Luna's Baublebilities

Splendid Caterpillar bracelet in Turquoise Luster

(Coupon Info at the bottom of this post!)

We are leaving in 11 days for a cross-country road trip.  I'm both excited and terrified.  Financially, this trip make NO sense but it is Molly's last summer at home and Maxx is old enough now that he is excited about seeing new things (like Mt. Rushmore and the Grand Canyon) We've been putting it off for far too long and it is just time to GO.

large acanthus filigree motif

I'm nervous about a lot of things - you know, getting in a wreck, having our money run out too fast, one of the kids disappearing - but realistically, those things could happen here at home.  In fact, the money running out too fast happens all the time around here and I just deal with it!  :)


But one thing I am really concerned about is living without my beads for 4 weeks.  EEEK!   I'm having SO much fun with Right Angle Weave making Splendid Caterpillar Bracelets.

The Jeep is pretty big but I really can't justify taking everything I want to have.  Plus I'm not sure how much work time I will actually have.

Green Twisted Drop Beads

I am putting together a small batch of beads, threads, pre-pieced crazy quilt fabrics and hand dyed stuff to work with on the trip.  I'll post photos of my travel palette before I pack them in the Jeep.

I bought a beadalon tacky mat from Shipwreck beads.   It looks pretty nifty - they are made of the  same sticky stuff as those gum-dispenser toys that you throw against the window and watch them slowly "crawl" down.

They are tacky without being sticky and are supposed to hold a layer of beads in place without getting adhesive on them.  They are also supposed to be "rechargable" by washing with water.  We'll see how well it works on the trip!

beadalon tacky mat

lavender opal 4mm firepolished rounds

I've gotten a bit behind on listing new inventory in my shops.  Things got piled up this winter and I'm just now starting to get stuff sorted out.   I am planning to re-vamp GoblinsMarket over at ArtFire when we return to accommodate traffic from GoblinsMarket.org.  Yes - I plan to actually put that url to use in 2012 - finally!    

Anyway - what you're really looking for is coupon info, right?  (I hope so!  I want to send out a few more sparklies to be well loved this summer before I put them all away for a month.)




So here's the deal.  I will be closing all of my ArtFire and Etsy shops for the month of July starting Monday or Tuesday next week so the coupons are good for this weekend. 


Over at ArtFire, use the coupon code ROADTRIP for 20% off orders over $30.00.  (Don't forget to sign in and comment on items to get additional discounts!)


At Etsy, use the coupon code ROADTRIP2012 for a 10% discount on your total order, regardless of the amount spent.   


Neither of the shops is fully loaded so if you see something in one that isn't in the other that you would like to purchase, let me know and I will set it up for you.   But hurry!  After this weekend, My whole will be bent towards getting us out of the house and on the road on time.

Molly will be blogging the trip over at the Beorningstead blog and I will try to keep you updated about how creation on the road is going now and then.  Have a gorgeous summer!

O.K.  Time to get moving with this whole new, productive studio dream! 

Today is the last day of YM camp.  Tomorrow I am going to put my husband in the car and we are going to go see what we can do about getting our kitchen finished so that I don't have to share my studio sink with the family anymore.  I am determined to have at least a dishwasher next week!!!  (cross your fingers for me!)

ArtFire is running a big Christmas in July thing this year and I've decided to participate with both of my shops:

Over at LunasBaublebilities (my supply shop)  there is a coupon code available for 15% off everything in my shop.  Use it as often as you like during the month of July.  Molly and I will move dragonflies over there this week so that you can get the 15% off coupon on those easily.  (Right now they are still at GoblinsMarket.)

Visit LunasBaublebilities's Studio

SAVE 15.00 % On 
All Items

Use Coupon Code:

CHRISTMASINJULY

during checkout.

Woodwork

At GoblinsMarket there are two coupon codes available.  There's free shipping on all ready to ship items all month long.


 

And here's the really exciting one!  All custom order scarves are 20% off all month.  If you know that you want to give a scarf or two (or three or four) for Christmas or a fall birthday - pick them up now at a discount and I will dye them up this summer and have them shipped to you in August.  This sale brings the price of Alchemy scarves and satin devore down to $32.00 and you can get a gorgeous, heirloon quality hand dyed and beaded silk velvet scarf for $120.00   That's practically criminal!!


 

I'll post more about these offers through July but really - do take advantage of the custom order sale.  I can't offer this sort of deal during the fall because I'm too busy keeping local galleries stocked to do  lot of custom order work.

Have a shiny day!

Well, Studio Tour was a bit of a bust.  Which is O.K.  I was still feeling pretty worn out on Saturday and had several coughing fits triggered by trying to speak - the few people who did stop in mostly got to hear me cough.

The up side - we got the house clean.  My mom is a hero.  She has got the same miserable virus that I have been fighting off for a week but she came by on Friday to help me get the mess under control.  My studio looked pretty good in spite of obviously being under construction. 

I got lots of scarves dyed last week and my studio is now in working order so production from here on out should be easier and more fulfilling.  I have a tentative wholesale order for Alchemy scarves - once that customer chooses her colors, I will post the remaining ones up in my shop.  I'm still having lots of trouble photographing velvet scarves.  I might actually have to set up a light tent.

Oh - and today starts my Supply Sale.  From today until the end of the month, all supplies in my Goblins Market shop will be 15% off.  Use the coupon code THANKSGIVING SUPPLIES at checkout.  I'll be adding lots of bead kits and mixes during this time frame for those who want to make handmade gifts for Christmas.  I'll even gift wrap your supplies if you request it - I know lots of people who think beads are awesome things to find in your stocking!

One thing I really love about ArtFire is that a shop owner can have a sale or generate coupons with the click of a button.   There's no need to meddle with math to write a PayPal refund or anything and we don't pay commissions on refunded amounts like you do over on Etsy because ArtFire is paid for on a monthly subscription service, not per listing and/or sale.


To celebrate my decision to make the definitive move to ArtFire, I am offering a one time coupon for 10% off any order in my ArtFire shop.  Everything included in the sale!

Yay!






















. . . . .

FreeShipping on all US orders of Jewelry or Scarves from my GoblinsMarket ArtFire shop over Easter Weekend! 

Click here to go to my shop.







I love ArtFire.  I can offer this sale there because they have a global product editor that allows up to change shipping profiles, % off prices and all manner of other nifty factiods in the blink of an eye.  (On Etsy, I would have to edit every single item individually and then process a refund through PayPal for every sale.  What a pain!)

Several weeks ago, RoseWorks Jewelry nominated me for a sunshine award and featured my Buttercup earrings.  It was so very sweet of her and I've been meaning to do something reciprocal for her and my other EtsyBloggers teammates, who I have neglected for at least the last 6 months. 

Ruthie created her fun spotlight over on byhand.me so I thought I would go over and see what that site is all about.  It seems to be another social media outlet for artists and crafters - the site is very clean, easy to navigate and quick to join.  It took me maybe an hour to create my profile and put together a spotlight of my own.  The really cool thing is that you don't seem to have to wait and play any lottery games to get a chance to create a spotlight (which is much like an Etsy treasury) AND you can include items from ArtFire, Zibett, Etsy and many other handmade venues in the same spotlight.  Yay!

I'm really struggling with my online shops, particularly Etsy.  They keep tweaking things in ways that might make sense for their admins abut that continually throw wrenches of every size and type into shop profits.  The latest debacle involves searches (again) and their dropdown menu, which recently was adjusted to eliminate "supplies" from the options.  They fixed it after much rabble rousing in the forums, but it just doesn't sit well with me.  They seem to be trying but I continually get the sense that they are out of touch with their true customer base. 

Last year, I paid Etsy  over $670.00 - they represent my third largest vendor expense category and that amount represents approximately 10% of my income from Etsy sales.  I categorize these payments as "advertisement expenses" since the bulk of it is listing fees, but when I pay listing fees, I have no guarantees about how many people will see the items or for how long they will stay near the top of searches.  This is the big problem with jewelry sales online - so many sellers are out there that your items are buried before anyone sees them. 

I really want to move more of my business over to ArtFire and eventually onto my own website.  ArtFire charges me $7.00 a month for an annual total of  $84.00.  If I want to spend more on targeted marketing on or off site, I can do so under contracts that guarantee either a certain number of views or a specific length of time on a specific  webpage.  I would much rather spend a few hundred a year on targeted advertising than keep shelling out hundreds that I have little control over to Etsy. 

BTW - I have removed several items from my Etsy jewelry shop and discounted them by 50% over on ArtFire.  Go take a look!

Anyway,

Here's my pretty sunshine spotlight - composed of items from other EtsyBloggers' shops. I included one of RoseWorks' lovely necklaces - I'm so jealous that she has the time and patience for doing an entire necklace in spiral helix stitch!  You can see the spotlight in person and even clicky on links over here.

Now I have to go get some cleaning done and enamel some dragonflies so I can ship them tomorrow!  I've been fighting off a cold so a morning in front of the computer felt like a good idea today.  (Ug- have to do taxes, soon, too!)



. . . .

What a week! 

Life is more hectic than usual as we adjust to having a busy drama club high schooler in the house.   Maxx is sick with a cold again already, which is about right - it has been 3.5 weeks since his last sick!  But worst of all, Bryan was attacked by a Kamikazee deer Thursday night that may have totaled out lovely little Honda Fit.  Luckily, Bryan is fine.  We're waiting for the insurance company to give us a list of options before we panic about the Fit.  I really don't want to start over with a new vehicle loan at this point.  The plan was to pay the Fit off and enjoy driving a very well cared for car for several years before making another purchase so that the Fit could become Molly's college car.  Let's keep our fingers crossed!

I did manage to make some progress in my shops.

Over at GoblinsMarket - Etsy, I have a number of bead strands on sale.  Remember I mentioned finding a new wholesaler with slightly higher prices but smaller minimums in the last post?  Well, I'm waiting for my first shipment from them and I'm eager to move out some of the extras I had to order from my old wholesaler last summer.  They are beautiful beads but now that I have played with them a bit, I don't see myself designing with them much and my new philosophy on bead inventory is to focus on stocking things that I want to design with.






I have also posted 6 gorgeous Alchemy scarves in my ArtFire shop.   I have such a hard time selling my Alchemy scarves because I end up wanting to keep them all to myself.  They're so sumptuous and colorful.  You can wear them with anything (or with nothing) and they look great.  They're long enough to wrap around in several different ways and they're quite warm and durable in spite of being such a lightweight silk.  I made my first Alchemy scarf over 6 years ago and it is still beautiful and wearable.  They are wonderful for gifts - remember that Valentine's day and Mother's day are coming right up!

While GoblinsMarket-Etsy is fully functional right now, I still haven't re-opened my LunasBaublebilities shop. I  am concentrating on uploading scarves and jewelry designs to my ArtFire shop right now.  There are a lot of reasons for this shift in focus but the main one is that I hope that my work will be found faster on ArtFire.  I'm waiting to see if Etsy fixes their PayPal link and how many of Rob Kalin's new bright ideas actually get implemented over at Etsy before I decide whether or not to re-open LunasBaublebilities over there.  For the past year, I've felt like almost every minute dedicated to that shop was time wasted because of low visibility for jewelry and accessory sellers on Etsy.  I'll be doing some advertising experiments for both my ArtFire shop and my Etsy shop(s?) in the next few months that I will let you know more about as results start to come in. 

Onward!  Saturday is almost over and there is much left to do before we  have friends over for games tonight.








. . . . .

What a week. What a month, actually. What with Maxx and I both being sick (and consequently cooped up together for several weeks on end) and Bry being out of commission this weekend, I have become Maxxed out. I should be doing dishes or folding laundry or cleaning house in preparation for Friday's Birthday shindig for Molly but I just don't want to. I know that Friday afternoon I will be rushing around cursing my own stupidity and laziness and wishing to get my Wednesday night back but tonight I Just Don't Care.

So I've set up a special sale in my Etsy shop instead. It is a "Between the Birthdays" sale. It runs from today, Molly's birthday, to June 11th, Maxx's birthday. All scarves are marked at least 10% off and I am offering free 1st class USPS shipping on every order. I am hoping to clear out some of my scarf inventory early this summer so that I can get started with new colors when we get into the new house. Plus, I am offering this AMAZING blue velvet scarf with hand beaded fringe for only $112.00. It has been around for long enough that it now has to decide to either stay here with me or go live with someone else. If you want it to live with you, this is probably your last chance and certainly will be the only time it will be available for such a bargain price!

Here are two recent photos of our lovely birthday girl. She misses her long hair but I think this cut is very cute on her.

In other news, my blog counter passed over 5,000 visits today. That's pretty neat.

Bry got a phone call this afternoon that gives him some options to think about in terms of his job next year. None of the options are very tasteful but one of them includes keeping the job that he currently has, which is nice. We realize that we are very blessed in this economy to not only have a steady (though part time) job with health benefits but to also have some choices about what that job looks like.

The SLC Arts Council's Summer Class schedule is complete - YAY! - and the newsletter should be out soon. I'll post a review of the summer classes I will be teaching in a few days. We have lots of great classes with great teachers coming up - if you are in the North Country this summer, you should check out the schedule. The kid's art camps are going to be really great, and are all priced at about the same cost or lower than a new game for the X-box or whatever digital contraption your kids are adicted to.

Oh and I have a new friend - we have a new Orange Tomcat roaming the neighborhood. I'm such a sucker for Orange tigers. I made the mistake of giving him a scoop of food yesterday and tonight he came around and hollered under the window to announce his presence. I'll try to get a photo in the daylight, he's a pretty one.

O.K. Time to do dishes and at least sort out clean clothes for tomorrow morning! Check out my sale and pass the word along.










...

Just in case you didn't know already, the Etsy Bloggers Street Team is sponsoring a Holiday Sale. Over 50 Etsy Sellers on our team are offering discounts and/or shipping deals on orders placed between this Friday and December 1st.

I am offering 10% off all orders at Lunasbaublebilities plus free shipping on all orders over $45.00. At GoblinsMarket, all orders get free shipping.

Plenty of other stores will be offering similar specials so check them out. You can see all of the Etsy Bloggers Team sales by clicking on the announcement. You'll find handmade everything from Soap and Scarves to Chainmalle and Childrens' clothes. People who make and sell Fine art (including Photography) and art and crafting supplies are also particiating.

Buying on handmade Etsy may seem a little strange, but it is a truly revolutionary way to shop. Everything on Etsy (excluding supplies and vintage goods) has been handmade by one individual artist/craftsperson or a by small cooperative of two or three artists sharing resources. The money you pay for your items minus a small listing fee and any PayPal fees (usually about 10% total) goes directly into that artist's pocket. The artist earns what he or she has decided is a reasonable & fair wage for their labor and goes on to make more beautiful things. You recieve something unique, carefully crafted and valuable.

No frantic bidding. No major corporations and greedy middlemen. No child labor. No sweatshops or human rights abuses. No mass produced junk. No shopping malls or giant retail stores. Just you, the artist and something beautiful that comes to your home in time for the Holidays. You can even do a search for artists and craftspeople who live in your little corner of the world so that you can buy local and well as handmade.

Go check it out!