Beth Cyr: November 2011

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Blog-o-sphere Think Tank - What am I thankful for?

Such a fabulous topic for this time of year!

A friend of mine asked me to substitute teach for his yoga class. It's a little bit different class than what I've been teaching, or even just the standard beginner class, so I've been doing a bit more preparing than I usually do. I decided I'm going to add a "gratitude" theme to the class - seemed fitting as it will be 2 days before Thanksgiving!

In thinking about what to teach, it has gotten me thinking about all that I have to be thankful/grateful for. All those little things that we usually take for granted every day (or maybe not depending on who you are!) - easeful breath, smooth joint mobility, the ability to bring awareness to all those little things...

I'm thankful to be happy, to have learned tools to work towards greater ease and happiness. I can still get stressed, have a mental melt down and feel unnerved, but I've learned how to move past those things much more quickly. It is kind of subtle, but something I am extremely thankful for.

There is also a huge list of other things of course, love of my sweet heart, amazing friends and family, the best kitty in the world (although most cat owners think that... haha!), my health, a successful business, no debt other than the usual mortgage and student loan (though i am thankful those are both being paid down at an excellent rate!), health, happiness, and my brand new yoga ball that is super fun to sit on while I work. :)

Make sure to check out the other participants this month!

Andes Cruz: http://www.andescruz.wordpress.com
Kathleen Krucoff: http://mysticalmythicalmetalwork.wordpress.com/
Stephanie Clark: http://thethinkingsofacoldweathergirl.blogspot.com
Diana Fazio: http://metooiguana.blogspot.com/

Monday, November 7, 2011

EtsyMetal Blog Carnival - 11.7.11 - Holiday Preview

This month's EtsyMetal topic is "Holiday Preview".

When I first saw the topic, I thought I might not participate. The past couple years since my business has changed, my approach to the holidays is much different. Considering the vast majority of my orders are "made to order" and I'm usually on a 5 - 6 week turn around... well, most shoppers are too late by the time they notice or get around to thinking about it. I, too, am a late shopper, so I totally understand.

This year, I'm trying to think ahead a little bit. Though I may not end up actually making a lot of new pieces for the holidays, I will be offering a lot of ready to ship items. I often make rings as samples, or exchange out sizes, and end up with a stock of rings that, in theory, wait around until someone comes along and just happens to need that exact width/size/style, etc... Which does happen sometimes.

However, with rings I make as a new design or sample idea... often, not many people ever see them. I even have photographs of most of them! It is the editing and the listing that I never seem to make time for. I wish the photos would magically just directly upload to etsy, perfectly sized and that the descriptions would write themselves.

So this year, I've already started getting to work - taking and editing those photographs and *gasp* actually creating listings! Friday I put up 9 new listings! woohoo! and more will be added every week. Great for me, great for customers who want me to be able to actually ship something the next day (or same day). I also have a lot of earrings, pendants and bracelets just sitting around up to no good. Pieces that would be fabulous for holiday presents!

These items have been listed already:

Diamond Studded Lunar Landscape Pendant