organized

it only took a week of tidying here and there, and staying up until four a.m. last night (morning?) because the motivation struck, but the craft room is finally clean and organized. before:
and, after:

the question you're not supposed to ask is what the other half of this room looks like... i'm not quite done with the rest of the organizing. but at least the desk is all set, and that's something major crossed off my list.

it's frustrating to try to go through a bunch of craft supplies i've gathered up over years, most of which i didn't have a project in mind when i bought them, and realize that only about twenty percent is likely to actually be used. but of course i'm the kind of person that, if i get brutal and start throwing things away, invariably i'll always come up with a need for exactly the item i just tossed out. and then i'll have to go buy one when i had a perfectly good one that i threw away. for example, i have a ton of ribbon that i bought because hey, ribbon is a good thing to have. but when i went to create some fun little gift wrap for my first two sales from my etsy shop, of course there was only one little spool of green gingham among yards and yards of navy blue and gold, neither of which i really ever use.

oh well.

speaking of green ribbon and gift wrap, i sent out my first two sales from my shop this week! one was a pair of earrings and the other was a bracelet. here is the whole package for the first sale, all ready to be sent out.

the matchbox is a fun freebie i'm including with a thank you note and business card. i'd like to eventually have several little things i alternate between, but this one's the first. the larger leaf earrings were what the buyer purchased, and the little ones are a bigger freebie since it was my first buyer. i thought it would be fun to include a slightly bigger freebie for "anniversary" buyers... the first, twenty fifth, fiftieth, one hundredth! hopefully anyway. the envelope with the ribbon bow is what it looks like all tied up.

i had a little test run present for my mom to try out my gift wrap, bubble mailers, and shipping, but i was pleasantly surprised to have two purchases in the first week of my shop! so i ended up sending them all together. (mom, you'll never be surprised again now that you read this!)

stay tuned for my weekend experiments with pendants set in powdered resin. it's late, and i have to go back to the "real job" in the morning!