More to celebrate!

A few weeks ago, I first noticed this wonderful lady who breezed through my etsy shop. She bought many items, came back and bought more, paying immediately every time. What moved me so is that she not only appreciated my crafting skills, she genuinely cared about my safety when I couldn't make it to the post office because of torrential rain. She communicated truthfully and left wonderful feedbacks for me.

Started as a hobbyist, I didn't expect much of etsy at first. In the process, I learned to take good pictures and write attractive descriptions, I learned to promote myself in many different ways. Everything is more than expectations now, having customers wearing my sea glass jewelry in UK, Canada and USA. But all these happened at the buyer-seller level.

Contact with this lovely lady brought us to the personal level: how one person genuinely care about another. This is the single most rewarding experience for me. I am always wholeheartedly thankful to her!

Celebration!

I've just realized that it's exactly 5 months since I started on etsy. I looked back and felt the bittersweet of it all: how I've waited and waited for my first sale, wondering about my prices and worry if I should trade pride for business... Then I started to join the forum everyday and make new friends, gained confidence through their encouragement and complements, and found a niche for myself. What started as a hobby begin to have an audience, and buyers too! What thrills me most is, there are actually people from different parts of the world wearing my sea glass jewelry!

This is my latest creation: 'sea monsters teeth' necklace, just sold today as my 2oth sale. I've got to celebrate!

My favorite beach

I'm just back from beach combing in my favorite beach on an island called Cheung Chau, The name translates as 'long island', but is actually dumbell shaped with a narrow sandy bar joining two islands.

I have spent many afternoons here, at high tide and low tide, sunny or rainy days. Today, I've found rare turquoise, lavender and yellow pieces, a white piece shaped like a boomerang, amongst many other perfectly frosted colorful pieces. The variety of colors and shaped never ceased to amaze and surprise me!

Do stop by this wonderful island when you visit Hong Kong!

Black & White

A couple of days ago when I beachcombed in a new place, I noticed some flat beach stones, and tiny black pebbles. Then I found some white sea glass that never used to catch my eyes. Suddenly, something clicked and I was inspired to make a totally new series of black & white sea glass - beach pebble jewelry.

B&W is so versatile, goes well with almost every outfit. Infinite combinations are possible: bold shapes, delicate patterns, throw in some pearls and semiprecious stones too...

So far, I have made a pair of rings that shaped like eyes, a pair of amazingly well-matched earrings and a pair of black & white bracelets. Satisfied with my new creations, I still have a lot of ideas waiting to be put into reality. All I need is more time. And more sunny weather to take good pictures! Watch out for me on etsy!

Waiting for a sale *sign*

I haven' t got any sale in a week and I'm kinda put off. However I found encouraging comments by joining in the forum.
These are the questions I kept asking myself: Are my items too expensive? Or maybe not everyone believe that I use genuine sea glass? Maybe there are just too many sea glass jewelry to choose from? Than I just remind myself why I join etsy in the first place: to join in a community of artists and to display my creations. Making a sale matters more symbolically than financially. It is a symbol of acceptance which encourages my continual indulgence in artistic creations.
With these resolutions, off I go to work on my new designs...

New sea glass bracelets

I have just listed four new sea glass bracelets on etsy, my newest 'seasons' series.

Each bracelet is made with sea glass in color tones matching the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. Each one is a labour of love, but worth every minute of my work.

First I have to sort through my sea glass collection, looking for the right colors, size and shapes. Then I drilled a hole in each of them. I think about the design everyday and even dream about them, wondering what chain, crystals and semiprecious stones go best with them.
Then I have to visit the shops and buy the supplies. Then I sit down and get started.

It took me about 2 hours to finish each bracelet, but the time spend for the work behind is much much more.

This is my favorite, what's yours?
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10756916