New header design

You may already have noticed my new header design! I was craving something really pretty for the blog and stumbled, quite by fortunate accident, on Vanessa Warren of ButterflySparks Designs. I fell instantly in love with this design, which also works for me because it still lets me include a picture for marketing purposes.

Vanessa was great to work with and I can't recommend her enough if you need graphic design projects. Her response and turnaround times were super fast, her rates were very reasonable, and I love the fact that she cites Anthropologie as one of her inspirations. A designer after my own heart. Lastly, she created a matching Etsy shop banner for me - check it out!

Hope you like it!

Discovered by Susan

What a week! Lots of little things combined with several big things and before I knew it, the weekend had arrived and I hadn't posted anything for Twilight Tuesday. What travesty!

The weather this weekend promises to be simply gorgeous - sunny and in the 60s - which is a happy change from the high of 27 degrees we had on Friday (no wonder people are getting sick with all this crazy temperature changes). I'm looking longingly out my window though because Mr Hazel has decreed that I must gather up all paperwork from bead purchases for the year and calculate my total expenses and revenue so he can complete our taxes by the end of the weekend. I know it must be done, but the sunshine outside is luring me to rebel.

Check it out - Susan from Susan's Greetings featured my shop's Susan bracelet on her blog on Friday. I happily return the free publicity.

One year anniversary!

Today is the one year anniversary of my Etsy store, and I wanted to take the opportunity to send a huge thanks to all my customers and supporters and blog friends for a wonderful and successful first year! 66 total sales, not including custom orders, is 66 more than I was expecting!

Don't forget free shipping on all items at the shop from now until January 8.

Wishing all of you the best for a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2009! Happy New Year!

Shop announcements

I am super excited to announce that the Alice ring has sold - on Black Friday, no less!

Also, the Lily earrings are back in stock if you fancy having a couple of adorable owls adorning your ears.

I made a bunch of new items for the shop that are waiting to be photographed and listed, so stay tuned!

And lastly, I am off to the bead store tomorrow to look for stones for a custom order. I have some ideas floating in my head, but it will depend on what I can find tomorrow.

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?

Holiday shopping prep

As part of my preparations for the coming holiday shopping season, I am re-stocking my supplies with essentials:

1. Large quantities of square gift stickers that go outside the boxes
2. Large quantities of white gift boxes
3. Large quantities of organza bags (my vendor ran out of the multi-colored ones, so I ordered them all in pink)
4. Large quantities of address labels
5. Large quantities of envelopes
6. 250 new business cards
   
7. Rolls of brown ribbon

Hopefully this means I am actually prepared!

Recent sales

Thank you!

I also had another wedding inquiry from my cousin's friend for six bracelets, but unfortunately the turnaround time did not work out with my schedule. It would have been a fun order to do!

And if you get a chance, hop on over to Paperback Musings for a trio of book memes. Alissa, Karmela, and I are still in the midst of our current reads, so there have not been any book reviews posted as of yet. We swear we're usually not this slow!

On their way to Philly

The big order of the "Leslie" earrings are finished, packed, shipped, and are currently on their way to Philadelphia and to the ears of their new owners. I had a very tight turnaround time on these babies so I am relieved to usher them on their way. Thanks again to Jennifer for supporting my shop, and I hope you have a gorgeous wedding!

I have several projects currently on my plate awaiting attention. If you're one of my customers waiting for a piece of Hazel Designs bling, it should be coming your way soon!

New business cards

My new business cards have arrived! They are so pretty. I was running low on the old ones and found out upon trying to re-order that they have been discontinued. So I got these instead! The back has a different full-length photo per card, while the front has all the information.

These photos are a great touch because every time I handed out the old cards to someone their first question would inevitably be, "What kind of jewelry do you make?" This way, they can see it instantly without having to go online. Variety and efficiency.

The pictures are very clear, crisp, the colors true and bright, almost glowing. And the paper is heavy - laminated and everything. I love them!

Up to my elbows

I'm currently very busy with custom orders.

In addition to my friend Camille's bridesmaids' jewelry, I've just finished a necklace commissioned by a good friend's mom. It turned out to be quite pretty and I will be posting photos soon. I'm also waiting on materials for a blue bracelet made of kyanite, which was ordered by someone as a surprise gift. And, last week I received an Etsy convo from a bride in Philadelphia who ordered six pairs of the ever-popular Leslie earrings, as well as an additional three similar, but smaller, pairs for her flower girls and a junior bridesmaid.

I feel so privileged that she picked me! She is now my second bride to commission pieces and I'm really excited about it.

Late to the party

But I finally got there!

Recently I was perusing the Etsy forums - particularly the thread on how to promote your business - and the general consensus seems to be that sellers should increase both their work's and their store's presence online as much as possible.

To that end, a lot of sellers on Etsy have Flickr accounts as well as accounts on one of the social networking sites.

So, now you can also find Hazel Designs both on Flickr and Facebook! I also added in a nifty Flickr badge on the left-hand sidebar of my blog, featuring photos of my jewelry.

Please come visit me there!

I've been featured!

This morning I received a wonderful surprise - Sydnei of Simply Sentimental sent me an Etsy convo saying she had featured the Camille earrings on her blog!

Check out her wonderful write up here. Also if you get a chance, check out the rest of the blog as it features wonderful items from other Etsy artists.

Thank you so much, Sydnei!

Commissions!

So the past week has been a great one for custom orders!

My friend Camille has commissioned me to design and create the jewelry her bridesmaids will be wearing for her fall wedding. I am very honored and excited about this opportunity. She gave me ideas of what she had in mind and I am currently researching stones and playing around with designs. Camille commissioned four bracelets and four pairs of earrings.

I think that having handcrafted and original pieces of jewelry worn at your wedding is a beautiful way to add that unique and personal touch to the day.

I hope she'll like the end results!

My other friend Marnie also requested another Astrid necklace with a matching bracelet as a gift for someone for Mother's Day. I didn't think I could find any more of the stones I used for the original piece - they are these beautiful imperial jasper square beads - but as luck would have it, I did find them. It was like a really fun treasure hunt.

And lastly, Angie from The Downtown Boutique and Rio Oso Designs loved the Leslie earrings so much that she has requested a matching necklace to go along with it!

I will be posting pictures here as these pieces are completed.

Thank you so much, ladies!

Robin's egg blue and gold

Robin's egg blue is one of my favorite colors. It's very light and pretty, and so refreshing and cool to the eyes. This pair, similar to the Lauren and Victoria, is "Lorna", after my aunt (the sisters series is hereby complete!)

So a few posts back I was talking about this jewelrymaker who knew a lot of celebrities and got them to wear her designs for her. Well, I completely forgot that I, too, know a celebrity - my friend Lisa, who is a meteorologist and weather anchor for a local TV station (she gets recognized everywhere she goes around town). She told me that last Friday, she had worn the Stephanie earrings on air, and that her co-anchor had complimented them without any prompting! I was so excited. Lisa is going to send me a DVD of the newscast so I can see the on-air debut of the earrings.

And a huge thank you to Meridith, who, in addition to custom ordering Lauren, also bought Nikki and Alissa. Yay! This brings my total sales to 28, which is a nice, fat, even number, if you ask me.

Today was the draft for my fantasy baseball team. I always love draft time because it means spring is here. Hopefully my players will do well this season!

A flower garden!

Moxie is making it impossible to type because she decided that my keyboard makes for a nice, cozy bed to curl up on for her nap.

Here is a new shop item for you - a cascade of flowers disguised as earrings! These feature three blue glass flowers each, adorned with three amazonite beads and all dangling from base metal earwires. I decided to use base metal components for this piece instead of sterling silver to give it an antiqued, vintage look, and a well-loved air. I named this one "Christine" after my cousin's wife, who is one of the coolest chicks I know.

I finished filing my business tax for February. You should've seen my face as I tried to make sense of it - scrunched up, pained, and bewildered. This is my second month of filing but it hasn't gotten any easier. Why are tax forms not written in plain English, I ask you? Why do they insist on writing out the instructions as if they're taking bets on how many people they can confuse in the least amount of time? Anyway, it's filed and paid, and I hope I did it right.

I am very excited - our baseball team has a new stadium and Mr Hazel and I went in with a group of people to get season tickets! Our share is five games, and the seats are amazing - second row, main level, between second and third base (I think that's what Mr Hazel told me). I can't wait for the season to start - 17 days!

I'm now off to scrounge up some lunch...happy Friday everyone!

Chalcedony earrings

Today's new shop addition is a pair of aqua chalcedony earrings, named "Mila" after one of my aunts. She is wire wrapped in sterling earwires.

Chalcedony has to be one of my all-time favorite stones, especially this pretty aqua color. More details and pictures of Mila are available at the shop!

I also finally developed my store policies on warranties, as well as on returns and exchanges. Basically I am now offering a one-year warranty, from date of purchase, for repair work on all jewelry pieces from my shop, as well as a 30-day policy on returns and exchanges. You can find more details and information about these under the Profile section of my shop.

Tonight was the season finale of the Sarah Connor Chronicles. The last hour was amazing! The cliffhanger wasn't bad either. I feel a bit bereft, but consoling myself that The Office is coming back soon.

On free bread, gem shows, and publicity

Whew! What a day! In the morning I had a hair appointment (apparently I haven't gone in 3 months, which accounts for my highlights turning a bit on the brassy side and my gray hairs popping up like weeds), but I managed to publicize Hazel Designs to my hairstylist by giving her one of my cards. I'm trying to spread the word as hard and as fast as I can.

After leaving the salon (feeling, of course, like a new woman), I headed to the gem and jewelry show. It was a huge space filled to the brim with all manner of rings, diamonds, gemstones, beads, and even one booth selling purses (I almost bought one until I remembered I shouldn't really be buying purses at a bead show). I was able to access the wholesalers' section, open only to people "in the trade," and I felt so privileged. The best part was there was NO TAX whatsoever! I could get used to this no tax thing.

I was there for hours and my feet were ready to fall off by the end, but I managed to score a bounty of goodies - including chalcedony in blue, pink, and green, which I have been looking for for months now without any success. I also found a lot of gorgeous sterling silver chains and findings.

(And, as a bonus, they cleaned my wedding rings for free).

So expect the shop to be stocked with new designs in the coming weeks. I truly felt like the proverbial kid in the candy shop today.

I also managed to score a free loaf of bread. Not at the bead show, but at my favorite bakery - I discovered this place by accident a few months ago, and found out that they serve THE BEST challah ever. The. Best. So I made a special trip today to get some, but to my dismay, they had run out. The baker guy must have been able to see the tears of disappointment forming at the corners of my ducts because he very gently suggested trying their white bread instead, which he claimed to be just as good as the challah. At my skeptical look he said I could have it for free to try out. Yay, free bread! It's not as good as the challah, but it's pretty decent. Especially because it's free.

And lastly, on publicity: please check out the official Etsy CREST team blog, of which "Astrid" from my shop is pictured (yay!), and also this list of CREST team shops, of which my shop is also included.

Doing my civic duty

Today was an exciting day! Voting is so much fun. Although there wasn't the same party atmosphere as during a general election (no one for me to heckle while in line, for instance), it was still great fun casting my ballot. I have to admit - I felt a little emotional as I stared at my candidate's name on the screen. I've been waiting to see that name for years now and to finally see it was a great day indeed.

Mr Hazel and I voted differently, in spite of my threats and attempts at coercion and blackmail for him to vote my way. Apparently I'm not very good at threats, coercion, or blackmail. Luckily for him, I am a forgiving woman and will still cook him his dinner tonight.

Today was another awesome day for sales! I sold three things today. My sister, who is fast becoming my super customer, snapped up pretty Elizabeth. Don't forget to get the matching necklace too when she's available, okay, sis? Heheh. Also, my friend Michele bought Celia and the Ahila earrings. Thank you Michele!

I'm happy to say that since I've sold a total of ten items to date, we are now up to $30 for donation to the American Institute for Cancer Research. Yay! Thank you to all who have contributed so far. This promotion will last until Valentine's Day.

Lastly, my heart count to date: 18 hearts! The prevailing advice when selling on Etsy is to try to list a new item on a regular basis, preferably daily, and I've been trying to do this and largely succeeding. I've listed many items in a row for a couple of weeks now. I noticed that my heart count would spike the day after I list a new item, so this is added incentive to get my butt moving even faster!

New shop item: aventurine earrings

This delicate pair of earrings, "Ahila", is made of light green aventurine briolettes and silver filigree charms, all carefully hand wrapped in sterling silver wire. They dangle about 1" down from silver ear wires. Ahila is up at the shop now so please check her out!

And lookee here - the New York Times wrote an article about using blogs as a tool to grow and market a small business. They say:

"To its true believers at small businesses, it is a low-cost, high-return tool that can handle marketing and public relations, raise the company profile and build the brand."

It seems that I may be on the right track after all. I did notice that many of the Etsy vendors maintain blogs, where they not only feature their products but also talk about their lives as a way for their customers to get to know them better. Such personal relationships, even online, can be really good for business!

And on that note, happy weekend everyone!

Super duper Tuesday

I had a rather late night today so I'm going to scrap my plans to add another item to the shop (it usually takes a while) so I can catch up on Super Tuesday results.

Before I do that, though, I wanted to report that Abigail has been sold! Whoo hoo! My sister bought her today. Thanks, sis - you rock!

Also please visit the Etsy CREST street team page. If you click on "Favorites" and then "Favorite Sellers," you can see the shops of the members who belong to this Etsy team (yours truly being one of them!). And I actually don't know if the "Favorite Items" will change periodically, but right now it looks like Kate has been featured as one of the favorite items. Yay Kate!

I now have a total of ten hearts! Thanks to heathersbeadshop, bisquee, YStudio, and my very own friend Meridith for hearting Hazel Designs. I heart you back!

Lastly, I scored these adorable vintage owl beads from an Etsy vendor. I have big plans for them - are they cute, or what?

Happy Mardi Gras everyone!

What's in a name?

...that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell just as sweet...


One of the first ideas I had when I started Hazel Designs was to name my pieces after girls' names to infuse them with more of a "personality." The logical next step was to name them after my female friends and family.

So I started doing this. But then, as I went through the names, I began to worry. I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to match the "personality" of the necklace to the personality of the real person. One necklace was whimsical and had a sort of gentle look to it - does this match better with that friend or this friend? While this other necklace was more funky and bold and colorful - is this more of this family member or that family member? And does this one look more like a "Mandy" or a "Meridith"? And then, as if that wasn't enough to agonize over, I began worrying over the possibility that the person would get offended if the necklace I named after her wasn't to her liking.

I got a fierce headache.

So I scrapped the whole idea and instead went to a baby naming website and picked out names that I loved, and this seemed to work out very nicely. I received many positive responses and feedback.

I kept going back and forth, though, on naming the pieces after my friends and family, and when my sister also, independently, suggested this idea, I finally decided to go ahead and follow my first inclination.

So now, each new piece that comes out from here on will be named after my female friends and family (until I run out of them), and you might have already noticed that I started doing this with recent pieces "Mariel" and "Mary" (warning: I do have a lot of friends whose names begin with "M", as you can probably already tell!).

And to my friends and family, if you somehow end up not liking your "namesake", please don't be offended. You know I love you!