Adding some depth

A few months ago my son, husband, and I took a walk to a small rocky beach during a family birthday party and discovered a wonderful treasure-trove of sea glass. As there was so much strewn about amongst the rocks, we figured the area had to be relatively unknown; a hidden gem of sorts.  As with all of the sea glass and beach treasures we have collected over the years, I put it in a pretty jar to display in our house and left it at that.  Over time whenever I'd look at it, I thought about collecting more and more, so despite the bitter cold of January, I convinced my family to go back to our new favorite spot to hunt again.  However this time, I wanted to do something with it.  Something decorative.  That's what I have always wanted...something creative and artsy to add to my shop.  We gathered up a bagful of pieces, took them home for cleanup, then I just stared at them.  I thought of many different things I could do, but nothing really resonated.  On a lark, I wrapped some wire around a piece and posted a picture on my Facebook page.  My comment beneath it was something about not planning to make jewelry, but it's fun to make a few pieces while trying to decide what to do with the rest.   Immediately my friends started commenting on how pretty the piece was and encouraging me to make more.  So I did. Lots more.  So many pieces that I am overloaded with pendants now, but luckily people are still interested.  I just need to get those sales going on Etsy or JoatmonCreations.com, but I am confident they will start rolling in soon.  It's just too fun to make them, so I won't give up. 

Now this is where I start thinking about my last blog entry which was all about "Guiding Words" and how my word for 2019 was "DEPTH".  I love that I am adding more depth to my offerings.   The tagline for my shop is "Handmade Novelties and Gifts" so offering jewelry really falls into this classification.  I want to be a one-stop shop for people that are looking for unique items as well as functional ones. Of course adding a new product line will bring it's own challenges, as I already have way too many things on display when I set up at craft fairs.  But I am hoping to be better at judging what the customers want at each event I attend, so I can limit what I set up.  It can be difficult to do this, since every fair in 2018 had quite a mix of different product sales.  But this is why "depth" is so important to me.  I hate limiting myself and I hate limiting my customers.  My ultimate goal is to become the first shop someone thinks of when they need to buy a gift. I do already have a nice base of repeat customers (whom I love!!), but I'm hoping to get someone new to my site to see the pendants and then next thing you know they are clicking around exclaiming "wow, you make that, too?!" 

A girl can dream...(with depth)...right?