with the people I care about, but if I want to be able to keep it up, I do have to actually have an income from it.
However, to help a little bit with prices, I've decided to create my first coupon code for etsy! This coupon code is meant to be entered during you're transaction, and this particular code will give you 25% off any item in my shop. The code is: FamFriend25Off and should work as long as you enter exactly as I've typed it here. I'll plan to keep it up in my shop for a week, giving you until next Saturday evening to make use of it. Also, for any family members, friends, or ward members who I can deliver any products to without actually sending them through the mail shouldn't have to pay shipping fees right? Right! So, if you're considering buying something from my shop, contact me and I will give you a coupon code that will eliminate the shipping charges for your item. And I will trust you not to pass it on to anybody who I would actually need to ship the item to.
Finally, a question. How many of you don't have and aren't willing to get a PayPal account? I ask this because etsy has now made direct checkout available, meaning customers can be charged directly to their credit cars instead of through PayPal, if I activate it in my shop. However, there would be a fee for each transaction, on top of the fee etsy already deducts from the sale. It isn't much, but it would add up over time, so for now I hesitate to activate direct checkouts. But, I know some of you may not know how to set up and use a PayPal account, or even what one is. If that is the case for you, please leave a comment and let me know. If there are enough people who would be more likely to purchase from my shop if I activate direct checkout, I may be willing to do so.
Second of all. Sometimes I wonder if I'm charging too much for my necklaces, especially since I know a lot of you don't necessarily have a lot of money to spend on such things right now. But then I do something like go and spend 70 plus bucks in one trip to Michaels (like I did today) and I remember, supplies aren't cheap! I do actually keep track of what supplies I use in each necklace and how much they cost. Then you have to add in the hours I spend on each necklace, which can range anywhere from one hour to probably about four or five, perhaps more. I've never really kept track because if I priced based on the time I put into them, my necklaces could end up costing a lot more. Lastly, I have to add in the costs I accrue up by using etsy. They do charge a small listing fee, and a percentage from each transaction. So, when I really think about all that goes into my necklaces, I do feel like my prices are reasonable. I hope you all feel the same way, because I want to share this hobby/talent with the people I care about, but if I want to be able to keep it up, I do have to actually have an income from it.
However, to help a little bit with prices, I've decided to create my first coupon code for etsy! This coupon code is meant to be entered during you're transaction, and this particular code will give you 25% off any item in my shop. The code is: FamFriend25Off and should work as long as you enter exactly as I've typed it here. I'll plan to keep it up in my shop for a week, giving you until next Saturday evening to make use of it. Also, for any family members, friends, or ward members who I can deliver any products to without actually sending them through the mail shouldn't have to pay shipping fees right? Right! So, if you're considering buying something from my shop, contact me and I will give you a coupon code that will eliminate the shipping charges for your item. And I will trust you not to pass it on to anybody who I would actually need to ship the item to.
Finally, a question. How many of you don't have and aren't willing to get a PayPal account? I ask this because etsy has now made direct checkout available, meaning customers can be charged directly to their credit cars instead of through PayPal, if I activate it in my shop. However, there would be a fee for each transaction, on top of the fee etsy already deducts from the sale. It isn't much, but it would add up over time, so for now I hesitate to activate direct checkouts. But, I know some of you may not know how to set up and use a PayPal account, or even what one is. If that is the case for you, please leave a comment and let me know. If there are enough people who would be more likely to purchase from my shop if I activate direct checkout, I may be willing to do so.
Monday, June 18, 2012
So, Tell Me What You Want
(and now the song respect is running through your head, right?)
Anyway, I really do want to know what you guys want to see: on this blog and in my shop. Do you want tutorials on making jewelry in general, on specific necklaces I've made, etc? Or would you just like me to link you to some awesome tutorials that are already out there? What do you want to see in the shop? Is you favorite color sadly missing from my shop? Let me know! Do you like shorter necklaces (like my mom) and I've made mostly longer ones? Let me know! Would it help you guys to see pictures of my necklaces on an actual person? Because as much as I don't want to be posting pictures of myself, I'd totally do it if you guys need/want me to? Do you want to see some earrings or bracelets in my the shop? Cause I can totally make them, I just don't wear them all that often, so I don't think about them much. Seriously guys, I want to know what you want! So PLEASE leave a comment and give me your jewelry/accessory wish list! and I'll do my best to make your wishes come true. ;)
P.S. Feel free to link me to pictures as examples of what you like.
Anyway, I really do want to know what you guys want to see: on this blog and in my shop. Do you want tutorials on making jewelry in general, on specific necklaces I've made, etc? Or would you just like me to link you to some awesome tutorials that are already out there? What do you want to see in the shop? Is you favorite color sadly missing from my shop? Let me know! Do you like shorter necklaces (like my mom) and I've made mostly longer ones? Let me know! Would it help you guys to see pictures of my necklaces on an actual person? Because as much as I don't want to be posting pictures of myself, I'd totally do it if you guys need/want me to? Do you want to see some earrings or bracelets in my the shop? Cause I can totally make them, I just don't wear them all that often, so I don't think about them much. Seriously guys, I want to know what you want! So PLEASE leave a comment and give me your jewelry/accessory wish list! and I'll do my best to make your wishes come true. ;)
P.S. Feel free to link me to pictures as examples of what you like.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Welcome and Intro
Welcome to Dia's Adornments, my crafting, etc blog! I've just started a shop on etsy (see the shop tab above) and wanted to have a blog to accompany it. I don't really know exactly what I'm doing, so be patient with me while I figure out where I want to go with this blog and the shop. Hopefully it won't take me too long to get things better organized and designed as I figure things out. Until then, enjoy what is available and feel free to ask me any questions. Thanks for stopping by!
Lydia
Lydia
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)