Dragonfly necklace

I have an affinity for dragonflies; I just think they are so whimsical. So I named this new necklace Geillis, after the equally whimsical heroine of Mary Stewart's Thornyhold. I recently re-read Thornyhold and was charmed all over again by the beauty of that book (which I'll be reviewing on Paperback Musings soon). Anyway, back to my dragonfly. I oxidized the sterling chain by hand to match the vintagey feel, and the whole thing is about 18" long.

I also forgot to mention that I made my first international sale! The Je t'aime earrings sold to someone all the way in England, and I finally got the chance to see if the international shipping rate I estimated was accurate (it wasn't). I ended up having to adjust the rate, which is now also reflected at the shop. Unfortunately I'm unable to offer delivery confirmation service for international orders at this time, but the rate is pretty comparable to domestic shipping, so that works out.

The U.S. Postal Service: my new best friend

In researching shipping options to use for sending packages to my customers, I have come to learn more than I have ever wanted to about all the different ways the post office can deliver packages and letters. Insurance? Signature confirmation? Delivery confirmation? Retail or online rates? Priority, first class, parcel post? Overnight, ground? What constitutes a small package vs a parcel?

I've been scouring the post office website, learning all I could about the different options until my eyes started rolling to the back of my head. But when I went to the actual post office, I was presented with even more options.

What happened to the days when it was just one man on his horse, riding on the rugged plains, carrying your package on a leather rucksack?

*****
Thanks to highmaintenancemom for hearting Hazel Designs on Etsy!

Cyber Monday

Yeah, I know, I know...I totally missed the boat on Cyber Monday. Getting up and running is a lot more work than I had thought (especially with the majority of hours spent at the day job). If anyone has any words of wisdom to impart on the whole process of launching a business, I'd dearly love to hear them!

I wonder how much Etsy rakes in on Cyber Mondays.

I'm slowly but surely getting there, though. The other day some of my packaging materials arrived! Check these out - each piece of Hazel Designs jewelry will arrive in one of these pretty organza bags, and then placed in a white gift box. I had personalized labels made up to stick on the boxes, and then I plan on tucking a business card inside the box.


I'm still waiting on the labels and the business cards, and I also have to order padded envelopes to ship the items in. Oh, and find out about shipping costs.

Whew!

How about you, did you do any Christmas or Hanukkah online shopping on Monday?