Holidays and Looking Ahead

Wheee! Tomorrow is Christmas Eve!  I have one more four hour shift at Rust Belt Market tonight to accommodate some of those last minute shoppers and then I have only a couple of obligations for the rest of the year.  I am going to take some time off to enjoy with friends and family, but I am already looking forward to the start of the new year.  I am daydreaming about a new blog project that should keep me busy and help me get creative, a large concept with a different sub-theme each month.  I can't wait to tell you all about it, I am really getting excited as my ideas start to become more clear. This is going to be an interactive, multi media type project that will inspire me, and hopefully you too!  Come back in the new year to read all about it!  Until then, I wish you a very happy holiday season! ~melanie

Melanie is an artist, blogger, writer, and ceramic beadmaker at Earthenwood Studio. Her beads and components can be found at her Etsy shop and her jewelry can be found in her Etsy Galleria. To comment on this post, visit the original post at the Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Blog.

Holiday Swirl

 Woo Hoo!  I am in the final stretch for holiday sales!  Just one more full sales weekend at Rust Belt.  This past weekend was insane!  I have been making these cute peppermint stripey pendants to celebrate the holidays.  I made one into this cute Candy Swirl Story Necklace!  I think it's pretty festive in a sorta punky way.

Also this past weekend, I did my Studio Saturday post for Art Bead Scene, which talks a little bit about how the Candy Swirl pendant was made and offers you a chance to win the two pendants shown above!  Just leave a comment there and tell me about your favorite holiday treats to be entered to win!

Melanie is an artist, blogger, writer, and ceramic beadmaker at Earthenwood Studio. Her beads and components can be found at her Etsy shop and her jewelry can be found in her Etsy Galleria. To comment on this post, visit the original post at the Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Blog.

Holiday Rush

Imagine Heart Story Necklace Oh, my internet friends, I miss you!  I had such great hopes for posting holiday jewelry and projects, keeping busy online, and doing a lot of blogging.  But alas, life has not worked out that way this year.  If you had told me at the beginning of the year that I would be so busy with local sales, here in Metro Detroit, with our bad economy, that I would forsake my work on my online sales, I would have thought that was crazy.  But indeed, this is the case.  The Rust Belt Market is keeping me very busy this holiday season.  I seem to have hit on a great concept that is affordable and desirable for personalized gift giving, and I am spending not only all of my weekends busy at the market, but much of my weekday time is spent restocking and fulfilling the smaller amount of online business that I steadily receive.  It's really great... I am not complaining!  It's just pretty unexpected and surprising.  I have again needed to be flexible and bend to where the business takes me. When I started here I figured it would be an entertaining little side business, but it has sort of been all consuming.  As always, no matter where the sales come from, I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to make a living from what I love. I am starting to think ahead to next year to figure out how to balance my time tending to my online and brick-and-mortar sales better. 

Melanie is an artist, blogger, writer, and ceramic beadmaker at Earthenwood Studio. Her beads and components can be found at her Etsy shop and her jewelry can be found in her Etsy Galleria. To comment on this post, visit the original post at the Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Blog.