Southern Callifornia Bead Shop Hop Day 0

We arrived in Southern California from Las Vegas (home) about midday on Thursday.  I was so eager to start hopping that I decided to take the advice of a couple of friends and check out the bead district which is part of the fashion district in downtown Los Angeles.  One friend had given me the address of a store called Bead Factory, which is actually two stores in one.  The other store inside the store is Bohemian Crystals. 
We worked our way through the narrow crowded streets passing the produce district on the way to the fashion district.  We passed blocks and blocks of what looked like sidewalk sales everywhere.  When we found the address, Gene pulled over and dropped me off.  I decided to start in the store on the corner and work my way down.  I was somehow under the delusion that we would be able to look at most of the 20 or more stores that I had found listed in the area.  That first store (that I never really figured out the name of) was so crowded and so overwhelming. 

As I took a few pictures, Gene tried calling me.  My phone decided I was too busy, and sent Gene a text asking what's up.  He couldn't find me, and I finally had to call him and he made his way through the maze to where I was.  We staggered to the next store:  Beads and More.  Thinking that I had plenty of time, and I was going to compare prices, I started taking notes. A girl said, in her broken English, that I should buy it now, because they would change their prices tomorrow, and she didn't want me to get tired.  I thanked her, and finished my notes as Gene talked to the Owner who was from Iran if I remember correctly.  We assured them we would return, and moved on to the next store.  We finally had made it to the one that had been recommended to me, and I started looking around.  It was more crowded with people, an organized store, but more filled with people.  I was finding charms and other misc. materials when I asked about the Swarovski... I was pointed to the Bohemian Crystal corner of the store....and the rest is history.  WOW!!!  That tiny corner of the store had soooooo many crystals, and the prices were great.  You guessed it.  I bought a lot of crystal rivolis.  You know what that means right?  I have a lot of bezeling in my future.  We closed the store...the sign says they close at 4:00, and they kept finding me crystals, and we left after 4:30. 
After I spend my fortune at that 2 in 1 store, we headed back to Beads and More.  I found some fabulous deals there as well, and I believe they closed at 5:00   I had my list, and so I rushed around the store grabbing the things I wanted.  We were able to get back to the car before the lot charged us for the next several hours. 
So there we were in downtown LA, finished with our shopping for the day, and we realized that it was the peak of rush hour.  Instead of heading to Oceanside where we are staying and  grabbing dinner at Ruby's on the pier, we decided to wait out the traffic a bit and stopped at Jack in the Box.  We made it to our place in plenty of time for me to make 4 macrame bracelets before bedtime. 
I know I promised that I would list a lot of new things on Etsy this week, but I'm afraid I'm going to be a little bit tardy on that.  I'm afraid if I don't blog about this trip while it's fresh in my mind, I'll forget everything.

100 likes giveaway winner!

Before long, I expect to have 100 likes on my Facebook page.  As I've said before, I'm pretty new to all of this.  I wrote my first pattern three months ago, and immediately opened an Etsy store in order to get that pattern to the people who had requested it.  https://www.etsy.com/shop/AuntieJewelrybyJulie?ref=si_shop  I then set up a Facebook page for this brand new business.  The trouble is, I had no idea what to do with it.  I let a few close friends know about it, and as of Tuesday, I had 12 likes.  That was more than fine with me, because there was nothing on the page to see.  While taking a class on how to sell on Etsy I learned that a blog will help.  I still didn't know what I was doing when I started this blog, but I took it on faith that my teachers, Shae and Cloe, knew what they were talking about.  
On Tuesday, I shared my few posts onto Facebook, and then it looked like something was really starting.  I decided it was time to ask friends and family to like my page.  That was two days ago, and I'm now watching for my 100th like.  Someone said it pays to have a large family....after laughing, I started to wonder how many of these nearly 100 likes were family.  I looked at the list and it was only 24 out of 90 something people who were family.  Then I started finding names that weren't even Facebook friends.  This has given me a renewed enthusiasm to list more jewelry for sale.  (just in time to go off grid for the weekend.  I'd better do something to work on those listings off grid)
As a thank you, I will be giving a $10 gift certificate to Fulya Kazar who is the person who gave me the 100th like, and a coupon for 10% off for everyone else during the month of September.  https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/AuntieJewelrybyJulie/coupons?si_ys_dd_coupons=#100LIKESONFACEBOOK   I'll also be adding more items during the first week of September, and watch for a Birthday special.  I'll give you the gifts for my birthday.  
When I figure out more how to tweet, I'll have the same deal.  $10 for my 100th twitter follower, and a discount for everyone when I hit that level.   https://twitter.com/AuntieJewelry1

Bling, Bling, Bling!

Just a short little blog for now.  As I flipped through the channels last night and realized that the Emmys was on, I was tempted to watch it, but to do that would be like stabbing my husband, Gene, in the eyes, so I resisted the temptation.  I expected to be able to google Emmy jewelry and would find lots of pictures.  I'm struggling to find what I"m looking for.  I did find one great image of some very blingy earrings that I could recreate or reimagine. ***This is a prime example of how uncool I really am.  These images are from last year's Emmys.  Oddly enough the first image I found from this year is also Sophia Vergara.  Maybe another blog post is in order**** I normally use fish hook wires or leverback earwires instead of posts because of my allergy issues, and it would be much easier to create it anyway.   First I need to find a source for those teardrop emerald stones.  The Sapphire round and the Ruby round will be a breeze.  In fact, I probably already have those in my stash.  If I had any free time today, I'd just get started making them, but since I don't, I'll have to wait until tomorrow.  I'll bet I can find the teardrops to order today.  (that shouldn't take too long, right?)  Maybe my friend Mary who taught me how to bezel a rivoli has some.  Oh, Bezeling a rivoili is stitching beads around one of these round stones.  Then when I get the teardrop shaped stones I'll need to learn how to bezel one of those.  What was your favorite Bling, Bling, Bling?
   Here's a link to the blingyest pair I have listed on my Etsy store.  If you would like a custom made pair of blingy earrings, let me know!  https://www.etsy.com/listing/192703554/sexy-long-dangle-beaded-earrings?ref=shop_home_active_17

Who is Auntie Jewelry?

I am Auntie Jewelry, and I like to make jewelry, and if I want to continue making jewelry, I need to start selling some of it.  My first memories of making jewelry are of going to a local store owned by some people from our church.  The name of the store was JewelArt.  I remember staring in those little bins full of sparkly treasures and various metal findings.  My mom introduced me to Filigree.  This stuff looked like lace made out of metal.  Mom made lots of pins or brooches with Cameos and other Cabochons with Victorian scenes of lovers in their finest attire.  Sadly that store wasn't around for very long, but it definitely placed a spark deep inside of me. 
Without adequate supplies, or any access to them, I resorted to using the brightly colored plastic covered phone wires that my brothers had left behind when I moved into the upstairs bedroom.  I did a lot of wirewrapping, even though I had no idea of what it was.  I made many multi-colored rings, some bracelets and necklaces.  
Fast forward lots of years.  I got married (and divorced and remarried) quite young.  I am lucky enough to be married to a man who comes from a long line of devoted husbands.  They are so known for this that when my grandma heard we were engaged, she said, "Oh good! Those Spendlove men take good care of their women!"  I am the mother of 6 children and 11 grandchildren.  I spent 31 years raising children, and soon learned I had no time for hobbies.  My youngest child, Benjamin, was born with Cystic Fibrosis, and for the nearly 20 years he was on this earth, my whole world revolved around his care.  
For the last year and a half of his life Benjamin's medical team was an 8 hour drive away from home.  When he was hospitalized for 5 weeks at a time, I would move into the hospital with him. It was a time of hard work for him, and a bit of a vacation for me, because others were responsible for his care.  One time when we were there, Benjamin had stumbled upon a bushel box filled with beading supplies.  He told the occupational therapist that he thought his mom would like to see this box and maybe make something (even when he was sick, he followed the Spendlove tradition, and he was taking care of his mom).  That week, my spark for creating jewelry was reignited!  I still had no time, but I took a set of jewelry with a bracelet, earrings , and a necklace that I had made, home from that hospitalization.
During this same time, we would stay at my sister Amy's house the day before hospitalization, and the day of release, before heading home.  Amy's oldest three children are girls, and they were small at this time.  One of them commented that it was pretty neat that my name was Jewelry and I wear jewelry.  That's when I learned that they thought my name was actually Jewelry instead of Julie, so I was Aunt Jewelry!  
A few years later, I thought I had experienced all the grief I could possibly handle.  I had lost my son in 2009, just before he turned 20.  Twenty days later, I lost my Daddy, fifteen months later I lost my Mom.  I survived the grief, but it was more than my baby sister could take, and she suddenly died of stage four lung cancer last year.  
When Amy died, our older sister and I had been waiting for Amy to wean her youngest child, so the three of us could take a trip to Hawaii together.  Linda, my older sister, commented that Amy never seemed excited to go, but I believe that somewhere deep inside, Amy knew she would not live long enough to take this trip.  Linda and I took the trip in October to honor our baby sister, and while we were there we learned that all adult women are referred to as Auntie, because everyone is family.  At this time in order to honor family, or as they say in Hawaii, Ohana , I became Auntie Jewelry.
Go to my fledgling Etsy store

Baby steps

Where do I begin?  I suppose I can add as many blog posts as I need to give all of the background, so for now I'll blog about what's happening tonight, and in future blogs, I'll gradually fill you in on how I got to this point.
Tonight I attended the third in a series of four classes on how to sell on Etsy taught by Shae Wilhite, the co-owner at Sweet Beads here in Las Vegas http://www.sweetbeadslv.com/ , and Cloe Cessna owner of Cloe's Closet  https://www.etsy.com/shop/CloesCloset?ref=shop_sugg , a very successful store on Etsy.  I'll add another blog later sharing how I decided to open my Etsy store at the spur of the moment on May 22, 2014. It's been over two months, and I'm learning in these classes the things I did wrong.  Class one was how to set up your store, class two was how to fill your store.  I had already done those things, badly, but I had done them.  Tonight, I learned more of what I've been doing wrong, but finally I learned more about what I can do that I haven't already messed up (at least not too badly).
Tonight we learned about marketing our Etsy store.  I'm not going to pretend that I understand everything they taught.
I have to admit at times it felt like they were speaking Greek!  I'm going to be 54 next month, and I didn't grow up learning this stuff.  We learned a little bit about SEO, naming our listings, key words, (I need to think like the customer searching for something, not the seller bragging about it), blogging (that's why I'm here), linking, using social media: Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter (2 out of 3), Branding, Teams, Treasuries, and promoting through Etsy itself.  If you know about any of these things I'd like to invite you to do a guest blog here on my blog.  (they talked about guest blogging, and if someone is willing to do that, I'll have to figure out how that's done!)  If you have helpful suggestions on how you were successful at this, be sure to leave a comment below!  For now I'm taking baby steps.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/AuntieJewelrybyJulie?ref=si_shop

And so it begins...

I'll tell more about me and my business later, but for now, I'm just trying to figure out how to blog.  I know I'm a bit of a late comer.  People have been blogging forever!  I've never felt confident in my writing abilities, but in recent years I've had some positive feedback, and I've even been encouraged to write, and so it begins....https://www.etsy.com/shop/AuntieJewelrybyJulie?ref=si_shop