I love the web, what an amazing source of information that is available at our fingertips. In my youth it was all about encyclopedias, now it's a tap of a few buttons and "Voila". I recently was reading through a friends Facebook timeline and just loved her status update : I am painting a blue square in my backyard so Google Earth thinks we have a pool! Nothing like a good status update to have a good laugh at.

As mentioned in my previous posting, I am new to Australia, so in order for me to remain sane, I am constantly thinking of new things to create. My jewellery is my good old trusty favourite, one that I can turn to when all other crafts fail. I can create the pieces I want to and know that most times they turn out exactly the way I planned...why? because I am passionate about beads. Find what craft makes you tick and get creating.

 Recently, I purchased a new sewing machine, my Brother cs6000i and I can honestly say its the best machine I have ever owned. I was determined to learn the art of appliqué and with the help of the web and the many blogs I have read, particularly craftygemini.blogspot.com.au, I was able to successfully sew up a few outfits for my little girl...and some matching pjs for my big girl.  Not perfect but this is the first time I have sewn clothing.

So if you ever feel inspired to want to create, use google and YouTube to search for hints and tips, I did!

So back to the reason why I am writing this post...I have the privilege of being featured on Jills blog to share my craft with their readers who will hopefully become mine too...you see there is no better way to get traffic to your website than advertising and what a great way to start. Thank you Jill

The success of my craft or yours for that matter depends on how much traffic you can drive towards your site. A potential buyer is out there just waiting for direction...I have sold two pieces already on my madeit.com online store however this has taken time. I have had 250 hits on my site, so just be patient. I know selling online is not easy, people want to touch and feel. Positive ratings or feedback is very important as potential buyers want to know that they are buying from a trustworthy seller. Be open, be honest and be a good communicator. Have detailed descriptions and plenty of pictures. Etsy.com or madeit.com.au are excellent market places for you to sell your wares.

I can't measure my success in monetary terms yet. My success comes from my love of creating the unique piece of jewellery and then when the product does get purchased, knowing that the person wearing the jewellery is loving it too. 

I love what I do and I do what I love, you should too.

ps .... I have posted my absolute favourite chocolate cake recipe in a previous post...give it a try, it is delicious....click here

xx Shelley

NEW !! NEW!! NEW!!

I woke up, this beautiful public holiday.  The weather is a bit on the chilly side as it is nearing the middle of March.  The sun is peeking through the clouds.  As I lay on my pillow, thinking about the day ahead, I remembered these beautiful red beads I had in my box.  They are a deep red and I knew that I had to design a necklace with them. 

It is finished and I love it...here it is.  I will be listing it on Etsy and MadeIt tomorrow.

I do hope that there is a buyer out there for this because I know whoever buys it will LOVE it!  It is a good weight and feels beautiful.  Take a look...and if you love it or know someone who will...send them to my shop....

what a great day

xxx

Name Change...ALERT!!!

Oh my...after weeks of setting up my etsy shop and made it shop and my website and blogspot, I have now decided to change the name.  For practicality and labelling Soupspoon Designs will be better than Soupspoon Gifts...so off to redesign the logo and was this a task in itself.  I had tried many programs and finally settled on using different size banners for my etsy shop and madeit shop and then a full size image for my blog.  These were made on Microsoft Publisher.  I do have a small issue of clarity but I will be playing around on Photoshop to figure out if I can clear (pardon the pun) up this issue.

You may wonder why my shop is called Soupspoon Designs.  I don't sell spoons or make them.  I started off with The Soupspoon Gift Company for my jewellery line.  Soupspoon has been a nickname of my surname for many years.  This was a play on my family name, so The Soupspoon Gift Company was formed however as I am planning on expanding my range to include sewing, labels for the clothing would seem odd with Soupspoon Gifts hence the need for a change and rather now before I start advertising.

So finally welcome to my shop...Soupspoon Designs.  The home of handcrafted jewellery and many future ideas.

Within the next few days, I will be posting some picks of my designs...

Have a good evening...I am off to bed!

And so it began....

I moved to Melbourne a little over three months ago from South Africa. I had never visited Australia but I hadn't visited England either and we moved there in 2000. So would this be so different from that...and yes it was. I moved to England with two small kids, ie no schools to worry about etc but our move to Aussie was so much more. I had to find new schools, places to buy uniforms, stationery, a ballet school, a piano teacher, a mothers group, a church, a shop to purchase pointe shoes and dancing supplies and boy was this a task in itself...but here I am three months down the line. Children loving their respective schools, baby adjusted from the jet lag ( waking at night and sleeping during the day), car fitted with a satellite navigational device...a must for a first timer to Australia.

Now that the family is settled, I needed to find me again...it's quiet during the day, older children are at school and hubby is at work and with baby in tow, I can't venture too far. So out came my beading supplies and it felt so good to be running my fingers through these magical little gems...oh how I missed them. They had been en transit for over two months and then with settling in, they were pushed to the back burner. They are now out again in full glory and waiting to be constructed into a design.

I left many customers behind in South Africa so time to start finding new ones. I began searching online for markets and came across eBay. It didn't seem like the right place for my crafts but I tried it anyway. I must say eBay is great for many things but I know that from my experience, people look for a bargain on eBay. My material costs don't allow me to sell my pieces for 99c so I hit the Internet again, this time I discovered Etsy.com.What a little treasure. Just browsing through the sellers stores kept me up til the wee hours of the morning. I regretted it the next day especially when bubba had kept me awake for most of the night. What a great site and well done to all those clever esty sellers out there. If I could create half the things on there, I would feel like a cat with a bowl of cream....darn lucky. I started my shop, small with a few of my designs.

www.etsy.com/shop/SoupspoonGifts

its a start... But then.... I discovered Australia has a site just like it ....Australia...you beauty!!!

Www.madeit.com.au

and again full of designers that are closer to me. What a talented island this is! So my little shop has opened ...

www.madeit.com.au/soupspoongifts

I have a few designs listed but this is only the beginning...watch this space as I explore ways in which to promote my little virtual shop and grow it into a fun little business. Something to surely keep me out of mischief... So as they say...watch this space and please watch my others too...check out my website too

Www.wix.com/soupspoongifts/welcome

Soon I hope to have my own domain name but for now this will suffice.

Have a great day
xx Shelley