A NEW New Years

Every year, I work with a different women’s nonprofit and create for them a custom piece of jewelry to be sold as a fundraiser.

This year, I am creating a piece for Ophelia’s Place, a small nonprofit whose mission includes: “…Empowering individuals, families, and communities to redefine beauty and health through initiatives that increase self-esteem, improve body image and introduce alternatives to dangerous desires for perfection.”

I learned about this organization only because I drive by it every time I’m upstate visiting my parents. But after meeting the Executive Director and seeing the facility, I have to say I am blown away by Ophelia’s Place.

Since meeting with the ED, I’ve been thinking a lot about body image; my perception of my own body and how I observe the bodies of others. It’s the New Year, and for so many of us, a new year comes with resolutions to lose weight. January is often a month spent repenting for the holidays “transgressions” and trying to fix the imperfections we see when we look in the mirror. Of course, the problem is that once you become caught in the cycle of body-hatred, it’s pretty tough to get your mind to stop running that loop.

One of the handouts Ophelia’s Place distributes includes the list below. I’ve decided to make sticking to this list my resolution for the New Year.

Revolutionize Your World

*I choose to listen to my body.

*I choose to redefine beauty, success and health.

*I choose to believe I am more than a number on the scale.

*I choose to accept a compliment.

*I choose to challenge the distorted beliefs I have about my body and my worth.

*I choose to take up space in this world.

*I choose to stop the diet talk.

*I choose to throw out my scale and clothes that don’t f it comfortably.

*I choose to start meaningful conversations and getting to know my neighbors from the inside out.

*I choose to change the subject or walk away when the conversation turns to

berating our bodies.

*I choose to provide a variety of foods, none being labeled “good” or “bad”.

*I choose to not comment on my body, my child’s body or the bodies of others.

*I choose to listen harder to what my children are saying and not saying.

*I choose to celebrate others for the joy they bring to my life rather than how they look.

*I choose to give of my time and be a role model.

*I choose to challenge narrow thinking.

*I choose to spread the word that beautiful, healthy people come in all shapes and sizes.

*I choose to start living my life now!

For me, I think I need to make more of an effort to *accept a compliment* and to *change the subject or walk away when the conversation turns to berating our bodies* and to *choose not to comment on the bodies of others*

As for the custom necklace for Ophelia’s Place, stay tuned!

I Went for a Walk/ On a Winters Day....

Remember summer? Ohhhh those were good times.

On the boardwalk in Santa Cruz this past summer while traveling up the coast doing craft shows.
 

Picking a Name for Your Etsy Store -- The Good, the Bad and the Ridiculous

Another deliciously wild year ends, and a new one begins. In the spirit of new beginnings, I'm posting a section of my Etsy Seller's Guide for your reading enjoyment:

When picking a name, there are lots of factors to keep in mind:

Uniqueness - Obviously, you’re going to want to search Etsy
first to see if someone has already registered your business
name. If it’s taken, you can pick a new name or you can tweak
the name you want to use. For example, if MarysJewelry is
taken, maybe JewelryByMary is available.

Typically, I don’t think names like JewelryByMary or
TarasTees are good business names. Do names like these
make you curious about the company or products they are
selling? Probably not. Now, how about these (real!) Etsy names:
PulpSushi. UrbanEden. BlendedSplendid. These names are fun
to say, memorable, and they make you want to know more.
Once you’ve confirmed that your name is available on
Etsy, it’s time to go to Google and see who else is using that
name. Put your chosen name in quotation marks in the search
bar, and see what the results yield. If you find your name is
already being used, it’s best to move on because, 1) You might
run into some problems if the name is trademarked, and 2) You
want your name to be easily found using a search engine, not
buried under 100 similar names. Also, keep in mind that even
though today you may only be interested in selling on Etsy, in
the future you may want to begin blogging or buy a domain
name, so check a site like Network Solutions
(www.networksolutions.com) to see if your business name is
available as a “dot com” or a “dot net”

Findability - Ok, so I made that word up. Regardless. Imagine
this scenario: You’re hanging out at a BBQ, wearing a tee shirt
of your own design. A guy comes up to you and compliments
you on the fabulousness of your shirt, to which you might reply,
“You can buy it on my Etsy page, “KathysKrazyKreationz”. Later
on that night, your inquisitive tee-shirt loving buddy goes home
and searches “CathysCrazyCreations.” He can’t find your shop,
but he does stumble on some other cool designs by another
Etsy artist. So long, sale! Another name failure: “UneekTieDye.”
It sure is “uneek” to spell unique that way…in fact, you’re going
to remain unique, because no one is going to be able to find
your shop! A final scenario: The original name I had for my
business was Pomme & Granite. I thought it was witty. Pomme
& Granite, sounds like pommegranite... The more I told people
about it though, the more I found myself repeating the name,
explaining it and spelling it. It was confusing and it didn’t roll off
the tongue.

When you are deciding on your business name, it’s
essential that the name is findable. That means no wacky or
tough-to-spell words, no names that involve a long string of
numbers, and no names that are similar to a thousand other
businesses. You need to distinguish yourself from the masses
and come up with a name that is both memorable and unique.

Tell a Story - Your name doesn’t have to describe what you’re
selling. In fact, you may be wise to not get too specific when
picking your name. If you plan on selling crocheted potholders,
the name PerfectPotholders may seem, well, perfect, today. But
what if, in six months from now, you decide to branch out and
begin selling crocheted scarves and hats too? Suddenly, your
name is confusing to your customers and no longer accurate.
Rather than getting too specific with your name, pick a name
that conveys a feeling and paints a picture in the mind of the
buyer.

A Final Thought - Keep in mind that you’re going to be saying
your business name over and over again. If you pick a name
that you continually have to explain, repeat, or justify, it’s going
to get pretty tiresome.

Gawker Asks....

Oh, now this I love!

Gawker asks, "Who is the hipster of the decade?"

As a city dweller, I need only pedal my bike over the Pulaski Bridge to find myself deposited into that Hipster Heaven known as Williamsburg, Bklyn. Thus, I am anxious to see who prevails. (I purposely used "prevails" and not "wins" b/c really, are there any winners here?

I have my own thoughts as to who is the hipster of the decade. See if you can spot that diamond in the rough:



While you wait with baited breath for the Gawker results, entertain yourself with some not-yet-celebrity hipsters.

White Christmas

Today I learned the definition of "snood":

Pronunciation: \ˈsnüd\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English *snod, from Old English snōd

Date: before 12th century

1 a Scottish : a fillet or band for a woman's hair b : a net or fabric bag pinned or tied on at the back of a woman's head for holding the hair

Hmm, totally useless information. 

Heres my favorite kind of Snood:

I'm sick of talking about jewelry, thinking about jewelry, and even making jewelry. I'm sick of lugging my suitcases filled with displays up and down the stairs of my apt. At this point, my fingertips are just ten cracked knobs of black-stained skin.

Luckily, the insanity ended at 4:30 today, when i left the last few boxes with their new owners.

Now it's time for relaxing, eating and letting my poor little fingers heal. For a day or two, at least.

Merry Christmas!

I sort of gave myself the afternoon off today. I had to put in the requisite four hours at my office job, and then intended on a quick trip to the metal store before going home to work.

Instead, I walked up to Grand Central to check out the Holiday Fair. It's a nice mix of artisans and of course I love to check out the jewelry. But I was a little bummed this year; the quality just wasn't what it's been in past years. One booth of jewelry and knick knacks looked like cheap imported crap that you could buy in a souvenir shop. Yeek.

By the way, the stats for vendors at this show?? In 2008, booth were going for more than $12K. Average sales per booth?? $93K. Wowza

Good Morning!

Karrie with her morning "coffee" at a craft fair this weekend. Makes the day pass a little quicker :) And helps you make friends with the other crafters!
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Just arrived

1000 new QNZ Metal business cards. Hooray!
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Manet and Booze

Shopping online tonight for Christmas presents. I was thinking about getting Mikey an absinthe fountain, though it seems like the nice ones all begin at $150 and only skyrocket in price from there. But, my absinthe research led me to something far more interesting: Absinthe spoons.

As someone whose knowledge of absinthe extends no further than the fact that I appreciate the painting "The Absinthe Drinker," I discovered tonight that the sugar that is mixed with absinthe before drinking is often stirred in with a special spoon. And these spoons are really freaking awesome works of art.

Very inspiring! I'm imagining these spoons as jewelry -- pendants or bracelets. I'll have to add that to my litst of the gazillion projects I've yet to begin...

Greyhound

Bus: Syracuse to NYC. Me and Mikey crammed into one bench seat. Making price tags with shiny thread.
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Sometimes You Eat the Bar....

And sometimes the bar eats you:

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6350328

Boo

Happy Halloween!!

Seva Sensational

ElsieQ is here! And whenever she visits, inevitably the first thing that happens is we order take out from our absolute favorite local Indian restaurant. Last night, though, we got a little carried away:

In our defense, there were eight of us ordering. And it was deeeeeelicious!

The View from Two Feet Up

While driving up the coast this summer, Elsie Q and I met a 20 year old Dutch guy named Halbe. He joined us on the road from San Luis Obispo to Monterey. We had a great time together, and it was really sad to say goodbye.

Two weeks ago, Halbe emailed me to tell me that he and his older brother were coming to NYC for holiday, and could they stay with me?

Of course.

So, that's how I've come to have two very tall Dutch men sleeping on air matresses in my kitchen since Wednesday.

 

I've sort of spent the past few days feeling like I'm shrinking.

Other than that, having the Dutchmen around has been totally fantastic and I'm sad to see them ago.

Of course, we had to send them off in style with an impromptu 29th Street dinner party which included fajitas with massive amounts of toppings, a variety of seasonal beers, Karrie impulsively deep frying pickles, and Mikey D contemplating if his distended stomach could be atttributed to pregnancy or just a food baby.

 

 

Good times, good times. Next up, Holland! 

Moron

On the phone with Palma:

"I'm just stressed"
"You're always stressed"
"I know. It's ridiculous"

I think that my body does not know how to operate without stressing out about something. And if there is nothing legitimate to stress about, then I either make something up or create stress for myself.

This week, I foolishly agreed to write a story for a NYC-based magazine. It's something I pitched to them a few months back, but never really followed up on. Last week they contacted me to say they were still interested in the story... and could I have it done in a week?

Of course, I say "Sure!"

What a moron.

Anyways, I took some pics of new pieces today. Here's a few:

Metal Love

I'm digging these new silver and gold-fill pendants. I hope customers like them too...