Sharma Designs - Behind the Scenes of a Handmade Jewelry Business

New Colors in the Flower Wood Twiggy Earrings

I love the flower wood twiggy earrings so much that I had to add a few more colored flowers.  So last week or so I added red flower twiggies and today I am uploading 3 more colors.  My favorite new color just might be the orange.  I can't wear orange at all but I do love it!

I combined the flowers with the twigs I thought best complimented them but if there is a certain style that you want but don't see offered just ask!  I'd be happy to make them for you.

 

I picked July's newsletter winner today.  When I hear back from her I will announce what she selected.  Everyone who signs up for the newsletter is eligible to win!

Hope you are having a great Wednesday!

A New Store!

I have been eyeing Artfire for awhile as a selling venue and yesterday I took the plunge and opened up a shop there.  One advantage that I like about Artfire is that you don't have to sign up to buy there.  That's great news for my customers because most of my customers sign up for Etsy just to buy my jewelry.  Now you don't have to!

I haven't completely loaded my store over there.  Right now it is earrings and a few necklaces that aren't one of a kind.  I think in order to keep things easy I will keep the one of a kind things on Etsy.  I don't want to sell two one of a kinds at the same time!  You will notice that you can order multiples of most earrings on Artfire too.  Another perk!

The picture above is my new "Design your Own" twiggy earrings.  Now you can customize your wood twiggy earrings to your liking!  Choose you twig size and bead color and style.  

Viva La Moda

As much as I love flipping through magazines I love the online versions too!  It makes me very happy to be able to click through to the items featured.

 Viva La Moda is an online magazine that features all handmade and vintage items.  Ainhoa, the editor, does a really great job.  The magazine is really well done.

 Because I love to support other indie business I volunteered to do a "Shop ad Tell" which is a section where you show yourself wearing an item you have bought on Etsy and then give a review.  Flip through and see if you can find it!

The Bead Nook

I just added a set of pictures of my bead nook to Flickr if anyone is interested in taking a peek.  I know I always love to see where people create.  Keep in mind that this location is temporary for us so I have not added any of my personal touches to the area.  That would just be one more thing I have to pack eventually. 

The storage containers are from the container store and can be found here.  They hold a lot of beads in each drawer as you can see in the detail.  You can also attach them to a wall if need be.  They are pretty lightweight so I wouldn't recommend that you keep them within reach of children because as I found out the hard way......they rain beads when tipped (thank goodness it was just the small one)  Oh also, make sure you buy extra dividers.  They give you some on the back of the unit but not enough to do each drawer (annoyance).

Enjoy looking!

Catching Up

I know the silence has been deafening the last few weeks.  I was busy packing up my family to move across town.  Phew!  Glad that is over with and I hope we don't have to move again anytime soon (even though we do. ugh)! 

One positive thing that came out of packing up my bead room (which could seriously double as a retail bead store) is that I had to come up with a temporary storage solution/smaller setup. If you remember, my old setup (this picture cracks me up because what started as a small section of the room being my bead room ended up being me taking over!) consisted of storage units that were bolted to the wall.  Our new digs are temporary so I didn't want anything that was permanent.  I found a great solution and as soon as I recharge my camera batteries I will snap some shots for the blog.

I've had some great press recently.  The Etsy blog, The Storque did a post on scallops and scales and featured my vintage lucite scalloped hoops. That was a fun surprise!

26 Olive Street featured me as their Etsy crush of the week.  They have a very charming store on Etsy that sells vintage housewares.  I took photography for 3 years in high school so I especially love this GraLab timer.  It takes me back!  Love their pictures too!

Lastly, Try Handmade has a Shop Local feature and today's location was San Jose.  My shop got a feature along with a shop of a girl I used to babysit (many years ago) Poppy Joy (that doesn't make me feel old or anything!)  Try Handmade has some very cool handmade finds so check out their blog!

Because of the craziness I haven't had time to send out this month's newsletter with a contest winner so I am going to skip this month but next month I will be back on track.

Have a great week!

April Contest Winner's Pick

I try to remember to post winner's picks from my free newsletter contest each month.  This month Leigh R won and she picked this great sand and sea palmwood necklace. 

How can you win?  Just sign up for my newsletter on the left side of the blog and you will automatically be entered to win each month.  Easy!

Petite Wood Twiggy Earrings

I've added the new edition to the twiggy earrings in my shop.  These are the little sister to the twiggies....the petite twiggy earrings.  They only have a small twig instead of two longer ones and the twig is shorter.  Here is a picture to compare the size:

They are a great little earring that are more suited for people more comfortable in a smaller earring.  Lots of colors available!

Later today I hope to have a pretty new twiggy earring up too!  It's a romantic or whimsical twiggy.  Check my shop later today to see!

New Markdowns!

(On sale for $23!)

It's time!  I have once again added a sale section to my Etsy store with lots of new markdowns.  Necklaces are $25 and below and earrings are as low as $7!  Jump on over to my Etsy store now for the best selection!

New Lucite Earrings

You may have noticed that there was a week or so where not a whole lot was going on in my Etsy shop.  The whole family got that nasty virus that's going around and of course I got hit the hardest.  I am usually a take 3 advil (yes 3.  much more effective than 2) and keep moving kind of gal but this thing knocked me on my butt for a week!  Not fun.

Now I am healthy-ish and starting a new workout program.  My husband and I are starting the P90x workout.  I have heard really great things and the results seem to be genuine so I am super excited.  They are hard but not so hard I am going to quit.  Unfortunately an hour + (isn't that evil?) of working out at night cuts in to my jewelry making time.  Last night I was trying to wire wrap after a killer biceps workout and my arms and fingers were almost too weak to work!  I'm determined to make it work though!

I have been uploading lots of new pretty vintage lucite earrings over the past few days.  I am a big fan of lucite.  The earrings are ornate yet very lightweight which is fabulous.

These are my favorite new style.  I love the detail and of course, the size.  I am a fan of big.  They are definitely attention grabers!  Perfect for those of you who are like me and tend to wear simple tops.  They can steal the show.  They also come in a tangerine color.

I got two new colors in the floral filigrees.  The plum color pictured above and a baby pink color.  Super fun and super light!

Lastly, for those of you who prefer smaller earrings we have this black filigree doily earrings.  Very sweet and again...very lightweight.

I have been working on some new necklaces the last few (late) nights and will hopefully start posting those tomorrow.  Have a great Thursday!

Twiggy Earrings

I got these great new wood paddles and quickly decided they needed to be earrings.  Wood is great because it is so light.  That's definitely a plus when making earrings because no one likes saggy lobes right?  I'm pretty sure those went out with the 80's.

I have a few pairs listed on the site right now and will list more over the next few days.  Special color combination requests are welcome.  I tend to make up my favorites first but can certainly accommodate yours too.

My personal favorites are of course the super sticky ones.  Aren't they funky?  Perfect for all my black shirts.

I also made these really simple delicate curved wood dangles.  My hair was up when I was working and I quickly made myself a pair too.  They look fabulous with your hair up.  Just something simple to frame your face.  They are like air too!  These are a must have.

Enjoy the new earrings!