Simply Raevyn

Contest Winners

2010-08-08T10:51:00.001-07:00

I wanted to thank all of the people that entered the contest! The winners have been determined, and I am contacting them now. Here they are:
1st place: Jenny Bolech
2nd place: Poppyland
3rd place: julssewcrazy

I really appreciate all of the feedback and critiques, and they really were helpful! I am working on some new photography set ups. Unfortunately, I also need a new camera so the new pictures may take a little bit. But they are coming!!!

Time for a New Contest!!

2010-07-23T09:20:00.001-07:00

I have to say, I am very disappointed in my lack of blogging lately! So to get me back in the swing of things I have decided to hold a very simple contest.

At this point, I have three active shops. They are:
SimplyRaevyn - Etsy Shop or Artfire Shop
PeculiarParchment - Etsy Shop or Artfire Shop
WhatYouCrave - Etsy Shop or Artfire Shop

Despite my recent laziness, I have been fairly good at keeping them stocked up. But I would like some feedback on my inventory! So here is the contest, simple and straightforward!!

Leave a comment with a link to an object you would like to comment on. Then, leave me a critique/comment! You can say you love it because (fill in the blank), or let me know something that needs improving on it. Maybe the pictures are not flattering, or it just doesn't look good! I need your feedback so if you want to critique, please don't be shy :) I really want to stress that this is not just a love me fest. I want honest feedback :) I have three shops, so you can earn a total of three entries into the contest. Please leave a separate comment for each shop.

Yes, there is a way to earn extra entries. That is, make a purchase! If you make a purchase from any of my three shops you will get 2 additional entries. Leave a comment here with your transaction link.

Let's run this contest until Friday, August 6th at midnight (est) On the 7th I will use random.org to select the winner.

And of course, the prize!!!! There will be three prizes. Here they are:

*First Place - $30 gift certificate good in my SimplyRaevyn or Peculiar Parchment shops.

*Second Place - $20 gift certificate good in my SimplyRaevyn or Peculiar Parchment shops.

*Third Place - $10 gift certificate good in my SimplyRaevyn or Peculiar Parchment shops.

Please note that the gift certificates are NOT redeemable in my What You Crave shop.

So that's it! Simple and straight forward :) If there are any questions, just email me at raevyn77@gmail.com . Have fun!! :D

My first craft fair - I did it!!!

2010-05-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

Well it happened. I did my first craft fair! And this is something I really thought I would never be able to bring myself to do.

It all started when Debra asked Paul if I would be interested in setting up at the Downtown Art Market here in Lubbock, Texas. Debra works with Paul and we have sort of developed a friendship through communications online and through Paul. She knows about my "issues" so she said all I had to do was supply the items for the show, and she would be the one at the show. I didn't even have to go! So I said yes! And immediately started getting ready. We bought a table, canopy and chairs along with a few things to display my jewelry. And I of course got to work making a ton of new things.

As time went on I got to thinking that maybe with Debra as a buffer, I could survive actually going to the art market. Since I only have sold online in the past, seeing people's reaction in person to my work would mean a lot! So in the end, I decided to go. And I am so glad that I did! I went with the expectation that we would not sell anything. But we actually did very well. Now we plan on going for every show, which is the second Saturday of every month. I am also now looking at doing a show in Oklahoma as well as a larger craft show in Lubbock that a man in the booth next to us told me about.

I am not sure if I will always function well at these events. My anxieties, OCD and bipolar can make leaving the house near impossible for me. But I am going to try. And Paul, Debra, and some other family members have offered to be my buffer at every event. This is an area I never thought I would be able to get into, so to say the least I am very happy!! I snapped a few pictures at the event. They are not my finest pictures, but at least it gives you an idea of my set up.

The lady in this picture is the lovely Debra! My newest hero :)

I also wanted to mention that the other crafters, artists, growers, etc. at the market were wonderful! So many of them made me feel completely welcome, and I can't say enough how much that means to me! I also spent quite a bit of money shopping at their booths, there is just so much talent in this town. I am looking forward to more markets!

My Cousin - I am so proud!

2010-02-07T14:26:00.001-08:00

I wanted to take a moment to blog about my cousin, Jen. She has spent the last few years turning her life around, and she really is inspiring! When I was last up in Brattleboro she told me that she was going to be interviewed by a company called PolarUSA. She uses their equipment to help her train. The commercial is really like a mini documentary about how she has turned her life around by running. Running is very important to her. Her father was a lifetime runner, and he was set to run in another marathon, when he was all of a sudden struck down with an illness and died. So she decided to start training and run for him. I miss him very much, and I know that he would be so proud of her progress.

I have been told that if she gets enough views, they are going to do another feature on her. So I really hope that everyone will take a minute and check out her video. She is an inspiring story, and it really means so much to her.

Please take just a minute to click and watch her story.

Winner of Nativebeads' Giveaway

2009-10-07T18:05:00.000-07:00

Well it's time to announce the winner of Nativebeads giveaway! Congratulations Jodaycraf!!! I will be contacting you about your prize. And thank you so much to all that entered!

Gonna be a bit of a break before I list the next contest. I am super busy making new inventory and filling custom orders.

Nativebeads' Giveaway

2009-09-21T19:53:00.000-07:00

This giveaway is sponsored by Nativebeads. Make sure to check out her feature right here on this blog, just click here!

The prize is terrific, and so much fun! Theresa from Nativebeads is giving away a a kit to make a gourd doll. Here is how she describes it:This is a bead kit that teaches you how to add horizontal bead netting to embellish a gourd doll. The kits includes step by step instructions, illustrations, a painted gourd doll, beads, needle and thread. It also includes instructions on how to make a beaded basket that is glued onto the top of the doll head when you are finished with her beaded skirt. The kit contains all the materials in a ziplock baggie. The photo shows the finished doll. The kits normally sells for $10 in my shop.

Entering is easy. Visit Theresa's shop Nativebeads, then come back here and leave a comment with a link your favorite item from her shop!

Earn Bonus Entries!
*Earn 5 bonus entries: Make a purchase from Nativebeads. Come back here and leave a comment with the link to your transaction. Please tell her in check out that Raevyn sent you :D

*Earn 1 bonus entry: Sign up for my newsletter and come back here and leave a comment that you signed up. If you have already signed up for it, just leave a comment here letting me know and you will get the bonus entry.

*Earn 1 bonus entry: Follow this blog! Leave a post here letting me know you are a follower.

*Earn 2 bonus entries: Blog about this giveaway! Then come back here and leave a comment with a link to your blog post.

Please make sure to leave a way to contact you on your entries. If I can't contact you, you can't win! This contest is open to everyone, you do not have to be in the US to enter. October 6th will be the last day to enter, and I will draw the winner on October 7th.

Etsy Featured Artist - Nativebeads

2009-09-21T19:22:00.000-07:00

When I first became active with the Trade-A-Holics, I was lucky enough to meet Theresa, the owner of Nativebeads. When I first looked at her shop, I recognized right away that this is a beader after my own heart. Her work with seed beads, and her native style, is the kind of thing that attracted me to beading. And then I saw that she wrote the book on beads - literally! Not only is she amazingly talented, but she is a published author on the subject of beading! I am lucky enough to own two of her books, and I love them! The Illustrated Bead Bible is my favorite. I am a completely self taught beader, and this book has gone a long way in educating me about beads, materials, and techniques.

Her bead work is also quite amazing. Her love for her craft shows through in everything she does. If you love beads, you are going to love her! Her work is diverse and never boring! Take a look at her shop, and if you are looking for beading books, you will not go wrong with hers.

Theresa took time to answer a few of my pesky questions recently. Here is what she had to say:

Name: Theresa Flores Geary
Age (if you don't mind): 58
Where do you live? Moriarty, New Mexico

How did you get started working with beads? My dear mother invited me to a bead class with her “old lady” friends when I was 14. I was surprised to be included in such a group and had NO IDEA how much fun she was having. I got hooked immediately. Now I hang out with MY “old lady friends” who act a lot like teenagers.

What inspires you most?
My friends and other artists are so inspirational when they share their artwork and techniques, where they get their supplies, information on sales opportunities, etc. We teach each other new techniques. The social aspects like laughter and sharing make the pursuit of artwork even more delightful. I spent way too many years as a solitary beader, all by myself into the wee hours of night.

What do you do in your spare time?
Well, I grow gourds, vegetables, fruit trees and chickens for eggs. I have two cats and two dogs as well. My kids are grown and living independently so my husband and I share a quiet life in the country with our animal friends.

Tell us a little known fact about you.
I am a retired clinical psychologist. My career was very rewarding and interesting but I am so happy to be doing what I am doing now – much less stress too!

What are you working on now?
Right now, I am finishing up an order for a bead store that is doing a display for Day of the Dead or Dia De Los Muertos. It is a fascinating Hispanic and Native cultural celebration to honor people’s deceased relatives. The folk art that has developed along with the ceremony is delightful in its own right. Part of the tradition is to make arts and crafts to leave as an offering on an altar or at the gravesite of their loved ones. The five senses are emphasized to help guide their ancestors to join the celebration. As such, there is music, colorful flowers like marigolds and roses, rattles or noise makers, food, costumes, jewelry and various arts. Our family did not celebrate this particular ceremony but now that I am older, I find it intriguing. Etsy has it listed as one of its most popular holidays. Do a search to see a huge variety of artwork mediums.

Do you sell anywhere besides Etsy?
Yes.
Where?
I have my own website www.beadbible.com. I also do occasional shows, maybe 1-3 a year, plus have a few local connections like a farmer’s market and bead stores where I sell my beadwork, bead kits, books, dried gourds and gourd art.

I see that you are a published author! What books have you written, and where can people purchase them?
The first two books are project books, mainly emphasizing Native American beadwork. The books include information on cultural traditions and symbolism used with designs, colors and ceremonies. The first book is called Native American Beadwork – Projects and Techniques of the Southwest.
The second book is called Creative Native Beading. They both categorize projects according to skill level, such as beginner, intermediate and advanced. The third book, published just this year is called Illustrated Bead Bible – terms, tips and techniques. It is more of a reference book on everything you ever wanted to know about beads including gemstones. It has over 500 color photographs to help you learn bead names, stitches and bead types plus reference charts on things like needle size, bead size and threads. It was designed to help people learn about many facets of beading, including how beads are made, different cultural and historical information and samples of beadwork from around the world. I carry my own books to sell on Etsy but run out from time to time. They are also generally available in many fine bookstores, museums and gift shops throughout the world and online, such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

You have several types of bead art that you do. From gourds to jewelry...what is your favorite thing to do with beads?
Since I was intrigued with beads at a young age, I first learned how to make jewelry and after so many years of that, I wanted to branch out to discover different uses of beads and different types of techniques. So now, the challenge is to continue discovering all the ways to use beads in a variety of projects besides jewelry, which is why I started doing beadwork on gourds. I still make jewelry too because it is simply delightful to handle so many beautiful beads and gemstones.

Do you twitter, flickr, facebook, blog..or anything else where people can follow you? Please feel free to list all of you "social networking" addresses.
I am on Face book and
http://tradeaholics.ning.com/ , a social networking site for artists who enjoying trading with each other. I just joined this site: http://busymitts.com which is a group of crafters, many of whom are from the UK and Ireland. My profile name is NativeBeads. It is more of a place for “Show and Tell” rather than a market place.
I do NOT do twitter or blog seriously, although I do have a blog with Amazon.com. People can reach me there by searching under my name (Theresa Flores Geary) and leave comments. However, I seriously do not have the time to sit in front of the computer all day. I have chickens and veggies and gourds to tend to!!!

Winner of jerseymaid's Giveaway!

2009-09-21T19:08:00.000-07:00

And that's it, jerseymaids great giveaway is over! And the winner is.....
Heather!!!!

Congratulations! And thank you to everyone that entered. I will be continuing with my series of Etsy featured articles followed by a great giveaway later on today, so check back!

jerseymaid's Giveaway

2009-09-08T08:18:00.000-07:00

This giveaway is sponsored by jerseymaids. Make sure to check out her feature right here on this blog, just click here!

The prize is awesome! It is an Interchangeable Polaroid Ring from jerseymaids. You can choose your ring from the rings she has available at her shop.

Details:
Typically sold for: $30

*A lead and nickel-free adjustable ring base (approx. 6 1/2 - 8 US sizes) available in silver plated, gunmetal black, or antiqued bronze
*5 interchangeable glass Polaroid snap-on charms (shown in the first 2 photographs.) These are interchangeable by a magnetic mechanism using Earth Magnets, some of the strongest magnets known to man. And perfect for jewelry!

Each charm measures approximately 5/8" x 3/4" (17mm x 19mm). Though they are sealed with many coats of waterproof sealant, I would still try to avoid submerging these rings in water (i.e. washing dishes, showering, swimming, etc.)

Entering is easy. Visit Lauren's shop, then come back here and leave a comment with a link your favorite item from her shop!

Earn Bonus Entries!
*Earn 3 bonus entries: Make a purchase from jerseymaids. Come back here and leave a comment with the link to your transaction. Please tell her in check out that Raevyn sent you :D

*Earn 1 bonus entry: Sign up for my newsletter and come back here and leave a comment that you signed up. If you have already signed up for it, just leave a comment here letting me know and you will get the bonus entry.

*Earn 1 bonus entry: Follow this blog! Leave a post here letting me know you are a follower.

*Earn 2 bonus entries: Blog about this giveaway! Then come back here and leave a comment with a link to your blog post.

Please make sure to leave a way to contact you on your entries. If I can't contact you, you can't win! This contest is open to everyone, you do not have to be in the US to enter. September 21st will be the last day to enter, and I will draw the winner on September 22nd.

Etsy Featured Artist - jerseymaids

2009-09-08T07:42:00.000-07:00

I love photography. Both taking pictures and looking at pictures. At a very young age I fell in love with snapping my own shots, and in high school I took a few photography classes where I developed my love even further. And as long as I can remember I have loved looking at photographs. I love seeing an artist's point of view through their pictures, but I also love just looking through family photo albums and seeing the moments of people's lives captured.

Today's featured artist is a shining example of all that I love about photography. It is jerseymaids. She is a Polaroid photographer that I met during my travels on Etsy. To be sure, her work is passionate. Her absolute love for her medium comes through in all of her pieces. Here is one of my favorites:

Cherry Blossoms Polaroid

Her subject matter is extensive! I encourage you all to click on over to jerseymaids and take a look.

Besides her amazing prints, Lauren also has several other ways to show off her passion for Polaroids. She has Totes and Shirts, Polaroid Night Lights, Polaroid Jewelry, and Cards.

Not only is Lauren's work beautiful, but she is a really wonderful person. She goes out of her way to make her customers happy and she is very easy to contact and talk to. When I decided to do this feature on her, she was nice enough to take the time to answer a few questions for me.

Name: Lauren Beacham
Age (if you don't mind): 23
Where do you live?: Shepherdstown, WV but soon to be Frederick, MD

How did you get started with photography?
I started off in high school somewhat by accident. A teacher of mine had been a photo journalist at a Baltimore newspaper and had secretly created a makeshift darkroom in the back closet of her classroom. She pulled me aside one day and asked if I wanted to learn how to develop black and white photographs. I immediately fell in love and spent every spare second I had in that teeny dark little room with expired papers, chemicals, and really bad negatives. But the magic of it all was completely addictive, so I went on to study it more thoroughly in college. I got my degree in Photography and Computer Imaging and, also by somewhat of a happy accident, was introduced to the delight of alternative processes (particularly Polaroids.) I haven't looked back since and have been working almost exclusively in Polaroids and other alternative processes since 2007.

You use Polaroids, why did you choose that particular medium?
Polaroid has a magic to it that really is unmatched by anything I've experienced. It paints with light and romance, and it wraps up heightened anticipation and instant gratification into one little package. The colors and glow aren't found anywhere else, and no matter how well you know your film and camera...you are never in complete control. It's always a big adventure.

What inspires you most?
Moments. People and places, music, nature, romance. Color. Light.

What do you do in your spare time?
What spare time?! Haha. I spend most of my time that isn't at work (I'm an art gallery director in Frederick) creating new things, working on jewelry and expanding my artwork, networking with other Etsians and Polaroid fanatics, and sometimes I'll be able to squeeze in some down time with my guy and our Scottish terrier pup.

Tell us a little known fact about you.
I have a strange fascination with hot air balloons (to the extent that one is permanently etched onto my wrist) but have a horrible fear of heights and have never taken a ride in one...nor do I ever plan to.

Do you have a favorite subject to photograph?
Though most of my photographs are done of flowers and nature, I really love photographing people. Absolutely love it.

Do you sell anywhere besides Etsy? Where?
I sell in a number of galleries and shops and have also taken a try at shophandmade.com I only made one sale and felt it wasn't worth my while for now. You'll also find me at various craft shows, and hopefully more shops to come! But for now, Etsy is my number one home.

What advice do you have for anyone that would like to start selling their own
photography?
Well firstly, don't give up. There are TONS of photographers out there trying to make their way. Secondly, shoot what you absolutely love. People can tell if you're shooting to make money or if you're doing something you adore. Passion needs to run everything you do. And thirdly, do something different. Separate yourself from the norm! Don't be afraid to jump into the unknown because you never know what you'll find...and it may hold the answers you're looking for.

Do you twitter, flickr, facebook, blog..or anything else where people can follow you?
Please feel free to list all of you "social networking" addresses.
twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jerseymaids
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/jerseymaids/77302554915
flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jerseymaids
blog: http://jerseymaids.livejournal.com
website (under construction): http://www.laurenbeacham.com

******

Make sure to enter the newest giveaway, featuring jerseymaids. Just click here!

Winner of thegirlyplace's Giveaway!

2009-09-08T07:26:00.000-07:00

Well the results are in! Thank you too all of those that entered. The winner of a $5 gift certificate from thegirlyplace is ShoreDebris! Congratulations!!!

I have a new featured artist and a new giveaway going up today, so stay tuned!

thegirlyplace promo and Giveaway!

2009-09-01T08:23:00.000-07:00

This giveaway is sponsored by the fantastic artist, Joanie Reeder of thegirlyplace, ruascrapper, and *coming soon* tailsnsnails.

Get a free $5 gift certificate to use in any of Joanie's shops thegirlyplace, ruascrapper, tailsnsnails.

Entering is easy. Visit both of Joanie's open shops, then come back here and leave a comment with your favorite item from each shop. If you comment on 1 shop, you get 1 entry. If you comment on both shops, you will get two entries.

Earn Bonus Entries!
*Earn 1 bonus entry: Sign up for my newsletter. If you have already signed up for it, just leave a comment here letting me know and you will get the bonus entry.

*Earn 1 bonus entry: Follow this blog! Leave a post here letting me know you are a follower.

*Earn 2 bonus entries: Blog about this giveaway! Then come back here and leave a comment with a link to your blog post.

*Earn 3 bonus entries: Make a purchase from thegirlyplace and/or ruascrapper. Come back here and leave a comment with the link to your transaction. Please tell her in check out that Raevyn sent you :D And make sure to check out the two amazing deals that Joanie is offering, they are listed at the end of this post!

This contest is open to everyone, you do not have to be in the US to enter. September 7th will be the last day to enter, and I will draw the winner on September 8th.

Don't miss out on these amazing deals!!
During this contest, Joanie will be running a special promo!
* Buy a Fluff N Stuff tutu from thegirlyplace and receive a FREE matching teddy bear tutu. No need to purchase the teddy bear tutu. Just put "RaevynBlogTBT" in message to seller.

* Buy a premade scrapbook from ruascrapper and receive a set of mini notes (great for lunch boxes, thank yous and more) FREE. No need to purchase mini card listing. Just enter "RaevynBlogRUAS" in message to seller and let me know which set you would like.

Etsy Featured Artist - thegirlyplace

2009-09-01T07:23:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I found out that my cousin was adopting to little girls that were sisters. We live very far away from each other; she is in Alaska and I am in Texas. But I wanted to be able to welcome these two angels into our family, so I set out to gather a box of Etsy goodies to send on up to Alaska. This is how I came across Joanie Reeder and her amazing shop thegirlyplace. I immediately feel in love with her huge selection of bows, headbands and korkers for little girls. Ever since then, every box of goodies that I have sent up to Alaska has featured goodies from this darling shop. In the short time that I have known Joanie, she has expanded her shop quite a bit. She now has crayon keepers, hair goodies for all ages, jewelry and the most adorable tutus!

Red and white Christmas bow

Fun frenzy butterfly haircomb facinator

Flower crayon keeper

Recently Joanie opened a second shop dedicated to scrapbooking and other paper crafts.

Premade Scrapbook Pages

And Joanie will be opening her third shop on September 15th! tailsnsnails will be a shop catering to little boys!

Although Joanie keeps herself very busy with three etsy shops and her family, she took the time to answer a few questions for me.

Name: Joanie Reeder
Age (if you don't mind): 30
Where do you live?: North Carolina

Well it looks like you are busy with 3 Etsy shops these days! Do you have a favorite?
My mothership, thegirlyplace, is my favorite because it's my first, but I really do love all three. My boy's shop, tailsnsnails, is opening Sept. 15 with treasures for all little boys.

When you are able to sit down and craft just for fun, what do you make?
Bows. I really enjoy making bows and I've got plenty of outfits for my baby girl that need matching bows. I sometimes don't get a chance to make her bows because I'm busy making them for everyone else.

What inspires you most?
My kids. They are the reasons I opened my boy and girl shop.

What do you do in your spare time (if you have any of course lol)?
If I'm not making something? Sleep, eat, veg out in front of the TV. Really, it's not that interesting.

Tell us a little known fact about you.
I have nine brothers and sisters. There are 10 of us in my family.

What are you working on now?
Building up inventory in my scrapbooking shop, ruascrapper and in my boy's shop ((author's note: tailsnsnails).

Do you sell anywhere besides Etsy? Where? Not really. I've got my first big craft fair coming up in October. I'm excited about that, and nervous too.

Do you have any advice for people that want to start selling their handmade goods?
Look before you leap. Prepare your inventory, get an idea of what people want, write descriptive listings and don't overprice your stuff, but don't sell yourself short either! Great pictures are obviously a plus.

Do you think it is important to shop and buy handmade? If so, why?
Absolutely. Someone sat down and crafted something unique for you. Even if it's something that gets relisted, chances are no one you ever meet will have the exact same product you got. That's the beauty of handmade.

Do you twitter, flickr, facebook, blog..or anything else where people can follow you?
Please feel free to list all of you "social networking" addresses.
Yes. My addresses are:
www.twitter.com/joaniereeder
http://companies.to/thegirlyplace/
I almost don't want to tell you though, because I've been a bit slack about updating them thanks to busy with the kids, busy with crafting and busy with life in general!

****

I can honestly say that I highly recommend shopping with Joanie. Her items are very high quality and she is a very friendly person to work with. Make sure to keep an eye on this blog for a contest featuring Joanie!

No Updates and Vacation

2009-08-07T15:52:00.000-07:00

Howdy! I just wanted to let everyone know why I neglected my blog for so long. Right now we are on a vacation in Vermont, visiting my family. The entire month before we left I made myself crazy trying to get ready. I decided not to close up my shops during the vacation, but to instead bring all of my inventory with me. That meant that I also wanted to stock up my inventory! So here we are in Vermont. We return home on August 18th. I hope to blog a bit from here. I do have some plans for the blog when we get back though! I have some fantastic etsy artists lined up to do some features on, as well as some contests already planned out! So stay tuned folks :)

:w

Glassredefined Giveaway Winners!

2009-07-02T07:49:00.000-07:00

Now, time for the winners of the Glassredefined Giveaway!

First place goes to rubymoon!

Second place goes to Linda!

Third place goes to NewYorkMemos!

Congratulations! I will be contacting each winner about their prize :)

Thank you to all that entered! And an extra special thanks to Kim for creating such gorgeous prizes. Keep an eye out, I will be posting a new contest in the next few days.

Glassredefined Giveaway

2009-06-16T12:11:00.001-07:00

This giveaway is sponsored by the fantastic artist, Kim Novak of Glassredefined and KimCreative.

Kim has designed three beautiful pieces as prizes for this contest. Here are they are!

1st Place: Painted sea glass with Sterling Silver wire wrapping

2nd Place: Glass and Sterling Silver pendant

3rd Place: Glass and Sterling Silver earrings

Entering is easy. Visit both of Kim's shops, then come back here and leave a comment with your favorite item from each shop. If you comment on 1 shop, you get 1 entry. If you comment on both shops, you will get two entries.

Earn Bonus Entries!
*Earn 1 bonus entry: Sign up for my newsletter. If you have already signed up for it, just leave a comment here letting me know and you will get the bonus entry.

*Earn 1 bonus entry: Follow this blog! Leave a post here letting me know you are a follower.

*Earn 2 bonus entries: Blog about this giveaway! Then come back here and leave a comment with a link to your blog post.

*Earn 3 bonus entries: Make a purchase from Glassredefined and/or KimCreative. Come back here and leave a comment with the link to your transaction. Please tell her in check out that Raevyn sent you :D

This contest is open to everyone, you do not have to be in the US to enter. June 30th will be the last day to enter, and I will draw the winner on July 1st.

Etsy Featured Artist - glassredefined and KimCreative

2009-06-16T12:09:00.000-07:00

Well I think it is about time for me to once again feature a fantastic Etsy artist. I actually met this artist on my Etsy Trade-a-holics team. Glassredefined is the name of her shop, and she specializes in hand painted and wire wrapped sea glass jewelry. Here are just two examples of her fantastic work!

She also just opened a supply shop called KimCreative. She really has some great things in the supply shop, and of course I am a total supply addict!

After spending a long time browsing through Kim's shops, I decided to ask her to answer a few questions for me, so I could do a feature on her. Here are the questions, and her answers.

Info
Name: Kim Novak
Age (if you don't mind): 44
Where do you live?: Pasadena, MD

You have two shops on Etsy. Please tell us about both of them:
My first and primary shop is Glassredefined.
Glassredefined is a creative glass jewelry business. Hand discovered seaglass is finely painted, then wrapped and designed in solid sterling silver or 14k gold filled wire. Handmade artisan glass is defined in quality wire as well.
Glassredefined recycles seaglass “gems” our local beaches deposit, promoting and supporting a clean environment .Recycled paper mailers are used in shipping these redefined works of art.

My secondary shop is KimCreative
KimCreative is a creative supplies shop, which at times will .also feature completed projects that a family member or myself have created, as well as the occasional antique. This shop was implemented to reduce, reuse and recycle, so that many may creatively express, both economically and responsibly. I recycle all shipping supplies from both shops back through this one.

What inspires you most?
Nature, I am in awe of the world around me, the textures, color, movement and abundance of life, which God created, deeply inspire me. Art is my passion.

What do you do in your spare time?
I paint in acrylics and watercolors, drink coffee, read and share pizza Goldfish with my Golden Retriever~Leo. I am also very active on the Creative Design Team of my local church .

Tell us a little known fact about you.
Green has ALWAYS been my favorite color. Even as a three year old, when other little girls liked pink and said green was yucky, it didn’t phase me. Always and forever a lover of the color green, that’s me!

Do you have a favorite piece? If you have pictures of it (or them), please show us!
I have two favorite pieces. This hand blown Peace Rondelle, and my Signature Waves piece, which is also my Avatar. I wear each of these around all the time, just not together :)

What are you working on now?
I am currently designing a Monochromatic Wave Series of pendants, to be introduced in my Etsy Shop, during the month of July. The designs will be painted on white seaglass and be similar to the piece featured in my Avatar. This line will showcase in the following four categories:
* Aqua ~ blues
* Mist ~ greens
*Coral ~ reds
*Twilight ~ black/grey
I am really excited about it!

Do you sell anywhere besides Etsy? Where?
In addition to Etsy, I sell locally at various art/music vendor events, and upscale home jewelry shows .

Do you twitter, flickr, facebook, blog..or anything else where people can follow you
or see more of you? Please feel free to list all of you "social networking" addresses
and websites.
I have a Glassredefined Facebook page, where I invite you to become a fan!
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Glassredefined/55156566582?ref=ts
I do not twitter, flickr or have a blog as of yet, but a blog is something I hope to design in the near future!

SimplyRaevyn Gift Certificate WInner

2009-06-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

Hello folks! The winner for the $25 gift certificate, good in any of my 3 shops, is Lily! Congrats Lily! And thank you to everyone for entering my contest. I have the next contest all ready to go, and it is a fantastic one. So stay tuned!

Etsy Promotion Project

2009-06-08T17:27:00.000-07:00

Make sure to enter my giveaway! Click here.

Howdy! I decided that I want to blog a bit about a promotion project that I have been working on for almost a year now. I do a lot of shopping on Etsy, and I noticed I was really starting to accumulate a lot of business cards from other Etsy sellers. I did not want them to go to waste, so I made a business card sized envelope and I taped a note to it that said:
~ Promote Etsy, Pass it On ~
Add your card; take the one(s) you want
and send this out with your next order!
Let’s promote Etsy and each other!!

Then I filled the envelope with the business cards, and I sent it out with an order. It reminded me a lot of when I was a teenager. I had LOTS of penpals. We were all heavy metal fans, and would pass along these little books called friendship books. They were just pages of names and addresses, then the favorite bands of people. If you saw someone with the same bands you liked, you wrote to them! It was fun, and so addicting! So I decided I wanted to do this business card idea on a bigger envelope.

I posted in the forums asking people to send me their business cards, and the response was huge! And to make a long story short (too late!) I have been at it ever since. I love to do it. And I know that some of the envelopes have led to sales for Etsy sellers, which really makes me smile.

A while ago I came across a Yahoo group called the Etsy Business Card Trading Group. I joined up. It is such a great way to get business cards from people, as well as getting my cards out there. There is not a lot of time involved in the group. There is a database with the names and addresses of the members, and you send cards to the ones you want to send to. Of course there is a message board and stuff if you want to say hi, or make a special request. Recently the owner of the group had to step down because of personal obligations, and I was made the owner. I love being in this group. Since I found Etsy, I have promoted it to everyone I know. And I love doing it at this larger level, if that makes any sort of sense.

Wow that ended up a lot longer than I thought it would! Summary: Promote each other! More buyers coming to Etsy is good for all of us. If you want to get involved with disbursing business cards and having yours disbursed as well, join the yahoo group! Or you can just message me for my address so that you can send me your cards :) I send out TONS of cards, and I love to do it.

***********************************

Make sure to enter my giveaway! Click here.

Simply Raevyn Blog Giveaway

2009-06-02T20:01:00.000-07:00

The winner of this contest wins a $25 gift certificate, good in any of my three shops.

Entering is easy! Simply go to one of my three shops, and leave a comment here with a link to one of your favorite items and why you like it. My shops are:
Raevyn77
SimplyRaevyn
PeculiarParchment
If you leave a comment about one of my shops, you get 1 entry. Two shops, two entries, etc. There is a maximum of three entries for this portion of the contest.

Earn Bonus Entries!
*Earn 1 bonus entry: Sign up for my newsletter. If you have already signed up for it, just leave a comment here letting me know and you will get the bonus entry.

*Earn 2 bonus entries: Blog about this giveaway! Then come back here and leave a comment with a link to your blog post.

*Earn 3 bonus entries: Make a purchase from one of my three shops. Come back here and leave a comment with the link to your transaction.

This contest is open to everyone, you do not have to be in the US to enter. June 15th will be the last day to enter, and I will draw the winner on June 16th.

I won!

2009-06-02T08:52:00.000-07:00

I am so excited! I enter a lot of blog contests, although I have to admit my hopes are never high that I will win. But last week, I did win!! And the prize was D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S! I won a large bear hug cookie from lorisplace!

The cookie really was yummy, and who doesn't need a great big bear hug once in awhile? I wish I had a picture of the exact cookie I received, but I am afraid I had eaten an entire leg before I realized I should have taken a picture of the cookie for my blog. And I did not want to expose you all to that kind of carnage :p Although my cookie was very similar to the above cookie.

I am going to try more of the goodies from lorisplace, and I really think you all should to!

May Giveaway Winners Announced

2009-06-02T08:28:00.001-07:00

Well that's it, my big May giveaway is over! The response was huge! I really want to take the time to thank all of the people that entered, and took the time to look at some of my favorite shops.

Now, what you have all been waiting for. The winners! All entries were written on a piece of paper and placed in a shoebox. Last night, my fiance Paul pulled the winners from the box. And here they are....

First place goes to Salad for Breakfast!

Second place goes to glassredefined!

Third place goes to Mia!

I will be contacting each winner about their prize package :) I am really excited about these prizes, the packages ended up much bigger and better than I had imagined.

Again, thank you to all that entered! I will be posting the next giveaway later on today.

Time Marches On

2009-05-29T20:06:00.000-07:00

Make sure to enter my big May giveaway! Click here.

Hello out there in blog land. I have not meant to ignore my blog lately, I have just been busy. I actually have a few things to blog about. I have won a few contests, and also received some amazing etsy items!! I am going to try and do a nice post this weekend with pictures and things to show off my new wares :)

I have been working very hard to get my samples ready for the Etsy Texas Promo Swap. A few times a year, some of the members of the Etsy Texas Crafters Team make up samples and promos for their shops, and we send them to one of the team leaders. She then fills boxes and sends us boxes full of promos from other ETC shops. We send them out with our orders. It is really a great project :) The last time I decided to send samples instead of just business cards. It takes a lot of work, but I like doing it.

I have also been busy trying to stock up all three of my shops. We are going to Vermont in August, and I really need to start saving up a "Vermont Fund". I am hoping all of my new creations will inspire sales. So far sales do seem to be picking up :) So after I am done making the sample packs, I am going to get back to work making some new, beautiful items.

Well that is it for now. Like I said, I hope to blog about all of my new Etsy goodies later this weekend!

:w

Make sure to enter my big May giveaway! Click here.

Memorial Weekend Sale

2009-05-22T19:55:00.000-07:00

Make sure to enter my big May giveaway! Click here.

Memorial Weekend Sale
22nd-25th at midnight (est)

20% off of all items in all 3 of my shops. Just mention "holiday" when checking out, and I will send you a revised invoice or refund your paypal.

Also all sales in my shops will be entered to win a gift certificate worth $25, which can be redeemed in any of my shops. Every item you buy earns you an entry.

raevyn77.etsy.com handmade jewelry and a ton of new listings!
simplyraevyn.etsy.com - seed bead jewelry. lots of new listings, and a TON of destash
peculiarparchment.etsy.com - handmade cards. Lots of mini thank you cars, tons of new listings!

So come and check it out, and grab some great deals!

Make sure to enter my big May giveaway! Click here.

Chaos!!

2009-05-13T08:44:00.001-07:00

Make sure to enter my big May giveaway! Click here.

After a long period of beader's block, I am finally beading again! I was having such a hard time beading, and I am not sure why. I think that the sheer amount of beads I have was overwhelming. So I spent a few days going through my beads. Doing a spring cleaning really. Sorting out the beads that I wanted to destash as well as doing an overall better job of sorting my beads into categories. I went to Wal Mart to buy these really great little Sterilite containers. They are see through and they have an attached lid, and Wal Mart has like 3 different sizes for $1.50 and under. So I bought quite a few of those and sorted my beads into them. I used to just have a huge container where I kept all of my beads that were not seed beads. To put it lightly, I have a ton of beads that fit into this category. So it was just completely overwhelming to look at that container, and I think that was blocking my inspiration. The past few days have been uber productive for me. I have a box full of new pieces ready to photograph. Now I need to figure out a new way to photograph my items. The west Texas wind has been blowing for the last 6 months it seems lol So I have not been able to photograph earrings very well. My fiance built me a lightbox, and I think I am going to take that outside and see if that helps to shield the wind.

We finally have our Vermont vacation planned! I am so excited. We are going on August 4th and coming back on the 18th. I miss my family a lot. So I have started the process of getting my shops ready. There is no way that I will close my shops for those two weeks. So I take all of my inventory. And believe it or not, I actually plan on dramatically increasing my inventory for the trip. Mainly because that will be two weeks of me not listing, and that is just no good for me lol So this "beading burst" I am experiencing is a huge help! I am also in the middle of an enormous batch of cards. To be honest, my beading area and card area both look like absolute disasters! I want to get them organized, but I think the best way to get that done at this point is to continue creating and sorting. Luckily my fiance completely understands! So there is no pressure from the rest of the household to get things put away. I thought I would share a few pics, just to give you all an idea of my chaos lol

So here is my beading space. I apologize for the poor quality of the picture. To put it lightly, it is a disaster lol Keep in mind that the couch is also covered in containers filled with beads.

And here is the card....uhm dining room table lol Under the table there are quite a few containers filled with paper, ribbon and already folded cards.

So as you can see, my two crafting areas are a mess!! We live in a small apartment and my fiance's mother lives with us right now. And to top if off, I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This mess makes me insane. But it is keeping me motivated to keep working! My plan is to get us much made as I can, and then get things sorted and put away. So wish me luck :)

Well as you can all see, I have a lot of work to do lol So I will sign off for now. Make sure to watch my shops for new listings, cause there is a whole lot on the way!! Also don't forget to enter my great May giveaway!

:w

ETC and Mother's Day Sale

2009-05-04T07:34:00.000-07:00

ETC and Mother's Day Sale
Ends at Midnight (est)

Well it's the first Monday of May, and that means it is time for the Etsy Texas Team's First Monday Sale! Click here to see the list of amazing sales going on with the Texas sellers :)

And of course, I am having a sale too! Mine is a last minute mother's day sale combined with the ETC First Monday Sale. There is still time! Everything in all 3 of my shops is 25% off. I can send a revised invoice or refund your paypal. I will ship immediately, and I can gift wrap and send directly to mom at no extra cost.
raevyn77.etsy.com
simplyraevyn.etsy.com
peculiarparchment.etsy.com

I have been doing a lot of listing, so please take a peek! All of my sales go towards buying my tickets to VT so I can see my family! We are buying the tickets next week, and I have not seen my family in a year.

Blog Giveaway for May

2009-05-01T09:11:00.000-07:00

I decided to base this month's giveaway on my previous post, Some of my favorites - May Edition.

What do you win?
I will be assembling 3 prize package featuring items from all of the shops featured in Some of my favorites - May Edition. I have not figured out exactly which items I will be ordering yet. I will order the items on the 20th, and I will post here exactly what each prize package will consist of. But here is what the prize packages will consist of:

First Place
- $20 gift certificate for SimplyRaevyn/Raevyn77/PeculiarParchment
- atleast $10 worth of items from CountryGirlSpices
- pouch from bagsbytracy
- atleast $10 worth of beads from fivesisters

Second Place
- $15 gift certificate for SimplyRaevyn/Raevyn77/PeculiarParchment
- atleast $5 worth of items from CountryGirlSpices
- pouch from bagsbytracy
- atleast $5 worth of beads from fivesisters

Third Place
- $10 gift certificate for SimplyRaevyn/Raevyn77/PeculiarParchment
- atleast $3 worth of items from CountryGirlSpices
- pouch from bagsbytracy
- atleast $3 worth of beads from fivesisters

How to Enter

Visit the shops featured in Some of my favorites - May Edition.
The shops are:
fivesisters
CountryGirlSpices
bagsbytracy
Then leave a comment here showing your favorite items from each shop. You can earn 1 entry for each shop you leave a comment about.

*Earn 1 bonus entry: Sign up for my newsletter. I use the newsletter to keep you aware of special sales going on, blog contests, etc. I will not abuse the list to spam you all of the time, and I will not share your email address with anyone. Just click here to sign up. You don't have to come back and comment that you joined the mailing list.

*Earn 2 bonus entries: Blog about this giveaway! Then come back here and leave a comment with a link to your blog post.

*Earn 3 bonus entries: Make a purchase from any of the shops featured in theSome of my favorites - May Edition. Again, the shops are:
fivesisters
CountryGirlSpices
bagsbytracy
Come back here and leave a comment with the link to your transaction. You can do this once for each of the featured shops.

*Earn 5 bonus entries: Make a purchase from any of my three shops:
Raevyn77
SimplyRaevyn
PeculiarParchment
Come back here and leave a comment with the link to your transaction.

This contest is open to everyone, you do not have to be in the US to enter. May 31st will be the last day to enter, and I will draw the winner on June 1st.

*********

This is a big contest, with lots of chances to earn entries. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me. Good luck everyone!

Some of my favorites - May Edition

2009-05-01T07:23:00.000-07:00

So I was sitting here debating whether I should be blogging, or shopping. So I figured, why not do both! I shop A LOT on Etsy, and I want to share some of my favorite shops with you. So here goes!

fivesisters

Since I make so much jewelry, I spend a whole lot of time hunting for great beads. I recently came across fivesisters. I oohed and aahed over the inventory, but I have had enough experience to know that I need to check out the product before getting my hopes up. So I searched through the gorgeous selection and settled on one item to take a test drive with.

I decided to order the assortment of 14mm large, puffy Czech rondelles. Check them out in this picture, and I think that you will see why!

So I placed my order and eagerly awaited my goodies! And when they got here, WOW! They were absolutely gorgeous. Since then I have ordered a few other times from fivesisters, and I have never been disappointed. An amazing inventory and great prices make shopping at fivesisters fun, and I know I will be a long time customer of theirs!

Etsy
Buy Handmade
fivesisters

CountryGirlSpices

To be honest, CountryGirlSpices is not the type of shop I would think to look for online. I am a bit of a spur of the moment spice buyer. But I decided to try out CountryGirlSpices, and now I am hooked! The first thing that caught my eye was her cat nip. I also ordered quite a few other items such as her sea salt, steak seasoning, and cumin. I am totally addicted to her spices now, they really add something special to my recipes. And my cats...lets just say that if I do not keep up with their catnip supply from CountryGirlSpices, I am quite sure they will move up their plans to assassinate me in my sleep lol.

Etsy
Buy Handmade
CountryGirlSpices

bagsbytracy

To put it simply, I love this shop! A few months ago I had ordered messenger bag from Tracy. As a matter of fact, the bag that she ended up making was the exact one shown in the Messenger Bag listing. And I love it! I use it all of the time. It has very quickly become my mail bag. I pack orders and put them in the bag until I can get to the post office. It is very roomy, and if you have a custom bag made, Tracy has a huge selection of fabrics to choose from that really make the bag yours.

Etsy
Buy Handmade
bagsbytracy

Well those are a few of my favorite shops. I will be doing this feature once a month. Stay tuned!

Blog Contest Winner

2009-05-01T07:15:00.000-07:00

Well it is time to wind up another contest. This time there were 41 entries, wow! Once again I used the Custom Random Number Generator. And the winner of the $20 gift certificate that can be used in any of my shops is lolo!! Congratulations lolo :)

I will be posting a new giveaway today, and I am working on a really great one. So stay tuned!!!

New Blog Contest

2009-04-16T10:42:00.001-07:00

Well it looks like it is time for a new blog contest! I have to admit, my brain is pretty fried this week. So I am going to go for a nice and easy one :) So here goes...

How to Enter
Entering is easy! Simply go to one of my three shops, and leave a comment here with a link to one of your favorite items and why you like it. My shops are:
Raevyn77
SimplyRaevyn
PeculiarParchment
You only need to pick one item, you don't have to pick one from each shop.

Get a bonus entry! Sign up for my newsletter. I use the newsletter to keep you aware of special sales going on, blog contests, etc. I will not abuse the list to spam you all of the time, and I will not share your email address with anyone. Just click here to sign up. You don't have to come back and comment that you joined the mailing list.

What do you win?
The prize is a $20 gift certificate that can be used in any of my shops.

This contest is open to everyone, you do not have to be in the US to enter. April 30th will be the last day to enter, and I will draw the winner on May 1st.

Winner of the MagicIsland Giveaway

2009-04-15T15:20:00.000-07:00

Well it is the 15th, time to announce the winner of the 5x7 print giveaway from MagicIsland! There were 33 entries, and I used the Custom Random Number Generator and Janet F was the winner!! Congratulations!!!! Thank you to all that entered :)

I will be posting a new contest within the hour.

Busy Saturday and Easter Sale!

2009-04-11T08:39:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I actually have a ton of work to do today. My dining room table is completely covered in card making supplies, and I want to get a whole bunch of my cards done so that I can see my table again lol. BUT I did want to mention my Easter sale. It is a great opportunity to grab things, and I have been doing a lot of listing:

Easter Weekend Sale
Ends at midnight (est) Sunday night

All items in all 3 of my shops are 15% off! You can convo me for me to adjust the listing before you purchase. Or I can send you a revised invoice or refund your paypal.

Also, all items purchased this weekend (Fri, Sat and Sun) will be earn an entry into a drawing to be held on
Monday, for a $15 gift certificate good in any of my shops.

Raevyn77
SimplyRaevyn
PeculiarParchment

Well I am gonna drag myself off to the table lol . I hope to spend some time on my blog after the weekend :) Have a great weekend and Easter everyone!

April Blog Contest - MagicIsland Giveaway

2009-04-09T13:01:00.000-07:00

I am going to change things up a bit this month, and do two contests! One will start now and be drawn on the 15th. The second one will be posted on the 15th.

This first contest is a great one. Mary of MagicIsland will be giving away a 5x7 print ($12 value) from her shop, and the winner can pick the print that they want!

So what are the rules? It's easy! Visit MagicIsland, then leave a comment here with the link to your favorite piece in her shop, and why you like it! Don't forget to leave your email address at all. If I can't contact you, you can't win.

Get a bonus entry! Sign up for my newsletter. I use the newsletter to keep you aware of special sales going on, blog contests, etc. I will not abuse the list to spam you all of the time, and I will not share your email address with anyone. Just click here to sign up.

The winner will be drawn on April 15th and will be announced on this blog, as well as being contacted by email. Good luck!

Footnote
Since I am in the process of switching my blog over to blogger, all entries on BOTH blogs will be counted. So if you enter here, you do not need to enter on the other blog.

Etsy Featured Artist - MagicIsland

2009-04-08T11:43:00.000-07:00

I have always been a fan of photography, both aspects of it. I love to take pictures and then develop them in a way to show my perspective, and I love looking at other people's pictures. I love to see how other people view things. And it is always amazed me how beauty can be found in the most simple things. I have admired a lot of photographers on Etsy, but by far one of my favorites is Mary at MagicIsland. Her shop is full of gorgeous photos, and she is really able to convey her love for her surroundings in her work. I have so many favorites in her shop, and I am proud to say that I have quite a few of her pieces displayed in my house.

Although I am a fan of all of her work, I do have a favorite in her shop. And I am really hoping that some day it will be mine!!!

I talk to Mary often, and recently I asked her if she wouldn't mind answering a few questions for this article. Here is what we came up with!

Name: Mary Haggerty
Age (if you don't mind): Rather not thanks, but older than you!
Where do you live?: Ocracoke Island NC

How did you get started with photography?
I was always the kid carrying a camera I don't ever remember a time when I was not fascinated with capturing images.

What inspires you most?
Nature, people, and places I've never seen before.

What do you do in your spare time?
I like to sew and I make quilts. I also love to travel when I can. And I spend some time at the beach.

Tell us a little known fact about you.
I have been a photojournalist for many years, I was a freelancer for the NY Times and I have exhibited my photographs in museums and galleries. I published a book, "American Journal: a collection of off beat small town road trips"

Do you have a favorite subject to photograph?
I love to photograph people. If find they are the most interesting subject. I love photojournalism and making editorial portraits.

Do you sell anywhere besides Etsy? Where?
I have a shop, Ocracoke Photo on Ocracoke Island, NC come visit! I photograph a lot of family portraits at the beach and weddings on the Island.

What advice do you have for anyone that would like to start selling their own photography?
It's not easy. I've done a lot of different things over the years, portraits, weddings, photojournalism, fine art. Find what interests you the most.

Do you twitter, flickr, facebook..or anything else where people can follow you? Please feel free to list all of your "social networking" addresses.
http://www.OcracokePhoto.com
http://www.MagicIsland.etsy.com
http://www.PhotoAmerica.etsy.com
http://www.Ocracokeweb.com
http://www.OcracokeIsland.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ocracoke-Island/53887363599

thats most of my sites lol.

******

To put it in plain English, Mary's work is beautiful! It is professional and her aspect on things really shines through. She is also very easy to communicate with. So if you need a gift, something for your own wall, or you just want to admire some amazing photography, take a look into her shop!

Etsy
Buy Handmade
MagicIsland

Coming Back

2009-04-08T11:42:00.000-07:00

I have decided to start posting my blog here again. Older posts will still be found on my old blog, but new posts will be found here :)

New Blog

2009-01-06T10:13:00.000-08:00

I know I know, it looks like I am not blogging at all anymore. But this isn't true! We put a blog up on my website. So come and see me at http://www.simplyraevyn.com/blog

Nightmares

2008-06-25T14:54:00.000-07:00

The other night I had the worst nightmare of my life. Now nightmares are a common occurrence for me. I have all different types, at all different levels. I have ones I have dubbed “anxiety” nightmares. Nightmares may be too strong of a word for them, but basically they are dreams were I am in very stressful situations that I cannot get out of. Probably the most common version of this nightmare for me is I am pretty much dropped into one of my old jobs, but not given any updates on how things run these days. I know this sounds minimal, but they are extreme situations. And one of the things I always prided myself on at any of my old jobs was being in control. So these dreams are very upsetting to me, and usually leave me feeling like I have not slept.

I have nightmares of horrible things happening to people I care about. For example the other night I had one where an old friend of mine had fallen into a coma.

I also have typical monster type dreams. These are probably less upsetting to me, depending on their intensity level. I have ones where Freddy is chasing me, or something like that. They sound cheesy, and they are. Most of them are mildly upsetting.

However my nightmare the other night was the worst! I guess it could qualify as a monster nightmare, but it was much worse than that. I can’t begin to describe it and have it make any sense to anyone but me. I can say it was based on ghosts, but not at the cheesy and amusing level. I woke up yelling things, and unable to breath! This is where things get really weird. I looked at the entrance of my room, and saw someone standing there. I say I saw it because as sure as I am typing this, I knew I saw it. At first I thought it was Paul’s mom, then the longer I stared I realized it wasn’t. Then it was just gone. I was disturbed to say the least. I got out of bed, I had no interest in continuing the dream. And in my head, I was absolutely convinced that our apartment was haunted! However as my head cleared, I relived the event of the “shadow” in the doorway. The more and more I thought about it, I realized I could not have seen what I thought I did. And I have a few reasons for this conclusion. For one it was 4am and absolutely dark in our apartment. There were no computer monitors on, no TVs, no light at all. The second reason is that without my glasses, I am blind as a bat. I could have never seen anything at that distance. The thing that makes this so extreme for me, is that this has never happened to me before. When I “saw” the thing in my doorway, I was positive I was awake. I was thinking about how extreme that nightmare had been. I have never had the lines between awake and sleep so completely blurred like that.

I realize that people may be thinking that I use the term nightmare too liberally. Not all unpleasant dreams are nightmares. And I know this. What causes me to put a dream into the nightmare category is really the anxiety level. If it is so high that my sleep is unsettled, and I wake up emotionally bothered or feeling completely unrested, I call those my nightmares. I guess other people have different qualifications for nightmares, but that is mine.

I did not write this to whine. My sleep problems have plagued me as long as I can remember, and I am quite used to them. I guess that is why the level at which this particular nightmare got to me really bothers me. A lot of my dreams I attribute to my anxiety problems and mental issues. I guess…I am just really tired.

Beading Ideas Part 2

2008-06-04T14:11:00.000-07:00

Hello folks. It is a wicked hot day here in Lubbock, Texas. I have spent the day doing more online marketing, and I did manage to get a little bit of beading done a long the way.

This is part 2 of my series on Beading Ideas. I am hoping that I can help to inspire some of my fellow beaders, and maybe even encourage some of my own inspiration!

As I sit here working on a series of Patriotic necklaces, I would say my next idea for beading is pay attention to the season! If you are just beading for fun this of course is completely dependent on times of the year that you deem to be important. However if you are like me and you are attempting to sell your creations, you should consider the holidays and seasons of your desired audience.

Since I started my shop just about 3 months ago, I have really had a hard time catching up with seasons and holidays. For example, before spring I would have liked to list a lot of anklets. Since I didn't, I spent most of spring trying to catch up on anklet orders as well as get an established anklet inventory in my shop. If you are like me, and not exactly on top of what is in for which seasons, just do a search on the web. Or look at forums, people tend to express what they want.

Besides specific types of jewelry, also keep in mind colors and patterns that relate to the upcoming holiday or season. My heart and shamrock patterns displayed in the first part of this series are a prime example of this. I sold about 12 different versions of the heart pattern for Valentine's Day! And for spring, I listed a lot of new items made with pastel colors, and pinks and purples. Just colors that I have always considered "springy". I also used a lot of charms like butterflies and dragonflies. Now for summer I am using bolder colors, and lots of flip flop charms! With the 4th of July quickly approaching, I am designing a lot of red, white and blue items. I know it sounds like common sense, or maybe too simple to be true. But these seasonal items are fantastic sellers for me! I know that at the end of next winter I will stock a very large inventory of anklets!

My brick stitch earrings tend to run very long, usually over 3.5 inches. Recently I sold a customer a pair of earrings that I made when I first started brick stitching. They were very short, less than 2.5 inches long. For some reason I got it in my head that nobody would want a pair. I was very wrong. Someone ordered them from me, and as soon as she got them she sent me a message telling me how much she loved the short version! This led to my new line of earrings that I call my "Mini Series".

Let your materials inspire you! I have a very large collection of Swarovski Crystals. I love them. I love their colors, and the way they sparkle. But I am not always entirely sure how to use them. While going through my metal beads the other day, I had this idea:
Swarovski Butterfly Earrings
What better way to show off the beauty of Swarovski Crystals then to display them with a butterfly? For me this pairing just makes sense.

I hope that this has helped you with your beading ideas, and even inspired some beading ideas of your own. With the materials available to us, the possibilities are endless. And considering out medium, the possibilities are quite gorgeous as well. So get out there. Don’t be afraid to try something new, to learn a new technique, or to learn by watching others. Beading ideas come to us all in different ways. How you get yours is up to you. So go out there and bead! Talk to other beaders.

If you have ideas, leave a comment!! The best ideas come from each other. Beaders should support and inspire each other.

I know that I should be doing my featured Etsy sellers as well. I must admit I fell behind on that project. I already have my next seller in mind though, and I will either be doing a feature on them later this evening, or tomorrow morning.

:w

Beading Ideas

2008-05-31T12:59:00.001-07:00

Beading Ideas
Hello folks! Been over a week since I last posted unfortunately. But I have been working very hard on new inventory. Then last night a good friend of mine started working with me on getting more exposure for my site. So now that is what I am working on. I have to admit that this isn't my favorite part of the business, but it needs to be done. Hopefully by Monday I can be beading again.

How do you get your beading ideas? I get mine in all sorts of ways. Sometimes I am inspired by specific beads that I have. Sometimes it is an idea that just sort of pops into my head. The following is some beading ideas for you to explore, as well as some ways to come up with some of your own!

My very favorite type of earrings to make are called brick stitch earrings.

The upper part of the earrings is the actual brick stitch part. Looking at it, it is clear to see where the name comes from. The bead layout looks like a brick wall. I love this type of earrings for so many reasons. I guess that the most sentimental reason is that when I was very young, my mom wore this type of earrings all of the time. I was always on the lookout for them to give to her as a gift. I never found a large selection of colors, and I had it in my mind early on that I should just make them for her! Then a few years ago, I started to bead. I had a very hard time finding good instructions on brick stitching, so I concentrated mostly on necklaces and bracelets. Then about a year ago, I became determined to learn. I found some instructions, and didn't give up until I had it! Now I am completely addicted to brick stitch. I love the colors, and endless possibilities of patterns. So if you are looking for a new beading idea, I highly suggest learning to brick stitch. Your possibilities are nearly unlimited. There are basic geometric patterns to do, shapes, and even highly detailed pictures that you can do. I have not delved into the highly detailed pictures yet. My favorite thing to do is the different geometric patterns. But I also have a few shapes I do. Shamrocks and hearts are my most popular. They are both of course very seasonal, but I also sell them when it is not Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day. They are fun to use, and very easy to customize!!

This is my heart pattern.

I started off doing them in just red and white for Valentine's Day. But I ended up making them in lot's of different colors. Including Black and Red for our town's sport's team.

Here is the shamrock pattern.

In this example I added a few gold accents, just because I thought it made those colors look better.

So as you can see, both patterns can be customized to fit different needs. They are fun to make, and really do seem to posses the "Wow!" factor when people see them.

Would you like to see examples of my geometrical earrings? Well just look here. I have a lot of seed and bugle beads, so I really have fun making new patterns and color combinations.

Sometimes I really have a hard time getting inspired with new beading ideas. I think it is mostly because I become so overwhelmed. I have a ton of beads, and I want to use them all! I have also expanded what I make to include drop earrings, chandelier earrings, anklets and necklaces. I suppose my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) doesn't help either. Sometimes I really need to just slow down look at the beads, see if any color combinations catch my eye. My fiance thinks I am crazy at times because I have a huge pile of bagged beads sitting on the coffee table, and I will just sit and look at them for a long time.

One good place to find beading ideas is just by watching the world around you. Watch what people have on at the mall, or on T.V. I have a hard time breaking away from some of my patterns sometimes. My solution to that is just do something completely out of the box for me. For example the other day I was watching one of those ridiculous court shows on T.V. You know, the ones that you shake your head at in public, but watch every day! A woman had a pair of chandelier earrings on. They were a nice length, but the middle dangle went all the way down to her shoulder. I had never made a pair like this, but I loved the movement of them. So this is what I came up with.

These are something I would have never come up with on my own, just because I end up fixing myself into such a little box. But these sold the same day I listed them! And they have inspired me in lots of different directions. Sometimes it just takes one little thing like this for me to go on a creating binge! And it always seems to catch me by surprise.

I think that is all for beading ideas today. I have more, and I will be blogging about them. Do you have any you want to share? Let me know! And remember to check out my site. Bookmark, and check back often :D

:w

Lightening Can Strike Twice!

2008-05-14T13:41:00.000-07:00

Hello folks! Two blog entries in one day :o I must be trying to set some sort of a record. I wanted to make an entry about all the things I have been doing at Simply Raevyn lately, as well as the last personal entry that I made.

My online store is going okay. I did a Buy 1 Get 1 Free sale over the weekend, and I got lot's of orders. I was doing the sale because I was supposed to get my tax refund check on Friday the 9th, but it has not yet arrived. I was counting on it to pay some bills, so I started the sale so that I could make up for some of the money. It brought in a lot of first time customers. So hopefully it will lead to future business with these people.

I had my first sale on Blujay! I am of course completely in love with Etsy, but I decided that it wouldn't hurt to also list on Blujay, since it is absolutely free. So yesterday a lady bought quite a bit of my seed bead destash. It made me happy because I really want to get rid of all of my destash, and because it marked my first Blujay sale.

I have been pretty productive all around with my jewelry business this week. I have posted a lot of new items, as well as adding anklets to my item base. I think it is time for me to get back to brick stitching though. I have had a hard time calming my mind down enough to do it, but I am trying to work it back in slowly. I got a pair done today. Now I am going to work on my site for the rest of the day. I ordered a lot of new seed beads, and they should be here in the next day or two. So my goal is to get all of the things I want to add to my site added today, and then when my new seed beads get here I will get back to brick stitching and get my inventory bumped up.

Speaking of things I have wanted to get done, I finally did my first bead patter today! I have been wanting to add some different patterns to my site. So today I opened up my Paint Shop Pro and mapped out the shamrock pattern. I am going to post it tonight. Hopefully I can get about one pattern a week done.

My fiance Paul has also built me a new form for Simply Raevyn. I told him that I want to build a newsletter mailing list, and a birthday database. So he built a great form for me. Hopefully he will add it to the site tonight. I can't wait to start using it!

Okay I guess that is about enough for today. It is almost time for my trade game on etsy :)

:w

Me and My Craziness

2008-05-14T10:10:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! It is a slow Wednesday. Things have been really rough for me lately mentally. My bipolar seems to be in full swing, and making me crazy. I have been in a mania for weeks now, and it is really taking it's toll. I am tired, cranky, and incredibly moody. I hate feeling like this. When my friend Jenn calls on the phone I can't even bring myself to hold a normal conversation. I just sort of mumble until she gets mad enough to hang up. I feel bad when things like that happen, but I just can't stop! I hate being so weak minded that I cannot even make myself have a conversation with my best friend of 22 years. I got some Seroquil, so at least I am sleeping better. But they seroquil certainly isn't helping my moods. When I take it during the day it just makes me so that I don't obsess about my moodiness.

I just realized while writing that last paragraph, that I have not talked about my mental issues much in this blog. Certainly not in detail, only briefly in passing. I think I should write about it more. When I was young, writing always made me feel better. And that is really one of my purposes for this blog. So here goes.

When I was younger, I think about 21, I was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD, as well as a few other things such as depression and PTSD. At first I thought it was an odd diagnosis. I did have some compulsions, but certainly nothing like what you see on movies like What About Bob. (On a side note, that is one of my all time favorite movies.) So I decided to do a little bit of looking into the disease. I ordered a book, which I now highly recommend to anyone effected by OCD. The book is called Tormenting Thoughts and Secret Rituals: The Hidden Epidemic of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Yes I know, quite a long title. But what a wonderful book! It made me realize that this intrusive, horrible thoughts I had been having were not because I was a horrid, disgusting person. They were caused by OCD. Just realizing that had such an amazing effect on me. I guess I had never really thought much about the "Obsession" part of OCD. Movies, jokes, etc. have always dealt with the "Compulsion" part for the most part. I can't say enough about how much this book did for the way I viewed myself.

A few years later, I was told by a Psychiatrist that I was not depressed, that I in fact had Bipolar Disorder. I have to admit when I first heard that, I was very skeptical. I then told my mom of the diagnosis. My mother is an RN, and has worked on a psyche word for over a decade. Her intitial reaction was to disagree, but within seconds she was agreeing with the diagnosis. It was interesting to watch her reaction, because it sort of looked like things made sense to her all of a sudden. My lifetime of starting enormous projects and never finishing, my weird relationships with men, my spending habits, and so much more. So, I decided to look into Bipolar Disorder. Once again, much the same way as it did when I read about OCD, things started to make sense. My bipolar diagnosis has recently been further confirmed, as well as narrowed down to Bipolar I.

As I have gotten older, my symptoms have actually worsened. I am to the point now where it is difficult for me to even leave the house. I can leave, although it is usually only with my fiance. I guess I look at him as my safety person. Driving used to be a huge part of my life. I loved to drive, it gave me such a sense of freedom. Now the thought of driving terrifies me. I cannot stand being in crowds, it makes me physically sick, and sometimes makes me feel as if I will pass out. I have a lot of panic attacks. Things might be a little bit different if I could afford all of the meds I need, and also if I could afford to get the therapy I need. I'm not sure really.

Anyway, I wanted to take this opportunity to discuss my diagnoses. They are a huge part of my personality, and they effect me and the people in my life a lot. I used to use writing to express myself more, and it helped me feel better. I also used to use the internet to reach out to get help for things like this. I guess I am taking this opportunity to do both things. Thank you for listening.

:w

Hectic Week

2008-04-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

Whew I have had such a busy week! I don't even quite know where to start. I have made a lot of sales, trades, and purchases! I have also spent the week improving my online presence. I joined some etsy teams, and worked on joining some of the social network sites like Facebook, StyleHive, and Talent Database. I know there were others that I joined, but it seems silly to list them all here. They are all linked on my main site though.

The day I signed up for RME (Revolution Money Exchange), I order a lot of supplies from other Etsy sellers. And I do mean a lot. I have been wanting to add a lot of new inventory to my shop, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to get some new materials. I have also shown a few of my friends RME. Besides using the RME money, I also traded for supplies, and spent every penny I earned on orders ordering supplies. On Saturday I got 6 bubble mailers jam packed with goodies! I haven't been to the mailbox yet today, but I expect at least that many, if not more, today. So I have been making a lot of new things these past few days. I am also trying to expand the materials I use, and I recently fell in love with using pearls, and I have ordered more.

As far as "life" is concerned this week, I guess I haven't really noticed. I am putting 100% of myself into this business, and I am afraid I have been neglecting other things. I told Paul that I will start taking Fridays, and Saturday during the day off. Those are his two days off, and we really love spending time together. So now I just need to start planning my weeks better. Or maybe lighten up on myself somewhat as far as inventory is concerned :p I made a lot of sales this week, and my inventory is down to 99 items right now. And it is totally freaking me out!

I think that I must be manic right now. I am not sleeping well, and my mind is racing. It seems like I am always trying to get a hundred things done at the same time. So today I am trying to calm down a little. I am making a list of the things I want done, and I am going to try and work down the list. This is really something I should do all the time!

Featured Etsy Artist

In this blog I want to talk about etsy artist RKGJewelry. I ran across her in a chat room on one of the first days I entered etsy chat. I started browsing her store because her avatar caught my attention. I was instantly blow away by her shop. Not only was her jewelry beautiful, but her photographs showing off her jewelry were stunning. Unfortunately, I have not yet bought anything from her. But she is on the very top of my wish list, even my fiance knows her work by now! I encourage everyone to take a look at her shop. Here is just one example of her work:

Take a few minutes and check out her shop :)

Well I should go and get some work done on my site now.

Etsy
Buy Handmade
RKGJewelry

RME

2008-04-24T10:57:00.000-07:00

Well it happened, I signed up for RME! I wasn't going to, I was standing strong. But the more I looked into it, the better it looked. And the best part...they gave me $25 just for signing up!

Don't know what RME is? Well it seems to be an alternative to PayPal, although they seem to be a bank. And best of all, they don't charge for online transfers. Which means that I can receive money from my customers without paying the fees to PayPal. So it is available at my shop now.

If you want to sign up, you should!! Use me as a referrer and send me a conversation on etsy about it or an email, and I will give you a 20% discount at my shop! You can use the link in the top corner of this blog.

I need to go and get some beading done. Tomorrow will be a full blog entry with featured Etsy artist and all :)

:w

Let's try a restart

2008-04-23T12:02:00.000-07:00

Hello! After using Blogspot and myspace to blog with, I decided to add my own to this site. It will probably primarily focus on Etsy and my beading, but I'm sure I will slip in a few other things too...like my pain in the butt cats :p However I will also be posting this same blog onto blogspot to allow for comments and such things :)

To start off, let me do a quick introduction. My name is Bethany, codename Raevyn :p I am 31 and I live in Lubbock, Texas with my wonderful boyfriend, Paul and our two cats, Oopsa Daisy and Bo. I am actually new to Texas. I lived the first 29 years of my life in Brattleboro, Vermont. I really do love living here, but things are so very different from the world that I knew in New England. I also miss my family a lot. I am very close to my Mom, Stepdad, younger sister, and my Aunt Judith. It was hard to move away from them. But we keep in touch a lot with
emails, phonecalls, and yahoo messenger. I downloaded it just to talk to my sister. I also left behind my friend Jenn. We have known eachother for 22 years and have been inseperable. But we talk a lot too. And about twice a year since I moved here, Paul and I have made the trip North to visit everyone. Our first trip up there was Paul's first trip to New England, so that adds extra excitement to our trips. And I am hoping that one day my family will decide to visit me down here. Jenn already did visit, and I hope that she does again!

Now about my site, Simply Raevyn!. I started this site in order to sell the jewelry that I make. In actuality I started beading about 5 years ago. When I first started I primarily did necklaces, bracelets, and drop type earrings. Then as I do with most things, I stopped beading for a few years. When I first moved to Texas I decided it was finally time to learn the part of beading that I have wanted to do since I was a very little girl, and that was brickstitching. My mom always wore these elaborate brick stitch earrings when I was young. I fell in love with how they looked and the color possibilities, and I also wanted to be able to make them for her. So I made it my goal to learn. And I did! Now that has become the focus of my jewelry. I still do other types of beaded jewelry, and I hope to learn more beading techniques as well.

Okay I think I have gone on long enough for one. I am going to try and blog daily, and I will be adding new features. The feature that I am most looking forward to is going to spotlight some of my favorite etsy artists! So here goes my first try at this.

Featured Etsy Artist

In my short time on Etsy, I have come across some great artists! With that in mind, I have decided to start featuring some of my favorites in my blog. For the first one, I want to introduce you all to Craftysteph! I met her in the Etsy chat rooms. After about a week of looking at her scrunchies, I decided to order them. Although it may seem silly, I am always on the
lookout for scrunchies that can handle my hair. It is very long (almost to my butt), the strands are baby fine, and I have a ton of it. So it tends to be frizzy, tangled easy, and can destroy any scrunchie in a very short amount of time. So once craftysteph reassured me that she used high quality elastics in her scrunchies I decided to go for it. I ordered these:

And boy am I glad I did! I absolutely love them. They are very strong, and of course beautiful. She has great prices too! Of course Craftysteph sells more than just scrunchies. She has some candles that I am really eager to try out, incense, jewelry, crochet, custom graphic art, and more!

I highly recommend her shop. She is very friendly and extremely talented. Her prices are fantastic and she ships fast. Don't see the color of scrunchies you want? Convo her!

That officially wraps up the first blog post. I hope to do this every day, or atleast on a regular basis!

Etsy
Buy Handmade
Craftysteph

Progress

2008-03-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

Well it's Friday, generally always a happy day for me on some level. Paul generally has Friday and Saturday off, so my spirits are usually somewhat higher on Friday :)

I have made a few pairs of earrings the past few days. Here they are:

I have also made a few sales on my spring clearance items, which I am very relieved of. I just want to clean out my inventory. I'm selling some drop earrings on ebay for only .98!!

We finally purchased the domain www.simplyraevyn.com !! Paul has been doing a lot of research on the internet to see how to do the things we want to on the site. I think it is going to be great. Besides my catalog of items we will also have tutorials, patterns, and hopefully quite a few other things. We are also going to list my friend Jen's art, maybe she can get some sales. For now though we just have the domain redirecting to my etsy.

Well I am gonna take my fat butt back to the couch. I am really trying to increase my inventory.

Wednesday blahs

2008-03-26T14:47:00.000-07:00

Today has been an odd day for me. My mood has been changing about every 5 minutes. One minute I am in tears, and the next minute I am bouncing off the walls, talking loudly and laughing. I really hate days like this. I feel so completely not in control. I guess this means I am having a completely bipolar day, or something. I have managed to get a necklace and a pair of chandelier earrings done. The pics aren't all that great, so I will rephotograph them tomorrow to post here. I had a sale this morning and that made me pretty happy :) I have been doing a lot online to promote my jewelry. I know that there is a lot available online, but I really like what I make. Especially the brick stitch earrings.

Well I was going to spend time on my blog and myspace today, but to be honest I don't have it in me. Gonna head to the couch and try to create a little :) :w

Monday

2008-03-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

Howdy everyone!!

Well it's Monday. Paul had Friday, Saturday and Sunday off. We got to spend a lot of time together and that was wonderful. He hadn't really had a day off in weeks. We watched Rome, and also started the work on my website. We are going to build a really nice website to sell my jewelry on. It is actually our dream to eventually be able to build websites, promote, etc. as a job. We want to start our own company. But we are going to use my jewelry business as sort of a jumping off point. We found a good hosting company, and will purchase the domain from Go Daddy. Our friend Elmin has been helping with some advice because he has some great dream of creating a website that will make him rich, without him having to do much :p So he has researched good hosting companies and stuff. It has been a lot of years since I built a web page, but I think Paul and I will be able to build a really great site.

I guess I haven't done too much beading in the last two days. I did make these ones yesterday

I have also started a new pair today. What I did accomplish was rephotographing the rest of my drop earrings and chandelier earrings. I am holding a Spring Cleaning Sale on etsy and ebay to sell most of them, so I wanted better pictures of them. Hopefully these sales can clean out a lot of my older inventory. I want a "fresh" start, and to be able to stop looking at the earrings I have had for a few months. I am also trying to participate in all of the groups I joined today. So I think today will be a beading break day. But I will work on promotion and stuff on the internet.

I am really liking this google group that I am part of called etsyBEAD. They seem to be a very active and dedicated group. They have a weekly promotion called EBTW, which means etsyBead Theme of the Week. Basically they discuss and decide on a certain theme. Then the members that want to participate list items within that theme, and offer a special on these items. I decided to try it out this week. This weeks theme is stormy weather.

SO basically, things are looking good. I made about 10 sales last week. While that number isn't huge, it is pretty great for me. Steady too, as I had at least one sale almost every day. I am excited about how things are going. I have always had a hard time sticking with things, but I think I have finally overcome that with this "project". Wish me luck!!!

Happy Friday

2008-03-21T18:50:00.001-07:00

Well of course I managed to miss a blog day, no surprise on my end though!

I received a ton of the stuff I ordered from ebay and etsy today! I'm so happy. I have a lot of plans now for things to make. I also marked all of my drop earrings way down on my sites. I want to do a sort of spring cleaning. Get rid of the older stuff and make room for the new things I want to try.

I did manage to make two pairs of brick stitch earrings yesterday. Here they are:

I'm trying to make some sort of spring themed earrings, hence the bumblebee patterns :)

I must say, I just ripped my fingernail, and oh dear lord does it hurt! Blah nothing worse than that. Well I'm sure there is, but that isn't relevant at the moment :p

Okay time to go and spend some time with Paul :) He has today, Saturday and Sunday off! I am so excited.

Day 3 - Etsy Sales \o/ \o/ \o/

2008-03-18T19:17:00.000-07:00

Well today's entry will be short. I'm pretty tired. I wanted to write earlier but I got busy. I decided to rephotograph pretty much my entire inventory! I also did some shopping.

I had my first Etsy sales today \o/ I actually sold to two different customers, for a total of 4 pairs of earrings. It really made my day. Of course that caused me to go on a shopping spree. I ordered from ebay, etsy and I went to Michael's. So tomorrow I should have a bunch of new chandelier earrings to post. I also decided I am going to try and sell mainly from etsy. I really like their community, and the prices they charge for selling are so much better than ebay's prices. That is one of the reason I did so much photography today. I decided to take better pictures before I listed things on Etsy.

Okay I am off to bed. Tomorrow I will actually get some beading done, and perhaps my blog entry will be a bit more interesting.

2nd Verse, Same as the...oh nevermind :p

2008-03-17T12:43:00.000-07:00

Well day two. That's right, I have stuck with something for two whole days, not bad ;) I am feeling sort of defeated today. I know it's just one of my moods kicking in, but of course that doesn't make me feel any better.

I did manage to bead a little today. I made a necklace and earring set.

I like it. Listed it both on ebay and etsy, see what the response is. I hope to get more accomplished later on today too. I made my first etsy order today. I ordered some Swarovski Crystals. It was a pretty good deal, and I figured I could get more immersed in the etsy community by being on the buying end as well as the selling end.

I guess I will go to my station on the couch and try to get some creating done. I may write more later, not sure yet.

:w

Day one...

2008-03-16T19:10:00.000-07:00

Well this is my first attempt at a blog. To be honest I have been spending a lot of time online lately working on my jewelry store, and so many people mentioned blogs to me that I have decided to give it a whirl. I don't promise any deep revelations, and certainly nothing quotable. Basically, I am starting in on a whole new part of my life and I want to write about it, even if I am the only reader. I wrote a lot as a teenager, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

First off, I have recently started selling my handmade jewelry online under the name "Simply Raevyn". Mostly I have been working on brick stitch, long, hand beaded earrings. I really want to learn some new patterns and techniques. I have also become quite fond of making chandelier earrings with crystals. I just ordered quite a lot of crystals from ebay. I can't wait to get them and start working on the new earrings!

For the past two months I have been selling on ebay. Today I found the etsy site, and started there. I sell on both sites with the name raevyn77 and Simply Raevyn. So far, sales have been okay. I must admit I have sold a lot more then I thought I would have. Of course, this makes me hungry for more. So I am striking out to promote more, and Paul and I will set up our own store site this weekend.

This first entry will be short. It's late, and I am pretty tired. Plus I have been sitting in this chair all day, working on promotion.