Some small, quick updates!

Today’s post (which should have been posted yesterday… oops! … is just a few updates about where I am on various … stuff.

Website:
Still working, still coding until my eyes cross.

When this is all done, not only will galleries be available, but so will more information be available when you click on that item.  While not broken down into individual pages for each item (as of yet), the links from the galleries will lead to a page of the items from that gallery with more in depth information on the items – including a somewhat larger/more detailed photo, some inspiration, history, more information on the design and materials, and of course where they are available to be purchased.  Once this information is up, I can begin work on separating the pages, if the space made available by my ISP allows for the individual pages.  Because of my currently limited space, it will be in sort of a testing phase for a little until I have a better grasp on just how much space each individual page will need, and if I will be able to add more photos, etc.

 

Photography:
Photography “season” is here, and though I’ve not had the photos to show it, my hands have indeed been active!  I have been working on some earwraps, Halloween items, Autumn items, and necklaces and anklets, as well as more earvines and some of the other earrings, bracelets and pendants I’d said I was working on during the summer.

The new photo sessions will also pick up some of the individual color shots and shape shots I have not gotten photos clear enough to use on the site, and some will replace the ones currently up to be more clear or more focused.  I will also be replacing shots of some of my older works with better quality photos.

Since photography is not my strongest suit, I tend to take thousands of photos to only use about 50 or so from a session, I probably won’t start getting photos up for a few weeks, but they are indeed coming!

 

Minnerviews:
Oh yes, they’re still on!  I am still working on collecting questionnaires that I have sent out, and they are trickling in.  If you know someone (or are someone) who would like to be featured, just send me an email at dwjewelry@g-net.net! I’d love to hear your story, and share it with everyone here!

 

Shopping Season:
Holiday shopping season starts soon!  I will be posting promotions, and even some giveaways on my Facebook page, only visible to fans, so be sure you are a fan! These will start in the coming weeks, so make sure you don’t miss out!

 

I would once again like to thank everyone who reads my blog, and every artist who has shared their story with us.  You are all the reason I do this, and I do appreciate every single one of you!

Interview Series: Week 20 – Sister’s Home of Unique Gifts

I’m sure quite a few of you who follow this blog have heard about GoDaddy by now.  If you haven’t, GoDaddy was hit by a DDoS attack.  Unfortunately, this also had a rather nasty effect on Zibbet, since Zibbet uses GoDaddy for at least a portion of its site.  Gaining access to the site throughout the week has been a nightmare, since I did mention last week, I have two interview blog posts to RE-do.  This is the first interview, and I’ll be working on the other (Zibbet’s uptime allowing), when I am able to get access to the photos and such I need!

Edit 9/18/12 – It looks like GoDaddy is behaving properly now, though Zibbet has announced that it is swapping servers, and that there will be some downtime associated with it.  So far I’ve not had any trouble at all since the announcement, but I did want to keep you all informed in case you are unable to get to any of the lovely items I have showcased in any of my blog posts that are on Zibbet.
End Edit.

Today, I bring you a half of a team of sisters who create unique gifts for all ages, in many different areas, from little lanterns, to silverware/goodie pockets to angels, to… well, you’ll just have to go look for yourself!
Due to the format, I’m going to allow today’s artist to speak her story, her way! Without further mucking about on my part, I offer you Laurie from Sister’s Home of Unique Gifts of Zibbet!

 

My name is Laurie Gregie

I do a variety of crafts such as, plastercraft, kitchen hanging towels, potpourri vases with lights, angels, lanterns, candle holders, felt items and much more.

Because I do such a variety of crafts its kinda hard to pick one. I guess I would say making holiday items our my favorite.

My most popular seller would probably be Hobby Lobby. They have the best variety of craft supplies.

What got me into crafts hmmmm. I was a newlywed. We didn't have much money. I've always believed that giving a gift that is handmade shows more love than picking a sweater out in a store.

Stained Glass Lantern Blue Swirl Light Up
I’m a sucker for blue, glitter and butterflies.  If I had room for something like this in my decor (which is all gamer stuff, and nothing that allows for anything with doilies…), it would so be here.

I went to the plastercraft store and bought piggy banks for all the kids and a variety of other items for the adults.I painted them all and gave them to family members for Christmas.

I taught myself by trial and error. Bought craft magazines, went to craft shows, bought items and took them apart to see how they were made. I would then make improvements and start making my own items. Coming up with new ideas is a challenge. I will spend many hours of putting it together and taking it apart until the item meets my expectations.

Fall Design Cream Stained Glass Lantern Light Up
This looks like it would make an adorable centerpiece on a little table or whatnot.

I'm a people person and a perfectionist, if I don't love what I make, I don't sell it. I enjoy making my crafts because it gives me great joy when I see how people smile and appreciate the work and love that goes into each item.

My days are the opposite of most people. My husband works the night shift. We eat dinner at midnight. We usually don't go to bed till 3 or 4 am. My day starts at about 10a. I do my computer work till about 1230pm. I then do some housework and laundry. I take breaks inbetween and work on my crafts.
When the housework is done I work on my crafts until about 10pm. I then start making dinner. After dinner I go back on the computer and work on websites, answer emails and package items for mailing.

Clay Pot Angel Large w/Bells
I’ve always loved angel figurines and ornaments.  These are adorable.

I never really "finish". Selling crafts online is neverending. I set goals and usually achieve them. Since I make a variety of items, some are finished in a few hours and some take much longer. If I start on a long process item one day, I usually finish it the next.

Oops always happen. If I make an oops, I don't get frustrated, I just take apart the oops and fix it then continue on. I'm not the type of person to continue on and see what happens. If its not right I have to fix it. Meantime I reprimand myself making the oops.

Christmas Gold Lantern Candle Holder With Free Pillar 2 Pieces
This lantern would make a lovely center for a holiday sideboard or coffee table, bringing a warm glow to whatever its light touches.

I usually think long and hard about a project. Make drawings, call my sister for feedback and write out the process. Sometimes it comes out right the first time. Other times it takes 4-5 tries. I never give up until its the way I want it.

My greatest roadblock is when my husband is home. When he is not home I have a routine that I follow everyday. When he is home that all goes out the window. He's up and down and up and down drives me crazy. lol But I still love him.

As far as pricing goes, I don't really have a locked in formula. I basically decide how much I would pay for it. Sometimes I figure what it costs to make it then double the amount. I think my prices are pretty average, at least that's what people keep telling me. Yes I think my prices justify my work.

Blue Stained Glass Globe with Potpourri and Lights
This was the very first one that caught my eye, and by far my favorite.

Speaking for myself I think handcrafted items given as gifts means you took the time to shop around for that perfect gift. Walking into any store with your gift list showing a "pink blouse for Jenny" doesn't take much thought. Walking around a craft show or shopping online with a gift list showing a "candle holder for Mom" leaves the door wide open for a loving gift for Mom.

Most people appreciate handmade gifts over store bought gifts because it shows you took the time to shop around for a gift that shows you care.

Thank you, Laurie, for sharing your work and your story. I agree – most people do appreciate hand crafted gifts.  Often, they are one of a kind, which means you had to do a lot of pondering, shopping, and hunting for that one perfect thing for someone, and you’re absolutely right, it shows you care, and you took the time to not only find something that proves you know that person well enough, or that you took the time to hunt for something unique.

Make sure to visit Laurie and her sister at Sister’s Home of Unique Gifts on Zibbet!

Until next week, thank you one and all for reading!

So… About that “Post On Time” Thing…

It appears that when my computer died, it did not save all of my posts properly to the blog site, but only locally, set to upload at the time specified.  I have a lot of work to do.

It has been a very long time since I have built a computer, and longer still since I’ve had to worry about going from one transfer format to another.  If I were intelligent, I would have kept a backup of all of my stuff on my external hard drive, like I usually do.  This time, I was not so intelligent, and my old hard drive where I kept my blog was IDE, not SATA.  The new computer built is entirely SATA, so I can’t even have a floppy disk drive, or my old DVDROM or my old CDRW, as they were all IDE.  Good thing that when I got the kit I got, it came with the bonus of a DVDRW, so I could at least have the drive to install my operating system!

I have to re-do, from scratch, all of the minnerviews I’d had done (and thought were ready to go).  Alas, it is Monday, the day I double check these things, and I have found otherwise.  So you will have this post about my lapse of proper intelligence (I think the term usually used is “Getting Old and Senile”, or having a Senior Moment), and listen to me rant a little about my older computer’s sudden decision to depart this world entirely.

I must sound very scatterbrained.  Well, for good reason.

In my last post, you read about how my computer made scary noises and quit, but I’d rigged up something passable with new parts on the way.

Just two days after that post, the new computer parts arrived, but the new power supply did not have the cable necessary for my video card.  As you all know, I’m an avid gamer, and my video card is part of my lifeblood for gaming.  I also did not yet have my operating system, which was delayed a day for processing.  I assembled the new computer, rubbing my hands together in glee, and for the time being, transferring my old power supply (with more than sufficient power for the new system to at least get it checked out) from the rigged computer to the new one.  I checked my BIOS settings, made sure there were no IRQ conflicts, made sure the BIOS recognized the hard drive and the DVDRW, the USB hubs, both fans, all four cores of the processor, set the fan speeds and core temperature thresholds, and called it “Good”. Operating system would go in when the new power supply and OS arrived.  Transferred the power supply back in, reconnected everything to the old computer, and set new computer aside in waiting.

Turned on the old computer to continue where I left off.

*click*

…. Excuse me? *pushes power button*

*click*

… Click? WHAT DO YOU MEAN CLICK? YOU WERE JUST WORKING!!!!

Cue me pulling the old computer (which will from here on in be called by the name it was given when it was gifted to me in 2008), Geri Rig, apart to make sure I didn’t miss a cable or something stupid.  Put it all back together, pushed the power button and I get ….

*click*

<Insert LOOOONG string of curses never heard by the ears of man, in at least six languages (yes, I can curse in German, French, Shin’a’in (Mercedes Lackey), Tayledras (Mercedes Lackey), and Japanese apart from just English, and I am learning to curse in Darnassian, Thalassian, Orcish (all from World of Warcraft), and Old Elven (Tolkein), which the computer ignored, taunting me>

I threw my hands up in the air, removed the one SATA hard drive from Rig and put it into the new computer.

When the OS and new PSU (which I was QUITE glad of having ordered now) arrived, I finished the build, booted it up, installed Windows 7, and began the looooong process of installing all of the programs I used every day, like Firefox and iTunes, making sure I had all of my shortcuts in line for programs installed to the USB external, and some from the old SATA hard drive that could be used without full reinstallation.

That mess took me from Wednesday (when Windows 7 and the new Power Supply Unit arrived) until today (which is Monday, remember), when I reinstalled my offline client for my blog.  I went to transfer my drafts and recently posted folders…. to remember that they were not on the SATA drive, or the USB drive.  They were on the only drive not usable with this new computer.  Instead of cursing in six languages this time, I just sighed, since this isn’t the first time this has happened, and I am finding that sometimes new technology, when not able to to be used and fused with the old, is a royal pain in the rear-end.

So, in conclusion – if your computer is capable of dying, USB external hard drives are your BEST EFFING FRIEND.  Leave nothing on your main drive that will cripple you, even slightly, without backing it up to that USB hard drive.

I leave you this week with the promise of a Minnerview next week, and two weeks after that, as per usual, as I go to make sure this time, they are uploaded and not saved on a drive that I cannot access.

Until next week, thank you, as always, for reading!