UFO update

For those who were curious about my mystery subject in yesterday's Scavenger Hunt post, it's a piece of playground equipment.  Some of you had great guesses!


Do you remember my update back in January about my UFOs?  Probably not.  That's okay.  You can check out that post right here.  I decided that I would make it one of my unofficial goals to finish or at least make some significant progress on a few major UFOs.  Nope, I'm not talking about flying saucers.  I'm talking about my unfinished craft projects.  It's really rare that I let them happen, but a few of them sneak in from time to time.  Here's how it's going.

To re-cap: I started this back in 2008 right before I got serious about my jewelry making.  I'd been doing cross-stitch almost exclusively for the better part of 5 years and was ready for a little break.  I've finally gotten to the point that I'm ready to devote more time to this again.  I'd said in January that I didn't think I'd finish before 2013 even if I worked on it every week.  I am making progress with it, but that timeline still stands.  At this point, I'm hoping to finish it by the end of 2013, although that is subject to change at any time.

I made this Christmas button tree back in 2010.

I bought and covered another tree when I made this one, intending for it to be fall tree, and then I didn't do anything else with it, even though I had all of the buttons for it.  I'm proud to say that this spring, I did get it nearly finished.

I made the leaves out of felt left over from my flower project.  I painted them with a gold acrylic.  You can see how my Christmas tree has a beautiful topper.  I'd like to find something for this fall tree.  Now that we're moving into fall, I'm hoping that I'll find something or spot a good tutorial.

I started my latest PDF pattern sometime last fall.

Originally I planned to have it finished before Christmas, but it got lost in the shuffle during all of my shows and other holiday stuff.  I completely lost my momentum on it and haven't finished it up yet.  I said in my January post that I'd like to get it listed by early March.  Obviously that didn't happen.

I don't think that it'll take more than a few hours to complete it, but you know how these things go...I've lost track of where I am with editing photos and what sections I have left to write so it'll take a bit to get back in the writing groove.  It would really benefit my shop to have a new pattern, and I've put a lot work into it so I will get this done at some point, but I don't have a set deadline at this time.

I know that many of you have UFOs!  Share your stories.

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2012 Second Quarter Goal Check In

Can you believe that we're already in the sixth month of 2012?  Some of you may remember that I set goals for 2012 and am doing my best to check in with them on a regular basis.  You can see my first quarter up date right here.  Here's how things have been going the past few months.

1.  Have 140 sales on Etsy in my randomcreative shop.
To date, I've had 32 sales in my Etsy shop for 2012.  I have increased my frequency of sales slightly since my last check in and am averaging about 1.5 sales per week.  I'm still expecting to have an increase of sales during Christmas in July and the holiday season and am still hopeful that I'll at least hit 100 sales for the year.

2. Introduce and continue to develop my new herringbone line and its charm/pendant components.
Right now I have 10 wrap bracelet/necklace pieces, 6 charm sets, and a handful of other single strand herringbone bracelets in my shop.  I actually have less charm sets than my last update because some of my designs have done pretty well.  I will continue to restock the popular designs and will be adding more over the next few months.

3.  Double my current long term earnings on HubPages.
I had a couple articles go viral in February and March and did more than double my December earrings in March.  As many of you already know, my traffic dropped significantly after Easter and still hasn't recovered.  My earnings in April and March were not what my March earrings were, but I'm still seeing an increase from December and am confident that I will double again before the end of the year.

4.  Make at least one new greeting card design per week.
I don't have a tally of how many greeting card designs I've made for 2012, but I have definitely continued to meet this goal.  I will continue to list some of them on Etsy and am planning to be fully stocked for the 2012 holiday shows.

5.  Expand my craft show lines.
The biggest thing that I've worked on for shows thus far in 2012 is greeting cards.  Now that the weather is warmer and I've had a fair amount of time to recovery from the huge holiday show creating binge, I'm getting excited about working on magnets, tacks, pins, and hair pins again (which involves opening windows while I'm gluing with E6000).  I'm glad that I have all summer to work on building that inventory.

6.  Complete a minimum of 6 EBW challenges and 6 BBA challenges.
I participated in the January-May BBA Challenges and the February-May EBW Challenges (there is no January challenge).  I will be participating in the EBW June challenge and have started working on my July entry.  I've nearly met the BBA goal and will meet the BBA goal with the July challenge, so no worries here.

7.  Participate in 4-6 craft shows.
I now have my February open house and May craft show behind me, both of which were successful.  I've been accepted to five holiday shows so I'm in good shape for this goal.

8.  Starting making this blog more profitable.
I have gotten a number of positive comments from my blog sponsors about traffic and exposure that they've gotten through my promotions.  I just got a new blog sponsor at the beginning of last month, which was exciting.  I've also started generating regular earning from ads.  When I say regular I mean consistent earnings, not big bucks.  It's a start.

9.  Better list making organization.
I'm really proud of how well I've done with keeping up my new list organization.  I have separate notebooks for "to do" lists, Etsy listings, and HubPages brainstorming and keyword research as well as a less frequently used notebook for non-jewelry Etsy listings.  This new system has made it much easier to go back and find old notes when I need them.


So far not bad!  I'll check in again with my goals sometime in September.

Check out goal updates from a couple of my favorite bloggers.

May Goals Review

Short Term Goals for June

How are your 2012 goals going?

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2012 First Quarter Goal Check In

As we are already halfway through the third month of 2012, I thought that it would be a good time to check in with my goals for 2012.

1.  Have 140 sales on Etsy in my randomcreative shop.
To date, I've had 15 sales in my shop for 2012.  This is putting me on track to have about the same number of sales as 2011.  However, I do expect a sales increase for Christmas in July and the 2012 holiday season, which might at least get me to 100 sales, which would still be an increase and an overall success.

2. Introduce and continue to develop my new herringbone line and its charm/pendant components.
Right now I have 8 wrap bracelets/necklaces, 7 charm sets, and a handful of other single strand herringbone bracelets in my shop.  I have a few more bracelets/necklaces that I'll unroll over the next month and a bunch of ideas for wrap pieces and charm sets.  The interest on Etsy hasn't been what I hoped, but it hasn't been terrible either.

3.  Double my current long term earnings on HubPages.
I honestly didn't have a good sense of how long it would take to double my December 2011 earnings.  Due to a couple unexpected traffic spikes in both February and March, I have already almost met that goal.  I am still kind of in shock about this but obviously really excited.  I'm excited to see what April will bring.

4.  Make at least one new greeting card design per week.
I am really glad that I decided to start experimenting with a handful of non-jewelry crafting endeavors for 2012.  It's keeping me from burning out on jewelry.  I honestly don't have a tally of how many greeting card designs I've made for 2012, but we're about 11 weeks into this year and I easily have that many new card designs.  I've listed a few of them on Etsy and will continue to list more throughout this year.

5.  Expand my craft show lines.
I pushed really hard to get enough craft show inventory for the end of 2011.  I made a little at the beginning of 2012 for my open house, but I've been spending more time with greeting cards than gluing magnets, tacks, hair pins, etc. because I simply don't have the energy for it right now.  At this point, I'm not doing another show until at least May so that's fine.  What I did introduce at the open house was well received and has encouraged me to continue with these new lines for future shows.

6.  Complete a minimum of 6 EBW challenges and 6 BBA challenges. I participated in the January and February BBA challenges and the February and March EBW challenges (there is no challenge in January).  I will participate in the March BBA challenge later this month, too.  So far so good there.

7.  Participate in 4-6 craft shows.
I did an open house/trunk show in Chicago in February, which I am counting as a show.  I've applied to 4 shows in the Milwaukee area and have 2 more in mind that I will apply for as soon as the applications are available.  I most likely will apply for a couple more along the way, but I'm off to a good start.

8.  Starting making this blog more profitable.
I ran an advertising special in January for $10 year long ad spots that was very successful.  Hopefully it is paying off for my advertisers, too.  That has helped me justify the cost of this blog through this point in the year, especially because I've gotten a couple other advertising opportunities as well.  I'm hoping to get more sponsors throughout the year and am looking into other advertising, too.

9.  Better list making organization.
I have separated my list making so that I have separate notebooks for 1) weekly "to do" lists and my monthly blog plans, 2) Etsy listing information, and 3) HubPages brainstorming and keyword research.  I also have a less frequently used notebook for listing information for non-jewelry Etsy items (i.e. greeting cards).  I have stuck with the system and been pleased with how it's working.

I would like to have more Etsy sales (welcome to the club, right?), but otherwise I'm happy with how my goals have been going so far.  I'll do another check in here sometime in June.

Check out goal updates from couple of my other favorite bloggers:

February Goals Review from memoriesforlifesb

12 in 2012: An Update from Little Nostalgia

How are your 2012 goals going?

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Spring Crafts for Kids: Easy, Fun Ideas

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I included this post in Erika's It's a Wrap Link Party - 3/25/2012.

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Bead Trends March magazine feature

My second Bead Trends feature for 2012 is up and running!  I'm so excited that I can say that.  If you missed my post about my February feature, check it out right here.

As always, I got my two free copies of the magazine.

I also got another $20 gift certificate.  Believe it or not, I haven't spent any of these yet.  I need to make some online soon to do a big bead shopping spree at Fire Mountain.  For anyone wondering, I already checked with the site about using multiple gift certificates for a single order, and you can use 5 at one time.

I was pleased see with the feature that they actually photographed my whole item instead of just taking a couple artistic shots of it.  Anyone interested in making this project will have a decent shot at it.  They also clearly didn't have any better idea than I did how to capture this color palette very accurately.

This piece is now available right here in my Etsy shop.

I have revisited different variations of this color combination a few times over the years.  I'm sure that I'm not done with it yet.  These first two pieces are available in my shop.  Click on the photos to go to the listings.

In the comment section of my last Bead Trends feature post, Edi shared a great tip about submitting ideas to magazines:
Magazines are generally looking for ideas 3-6 months ahead of the current trends and season.  When you submit ideas, you should be in this mind frame, too.
Thanks Edi!

Any other tips about magazine submissions?  Share them in the comments!

I am included this post in Michelle's Delicately Constructed Friday - 3/9/2012.

Bead Trends February magazine feature

I have the privilege of starting 2012 with two features in Bead Trends magazine!  I am especially honored because Bead Trends is featuring a lot beadweaving in 2012.  Some of you may remember that I had my first feature with the magazine this time last year.  They were apparently impressed enough that they remembered my work and contacted me to see if I had any new designs to submit.  I sent about eight ideas to them, two of which they picked for early 2012 issues.  Talk about an ego boost!

Bead Trends featured artists always receive two free copies of the magazine.

I'll be honest: I don't love their featured photos.  The lighting and props are good, but the photos are very artsy.  That's fine for a feature that doesn't include a tutorial.  However, theoretically people should be able to make their own versions of these pieces based on the photos and written directions.  The photos make this process tough because they don't do a great job showing the pieces in their entirety.  However, the photos are still high quality, and it's always interesting to see how other people will photograph your work.  Hopefully my written directions are enough to get people there.

You don't receive any money for being featured, but you do get a $20 gift certificate to Fire Mountain Gems.  That's even better, right?  They definitely know what will appeal to their artists.

 

This piece is now available right here in my Etsy shop.

I really love this color combination.  It's a very unique neutral.  I used a similar palette for these earrings.  I also used a similar palette for my piece that will be featured in the March 2012 issue.  It includes one of Kristie's ceramic donuts.  I'll have more information about that when it's released.

For those of you who have also had magazine or similar features, do you have any advice for those who are interested in getting started with this pursuit?

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another goal for 2012: finishing those UFOs

Although this is not one of my official goals, one of my unofficial goals for 2012 is to finish up the few UFOs that I have lying around.  Nope, I'm not talking about flying saucers, I'm talking about those craft projects that you start with good intentions but never get around to finishing.  For the most part, I am good about not doing this.  But it still happens sometimes.

Remember my cross-stitch from Monday?  I started it back in 2008, right around the time I started getting serious about my jewelry making.  I'm sure that it's not a surprise why I haven't finished this.  I did cross-stitch almost exclusively from 2003-2008 so it was time for a little break anyway.  I'm more than ready to come back to this and am at a point where I can make time in between beading and card making.

When will it be done?  This is a HUGE project.  Honestly I don't anticipate finishing it during 2012, even if I work on it every week.  Finishing it during 2013 is a more realistic goal.

Do you remember my button tree?

I bought a second Styrofoam base and enough felt, fabric, pins, and buttons for one more tree, with a fall theme with time.  I even ironed and pinned on the fabric when I made the first tree.  But then I didn't do anything else.

I love my Christmas button tree and would enjoy a fall one, too.  It just hasn't been a high priority.

When will it be done?  The button pining process is tedious so I like to break it up in 20-30 minute stints.  If I started this in the late spring or early summer, there's no reason that I couldn't have it done for the fall of 2012.

My next PDF pattern...still in the works...

I started taking pictures for a clasp pattern back in late August.  I was determined to finish the pattern by the end of October, but it got lost in the shuffle with all of the stuff that I was working on for Christmas and my fall/winter craft shows.

When will it be done?  I only have 2, maybe 3, more hours left of writing, editing, and formatting work left.  I have all of the pictures taken and edited already.  I'd like to get this pattern finished and listed online by the end of February or early March.

I know that many of you probably have a lot more UFOs lying around than I do!  Do share.

Goals for 2012

If you missed my accomplishments for 2011 post, you can still go back and check it out.  Thanks for all of the wonderful feedback that I have already received on it!  I don't usually set year resolutions or goals.  However, this is the first year in a long time that I don't have to make school, moving, or teaching a priority and am looking forward to focusing on more of the things that I really enjoy.  I am thankful for the time that I had in 2011 to do this and am looking forward to even more of it in 2012.

1.  Have 140 sales on Etsy in my randomcreative shop.  I averaged over 1 sale per week for 2011 and am hoping to increase this to over 2 sales per week for 2012.  If I have anywhere over 100 sales for the year, I'll be really happy.

2. Introduce and continue to develop my new herringbone line and its charm/pendant components.  I have been working on this idea since the summer and am really excited that I've finally started to roll it out.  I have high hopes that this new line and the components for it will help me reach that sales goal.  I hope that this new line does well at my shows, too.

3.  Double my current long term earnings on HubPages.  I have been pleased with how much I've been earning on HubPages thus far, especially considering that I haven't even finished my first year there.  A lot of people don't see real long term freelance writing earnings for well over a year.  Ideally I'd love to triple my current earnings by the end of the year.  We'll see how long it takes me to double before I think about that too much.

4.  Make at least one new greeting card design per week.  As much as I love making jewelry, I'm looking to branch out a little more with my crafty projects in 2012 for a few reasons.
1) I don't want to burn out on jewelry making.
2) I have a lot of crafty interests (hence my shop name) and don't want to neglect ones that I really enjoy simply because I primarily sell jewelry.
3) I want to have another non-jewelry product to offer at craft shows to give me a little edge.  As many of you know, the jewelry competition is very steep.
4) I love to send/give cards and would rather make my own than buy them.  I didn't do a lot of this while Jake was in med school, but I would like to do it more often again.

5.  Expand my craft show lines.  I'm going to start offering button rings, button bobby pins, and glass magnets at craft shows.  I am planning to do some seasonal limited edition ones on Etsy as well.  I greatly expanded my higher end products during 2011 and would like to have some more lower end lines for 2012, especially for craft shows.

As mentioned above, I would like to start selling greeting cards at shows, too.  I'll have to see how the design process goes this winter and spring before I decide what I want to sell.  Ideally I'd like to have a wide range of prices, set options (singles, 4 packs, 8 packs, etc.), and topics/themes, but I will most likely start with limited numbers of seasonal cards and a few all-purpose cards (i.e. birthday) for the spring/summer shows.

I am planning to offer a few seasonal cards on Etsy, too, with the hopes of eventually expanding this.  Again, we'll see how it goes this year.

6.  Complete a minimum of 6 EBW challenges and 6 BBA challenges.  I'm primarily planning to use the EBW challenges to develop new pieces for my existing lines and to use most of the BBA challenges for greeting card designs.  Most likely I will complete more challenges than this, but I don't know how busy I'll be the later part of the year so I'm keeping it at 6 of each for now.

7.  Participate in 4-6 craft shows.  One of my goals for 2012 is to build more of a local following, which means among other things, doing more shows.  I did 3 in 2011 and would ideally like to double this number.  Milwaukee has an amazing art scene and there are so many shows.  Honestly it's overwhelming.  I need to figure out which ones are the best ones for me to do.

8.  Starting making this blog more profitable.  I did make a little money with my blog in 2011.  I'm sure it's not a secret that I put a fair amount of time into this blog.  I would really like to make that time pay off at least a little bit.  While I get a lot of great feedback and interaction with this blog, I don't get a lot of sales from it, so the money needs to come from somewhere to justify its existence.  At this point, I see this money primarily coming from advertising.  One of the ways to do this is private sponsorship.  I am offering a limited number of $10 spots that are good for the entire year!  Take advantage of them while you can.

9.  Better list making organization.  This may surprise some of you because I do consider myself to be a very organized person.  However, my list organization is terrible.  I have a notebook for taking measurements and notes about new Etsy listings.  When I started writing for HubPages, I began brainstorming article ideas in the back of this notebook.  Eventually that turned into also keeping track of blog posts, daily "to do" lists, craft ideas, and a lot more.  While it's good that all of this is in writing, it's very disorganized.  I'd like to start keeping separate notebooks for different topics.

I included this post in Erika's It's a Wrap Link Party 1/9/2012.