Possibilities Are Endless!

Stop by StephieMc Designs and create a masterpiece of your own!

First Day of Spring

The first day of Spring is here! I can't tell you how excited I have been for Winter to be over. It was sunny and 70 degrees here yesterday and then today I wake up to snow! How deflating!!

I hope everyone is having a better first day of Spring than I am! Tell me what you have planned for Spring!! Are you planting flowers soon? Mowing the lawn? Did you go somewhere cool for Spring Break? Are you looking forward to playing outside with the kids?

oh, hello, friend Package Exchange

This awesome blog is hosting a package exchange!! If you want to participate the deadline is today, March 4th, 2010. Only sign up if you intend to participate!! Get all the details at oh, hello, friend. :)

Time to Celebrate 1 Year In Business! SALE!! :)

StephieMc Designs is 1!!! Can you believe it? To celebrate we are having a SALE!

Here's the deets:

Buy one get one 1/2 off. The discount will apply to the lower priced item and will be refunded through Paypal.

Stop by and check out all of the new designs!!! Just click here!

Sole Sister Necklace

TNT is the Leukemia Lymphoma Society's endurance sports training program. Women from all over run either a full marathon of 26.2 miles or a half marathon of 13.1 miles. To enter the race each runner pays an entry fee of $1800, which goes to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Most of the funds raised go to patient care.

I'm very proud to be chosen again in 2010 to design the fundraiser necklace for the Wichita TNT group. I also allow teams or individuals in other cities to sell the necklace as a fundraiser. I donate $14.00 from the sale of each necklace to this great cause!!

To help out this great cause and purchase a necklace click here! :)

Thank YOU!

Wow! In just under a year I've had 679 sales and I'm blown away!! I never would have predicted I would be able to sell that much jewelry. When I started I had been laid off from my job and wanted to find a way to supplement the unemployment I was receiving. Talking to my sister one day, I said I might start making jewelry again and she suggested I look for ways to make personalized jewelry. My quest began, and has never stopped for that matter, to find supplies and resources to do just that. I had suppliers that I had used years ago when I made jewelry before and many of them were helpful. I found new suppliers that helped me along my journey. I posted my first items on Etsy on March 25th, 2009 and my sister purchased 3 items. She has been such a great supporter!! The first photographs of my work were horrible, but people still made purchases! Gotta love people who have faith!! Soon I was learning how to photograph my items better and how to handle production and shipping and marketing and everything else that goes with it!!

I'm still learning how to make this little business of mine a success. I thank God each day for allowing me to create a career for myself when my old career no longer needed me. It has been a wild year full of wonderful customers and great helpers. I am thankful for the women that have shown up in my path that have offered to work with me. They all jumped in with both feet and learned my way of doing things and made life easier. Even when I decided to move in November, at the height of the Holiday Season, an angel showed up and wanted to work for me. Thank goodness she did!!

The week before Christmas I was ready to shut it all down and crawl under the covers and come out when the coast was clear again, but no one would let me. At one point I had my 70 year old Mother, the amazing man in my life, the cleaning lady, and my assistant Tanya all doing some part of getting orders out. They were encouraging me, running errands, writing Thank You cards, packaging orders, printing shipping labels, sanding pieces, answering the door as supplies arrived and unpacking and putting supplies away, feeding me, cleaning up after me, making sure I had clean clothes to wear, and making sure I took a break now and then. Basically, holding me up. We shipped about 1000 pieces of jewelry between November 1st and January 1st and it was no easy task.

I tried and tried to stay positive, but many days I was a bundle of nerves and tears as I tried to get through the massive amounts of Etsy Convo's and emails and even people calling me on the phone. It would stop my ability to work, because I had to answer everyone. It would slow me down and all I could think was "If I am not working then product is not going out", I was not easy to be around no doubt, but they all stuck in there and got me through it. Thank God for them!!

As I reach the 1 year mark, my work will be changing and hopefully improving. I am adding some new fonts to the mix, a lower case hand written font and an upper case script font. I will be adding some new equipment to my studio to help me finish pieces to a higher quality. I will be learning some new techniques that will make it possible to do things in metal smithing I have never done before. Stay tuned and keep an eye on StephieMc Designs on Etsy. I'm always adding new items.

Thanks so much for your support!! I appreciate all of you and hope you will be around to witness the ongoing evolution!! :)

♥SALE♥

Free Worldwide Shipping and 25% off until February 5th, 2010!!! Go to StephieMc Designs and shop away! :)

Follow Friday Blog Hop!

There are some really fun blogs on this list!! Check em out! :)