AdoreJules Fan Drawing Contest

I promised my fans on the Adorejules Facebook page when I reached 70 fans I would hold a drawing for a pair of earrings. On Monday, December 14th my dear sister sent me a text message to let me know that I had reached 70 fans!! I was delighted to say the least.

Later that evening I had my darling 5 year old neighbor Emma draw 2 names out of a hat. She drew the names of Kelly Chee and Pat Setzer. Kelly lives in Kuala Lumpur - very exciting since my husband has actually traveled there on business and spent quite a bit of time there. Pat lives in the states in North Carolina. The Carolina's have always been very special to me. Vacationed yearly when our kids were young for a very long time. Sweet - there was a connection to both women and where they were from.

I'm hopeful that I will eventually have 100 fans! When that occurs I will have another drawing for a piece of jewelry. This time 1 name will be drawn and the individual will have their choice of a necklace, earring or bracelet.

It's my way to say "Thanks" for your support. I hope business will be good and I can continue to say thanks in this way!

I'm very honored!

Tiffany Figure Eight Links!

I'm finding all kinds of great ways to use these solid, heavy sterling silver Tiffany links. They are stamped 1999 and were used in a freshwater pearl necklace in 1999. Tiffany's is still using this style of link on a necklace this year.

I currently have a necklace and now a bracelet using the link. I had a custom order for a pendant using this link. The picture is below.

Maybe some earrings next... Hmmm

Soliman

I was very touched by a story that Brian Williams reported on in Afghanistan.  He reported on a struggling orphanage in Kabul he visited while there.  I didn't see the initial story, but I did see the second mention of it one night.  There wasn't a hesitation or in my mind or heart.  I wanted to help.

I should probably step back and say that I love children, became a teacher and was hopeful to have many of my own.  I was blessed with two amazing sons.

I went on line and found the report and the link to the agency.  Again, computer overload from the incredible response the story generated.  Every 30 minutes or so while I worked on my computer I checked to see if there was a child a could help.  An hour and a half later, there he was Soliman.  This little guy with amazing eyes! See pictures of him below!!


Soliman is 11 years old.  He lives in the SitaraAF orphanage in Kabul Afghanistan.  His favorite subject is Dari (language) and his favorite activity is Cricket.  His father had been killed during the Taliban attack in Shamali area.  He was working in a fruit garden when he was killed.  This event badly affected his mother whose mental health was affected.  Soliman wants to become a good engineer.  He has a small sister who looks after the house and he works at a mechanic shop.

Busy 2 Weeks

I attended the International Gem and Jewelry Show in Columbus a week before Thanksgiving.  It was gem overload.  So much to see and it was very difficult to control the urge to buy everything.  I love when I can get a great deal on quality gems, sterling silver, glass beads etc.  It translates into savings for the buyer of a newly created piece.

Thanksgiving was right around the corner and we were out of town so I am now ready to sit down and create some unique items.  The new gems are so inspiring that I need to start now!!

I traveled to Woodridge and Naperville for Thanksgiving.  All I can say is I have an amazing family. 

My parents not only look great but I'm always surprised by their stamina.  Nothing seems to slow them down.  They were out and about with us the day after Thanksgiving and were dragged everywhere, but not once said a word about being tired.  They never sat down except for lunch.  Whew!  Will I be able to do that at their age?  Hmmmm.

The highlight - besides being with Nick for 3 full days - was Thanksgiving dinner at my sister and her husband's home.  The warmth from them just radiates through the house and the meal very gourmet!  Plus the home is occupied by their three dogs - Benny, Bandit and Tai - and Biscotti the cutest bunny ever!  It's always so much fun spending time with them.  I only wish I lived near them so we could be together more often.

It was such a joy to spend time with Nick.  He is so missed around our house, but he's living in my favorite city - Chicago.  Nick is an astute shopper and he showed us this as we went thrifting with him on Thursday.  He found a tweedy jacket in great shape with suede sleeves - oh and it fit him perfectly - for $5.00.  Although I really don't need to do anything - just be with him makes my day!

My Bad at Blogging

I'm not going to make any promises because I never know how much time I will have.

I had a wonderfully busy Fall. Returned from LA (sorry, never wrote about the wineries) in August and I don't know where September went. Moved Nick to Chicago and I had so much fun with him walking and taking the El everywhere. Ukrainian Village is so awesome. It only takes a quick walk and you are surrounded by restaurants, shops, even a very cool bead store called "Beadniks" and transportation that can get you anywhere in the city and out to the burbs.

Returned home and prepared for a visit from my sister and her hubby, Tim for Labor Day. Golf, eating, cooking, drinking and making jewelry filled our time. So much fun!!

My friend Jen encouraged me to have a jewelry event at my home. So I began to create necklaces, bracelets, and earrings during any and all free time. I probably had close to 100 pieces. The jewelry event was in late October and I know I enjoyed myself. It looked like everyone had a wonderful time and I was so grateful for the number of friends and friends of friends who came.

I am now adding to my inventory on my Esty shop. I have found Etsy to be a very supportive network of artists. It doesn't matter what their art medium they always have helpful advice and complete support.

I've learned that pictures are extremely important especially in the gallery view. Thanks cindylouwho2!! Can't believe it took me almost six months to figure that one out. Also important is to renew, renew, renew. It pulls your shop to the front of the hundreds of thousands of jewelry designers. Oh and free shipping helps too!

Oh and now I'm waiting for advice on how to make my jewelry sparkle when I live in the Ohio Valley where there are over 200 gray days - hmmmm.

What happened to August

August began with a trip to Los Angeles to visit Brad in his new apartment in Silver Lake. Did too much in a short amount of time and hardly had time to just hang with my son. He was with me while we whirled around Santa Barbara and its wine country and then whirled around Ikea. The next thing I knew I was on a plane back home.

Southwest is always dependable and is the airline of choice when they fly to wherever I head. Love them and their service!!! We flew into LA very late and with Brad's great directions made it to his apartment. We went into Silver Lake and stopped for ice cream and coffee. It was so good to see him. Six months had elapsed since our last visit together. However, it was midnight LA time and 3am EST. Had to get back to the hotel for much needed rest.

Big mistake this visit to LA. Stayed at a hotel right by LAX which meant navigating the horribly crazy LA highway system. Mileage wise it probably didn't sound that far, but traffic wise, not smart. Think of a packed parking lot at a concert event and then every so often you get to inch the car in the direction you're heading.

To be continued - Santa Barbara and its lovely wine country!

I Apologize

The mystery has been solved and I owe PayPal and apology. After 5 calls between my bank and PayPal it turns out my bank was in fact the culprit. Apparently, many years ago they made one tiny number error on my account and it reeked havoc on being able to use my card on PayPal. I will say that the woman I spoke to at my bank did not give up until she resolved the problem. So I owe a thanks to them. I wish I had spoken to her initially. Oh well, all is good and everything is moving along smoothly.

All I need now is sales!! I noticed quite a number of views of my listings. That is exciting to see!

Posting a Blog at Midnight

I've learned a valuable lesson. I cannot write a blog past midnight. I did review my post and it looked fine. However, I must have done something to change my text from readable to symbols. Good thing I checked this morning. I was able to change it back to text that can be read.



Just finished making a double strand bracelet. Soon to be posted on Etsy

Mind Working Overtime!

It is almost midnight and my mind is working overtime. Paypal has been extremely frustrating. Four phone calls later and there hasn't been a resolution that has made me very happy. I will not give up.

I've opened my shop on Etsy and am very pleased with its appearance. I currently have 19 items listed and hope to continue to add more pieces each week. One of my birthday gifts from a friend was a book on marketing and selling handmade jewelry. It's been one great resource. The book is so right when it says 80% of your time will involve the business aspects. Right now it's feeling like 99%, rightly so as I'm in learning mode.

I've also learned so much from the other creative artists on Etsy. They've given me support without knowing it. Many of the female artists are women with young children. I'm in awe that they can juggle all of this. My youngest just left home so once I come home from work I have time to myself to devote to my passion. Although I would love to have more time.

This is a piece I made that is one of my favorites.

Getting Close

Jewelry pieces ready, descriptions ready, materials ready, tags ready, shipping ready unfortunately one last snag. As I began loading my first picture on the website it kicked it back to me saying it was too large. I researched everything, I thought, but found that I really didn't spend any time educating myself on what photo size the website would accept. I was so disappointed. I was so close and realized I'd have to take 50 plus photos over again.

Well, not true. Fortunately, I have a son who is adept at photography and all the possibilities of I-Photo - yeah Nick!! He can help me now, however, I'm not sure how this will work when he moves a couple states away from me (Chicago IL) in a week. Can he perform a Vulcan mind meld and transfer all his knowledge to my brain? One can only hope.

My new goal is to have my shop opened by the end of this weekend. Am I excited - of course!!!

Sorry PayPal

I was able to resolve the PayPal issue. I called customer service during the day. Don't call at night because a live person never answers and it doesn't matter how long you hold. I was able to talk to a friendly customer service person unfortunately she seemed to think she was giving me new suggestions on how to use PayPal so my credit card would be used rather than my bank account. I repeated back to her that I had tried all those things she suggested. She left the line came back on and proceeded to instruct me further. I let her know I also did those things. This happened one more time and when she came back on the line and I expressed that yes, I did that too; she finally said I'll get a supervisor. To her credit her demeanor never waned She remained friendly and polite. I tried to do the same but after the 3rd or 4th time I'm sure my tone changed a bit.

The supervisor greeted me and without my having to say a word she told me exactly what the problem was. She obviously had better access to my PayPal account then the first person. Basically, my bank was not allowing PayPal to gain access to my credit card.

I'm sorry PayPal you like me - my bank, however, doesn't! :-)

Frustration

I don't think Paypal likes me. I know they are highly regarded - very reputable, so it would stand to reason that they'd want me to be part of this massive organization. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. I can't get it to work for me. I do read and speak English and I believe my comprehension is pretty good. I'm great at following directions, so what's the problem. I've tried talking to "virtual customer service" and they were stumped. I've tried speaking to a live customer service person only to wait 20 minutes twice without actually speaking to anyone.

I tried buying from a seller who only accepts the "P" word. Needless to say I've burned bridges with this person. I don't even what to imagine what this individual thinks of me.

Today's a new day and I'm going to get Paypal to like me if it kills me!! Ugh!!!

Beginnings

I've always admired jewelry of all sorts; trendy, classic, costume, antique, fine, etc. I've collected much and received many from generous family and friends. I am now designing and creating jewelry. It's not always easy, but always a labor of love. I've given my one of a kind pieces as gifts and sold them also. It is time to explore other avenues. This is the beginning....