Tool Talk ~ Zoozii's Charm Box

Let's talk tools!

I'm kind of a tool junky ~ I have a LOT of them! 

Today's tool talk will focus on Zoozii's Charm Box

First, let me say that Zooziis are my favorite tools!  They're high quality, excellent value, great customer service, easy to use, and I like the pegs for making sure you get a straight press.  This one is really opening up possibilities for me in making European charm beads and getting away from the standard donut-ish shape.

Here are some beads I made with this press

DONE!!

I'm completely finished with the studio organizing project!!   (Finally!)  Whew, that took a while.  I promise myself I will never have to do that again!

View from the door

Torch Bench

After ~ All set and ready for beadmaking!

Studio Update

So I've been organizing in my studio AGAIN!  I'm getting the glass done this time though, so hopefully, this is the last full on studio re-do I'll ever have to do.  I have made a big dent in the glass storage going from this:

Before

To this:

After

WHEW!  That was a bigger project than I anticipated!  In all honesty, I'm still not finished (I will NOT show you pictures of the piles that are still on the floor! lol)  But I'm getting somewhere, and I'm already finding it easier to decide what colors to use.

While I've been working on this project I've come to realize that I have a LOT of tools that are begging for some sort of organized storage too.  

If there was a "Hoarders" show for crafters, I would probably qualify!

But the upside is I've decided to start a "Tool Talk" segment on my blog.  I'll feature one tool (hopefully every week) let you know if I have any hints or tricks to using it, whether or not I would buy it again, show you some samples of what I've made with it, etc.  And the (other) upside is that this will make me really focus on each tool and possibly even part with the ones I don't really, truly love. (Read - more room for new tools!)

Okay ~ diving back in!  I've already started thinking about the first tool review ~ and it's one I've only had for 4 days and I already love!

I'll leave you with a little cleaning music ~ crank this one up and try not to dance!

Rebranding

New Year ~ New Look!

I've been giving this a lot of thought lately, and I think it's time for a change.  I've been using the same images to represent my business since practically the very beginning.  However, those images really no longer represent what I do, or can do.  My work and my business have evolved and it's time my brand reflected that. I think it's time for a fresh new look!  This probably won't happen overnight ~ I've still got a thousand business cards and a few hundred address lables with the old design, and lots and lots of updating to do on websites, but I will slowly be changing everything over.

I'll be changing from this:

To this:

Welcome to my new logo picture!  Same great affordable beads, made with the same love and sunshine, just updated!

I haven't made the flat squares in over a year, and my .co is now a .com ~ so I'm ready for a fresh new start!

New Contest

WIN FREE BEADS!

I'm running a quick and easy contest on my Veda's Beads Fan Page  

Under this box are 4 chunky squares ~ all you have to do is pop over to the fan page and guess what color they are and they could be yours!  Oh, and just a hint:  they are all the same color.  Winner announced Sunday January 27th.

GOOD LUCK!!

One Fish Two Fish

One Fish ~ Two Fish

Okay, I don't actually have any red fish or blue fish, but there is a whole school of them in my studio right now! 

So let's give one away!!

Go to my Facebook Page, like the page and guess how many fish are currently in my school.

This winner will recieve this fish:

If more than one person has the same guess we'll do a random drawing from among the right answers.

Winner will be announced Friday, November 9th.

 Happy Fishing!

A Pirate Looks At 40

40!?!

I can't believe I'm turning 40 this month ~ 

I can't do anything to stop it, so I'm going to celebrate with a sale!

For the entire month of November

40/4/40 

that second one isn't a 40 for a reason :)

So, what is the 40/4/40 sale?

40 cents off every item all month long!

Buy 4 items (see, aren't you glad it's not 40!)  and get 40% off 

the highest priced item.

To receive your discount just put Happy 40th in the note to seller and I'll send you a refund through paypal. 

Since I have to turn 40 anyway, I may as well be positive about it!

And a special Happy Birthday shout out to my sister who turns 38 this month ~ I love you Melly!

October

Apple harvest should only last a few more days, then it's back to full time bead making!

This morning we picked apples in the rain.

And it really made me want to be warm and cozy in my studio!

Okay, so I'll have to do a LOT of cleaning before it looks like that again. But first, more beads! 

The best part of being a beadmaker

Do you know what the best part of being a bead maker is?

Even if it's October, and raining, and 11pm ~ I can still pick a bouquet of flowers out of my kiln!

I LOVE MY JOB!!

Watch for some of them in my Etsy shop tomorrow :)

Artist Spotlight

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

SparkleJunkie

I have this customer.... 

okay she started as a customer, but she's turned into that fun, crazy friend that you know you'll eventually wind up in jail with!

Anyway ~ she makes some absolutely beautiful and incredibly affordable jewelry and I want to make sure everybody knows about her!

First, she makes these great barefoot sandals!  I have 2 pairs and they are a fun and flirty addition to any summer outfit!

Barefoot Sandals

She also has tons of fun bracelets:

Red Leather Sterling Silver Tube
This one I gave to a friend and she
loves it! Lightweight and goes with
everything!

November Birthstone

I bought one like this for myself, but
my 12 year old daughter promptly 
comandeered it because it was
"girl on fire". She wears it all the time!

And of course ~ she uses some lampwork in her designs :)

Black and Silver Necklace

Flowers for Rue

Old Glory

                                 

                                                     

So there you have it ~ quality, affordable, sparkly jewelry from a talented lady with a first rate shop! 

The Holidays are coming up fast, so get started now!

Also, check out FamilyManJewels for a great gift for the men in your life!

RINGS!

I've been wanting to make rings out of my beads for a long time, and I've also been looking for a new use for my square beads.

SUCCESS! 

SQUARE RINGS!

I'm so excited about these :)

Here's a close up

You know I'm going to be making more of these!

They really are fun to make, fun to wear, and way easier than I thought.

If I can get a friend to do some photography for me, I might just put up a quick free tutorial. Stay tuned!

Here's the song that's been stuck in my head all week ~ enjoy!

FALL

It's officially Fall!

So I'm working apple harvest

With my Grandpa

Making apple beads

And just generally busier than any other time of year!

New Tools!

ZOOZII'S BUBBLE PRESS

I was fortunate to be able to attend the International Society of Glass Beadmakers Gathering this year.  It was an amazing experience!  I learned so much and met so many great people.  And of course, I also did a LOT of shopping! Thankfully Dusty went with me and not only carried everything, but even encouraged me!  

One of the purchases I made was the Zoozii's Bubble Press. 

I was a little intimidated because it looks so difficult to use, but it made such fun beads I couldn't resist! Amy even showed me how to use it during one of the open torch sessions,

I've made about 15 of these so far, but I already only have these few left at the house.  

I swear the only thing happier than bubbles is bubbly beads!

More of these will be turning up in my Etsy shop in the days to come and of course you can always find them locally at The Sun Dog Bead Co.

Happy Beading!!

Just for fun ~ here's a little music that always makes me feel bubbly!

Richie Spice - Yap Yap

Scavenger Hunt!!

Let's have a little fun!  

My kiln is currently undergoing maintenance so I can't make beads for a couple days. 

So I thought we'd have a scavenger hunt!

There are 3 randomly chosen items currently for sale in my etsy shop with the number 50 in the listing.  If you find one of them send me a message either here, on etsy, or on facebook  and I'll give you

 50% off that listing!! (first one to contact me on each listing is the one who gets the discount)

Good luck and have fun!!

5 Social Networking Errors Businesses Should Avoid

 You are a small business. You sell products or services that I'm interested in and I'm ready to become your best customer!  And then I notice a few things and look for someone else in your field.  Even if you have customer service down to a science, there are things that make me walk away.

1.  Do not load your feed with political or religious posts.  It's okay to have an opinion, and even to share it occasionally in a respectful manner, but remember you are talking to your customers and many of them may not share your views.

2. Do not badmouth a customer.  Ever. Seriously, other customers are reading this and wondering what you are saying about them.  Is it worth a two sentence rant to lose even a small percentage of your business?

3.  Do not complain or whine or gripe about your lack of sales.  When I see that, I just assume that everyone else knows something I don't and join them in steering clear of you.  While we're on the subject, don't post sob stories about why I have to buy something from you because you need the money so badly.  We all need money to get by in this world. If your kid needs braces and you whine about how much you need to sell because of that, you may just remind me that my kid needs braces too, so I should save my money.

4.  Do not write a blog post about how to sell the stuff you don't like, at your top price, to a group of people that you consider less important than your real clients.  You think I'm joking?  I've seen this!  Some of us treat every single customer with the same respect and work hard to give them our top products. Customers do know the difference.

5.  Do not make me try to decipher what you are saying.   DO use proper English, and check your spelling and grammar. Also,  I don't want to see how many swear words you know, or how many creative ways you can use them.  If you can't shout it in a room full of grandmas, don't say it online.

Your name is inextricably connected to your business, so even if you post these things on your personal pages your customers know, and despite what you may think, they probably care.  Stay positive and respectful, it  makes the difference between success and failure.

Bead Inspiration ~ Tropics

Once again, I am dreaming of some tropical location and wishing I lived under a palm tree!  I think this week I will focus on all things tropical ~ palm trees, the ocean, sea creatures ~ you name it, I'll be trying it on a bead!

Here are a couple of things I'm going to use for inspiration this week:

And I think I have a really interesting idea for this:

This week I'll start posting pictures of what I made based on the inspiration.  I promise I'll share the good, the bad, and the ugly ~ as long as you understand there will probably be more ugly than anything!

Since it's on my mind again ~

Two Tickets to Paradise by Eddie Money



Have a productive week!

Motivation Monday - Custom Orders

Oh, so it's not Monday? It is still early in the week though right?  I hope so, because I still have a LOT to do this week!

I didn't have much time during the past week to play with the cupcake patterns I posted last Monday because virtually everything I made was a custom order.  Did I tell you I love custom orders! They often inspire and push me to try things I may not have otherwise considered.  Please don't hesitate to let me know if there is something special I can make for you!

Here are a few from the last few days, and I have several more on the board for this week.

Matte Pink Italian Marble

Pink Flowers

I think a little Bachman Turner Overdrive is in order for this week's motivation!

Have a great week and stay motivated!

Motivation Monday - More Cupcakes

I'm not sure why I find cupcakes so inspiring for beads.  Maybe just because they are round?  In any case, I'm always finding the cutest cupcakes on pinterest and thinking I can make them into beads!  Here are a couple I think I'll try today.

And I'll be listening to some of my all time favorite music ~ it is most definitely "Good To Be Me"!

Happy Monday and Stay Motivated!

What's Up Wednesday - MARCH CONTEST!

It's March (well, almost) and time for a new contest!

I know there are a lot of Veda's Beads out there and I think it would be great fun to see what everyone is making with them. So post your pictures on my facebook fan page VedasBeads and you will be entered into a random drawing for FREE BEADS!  

A set of squares in your choice of color

The more pictures you post the more chances you have to win!  If you don't have your VedasBeads yet hop over to my Etsy shop and get yours now!

As a bonus, you get another place to advertise your great jewelry, and I'll promote you too ~ you win either way!

Here's the first entry from Sun Dog Bead Co.:  

 Click Here  to purchase this one!

So get out your VedasBeads, post something on my fan page and enter to win, what are you waiting for!!

Motivation Monday - Kalypso

DH Kalypso

I realized I have a lot of special glass sitting in my stash collecting dust because I didn't feel I was "good enough" to use it.  DH Kalypso is one of those colors.  It's expensive and I'm frugal, so it's hard for me to risk making ugly beads with it.  However, I just accidentally ordered more last week, so I felt it was time to use some of it!

It doesn't look very special in the rod:

But I made this bead with it the other day:

and I'm really excited about it ~ I'm always looking for pink!!

I think I'll do several experiments with Kalyspo this week,

and I think I'll do them to the sounds of the Carribean and this beautiful steel drum soundtrack!

Happy Monday ~ and Stay Motivated!