Slow Summer

Summer, the double-edged sword -- it means warm weather, long bike rides, sitting lazily in the Lake, but it also means slower sales, and really expensive markets that I can't necessarily afford. Last year I really went all-out, doing a market practically every weekend, and in the end it was really tiring, and I still just barely scratched by until the pickup in sales pre-Christmas. This year I've only done a handful of markets, opting instead to try to sell my baseball pieces outside of Wrigley Field (which really means sitting with my friends in the sunshine), keeping up with a few small shops that sell my jewelry, and working my hours at Ragstock for fill-in money. It's unfortunate though that Summer, full of fun stuff to do, ends up being the lean time, and I make the majority of my income in the Winter when I want nothing more than to stay inside.

That being said... I really want to go camping right now, but in Chicago, even camping takes more money than I'm willing to spend -- gas, food, renting a camping spot. It's a far cry from when I lived in Virginia, and I could drive half an hour down the Coal Road to a great spot for hiking, swimming, and (free!) camping. I guess you could also say I'm a little homesick these days.

I've been having a lot of fun this past week, riding my bike a lot more, and doing things I would normally either put off, or work through, but it doesn't take away the occasional longing for an open red-dirt road, or a mountain to climb, or a swimming hole.

Here are some of my favorite pieces for this Summer, and I'll raise my glass in the hope that y'all are enjoying these hot, sunny days!

Happy Pride!
Gay Pride Necklace

Reminds me of home.
Magnolia Wood Keychain

Colorful and Pretty
Floating Lace Wall Hanging (Dream Catcher)

Bird Cage Necklace

Just a quick post about a new piece I listed yesterday, and it's perfect for Spring (if Spring is ever really going to arrive).

Blue Birdcage on White & Gold Rosary Chain

These little blue bird cages are so whimsical and sweet, and my favorite thing about them is that the little door can be opened and closed, and there is a tiny swing on the inside.

The chain is a vintage pearly white bead and gold rosary chain, with a small silver skeleton key charm attached, just because it makes it even sweeter.

Right now I only have one of these available, because the rosary chain is hard to come by, but I will be able to make a limited amount of them. Let me know if you're interested in buying more than just one (great for a bridesmaid party, for example), and I can let you know how many would be available.

These really have me looking forward to Spring, but who am I kidding... I've been looking forward to Spring for at least a month and a half, now. ;)

You can find these pieces in my Etsy shop, save them on Wanelo, and now you can also view and purchase them (as well as all of my other pieces) through my website at www.thebigcitybumpkin.com

Romantic Bohemian Dreamcatcher

I know, I know, it's 0-degrees outside, but I'm still holding out hope that this foreign concept of warmth still exists, and might actually be something I experience for myself in the near future. Of course, this is Chicago... so it could be the middle of June before we get to take our sweaters off. I saw a man on the news last night, he had just moved here from California, and though he bemoaned the Winter weather, he said hopefully "But we've only got two months until Spring... one month, maybe..." Bless his heart, he has no idea.

Still, we must march on, assuming that the seasons will change and Spring will arrive, no matter how far away that seems right now.

I'm starting to work on my Spring dream catchers. Most of these pieces would be beautiful hung on your wall at any time of the year, but there's something especially hopeful about the last one I made.

Bright Pink Floral Dreamcatcher, available in my Etsy shop

Something about the colors, the floral pattern, it's just... insistent. Warmer days are coming, I promise.

The fabric on this one is especially nice -- it's from a Ralph Lauren skirt! It's a medium sized dreamcatcher, but once it's hung on the wall it really packs it's punch -- bright, happy, fresh, and oh so hopeful. It won't be long now... right?

Happy Hanukkah, Thanksgiving, and then Start Shopping

I've never been one to get too entirely excited about Black Friday shopping -- or Small Business Saturday, or Cyber Monday, for that matter -- but of course all of that changes when you're the one selling the goods rather than looking to buy them. My Etsy shop has been busier than usual, for sure, and just to cover all of my bases, I opened a Storenvy shop as well!

Visit my Storenvy shop here!

I'm going to concentrate mostly on the City Map Pendants, State Charm Necklaces, and Combo Necklaces in this shop, so if you're more into my Nature Girl // jewelry, Etsy is still the place to go for those. Speaking of, the dream catchers are really starting to take off, so now I know what I'll need to work on over the holiday!

This is my first year doing a vegetarian Thanksgiving, and considering how difficult it is even just to cook a pot of noodles in my studio without blowing out all of the hallway lights, I elected instead to order the vegan Thanksgiving meal from Whole Foods. It's kind of strange for me, because I've been cooking my own Thanksgiving dinner for a loooooong time, and I really hate to give up the control in the kitchen... but hopefully this will also mean less stress, less dishes to clean up, and for sure less money spent. The vegan meal serves 2-3 people, and only costs $30! Of course, I still have to make my own brussels sprouts (the meal wouldn't be right without them), maybe some mac & cheese, and a pie or two, but all things considered, I think this might turn out really well.

So to all of your birds and blokes out there- -- I hope you have a happy Hanukkah, a filling Thanksgiving, and a lot of fun shopping afterward!

First Friday Recap

I can't say enough about how awesome Tessa is, and how much I love her work.

In fact, I think she should just move into my living room, swap redneck stories with me (I'm from Virginia, she's from West Virginia), watch Squidbillies, and teach me how to wear rockin' wigs without looking like a clown.

Seriously, sister rocks that purple wig like it was natural to her.

Her work is equally awesome, as it should be.  Yes, yes those ARE ouija boards that say "fuck off!" instead of "goodbye".

Seriously, get over to her Etsy shop and start buying it all up before she gets really famous, and her stuff costs $1,000s.  Do it now.

Dumbkat Press on Etsy

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Dumbkat Press on Facebook

Paris Map Necklaces, coming soon!

I just received my maps from Paris in the mail, thanks to a sweet lady who was in the space next to me at my first Randolph Street Market -- she lives in France, and picked them up in the transit centers for me.

I've got a Sacre Coeur piece in the works right now, and I'll be able to offer most of the landmarks of Paris pictured on the map.  The Eiffel Tower, of course, is enormous, and will require a slightly larger setting than my typical 1-inch diameter necklaces.  I'll also be able to do particular streets, with or without the little pictures of the nearby landmarks.

So in other news... that car I bought the other day?  It's awesome.  But also, cars are expensive, so in an effort to make some quick cash, I'm running a sale in my Etsy shop through Sunday.  You'll receive 25% off ANYTHING in my shop when you use the coupon code: SPECIALTHANKS453

Be sure to check out my new ombre dip dyed clothing pieces, as well as a few new titanium quartz necklaces, just listed yesterday.

Alright... stay cool, everyone!

Announcement // New Items Coming Soon!

I'm so excited to introduce my new Nature Girl // rock 'n roll jewelry line!  These pieces, as well as several others, will be in my shop this week!

I've been working on them for a few weeks now, I wanted to premier them at the RAW Showcase (which went really well, by the way!!).  I got a great response, and now I'm excited to share them with everyone!

I like to make things that I would wear.  That's actually how this whole jewelry thing started with me, and these pieces are really my heart, right now.

They're natural with modern elements, raw and feminine, rugged yet still delicate.  They speak to both the tomboy AND the goth-hippie in me.  They're extremely versatile, which is great when in one day you could go from jeans and an old band t-shirt to a sequined dress.

There are a few more pieces that aren't yet pictured, but I'll be listing them throughout the upcoming week, so stay up to date on my recent listings through

Facebook

Twitter

and

Pinterest

These pieces will include necklaces and bracelets made from bone, raw amethyst, quartz crystals, coral, and polished agate geodes.

Another Snow Day

It's been wonderfully Wintery and snowy over the last few days.  Not just the old waking up to a blanket of snow, but the really cozy, satisfying snowing-through-lunch or snowing-through-hot-chocolate-breaks.  Just glorious.

So usually when it snows, I start roasting squash like there's no tomorrow.  The same way, I suppose, that my friends & family back East run to the store for the staples -- bread, milk, eggs.  But I wasn't prepared, and I ran out of squashes to roast on the first day of snow, so I had to move on to the next best thing -- making kale and putting it in things.

L: Kale chips with sea salt and garlic.
R: Soup with rice, celery, garbanzo beans, carrots,  and of course kale; topped with scallions.

Even the pets got into the cuddling mood.  It should be noted that Ike & Olivia have NEVER been this close to one another without growling-snarling-swiping, so this was quite exciting for ol' Momma.

L: Ike & Olivia
R: Beatrice the hamster

I've been taking more than my usual hot chocolate breaks, thanks to the vegan-friendly Starbucks hot cocoa mixes I recently found.  Life-savers, really.

Lots of packages to ship out today!  It's a good thing to be staying busy, even though I wouldn't argue with another lazy day on the couch, under blankets, watching horrible TLC shows on Netflix.

I hope everyone reading this is staying warm and cozy, and getting to enjoy some nice Winter weather, too.

Expecting the Expected

I love to ask for advice, but it's somewhat funny how rarely I actually listen to it.  It's not that I don't value the advice I'm given, it's more that I'm always quite sure that things are going to go differently for me than it did for other people.  Sometimes I think it's more important to me to know the advice is actually out there than it is to follow it.  And, sometimes that pays off, in the form of blazing my own trails, and sometimes it doesn't, in the form of my not actually expecting the expected.

I was definitely told that the Holiday shopping season would mean a lot of time spent working, but for whatever reason, I thought that my beautiful check-off lists and planning my working hours (10 am - 4 pm?  Hah!!) would help me to avoid that kind of drama.

It didn't quite go that way.

A 35-40 hour work week?  Well, that's a joke.  I work almost from the time I wake up (9:15 am) until I go to sleep (1-2 am).  Sure, there are breaks for writing emails to friends, or making cookies, and the occasional Netflix movie.  But more often than not, I'm writing emails while printing orders, making cookies while resin cures, and watching movies while I bend jump rings or put stickers on gift boxes.

But the thing is... I like it.  I love it.  I'm busy, I'm frazzled, I always have too many things to do, and I'm enjoying it!  Sure, there are stressful moments where I might forget I ever typed those words... but they pass eventually, and most of the time I feel really awesome about what I'm doing.

It's a great feeling, to be in charge of my own future, to know that I have a say in how successful I am, that it doesn't only depend on my customers (although I love them, and they are pretty important, hehe), that I have control over it!

When I first started this endeavor, I didn't feel like I was in control.  If I had a slow day, I blamed not having enough views on my Etsy shop, or not understanding SEO, or some other reason... but then I realized that there were days when I would have over $100 in sales with only 75 views, and that I could conquer SEO on my slow sale days.

So yeah, I'm tired and I'm having a difficult time not wearing pajamas (there's no time to put on real clothes!), and I don't often lie on my couch sipping cocoa and doing nothing (holiday traditions) -- but I feel so good.  Just so darn good.

So to my customers, and to everyone who supports tiny businesses, and makers of handmade things -- thank you for making this such an exciting time, not just for me, but for all of us!

Holiday Crunch Time

Shout-out to all my other small business buddies who are probably also having a difficult time keeping up with things like blogging, while the holiday shopping rush is hitting hard.  The good news is that people seem to be really into buying handmade presents -- yay!  The bad news is I can't remember much what it's like to sleep for more than 5-6 hours, my whole apartment smells strongly of resin (& cigarettes, lets be honest, gotta keep my strength up), and I haven't seen a clear space in my living room in weeks that doesn't promptly get filled up with jewelry boxes, chains, pendants, and shipping labels.  I have managed to find small pockets of time to decorate our little tree, and to make cookies one afternoon, but other than that, it's been work work work.  Work with Netflix TV shows streaming in the background, to maintain my sanity (although I'm not sure that's what it's actually doing, because after four days straight of Being Human I was pretty much convinced of the existence of vampires and werewolves).

So... exciting news... and part of the reason I've been so busy...  I'm going to have a sale on Fab.com this month!!  It's only going to last three days, and you have to be a Fab.com member to purchase from their site, so if you haven't joined, you can register here.  I think I'm so excited about it because I LOVE the site so much, and I'm always spending all of my extra money on the awesome, fun stuff they offer.  Needless to say, though, it is keeping me busy!!  I'm offering 800 total necklaces... only 200 of which I've actually made, hehe

I've also been working on these cool combo necklaces.

Los Angeles California Necklace Combo

Chicago Illinois Necklace Combo 

Manhattan / NY New York Necklace Combo

Dallas Texas Necklace Combo

So, I hope everyone (small business people, or not) is enjoying the holiday season -- baking cookies, decorating trees, lighting menorahs, and so on.  I think it might be time for me to take a short break, just short enough to go buy some egg nog.  ;)

I left my heart...

I was only out of town for one day/night, but I feel like I left for a week.

Yup, the World Series, baby!  I'll just post the pictures, because I've told the story too many times, and pictures are more fun, anyway.  Unfortunately my iPhone died on the second to last strike before the win (perfect timing, eh?), so most of the shots I got were before the game even started.

Don't ask me how this happened, but Dave and I were front row behind the dugout when the Giants won.  Yeah, that's me in the Giants jersey and orange sleeves, jumping up and down, screaming like a mad woman.  We're still laughing about Dave looking like Elmo or something, in his red hoodie.

But I suppose it's time to come back to reality...  I've been working on necklaces (and very little sleep) since we got back, yesterday.  I had a few orders go through while we were on the road, so I need to get to business here to make up for lost time!

Tomorrow is Halloween, and I still don't have a costume... is anyone doing anything fun?  I was thinking about having a drop-down bucket full of candy system for my apartment window, if I don't end up going out, myself.

The production line is crankin' it out!

Being here all day, every day means that instead of being able to make, at best, 10 pendants/charms a week, I'm able to make more like 40 a week.  So what does that mean?  Lower prices, of course.

The general idea is:

US City Map Pendant Necklaces/Keychains: $9-19

US City Map Pendants

State Charm Necklaces: $15

State Charms

Now, speaking of the production line... I better get back to it!  ;)

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Self-portrait Advice?

So I felt like I needed a model for my necklaces.  I wanted customers to see how/where they hang, what they look like on an actual human... but having mostly male friends, and no money to hire real models leaves me with two options: my dog, or myself.

Yes, I did actually try to get my dog to model a necklace.  He wasn't too into the whole "sitting still" thing, or the whole "wearing a necklace" thing, either.  Imagine that.

So my only other immediate option was myself.  Oh, dear.

Believe it or not, this was the best shot I could get of myself.  I kind of look like I just discovered my boobs, or maybe like I spilled curry down the front of my shirt.  But my hair looks good, and you can see the necklace, so it's a go!

If there's anyone out there who takes their own "model" photos, please, some advice??

Do cute dogs make you smile?

I know, this is ridiculous...

ridiculously cute, of course!

As if my dog weren't cute enough, I went and put him in his skeleton jammies.  He took it upon himself to sit down on the pillow like it was a little doggy-sized recliner, and to watch his neighbors walking by through the window.

I hope y'all had a fun weekend?  Mine was... eventful (we'll leave it at that).  One of my Chicago Flag Necklaces went off on its way to China on Saturday, and that's pretty cool, isn't it?  I've officially crossed international borders!

Chicago Flag Necklace

I think I'm going to hang a map near my desk, with those red pins to stick in to every state my jewelry is shipped to.  I've always wanted to stick pins into a map for some good reason, so there it is.

Autumn

Certainly, Autumn in Chicago is nice -- but there's something to be said for a rural Autumn, as I've experienced it in Virginia, and a couple years ago in Cooperstown NY.

So of course, I made a little treasury on Etsy (view it here)... and now, I'm craving pumpkin donuts, pepper jelly, and pickled garlic like crazy!  I tried to find sellers with really fantastic items, but not a lot of views -- check them out, you'll be glad you did!

Memories of Autumn

Dress Rehearsal

My last day at work is next Friday... of course, I didn't know that before I requested this Monday off, hehe.  Ah well, it's nice to have a long weekend either way.

I worked on the State Charm Necklaces this weekend, and although a few of them still need some polishing, I did list Texas and New York on Etsy.

Pretty cool, huh?  They are, unfortunately, terribly labor intensive... so next Monday I'll throw myself into making them 100%, get a bunch of them done at once so I'm not doing the painful parts of charm-making on a daily basis (threading with the jump rings leaves my fingers blistered and tingling).

I think I'm going to need to create something of a schedule for myself, too, because I've already notice how easy it is for me to slip into laziness, watching too many episodes of Hoarding: Buried Alive with the excuse that it motivates me to clean the house (well, it does).  I've already decided that 12:30 p.m. is "Cuddle Break" with Ike.  That wasn't too difficult to schedule...

I'm going to try to put in 6 hours of solid work each day -- which includes making the charms and pendants, photographing them, listing them, tweaking my keywords and descriptions, updating Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest, and of course writing a little something on here each day.  I'm sure I'll get far more luxurious coffee breaks than I'm used to, as well as eating lunch on my couch with my feet up while reading Anna Karenina, but for the most part, I think it's really important that I treat this like a "real job".  That also means showering, putting on clothes (not pajamas), getting my cup of coffee, and not sleeping until 10 a.m.  All easier said than done, when that cold Chicago wind is rattling my windows, and all I really want to do is drink brandy and cuddle up in a blanket.

If there's anyone out there who has had the blessing and the luxury of running a business at home, however small or large, who has tips for keeping on task, please share them with me!  I'm going to need all of the advice and support I can get!

The itch...

I've been getting it again, the itch, the desire, the absolute need to create something... sometimes it can be so frustrating to feel this way, when I don't necessarily have to focus to even pick just one thing, or the means to support it once I do.  Thankfully, after a few experimentations, it ended up not being too entirely expensive, and I'm really excited to see how it turns out.  No photos yet, I'm waiting until I can hold a finished product in my hand... but, I'm really excited!  So get excited with me, and then look forward to pictures, in a day or so!

New Necklace Line

I'm taking these vintage photos, and running with them!  I've made and listed five, so far, and I'm hoping they will get a good reaction, because they're fun to make.  Imagine that there really is only one -- I just find that fascinating, to be able to wear someones history around your neck, and to be the only one in the world who has it.

You can find them all (and more!) in my Etsy shop!

Ugh... oooh...

I'm feeling icky-yucky, which means I have plenty of time on my couch right now to blog-blog-away, but no real progress to speak of or pictures to show off.  ;)  A catch-22, no?

Well, I am determined to make this weekend as productive as possible.  I really want to get to work on an update of my Sticks & Stones pendants.  It's amazing how difficult it is to find tiny little stones in this city!  All I really needed was an excuse to go to the Lake, right?  Excuse obtained!

I've also got a friend-date (I find this term almost unbearably cute) on Saturday.  I feel like I need to pick out an outfit or something, but I don't want to overdo it.  Strange how difficult or awkward it is to make friends once you become an adult, but at least I'm being proactive about it!  It's too bad we can't all just go up to each other and say "I think you look neat, wanna be friends?" without people thinking we're off-kilter.

Is anyone doing anything interesting this weekend?

Oliva will be reading this weekend... or at least hanging out on a book shelf.

US Cities Map Pendants

Yay, I'm finally getting to work on different US cities!  I did a few of these for my friends & family back in VA, but I'm going to be working on other major US cities soon, and I'll always take requests, of course.  You can make requests at thebigcitybumpkin.etsy.com

Charlottesville, VA

Washington, D.C.

Richmond, VA

Baltimore, MD - This one is for my friend, Xiane