A Confession

I have a confession. One of my guilty pleasures is shopping online for wedding dresses. I know, this is totally ridiculous, I've been married for 3 1/2 years and already own a wedding dress. And, I'm not even that kind of girl (as a little girl I never fantasized about getting married - ever). My wedding was very simple, and small, but elegant. Lots of personal touches. But, and I'm about to be super corny here, our wedding really was one of the best days of my life. So, perhaps that's where the wedding dress nostalgia comes from. And with that, here are some of my favorites right now.

Amazing dress from The English Department, a design team out of Portland.

Appropriately named Honeychurch, one of my favorite heroines from one my favorite movies - A Room with a View.

Stunning dress from Etsy superstar, SarahSeven. Her dresses are so romanic, simple and modern. Love everything in her shop.

This New Year

Selling, originally uploaded by tigerlillyshop.

Well, it's my first official day at work this year here at Elisa Shere Jewelry. Since this is a time of reflection, I am taking some time to think about my jewelry, and my business and one thing is clear: I've always taken this jewelry business seriously, even from the beginning. Since the moment I opened my Etsy shop exactly 3 years ago, I always had a plan of making this full time, and created designs that could be reproduced and that I want and love to reproduce. Did I think I would ever have the guts to quit my day job? No. But lucky me, my day job quit me in early 2009 and here I am.

As I reflect upon 2009, here are some of the highlights of things I achieved in my first year running this buisness full-time:

- did not quit, or giveup and get a dayjob. although I was close a few times.
- turned my business into just about 100% green. not an easy or inexpensive task.
- made a profit
- made enough of a profit to cover rent for the year (my goal)
- was accepted into and kicked ass at the following craft shows, which I had dreamt of doing for quite some time: Art Star, Crafty Bastards, Renegade, Holiday Heap, Craftland and many more
- wrote my business and financial plan, though 2011
- had fun, made friends and worked my butt off

The next step is 2010. One of my goals this year is to focus my product line a bit more, I've been making an effort to focus my line in 2009, but it's still a little bit all over the place. It's hard for me to be disciplined about this, since I'm always coming up with new ideas and they don't always fit in with what I'm currently making. But, nonetheless this year I must: focus, focus, focus!! The ACC show next month will actually help with this, as I need to present a cohesive product line at this show.

My second goal is to work on generating media exposure. This is an area that you'd think I would have spent more effort on in the past, considering that my former day job was in marketing communications. But, it's somehow much harder and scarier when it's me. But, to grow my business, I need to get my name, my product and my story out there. On a national level.

So, that's 2010. Growing and focusing my business. And getting my name out there. I feel very proud and grateful that I was able to achieve so many of the goals I set out for myself in my first full time year of business. One thing I know for sure: I could not have done this without the support my my husband, family and amazing crafty friends, mainly from BEST. I really am a lucky girl.

In a Nutshell...

In Chicago at the Renegade Craft Holiday Show - check out the travel display!

Well, as I suspected, it's been a wild month. Completely manageable, but wild nonetheless. One month = 5 shows, etsy, wholesale for a total of about 200 pieces of jewelry sold. That's a lot of metal work! Yesterday was the first day I didn't have any sales in my Etsy shop, so I can really say for the first time that it's time to kick my feet up. And when I say kick my feet up, I mean organize and do year end calculations like mad!

Other exciting news, I've been accepted into the AltCraft section at ACC. This is such a major milestone for me. For the last two years that I've lived in Baltimore, I've always gone to the ACC show and just gazed in wonder. And then went to the AltCraft section and gazed some more and thought, I belong here. And this year I will be there!! I have exciting plans for a new line incorporating some of my ceramics into my metalwork. I've been wanting to do this forever and think this is the perfect venue to debut these pieces.

Ms. Ladybug - our only picture, since she's afraid of cameras

And lastly, we have a new addition to our family! Ms. Ladybug, a gorgeous and funny and sweet Basset House & Beagle mix we adopted from the SPCA. There's never a dull moment with this Lady, but she gives us so much love - we are all crazy about her, even Louie.

Here we go!

Well, it's hard to believe, but this weekend is my first show of the season. That's right, in just three days. The show is called Holiday Heist and it's in Vienna, Va. at the Soundry. It's my first year doing this show and I have to admit I'm a bit skeptical. It seems like there are A LOT of jewelry artists and at least 4 metalsmiths that I know of, and that's out of 30 some vendors. Hmmmm. Anyway, if you are going to be there be sure to check your goodie bag. There's a 10% off coupon to spend on your purchase at my table.

Also, remember that picture of the empty cardboard box (pictured below). Well, it's filling up with finished jewelry! I'll be sure to post a picture of it soon. You'll be amazed at all the goodies I've produced. I will do my best to keep you all posted during this super busy holiday season. And did I mention that I'm offering free shipping until the end of the year on all purchases from my Etsy shop? Just a little something to make your holiday shopping easier.

Production Time

Yes, I've known for quite some time that the holiday season was coming. A time when I need to have lots and lots of jewelry ready to be snatched up on Etsy and at the craft shows that I'll be doing. But then the acceptance notices starting rolling in and now I have 5 shows, one of which is a two day show and Craftland, which is this amazing month long show in Providence, RI. So, I sat down and started to do some figuring and came up with this awesome chart:

Basically, this chart says that I need to make over 200 pieces of jewelry. In the next 5 weeks. Luckily, I've gotten a good head start on that goal, so I think I'll be okay. I'll likely be working some late nights and weekends, but it'll totally be worth it to do these amazing shows. Seriously, check out this line up:

Saturday, November 21st: Holiday Heist in Vienna, VA

Saturday, December 5th: Holiday Heap, Baltimore

Saturday, December 5th & 6th: Renegade Chicago

Saturday, December 12th: Squidfire, Baltimore (sharing a space with Sugar Paperie)

Sunday, December 13th: Last Minute Maul at School 33

Here is my new inventory box, just waiting to be filled (don't worry, I have a whole other box of inventory already made). I'll keep you all posted on my progress. Beer and coffee will help get me through (and lots of face licks from Louie, my faithful studio companion).

Surprise! Crafty Bastards

my display

Well, remember when I wrote about doing the Fenton Street Market last week? Well, instead of doing Fenton on Saturday, I got the opportunity to be a Crafty Bastard instead! I had been on the waiting list, but it's such a great show that they weren't able to make room for me (because every single person that was invited said yes). That is, until someone cancelled the day before the show. Fortunately, I happened to have lots of stock on hand, so I was able to say yes to this last minute opportunity. And I'm so glad I did! The shoppers were wonderful, I received many, many lovely words of praise about my work and people were gobbling it up. The whole day was like a craft show dream come true, including the weather. Not only that, I but I shared a booth with Monica Stroter of Sugar Paperie. She is so sweet and her note cards are so lovely. She was a source of calm, which was nice on such a hectic day.


So, thanks to Sara and Kim of Crafty Bastards/Hello Craft fame. You guys run a pretty fantastic show and were so great to work with. I am really so thankful to have been given this amazing opportunity!

Fenton Street Market - This Saturday!!

Now that I've recovered from pneumonia (yes, you heard that correctly) and my vacation, I'm back in the studio and have all manner of shows and other opportunities lined up. This Saturday, I'll be selling my goods at the Fenton Street Market in Silver Spring, Maryland. This is a new street market which premiered last month. Word on the street is that it was a hit! You can find me sharing a booth with my super talented and sweet friend Jen of Yummy and Company. She makes really cute flower and botanical accessories made from polymer clay.

If you're in the area, please swing by. Did I mention that they also have hot mini-donuts? Mmm.

Saturday, October 3, 2009
9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
rain or shine
Corner of Fenton Street and Silver Spring Avenue
*Free parking in public lots across Fenton Street*

Our opening market will feature more than 60 vendors with an exciting array of fine, unusual, imported, and handmade goods...plus live music and hot mini donuts