Workspace Woe

Here I am!! I wrote this post on friday, right before my laptop died... It's spent the weekend at the shop being fixed, and even they don't know what was wrong with it. Onwards!!



I've had today off ahead of a full weekend at work. Hooray for days off!
It has been utilised well, with a car service and a lot of housework. Woo.
However I did manage to sit down and make some earrings with the new bits I have just received. Couldn't resist making a pair with emerald swarovski crystals for myself. I am a big lover of emerald green, coupled with a leafy charm and you have my dream earrings! (I have a fairly large leaf bead collection these days, love 'em)

Anyway, I promised woe and here it is...



I could at least buy a new earring stand, right?

With all of the new findings and bits I have had arrive in the past month, I'm realising exactly how inadequate my workspace is. I have taken over the dining room table in our little kitchen currently, and whilst it is doing the job it's not ideal. We live in quite a small 2 bedroom unit, and whilst I could probably get a desk and take over a corner in our spare room, I like to be out in the main part of the house where I can chat to Mr and be near a heater! So until it drives me crazy, this is where I will stay.

I'm going to start having a think about how to make the most of this space, and I might do a bit of a before and after feature if I succeed. At the moment it's a little too embarrassing to photograph in full!!



This is mini Jim. My husband gave him to me to look after when we first met and I never gave him back. He now watches over my workspace. By "watches over" I mean he takes up room. But hey, he's cute!

Lessons in stock and materials

Well I've been quite slack in updating this month as my day job has become incredibly hectic. After a relaxing weekend with Mr I'm back on board. We spent quite a bit of time here this weekend - beautiful!



Back to business..
My current lesson in the education that is handmade selling, seems to be around stock timeliness. I found out 2 weeks ago that my earrings have been selling well over at View Point in Bendigo, and that I needed to get some more stock there as they only had a few pairs left. I thought no worries, I'll get a few pairs made and sent over. Plenty of time, right?

Well work got busy, school got busy, time got away from me and before I knew it I was at the day I had intended to post some stock over but I didn't have the stock made! Luckily they didn't run out but I felt quite unprofessional in taking that much longer to get the stuff over there.

I'm trying now to have some pieces already made and sat aside for if/when they are needed. They can always go to a market on on madeit if they aren't needed in store.
I think this is another confidence thing - where if I gain more confidence in the products I create, I won't hesitate to have some extra stock on hand as I believe it will sell!



The other part of this is materials. I order a lot of my findings etc online and it often comes to me from other countries where it can take at least a month to get to me. I need to start factoring this in especially for November where I have 2 markets booked in. It's a lot to think about but that's the fun of it!!

That's enough thinking for one night, I'm off to make some stock!

Giveaway winners and market displays

Well we've just watched Toy Story 3 together after a long day at school. What a gorgeous movie, I think it's my favourite of the three!
Once the movie had finished I asked Mr to draw two winners out of a hat (okay there was no hat but you know what I mean) - and the winners are:
Tina and Chris
Please email me at mrsmonkei@gmail.com and let me know which colour you would like, and where to send it.
I hope you both like your baby bookmarks!

In other news, I have a good friend who has been helping me to get ready to head to market. She is also going to help me man the stall when the time comes. She's a creative type herself, and when I told her I'd like the stall to look a bit like a tree, she certainly hasn't disappointed me!



On the left is a cd rack that she found at an op shop. She has wrapped the metal parts with brown tulle and found some awesome leaves on wire which we wrapped around the entire thing, with a little help from a glass or two of wine on a saturday night. It is going to make an awesome bookmark/keychain display.

The circlular thingo on the right is an embroidery hoop with brown tulle in the middle and leaves around the outside - an earring display that will still be effective when the earrings are already on cards.
I would never have thought of this stuff myself, how clever is she!