KSTreasures is Going Out of Business!

It's time to move on, and so my second shop, Kindred Spirit Treasures, is going out of business. That means a HUGE SALE! Everything has been marked off 50%!!! Here's just a few of the great deals your going to find.

One Day at a Time...

It's been an interesting couple of weeks - but I'm getting there - one day and one hour at a time! I've managed to do some promoting and listing recently - and here's what I've done! Tell me what's YOUR favorite and get an extra entry into my Top Commentators contest :).

On a Roll!

I've been on a roll lately with listing and renewing items - but not so much with blogging. Funny how the two seem to switch places from time to time eh? Well part of the problem was that I couldn't seem to log into byhand.me, which is where I create the spotlights that I use in my treasury blog and when I show of my latest listings on this blog. I finally thought to try clearing my browsing history and that let me access the site again! Woohoo! So your going to get TWO spotlights of my latest listings and such :D

Don't forget this is the last day to earn entries in my Top Commentators Contest for this month. How does that work? Simple, just read my posts and leave me comments! So if your behind on your reading, today's the day to catch up! I'll be announcing the winners tomorrow! Also, leave in your comment today which of the listings I'm showing is your favorite and you'll get an extra entry into the contest!

Oh yes - and don't forget - all my shops have free shipping through the end of December - worldwide!

Middle of the Night Ramblings

Good morning! Erm. Middle of the night? (and yes I did TRY to sleep) Or how about whatever time it happens to be there? *giggles* Ok, it's just after 1am so I'm a wee bit silly right now, so this post might also be a wee bit silly, but I'm WIDE awake for some unknown reason so what else is there for me to do other than blog all about bazaar and the rambling thoughts running through my head?

I did a bazaar today (well technically yesterday since it's now early Sunday), and I had a blast! Sales weren't stellar, but I had a lot of fun! I remembered my camera - but I forgot to take any pictures. Bad Ruthie, I know.

Mom went with me on this bazaar and she sold a couple of her items and even got a custom order! That was really exciting for her :) She's decided that crafting to sell isn't for her, so after the holiday's we're going to be closing down Kindred Spirit Treasures. You may notice I'll be moving my charms into my jewelry shops on Etsy and Artfire, and you'll be seeing a huge sale in KST as we get closer to Christmas! I'll keep you posted - don't worry!

One thing I loved about this bazaar, even though I could have asked for more sales, was that there was definitely plenty of foot traffic. I got to have lots and lots of great conversations, both with other vendors, and with the people walking through. I'm a people person, and I thrive off of interactions like that!

Plus I heard a lot of people saying they weren't quite ready to shop for Christmas yet, which is weird to me, but I guess that's a reflection on the current economic situation. I don't really think that the lack of sales I had were a reflection on my art, it was reflection of the economy in general. Most of the people today were looky-loos. The others I got comfortable enough to ask said that their sales we're about the same as mine.

I did get several people who said that they were really excited that I'd be back because they were planning on shopping more next month! I take that as a very promising sign. I also had a gal who will hopefully be sending me information so I can do a custom order for her. To top it all off, I was originally only going back one weekend next month and it now looks like I'm almost definitely going to be able to do 2 weekends next month at this venue! Woohoo!

What else am I excited about? Well I can't precisely tell you, because it's a surprise, but I can tell you that assuming all goes well I'll be doing the big reveal on the 1st! I've been doing a lot of talking with some people I trust (gotta love Mom's and friends who are willing to listen to you hammering out your ideas) and I'm really excited!

I'm also happy because my health has been showing signs of slow but steady improvement and if this trend continues (Lord willing) I have a lot of ideas that I'm working on developing. I'm dreaming big I'm hoping to find ways to continue building my business through a variety of venues. So far, so good! I'm seeing slow but steady progress there too.

Catching Up :)

This has been a crazy week. I started out on a roll, listing, blogging, promoting, and even some sales! Then I had what felt like a million doctors appointments, and then I got attacked by the migraine monster and it nearly ate me alive! I don't like the migraine monster...

The good news is so far today the migraine monster is staying away and I can start catching up on life! Woohoo! So I've been checking in with my teams, responding to e-mails, and of course promoting like crazy :D

I do plan on getting my Crafty ADD post up later but I need to clean my kitchen and get my laundry started... So for now I just want to show some of the listings of either relisted or listed for the first time before I crashed last week :D Tell me which one is your favorite and get an extra entry into the Top Commentators contest!

Lots Going On!

So much going on! I've been promoting like crazy - both for myself - and passing on the fantastic finds I see out there! Plus I have some ideas... Working to develop them but I can't let the cat out of the bag yet! Anyway, here's some of my latest items :) You know the drill, let me know your favorite and get an extra entry into the Top Commentator Contest!

Oh - and I also added some new items to my clearance section - so go check it out!

FREE SHIPPING for the Holiday's!

*Phew* It's been a LONG day! Yesterday we pretty much a wipe out because I had a migraine and I ended up sleeping for about 19 out of 24 hours. Yikes! So of course nothing got done. And this week has been a bit rough on the "getting things" done because of my sprained ankle anyway. Which in many ways has just felt not fair because it's the holiday season and I have so many ideas going through my mind! I mean I always have a million ideas going through my mind, but it's WORSE this time of year! You know what I mean? The good news is...like I said...it was a long day today and I got a lot done!

Among the many things I got done is I got all three of my shops set up for free shipping for the holiday season! So go check it out: Kindred Spirit Treasures, Rose Works on Etsy, and Rose Works on Artfire are all Free Shipping! Now through the end of December! Sweet huh? AND I have more surprises in store...just wait!

Despite the "fun" of this week, I've also managed to get some stuff listed or relisted this week! You know the drill...leave me a comment on your fav piece and get an extra entry into my top commentators contest! Woohoo! I love giving stuff away :D

Color Explodes - Finally Done!

I've been working on this piece for over a month now - and it's finally done! I can't tell you what a relief it is to have it done! Do you ever have one of those pieces that you like, but by the time it's done, your sick of working on it? Yah, that's what this piece was for me. It was a loooong, hard road to finish this, and by the time I was done I was sick of it. Then I went to go take pictures, I fell in love again!

This piece was challenging for me for a lot of different reasons. It all started with the dichroic cabochon. I actually bought it last spring, and I made several attempts to work on it, but I had never worked with a cabochon before, and the learning process took me awhile! Plus I kept getting side-tracked with other projects. I finally sat down in August and figured out what I was doing.

Once I had the cabochon set in the seed beads, I slowly started working on the actual bracelet for it. I knew I wanted something that was free form. I've only done one other free form bracelet so far (Set Me Free) and, like the last one, I found the process of creating with a pattern to be very challenging!

Then, the last step was to create the toggle, and that was hard too! Well, actually not very hard, but it's the first time I've ever created a beaded toggle and clasp, so I was nervous. The process went really smooth though, and I really like how it turned out! I think, considering how wide the cuff is, it really needed this type of clasp.

The bracelet is 8 1/2 inches long by 1 3/4 inches wide. I'm charging $85 and you can find it in either my Artfire or my Etsy shops! I named it color explodes because it's so brightly colored, and random, it was the only thing I could think of :P

I've stayed pretty busy between creating and promoting. So as if this post isn't long enough...here's some of the other items I've promoted in the last few days!

Need to Get Ready :)

Mom and I get to do a bazaar in a just two weeks! I'm really excited! I haven't done one in a loooong time. I'm hoping it goes well. I have lot to do to get ready for it. It's a relatively new bazaar, so who knows what the sales will be like, but we figured we'd give it a try since they invited us. If we do well sales-wise, then we'll sign up for some more in the next few months.

Things I need to do:

~ Try to excercise a little each day to make sure I'm strong enough for the bazaar.

~ Double check my prices, make some adjustments to my charms prices...

~ Catch up on my photography so I can tag everything to be sold.

~ Reorganize my necklaces so they are easier to pull out to display.

~ Set up my display and figure out what I need to make adjustments on.

~ Buy anything I need for the displays.

I'm so excited and nervous at the same time!

In the mean time...here's some of my latest items promoted from my shop and my Mom's shop! :) Which is your favorite? Tell me and get an extra entry in my top commentators contest!

Sorry...

Today's post is short and sweet. My migraine is really bad today. So I'm just doing an update on my lastest listings :) Tell me your favorite and get an extra entry into my top commentators contest!

Bead Weaving and some New Stuff :)

Ok, so I actually made this about two weeks ago, but I couldn't show it off because it was a surprise present and she reads this blog! I got the darling pattern out of a book, so it's not something I can sell in my shop, but I had a lot of fun making it anyway :D It's my first 3-D beaded project :D

Oh wait, I did some cubes once, but those barely count :P

Also wanted to show off the newest items promoted in my three shops from this last week :) Leave a comment about your favorite and get an extra point in the Top Commentators contest - and remember that this month there's an extra prize!

Weekly Special and New Items!

I used my favorite hemp knotting technique with this bracelet to form a spiraling pattern in between the beads. The black hemp forms a perfect contrast to the blue/green pony beads, for a look that will jazz up any outfit with a bit of fun! This bracelet is just barely over 6 inches long.

Normally $7 plus S&H, this week, on this blog, you can buy this bracelet for only $5.60 plus $2 shipping and handling to anywhere in the world!

I also have to show off some of my most recent listings - I've been keeping busy as always!

Which is YOUR favorite?

"Past all thought of 'if' or 'when' - no use resisting"

To spice things up today - I'm offering you an opportunity for TWO extra entries into my top commentators contest today! The first is the one your used too, just tell me which item below is your favorite and why :) The second... The title of this blog post is a quote from a musical - can you tell me what musical?

Have You Seen These?

Despite moving - I somehow got some new items listed and other renewed this last week! Here's 9 of them :) Which is YOUR favorite?

Look at these Pretties!

Not much to say today. I've been packing and crafting and packing and crafting... My mono-pod has been missing all week so I haven't been able to take new pictures. So I've got a LOT of new things for you guys to see soon! I did have a few things to re-list and a few things I had pictures already of that got listed though! Which is your favorite?

Queen of the Crafty ADD

I've told you before that I'm very Crafty ADD. I jump from project to project to project... Anyway - I thought I'd prove it to you guys :P This is what I've been working on the last two days!

What you see above is a hemp bracelet and a beadwoven St. Petersburg Bracelet. I started the bracelet a couple days ago, but I wove about half of it in the last two days. Not that it's a project that takes me very long, I just picked it up for 15 minutes here, and 15 minutes there!

I've also been working on a lot of hemp lately. I have a bunch in my box to take photos of! Things have just been to busy for me to get the photos taken yet though. That and I haven't been feeling that good today. Ok, really not feeling good today. I've spent most of the day watching Star Gate and crafting :D

Mom started teaching me to crochet yesterday! The picture above is of granny squares. I did the first one and started the second one with Mom yesterday, finished the second one last night, and did the third this morning! I'm going to make a baby blanket :D There are going to be 4 more colors in it. Not sure how I'm going to arrange them, just making a bunch of squares and then I'll play with laying them out and see how the inspiration strikes me.

And for anyone getting excited, no, I'm not pregnant :P I'll donate this when it's done. Probably to the Pregnancy Resource Center. It's a local organization that provides free pregnancy tests and provides counseling on the many options out there other than abortion.

Over the last 6 months or so I've started always having a cross-stitch project going. This is the current one! It's going to be a bookmark of dancing penquins. It'll be awhile before it shows up in the shop though. I tend to work on it like crazy for awhile, and then not pick it up at all for awhile :P Plus I'll probably fit 4 bookmarks on the fabric before I cut it up... Anyway, I sewed half of the penquin outline today!

So what's next? Well...I need to make some more strand bracelets to take into my consignment shop...but since that requires moving the bead boxes and stuff around so I can decide on patterns that will probably wait for tomorrow. My asthma's acting up today and I'm doing fine as long a I sit still, but that would probably be too much movement. So I think I'll crochet another granny square and try to decide what my next beadweaving project should be.....

Just a reminder - it's Christmas in July! Follow the links below to check it the sales :)

Kindred Spirit Treasures

Rose Works on Etsy

Rose Works on Artfire

Just Looking at the Numbers

A week or so ago one of my blogging friends put up a post she titled "By the Numbers." She looked at her numbers for her shops, blogs, and all that fun stuff. Since I'm too tired to be creative this afternoon, I thought it would be fun to look at my numbers! So here they are:

Rose Works Jewelry on Etsy

Total Page Views: 17902

Items Listed: 105

Sales: 73

Shop Hearts: 354

On-line since: May 24th, 2008

Rose Works Jewelry on Artfire

Total item Views: 2507

Total Studio Views: 738

Items Listed: 48

Sales: 2

On-line since: April 9th, 2009

Kindred Spirit Treasures (on etsy)

Total Page Views: 1176

Items Listed: 22

Sales: 7

Shop Hearts: 28

On-line since: December 26th, 2008

I'm going to stop there and not look up all my blog numbers and such - but I found looking at these pretty interesting! I hope you did too!

Just a reminder - right now in Kindred Spirit Treasures were having our first sale! 15% off any item in the store - including custom orders!

Busy as Always!

Ok, so when am I NOT busy? This week just feels busier than usual! Friday night was a girls night, Saturday was a movie with Gypsy, Sunday we had church and then I worked on my disability app, Monday I finished up my disability app, Tuesday I took it in (more details here), Tuesday was also laundry day, today I had a doctors apt (nothing big), and we're headed out soon for my inlaws! Mo is going to haul some rock for his Dad and I'm teaching my MIL how to do the St. Petersburg Chain stitch.

Speaking of which, in the midst of all this I've been blogging, creating, and listing! Here's one of my most recent, in St. Petersburg Chain, that I put together for a Thursday Sweet Treats Challenge.

I've got a lot more in the works, both beady wise and writing wise too! Lots left on my plate life-wise too. Don't worry, I'm making sure I take lots and lots of breaks and spend enough time relaxing! Fortunately beading is relaxing :P

In other news - my second shop is having it's first sale! That's right, you can 15% off any item in Kindred Spirit Treasures! Like this beauty...

And as if all THAT wasn't enough...I just redid my jedi blog! It still needs a little tweaking, but I'm much happier now that I have a 3 column layout! Check it out :)

My treasury blog is next up for some improvements - and I have a GREAT idea that I can hardly wait to show you once I get it pulled together! You may have to wait a few days though... Tomorrow I go in for a big shot where I get to sit in the docs office for a few hours, then after that I'm hopefully having Gypsy over for a movie, and Friday is even more doctors time!

Gee - it sounds like I live at the doctors >_> Sometimes it feels like I do :P

April was Busy!

Hey everyone! It's time for my wrap up from last month and my look forward at this month. It's been a crazy month! That's for sure. And yes, I know this post is late, but I didn't want to mess up my daily posts and messing up my shoulder made writing more difficult.

So what's new? Well first of all I have to post up my favorite item out of my three shops for this month :) This is one of my Mom's - and we've gotten a great response off of it! You can find it here in our shop Kindred Spirit Treasures :)

Did I mention three shops? Yeah, I'm up to three shops! It can be a lot to manage, but I'm loving it :) I now have Kindred Spirit Treasures, Rose Works Jewelry on Etsy, and Rose Works Jewelry on Artfire.

It's been a slow month for sales. No sales yet on Artfire, but I'm enjoying getting to know some new people and I'm hoping that the sales will come soon!

One thing I've added into this blog is I've started doing "spotlights" every time I have 9 new items combined between my three shops. That allows my friends from all over to see what's new :) I'm trying to add those in as an "extra" post for those days and not have them be the main post for the day. If you haven't seen one yet you can see my most recent one here.

I've also started up a fan page on Facebook! I'm still working on setting it up, but I'm having a lot of fun with it and I'm excited about the possibilties :) So come check it out and be my fan! (that sounds soooo egotistical).

In bloggy news I'm participating in a Craft It Forward - go check it out! I only have three participants so far...so leave your comment and be number 4 or 5!

I've also started a new feature on my blog called Tuesday's Tips. I've been getting a great response from it so far and I'm loving it!

In BlockHead Radio news...the hosts are all competing to see which of us can get the most new commercials for the station! We don't win anything - just bragging rights :P And, as I wrote about, if you request me to do your voice-over you'll get a free pair of $5 Earrings! So go buy your self some CHEAP by EFFECTIVE advertising!

So what's coming up this month in my plans and such?

Well, first of all, here's my line up for Thursday Spotlight On! Come join me at 9pm EST on Thursday's to meet these fantastic artists!

5/7 Mary of Herban Life Style

5/14 Ray of Don't Eat Any Bugs

5/21 Michelle of Creative Critters

5/28 Stormy of Stormy Designs

Other than that, I plan to keep on listing regularly, I have lots of design ideas, but we'll see what gets made :P I also plan to continue working on updating and optimizing my facebook page, and I hope to reorganize my Flickr account soon as well.

What about you? What have you accomplished this last month? What do you plan on doing this next month?

Sweetening the pot!

That's right - I'm sweetening the pot! Yesterday I wrote about a great advertising opportunity over at Block Head Radio. Well, today I'm adding a prize on for asking for me to be the host that records your ad! Anyone who requests me will get a free pair of $5 earrings from my etsy shop or artfire shop! How sweet is that? So go buy your ad now - and don't forget to request Ruthie in your message to the seller! 

I also wanted to show off this weeks great treasury by Peacox Creations - this one features one of my Mom's butterfly hair clips! Thanks my dear! That made my Mom's day :)