Back on Board

It has been a looong while once again but here I am back on this blog and back on to all things crafty. Last weekend i somehow stumbled back on to this block and scrolled all the way back to the beginning. I realized how much i had on here and it's kind of nice to see all the phases that i went through all through out the years. What a shame to drop everything and forget about this blog, especially now that i have picked up some interests again and am hoping to do more in the next year coming.

I know I've gone through so many different crafts and maybe this is really where my passion lies. I've always dreamed of having a little shop of crafts... supplying everyone with the cutests beads and materials, having workshops. I remember that one inspiration I had, that shop online, i think she lived somewhere in England or something. The shop was Paper and String. I know she started as a little business from just out of her home and i believe now she has this huge warehouse and an great online shop. Well, that's what I want. I had a nice little shop going a few years ago. I was supplying lots of crafting material, people ordering from me online. It was fun keeping inventory and shopping for new stock. I liked it. Unfortunately, things slowed down and I stopped for a while.

At this point, i think things are changing for me. I'm hoping one day I can open shop here where I am right now. I don't need really a physical shop but i think having an online shop here would be pretty profitable. I still have some of my materials and stocks and that could be a start. I have lots of places where i can order new supplies from and so I can definitely keep it going.

Well, i guess that will be one of my goals in the new year 2019. i have also restarted my jewelry business. This time I am planning on designing a few things that can be "repeated" and reordered and that way maybe i can supply to boutiques or small shops or maybe eventually to bigger shops.

I have my ETSY shop back online and it is filled with the jewelry I created. It definitely took some time to post but now it's fully stocked at about 107 listings. (and counting)

Here are some of my new ones....

So I am just rambling on and just putting my thoughts to paper. And I think from now I really should do that more. See you sooner!

Etsy Re-opening

I am happy to say that I have finally re-opened my etsy shop....Right now I have about 30 fused glass pendants listed in my shop.... I hope you can take the time and drop by and check them out....

I have larger sized ones like 1.5 inches....

like the VENETIAN ROSE PENDANT ....

You can check out this pendant - here.

There are also minis...more like glass charms.... 

like the RADICAL WHIRL MINI CHARM PENDANT

You can check out this pendant - here.

And everything in between...

this is MIDSUMMER'S DREAM

You can check out the pendant - here.

I hope you visit my online etsy shop...or share it with someone you know would love these types of pendants.

HERE'S MY SHOP - 

HTTP;//EARTHLYJEWELS.ETSY.COM

Available at the Website....

I have been juggling a lot of tasks this January....I have been updating my Zalora boutique with a few pieces here and there. At the same time, I am also working on the Earthly Jewels website. I've been trying to update that so that everything that is available on Zalora will also be available in my Earthly Jewels website. It's been coming along but, I have a lot more to do there....

Second, I have also been updating my supplies shop...EARTHLY JEWELS BEADS. I have sooo much to upload there but I am tackling it a little at a time. I want all of my sales on the facebook page to go through the website so it is centralized in one location. My latest updates in the website are the KAWAII CABOCHONS,

METAL CONNECTORS

LUCITE BEADS....

All of those are current and updated including the available stock for each item....

Third, I am also updating my ETSY site for my fused glass jewelry. I haven't actually listed anything...everything is on draft. When I have drafted approximately 50 pieces, then I think i will make them public and actually list them online. I think a shop actually looks better when it is stocked so listing one at a time is not that appealing for me.. I would rather have a grand opening which I plan for it to be maybe first week of February.

Here is a link to my shop....nothing's in it yet but...just you wait....
https://www.etsy.com/shop/EarthlyJewels?ref=hdr_shop_menu

I also have my small businesses here at home....I sell a sweet, cold Filipino treat called Ice Candy...which is almost like a popsicle. I have my loading station for cellphone prepaid load.... Once in a while I set up my garage for garage sales selling old clothes and bags. Then i am now brewing a new idea....possibly going to be setting up test shop for a sari sari store.... which is a common neighborhood store popular here in the Philippines which sells everyday cooking food and toiletries to nearby houses making buying more convenient. That is still in the planning stage but I am also hoping to get that up and running in February...

I am a busy little bee and I am so thankful that I can do all these little things to help out around the house. I am enjoy doing business and all the sales truly make me happy...I am thankful for a happy life!!!

Back for the New Year

So, i was gone from blog-dom for a while but i have been online in my different ventures....I don't know if i have mentioned before but, i now do have an online boutique at Zalora.com. I sell a lot of my jewelry there and what's great about it is that if you want to buy and pay cash on delivery or COD, you can!!!

Here is a link to my zalora boutique -
http://www.zalora.com.ph/earthly-jewels

My newest upload at Zalora are these cuuute stud fused glass earrings that I created....

If you do want to get my items at a discounted price, you should check out my online website...I am constantly updating it to add all my new products. Since I am running this all on my own, I do charge a bit lower there, so at a discounted price compared to Zalora....

Here is my website....
http://earthlyjewels.weebly.com/

My newest uploadds on my website are these 3 sweeet fused glass mini pendants...

"NORTHERN LIGHTS" 

MINI FUSED GLASS PENDANT

"A TOUCH OF GOLD" 

MINI FUSED GLASS PENDANT

"METAMORPHASIS" 

MINI FUSED GLASS PENDANT

(SOLD)

The last one has already been sold...


Then you can also message me on my facebook shop page....
https://www.facebook.com/myearthlyjewels

I try to post updates on my facebook page like when i upload new products or write a new blogpost, so do LIKE my page and stay updated....

By the way, I am slowly working my way to reopen my ETSY shop...These beauties will soon be available there too. I have been uploading listings but they are still currently on draft mode. Once I have around 25-50 pieces listed then i will make them live. I am targeting sometime in the end of the month to get this done.....

If you want to favorite my shop on etsy here is the link -
https://www.etsy.com/shop/EarthlyJewels


Well, let me get back to editing my fused glass pendant photos...I still have tons and tons to upload. I made these for my bazaar in december and I am only able to start uploading them online now...i just wanted to drop by my blog and let everyone know, I am still around and working happily on my stuff...

Happy New Year Blog Friends!!!

One of my first Fused Glass Pieces

The first batch I did of fused glass pendants was in a workshop with my mentor. I made 4 pendants in about 2 hours and it was fired and I picked it up the next day. At that moment...I fell in love with it. I instantly loved fused glass!!! And I also fell in love most particularly with one of the pendants I made that day. It is one of my all time favorites and I almost decided to keep it for myself....but I said no...this is a business and I will make this available for somebody that connects with it. 

I have named it VENETIAN ROSE....the way the glass is arranged, it sort of reminds me of a rose... And I called it Venetian because it reminds me of the glass made in Italy...murano glass. Here it s my VENETIAN ROSE....

 

One of my most favorite dichroic patterned glass is the Florentine dichro. It has a gorgeous shimmery essence to it. The flowers are beautiful and when the light hits it, it just bursts with all sorts of sparkle. The best part of creating with this glass is mixing and matching with other transparent and solid glass.

This one is the simplest...florentine on a black backing. Black always brings out so much when using it with dichro..everything is so intense. 

I named this piece MIDNIGHT FLORENTINE. This one will be available very soon on my ZALORA shop page. Yup I became part of Zalora as a seller. But I am still waiting for my boutique page to go live. It should be any day now...

So, you can check out soon. This one is php1,480..including free shipping!!!

Computing Prices for Handmade Jewelry

Sometimes I like to look at pictures of handmade stuff online just to get the juices going and wait for inspiration to hit. At times though, I scratch my head wondering how people come up with their prices. Some charge sooo low that you barely even cover the cost of materials. What about the time you put into making stuff...how about the packaging....the internet costs that you use to post.

It makes me kind of feel frustrated because by charging so low, the market is ultimately ruined. How can you run a handmade business when you have to compete with those that cut their costs so low...not to mention the commercially made items that are waaay cheap. Well, for those mass produced items, there's actually a chance...some people prefer quality, uniqueness and individualization ....which is where my pieces can definitely be on top..

I used to come up with a price willy nilly...just how i feel it should cost. But being that with this new jewelry line, i need to crack down and cover costs of big investments, everything has now been seriously documented. All materials are listed out and i have come up with how much each piece actually cost to make...

This includes...
- all materials used to make the items...
which will depend also on the size of the piece

- electricity costs...
whether pieces are fired once twice or more, as well as cold working costs

- expenses...
these includes overall overhead like internet fees, travel expenses, different fees and marketing costs

- investment fees
these include expenses acquired when purchasing materials

- labor ...self explanatory

Then the formula..

Item cost = materials + expenses/investment + labor

and one comes up with their formula for profit which will include a wholesale price and the retail price.

So, that's what I have done and I am sticking to my pricing.

I am actually very proud of my work and can say that what I have is not just any product off the streets that anybody can make. You need to learn how to make these art jewelry pieces and that takes time,money and practice. The materials need to be sourced out so, that has to be considered too. Then of course, the process and accessibility of firing in the kiln.

So i have re-thought my prices carefully and have come up with my formula. I needed to do this because my site/ boutique on Zalora is about to be launched any day now.... Well i haven't talked about that lately but maybe in my next post...

For now here is an update of my latest kiln firing...

Individual pics to follow....