Frustration

With all this flat stuff I havent had time to bead and its really begining to get me down. Not to mention that I need to do an Easter order for a beadshop.

This week isnt gonna be much better because I'm doing the passport thing on Saturday, I have to go to the flat on Sunday to check out whether or not the lock to the flat is broken. Yes you did read right. The estate agent managed to get into the flat on Monday but by Tuesday when the surveyor was meant to go round the lock was broken... grrr. Then Monday I need to be there again to let the surveyor in and sort our some of the decorating... So much for getting any beading done this week.

The good news is that I have started a diet and this week lost 4 lb... so impressed with myself. Long way to go but here's the start.



Thanx for reading.

Julie

Flat Changes

For those of you who have been following the saga over the last few years… ermmm… there have been some changes.

Following the really sill offer of £20,000 less than the asking price they offered £12,000 less as their final offer… errr, no, me thinks not accepted. It then got interesting because we got an offer for the full asking price… great… you might be thinking… but err no.

A and I had had a long discussion about what we should be doing and we had decided that we definitely wanted to go down the buy to let route ourselves. By the time the mortgage was sorted we should be debt free in 6 months, and still be on the property ladder. Not only on the property ladder but in Aldershot which was one of the places in the country identified by Location Location Location as a good place to invest.

The long and the short of it is, that we declined the full price offer. They then came back the following day saying they would offer more than the asking price… and we still said no.

Now… the only problem with all this is proving that I am who I say I am. My passport has expires, my driving licence is in my maiden name and my wedding certificate is over 6 months old so doesn’t count.

So next weekend I have to get into London for 9.30… arrgggggg….. but at least it will all then be sorted… and the good news is that the letting agent already thinks they have someone to rent the place, how cool is that

See ya soon

Julie

Branding

I've had a eureka moment.....

...I mentioned earlier on in the week that I had been mulling over what my branding is and not getting very far with it. I was saying my peacock beads sell, the tree and aquarium beads have opened avenues to sell the beads, yet people know me for my flowers.

I really didnt know what to do because I'm so aware that having a recognisable brand is what gets you sales.

I was hunting around to make sure that the links to the website were working from other peoples sites as a large number of people come to the site via these links. On the UK Beaders website there is a link to lampwork suppliers and I was checking to see if my name had been added... and it was... but next to it was how Kitsch Kitty had percieved my work.... and now I see it, it is sooooo simple.

I create lampwork jewellery inspired by nature... now how easy and simple was that... lol

Now I can work out my branding and be happy. Thank you Kitsch Kitty

Julie

Flat Sale... cont

We had some more movement on the flat stuff today... I was getting really excited because one of the routes we need to take is to get a new mortgage and for that I need to renew my passport.. and can I get a good photo... err.. no... oh well. Someone was telling me it took them 5 attempts to get a photo that was acceptable as her head wasn't straight then her hair was in her eyes...

Unfortunately I missed my beading time yesterday as I had to drop some papers off at my financial advisor so thats really frustrating... anyway...

... but back to todays news.... we got an offer for the flat... only... it's £20,000 less than the asking price. That represents 12.5% of the selling price... why did they think I would accept that? Some people are strange hey...

Anyway... I discovered that the girl I gave a lesson to yesterday is completely addicted... and her mum and dad are very impressed with the beads... I wonder if we have a new child prodigy here, I think she may well be spending more time in the studio

Thanx for reading

Julie

New Beads 18 Feb 08

So these are the beads that I've managed to clean and photoshop
They will be up on the site very shortly

Its always amazed me how long it takes to clean, photoshop and post pictures

So here are this weeks offerings

Thanks for looking

Julie

Best Laid Plans

I agreed to show a friends daughter how to make beads today... only things didnt quite go to plan.

First of all the dog had left a welcome gift right by the shed door... nice.... then I got in to find that my bead release had frozen.... so with 5 minutes to go I only had one option... I had to microwave it.... I opened the microwave door only to find that the lid of the bead release had flown of.... so now I kinda need to clean the microwave.

I have to say though... smooth'n'tuff bead release seems to like being microwaved... it didnt play up at all today... which I thought with someone new to bead making pulling it around, it might have done... so is this the solution to my smooth and tuff problems... hope so... and may be a tip I need to pass forward...lol

Anyway... this is just a mini post as there will be piccies of the new beads avaliable on my site posted later today... as monday is listings day...

See ya soon

Julie

A Thank You and Some Mullings

First of all I would like to say a big thank you to Caroline Hannon who yesterday nominated me for a you make my day award. Thank you... and err... now I have to go and network to find people I would like to say thank you to... I need to find some friends... lol. I will pass it forward to 5 people I just need to work out who they will be...

One of my regular mullings is about how to make my work better known... and ultimately get sales. In my own head I've moved from hobbiest to professional and I've been suprised by the change of mindset I need to have.

I would describe myself as a lampworker with ADHD... well may be the attention stuff... not so sure about the hyperactivity. As a hobbiest that means that I can make whatever I like when I like, I havent had to worry about selling.

Now as I think about selling I realise because I've tried so many different things its hard to see a brand, and at the end of the day its the brand that sells. For example when I think of Manda at Mango Beads I think of silver cores and well made organics, when I think of Caroline at Crafted Gems I think of bead sets which are great for jewellery, and when I think of Claire at Rowanberry Art Glass I think of fantastic focals....err... and loadsa tree beads.

So what is my brand... well its clear that its my peacock beads which sell the best by a long way, its my tree beads and aquarium beads which have opened doors to new avenues of selling but its my flower beads that people think of when they think of me.

So thats a style but what about a soul. I know that I would like to make jewellery and art beads that reflects my faith, that is honouring to God. So what does that mean... at the moment I'm not too sure... but watch this space and I'm sure it will make itself clear.

Thanx for reading

Julie

Ooo... I might like this Etsy Showcase

I've not had an Etsy shop going that long but I decided that it was worth giving the showcase option a go. Basically £3.50 for a days worth of advertising.

Apparently there are two advantages... you get more people to notice you so you become peoples favorite sellers and it might boost your sales. Well within 4 hours of my 24 hour period I had a sale and a handful of people who love me as a seller... how cool is that... I am now an etsy seller... lol

These are the beads that sold

See ya soon

Julie

The Flat Saga Continues

New Beads are on Etsy http://www.juliemerrett.etsy.com/

For those of you who are not aware I'm going for the record on how long it takes to sell a flat... we're currently on 4 and a half years with 4 buyers pulling out at the last minute. Quite an achievement I think.

I went back to the flat for the first time today since the non-paying lodgers moved out. Oh my, its in a mess. So I guess me and my paint roller will be getting to know each other... I sooooo don't like that job... but I need to cover when someone has drawn on the wall, someone has painted black board paint on the wall... and as for the random cupboard that were put up and removed... it looks like the wall has chicken pox.
And the question is... how do you forward important post to people, when you dont know thier address? The pile of post in the flat was so high it is silly and from the look of the outside of the envelopes I think one of them has just got points on their driving licence and I guess a fine... but they wont know about it becuase the letters have gone to my flat... so the question is what do I do. The evil part of me has one idea and the moral part of me says I need to find a way to forward it to them.Anyway...we've dropped the price of the flat... the estates agents are now in a race with the finacial advisor. The estate agent wins if they find a buyer before the buy to let mortgage comes through... but what ever way the estate agent wins if we let it out through them...

See ya soon... and lets hope this saga is coming to an end.

Julie