Gilruth Designs’ Artfire.com shop launched!

Just before Thanksgiving I got the Artfire shop launched!

I currently have 3 hand-knotted pearl necklaces available for purchase. I buy my pearls from Taiko and the pearls are lovely for the price I pay for them. That is why my prices are so low. I have not seen any pearls of this quality at any of the other bead shows I have attended. For instance, I just bought a strand of 8 mm pearls with nice luster for $18.

The Artfire shop is being revamped at the moment because I didn’t get the fancy verified status until yesterday. I have signed up for the year discount, and hope that I can make a go of the shop in that time period.

Some of you may be wondering why I have two shops, and that’s a valid question. I am new to online selling and am actually testing out both shops to see which one I and the customers like best. If they are both successful, I may keep both of them. I will try to make it clear in my posts where items are for sale. Also, I have found that Artfire offers more simple ways for customers to purchase my jewelry. I am finding I am all about doing things the simple way!

I have made a few attempts to set up my own web page, at least as a launch pad, but my skills as a web builder aren’t as good as some of my other skills. My current page seems to get messed up or stop working for no reason. I may still try to make my own page as a launch page in the future, perhaps with a template through my server at Lunar Pages. If any of you have suggestions for a good server with templates I’d appreciate the input. The way things are now, all my server is doing is preserving my domain name for me.

Besides beading, photography is one of my passions. I started taking pictures when I was about 10 years old. I have been surprised at how difficult it has been to photograph my jewelry. Lighting seems to be so much more critical when the subject is small. I normally inventory my beads and jewelry by scanning it, then entering it into my computer system. But my scanner broke, and the new scanner I purchased doesn’t do 3-D. So my whole system is backed up right now. I apologize to my fans for not getting my jewelry out to you in a more expedient manner. Once I get the hang of photographing small objects, I will be back on track and you will start to see more of my jewelry here, on Facebook, and at my two Gilruth Designs shops.

The netted necklace in cream, green and opalescent gold is almost finished. I am looking forward to hearing what you all think about it.

The Cherry Blossom cuff, beaded in delicas with peyote stitch, will be one of my next items to be put up for sale. It is a beautiful piece beaded in blue, pink, dark brown, and green.

In the future, Gilruth Designs will be offering beading patterns for sale (flat beadwork).

Thanks for being a fan; please spread the word to your friends or family who you think would be interested in my jewelry.

Lila Guenther
Gilruth Designs
www.etsy.com/shop/gilruthdesigns
www.artfire.com/users/gilruthdesigns

 

Fans! Thank you.

Thank you to all the fans who have signed up for this blog and the Gilruth Designs’ fan page on Facebook.

As you probably already know, I have set up shop at Etsy:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/gilruthdesigns

I posted 2 new bracelets to my shop today:  Gourmet Gala and Forest Trounce, both seed bead woven.

Also, sorry I don’t have any jewelry pics here at the WordPress blog. I will try to do that soon. With the holidays coming, I am focusing on getting some items posted to Etsy.

It’s been quite a challenge trying to figure out how to use photo imaging software.  I have had 3 programs open at once, plus Wordperfect for descriptions, and my jewelry managing program for bead sizes and colors.  Starting to feel a little buggy (like some of those pics I posted).  Hopefully the pics will improve as I crawl the steep photographing and software tweaking learning curve.

Stay tuned for my bio with pics of me as a gawky kid.

Happy November!

Lila Guenther

 

Gilruth Designs has opened up shop at Etsy

Well, I am so happy – I have gotten 3 items posted for sale on Etsy.  The 2 new items are bracelets; one is a daisy chain bracelet in muted purples, greens, bronzes and blues, and the other is a bright cheery blue and white tubular netted bracelet.

You can see these new items at my Gilruth Designs etsy Shop at www.GilruthDesigns.etsy.com

Dainty Daisy bracelet

 

I’ve updated my blogface

What do you think?

I’ve added a custom banner with my wacky pyramid bracelet as the art.  I also rearranged some widgets.  It’s late at night and now I will retire before I drop onto the keyboard.  Hope you all have a good day.

 

Setting up an online presence

I am feeling a little overwhelmed with the amount of effort it takes to set up an online presence.

I wanted to get all my internet things set up, and at the same time I have been learning about some of the resources online. I have been making new contacts and during that process have discovered that it is very easy to accidentally upset someone – that is, to step on someone’s toes, or insert my foot in my mouth. This can be done by either saying or doing something stupid because I don’t know all the internet etiquette, neither in the general internet world nor the beading communities.

My learning process continues and I apologize to anyone I may have inadvertently upset.

 

I’m a Member of Beader’s Showcase!

Visit Beader’s Showcase

 

Jewelry Business Getting Closer to a Reality

Hello everyone.  I am finally getting most of my ducks in a row and am almost ready to start choosing jewelry to sell online at Etsy and Artfire.

I started beading when I was a kid, then again in college.  I didn’t start beading again until my mom gave me a diamond ring.  I had been looking for the style of the ring online and started noticeing other gemstones – like colored ones.  That got me noticing other jewelry, and BEADS! 

I spent the next 3 years reading beading books and absorbing as much information as I could, while trying out stitches, wearing my jewelry around.  Eventually people started commenting on my jewelry and saying:  “you should sell that.”  Of course I was flattered and I started wondering, gosh, could I sell my jewelry?

Since that time I have made a few customer orders for clients, and have restrung a necklace, and sold a few pieces at a show at the local German society.

I am encouraged that my jewelry will sell once I get some jewelry online.

My next step is to figure out how to photograph my jewelry.  I had been using a scanner which worked relatively well for e-mailing photos.  But that’s probably not professional enough now.  The danged thing is broken now too, so I can’t even inventory my beads and findings.

But I will get brave and try some photography. 

Any suggestions for a photobox would be appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

Lila Guenther

Gilruth Designs

 

Successful Poll Posting

Thank you to the kind person who posted a response to my question in the forum.  I really appreciate it.

As you can see, I have been able to make a poll, and you can all go vote for your FAVORITE STRINGING MEDIUM.

I look forward to your votes, and and comments you may wish to leave here.

 

What’s your favorite stringing medium?

 

Polls

Well, I couldn’t sleep last night and so I tried to set up a poll for you all but the darned thing won’t show up on my blog.  Maybe I need to change a visibility setting somewhere, but I sure didn’t see one.

Maybe I should just stick to jewelry making.

Have a good day everyone.