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Sunday, October 17, 2010

****Customization Conundrum****


Hello World, its great to be back after the work-coma last week put me in....


Although most of you guys out there haven't even decided on a costume for Halloween, in the retail world its officially 4th quarter and all about Christmas.  You've probably entered a department store or such and saw the infamous trees, the lights and ornaments, miniature Santas, and other random holiday merchandise slowly creeping its way to the front aisles.  And many of you probably made a quick escape to the nearest exit at the sight to avoid the accompanying panic attack you experience during the supposedly festive season. Unfortunately I am officially informing you that:
  • No, you are not dreaming 
  • Yes, Halloween and Thanksgiving still exist
  • No, no one cares about them anymore
  • And Yes, you should really get started on the gift giving
With this daunting realization you can now better understand exactly why I have been in a work-coma of sorts.  As a Visual Assistant at one of those early-to-rise department stores, my daily tasks have gone from updating mannequins, assisting floor moves, setting up new receipts and weekly cosmetic events to all of the above plus organizing incoming holiday decorations, setting up "Holiday Lane" (our one-stop Christmas department), covering walls in holiday panels, setting up our gift outposts and all in all instigating those panic attacks you get every year around this time.  All of these additional tasks do bring with them overtime (yes!!!) and I take as much as I can get but it also brings fatigue. Normally I would just work the hours, come home and handle a few household tasks before going off to bed.  This year though, I have Naughty Baubles and every time I went to turn on the computer I awoke two hours later with the same blank screen staring me in the face.  And now, as Sunday comes to an end I'm wondering if my body has adjusted to the new schedule and I can resume my blog postings and Etsy updates as usual or if I am bound for another unproductive week (ugghhhh).  Granted I do need my rest to handle my 9-5 but I LOVE working on my jewelry, checking out my favorite blogs and getting inspired by whatever the Google machine can throw at me and I really, really want to get back to that.

Despite the coma and lack of postings I did not forget my passion.  I worked on projects during lunch and really put some thought into last week's Etsy Boot Camp topic, customization and the whole Alchemy option on Etsy.  I began to wonder that if my Holiday season has already started like this, could I realistically keep up with regular sales as well as custom orders.  And its not just the actual making of these orders that concerns me but rather the customer service aspect.  Will I be able to manage customer inquiries in a timely fashion?  The last thing I would want to do is ruin a sale because I took too long to answer a simple color option question.  From the many discussions I have read on this topic, it really appears to be beneficial to have and I'm the last person to turn down potential income.  After countless daydreaming hours spent thinking about this I am no further to a plan than before, but I do have possibles.

In my last DIY Sundays On Mondays, I talked about my foray into wire-wrapping and since that day I have made about 5 new rings and handful or wire-wrapped pendants.  I enjoy making them and find myself able to use larger beads that I otherwise had no real plan for.  In looking at the relatively quick process and rather pretty outcome, I've been thinking about offering the rings as the customized gift option for Naughty Baubles.  For one, I can easily provide a wide selection of beads as options for the customer.  They would be made to fit whomever and, as last week showed me, I can make one or two within my lunch break at work with ease.  With each new ring, my technique gets better and more creative so I really think it could work.









I currently have a few other ideas I am working on and can't wait to show you as soon as the pictures are taken.  I will be working on listing some new items on Naughty Baubles this week as well as formally writing out my Etsy To-Do list.  I've established a picture standard, have narrowed down my business card options but I'm still wavering on packaging.  I mean, it clearly has to be functional and securely hold what ever jewelry piece is inside but after using the Google machine, I've been introduced to a variety of affordable options.  Also, even though last week's posting is coming late, I've started on this week's Boot Camp assignment and will have that posted up by Wednesday.  PhewwwwWish me a better week and I will see you next post.......(which will be in a few moments...lol)

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