Bead on a Wire Blog

I have been busy creating in the past couple of months as I gear up for the annual Tea For All Reasons Open House. Sadly, this is the last TFAR Open House since my parents are moving away from this area sometime next spring. I know that my mother’s loyal customers are deeply disappointed to hear that news as much as I am.

Anyhow, I’ve been busy. Here are a few of the new items that have already sold in my Etsy shop:

The Agate and Jasper Necklace

… and matching earrings

Vintage Rhinestone Shoe Clips

Vintage Thai Princess Ring

Recycled Hand in Time 2 Necklace

There are other items sold, too. More than I remembered!

It’s been a pretty good fall for sales so far, considering the many months that I let things languish at the end of my pregnancy and soon after my daughter was born in late March.

Wow, it’s been a long time since I last posted. In that time, I had my baby girl. She is now 5 months old already!

I just got back to my work table in the last month. New pieces are being listed in the shop and I’m preparing for the Tea For All Reasons Fall Open House that will take place in late October.

Blogging will resume in earnest as I get things back in gear, including upgrading the WordPress and freshening the look to go with my new branding.

More soon …

… And I wish you and yours a very happy new year.

Big changes coming in 2009 for me.

1. First off, I’ve decided to take the “move the shop” plunge at Etsy. Beginning Jan 1 (actually, I’ve already got stuff listed and had one sale), my shop will be found at BeadWire.etsy.com. It’s way more professional than jenspeaks and there are personal reasons for doing away with that handle in my business anyway.

Related to the move is a rebranding. I’m very excited about my new look! It’ll be the same basic color scheme, but with a lovely, more elegant touch.

2. Second, more personal than business is the coming of our second child in the spring. I’m heading into the third trimester, which is hard to believe really. Just about 90 days go to until this baby arrives. We won’t know the sex until birth because the baby didn’t cooperate at the final ultrasound. So we’re working on two names to have ready on the big birthday.

3. Third, there’s the possibility of a job change in my future with my full time job. I’m excited about the possibility, but wondering how it will affect my business. Considering the guy I’d be working for, I don’t think it will have much impact - he’s a great guy.

I’m excited about 2009 and all of the potential for expanding and learning new things.

I’m alive.

This pregnancy hit me hard when the morning sickness kicked in after my trip to Caliornia at the end of July. I spent most of August and part of early September in my bed with hyperemesis. I’m on anti-nausea medication that works well at keeping me from vomiting. However, in those early weeks, it did not alleviate the nausea at all. It was pretty terrible.

I’ve turned a corner though. At week 14, I’m doing much better and feeling almost normal during the day. But I am swamped at my full time job so my small business has taken a back seat and will continue to be a back burner item for a little while longer. It makes me sad, because I love it but I just can’t work on it like I need to.

In any case, there will always be items in my Etsy shop, but there may not be anything new listed for a while. And I cannot take on any custom work either.

My vacation was great - very fun, busy but relaxing.

In new news, I’m pregnant with our second child and my jet lag from the vacation caused my morning sickness to kick in earlier than I was hoping. For me, it’s really all day sickness and in the early weeks, nearly impossible to manage well. So things are pretty much at a stand still with the shop.

However, I am trying to work on the bridal jewelry that I started before I left for California. Once that it in the mail, I won’t be taking any new orders for a while. Makes me sad, but I just can’t do it until I’m not throwing up several times a day.

It’s hard to earn money with the blog when the Google PageRank screws you over. I can’t get any opportunities to post. It is very frustrating because I was doing well getting good opps to post about and earning a nice chunk of change. That money helped with our Disney vacation.

I was hoping to earn a bit more money during the couple of months before our California trip (which is at the end of July), but at this rate the chances are slim to none of me being able to earn anything.

*huffy sigh*

We’re all sick in my house. Actually, my son is almost better - he’s the one who brought the cold into the house in the first place.

I feel like I’m about to cough up a lung. And my sinuses are going to implode.

Back when I’m better.

I’m finally getting back into the crafting swing of things after the vacation. I made two gifts this weekend - one is a bracelet for my friend’s daughter who is graduating from high school this week; the other is a similar bracelet (different colored pearls) with matching earrings for a friend whose birthday is coming up.

The supplies I ordered for the new bridal set arrived this morning so I’ll begin a “draft” of that necklace for the bride to approve tonight and also a couple pairs of earrings for her to choose from. I’m excited about the possibility for this set. It’s simple but different from what I’ve done previously.

I have an unofficial commission for a long necklace for a friend from church. I’ve back-burnered this project while I collected interesting beads and thought out a design for her. She said there is no rush and I haven’t been paid yet, but I know that she’s good for it and even if she changes her mind the beads collected are cool and totally usable for other projects. I’m thinking about making this one more in a rosary style than simple stringing, but it will involve a lot more work to make. Fun, though.

OK, I need to go get my son, who is supposed to be napping, but is playing in his crib instead.

For my 2 regular readers, I am alive and working. Just not working on my business lately - still in vacation mode.

That said I have been working on it some:

1. I bought new storage containers for my beads. I bought two, but I think I need at least 3-4 more. Crazy! I definitely like how they look lined up on my craft table. It’s much cleaner and easier to find the beads that I want. And because the drawers come out completely, I can rearrange them easily.

Next up: a label maker so that I can mark the drawers and really get the beads organized.

2. I’m still waiting for the supplies I ordered for the new bridal set. I’m excited about this one because it’s a different style from the others that I have made.

3. My good friend’s youngest daughter is graduating from high school next week. What’s crazy is that when I first met them, this child was 9 months old and amazingly cute with white hair that stood straight up like a baby chick’s. She is now a very lovely young lady and still light blonde. Where does the time go?

Anyway, I was trying to come up with a creative gift idea and then it hit me - jewelry! She’s a girly girl who loved every second of helping to plan her older sister’s wedding (I helped as coordinator). As her sister made decisions, she would whisper into my ear the things she would like for her wedding when she gets married - all were much more formal and traditional. Since I know this about her, I think I’ll do something in pearls for her - a bracelet and earrings. Although I think her ears are not pierced, so I need to check on that with her Mom.

4. My mother is still selling well with her Etsy shop. I spend more time on her shop these days than my own. New teas have been added and she has some teas newly discounted as well, including some she is closing out. So go check them out and buy now because when those teas are gone, they’re gone.

5. The PayPerPosts have dried up. While I was on vacation my Google PageRank sank from 3 to 0. So now I don’t qualify for most opportunities that get listed which makes it hard for me to increase my chances for better opps. So you’re spared from blatant advertising for a while.

6. It stinks because I was really hoping to earn more side money to pay for our trip to California. At least we didn’t spend as much at Disney, so we have that leftover money available. And we found a hotel for half of what I had been seeing, so that’s a huge money saver. My husband is now planning our touristy things for that week, one of which is a trip to Monterey (one of the places I lived when in high school - it’s one of my favorite places, too) where I want to go to Cannery Row and the Aquarium.

7. I still want to feature other Etsians here, so I’ll get to working on that…

1. Via Gemmafactrix, comes this site that features beautiful chandeliers made from recycled things. Mom, you’ll appreciate #3 and #7. My brother-in-law will appreciate #6.

2. My Dad shared this story with us while we were on vacation - a neurologist is pushing for kids thought to have autism to have their brains scanned to rule out seizure activity. He thinks that maybe half of kids diagnosed with autism may not actually be autistic. It’s amazing, alarming, and sad to think of the thousands (millions) of kids over the years who may have lost out on normal life because their pediatricians assumed autism.

3. Annie-the-dog woke me up at 4:30am yesterday. As a result, I caught Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dance and Charm School on cable. It’s a sweet little movie that I enjoyed despite the slow start.

4. I’m supposed to be working, but I’ve got no motivation today. But I’ve got to get back to it. So … check ya later!