Hi, my name is Lisa, AKA Crystal Goddess Lisa, and I am a designer and artist who sees beauty everywhere and in just about everything. Trying to capture and share this beauty is my passion. As an avid collector of crystals and stones and fabric, I design jewelry and work with fabric.
My beautiful family consists of a fantastic husband, precious daughters, the most beautiful grandchildren on the planet, and very spoiled animals. With a full-time corporate job, it is challenging to find extra time to create, let alone sell my jewelry and maintain an Etsy shoppe and blog! I greatly admire the awesome artists who successfully live and breathe this lifestyle. You are all my inspiration. Rock on!
I must admit I am a reluctant jewelry seller. All of my creations are unique and contain so much thought and energy, that I tend to get attached. I also have a very soft heart and have given many pieces away as gifts or for free to the special people in my life. When our daughters married and moved out of the house, I finally had my own studio and a home for the quantities of jewelry that had amassed over the years. I never really thought of branching out and selling my creations until my husband became ill.
About two years ago, my husband Roland was diagnosed with Intersticular Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). This is fairly rare lung disorder that is potentially terminal. So far the only treatment is a lung transplant. He does not meet the prerequisites for surgery yet and is on oxygen full-time. Because he is now permanently disabled and with additional medical costs, we needed some extra income. My daughters suggested I sell my jewelry.
I started out selling earrings at my work last year. I was so nervous as I was fairly new to my position there and wasn't sure how my creations would be received. To my surprise, they flew off the display! Just about everyone now in our corporate office owns a pair of my earrings and I smile every time I spot them on my co-workers.
Keeping up with this new lifestyle was not easy as Roland's energy levels have changed and he is not able to do all of the things he used to do. He has an amazing and positive attitude. There is not a whole lot of time to create, let alone clean our sweet little house. At the same time, the economy dipped and co-workers were hanging on to their extra cash. So, I decided to cut back on cranking out the earrings and try my hand at Etsy.
It was wildly fun putting together the Etsy shoppe. What a great opportunity Etsy is for the many talented artists who reside there! I had no idea how challenging it would be to successfully sell on etsy with all of the competition! However, I just started in January and am still trying new things to increase visibility and sales. Thank you to all of my inspirational favorites there!
Another baby step for me was when our daughter Melissa convinced the salon owner (where she is a hair stylist) to display my jewelry designs. Purchases were slow at first and I had to adjust the prices a little, but now I am proud to have sold some pieces. As this was my first chance, it was a huge learning opportunity in negotiating the owner's percentage of the sales. Can someone please let me now what the going percentage rate is? Any tips here?
After keeping my own private spiritual journey blog for years, I am now reluctantly stepping out into the great unknown with the blog experts and joining what I refer to as 'blog heaven'. 'Blog heaven' for me is having the ability to spend time, even if it is online, with other artists. There really aren't many in our community and visiting my favorite blogs is truly inspirational food for my soul.
I will eventually take the step to have a banner created for my etsy shoppe and blog. It truly makes a difference. I am a reluctant blogger, too. However, having the courage to step out into selling my jewelry at work, in hair salons, on Etsy, and now creating an official blog of my own have been giant steps for me. The results have been rewarding as my artist soul, my personal life, and my creations continue to grow and expand with each baby step.
Should you happen upon this blog, please leave comments as I am excited to hear from you. Especially if you are a fellow artist who is walking this path.
