More New Designs

Well, I posted 2 new designs although one ended up being switched to a custom listing for a friend as she wanted it. LOL I can make more of the bracelet though as soon as I get more of the heart beads for it, so no worries there if you like it and want it.

This is the bracelet I am going to be calling "Annie":



The above bracelet is the one that my friend wanted to buy, so it's now in a custom listing. I can make more later if someone else wants one. :)

This is the bracelet I am calling "Royalty in Purple":



This one is a double-row flat spiral weave - and off-loom woven bracelet. It's absolutely gorgeous and I wish there was a way to capture the sparkle and shine of this bracelet in a photo.

More new designs are coming, just as soon as I get the materials I am looking for.

Giveaway: Hand Made Loop Earrings Winner!!!!

Well, the giveaway contest is over! There were only 2 entries, but even so, I went to Random.org and used the True Random number generator to generate our winner!

And the Winner is......




LASHAWN!!!! :) Congratualations!! Please contact me @ eternalstardustincATgmail.com so I can get your shipping info!! :D

Stay tuned, I'll have more giveaways in the future! :D

In Business....

Sometimes I have to pinch myself to believe that I actually am legally a business now. My city doesn't require me to have a business license, the county said that although I could spend $10-$12 each month to "register my business name" it didn't really matter because it didn't give me exclusive rights to the name, and the state gave me my sales tax ID without a bit of problem!

But I am a business now, and I keep having to remember that I need to keep track of what I do with my business. For example - keeping receipts for beads, keeping receipts for eBay fees, Etsy fees, etc. It can be really challenging. Obviously I am keeping these receipts for tax purposes, and to be honest, I may actually have to go to a tax preparation service at least this first year to be certain I am doing my taxes correctly. :D But I digress. LOL Remembering to keep my receipts is sometimes a big challenge because my first instinct is to simply shove the receipt in my purse and move along.

This is especially true when I am at the post office, Walmart (where I buy my shipping materials), Hobby Lobby, & Michaels. Yes, I do buy beads from Hobby Lobby & Michaels. LOL Those receipts get stuffed into my purse and often forgotten about. If I don't think about it, I'll toss them in the trash and never think about it. :/

When I order things online it is easier to keep track and since I always use my PayPal account to pay for those things, it makes it very easy to keep track because PayPal keeps track of it.

I do have a couple of tips for keeping track of business related purchases. If you have a PayPal account, use it to pay for supplies, eBay/Etsy fees, etc wherever possible. The records kept by PayPal can help you to remember where and when you spent money on your business!

Another thing, and this may sound funny, but get a PayPal debit card! If you have brick and mortar stores you purchase supplies from, postage to purchase from the post office, etc, PayPal also tracks purchases made with the debit card! So you have a record of it still! Obviously you still have to keep the receipt to use for tax purposes, but it can help if you happen to need to enter an amount in your preferred bookkeeping method and don't have the receipt right there with you at the moment.

Keep a box of some sort to toss your receipts in! I use a box that my Bible came in, a friend of mine uses a shoe box, and I have yet another friend who uses one of those little coupon file books to store hers in. Whatever you use, make sure you have one and try to remember to put your receipts in it!

Another thing you can do to help you get your stuff together for tax season is to use a service like Outright.com. Outright.com lets you keep your books - track expenses and income. They also partner with Shoeboxed.com which allows you to keep your receipts online. Both are great tools to use - I haven't started using Shoeboxed.com yet, but I do plan on doing so soon! Shoeboxed.com offers a free account where you "do it yourself" as far as scanning and storing your receipts there, as well as paid plans that allow you to send them your business cards and/or receipts and have them scan them for you. There are different levels and all accounts start with a 30-day free trial of the paid version of the service.

Being in business can be a headache, but it is something that I definitely like. I'll post more posts giving my little tips and tricks for what works for me when I find things that work well for me. :)

I ♥ Etsy

One of the biggest things I have noticed lately is that there are a lot of people on the forums at Etsy who are complaining about things. They complain they are not being found in the search engines (mostly Google), they complain they are not being featured on the front page. They complain that they don't get any answers why they aren't doing well.

A lot of sellers on the forums seem to want Etsy to promote their shops for them. To me this is being lazy. I mean, yes, it's nice to be featured on the front page of Etsy. I am not going to say it isn't. But I have noticed more than once that, well, people on the forums tend to want Etsy to do everything for them.

Etsy was created to make it easy for people to start their own business selling the items they make in their studios, kitchens, living rooms, etc. They were not created to promote those shops for their shop owners. If I am going to run a business, I need to be not only making the products that I am selling, but I also need to be marketing and promoting my products and my shop.

I have several ways of doing so. I use Facebook & Twitter. I use MySpace. I talk about my products, my inspirations, etc. I host giveaways on my blog and I post links about that on my social networks. I use deviantArt to show of photos of my work. I use what tools I have available to me to promote my shop.

When I send out a package, I enclose a few of my business cards. I use return address labels with my business name on them. Each item that is sent has a business card inside the packaging for the item. That is how I promote my jewelry. I make sure that the buyer knows where it came from, and I give them an opportunity to also tell others about it.

I love Etsy. I have no plans to leave Etsy. Sure I get frustrated, but then I realize that it is my own lack of promotion that is keeping me from reaching my full potential, not something that is wrong with Etsy. More sellers should take a step back, take a deep breath, and see the same thing.

My Newest Creation & Renewed Faith

Well, I finally got off my buns and started making some new creations. :) The first creation I have (well, only creation I have since I ended up needing to order more beads for the other one) is the "Dreaming of Vegas" bracelet. I was going to name it "Poker Face" but then my friend bought a couple of items from me on eBay and her username there inspired me to name the bracelet something else. The funny thing is that another friend of mine said she thought this bracelet would sell really well in Vegas! :)


Dreaming of Vegas Bracelet

My friend bought the following two bracelets from me on eBay. These are my first jewelry sales via eBay and so I was thrilled to realize they'd been purchased. :) I should have known who it was who bought them. She'd told me she wanted one of them already. :D


Red, White, & Black Flat Spiral Weave Bracelet


Green & Blue Flat Spiral Weave Bracelet

Don't you love the packaging?? I use colored card stock type paper that I get in packs of 50 and my best friend ever so sweetly cuts it to the size needed to put it in the self sealing bags. She cuts it for me because I can't cut it right to save my hide. :D It's a good thing we live in the same house, huh?? LOL

So there you have it. My newest creation and a bit of renewed faith as I've sold a couple of pieces. Now to sell some other pieces! :)

Giveaway: Hand Made Loop Earrings

I've decided to hold a giveaway for a pair of my hand made loop earrings. This gorgeous pair of earrings features a large loop that was hand formed from 24 gauge jewelry wire, an 8mm purple & turquoise glass confetti bead, 4mm CRYSTALLIZED™ - Swarovski Elements in Jet, and 8mm pink/purple/turquoise glass rounds. They are on rhodium plated base metal fish hook ear wires.

To enter just do the following:

Go to Eternal Stardust Designs, pick your favorite item, then come back and leave a comment letting me know which item is your favorite.

Extra Entries:

1 Entry Each:
Become a fan of Eternal Stardust Designs on Facebook

Friend Eternal Stardust Designs on MySpace

Follow Eternal Stardust Designs on Twitter

Follow this blog by clicking the "Follow" button on the right sidebar.

2 Entries:

Tweet the following out to your followers:

Win a pair of hand made loop earrings from Eternal Stardust Designs! - http://bit.ly/abGYtx #esd #giveaway

This giveaway will run from today through Saturday May 29, 2010, and the winner will be announced on Sunday May 30, 2010, prize to be shipped on June 1, 2010!

Good luck!!! :)

***NOTE*** This contest is open only to people living in the United States. Sorry!

Where I Find Inspiration

People are innately curious. They wonder about everything. They wonder about life, God/Goddess, faith, how things work, and where inspiration comes from. When it comes to artwork or crafts, they definitely wonder where inspiration comes from.

My inspiration is everywhere. I can look at beads and say "oh, that would be so cool as a (insert piece of jewelry here)." I can look at trees or flowers and say "oh, if I could find beads that color, or find beads shaped like those leaves or flowers, I could make an adorable (insert piece of jewelry here."

I have been inspired by paint schemes on NASCAR race cars - I've done items based on Tony Stewart's cars, Kyle Busch's cars, and Jeff Gordon's cars. I am continually inspired by their paint schemes, I just don't have the beads or money to get the beads to make more of the NASCAR inspired items.

I have been inspired by things that I know my favorite celebrities like. Several of my favorites are poker players - so you can imagine the thrill I got when I found beads that were made to look like the Jack - Ace of Hearts. I even have a title for the bracelet I'm going to make for them already - a favorite tune by Lady Gaga - "Poker Face."

So inspiration comes from many places, and has many faces. I've even been inspired by seeing items others have made - they inspire me to learn a technique I don't already know and to create my own designs based on those techniques. Inspiration comes to you in many ways - you just have to play around until you find yours.

Hard At Work

I have been hard at work lately creating new items, listing new items in the Etsy shop, and even posting items on eBay to see if that is a feasible solution for selling/marketing Eternal Stardust Designs.

Right now I have 4 items up for auction - three of them are not in the Etsy shop, so you would only be able to purchase them via eBay right now. If you're interested in seeing what we have to offer on eBay, you can click here to view my eBay page.

There are currently 45 items for sale in the Etsy shop - Eternal Stardust Designs on Etsy so you can definitely check that out as well if you are of a mind to. :)

I also have some blog posts for this blog planned, including giving some insight into my inspirations for making my jewelry.