Emerald Nights and February 14, 2010

Happy Valentines Day to everyone and you are probably thinking what does this day have to do with "Emerald Nights"?

Emerald Nights

On February 14, 2010, I was ready to open my Etsy shop officially. Or so I thought! I had signed on with Etsy months before and opened my account. Well as life would have it we sold our home in CA and packed up to move to Tennessee for seven months. Mikes family lives there and we had the opportunity to spend some quality time with his folks, siblings, nieces and nephews. Tennessee is a very green state and we loved that. I made the comment many times I had never seen so many shades of green. 

On February 14, I was all ready. I worked on my script for each listing and had them all written out long hand. My very first listing was this necklace "Emerald Nights".  I don't recall if I choose this one because of all the green around me. I am always inspired by nature. I just felt this is the one. 

My life before jewelry design had been in the interior design and gift industry. I also worked in sales and marketing for many years in a large construction firm my brothers, Dad and Mike had started way back in 1977. 

So back to my story about Etsy......

It took me almost 4 hours for that first listing. Several days later my shop had around a dozen pieces listed. I was up and running. I continued to design and list. At the time I had the plan for my photographer husband to shoot all my pictures and edit. I would create and sell. Great plan. 

It wasn't long until Mike decided he really wasn't fond of product photography and I could learn. He has always been an encouraging husband, especially if it meant I didn't have to rely on him for everything. He has helped me earn my wings many times in our marriage. That is a good thing. 

My very first sale came from all the way around the world in Australia. Her name was Lynn and she was a true gift to my new venture. Lynn had a great sense of humor and we corresponded often that first year as she purchased from me quite a few times. 

What I learned after I opened my shop is there is so much more to selling online. I had no idea what a blog was, face book, Pinterest and all the social networking came later. I even became a photographer and editor. I became friends with some of the wonderful artist I purchased from and with lots of encouragement I also submitted my designs to publishing. I will write more about that very soon. 

"Emerald Nights" has the most beautiful Czech glass bicones in shades of emerald green coordinated with mat black bicones and a rich antiqued copper. I guess I was a couple years early as this is the Pantone color of the year for 2013, EMERALD! I never sold "Emerald Nights", somehow it expired and even got lost in my listings and now I contemplate what to do with her. My design style has evolved and once I discovered art beads well you know the story. 

As I celebrate the ending to my 3 years on Etsy and begin my fourth year so many exciting things are happening in my business life. Mike, my photographer husband observed a workshop I was taking last year. I asked him to watch along as I was going to be using a torch, and tools I was not familiar with and to be truthful a bit intimidated. Before I knew it he was sketching his own designs, buying tools and wire and designed a collection of earrings. We had summer and fall shows scheduled and along with his photography he sold his designs in a test market. They were a hit. Many ladies lined up at our shows to purchase his earrings. 

This is a new chapter......

 This year we have decided to work as a husband and wife design team, and we are in the middle of educating ourselves on the many parts to this business in order to make a living at it. We have plans to build our website and market to a much larger audience. We have applied and been accepted to several larger Juried art shows around the Bay Area of San Francisco. We are waiting approval on more and as we prepare for what we hope is a busy and successful year we are working very hard most of 7 days a week. We do spend time with our grandchildren and fit church and park outings every Sunday. We have started walking again around our hilly neighborhood and juicing to give us the energy we need. 

Balance is a very big word and we are striving to find some in our lives as we move through our year. 

I have so much more to tell you about and in the coming days will be sharing more of crazy artists life. Hope you enjoyed my story and thanks as always for taking the time to stop in. I love to hear from you and if you think I should sell Emerald Nights I would love to hear that too. Check out our shops atwww.etsy.com/shop/enlalumiere and www.etsy.com/shop/watersoulsstudios.com

To celebrate this milestone I will be offering a flash SALE now through Saturday with a 10% off on my jewelry and if you are in for a real bargain check out my sale section and receive up to 40% off. Don't forget the code THREEYEARS