Taking the Plunge

Here is my favorite quote;
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain

I first saw this in Moab, Utah. We were there in August, the temperature was 100 degrees plus, and we were going Jeeping. That is we rented a jeep and drove it out into the red rocks. Anyway the quote was emblazoned over the doorway of the outdoor recreation center where we rented the jeep. They also rented all sorts of outdoorsy equipment for the adventurous tourists who came to Moab.

But it stuck in my mind and I have carried it with me now for several years. Because, that is the person I wish to be. Not some safe placid grandma who takes care of everyone and bakes cookies. Not that there is anything wrong with baking cookies! You know what I mean. I want to be adventurous, unafraid, and maybe not shocking, but surprising.

Well what does this have to do with beads, you ask? Indirectly one could chose the wild and extreme beads and baubles to create unconventional jewlery works, but my pieces don't seem to lean that far to the left. For me it is reaching just beyond the conventional, to where one would say "hmmmm, look at that!" or "that's different". Of course that may not be what sells the most, but it isn't always about selling.

So now my reaching has lead to silver and turquoise . The pieces are not, in themselves unconventional, but I am trying to choose stones that are. Not your normal turquoise, but those with character and interest. Set in a frame of plain silver the picture in the stone is the design. Let me know what you think. Thanks

More on selling beads...

Ohhhh I can't stand it. I have to write about it. I am searching Etsy, for I remembered someone selling the same seed beads I sell. Now I sell the strung beads in a 65 gram pkg, that's 6 strands. (which btw I saw at a bead show for $3 a strand!) anyhoo , I sell these for $5.99. And the loose beads for $4.99 for 50 grams. And I make a fair profit and I don't think my prices are out of line at all. But I find these people selling the same beads.... ok that's fine. But get ready for this...

First one seller calls them Japanese beads, NO they are Czech, and she is selling "as many as fit in this 1.5" metal tin" and "You will receive these in a little plastic ziploc. I haven't counted them, but my guess is 150 beads at least!" You GUESS? And for this you will pay $1.95 and $1.55 shipping. Gosh! How much are you paying for her beads?

OR you can buy 200 beads from another seller for $2.99 plus $2 shipping... ok thats about 22 grams for $3, well over twice what I charge.

Then there is "a 2x2 inch bag full of beads...this is about a heaping tablespoon worth." for $2.75 plus $2 shipping.

But here is the one I like the best, "You will receive 150 seed beads.A dime in one photo is used to illustrate size only. One photo shows what 150 beads looks like in a 2" x 2" baggie. " The photo shows about, and I know what these beads look like, 10 grams of beads in a zip bag. FOR ONLY $2.00 plus $2.50 shipping!

Last but not least is this great description, I like it right up to the last line....

5 Gram pkgs. of Czech Opaque Beads Rocailles
6/0
Approx. 4mm in size
Also Known as "E" Beads
Average of 7 beads per inch
Approx. 230 beads per package

simple and to the point, but WRONG, 5 grams is NOT 230 beads. Size 6/0 beads have 13000 beads per kilo, that equals about 13 beads per gram, do the math. You are either getting 65 beads in 5 grams or something else. Oh and BTW, that is $9.90 for 50 grams @ .99 per pkg.

OK I am done, for now anyway, buy my beads, great customer service, fast shipping accurate descriptions, and fair prices... thanks for listening to my rant.

Life is going by sooo fast

Wow, it has been 2 months since I posted here. Not good, I know. But it seems that life and time are just flying by! I have been to Colorado and spent time with my family there, back home and back to work. No, have not won the lottery yet. And now yet another stupendous black hole of time has appeared to suck my precious moments. Facebook!

Does anyone understand Facebook? Where are the instructions? Where is "Facebook for Dummies"? No, I am not a dummy really, I have been prowling around the Internet since Prodigy was a child. But this thing confuses me. It is like a huge rabbit warren of Internet pages where posts and pictures, links and pages, games and gifts appear with the speed and purpose-less-ness of a stick bobbing down a stream. That is to say, totally without any sense of order. Maybe that is my problem. I like order, I like things in their boxes, or at least placed so I know where to find them. Not this random rolling, moving "wall" of information that doesn't stay in place for more than a few minutes.

Then there is my 'inbox'. It now overflows with invites and friend requests. Persons unknown to me, connected electronically by some mutual 'friend'. Acquaintances mostly, not what I would call a 'friend' in most cases. And the games, oh my, who has time for all these games? Gangsters and farms, scrabble and I know not what else. Then ,there are the causes..... who can refuse to fight cancer, autism, world hunger and the like? All my friends seem to be doing it. Does joining a cause on FB actually fight world hunger? Does my clicking the 'join' button feed a starving child in some third world country? I think not. Not that the sentiment is not loyal, but would the time not be better spent writing a check, sealing the envelope and posting it off to say... Feed the Children or The Red Cross or some truly active charity? I don't know, am I wrong?

OK, I will end this rant, for that is what it is. And sadly go back to my FB page and try yet again to decipher it's mysteries. For after all, last month, a dear friend whom I had lost touch with, from my childhood has found me, on Facebook, and we are now in contact again.

Thank you Facebook.

Thoughts on buying beads

Shoppers, browsers and buyers please read!..... When I purchase new beads for my store I try to do some research. Before posting and pricing I check other stores to see what they are selling similar beads at. Something has come to my attention that I hope you savvy shopper recognize also. The price point for a similar item may be much lower at another store, BUT compare not only the shipping cost per item, but the Quantity. Are you getting the same amount of product for your money?

When I got these NEW beads in I had a price point in mind, but when I went to check other stores the price was MUCH lower. Hmmmm I thought, how can they sell them at that price, I know what they paid for them. THEN I realized they were selling HALF as MANY beads... Even though the picture was of a full 8 inch strand, they were only going to send you half that amount. This is a common practice in advertising and done in every type of sales not just beads. So just bear this (pun haha) in mind and read the fine print. Thanks for listening and happy shopping.

Selling

I have given up on the Ebay monster. Just too cut throat/politcal/and oh everything else.. just plain Unfriendly. I have both Etsy and ArtFire stores. And even tho Art Fire is just getting started, the fee structure is the best for new artists/suppliers. They are both very easy to use, accept payments via paypal, then print your shipping labels directly from paypal. I buy big boxes of bubble mailers from Uline, scrounge bubble wrap and peanuts from everywhere. I did purchase a digital postage scale on ebay, A scale is a must.

As for photography. Well, honestly, it's hard. do you have a good digital camera? If not you need one. Then all I can say is read everything you can find, take a class, and practice, experiment with lighting and backgrounds...maybe a light tent... selling is expensive LOL... but not frightening, I actually enjoy the selling part. I guess you could say I get a sense of satisfaction packaging up my wares and sending them off.



My DH is puzzled by all this, he cannot fathom my enjoyment of the selling process. He looks, asks a question and walks away.

So I begin....

Is life not a journey? Are the choices we make not the turns in our path? And is it the height of arrogance to think that anyone else we encounter on that path is at all interested in our journey? All that said, I will answer my own questions. As evidenced by the popularity of blogs and blogging the answer must be yes. So I will join the party and blog away, thoughts, ramblings, beads and beading, jewelry making, life in general, trips and more.... begin.

No I'm not from the south, but I have lived here so long sometimes I feel like I am southern born. In reality my heart is in the West. I grew up and went to high school in Colorado and still have family living there and in Arizona and Nevada. So I guess you could say I have Western roots. And thus evolved my love of Native American art, jewelry and BEADS.
As a child I had a fear of bears, mostly from reading sporting and hunting magazines, but as I grew older I felt an affinity to Bear and adopted him as my personal totem. Now I have a collection of Spirit Bear totems and beads. I started beading as a hobby and now am turning to it as a business. I hope you like my work, my bears and my beads. Please feel free to check out my Picture Trail site, lots more of my work there, http://www.picturetrail.com/homePage/spiritbearbeads
Or my Flickr photo albumn,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/spiritbearbeads/
and my two online bead stores
http://spiritbearbeads.etsy.com
http://Spiritbearbeads.artfire.com

busy aren't I?