Time to get the shop going

 



Lily's earrings: Sterling silver hooks, double twist dangle

 and headpin. Swarovski bicone crystals and Czech glass -
rondelles and firepolish faceted round beads.

 Well, after finishing these two gorgeous necklaces for our friend Ali, and these three pieces of jewellery for Liz's Mum - the latter as a gift for her granddaughter Lily; it's time to get our Etsy shop up and running! Especially if we want to sell anything for Christmas.

Detail of Ali's necklace

Not that it's terribly hard, to get an Etsy shop going. It's just that we want: our policies in place, our shop banner done, our photographs to entice viewers to view our goods, and our prices to be fair to the amount of work we put into each piece (not that this is remotely possible, but at least to ensure that we pay ourselves, and not just cover the cost of materials.) And to have all this done by the time our living down here One Year Anniversary comes around - November 19 -  Hmm...thankfully the Etsy blog The Storque has heaps and heaps of tips and great ideas, not to mention "how to's."

So, I'll start by checking out some shop policies of Etsy shops I like...



Lily's necklace: Sterling silver butterfly,
and as for bracelet



Lily's bracelet: Sterling silver open-wire rondelles,
Swarovski crystal rondelles and bicone crystals.
Czech faceted glass - rondelles and firepolish faceted
round beads. Sterling silver clasp and LizCat tag.



 





Swarovski "disco ball" and bicone crystals, Czech firepolish faceted glass round beads,
Indian foiled glass square beads, Sterling silver clasp, end caps and LizCat tag.
Non-tarnish artistic wire.





Thai Hill Tribes silver "squashed sticks" and beaten ovals, Swarovski "disco ball"  and bicone crystals, black and white Lampwork beads from Flamin'Beads, Czech faceted glass rondelles and black onyx briolettes. Sterling silver clasp, end caps, chain and LizCat tag. Non-tarnish artistic wire.

Can we...?

Can we make a living by being creative? We hope so! We both make jewellery and cards. We are slowly setting up our Etsy shop LizCat in order to sell them. Having both been ill-health retired from teaching relatively early in life, we are both still quite unwell and desire to nurture our bodies and minds back to health - and yet still have an income of some sort!!! Having lost nearly all our money thanks to our financial advisers, the now defunct Storm Financial (hiss, snarl), we chose to move to this haven in Northern New South Wales...

This is the view from the deck looking across the Clarence River to Yamba, and yes, it is this beautiful! Often, more so!!! Imagine being able to hear cows eat and watch birds, butterflies, kangaroos and cows, as well as this river. This peace is healing.