Treasury!

Here are 2 great treasuries that feature some of my jewelry. Thanks MonkeyBuns!


and JewelryCreations!

A sneak peek...

The last 3 weeks I have been getting Rituxan treatments for ITP. I spend 1 day a week at the hospital getting it and the next few days not feeling all that well. Trying to make the best out of this sitation by using this time off from my day job to work on new pieces. The result is several new pieces which will be listed in my Etsy shop over the next few weeks.

Here's a sneak peek for my loyal blog readers!

New Website!

Check out the new Zen Creations website!

 

Zen Creations Jewelry

I'm loving the design!!! I don't have a shopping cart yet, so for now, everything will link back to the sections in my Etsy shop. It's geat to have matching business cards, blog, website, banner, car magnets and Etsy banner.

5 tips for making the best out of a bad craft show

OK, so we've all been there. You sign up for a craft show, spend weeks getting ready, you get there, set up and then.............. nothing. If you're lucky, you make your space fee back, plus a little extra, but then there are times where you just don't sell a thing. It's even worse if it's a craft show that you've done well at in the past.

So, what do you do? Quit? Go home early? Stop doing shows? No. You make the best of it. Here are my top 5 tips for making the best out of a bad craft show:

1. Work on new pieces. This has 2 benfits. The first is you get somework done instead of just sitting around all day. The second is people can watch you work on your creations and a lot of times this sparks interest. People like it when they can see that what you selling is handmade by you. Even better when they've watched you make the piece they bought.

2. Research - Customers. Listen to what people are taking about when they are looking at your goods. What pieces get the most compliments? What pieces get overlooked? What colors are people drawn too, etc. Listen to your target audience and what their needs are so you can work on filling that need.

3. Research - Displays and packaging. Take a walk around and look at other people's displays and packaging. Find inspiration from that for your own displays. Take some time to consider your displaying needs, what works in your booth now and how you can improve it for the next show.

4. Find your "hot spot". Every booth at a craft show has a "hot spot", that one place where people always seem to notice first in your space. That spot that, whatever you put there, people notice it and it draws them in. Once you've found that spot, try changing the pieces that are there every so often and see which draws people in the most.

5. Network. This is the perfect time to network with other crafters in your area. Talk to the other vendors and found out about future craft shows, contact info, suppliers, etc. These are people that you will most likely run into again and again at local shows and it doesn't hurt to get to know them a little bit.

Strawberries!

This Saturday the Mercersburg Lioness Club is hosting the Strawberry Festival in Mercersburg, PA. If you're in the area, stop by the Lion's Club Park from 9am to 3pm and check out the crafts, food, strawberries and fun dog show. Don't forget to look for us while you're there!

Here are some great Strawberry items that I found @ Etsy.com!

Etsy Buy Handmade zencreations04

The little things count!

One of the things I have learned over the last 3 years is that all the little things make a difference with advertising -- never miss an opportunity. For instance - your bags at craft shows. Bags are a perfect opportunity to advertise your goods. You should always include your business cards in your bags. I usually use some of the downtime at shows to stuff bags with my business cards. That way, if you get a rush of customers, your bags are all ready to go.

Another thing I started doing was decorating my bags. You don't have to spend a lot of money on your bags, and it only takes a little time to spruce them up a bit. Since I sell jewelry, I can get away with smaller bags. I purchase the brown paper bags from the grocery store and decorate them with 3 different stamps. The first one is a long bamboo stamp, the second is a Z stamp and the third is my business stamp which includes my Etsy shop address. They're cheap, simple and look better than plastic bags.

Banner, part 2.

It's finished!

 

I painted in the larger areas first, concentrating on the black and green. Next I painted in all of the smaller areas, the lines and dots. Finally, I did the lettering and painted an off white boarder around the outside. I am very pleased with the end result and I think this will work well for the front of one of my tables. Next time, I'm going to make a larger one for one side of my tent.

Making my own banner, part 1

I've looked over all my options for a banner for my craft show set-up, and none of them seemed to be what I wanted. Too costly, too little choices for design, etc. So, I decided that I should just make my own, and I couldn't be happier with the results so far.

Here's what I did:

1. I made a trip to our local Joanne's Fabric for muslin and paint. Muslin costs only $1.99 a yard, easy to cut and paint on. I bought 2 yards of it, plenty to make a couple of different sized banners, but right now I'm focusing on just one. Next, I blew up my postcard and taped the pages together.


2. I taped up the blown up copy of the postcard and traced it on white paper with a black sharpie marker. The black sharpie can be seen through the muslin and makes it much easier to transfer the design onto the muslin.


3. Next I postioned the black and white copy under the muslin and traced the design onto the muslin.


4. I don't own a sewing maching, so I iron on stips of fusing web to create neat and clean edges.


5. Now I am ready to paint!

Zen Creations - table set up

Zen Creations
Originally uploaded by zencreations04

One last picture for today. This one is of my table. I think Suzy took a much better one, but I like how I caught Lance making his way behind the table in this one!

Tomorrow I will post some more pictures from this event.

Shared table - Project Felt and Hobbledehoy

Shared table - Project Felt and Hobbledehoy
Originally uploaded by zencreations04

Liz and Tara's table. I really think their stuff looks great together!!!

Syd of Dottedwithhearts and ShopofLittleHorrors

Syd of Dottedwithhearts and ShopofLittleHorrors
Originally uploaded by zencreations04

Just finally getting back into the swing of things after this weekend. The craft show went really well, not as busy as everyone would have liked, but I think we all had a great time getting to know each other, hanging out, selling a few things, etc. Seph did a fantastic job with the music and everyone seemed to love the unusual setting.

Here's a picture of Syd from Dottedwithhearts and Shopoflittlehorrors at her table!

Uwishunu.com write up

Sara did a nice little write-up about our craft show, check it out: http://www.uwishunu.com/not-your-grandmothers-craft-show-this-weekend/

Promos are packed and ready to do in the Jeep. I'm really impressed with the promos that were sent from such a wide variety of Etsy sellers! I will take a picture of the promo table on Saturday and post here as soon as I can.

Now I just have to finish getting vendor info organized, $$ to pay for the venue ready and get the car packed up tonight. Tomorrow its a short day at work, followed by a 3 hour drive to Philly to get the venue ready for Saturday. I can't wait!

Craft show in Philly this weekend!!!!

If you are in the area on Saturday, please stop by and join in on the fun!

Corner of 48th and Woodland Ave. - across from the ball field.

Not Your Grandma's Craft Show! Vendor List

Next weekend is the Mason-Dixon & Philly Etsy Team joint craft show!!! I can't wait to get together and meet more of my fellow Etsy sellers!

Here's a sneak peek at the amazing vendors that will be at this event:

Etsy Buy Handmade projectfelt

Etsy Buy Handmade zencreations04

Etsy Buy Handmade hobbledehoy

Etsy Buy Handmade TranquilityJewelry

Etsy Buy Handmade pheajean

Etsy Buy Handmade dottedwithhearts

Etsy Buy Handmade beckyaugustine

Etsy Buy Handmade ShopOfLittleHorrors

Etsy Buy Handmade Cbeauty

Etsy Buy Handmade DesignsByPat

Etsy Buy Handmade allisonostertag

Etsy Buy Handmade BijouxByAllison

Etsy Buy Handmade insitudecorativearts

Etsy Buy Handmade LemonDrops2

Etsy Buy Handmade jadevixen555

Etsy Buy Handmade KlaatuCollection

Magnets!

I recently ordered some car door magnets from Vistaprint.com and they just came in! I got one for each of our cars, plus one for my mom's car. I love the design so much, I ordered business cards and postcards to match. I think they stand out on our blue cars.

Although I think Lance needs to wash his car! LOL

Last day for Team Members to reserve their spot!

Today is the last day for members of the Philly and Mason-Dixon teams to get in their entry fees for our joint craft show! As it stands right now, we have 10 spaces taken, and 3 more that have express interest. If I have already contacted you or sent you an invoice, a space will be held for you, but only for 2 days. Please pay your invoices for your space asap.

Any new additions to our vendor list will have their etsy mini's added to the myspace page tomorrow.

2 more Vendors!

I am pleased to announce that we have 2 more vendors for our event! Cbeauty and designsbypat from the Philly team have signed on as vendors. Only 6 spaces left!



The myspace page is up and running. Team members please send out a bulletin to your friends asking them to add and support our event! Syd from dottedwithhearts was gracious enough to create a flyer for our event. Anyone that wants to copy and use it for promoting our event, please do!

Not Your Grandma's Craft Show - updates for Vendors

Hello all! I just have a few updates for all vendors/team members.

Anyone team member interested in being a vendor for this event, please either contact me on Etsy, or send your $20 paypal via paypal to zencreations04@yahoo.com Please be sure to include your name, shop name and dimensions of your table that you will be using at this event.
Vendors please remember that tables will not be provided.

For anyone that has already signed up and has not given me their table dimensions, please convo me with that information as soon as you can.

Oh, and I have started on a myspace page for our event. It is very plain right now, but I will work on fixing it up as people sign up. You can view and add our event page at http://www.myspace.com/notyourgrandmascraftshow I will be adding an Etsy Mini for each participating vendor and I would also like to include photos of 2 items that you have for sale in your Etsy shop. These photos will be used as the avatar for our event page and will be rotated daily. You can send me your item links via convo on Etsy.

If you have any questions, please contact me.

Thanks!

We have a name!!!

It's official, the name for our upcoming craft show is:
Not Your Grandma's Craft Show
Date: May 10th
Time: 1pm - 6pm
Location: Church of Divine Energy, corner of 48th and Woodland.
There will also be food, drinks and music.

This event is currently open only to members of the Philly Etsy Team and the Mason-Dixon Indie Crafters team.

Cost for a space is $20 (tables only - sorry! tables will not be provided). Interested members of these teams should send me a convo on Etsy with their name, email address and dimentions of the table you will be using, and I will send them an invoice via paypal for the space fee. Spaces wil be sold on a first come, first served baises and must be paid by no later than April 20th.

As of today, there are only 9 more spaces left!

List of vendors (as of 4-7-08, 9:45am)
hobbledehoy
zencreations04
tranquilityjewelry
projectfelt
pheajean
dottedwithhearts/ shopoflittlehorrors
beckyaugustine

Mason-Dixon & Philly Teams - We need your vote!

On May 10th, the Mason-Dixon Indie Crafters and the Philly Etsy team will be gathering in Philly for a craft show. The event will be held at the Church of the Divine Energy on the corner of 48th and Woodland. While the name of the venue suggests it would look like a conventional church, it is acutally a converted warehouse (on the small side) that has hosted several bands, art and misc. events over the last few years.

The event will include vendors from both the Mason-Dixon and Philly Teams, plus food, drinks and music (both a DJ and live music). We have narrowed down our name for the event to two options and need help in deciding which to use. Please vote!

Thank you!

Color, color, color!

Lately, I find myself gravitating towards bright and colorful beads. I don't know whether it's because it's the end of winter, or just being tired of gray, rainy days and can't wait for spring and sunshine. Either way, it has inspired me to create more colorful pieces of jewelry. For myself, I normally prefer to wear darker colors and the pieces I create for myself usually reflect that. For my shop, I try to work with an array of colors, not limiting myself to a particular palette. Lately I have been trying to expand my collection of beads and assortments of colors.

My first addition to my bead collection was some disc beads from Etsy seller Blue Healer Glass. I have to admit, I had a hard time choosing which beads to purchase! This is the first of many rings and earrings that I plan to create with these gorgeous beads.

I also paired some bright turquoise beads with some fiery red coral beads to create an eye catching, summery swing earring.

Up next, more woven pieces and experimentation with color!

Decisions, decisions

Ok, so last night I was boo-hooing over my ITP problems . This morning, I was experiencing a little bit of regret for posting something that personal. I had never planned to talk about my health problems in my blog, I didn't want people to think I was looking for sympathy or, even worse yet, a pity sale. I had wanted to keep this space for jewelry and of course, some cute Zoe things. I decided to keep last nights post up, because it reminds me that if I hasn't gotten sick, I would have never tried selling my own jewelry, and I wouldn't have been able to stay at home with Zoe as long as I did. It's that whole, when one door closes, another one opens sort of thing. People always say, "Things happen for a reason."

I guess that reason was to slow down, start my own business, and take more time to enjoy my family and friends. That has made me so thankfull that Rob, Chris and Haim started up Etsy.com. Its more than a website to sell handmade goods. That site has helped so many different people, with different abilities, diabilites, and backgrounds make their dreams a reality.

If you've never visited Etsy.com, please do. I think you'll be pleasantly suprised.

ITP woes and how Etsy.com helped me

I've never really posted about my health problems on here before. But I've recently gotten a little bit of bad news, and I thought maybe it would help me. But before I get to my bad news, I think a little background is in order......

When I was 8 months pregnant with my daughter, I was diagnosed with ITP, which is an autoimune disease where the body targets the platelets in the blood. It made for a very complicated birth, especially considering I was being induced at 8 months, and my platelet count when they started inducing was below the critical level (30,000). With the help of an IvIg treatment, my counts were up higher in time for Zoe's birt. Zoe and I both survived and luckily she only had a temporary platelet production before her body fought back and corrected it. At the time, my Dr thought I my body would do the same an in 6 months time I would be back to normal.

As luck would have it, the high dose of steriods that I was on at the time slowly stopped working, and my platelet counts started falling. After 6 months, I was termed chronic and told that I would have it for the rest of my life. What did that mean? Well, with some treatments, I might find a remission of sorts, maybe even reach an almost normal level. BUT, I hd to understand what was happening, learn the warning signs that my counts may be too low, learn to deal with the low energy, deal with treatments, side effects and thanks to the lovely bruises -- look like a battered wife most of the time!

The worst part of all this for me was that my counts were staying pretty low, just above critical and that made my job unsafe about 90% of the time. At that time I worked as a jeweler for Paul Morelli Designs in Philly. I loved that job, love the jewelry that I made every day. The day the Dr told me that I may never be able to work in jewelry like I did before ITP was the day my heart broke. I remember I kept thinking, " what am I going to do now?" Being a jeweler was such a huge part of me, my life, it made me happy, it was what I was good at.

I focused on my daughter and husband, learned more about ITP, treatments and went for my weekly blood test. I felt lost a lot, like something big was missing from my life. I very mcuh enjoyed being a stay at home mom, but I missed making jewelry. Depression, frustration, aggrevation. In the meantime, I tried another treatment and only got minimal results. Then my Dr and I agreed to try and just watch and see where I would maintain without treatment. 40,000 was my magic number (the low end of normal is 150,000).

Still with me?

Anyway, I started makign some jewelry pieces, avoiding my saw frame and flex shaft, sticking with beads, wire and pliers. My husband started taking the pieces I made to work and selling them. Requests started coming in and my line started to expand. I felt better, but something was still missing, but not for long. Turns out my husband worked with a woman who's son was working on a wonderful new website that she thought I might be interested in. A few weeks later Lance (husband) calls and tells me to go to http://www.etsy.com/. A few minutes there and I was signing up for an account. The site grew, items were sold, my line expanded even more, and I was well on my way with my brand new business!

For almost a year now, I was enjoying a sort-of remission with my ITP. I had endured over a year of chemo treatments for my ITP (once every 3 months), and the side effects that went with it. I found support in Etsy, confort in the forums from new friends that I had made. It gave me the distraction I needed to forget about the side effects and the treatments for a while. During my remission, I concentrated on my line of jewelry, trying to produce more, learn new techniques, fix my shop, promote, sell at local craft shows. My business was slowly growing, and we were all enjoying it.

On Monday, I went for my usual 3 month check in with my hematologist and got some not so nice news. My platelet count had dropped significantly, from 130,000 to 60,000. Time to start looking into what we're going to try next. Time to get ready for the bruises, etc. My Dr wants me to consider a new drug that is expected to pass FDA approval in a month or two. AMG531. After reading more about it, and the side effects that people experienced -- I think I'd rather get 50 more bone marrow tests than try this drug!

My case is most certainly not the worst. As a matter of fact, my counts are pretty good compared to some of the other people who have ITP. At least I mostly stay above critical and don't have the spontaneous bleeding or need to be hospitalized regularly. But it still impacts my life in a way that I don't like and I guess I never will.

I just have to keep reminding myself, I have family, friends, a husband who loves me, a beautiful little girl, my jewelry and of couse, Etsy. Reading about how other people with ITP are on the PDSA support boards also shows me that I'm pretty lucky. When I read about the kids who are suffering from it and the adults who can't get close to my normal count, who bleed for no reason, well, it makes me realize that I'm pretty lucky after all.



If you read this far, thank you for listening.

Spring Gift Guide on Etsy

I love looking at the Gift Guides on Etsy and I admit I check them fairly often. This morning, while looking through the seasonal Gift Guides, I got a very nice surprise. My Spring Thaw necklace has been added to the Spring Gift Guide!!! http://www.etsy.com/gift-guides/spring/64



I'm also very happy that Pillowhead designs spring pillow was added as well. I absolutely love her embroidered pillowcases!!!

A sneak peak....

Here's just a little sneak peak of what I have been working on lately. This necklace, Spring Thaw, will be listed very soon in my Etsy.com shop. I've also been working on a lot of new pieces inspired by spring and natural materials like shell and wood. More good things to come soon!

Gift Guide Showcase today, reaching 300!

I'm trying out the gift guide showcase today, but without listing any new items. So far I have tried out the gift guide showcase, main showcase, storque showcase and the jewelry showcase and I've gotten the best response from the gift guide showcase. Last time I did it, I listed about 4 items that day, and my shop picked up a bunch of heart. I want to see if it was the listings or the showcase that brought in the views....

Yesterday I reached another milestone on Etsy. I had my 300th sale! I added a little extra something with that buyers purchase, hope she enjoys it! Wow, 2 1/2 years on Etsy, 300 sales. Not too bad I guess. Looking back to when I (and Etsy) started, I've realized that I've learned a lot in that time. My photographs, item descriptions, tagging, avatar,etc. have improved as well as my technique. Some of my early photos were really sad! LOL

PA Ice Fest

Boy, a sick kid can really throw off your week! I have been meaning to post about the PA IceFest for days now, but Zoe woke up with a nasty cold Sunday morning. It took 2 days at home with Grammy and before we could all get back on track.



Anyway, we went to the PA Ice Fest in Chambersburg, PA last weekend. The weather wasn't very nice saturday afternoon, so we only got to see a little more than half of the sculptures. Zoe loved being able to go up and touch them, and of course she wanted her picture taken infront of some of them!

Zoe, the ice eskimo!

This was one of the tallest sculptures we saw. Zoe is about 3 foot, so you can just imagine how tall it was! There was also an impressive sculpture of a train and a snowman throne that the kids could sit on and get their pictures taken. The line was too long for Zoe's patience, maybe we can do it next year...

Zoe, the Princess of Crafting!

Zoe and I have a day off from pre-school and work today. We had some icy weather overnight into the morning, leaving everything covered in a layer of ice. It's very pretty, but not something I want to go out in!

It's a good day to stay inside, relax by the fire, and to do some crafts with Princess Zoe. I started knitting a scarf for myself, one to match the scarf I made for Zoe last week. Zoe demonstrated how to cut up her yarn. She says she's going to make a sweater out of it later on. Of course, she has to do her crafting in her princess costume!

She's busy in the kitchen now, making something with her Moon Sand. I'm not supposed to come in until she is finished with her masterpiece. It gives me a chance to check in on my Etsy shop and see what's going on in the forums. This afternoon I plan on making some jewelry while she naps. I have some ideas for a few bracelets, earrings and a necklce. Not sure which piece I will work on first, but I'm hoping to complete a few of them and get them listed before the weekend is over.

Last night's jewelry party was a success. I was happy to have some of my fellow JETs (Jewelry on Etsy Team) come in the party chat room and keep me company. It gave me a change to get to know some of them better and take a better look at their shops. I saw some really beautiful pieces last night! A few of my party guests stopped by to say hi and try out chat as well. Overall, I would say it was a great night!

Online Jewelry Party this Thursday!

Location: http://www.zencreations04.etsy.com

When: Thursday, January 31st, 6pm to 11pm

Get 15% off all regular priced jewelry (awareness items excluded)!
Tp get your discount, enter this code in the message to seller box when purchasing: VDAYPARTY. Complete your order, but do not use the payment link provided after your order has been completed. I will email you an updated invoice asap.

2 people will be chosen at random to get a free gift!

If you have any questions, I will be online during the party, so feel free to contact me via Etsy Convo. If an Etsy chat room is available that evening, I will post the web address in my shop during the party.

Please feel free to pass this coupon code along to friends and family!


Happy Shopping!

Here's a sneak peak: This necklace will be listed for sale in my Etsy shop around 4pm today. Watch for many more new pieces before the party!

JET Team Treasure Hunt!!!

The JET (Jewelry on Etsy) Team is having a treasure hunt!

Buyers and sellers are welcome to play. Bring your friends!

HOW TO PLAY: Below is a list of participating shops. There is one "treasure" hidden in the listings of each participating shop. Search through the listings of each shops to find the treasure. Keep track of the shop names and URLs where the treasures are located. Convo lushbeads with your answers. The winner will be the one who finds all of the treasures!!

You have 2 days to hunt - from 12:01AM EST Fri January 25th to 11:59PM EST Sat January 26th. Make sure to convo your answers before 11:59PM on Saturday!!

PRIZES: There will be prizes! Out of everyone who finds all the treasures, we will randomly pick 5 names and each person will win a fabulous handmade jewelry prize. A sneak peek at the prizes: http://flickr.com/photos/lushbeads/2218057726/

Here's what your treasure looks like: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lushbeads/2211519899/

Look high and look low...some folks may have been sneaky with their treasures!

PARTICIPATING SHOPS - remember, each shop has one treasure hidden in its listings!
http://majentadesigns.etsy.com/
http://alorinna.etsy.com/
http://michon.etsy.com/
http://bdazzlingcreations.etsy.com/
http://beachstreetbeads.etsy.com/
http://lushbeads.etsy.com/
http://beadifuldesigns.etsy.com/
http://emilini.etsy.com/
http://zencreations04.etsy.com/
http://fishonthewall.etsy.com/
http://missrie.etsy.com/
http://shinyadornments.etsy.com/
http://jewelrybytara.etsy.com/
http://keelyb.etsy.com/
http://malves1009.etsy.com/
http://littlebrownbird.etsy.com/
http://thebrasshussy.etsy.com/
http://morganalexadesigns.etsy.com/
http://artmadebytammy.etsy.com/
http://redpanda.etsy.com/
http://designsbycher.etsy.com/
http://crystalimpressions.etsy.com/
http://DaisiemaiCreations.etsy.com/
http://cserpent.etsy.com/

Have fun hunting!!!

Offical forum thread about the hunt (for updates): http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5434241&page=4

New banner, taking a break

I took a little break, needed some time to relax after the move and think about what pieces I wanted to work on next. I have a new necklace that I had started before the break, and I believe that I am ready to finish it and get to work on some of the other pieces that I've had rolling around my head during the break. It was nice to take a few days and relax, read a few books, spend time with my family, knit and enjoy an evening or two of just doing nothing in particular. Sometimes nights like that are necessary. Gives your brain a chance to take a break. I find that I need to do this from time to time, and I always come back with a long list of ideas and goals.

Last night I tried out Etsy's newest tool, the Bannerator. It's a new banner generator that Etsy came up with to help newbies and poeple who don't have much time to make a banner. Right now, there are only a few different designs to choose from, but I'm sure more will be added before the offical launch. I tried it out, since I was sick of my old banner, and decided on this one:

 

I added a few photos of my work in Photoshop. I've already come across several people with the same basic banner, minus the photos. I guess that could cause some problems with buyers, make things a little confusing, but for right now, I think it works for my shop until I have some time to create a new one.

Storque Showcase on Etsy today!

 

In an effort to boost my shop profile on Etsy, I recently purchased 3 different showcase spots. On Monday, I had a spot in the Gift Guide Showcase. Today I am trying out the Storque Showcase. Above is a screenshot of the showcase a few minutes ago. I've been playing around with switching out the first featured item every few hours to see which brings in more traffic, and listing 3 to 4 items throughout the day. Overall, I'm hoping it will bring more views to my shop and possibly some sales. At the end of this month, I'm going to try out the Category Showcase.

In the meantime, I've been busy with new pieces, and retaking photos of pieces that are already in the shop. The shop needs a new, fresh look and new pictures and listings seems like the way to go. Next up, a new banner!

Getting back into the swing of things

We've been in the house for almost 2 weeks now, and just started setting up the rec room in the basement. Soon I will be able to bring over my bench and get it set up and ready for more metal work. In the meantime, I have been working on photographing all of pieces I made for holiday home parties + some new pieces. My goal is to list at least 1 to 2 items a day, maybe more, for the rest of this month. I posted 2 Valentine's Day pieces so far, and I have 2 more that I am working on. It's amazing how much more work I can get done now that I have a better and more organized workspace.

New Year, New House, New Jewelry!!

Wow! What a way to start the year!! First off, we bought and moved into a house in Mercersburg, PA over the weekend. It took all weekend and most of Monday, but we have just about everything moved in and set up. On of the best parts about this house is that we now have an extra room that can be used for a proper office/workspace for me. It was one of the last rooms we set up, but it was worth the wait! Here's a picture of the office:

It will be a little while until we can get the basement straightened out and get my bench moved in and set-up, but I am loving my new office/workspace.

I've also made several new items that I can't wait to list in my Etsy shop. New rings, earrings, necklace and bracelets are on their way! Here is one that I just listed:


I just love the colors in this stone!

Happy Holidays!

I haven't had much time to blog lately, between buying a house, getting ready to move, custom orders, home parties and Etsy, I've barely had time to sleep! I have tons of new pieces, but haven't had much time to take pictures and list them. A couple of new pieces will be added over the next few days, and then I will have to take 2 weeks off for moving.

Here's a few pictures of my little one, the Z.E.N. in Zen Creations.




Happy Holidays!!!

Cyber Monday Sale!

Cyber Monday Sale @ Zen Creations!

Today, November 26th, 2007

http://www.zencreations04.etsy.com

All regular priced items are 15% off*
FREE shipping (within the US) on all orders of $50 +*

Just enter the code CYBER26 in the message to seller box when purchasing. Do not use the payment link provided. A revised invoice will be emailed to you with the discount(s) applied.

Buy Handmade this Holiday Season!

Tired of toy recalls, cheaply made goods, and generic gifts? Sick of having to wait in long check-out lines, searching for a space in the mall parking lot, fighting the crowds?

Why not buy handmade this holiday season? Get your friends and family unique, hand crafted gifts this holiday season and request they do the same for you!
Go to: http://www.buyhandmade.org and take the handmade pledge!!! Then, check out all of the great gifts that Etsy.com has to offer. Shop in the comfort of your own home and skip the crowds!



Buy Handmade this holiday season!

Busy, busy, busy!

Boy oh boy has it been a busy couple of weeks! Between catching up on the work I missed (on vacation) at my day job, custom orders, my Etsy shop, home parties and a craft show, I've barely had time to sit down and relax for a minute. I'm not complaining though, I love being this busy, even if it mean sleeping a lot less for the next month or so!

This week I have a home party (wen. evening) and a craft show at my husband's work (thursday). The home party is the first of two parties that have been booked (so far - crossing my fingers for more)and I'm just about ready for it. I finished up the last of the pieces last night, got them all priced and tagged. Now I just need to look over my stock tonight, clean up anything that is tarnished and repack it in my trays. I also need to pack up my displays and checkout stuff, and get it all in the car for tomorrow night.

My Etsy shop will be missing quite a few items due to these events. I plan on having it restored as soon a possible, hopefully by later thursday evening. I can't wait until I have my stock built up enough that I can have a seperate set of items, or "online exclusives" for Etsy and only Etsy.