It's so late!!!!!

This picture was taken at 4am one night while out trying to get my son to fall asleep in the car. It didn't work. :/

Ok, it's only 1:45am, but still, I should be in bed! My boy has become noctu-baby and I am TIRED!!!!

And cranky. :/

So here we are at almost 2am watching the Disney channel because I have to have some sort of background noise yet it's probably keeping Blake up which is NOT what I wanted so here I am writing a boring run-on sentence. Yay me!

On a better note, I am making great progress going through my current supplies for destash listings in my shop. There is hope for me yet! I just wish I could get outside and take some pictures, but it's been so rainy and dark outside.

I guess that's all I have to say today. I win the most boring post award, so yay me!!

Slow down a bit!

No, not you, unless you're riding my behind on the freeway. :)

I am slowing it down for a bit. I want to go in a new direction. No, maybe not new, but more centralize what my store and what I make is about. I feel like I'm trying to learn everything, and in turn, do everything, and that's just not possible. ;)

I'm also starting to think that I may just not have the budget to go where I want to go with my jewelry. And that makes me sad, because it's what I would really like to do. Offer high-quality, elegant and unique jewelry with crystals, gemstones, and sterling silver. Argh!

In the meantime, while I'm figuring out where to go, I'm suspending the store on Facebook so I can focus on one thing at a time. The Etsy store will still be open, but as you may notice, not much is being newly listed.

:)

Winner for the Birthday Contest!

Hello! I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend, or if it's not a holiday for you, I hope you're enjoying your week!

I want to thank everyone who entered the birthday contest for a $25 gift certificate, I'm so happy you took the time to enter!

The winner has been chosen; each entry was given a unique number, and then randomly drawn from random.org for the winning number. And I'm happy to announce the winner is....


Karilan!


Thank you so much to Karilan for entering, and has made her purchase using her gift certificate for $25!

Didn't win? Don't worry, you still get a great deal!!

To thank everyone who entered, I am offering a discount of 25% off your entire next purchase, or 10% off a custom order. This discount is effective on regular prices in my Etsy and Facebook stores. Simply leave "birthday contest" in the message to seller when checking out in Etsy, or contact me with what you'd like to purchase on Facebook and I will make a custom listing for you with the correct discount. Refunds on Etsy will be given through Paypal.

Thank you again, have a wonderful 4th and a wonderful weekend!

Hmmmmm......changes

I'm really wanting to go in a new direction with my jewelry. I still want to do lanyards and such, but I want them a bit.....more sophisticated. After all, I *am* 25 now. (Ha......ha.)

But seriously, I am really liking the Swarovski crystals still (my mother knows that anything with Swarovski in the name is good in my book), and I really have a new-found fascination with gemstones.


I want to go into more sterling, gold-fill, etc........in a nutshell, higher end pieces. But still unique. I have been pondering about what makes my jewelry "Erica", and it's proving to be harder than I thought it would be. I was told to do what I love.....but I love making all my pieces. What a conundrum!

Sooooo....what would you like to see coming from my shop? What current pieces do you like? Which ones don't you like? Honest opinions are valuable; I think of it as market research.

Birthday Contest!

As you may know, tomorrow I'm turning 25, and on top of the special 25% off sale I have running right now, I've decided to also run another contest! The prize? A $25 gift certificate to my store on Etsy or Facebook!

There are a few ways to enter, but you must comment here with your entry in order to be counted. You can enter as many times as possible, but only one entry per comment will be counted, so if you enter more than once, remember to leave additional comments!

1. Follow this blog

2. "Like" my fan page on Facebook ( http://www.facebook.com/eldesignsbyerica )

3. Leave a comment on one of the pictures on Facebook (or you can comment here on one of the items on Etsy if you don't have a Facebook)

4. Follow me on Twitter ( http://www.twitter.com/eleighb85 )

Remember, leave one comment for each entry here on this blog, and please make sure I have a way to contact you if you are the winner!

The contest will run until June 30th, to give everyone a good amount of time to enter.

**(Please note, the $25 gift certificate is not valid on custom orders. Any pre-made pieces/supplies are eligible however.)

Edit: I also want to add, which Amy helped bring up: If you already follow or "like" me, PLEASE feel free to comment here stating that! You may already have a few entries! Comments on my facebook page will, however, only be counted if they are new, since some are from previous contests. :D

Holy Crap I Have a Blog

Well whaddyaknow. I have a blog. Oops. SORRY!!!!

Long story short I'm in Alaska now. We're semi-settled, and the shop is doing, well.......I have stuff listed. ;) It's going to be a little harder than I thought to swing back into things.

For one, Alaska is BEAUTIFUL! I want to get out of the house as much as possible and be out in nature, which is very unlike me, but hey, if you were here, you'd want to be outside too!!

^See what I mean? GORGEOUS!

Aaaaaanywho, I am trying to network to possibly get my jewelry into some sort of gift shop or salon, but I'm not able to leave the house very often. It's hard to be taken seriously when you're toting three little kids at the same time.

On a personal note, my oldest will start FIRST grade in two months!! I feel old. I seriously thought she just started school, and here she is already in first grade.

She's starting to take interest in my jewelry designing, and "approves" of certain designs. She's really just trying to blow up my ego :) I think I'll take it, lol.

And of course, for the promo bit, I'm turning 25 tomorrow and am running a 25% off sale on Etsy and on Facebook until Saturday, June 26th. Great time to get the patriotic pieces I have listed in time for the 4th!



I promise, I will TRY to update this more often, although you're more than welcome to berate me for waiting so long. I'm a horrible blogger!

Is it bedtime yet?

*sigh*

It's been one of those weeks. Ya know, the ones that leave you exhausted in every possible way at the end of the day, yet you feel like you've accomplished almost nothing? Yeah, that's it. I've finally gotten up to 50 items in my shop (which in itself doesn't seem like a lot, until I factor in that the majority of my time is spent cleaning, running errands, and chasing after a bunch of toddlers. And even then, I need to list a *ton* more for the holiday season.)

I am having a celebratory sale on my etsy shop in honor of the fact that I somehow listed the big "50", although once I get to 100, boy, I don't know what I'll do! Take 15% off by putting "Made it to 50!" in the notes to seller and wait for a revised invoice to pay.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/elbeading

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving, and if you don't celebrate that, I hope you have a calm and relaxing week!