June 2015 Update

Its been awhile since I posted a weekly or monthly update. Lots of new exciting projects going on in the studio as well as life events!

This year has gone by so fast, as we approach almost the halfway mark in the year I tend to reevaluate goals, products, and many other business ventures. Sometimes we set out to do so much and before you know it the holidays are here, leaving little room to implement new ideas for that calendar year.

During the winter months this year (which felt like forever) I went to a lot of hockey games with my boyfriend. I really really enjoy the high energy anxiety ridden feeling of a live game. Seems to be if you are living in New York you are either a die hard Islander fan (me) or a Ranger fan.

 My thirty seconds of fame lol! Caught myself on the T.V. ok we really taped the game we went to and rewatched lol!

I had oodles of scrap sterling silver that needed to be recycled. I have been accumulating this since I first started metalsmithing. I acquire metal a lot quicker now so I figured there is no time like the present. I cashed in over 25 ounces, it was kind of cool seeing certain pieces that I had scrapped from the beginning of my metalsmithing journey.

As the warmer weather approached I started frequenting the beach. This is one thing I really miss in the winter. Sure its there to look at but its just not practical to sit and really enjoy. I bought a bike and have been enjoying strolling around with my love on nice days.

Letting my feet hang, this is a beautiful look out point at the park. Lots of Bike trails, and nature nooks.

With all the warm weather we need to make some ice pops. I tried a recipe on pinterest, click here for the link.  They were pineapple jalapeño ice pops. Interesting is all I will say. I would recommend finely chopping or blending together with the fresh pineapple or pineapple juice.

This guy makes everyday great, Cooper is a boxer: 80lbs of love. He loves car rides, puppies, hiking, swimming, and the dog park.

My best friends recently moved in together, they have a nice view of Manhattan. 

My wonderful best friends who make my life lovely. 

Sunny Selfie!

I love me some beets, I roast them little salt and pepper and that is my afternoon snack.  I roast my beets like so click here for more info.

I had a meeting this day with a local shop owner of Lotus Vintage to drop off some new MeShe pieces for her store. She is a fellow Etsy seller, and has a brick and mortar shop. Click here for her Etsy store. She has pristine vintage clothes, shoes and accessories, she is a power seller and ships really quick. 

These were some of the pieces I dropped at Lotus Vintage, this was mid polishing. Hence the polishing compound all over my hands.

After my meeting Cooper enjoyed a nice day at the park!

Took the kayaks out for the first time of the season. I really missed being out on the water. Such a relaxing activity, we paddled hard that day to the beach and back.

Off to a friends wedding, the three amigos!

Have you guessed it by now Im in the love with this mush!

Right before our hike! This pup can go go go, he goes miles with us as we hike.

For Memorial Day we spent the day at Fire Island Cherry Grove. Such a great time with friends and my love. One more thing about NY, I love is the acceptance.

A cheers for my Dads birthday!

This weekend me and a bunch of girls spent it out in East Hampton for her bachlorette party. It was such a nice place to stay and lots of laughs. We couldn't have had better weather!

All the girls and the bride for her wedding day the following weekend! It was such a beautiful easy breezy wedding. No stress just love, dancing, drinks, and fun!

The gorgeous bride!

And the following weekend another Bridal Shower, both my best friend and I are in the wedding party. Her sister and practically mine as well is getting married this September! 

Ok so now that I updated you with massive amounts of personal events and doggie pictures. What is to come with MeShe Designs.

Im going to be adding new various gemstone rings for made to order sizing, along with other one of a kind stones. I really like the sideways oval rings, they are comfortable, everyday, and classic. Shown above is a peach tourmaline in a size 7.75.

I am going to be adding more cuffs in the near future but specifically these open ended cuff bangles with various gemstones such as amethyst, moonstone, garnet and more. If there is a stone you would like to see please let me know!

New smokey quartz ring made to order in your size! 

Along with all of these projects and many many more in brain :)  I will be offering more wholesale to various boutiques and galleries around the country. I have been working really hard on pricing, and product strategies. I am currently amping up my line sheet for retail buyers to be able to easily place orders for MeShe Designs products to be carried at there stores.  This week I got accepted into the Etsy Wholesale program. I am really excited as this is a great door that will hopefully open additional business for MeShe!

I hope everyone is well and thanks so much for all your love and support.  I will try and make another blog post soon :)

Michelle xx

Soliloquy Jewelry: Unboxing Daughter Of The Moon Ring

Another package has arrived at MeShe! This time it is from my friend Kerin from SoliloquyJewelry.  She recently added vintage rings into her shop. I went ahead and purchased one of her vintage eagle rings, a few days later she had posted a work in progress on Facebook.  I jumped as soon as I saw the ring. I'm a huge fan of anything celestial, so I added that to my order.   She custom fit the band to my size and shipped it off to me!

The box arrived beautifully packaged with lots of sage green crinkle paper, a hand stamped kraft box, and pouch full of goodies. Kerin includes a small sticker, and a business card with an image printed on the front.  Everything has a cohesive boho feel to it. I enjoyed unwrapping each treasure one by one.

These are her mason Jar Necklaces. How innovative! 

I first unwrapped the smaller kraft box with lots of raffia ribbon and a piece of what looks to be lavender. Inside was my vintage eagle ring that I had chosen from her shop. A great everyday ring finished in a vintage brass, with a turquoise like inlay. The style of ring could easily be unisex. 

A closer look at the vintage eagle ring.

As I unwrapped the hand stamped pouch this beauty was securely wrapped in bubble wrap. I laid eyes and knew it was mine!  I really love anything celestial as I mentioned in my youtube video.  Celestial, wizards, and fairies, ill take all of the above. The hand carved bone is beautiful complimenting the smiling man in the moon. The three turquoise pieces perfectly compliment the piece making for a large statement ring. 

My initial thoughts were that I am in love. And that I would wear it more than I thought. It has a nice lightweight feel for the size and amount of stones. Each turquoise are unique in size and color pattern, the turquoise used in this ring are from the Blue Moon Mine in Nevada.  The framed stamped wire gives it a balance and centers your eye to the stones at hand.

I like the mix of serrated bezel and smooth as shown in the photo above.

This photo above is from SoliloquyJewelry. I forgot to take a photo of the back! Finished with a large Tapered band for comfort. Allowing the large bezel to not spin around on the finger. 

Overall I am very satisfied with my purchased from Kerin. Very bohemian, earthy, inspiring jewelry. Reminds me of traditional metalsmithing techniques the native americans use and teach but with an updated twist.

Here are some beautiful turquoise, quartz, and amethyst stones she included. Thank you lady! I love everything :)  

Now thats a ring!

Full youtube video up!

Hope you all enjoyed! Will share more unique artisan goodies that I pick up shortly!

Saint Patricks Day Gift Guide

Saint Patrick's Day Gift Guide

With Saint Patrick's Day just around the corner we need to prepare our homes, animals and beer belly's for the festivities coming!  I thought it would be fun to pick a few handmade goodies from artists to kick up your spirits for this spirited holiday.  I particularly love Saint Pattys Days well one I am half Irish and two because you everyone can be frolicking in green attire and happy go lucky smiles.

Vintage Irish Pin Hat - Maybe you like to dress in all black maybe your not Irish or maybe your avoiding a good ol pinch.  A great small accessory for your St Pattys day spirit.

Crochet Clover Hat - We are still in the chilly months here in the East Coast keep your head warm while your out at the local parades with this adorable crochet hat!

Leprechaun Flask - Get your irish up on the go!  A clever way to be simply cooler than every one else drinking this St. Pattys Day.

Green Floral Dress - What better way to wear green than to look adorable while doing so.  I love this dress you can be festive, vintage, yet wearable all at the same time.

Irish I Phone - Our phones are just another accessory why not dress our gadgets up to.

I hope you've enjoyed this quick Etsy gift guide for Saint Patrick Day!  And may the luck be ever in your favor! Xo

All picture belong to artist linked above!

Etsy Small Business Tips: Christmas Sales

Etsy Small Business Tips: Christmas Sales

This post will focus on solely Christmas Sales for Etsy Small business owners.  Feel free to apply this to any ecommerce site. 

We are now reaching the Nitti gritty there are exactly 13 shipping days left for the Christmas Rush.  You want to pull in those last few sales, but you have had sales in the past and no one uses your coupon code, matter of fact there is no one in your shop.  Let’s grind out the next 13 days and see if these changes can pull in some extra business.

1 – Double Sale

That’s right scary but true do a double dip, offer that extra incentive for your buyer to purchase from you and not the next guy.  With the world wide web being well as big as the world you need to step up to the plate to amount to the other competition.  Sad but true, if you are not a power seller just yet chances are you need the boost of a double sale.

Example:  Free Shipping Off Every Order!

Or

Spend 50.00 Get an additional 10% off

Spend 100.00 Get an Additional 15% Off

Spend 150.00 Get an Additional 20% Off

Scary but true offering discounts starts to make you count on your hands and toes how much your profit is dwindling.  That’s where your wrong, if you are properly pricing your items with a decent profit margin, overhead, packaging, cost of materials, and labor you should be able to swing this type of sale no problem.   Bottom line people love choices especially when saving money.

2 – Liquidating Merchandise

In the process of this sale you will do what you love most besides creating and that’s selling.  Get rid of merchandise to refresh your shop with newer material, and now you will have the income to put back into your business.  Now were starting a pattern, selling! 

3 – Tagging your Sale

You can use sites like Etsy On Sale to add tags in one batch to your items such as sale, Christmas sale, free shipping etc.  When you want to stop the sale you can then remove that tag,  and it will remove them in one batch.  There is a fee for this service but if you never used Etsy on Sale you get four free credits.

You can also put your shop on sale without any promo codes, it will automatically reduce prices by dollar amount or percentage.

Click link below:

http://www.etsyonsale.com/sellers?referralCode=CAWDYS7X43

3-  Promoting Sales:

As part of the Team Etsy Entrepreneurs Holiday Challenge 2011 we are inviting 16 shops to promote one item of there choice to a holiday sale team treasury.  Your item will be featured and in the description of the treasury will state All shops featured in this treasury are running different promotions feel free to click and take advantage of the holiday sales.

All team members participating must post this treasury and promote for the next two weeks by blogging, tweeting, facebook, or share with other promotion teams.

We did a similar challenge in the past that brought a lot of views to our team members.  If successful we can repeat challenge for other holidays such as Valentines Day, Saint Pattys Day, Easter etc.

Link to Etsy Entrepreneurs:

http://www.etsy.com/teams/7978/etsy-entrepreneurs

Happy Sales,

Michelle

Handmade Soap Haul From Monkey Barsoaps

I recently sold my jewels at the lovely Astoria Market at The Bohemian Beer Garden In Astoria Queens on 9/25/2011.  One thing I love about attending fairs or vending is you get to meet the artists face to face.  There passion, knowledge and product truly stands out beyond any computer screen.

I met Johnny Scarlet owner and creator of Monkey Barsoaps, anything beauty related I gravitate to instantly.  He was interested in buyers wants and needs, and I appreciated his attentiveness in regards to ingredient concerns.  Packaging was hands down my favorite of any soap company I have purchased from, I have bought so many brands.  Monkey Barsoaps offers quality soaps handmade in the USA.

I purchased 3 bars of soap :

1) Oatmeal Milk And Honey - 6.00 a bar

Anything honey is my ultimate favorite this has a warm sweet smell.  If you are a lover of anything honey this is your bar, with oats for gentle exfoliation this makes the perfect bar to get smooth and clean.

2) Hoegaarden Bars 6.00 a bar

This bar smells of fresh citrus delightfulness, this bar has a really nice clean smell.  Not overpowering and pine sol like, this bar has the perfect hint of invigorating lemon like scent.  I love soap that makes me feel clean smell clean and awakens me on a overtired morning.

3) Guinness Soap: 6.00 a bar

I have always been intrigued with beer soaps, but I really never had the guts to go and purchase online with out a good ol scratch and sniff.  While I attended this event I was able to smell the dark sexy scents lingering from this bar.  This is a unisex smell I feel its not for everyone if you love sweet food like smells this isn't for you if you want something clean yet sexy this is the scent.

All photos are my own
Review will be up shortly for these soaps!

Visit this shop: http://www.monkeybarsoaps.com/