Routine, Heinlein, Joy, Upcoming Jewelry, Boston Photos

I think I'm getting into some kind of routine (not a bad thing this time) in regards to my new jewelry schedule.

I make when and where I can throughout the week, then at the end (usually Thursday or Saturday), I have a chance to photograph it all. After that I edit, upload, measure, and describe… then the listing can begin.



Robert Heinlein

Finished the book (Stranger in a Strange Land) this morning. Not sure I "got" the ending, but I enjoyed the book itself anyway so it doesn't matter all that much.

BTW, here are some quotes from the book that I enjoyed:

"Remind me to write a popular article on the compulsive reading of news. The theme will be that most neuroses and some psychoses can be traced to the unnecessary and unhealthy habit of daily wallowing in the troubles and sins of five billion strangers."

"I never do anything I don't want to do. Nor does anyone, but in my case I am always aware of it."

"A prude is a person who thinks that his own rules of propriety are natural laws."

"Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own."

"Jealousy is a disease, love is a healthy condition. The immature mind often mistakes one for the other, or assumes that the greater the love, the greater the jealousy — in fact, they are almost incompatible; one emotion hardly leaves room for the other."


Joy

So I ran across this blog contest yesterday where one of the ways to win is to leave a comment describing "What brings you JOY".

I really would have liked to enter because the prize is a $50 gift certificate for some awesome jewelry… but, I couldn't think of a good enough answer. The obvious things ("everything", "my family", etc) seem overused, and there didn't seem to be anything specific enough or important enough other than the trite things. Blah!

But then this led me thinking about goals. If someone asked me what my goals in life are, I'm not sure I'd even have an answer. Maybe I can't find a direction in my jewelry because I have no clearly defined direction in life.

Does this bother me? Yes.

Oh, and for the record… that joy thing?... I'm pretty much one of the happiest people I know. So don't worry about me not being able to describe what brings me joy… the more likely scenario is that I can't articulate an answer because way, WAY too many things bring me joy. Yes, I am a person of simple pleasures… and the simpler your pleasures, the more you find. Or so it seems.

But still… I think I will work on trying to come up with some goals. Except that I won't call them goals because as Bill Bartmann says, a goal is something you try/strive for/attempt… whereas a promise is something you expect to achieve.

So… I will work on trying to come up with some promises to myself so that my energy has a direction to focus on.


Photographing Jewelry

Spent about four hours last night (ended at midnight!) photographing, editing, and uploading my pieces for the week. Today I will measure them, write descriptions, and add them to my site. They'll be there for a few days so my regular customers get first dibs on them, then I'll go ahead and add them to Etsy, Artfire, and eBay.

Here's a sample of what's coming up…







Oh, don't forget to check out my other blog, Going Green Jewelry, to get the lastest info on our metal clay projects and info on going and staying green.



More Photos from the Dartmouth Trip

Sorry to be dragging this out for so long, but we still have a ton of photos from Gabe's camera and both our cell phones that need to be uploaded.

Anyway, still inside the Boston Museum of Fine Art… here's some furniture (I am a sucker for inlay, can you tell?)…








Here's Gabe, heading into the Japanese garden…




Statue outside the museum...






Comments

mclainjewelry said... I just went and peeked at NativeMotif ... I am glad it is juried and I liked what I saw... but I am not sure I would be comfortable with how they work... for those who have not looked yet here are their terms:

General Process Overview

* Pricing: a) You set a competitive wholesale price including your projected packaging/materials costs. b) You set a suggested retail price. c) NativeMotif.com sets the final retail price.
* Receiving Orders: Orders are forwarded to you via email by the NativeMotif Staff who manage the relationship between you (the artist) and the customer.
* Shipping: You ship directly to the customer from your home or studio. NativeMotif pays for shipping upfront, we will send you pre-paid postage via email for you to print and ship. We currently use USPS & UPS. For oversized items, special shipping options can be made available.
* Payment: Based on the Artists Return Policy choice, the Artist will be paid anywhere from 8, 15, or 31 days after shipment has been received. NativeMotif.com pays you (the artist) the wholesale price agreed upon. (More detailed information is available for those who qualify)


so ... the final price is set by THEM ... they get the money first , then pay you.... hmmm I will keep an eye peeled to see how sales are going for folks.... also I thought at first it was for Native American work (old term = Indian) and though I have a Cherokee great grandmother... I found out very rapidly when I lived in Santa Fe that the one drop theory does not pertain to the Native American community... so I didn't go there.

Now I see that they mean made in America.


Hm… I have to admit I didn't really look into the site much at all. I was surfing one day, ran across a typo in their site and emailed them about it. They were very kind and thanked me (yes, this is a rarity), then said they looked at my jewelry and wanted me to apply.

I'll try to check it out today. At least superficially the quality of the items looked better than what I've seen at other "handmade" online stores.

I wish I had the balls to look into starting my own online sales venue. Sigh…


Mike B. said... You're still using IE6? Holy crap--upgrade.

I dropped IE for Firefox earlier this year--I prefer Firefox. You should at least download IE7.


I have IE7 on one computer and IE6 on the other. I have FireFox on both.