Luna's Baublebilities

A blog post is NOT what I intended to work on tonight.  But. .  .

Maxx has been having some serious adjustment issues with back-to-school and had a violent meltdown tonight after dinner, including punching me several times and saying "I wish I didn't even HAVE a Mommy!"  This as a result of being instructed to NOT allow the dog to drink from his cup of milk.  Maxx and I did a hold down on the kitchen floor while waiting for Daddy, who dispensed an appropriate spanking and talking to and sent the boy to bed before leaving for meetings tonight.  Boy hasn't slept and keeps coming downstairs.  I am frustrated, discouraged and angry and can't work at any projects upstairs right now.

I've been having a hard time finding my feet after vacation.

I'm no longer a home schooling mom.  That's O.K.  Molly is having a great time in HS and is enjoying the musical immensely.  She's even starting to catch on in Algebra. Wisely, they put her in the slow class and she is doing just about as well as the kids who have been there from the beginning of the year.

I'm trying to lose weight the old fashioned way.  You know - eat less and exercize more.  So far so good but with tonight's stress I really want some chocolate and I've already broken into the popcorn.

I'm struggling with my calling.  Primary Secretary is very administrative which means that I don't have a lot of prep time for Sundays since I'm not teaching but it also means that I'm not growing spiritually because I'm not teaching.  I'm also not doing a very good job in it.  I had to miss a meeting tonight because I needed to get Maxx in bed.  It is simply impossible to have both Bry and I out of the house on a school night and since Bry is the BP - his responsibilities at church come before mine do right now.  I also feel that Maxx clings to me and acts out more in Primary than he would if I weren't stationed there every week.  I'd like him to be more independent on Sundays and I feel like my being available in the room impedes his development there.

I'm trying to determine what to do with my business.  Bry is already playing the "There probably won't be a job for you next year" game with BOCES.  Patterson's budget cuts to education on top of the general economic downturn keep Bryan's position at risk, even though he has been at BOCES for 10 years.  Don't ask - its a bunch of administrative stupidity.  When we began planning for the Beorningstead, I felt sure that I could start producing and selling enough scarves and finished jewelry to pay off some of the extra debt we would have to incur at first to make the transition work.  I still think that is true and that once I do find my feet and get a working routine going, the money will start rolling in the way I need it to.   But I'm pretty sure that I can't make enough to support the household.

Who knows, maybe I could.  But at this rate I just don't see how.

The Goblins' Market supply business contributes a steady cash flow which comes in really handy but the amount of income it provides compared to the amount of time I have to spend is really not worth the hassle.  I need to narrow my inventory and the scope of my supply shops.  I need to do this without taking a loss in my current inventory or slowing down the cash flow.  I need to find the balance between this side of my business and the finished works side - which is where the real profit and enjoyment is.



Where do I narrow things down?  What do I cut out from supplies, what do I increase?

Ribbons and hand dyed cord are very fulfilling to sell.  I spend a lot of time and have lots of fun devising new colorways and the ribbons bring a good price.  They also represent a large layout for raw materials in order to have more than a few lengths of each colorway.  Having regularly available color choices means either doing HUGE lots of each colorway at once or dyeing the same colorways again and again throughout the year.


The enameled brass dragonflies, bead caps and birds?  Love them.  And so does everyone else.  I've managed to restrict enameling to one day a week when Molly and I work together which means that customers wait several days to get their orders shipped out but it keeps that task manageable and trackable for me.  I'm thinking of expanding to include a few more colored metal pieces like butterflies and other repousee findings. 

Beads?  Oh here's a dilemma.  I LOVE having tons of beads to play with and lots of variety.  But since most of the beads I stock are so inexpensive, I'm really not making much of a profit.  Between listing fees and inventory management time, I think that one would have to be selling in huge quantities to make any money with selling beads.  I think I will dig back through my sales records and choose out the best sellers and keep those on hand.  Then I will concentrate on finding a few really special beads for designing with each season and offer a few sets of specials in my supply shops.  I recently discovered some new wholesalers who have slightly higher prices (1-2 cents per bead) but lower minimums and better variety so I don't have to tie up all of my bead money in a few massive strands that I'll get bored with and that may or may not sell.

I love having filigree bead caps and components around for designing with.  Thse will stay, but I will probably start to lean more towards larger and more specialty pieces.  Smaller findings will go.  I realize now that I do not intend to be a "full service bead shop."  There are plenty of those out there.  I want my supply shops to be known for the really luscious stuff - the addictive stuff you can only get from the Goblin Men down in the glenn.

For finished works . . .

I really want to play more with the beads I've got.  I love sparkley stuff.  I need to market it better, though, because jewelry is such a flooded market online.

Scarves.  If I dye, they will buy.  Again, more marketing will help move inventory quicker but I have no fears about losing money on any style of scarve that I produce.  Except maybe the gorgeous hand dyed velvet wraps with the incredible beaded fringe, but that kind of labor is never wasted.

Tee shirts?  I've got some half dyed and waiting for me to finish a silk screen design.  If they don't move well, lots of family members will get pretty tee shirts with peacocks on them for Christmas next year.

But before I can be successful with these finished beauties, I have to actually make some more stuff and get photos of them and list them in my shops.  All of that takes time.


And I haven't even discussed the state of the household.  My studio is a Groggoch's den right now and the bathroom isn't far behind.



I think the boy is asleep now.  Perhaps I can sneak into the studio now?  Or at least upstairs to put my laundry away?








. . . . .