A Business Remodel

Well here I go again… I’ve been looking into marketing for my business (mostly my Etsy shop), so I’ve been looking at a lot of business books, and marketing books.

So many of them talk about passion! I am not passionate about my jewelry. (Confession-most of it is not something I would wear.) I love to do bead weaving, but sometimes the designs are a little elaborate and fancy for me. 

But not really “fancy” enough to be FABULOUS beadwork. (I see some amazing designs on Pinterest). I don’t really have the passion to WANT to create FABULOUS beadwork. My feeling has always been that I want my jewelry to be completely wearable. To something other than an art gallery opening).  I don’t mean to put anyone down who makes or wears elaborate designs, it’s just not me, and it’s not anyone I know either. 

So, after much thought, I’m shifting my focus back to my roots.  I grew up in southern California. That means I was surrounded by lots of different ethnic groups and styles. My own style has always been an eclectic mixture of cultural influences. Native American, Mexican, Asian, Indian, etc. And I'm a bit of a hippie, with a little bit of country and Cowboy thrown in the mix.

The few times I ever dressed up for Halloween as a child, I was a ‘gypsy”. I’ve always loved “hippie” styles and what we now call boho. And whenever western wear was in style-I was there!

 

We have some native American ancestry, and my Mom decorated and dressed with a lot of native American influence. Plus, I spent quite a bit of time in Arizona when I was growing up. And a lot of that time was in the Sedona area, which, even then was full of Artists. This had a huge influence on my style and aesthetic.

So, I have decided to create jewelry that is more my style. My eclectic blend of styles. Designs that I will want to wear! And I'm excited again!

The launch of my new line is April 16 at my Etsy store: www.BrownIrisCreations.com

Debby

 Commitment leads to action. Action brings your dream closer.
Marcia Wieder

 

New Year! Same goals!

Happy New Year!

Yes, It's been a while (again!). But, I'm back! This time I have a plan, a schedule... let's see if I can keep it up :)

I was just looking over my old posts, especially my goals for last year. While I worked on some of them, I gotta say this year's goals are pretty much the same thing. Make jewelry, get jewelry online, sell jewelry.
To do this, I need to learn a LOT more about marketing.

And one goal I have this year is to get my web site up and running. I have a Weebly site I got last year, but I never really did anything with it.
And, I'd like to have my jewelry on another site besides Etsy. Etsy's great, but it's sooo big, I feel like my jewelry is lost. And they market to a very specific target, who is not me, nor is it my target market. (I actually don't know who it is, supposedly 20-something "hipsters", but when I look at the finds, etc, I don't think I've ever seen anything that would appeal to anyone I know. But, I don't know very many "trendy" people. And the few that I do know are into "designer labels".) So, another venue might have a different audience. I'll have to do some research.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Debby

"Today is a new day"

DJ's Nature

Hello,
Well, after spending a lot of time at my parents' house the past few months, I've finally convinced my brother to put some of his product on Etsy. (He scroll saws, mainly lots and lots of ornaments, but other things, too.) But, because he didn't want to put all of his items up, he didn't want to open a shop of his own. Plus, I had opened another shop last September, but never got a lot of things listed. So, we decided to combine our merchandise into that shop. We decided to also change the name of the shop to DJ's Nature, which was my original name for my crafts and everyone has been selling under that name for years in the Mariposa area. (I had named my new shop Painted Iris, as it was intended just for my painted pieces. But I was never able to get very many items up, so this will work out best for everybody.)

Here are a couple of his creations:

The very cool thing about these Luminaries is that he creates each one out of a single piece of log. He hollows it out, so the bark is still on it, keeping the look natural and rustic.