Happy Halloween!

May your tricks be minimal and your treats be abundant.

For you readers who like random pics posted, here's one for ya from my back deck. It's called "Mr. Pumpkin's View." He stares all day into my woods and doesn't seem to mind it. Lately, however, he's been quite bummed because those leaves they are a' fallin'.

Anyway, some store updates: A fellow Etsy member sent me a convo today to ask if I sold pendants by themselves...the answer is YES I do; I just haven't listed any yet. Look for more to come in the near future.

Also, I'm beginning to feel a little better, so I'm hoping to be able to post my first "Sharin' the Love" entry either tomorrow or Friday. The reason for the weekly feature is based on the poll I conducted regarding what would encourage readers to subscribe to a blog. I had 22 voters; each voter could vote for more than one item. As of tonight, the results are as follows:

• 12 people voted for "Tutorials (banners, avatars, photography, Photoshop, writing descriptions, etc.) "


• 8 people voted for "A monthly contest"


• 15 people voted for "Interesting, engaging, and visually attractive blog posts"

To my surprise, no one voted for "A checklist for listing Etsy items" or "A neatly formatted list of 'Etsy Best Practices,' grouped by category." I believe the reason for the low turnout on these two items is because most of the folks that visited my blog may be seasoned Etsy sellers rather than new sellers.

The upcoming feature will combine the tutorials (based on those that others have submitted [I don't want to reinvent the wheel here] or ones that I create) and the use of interesting, engaging, and visually attractive blog posts. My goal is for "Simply Wired: The Blog" to serve as a collection of resources--a "one-stop-shop" to find out what types of information is out there to assist sellers. Along the way, it will highlight some amazing Etsy members and their products.

Improving the Etsy Shop Series

Now that I've opened up my store, I'll be doing most of my changes right on my site. Today's tip was to be sure your Featured Items are ranked appropriately. This one is also finished, as I've been keeping up with my featured items as I list them. The one bit of advice I did get from it, however, is to be sure to have featured items that are in later pages of your items. This will encourage buyers to browse ALL items of your list. Great idea!

Happenings, Updates, Etc.

A short post tonight, folks, as I'm a bit under the weather. I finally posted Reloj on my Etsy site (it's also in my banner, above!), so now it's officially for sale. This one was really a struggle coming up with just the right look for it. After much scrapped wire and a few temper tantrums, I am truly satisfied with it. I hope the wearer who ends up with it will love it as much as I do. As mentioned before, I said that the colors were inspired by the talavera tile in my kitchen, and I posted a photo of it here for ya. Perfect match!

Later this week (hopefully sooner than later, depending on this cold of mine), I'm going to be starting a weekly feature where I highlight Etsy sellers who have "How-Tos" or helpful information for Etsy sellers. The feature will be called "Sharin' the Love." My first two highlighted sellers will be strumpfkunst and ChristinaPerdue.

Finally, I purchased three showcase spots...one for the Storque and two for the main page...hopefully it will lead to some more exposure.

Canyon Drops Earrings

Canyon Drops Earrings
Originally uploaded by Simply Wired

...keeping up with that Southwest theme, here is tomorrow's item. Find them at my shop: http://simplywired.etsy.com. See you there!

Mosaic Brooch Draft

One of my friends asked me to make her a brooch...I've never done one before, so today was the day I finally decided to finish my practice piece. I had the frame already created, but had to read up a little on the "mosaic" technique, as I really don't use it often. What it does is allow you to use a numerous selection of different sized beads to create a "mosaic" woven with wire. You weave the wire and beads around the frame, and keep moving inward until you just start randomly placing whatever piece or size will fit. My favorite part is adding little coils to the piece. Can you see 'em in there? Anyway, the one I'll be working on will be sterling silver, with red garnet and red coral beads. I think the color combo will be gorgeous! (My friend picked it out...she really has an eye for that kind of stuff.)

So, of course since this is a draft there are a few things I would have done differently. For instance, I used 28g instead of 26g wire. Mistake. It's too thin and breaks easily. I also need to be sure I incorporate even smaller beads into the design...I had nothing less than 4mm for this one, and I need to have 2-3mm beads to fill in the small gaps.

Well, that's all for now. I have to get ready for a Halloween party tonight...my costume came from Etsy! I bought these lovely little horns from AbbieRoad. Aren't they adorable? They're only about 2" high. I'm going to be some type of fairy...witchy...I dunno kinda thing. All I know is I can't wait to sport these little guys.

Santa Fe Teardrops Earrings

Happy Friday, everyone! Tomorrow is my day off, but you'll see these earrings in my Etsy shop on Sunday.

Today I bought a new lightbox to use for my photographing. See the following article at: http://www.theswitchboards.com/articles_professionalphotos.html. Very helpful!

I also got some new lamps to use with the lightbox so I can hopefully brighten my pics up a little (without so much Photoshopping!).

Finally, I took the "Handmade Pledge" today. See my banner in the left nav bar, or check out the buyhandmade.org web site. It promotes the shopping and purchase of handcrafted items rather than those that are mass produced. What a great idea!

Waterbound Earrings

Waterbound Earrings
Originally uploaded by Simply Wired

...coming tomorrow to Simply Wired! See you there!

Featured on a Treasury!

Well now, this is quite exciting...I've been featured on ArtisticDetour's "Shop From the Heart" Treasury. Check it out...my "Warmth" earrings are right there in the top left corner! Yeeehaw!

You may have read a previous blog about ArtisticDetour before at this site, as I bought one of her pendants when I first became an Etsy member. If you like what you see here, go to Artistic Detour's Etsy shop!

Festival Earrings

Festival Earrings
Originally uploaded by Simply Wired Custom Jewelry

Quick post for today...here is tomorrow's item! I posted these on here before, but in case you missed 'em, you can catch 'em in my shop tomorrow. See you there!

Stay Tuned for Tomorrow's Item - Ocean Storm

I'm really pleased with this one, and have been waiting to put it in my store forever!

Improving the Etsy Shop, Days 9-11

I’m almost caught up! I’m up to days 9-11 of my 30 Days to a Better Etsy Shop. What’s nice is that since I’m just starting to build up my inventory, I can read these tips and apply them as I list items. So, here’s the rundown:

Day 9 was Join a Street Team. Already done! I’m a member of the EtsyBloggers Street Team since September '07. Check out the logo I added on my left navigation bar, too! Days 10-11 were Update Your Tags. I was pleased to find that the reference used for this activity was the Storque’s Guidelines & Tips: Tagging on Etsy. I used these guidelines for tagging my items; hopefully they will bring me some luck in Etsy’s search engine.

Finally, I also worked on my sponsor banner, which I’ll use if I decide to sponsor fellow Etsy bloggers:

I also have a few additional custom orders; updates will be posted here and on my Flickr page:

• A mosaic brooch that uses sterling silver wire, garnets, and red coral.


• A 15” necklace that incorporates cat’s eye, black onyx, sterling silver tube beads, and sterling silver wire (I already made one of these, you can see it on my Flickr page (I didn’t post it here because the pic ain’t so hot).


• An 18” necklace that incorporates turquoise and sterling silver wire (and probably some Hill Tribes Silver as well--I’m gonna love this one!).


• Bridesmaids’ necklaces, adjustable, that include Swarovski pearls, Swarovski crystals, sterling silver spiral tube beads, and sterling silver wire.

Now, the problem will be keeping up with other items to make to sell on my Etsy page.

Anyway...more products on the way, so stay tuned.