Sharma Designs - Behind the Scenes of a Handmade Jewelry Business

It's Official...

I have a preschooler.  Wow does the time fly!  I swear she was just born.

In rare moments this week when I wasn't staring at her wondering when she got so big I have managed to make new jewelry and fill lots of orders.  While you can see lots of the new jewelry to the left in my etsy mini (If you are not reading in a feeder) I feel compelled to comment on a few.

I actually bought this pendant for myself but I have no time to make myself jewelry.  What was I thinking?  I LOVE that flower.

More mod wood pendants.  Love them!  It seems everyone does.  A little Sharma Designs trivia for ya.  See those blue beads in the second picture?  Those are almost exactly like the beads I had in my very first necklaces that caused a ruckus in an office in SoCal and got me lots of orders and a taste of selling my jewelry!

Now I'm just going to casually post two front page treasuries I've been on lately...we won't talk about it but you can look if you want ;)

An Update of Sorts

I have a few updates and just decided to group them all in one update to make things quicker.  This week is our last week of summer before preschool starts and things get a little crazier so time is of the essence.

1. Babies and Computers don't mix!

This week my computer started blue screening.  It seemed to happen out of nowhere.  I had not installed any new programs or updates.  My computer is 2 months old so as you can imagine I was not happy and very stressed out. Two calls to the tech line and hours of crazy kids-gone-wild-while-mom-is-busy-on-the-phone later we discovered the problem was a loose memory card. 

Not a memory card like in your camera but the memory stored away in your computer (Sorry I am not tech savvy here).  Just as we figured it out and fixed it I remembered a vision of my sweet little one year old gleefully giving the computer a bang of her chubby little paw before I got to her.  Then the computer blue screened for the first time. 

So lock those computers (mines a laptop) away from those dangerous kids! Ha ha.  Ferocious baby girl is not getting anywhere near mine anymore!

2. More mod wood jewelry!

I just love these beads and pendants.  They are in high demand so I feel lucky whenever I score a new batch.  I have lots of new styles and shapes so be on the lookout for some great new designs!

According to the manufacturer the wood is from recycled furniture.  It gives these pendants a great aged look!  Fabulous texture!

3. Blue Agate

I am in love with my new blue agate pendants. They have an amazing dreamy blue color and are beautifully polished and shiny.  They seem to have an endless amount of colored bands.  I have a few of these babies in a few different styles.  Each one very unique!

The above necklace is made just  not listed yet.

I was very busy making  jewelry this weekend so check the shop often this week for lots of great new designs!

Have a great week!

A Little Etsy tip for you

So do you want to know when Sharma Designs has added new jewelry without going directly to the Etsy page everyday?  Sign up for the RSS feed!

See that orange button on the bottom right?  Just click on it and copy the web address in the navigation bar.  Then simply paste it into bloglines or my yahoo or your favorite feed reader where you add new feeds.

Then when I add new products you will see the new titles and you can click through if they interest you.  The only downside is that there are no pictures (hopefully Etsy is working on that!).  So you'll have to rely on my amazing descriptions to peak your curiosity. 

If you use firefox you will also see this in your nav bar:

That's another way to subscribe.

See how easy it is?  Now you can be the first to know when goodies hit the shop!

If you are having trouble please feel free to contact me for help!

More Markdowns!

I have just marked down a ton of jewelry!  Earrings are just $9 and necklaces are $25.  Shop now for the best selection!

Shop the Markdowns!

Olympics While I Work

I had more new necklaces but they sold right after I listed them.  Not complaining!  That's a good problem to have in my book.

I am really enjoying the Olympics this summer.  I get all my projects ready ahead of time and then right when the girls go to bed I set up in front of the tv and bead and watch.

It just boggles my mind.  Take synchronized diving for instance.  I could barely jump off a platform and make it look pretty much less twist and flip ....all the while keeping everything straight and pointed.  And oh ya... at the exact time as someone else!

And Dara Torres!  What an inspiration to moms everywhere.  I watched a special on her with jaw dropped.  I want to look like that!

If you haven't tuned into the Olympics at all you should.  Just watch for a few minutes and you will get sucked in I swear!


On another note,  I got a ton of new wood filigree earrings in stock.  I have over 20 styles right now!  No excuses not to own a pair of these fabulous earrings.

Sassy green apple fans

Back in stock - Sky blue scrolls

Back in Stock - Chocolate brown fans

Back in Stock - Black scrolls

Hot pink scrolls - these babies are bright and fabulous

Scarlet red scrolls - These are my favorite.  They are the PERFECT shade of red

Back in stock - Canary yellow scrolls

Back in stock - Natural wood teardrops

So there you go!  Something for everyone!

AGAIN!

This front page must have happened when I was sleeping last night but I woke up to lots more hearts and went to figure out why.  The treasury I was in was on the front page.  That's 2 in one week!

Now, there are people who make the front page all the time.  I'm sure they don't blog about it every second and I promise not to make an annoying habit of it but it is still new and exciting to me so I just had to share again.  Woohoo!

Front Page of Etsy!

This is what I woke up to this morning. My earrings (top right) on the front page of Etsy. This is a big deal to most of us in Etsyland. I have never been on the front page before so I was extra excited. I think I may have screamed. It's great exposure for your shop.

The thing is that getting on the front page is pretty much random luck. Someone has to feature one of your items in a treasury and then out of 500 or so treasuries that treasury has to be chosen by admin for the front page.

Here is a shot of the whole treasury:

I hope your day is full of wonderful surprises too!

The Bloggy Carnival Winners!

Yep!  I said winners.  There were so many entries I decided to pick two winners.  I honestly wanted to pick more but I can only afford to give away so many things!  So..

Everyone gets a discount!  Get 15% off! 

If you didn't win but have your heart set on something then please type "Bloggy Carnival" in the comments at checkout and wait for a revised invoice.  I will adjust the total and send you an invoice for the correct amount.  Good until August 6th. Discount does not apply to shipping charges.

Now, the winner of the free pairs of earrings!

Winner 1: Loki

She said: "I like the Teal Teardrop Shell Earrings!"

Winner 2:  Lissete

She said: "They're all lovely! I would choose the Ornate Carved Brown Shell though.
Thanks for the giveaway!"

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest!  I had a great time reading all the comments!

New Business Cards!

 

I am in LOVE!  Look at these AMAZING business cards I had printed at Moo.  I just ran out of business cards and was trying to decide what to do with the new cards.  My old cards had my Sharma Girl logo which I adore but I don't have her on my Etsy store so I felt like people might be confused.

These are just perfect.  The pictures don't do them justice.  They GLOW.  I uploaded a few pictures for designs so I would have a variety of cards.  The backs have my name and all my contact info.

My only warning is to be careful of yellows.  My yellow earrings look fluorescent.  I was so excited I probably forgot to check what color mode I was in.  They are still cool just a little bright on paper.

I didn't take a picture of the packaging but it's very cute.  The people at MOO definitely have a sense of humor.

I really couldn't be happier.  I can't wait to give these out!  If you are one of the people that have a stash of my cards to give out let me know if you want some of these pretties.  I'll gladly send you some!

Sharma Designs on Facebook

I'm a little late to the game but I just created a page for Sharma Designs on Facebook.  I'd love for you to become a fan!

From the page you can see new jewelry, get blog updates and see what other people have to say about Sharma Designs.  All in one place!

I just started really using Facebook myself.  I have had a profile for myself for a long time but never really got it.  Which is funny because I am pretty competent with computer related things.  I didn't understand why people were poking me or trying to make me get a super wall or sending me gifts.  I still don't really understand that part but I do like catching up with old friends and seeing their lives in pictures.  Just what I need...another time sucker!