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20,000 Days and Counting by Robert D. Smith

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Time flies; it goes by faster than we realize it. The urgency of time; the time we have left on this earth to do what we were put here to do; this is the essential message author Robert D. Smith writes about in his “crash course for mastering your life RIGHT NOW”. Smith had the revelation of figuring out just how many days he had lived, and started counting “from day one” at this point. He asks the reader to do the same. Imagine if you were told that you only had 2 months left to live. What would you do? What would you want to accomplish? Who are the people you would contact? These are all answered, or given suggestions to, as presented by the author. Smith suggests being grateful, finding out what matters most to you, and being kind and loving to others, because we never really know how long we will have on this earth. I requested this book to read for two main reasons: One, the title intrigued me, and two, it was meant to be read in an hour or so. (The urgency of time stat...

Crunching numbers and time

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Taking a creative business and making a living at it. Is it possible to create high quality, artisan jewelry and make a living at it? I believe so. I know folks who are doing this. It is not an easy venture, that's for sure. As I mentioned in a previous post, (you can read it here ); I have alot to think about; brainstorm, and goal set. Putting things on paper is always a good start. So I started looking at just how much production I can manage to complete. My best "guestimation" is this: I can complete 5 cuffs and 5(metalsmithed) type of earrings per week on average. This means about 40 new items per month. And this is if I am working say, 4 or 5 days a week on jewelry. So I figure that I need at least 50 items for a show (day); plus more for backup. This seems like alot of production work! Full time? You bet; plus some. Not news to the seasoned artisan, I'm sure. How many shows can I do? Another difficult question to answer. I know many artisans who ...

Friday features~ Etsy treasuries

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2 treasuries I have to share this week, that I have been graciously featured in. 'Copper Power' by DragonsLabyrinth Powerful objects made of copper. Copper and silver b... DevineDesignsJ... $65.00 Pentagram wind chim... BlarneyBarneys $15.00 Ornate Vintage Copp... SlyfieldandSim... $8.00 Antiqued Copper Owl... ShadowsandSpir... $9.84 copper offering bow... OakandThorn $15.00 Holiday Ornament - ... copperfairies $28.00 Pair of Iron-age di... EarthenMe $39.00 Vintage Small Coppe... WindChimeGirl $24.00 10% Off Sale Gebo c... Nothos $38.25 Copper fairy dragon... CarrieMichael $150.00 OOAK Ye'ail the... metalbymartin $3500.00 FAERY GLOVES Witch&... ArtisanWitchcr... $43.95 SALE Copper Green S... Na0sGlass $6.40 Torc Griffin Merlin... celtsmith $120.00 Mabon Magic (101) QueenoftheCatP... $75.00 7 Chakra Aura Clean... CarmsHealingCr... $48.00 Treasury tool supported by the dog house Created by Dragons Labyrinth ;a cool ...

After the show

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I had a really fun time in Sarasota, this past weekend. What a great show! I met some very interesting people, and made contact with a few Etsy shop owners and team members, so I may have a new local team to join too! Check out my new custom designed lampshade/banner: Then, I think I get overwhelmed after 2 days of talking with people. And with my alone time on the drive to and from the show days, I had alot of time to think; and think maybe too much. My overall thoughts are that there are too many people making jewelry right now. How do I compete? I'm thinking that I have to really think out of the box, go above and beyond what other's are doing. I need to sit down and do some crunching of numbers. For instance, just how many pieces of jewelry can I actually complete per week? How many shows should I be doing? Maybe I should think more about retail, and increase the number of galleries my work is in. My concerns about Etsy. Should I stick within a specific gen...

Last day before Atomic Holiday Bazaar in Sarasota

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Final day to prepare for this big, holiday show! Want more info? Check out this article: http://ticketsarasota.com/2012-12-03/featured/atomic-whoa-a-young-edgy-craft-explosion/ Need directions? https://plus.google.com/113516081338830352119/about?gl=US&hl=en-US#113516081338830352119/about?gl=US&hl=en-US And another look at new items I will have available to purchase! BTW: In case you're wondering; my cold is going away, yay!

Come one, come all, to the greatest (sale) in Sarasota!

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Two days of fun shopping! You'll find funky clothes, art work, photography, bath products, vintage, and lots of unique and interesting jewelry, plus much more! So if you are anywhere in Florida this weekend, I invite you to come to Sarasota and check out this show. This is my last show before Christmas. Here's a look at some new jewelry that I will have available this weekend. garnet necklace with Thai silver charm lampwork bead earrings with corrigated metals Lots more in new cuffs ~Hopefully, I will be over this cold by then!