Don't forget Mom on May 11th! She's one of a kind (I know my mom is!) and her jewelry should be too.
Don't fret if you're scrambling. I can ship straight to mom. I can even include a personalized card. Just let me know in notes to seller.
Don't wait any longer! Get mom a great gift that shows her how much you appreciate her!
I am curious what your thoughts are on wearing both a necklace and earrings. I tend to wear one or the other but I know a lot of my customers like to have matching earrings with their necklace. I also know people that wear big earrings with big necklaces. I think if I was going to wear the earrings above I would go no necklace and maybe a bracelet?
Those "in the know" ask for matching earrings with their necklace purchases. I used to offer it with all orders but then decided to let people request it. I didn't want to spend time making earrings that weren't wanted. The matching earrings are just 1 or 2 little beads.
So, what would you wear? The earrings above with the bracelet, the necklace, or alone?
Why am I asking? Well, if I see a lot of people saying they like the big earrings with the necklaces maybe I will make more good sized matching earrings! Ask and you shall receive!
Sometimes I get the bug to shake things up a bit on the blog. I made a few minor changes this weekend. You'll notice that the "What Jewelry Flatters" posts have a pretty new picture. And if you click the link it has all the tips on one page. Oh how I love typepad and their endless pages!
Also in Sharma Designs blog news: I am in a book about blogging!
It's just a short interview about my business blog and how it has affected my business but it's pretty cool! The book, Clear Blogging by Bob Walsh, looks very informative too. I plan on reading it in my very few spare minutes over the next few days. I'll let you guys know what informative tips I pick up from it!
I added a few new pieces over the weekend:
Branch Wood Pendant Handmade Necklace
This pendant is so beautiful! I couldn't resist getting another one. I love the color combination too!
Jasper Teardrop Handmade Necklace
This pendant is a jasper and it is just gorgeous! Look at all those colors in there! I have one more of these pendants and I am hoarding it!
Bold Retro Flower Wood Pendant Handmade Necklace
The lady I bought this pendant from renamed this pendant to "Sharla" after I told her it was SO me! It is big and it looks retro. I just love it. I just had to pair it with some big bold beads. Not for the dainty diva (an old Sharma Designs category for small necklaces) lover!
Get ready to get compliments if you have this necklace on!
Aqua Fire Agate Teardrop Handmade Necklace
I guess I was in a big bold necklace mood this weekend because this necklace is also pretty bold. It is softened by the beautiful dreamy green color in the pendant. It's such a pretty pendant.
White Mosaic Shell Handmade Necklace
The pictures just don't do this necklace justice. It is a show stopper. The shell is super shiny and you can see pinks and greens swirling in the shell. It's perfect for summer.
I made a few pairs of earrings that I will list today I have tons of beads and components on their way to me so be on the lookout for some beautiful new creations this week!
Happy Monday!
Well I did it again. I ran out of wire! So frustrating. I get really into making things and before I know it, I'm out!
So I decided yesterday to make a bunch of bracelets and earrings in the meantime. I am posting them all today in my etsy store. Necklaces are obviously my first love so the earrings and bracelets tend to get ignored. It was fun to just focus on the small pieces.
I'm trying to get together a post about jewelry holders. I know lots of you need solutions to storing/displaying your jewelry. I am always bookmarking these types of things so I want to share them with you! Be on the lookout for the post.
Lastly, if you like tulips check out my tulip treasury! I LOVE tulips and this is my favorite flower season because they are everywhere! Enjoy!
A few years ago I had this really pretty pink and green necklace on display at a show. A girl was going on about how beautiful it was and said "I never would have thought to put those colors together. How did you come up with that?"
Well..flowers of course! The answer seemed obvious to me!
Nature has some amazing color combinations. When you feel uninspired take a walk and really look around!
What inspired me about this scene was the delicateness of the flower contrasted by the spikiness of the leaves.
Look at that red! It's such a gorgeous shade! I wish I had beads in that color.
There are cherry blossoms blooming all over the place around here so that will be my next color combination.
So take a walk and get inspired. Multitasking!
Etsy is a hard place to sell jewelry! I am so spoiled because I had a huge following when I had my main website and newsletter subscribers. While that was too overwhelming for me at this stage of life I enjoyed the volume of jewelry that was being made and sold. I think I hear crickets in my Etsy shop! Ha ha My sister in law told me that 2200 start an Etsy shop each month. Is that true? That's AMAZING! No wonder it's so hard to get going over there! Correction: It's 2200 buyers/sellers a day!
Do you guys think Etsy is intimidating? I was in a bead store the other day and I heard a lady tell the owner that she had nightmares after looking through Etsy. Seriously? Fantastic dreams of beautiful lovlies for me but no nightmares! What do you think? Is Etsy intimidating? Does it seem like a pain to sign up to buy things?
I know that it just takes time to sell but in the meantime I have added lots of yummy photos to Flickr. You can see my cool badge to the right. Think of it as eye candy. Find something you like and then you can head over to Etsy and buy it. Woohoo!
My contest is going VERY well. A ton of sign ups and millions of compliments so I know that people still enjoy my jewelry. That makes me happy. I still love to make it.
I added two new things today so feel free to check them out. I'd love to hear any feedback you may have about Etsy in general, tips for selling on Etsy or comments about the jewelry!
I hate it when I don't stay on top of ordering supplies! I ran out of some important vital supplies yesterday and now instead of making use of the fact that my sister is in town to help me with the girls (that's not why she is here..it's just a perk) I have to twiddle my thumbs.
I guess we will just have to go shopping instead. Maybe it's not so sad.
I did upload a few new necklaces/earrings last night including the necklace above which I really love. I have always adored those beads. They are so dainty and pretty. The perfect necklace for a black shirt or dress. Also great for those of us who don't look good in a red shirt but love the color.
Here are the earrings that you can buy to go with them. So small and so cute. I just love this set.
So I have a confession to make..... I am enjoying a few weeks off from Sharma Designs. Christmas was so crazy this year and then right when it settled down I had to finish my Christmas shopping and then we had relatives in town and then we flew to Washington over New Years weekend. Phew!
I decided to take a few weeks and just relax. My house is clean (finally), my suitcases unpacked and my daughter's birthday is planned. I feel very accomplished.
And just to add another fun element to the mix I am a few weeks pregnant and in the very very tired stage. I absolutely cannot keep my eyes open past 10:00pm. This has been really hard for me as I get most of my work done at night. This last week I started getting my "morning" sickness at night too. So by the time I settle Bells down for the night I am just exhausted and I just want to lay on the couch and watch tv.
So be patient with me. I have a few things that are not up on the website yet and I will try to post them soon. I at least wanted to check in and let you guys know what was going on.
Happy New year!
So these are kinda cute right? I am making badge holders for one of my shows this week and I am really happy with the way they are turning out. The ones I have seen are really ugly and quite honestly very cheap looking. I tried to make mine a little funky and fun and something that you wouldn't mind looking at everyday.
I have a confession to make...I have made a lot of jewelry for my shows that may never reach the website. Why? Because I am just one woman and I just don't have the time between filling orders, making finishing touches on my displays, making extras of all the earrings, making Christmas presents, and ..oh joy..potty training my baby girl. So if they are still around after the Holiday shows then things might be slow enough for me to post them then (Or if your name startswith J or D you may see them in person before then. You lucky girls).
The necklace above is one of my favorite new pieces. I think it's a necklace I could wear everyday.
Okay..back to business...
I get asked that alot. Why did you name your company Sharma Designs when your name is Sharla? Well I was pretty green when I named my company. I wanted a name that wasn't my own name. At the time I started Sharma some people called me Sharma and I thought it would be a fun name because it sounded like my name and charms together. I also didn't want my own name all over the internet (Too bad)
So I went with Sharma. And I have been confusing people ever since. I had a jewelry party Friday night and that was the number one question! I'm used to it though. I just laugh.
If I did it again (I can't imagine changing it now. Imperfect or not it is sooo me!), I would choose a name that started closer to the beginning of the alphabet for one. I'm always near the last page! I might also make it sound more like a jewelry shop. I left it Designs because I wanted to be able to sell other things one day. Well I like jewelry the best and I can't see myself making anything else now (I use to sell scarves on my site too).
So there you go. The story behind Sharma vs Sharla. Hopefully that makes it a little less confusing!
