Lost! Kate on Trial

I love Lost. Lost is my Wii console, my Guitar Hero, my date, my favorite fantasy world—it's all the entertainment I need. Like Twin Peaks and The X Files before it, it's a show that rewards and teases in equal measures, a delicious puzzle—and the source of some serious eye candy (Sawyer, Jack, Sayid, Jin—it's almost too much! An embarrassment of hot riches, if you will).

Kate screen cap from lostpedia.com

The most recent episode was no exception. You've got the helicopter carrying Sayid and Desmond gone missing, Locke establishing himself as the new island leader, and the flash-forward to Kate's trial for, oh, just blowing up her mother's house with her step-father inside, and then running away to Australia. But during the courtroom scenes, I just couldn't concentrate. I was totally distracted by those gorgeous earrings Kate was wearing.


And so, I present to you the Oceanic Earrings: perfect for all your "Post-airplane-crash-on-a-crazy-island-that-may-or-may-not-
be-a-time-warp/other-dimension Trial For Step-Patricide" needs.


I took a little more color liberty than the inspiration earrings—the electric blue Kyanite has an undeniable Look At Me effect. But hey, if you're on trial, everyone's going to be looking anyway. So why not wear some wow earrings?

Scenes from Midwinter

This is the time of year we all begin to wonder "is spring ever going to make it this year?"
We've had snowcover since early Dec. We'll likely have it for at least another month, if not more. The trees will leaf out in the first week of May, if all goes well.

Some days are gorgeous, and I can get outside and enjoy the beauty of this place. Other days I feel crappy or its sleeting/freezing rain/just plain ugly and I curse the winter. For the last week I've been fighting some kind of bug so its mostly the latter.

But when the sun comes out and lights the frosted treeline, there's really nothing prettier. Except maybe a rose blooming in June. :)

2 YEARS of selling on Etsy.com!

January 25th marked my 2 year anniversary of selling on Etsy.com.

I want to give a HUGE thank you to my wonderful customers who have been nothing but supportive and full of sweet, sweet compliments.

I want to also thank my fellow Etsy sellers who have been such a fantastic font of info, encouragement, and good humor.

I think there are a few basic tips I've learned in 2 years here that could help anyone starting out:

1) Treat every customer as if they were your first.
I wrap each item carefully, handwrite a thank-you note, send a thank-you convo or email for each order. I think that not taking any single sale for granted is key, not only in making your business meaningful for yourself, but also in building your customer base.

2) Invest in a good camera. Buy the best you can afford. Spend as much time as possible taking as many photos as possible. Take photos of the same item at different times of the day to get to know the light in your house. Every season will bring different light, and you'll have to adapt your photo practices accordingly. But the more photos you take, the better you'll get at it.

3) Be honest. For jewelry sellers, if you don't know what a stone is, don't guess, just say "I don't know if this is manmade quartz or glass, but it sure is pretty!" and price accordingly.

4) Focus your off-site promotions to just a few key areas. For me, Blogger, Flickr and Trunkt are the places I've decided to concentrate my energy. You can't be everywhere online all the time, and trying to be could just burn you out.

5) Ship internationally! Figure out a price structure that will work for your items. It's all worth it to get that special rush of pleasure that comes from sending your first package to Hong Kong, Finland, Israel, New Zealand (or the US! :)

Year One was all about learning. Year Two was all about growth. I'm excited to see what Year Three brings!

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered my Bloggy Giveaway Carnival contest to win a free Clementine ring!

Randomizer.org picked a number for me, and I'm pleased to announce that Paige is the winner. Here's her post:

Paige said...

Kyanite Wire-wrapped Ring is my favorite. I think I'm a size 7 or 8, but it's been so long since I've bought a ring I'll have to check on that if I win. Thank you!

9:52 PM

By the way, I saw lots of folks who entered who didn't know their ring size. I found a really handy finger sizer that you can print, cut out, and easily find your size for any finger on your hand. How cool is that?

Paige, I hope you enjoy your ring. And thanks again to everyone who entered. Don't forget, even if you didn't win, you can still get free shipping on anything in my Etsy store by entering code "blogfreeship" in the notes to seller at checkout from now thru Feb 29, 2008.