A Month in Review for March 2013

So one of the lists that I did earlier this month was this.

And I am proud to announce that I accomplished the following...

1. Complete all 30 lists successfully.
2. Finish painting at least one painting. (link)
3. Plan the San Francisco trip.

It's not everything, but hey, at least I have more than half accomplished! I'm still frightfully behind on my photo editing for the Japan trip, and my next trip to Beijing is already looming ever so close. (in less than a week!) But not to fret, I still have a week, I'm not fully prepped but I'm not totally unprepared as well. And so, I shall start the preparations for the trip tomorrow.

Welcome 2012!

2012 greeting card - laurageorge

To anyone that is reading this, happy new year!! May 2012 be a brand new year with lots of personal growth and abundant joy and inspirations. Indeed, there are a lot of amazing adventures ahead!

I don't have the habit of having new year resolutions, but I can see how that can be motivational in the long run. So here are my resolutions!

• Start a second shop on Etsy. Probably selling prints or other type of paper-related home decor wares. Who knows, I might even start a supplies destashing shop!
• Reach 600 sales in Skyejuice by the end of 2012!
• Work hard, but also remember to play harder! My Xbox is feeling lonely.
• Draw more! Current goal - one artwork per month! I might even start a tumblr account to post random sketches and photographs.
• Update this blog more promptly! (trying, really I'm trying!)
• Lose weight.

And maybe, just maybe, I can quit my day job this year! But that remains to be seen.

So what resolutions had you set this year? Whether for yourself or for your blooming online biz? Do you have success somewhere listed down in your new year resolutions?

The Month of June

Sterling Silver Keishi Pearls by daimblond

June birth stone : Pearl

It's june, IT'S JUNE!! Counting down 25 days until my flight to the great land of USA!! :D I am soooo unprepared that I am already freaking out omg! But I must be calm and collected, and get things done before I leave for my trip. So this month I'm going to take it reaaaaal easy in terms of Etsy store management. :)

These are the goals for May!

1. 175 sales.

2. 720 shop hearts.

3. 160 items.

In which I achieved...

1. 179 sales! Woohoo!!

2. 661 shop hearts, sobs.

3. 146 items. (lol)

It's ok, considering that I am cycling out some older stuff and just waiting for them to expire, it's alright to have a little lesser items. Although, it seems like I am forever stuck in the mid 100s and could never reach 200... Anyways! Here are my goals for June!

1. 185 sales.

2. 720 shop hearts.

3. 150 items.

Yes, being extremely humble. I am itching to make new things, trust me, but I just do not have the time amongst my preparation for the US trip! But I guess the itch can only be cured when I get back. :D So until then I'm going to take it real easy~ But I do have a giveaway planned for this month, watch out for that. ;D

The Month of May

Wire Wrapped Gothic Necklace by creativityjewellery

May birth stone : Emerald

Gosh, 2011 is just flying by isn't it? It is already May and I'm less than two months to US! Eek!! Really need to buckle up and pick up that pen and paper soon to start drawing!

But before I start doing that, I shall see how I did in the month of April. These are the goals that I set out to achieve last month...

1. Get to 170 sales.

2. Get to 700 shop hearts.

3. Fill the shop to 180 items.

In which I achieve...

1. 163 sales. (sales really slowed down in the last half of April)

2. 634 hearts. (did not meet goal, but still not too bad)

3. 152 items. (Uhm...)

I guess I failed on all areas didn't I? XD;; I guess it can't be blamed since I really didn't do much for the whole month. BUT, I did get two custom orders for weddings, which is awesome. :) Aside from that I also got into Curation Nation, a treasury-making team on Etsy, which is awesome so far as I met a bunch of super friendly team mates! I also won one of their weekly challenges woohoo! And the indirect prize for that is a FP feature on Etsy, thanks to awesome teammies!! :D I wish I could spend more time with chats and discussions but life is just so taxing sometimes.

So for the month of May, I will take it easy, real easy!

1. 175 sales.

2. 720 shop hearts.

3. 160 items.

Not aiming too high, as I have a lot of other non-shop related projects that I really want to complete for my US trip. I won't forgive myself if I don't complete them!! Will post progress and reveal later in future postings. :)

The Month of April

Rough Diamond Stud Earrings by LexLuxe

April birth stone : Diamond

Hey, I'm born in the month of April, means people should get me diamond gifts hahahaha! *dreaming* Alright, back to business. Let's conclude March alright? In the beginning of last month, these are the goals that I had set for March.

1. Get to 140 sales.

2. Get to 550 shop hearts.

3. Fill the shop to 195 items.

In which, I achieved...

1. 147 sales. (wut?)

2. 580 hearts. (Yey!)

3. 167 items (Hahahaha <- sad laugh)

In overall, I think I didn't do too bad! o.O I got more sales than I thought I would, and in reflection to that, the amount of items had largely declined in my shop, lol! I already have 3 sales in April, the stats above does not include that 3 sales which added up to 150 sales for me now, yey!

If I try to rationalize, what I did right and different, compared with the past, is that I joined a few treasury teams and became more active in curating treasuries. I curated a whooping 14 treasuries last month! o.O;; That's on average 1 every 2 days, damn. I also hit the FP once last month. Although it didn't directly resulted in any sales, but I got tons of views. :) So, yippee!

Alright, let's set the goals for April shall we?

1. Get to 170 sales.

2. Get to 700 shop hearts.

3. Fill the shop to 180 items.

Although I have a feeling I will be less successful... especially with the amount of shop items part, haha. But we'll see. :) It's been a while since I made anything new for the shop, and I've been itching to do it for a while now! So here's to hoping for a great April!

The Month of March

Moss Aquamarine Earrings, Wood Nymph by Polestar

March birth stone : Aquamarine

Can't believe it is March already. February seemed to pass by in a flash. (although only having 28 days, it doesn't help!) March is going to be an intense month for me, and I will explain in a bit. First off though, let's conclude the month of February. :D The goals that I had set for February was...

1. Get to 125 sales.

2. Get to 550 shop hearts.

3. Fill the shop to 190 items.

In which I achieved...

1. 124 sales. (1 sale short!!)

2. 490 hearts. (I didn't really advertise a lot this last month though)

3. 180 items. (Lol)

In conclusion, I didn't meet them all lol. (no surprise there) I shall try to do better in March, but it might be difficult. So I'm going to go lightly with March's goals...

1. Get to 140 sales.

2. Get to 550 shop hearts.

3. Fill the shop to 195 items.

And guess what? Skyejuice is going to be 1 year old in March :D It marks the day that I created my first listing in my shop. I am going to have a 1-day anniversary sale so watch out closely during March 10th!

As for the reason why March is going to be hellish for me...

(please excuse the mosaics, my photo is just horrid)

I passed my US visa interview!! Now I am all clear to enter the US and I will be going to San Francisco in late June! Soooooooooo excited!! I had been planning this trip since last July, and the interview to get the visa is the most nervous of them all, although in the end it turned out to be easier than I thought... The main purpose of my trip is to visit my dearest friends in San Francisco, as well as my childhood friend who moved there a few years ago. (I miss her so) However, while I am there I will be attending 2 events as well.

Anime Expo 2011 in Los Angeles and Renegade Craft Fair San Francisco!! :D :D :D Anime Expo was on my list all along, the trip was planned all around it. I even got my ticket and table for Artist Alley back in October. It will be from July 1st-4th, and I will be selling prints of my artworks and some jewelry there. :)

Renegade was totally unexpected! When I was planning for the trip, I was thinking... "Hey maybe there will be craft fairs in San Francisco when I'm there!" And wah-lah~ Renegade announced their date early January, and it is exactly a week after Anime Expo!! :D I will probably try and get a booth at Renegade too, keyword is try. But I don't mind if I get rejected too, I would go anyway. :) So for the mean time, would love to find someone to share the booth with for Renegade!! Will probably start looking soon.

Even with Renegade aside, I will be super busy working on my inventory for Anime Expo. My deadline is mid-April which is when I will ship out whatever I have prepared then to my friend's place in San Francisco, since the cheapest form of shipment - freight via surface, takes roughly 2 months. So wish me luck!!

The Month of February

Wire Wrapped Amethyst Necklace by PoppyLayneStudio

February Birth Stone : Amethyst

Hello from the pass! This is a scheduled post that I typed yesterday because I am currently away for a short vacation during Chinese New Year. The shop is not in vacation but all purchases will be shipped on February 7th because the post office is on a long weekend holiday as well. :)

A lot had happened in January, and one of them was... my items hit the front page for the first time!! I got a whooping load of page views and sold 4 items overnight! I am SOOOOOOOOOO ECSTATIC!! This drove me to make more! Too bad that I can't relist my bracelet that hit the FP because I ran out on one of the pearl colors, and my supplier had not restocked yet either. :( But anyways, here is a summary of January in overall. The goals that I had set for January was...

1. Get to 105 sales.

2. Get to 450 shop hearts.

3. Fill the shop to 200 items.

In which I achieved...

1. 115 sales. (WHOA, overshot!)

2. 470 shop hearts. (Also overshot!)

3. 169 items. (Hahaha!)

Surprisingly, I sold more in January than in December, which is... kind of weird. In overall, January really was an eventful month for me. A few factors might have affected the stats you see above, such as my item hitting the front page, me donating a few items to help the Australian Flood Appeal, and disabling a few listings due to certain reasons.

I am still in the midst of a shop makeover for Skyejuice though, which hopefully will bring more sales to the shop and strengthen my shop's image. So I will be more gentle for this month's goals. :)

1. Get to 125 sales.

2. Get to 550 shop hearts.

3. Fill the shop to 190 items.

Also trying to figure out how to revamp the blog or should I move it to wordpress. Hmm... decisions decisions! I am planning for a giveaway for when I decided what to do on this, so watch out! ;)

The Month of January

Garnet Bracelet : Cranberry Sauce by GlitzGlitter

January's birth stone : Garnet

First post of 2011! And I will be discussing about goals of course. But before that... is it me or is the time passing faster as we get older?

Anyways, December in overall wasn't a very good month for business, I wonder if my shipping deadline had anything to do with it. (probably did, but eh...) Here are the goals that I had set for December.

1. Get to 110 sales.

2. Get to 450 shop hearts.

3. Fill the shop to 185 items.

In which I achieved...

1. 100 sales. (at least I hit 100!)

2. 401 shop hearts. (I always seem to fall short on this)

3. 175 items. (I do have a few I haven't upload)

In conclusion, I failed all of them lol! But it couldn't be helped, as my activity in the Etsy shop was almost close to nil as I was busy with something else.

Now I know that January will probably be a slow month, what with the shopping season already passed and all, so here are my goals for January.

1. Get to 105 sales.

2. Get to 450 shop hearts.

3. Fill the shop to 200 items.

Not expecting a lot in terms of sales, but putting more faith in productivity. :) Hopefully I will be able to fill the shop up with more new stuff! Not to mention I'm going to start the revamp for it very soon. So here's to hoping that everything will go as planned. Here's a picture as motivation!!

YES WE CAN!!!

A Creative Odyssey Blog Hop - My creative goals for 2011

Haha not really. But having starting this blog and my Etsy shop in 2010, I must admit that there were quite a few mistakes made, that's normal for the beginning of any business right? :) So one of my aim was to not repeat those mistakes again, and do better next year.

So here in this post, I would like to share my creative goals for the upcoming 2011! Unlike some people who wrote about their goals in a more philosophically grey area, I am the type that like to lay things out loud and clear. So that towards the end of 2011, I would know for sure if I achieved them or not. I have a rather long list, so bear with me okay? :)

I had the ideas for PaperJuice, my second Etsy shop, for a good long while, and was actually planning to launch it in September. But of course life gets in the way and I didn't get around to do that. During that period up until now though, I had brewed quite a few more ideas to help grow PaperJuice, and truth to be told, I really can't wait to start PaperJuice!! If only I had more time!

This is definitely on the top of my to-do list for 2011 - to finally launch PaperJuice. I even had the name already reserved on Etsy. Now I just need to improve the products until I feel they are ready and define a clear direction for the shop. PaperJuice will be all about paper products and wall art. The alphabet cards you see in the picture above is just a small part of the entire shop. :) I definitely won't repeat the same mistakes I made for Skyejuice with PaperJuice!

My ideal work space - Found via Papernstitch blog

If only!! Currently my bedroom is my workspace, and I can tell you, it's quite messy and unorganized. With my growing amount of supplies and the supplies gathered for PaperJuice, I would definitely need more storage space and a more organized workspace.

My dad had agreed to help me reorganize my room, by getting rid of a few unwanted furnitures and moving more suitable furnitures in. It would definitely be a huge work in progress, and probably wouldn't be done in a short period of time. But it will work out eventually, I have faith in myself and my wonderful dad! It wouldn't be like the dream studio that I wish to have, filled with beautiful sunlight, since my room has no windows facing outside, (I practically live in a cave!) But I will make do with what I have right now and make the best out of it. :)

As I have mentioned in a previous post, I want to give the blog (especially the blog) and Skyejuice a total makeover! Well for Skyejuice is more content-wise, to make it more concise, more consistent, giving it a clearer direction. But for the blog, it will be a lot of work.

For a long while, I feel that I haven't been the true 'me' when I am posting on this blog. I want to fit in, to keep blogging about handmade crafts only. But I realized that the blog is about handmade, but it doesn't have 'me' in it. There were things that I have been refraining from blogging about; another side of my life, and I feel that one of the reasons I weren't successful with the blog was because I myself weren't in it! So with the beginning of a new year, there will be a new beginning to the blog. I am giving it a total makeover! It definitely wouldn't happen immediately, as I need to take things one step at a time, but slowly yet surely, it will happen. Thinking of moving it to Wordpress too, but we will see what happens. :)

Plus, I have a website - Skyejuice.com, and it is in dire need of a total makeover as well to reflect the business I am running now. Currently, Skyejuice.com still features my portfolio website that I made nearly 3 years ago, ahaha!

Last but not least, I want to draw more this year! Yes, this is the part of 'me' that I had been 'concealing' from my blog for all this time. I just feel like... it wasn't very 'handmade'-ish? (although I did painted this with my hands! I just used Photoshop!) But I just feel like it doesn't 'fit in'.

But running Skyejuice had drastically affected the time allowed for me to draw, and I am waaayyyy behind on my art to-do list! So next year, I vow to do more art than 2010. :) Plus with my trip to US happening in late June, I hope I will be able to finish all the art that I want to do by then. But that is another story to be told on another day.

So that's it, this is my entry for the Creative Odyssey blog hop organized by the lovely Jessica Van Den from Epheriell Designs! Thank you for the wonderful opportunity. :) Also please check out my blogging partner Pork Chop's Nest's Creative Odyssey post too!

Jingle Bell~ Jingle Bell~

Handstiched Felt Reindeer Garland Bunting by RawBoneStudio

November passed by in a flash, and before you know it, it's December! The dreaded month. (for me anyway! Eeek!) One of the reason November passed by in a flash is because I was so freaking busy and nearly stressed myself out in the process. But all is good, I am dirt poor now but still running like usual :D

So let's see how I did last month! Here are the goals I set for November.

1. Get to 95 sales.

2. Get to 400 shop hearts.

3. Fill the shop to 160 items.

In which I achieved...

1. 97 sales!!! Yippeeeee!!! I know it doesn't seem a lot, but it's the month with the highest amount of sales I had. *sheds a tear of happiness*

2. 370 shop hearts. Did not achieve, but not bad at all :D

3. 171 items. Still remaining strong here!

I just noticed that I have the number '7' in all of my stats, lol. My lucky number? But all in all, I think November is not a bad month at all. :) Let's hope this keeps up! So for this month, these are my goals:

1. Get to 110 sales.

2. Get to 450 shop hearts.

3. Fill the shop to 185 items.

Not too ambitious, just trying to be realistic. :) Besides, the shipping deadline had already passed for my shop for the holiday shipment. But I am still running a 10% discount sale during the entire month of December to celebrate the wonderful season of giving!

Just remember that shipping deadline is over and that you might not get your purchase in time for Christmas. :) Happy holidays!

November Rain

Red and White Miniature 1-inch Yo-Yo pieces by backyardprims

First of all, before I begin... Happy Halloween to those that celebrate it! :D I'm going to just sit and home and continue to work as it will be busy times ahead. November is just right around the corner, and to be honest, I am slightly anxious to see what's to come during this month. I sure hope I am well prepared, lol.

Here are the goals I set for October, let's see how I did. :)

1. Get to 75 sales.

2. Get to 400 shop hearts.

3. Fill the shop to 140 items.

In which I achieved...

1. 72 sales. (did not hit the mark, but it's still not too bad :D )

2. 306 hearts. (LOL, a bit hopeless here)

3. 157 items!! (overshot my expectations woohoo!)

I think I didn't do too bad. :) It's a productive month, and I'm liking the progress. So for next month, here are my goals.

1. Get to 95 sales. (watch me crash and burn lol)

2. Get to 400 shop hearts.

3. Fill the shop to 160 items.

I'm keeping #3 more reasonable, because I need to factor in the items sold as well. And I feel a bit ambitious with my sales target this month as I have a few great things planned. Which is...

SALE - Yes, from November 1st - November 30th, I will be running a store-wide 20% discount holiday sale!! (except for the destash section, I need to get back the amount I paid for, for that roll of sterling silver wire!)

GIVEAWAY - Something big is in the works for this month's giveaway. Everything is still in planning right now, so chances are it wouldn't start in the beginning of the month. But it will definitely happen sometime next month.

SHIPPING DEADLINE - To ensure that your gift arrive on time, I had set the shipping deadline for Skyejuice to November 30th. Shipping during the entire period of December had been known to be delayed for an unknown amount of time. Last year I bought something in the first week of December and it only arrived a month later. (good thing it wasn't a Christmas gift) So start shopping earlier!!

Oktoberfest

Chat Noir - A fine art photography print

Oh my it's already October, and everyone knows this is the month of Halloween, although we don't celebrate Halloween here hahaha. And like usual, I would like to conclude the previous month and set new goals for the new month. So my goals for September was...

1. Get to 70 sales.

2. Get to 380 shop hearts.

3. Fill the shop to 125 items.

And I achieved...

1. 59 sales. (I guess I was too ambitious)

2. 286 hearts. (A plan of mine fell through)

3. 126 items. (Yey! For once!)

I guess I expected too much of September. Somehow sales weren't as good compared with August as well, which was weird. Well here's to hoping that the holiday sales will really pick up in October. And I have quite a few plans this month as well. Including but not limited to a giveaway that I plan to launch in the next few days. So watch this space closely for more information to come. :)

That said, here are the goals for October!

1. Get to 75 sales.

2. Get to 400 shop hearts.

3. Fill the shop to 140 items.

And perhaps, start my new shop for paper products. :) October will be a busy busy month!!

Wake Me Up When September Ends

Red Fox Original Painting - Fine Art Print

One of my favorite songs. :D (referring to the title) And isn't this sleeping fox painting absolutely adorable?

The beginning of one month signifies the end of another, and it is time to conclude it and make new goals for the new month! My goals for August were...

1. Get to 45 sales.

2. Get to 350 shop hearts.

3. Fill the shop to 125 items.

In which I achieved...

1. 54 sales wow! Way better than expected :D

2. Just 268 hearts. It's okay though, I did not do a lot of promoting last month. :)

3. 106 items in shops! XD; I fail so miserably at that lol.

Well, at least I achieved my sales goal, that is what matters right? And so... in the following month, assuming if the Christmas rush really starts this month, the followings will be the new goals for September!

1. Get to 70 sales.

2. Get to 380 shop hearts.

3. Fill the shop to 125 items.

Yeah, I'm not raising the bar for the filled items. Because I am not confident enough that I can actually meet it, considering in the factor about the number of sales as well. But we shall see what happens. :)

Also, I already reduced all the prices for all the current bracelets in Skyejuice, please proceed to the bracelet section to see the new prices. ;) Hope everyone will have a good September!

The Coming of August

Crimson Autumn - Raceytay

August always reminds me of Autumn for some reason, although I know it is still Summer (albeit late) for most of you in the northern hemisphere. Somehow, it feels like 2010 is passing by really fast. Someone told me that time passes faster the older you get, I wonder if it is true? I know today is still July, but what the heck, I feel like concluding the stats for July.

Goals for July 2010:

1. Get to 35 sales.

2. Get to 300 shop hearts.

3. Fill the shop to 110 items.

In which I achieved:

1. 36 sales, woohoo!

2. 230 hearts. Hmm, a little far from my target, although I really haven't been promoting myself this month anywhere.

3. 97 items. Also somewhat far from my mark as well. But I blame it all on bad weather for photos XD

I do have a reserved custom made bracelet that's waiting for the customer to respond to, so maybe there will be a +1 stat for the sales if she buys it today. Now with July concluded, here is my target for August!

1. Get to 45 sales.

2. Get to 350 shop hearts.

3. Fill the shop to 125 items.

You see, I'm not very greedy. But I am trying to stock up my inventory in preparation for the holiday season. Hopefully I will have lots of sales then, mwahaha!!

And before I forget, today is the last day for the Christmas in July sale in Skyejuice! I'm going to do some major listing edits tomorrow and shipping will no longer be free. Happy shopping! ;)

The Month of June

Wow, is it me or is 2010 zipping by really fast? It's already July and I feel like Christmas was just yesterday. Last month I set a couple of goals that I wish to achieve in June, let's see how I fair.

Goals for June 2010:

1. Get to 30 sales.

2. Get to 150 shop hearts.

3. Fill the shop to 80 items.

In which I achieved:

1. Just 23 sales, sales was pretty bad. :(

2. 192 hearts woohoo! Almost doubled from last month.

3. 82 items.

Aside from the sales, I think it's not too bad. Hopefully out of those 90 that hearted me, some will buy something in the future hahaha. Now with June concluded, here is my target for July!

1. Get to 35 sales.

2. Get to 300 shop hearts.

3. Fill the shop to 110 items.

I do intend to have a sale during the Christmas in July period (15th-25th July) so watch out if you're interested! ;) For now, I need to stock up for it!

In other news, I've been thinking of revamping my logo for a long while. I just felt that it was rather 'blah' and I want to make it... cuter? Perhaps? And this is the result of my tweaking around. Since I open my Etsy shop I barely have time to do logo designs, so my skills are a little rusty.

I wanted to make a simple wordmark logo, since this type of logo actually has the best marketability. (ie: Coca-Cola, Microsoft, FedEx etc) So what do you guys think? Yay? Nay?