New Things for a New Year...

Christmas was exhausting. I was so excited to get so many orders - especially custom orders. I'm still dizzy from all the work.. and started to get depressed about the inevitable lull in business to come. I am, however, excited to work on some new designs I've had in my head for the past couple months, just fighting to get out. I received a TON of jewelry making tutorial books and I can't wait to try some new techniques. I've got some ideas for a cloth line of necklaces and bracelets as well as some clay pendant and ring designs.

Unfortunately (or not so much - depending on how you look at it) I will be busy with social obligations with the upcoming New Year and My birthday (January 5th). It always creeps up on me - and I never have anything planned. Doesn't help that there is no room at all where I live for a party - or a small gathering for that matter. Plus - who wants to go out when it's snowy, cold as hell, and ice covers the roads?? Indiana is a terrible place to celebrate a winter birthday - and I get stuck with this every damn year. :) Hopefully some friend of mine will be troopers and will share a few beers with me on the 8th or something.

I've made a few changes to my blog - for the better I hope. Please let me know what you think of it. I've also tried to add some things to my Facebook Fan page. Be sure to check it out and become a fan for 10% off your next order. Make sure to let me know in the "message to seller" box that you're a fan. :)

Happy New Year Everyone!

Happy Holidays!

Whew! I haven't had much time to post at all. And this one will be short and sweet. I've been working on about 15-20 orders a day for the past couple weeks! It's hard being a one girl show! But I'm loving being busy and working on all the creative custom orders from my customers!

I participated in the Monrovia Craft Show yesterday, Saturday the 12th. It was a learning experience, as usual. Very large show - not so large crowd. But I met new people and had a few sales that have already turned into more repeat customers. :)

I need to get back to working on this weekend's orders/watching the COLTS game :) But I wanted to post that I am currently featured on a wonderful blog - Dev's Favorite Giveaways - http://devsfavoritegiveaways.blogspot.com/2009/12/seize-night-review-giveaway.html

Check out her review of one of my custom hand stamped necklaces and learn about a free giveaway I'm doing through her blog. You could win one of your own CUSTOM hand stamped necklaces! Sounds great huh? Go check it out! :)

Merry Christmas everyone! (Hopefully I'll have enough time to get my tree up this week!)

I'm Featured!

Exciting news! It's no secret that I LOVE piddix's digital collage sheets on etsy. Not only are the amazing and creative - she does a ton of research to make sure all images are royalty free and in the public domain. I've purchased a lot of collage sheets and discs from her over time - and she was kind enough to include me in an article she just wrote for indiefixx.com

Click here to see the article - http://tinyurl.com/y93nc2q It's a great article about having sucess on Etsy. And if you go to page 13 - you'll see one of my hand stamped bracelets at the top of the page. :)

I'm so excited for the Christmas season and my shop has been very busy. I'm always available for custom orders - especially my hand stamped pendants, key chains, bracelets, etc. :)

As always - I have a lot of new collage lockets and pendants I'm getting ready to add to http://www.seizethenight.etsy.com/ so be sure to go check them out. I just got my holiday christmas cards, magnets, thank yous, and other promotional items - and I want to remind you about some of my sales going on.

When checking out on Etsy - use these codes in the "message to seller box" - only one per transaction please.

HOLIDAY09- Buy one get one HALF OFF on any regular priced items- good till 12.31.2009

NEXT15 - 15% off your next order

FREESHIP60 - Free shipping for any order over $60 dollars

Just wait for a revised invoice before paying or pay and I will refund your discount via paypal.

As for craft shows coming up - I'm still deciding on a few in December - but I am locked in for the Monrovia High School Art Show on December 12th from 9-4 at - obviously - Monrovia High School in Monrovia, Indiana. :)

I also have a few private jewelry parties coming up - email seizethenightdesigns@gmail.com if you're interested in hosting your own and earn free jewelry!

New Items New Fairs!

After a very busy Halloween weekend (I was a flapper, my boyfriend was a ninja)- I'm starting to catch up on orders and new designs. I have a ton of new items I'm trying to get posted to etsy - http://www.seizethenight.etsy.com/ Lots ofvintage keys, lockets, etc. I'm very happy with how they turned out.

I also have two craft fairs coming up this month. The first is this Saturday - November 7th in Blommington. The Fairview Craft Fair from 8:30am-2pm. I'll also have a booth at the Southport High School "That Something Special" Arts and Crafts Fair from 8am-3pm. Come see me and get your Holiday 2009 coupon and free gift!

I should also have a review and giveaway starting soon on another, larger blog. I'll post more information about that as it comes. :) Have a great day!

October Fun

I can't get enough of fall. We have an annual craft fair - the Covered Bridge Festival - here in Indiana - and I talked my boyfriend into going for a little bit this week with me. We walked around in the cold and rain and looked at awesome crafts and ate tasty fair food. :) I got a lot of great ideas and awesome supplies too. We also went hiking all day at Turkey Run State Park. 5 hours of hiking in the cold and rain is probably why I'm sick now. :( I've just about got all my new items up in my shop - all fall themed. :) They're also up on facebook http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=92019&id=45715476044&saved#/pages/Seize-The-Night-Designs/45715476044?ref=ts and flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/seizethenight/ .

I was approached at the Knoll Event to possibly have my work featured in a spa in the new Indianapolis International Airport. Very exciting - I'll give more details as I get them.

I've also just been asked to have my jewelry reviewed and participate in a giveaway. More to come on this too. :)

I have a new line in the works - all textile jewelry and accessories. I'm very excited for this. I can't wait to get started on it. Hopefully I get to feeling better soon.

And remember - Facebook, Twitter, and Blog followers get 10% off every order. Grab your Christmas gifts soon before they go on backorder. :)

Charity Is Good For the Soul...

Last Thursday was the Knoll RJE Charity Event for the Little Red Door Cancer Society. It is the second year I participated - and I always enjoy myself. I first heard about the event because Nancy Wright, who works for Knoll, was also a professor of mine at IUPUI. It was a little weird being there this year totally on the craft side, pretty much knowing that I wouldn't be headed down the Interior Design route in my life. I love what I'm doing now though, and I hope this Christmas turns out to be my biggest yet. This is my first Christmas Season as a bonefide business owner - with all my time and effort put into Seize The Night - so I hope things go well. :)

I'm working on some great Christmas ideas - but before I reveal them - I want to show my new pride and joy for Fall - REAL PINE CONES dipped in GOLD AND STERLING SILVER - They are awesome and I'm really going to have to make one for myself. :) I've paired them with Swarovski Crystals (which I know have in EVERY birthstone) on sterling and gold plated chain.

So excited! And they make a great UNIQUE gift! :)

And - I can't NOT share with you some of the other great people and products I found at the Knoll Event. I had to buy a bag from ECOBillboard Bags for my little sister. They make the most amazing bags, purses, clutches, etc out of real used vinyl billboards that were up around Indianapolis.

http://www.ecobillboardbags.com

I love getting my sister one of a kind presents - as everyone should. BUY HANDMADE! :)

Have You Ever Seen The Rain?

Well... -if you've visited my etsy shop ( http://www.seizethenight.etsy.com/ ) - you know I name my jewelry pieces after songs I was listening to while making them. My desktop computer crashed a few months ago - and I'm just now getting to updating my itunes again. I'm ripping a ton of 70's and I'm super excited for some of the fun titles and how well they go with my new pieces. :)

My new big thing are my simple metal charm bracelets. My friend Natalie just recently hosted a Seize The Night Jewelry party - and they were a huge hit. I had them as free gifts for the guests and there were requests for more. :)

I'm running a special - buy 3 get one free ---- but if you're a follower of my blog use the code BLOG2 and you can buy 2 get one free! :)

Have a great day! :)

Fall Weather is Here!

Whew! I've been fighting closing the windows in my house ... but it was getting so cold I couldn't hardly type at night. Haha. I've been working hard on some new, eccentric designs - they should be up in my shop soon. Everything from large picture frame necklaces to flower pot rings. :) I've also recently purchased a collage cd from piddix ( www.piddix.etsy.com ) I've bought from her shop before and always loved what I received - but this cd is OVERWHELMING. It has so many images in different sizes and I dove right in last week - printing everything I thought I could use. I will soon have Christmas themed (Victorian Santa's, Real Snowflake Images, Etc.) up soon. I also have some great tree images and Surrealist tree painting pendants curing now. :)

I've also just started making beaded glass bracelets and watches - and I already have orders coming in from friends and family. Check them out here - http://tinyurl.com/y98roz9


As for me and my blog - I've been slacking, I know. It's the beginning of Fall - and I'm trying to do as much outside as I can before Winter. I went to the last of my outdoor concerts for the year (Kings of Leon - AMAZING) for my friend Chelsea's Birthday. You can see from the picture we were pretty happy - even for standing in the rain and mud all night. :) I'm also trying to plan a trip to go hiking at Turkey Run with my boyfriend this week, we'll see if his SWAT team stuff doesn't get in the way of that....

I've been thinking a lot about what I'm going to do when it gets too cold outside to take pictures of my jewelry. I've been taking pictures on my back deck because I liked the way the wood grain looked behind my pieces. I'm a member of My Craft Corner ( http://www.mycraftcorner.com/profile/SeizeTheNight ) and I recently posted a question about light boxes in the group I created - Jewelry Artisans. Inner Muse Jewelry reminded me of needed a camera with a great macro setting - mine currently does not. And Beadnik posted a great link to a the most inexpensive light box tutorial I've ever seen - http://grumblebeedesigns.blogspot.com - I'll be working on that this week...

And last but certainly not least - Another member of My Craft Corner (and a fellow Hoosier) is having a blog giveaway starting on October 1st. Go to her blog and read more! :)

http://thecraftytortoise.blogspot.com

Loves. Sarah :)

Tooooo Busy....

Well. This past weekend was a blur at the North Salem Art Fair. I did fairly decent though. It was my first show with my new Swiss Gear tent - and it was awesome. Didn't leak and I kept dry even with no walls attached to it. Pulled in about 4 times the booth fee so that was good - especially since the poor ladies next to me sold ONE thing all 3 days. I felt so terrible for them. So - after a few days of catching back up on my sleep, I'm just now getting around to adding some new designs that did well at the fair. I really can't wait for them to get up. I've also ordered a TON of new supplies (as I usually do when I think I have money...) so I can't wait for a chance to play with it all.

I've also been on the hunt for a new desk/work area for my little make shift studio area. Not just any desk either - this desk needed to be vintage and have some character. Yesterday I found just what I was looking for and more. I found a vintage table with a drop down front. When you pull down the front it makes a nice work area as well as hides a working radio, turn table, and 8 track player. I'm in love! It's just great. I also found a large printer's press drawer at an antique store in North Salem to keep some of my supplies in. It's a huge wood drawer with wood dividers. It's amazing.

Well in the midst of rearranging all the furniture in my house - I've managed to debut a new line of hand stamped pendants - The Military Line. I currently have listed in my etsy shop the Army Mom, Army Wife pendants - as well as USMC, and Navy. Still working on Police, Firefighter, National Guard, etc. Custom orders are always welcome. :)

Here is a link: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=30703015

Enjoy! :)

Hello Fall!

Wow. After a few days of quiet with little sales - things have blown up again. And of course this would happen when I'm trying to: work on new designs with my brand new supplies that just came in, make my own wood displays, price my existing items, and make duplicates of best sellers.

In between gasps for air, I've managed to add a new scrabble tile line. Because of how popular scrabble tile necklaces are on the internet - I've started the line at just $5. These are great for Christmas presents... which brings me to...

My Christmas line. I'm working on it now. I've started with sterling silver snowflake necklaces with Swarovski crystals. They should be up in my shop soon.

I'm also working on two new hand stamped lines. I'll post more when they're close to being done - probably sometime next week.

As for this weekend - I'll be in North Salem Saturday, Sunday and Monday for the Old Fashion Days Festival. Look for Seize The Night Designs at Booth 4 on South Broadway. :)

ANNNNNDDDDDD - Thanks so much to my new followers. The giveaway winner's necklaces have been shipped out. I hope you like them. Tell your friends. :) I'll be working on some more giveaways after this festival is over. :)

Giveaway!!

Thanks to my new followers! Margie has already sent me her mailing address for her free butterfly tile necklace. Please send your mailing address to seizethenightdesigns@gmail.com and I will ship out your necklace by the end of this week! :) Thanks so much!

You can always follow what's going on at Seize The Night though:

TWITTER: http://twitter.com/seizethenight
BLOG: http://seizethenightdesigns.blogspot.com/
EMAIL: seizethenightdesigns [!at] gmail.com
FLICKR: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seizethenight/
FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Seize-The-Night-Designs/45715476044?ref=ts

I've just received a ton of new supplies and can't wait to get working on them. I've also started listing some of my overstock supplies in www.ddesigner0320.etsy.com

Feel free to check it out! Thanks!

<3 Sarah

Here Comes Fall!

I can't decide whether it's Fall or not. The last couple days were pretty chilly - had to break out my jacket collection... But today - it's already 80 degrees outside. I'm ready for pumpkins, pretty leaves, hay rides and trips to Brown County. I haven't posted in a while. I've been crazy busy researching new techniques and supplies. I'm really branching out. I'm working with a lot of sterling silver and sterling plated items right now. Swarovski crystals, pewter charms, glass pendants - you name it - I'm trying it. I've recently bought a few collage sheets from piddix on etsy - and she is amazing! I love the collage sheets - and I'm currently working on butterfly and postcard scrabble tile pendants and modern black and white birds in bottlecap settings. I've already started a line of antler scrabble tile necklaces - and I think they're great. http://tinyurl.com/mylm9x <--Check it out!

The next two days I'll be attending a fused glass workshop and a tree of life workshop. Hopefully I can incorporate these into my line as well.

And as always - I'm always having secret sales through my facebook fan page --> http://tinyurl.com/nsexoz and through my twitter --> http://twitter.com/seizethenight

First 3 people to become a follower of my blog will receive a free butterfly scrabble tile necklace!

Have a great day!

<3>

FALL <3

SSsssso I'm really upset that summer is almost over ... (Well technically - I think I will always be on a school schedule. Summer officially starts at the beginning of May and end in the middle of August. But I love fall - and I'm feeling totally inspired. I'm working on a lot of new wood designs as well as incorporating more glass beads. I found an awesome new website last night and ended up dropping close to $100 dollars on it today - I can't wait to get the new items. :) I have a tone of new ideas for hand stamped pendants and bracelets - I'll probably be starting work on them tomorrow.

I'm also looking to start a huge sale in my vintage shop beanblossomvintage.etsy.com In the next week I'll be slashing prices there. Check my facebook fan page and twitter for extra deals. :)

Till then my main distraction is my little pup maggie. I think she can tell that soon we won't be going on as many walks. :(

I Never Sleep.

So - I will be participating in the North Salem Old Fashion Days craft festival in.... you guessed it - North Salem, Indiana. It is over Labor Day weekend - September 5-6-7. I will be in booth 4 on South Broadway - just look for the kick ass jewelry booth. Shouldn't be hard to find.. ;) I just bought more jewelry display cases tonight... ugh another $40 out of my pockets... I also have bought supplies to make my own necklace and bracelet bar displays. I'm really excited to see how my new booth will look. Should be effing incredible. I also bought today new metal tags for my "children's names" custom stamped necklaces. I now can fit up to 3 different names on cascading tags. The picture is from a two name necklace.

I've also started to transform my front living room into my jewelry studio - things are going great. I'm really excited about my new permanent design space. I'm planning on a goodwill trip tomorrow to get a nicer desk/table instead of using one of my booth tables. :)

ANNND - I just added a lot of the newer designs I made for the Brownsburg festival to my etsy shop - http://www.seizethenight.etsy.com/ I'll be adding the designs that sold out at the show soon too. Plus I've been shopping an awful lot lately and have a lot of new supplies and ideas. I'm really excited.

Did I mention that following me on facebook or twitter lets you know about secret sales (that I have ALL the time...) Check them out!

http://twitter.com/seizethenight

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=114875530862#/pages/Seize-The-Night-Designs/45715476044?ref=ts

Rain Rain Rain

So tired of rainy days. It feels more like fall that summer. I love fall - and wish fall weather stuck around longer... but I was looking forward to some more pool days before it came around. Anyways - I've added some new designs to http://www.seizethenight.etsy.com/ - a lot of which I debuted at the Brownsburg Festival of the Arts last weekend. There are still a lot more to add - those which sold and I haven't had a chance to make more of yet. But today I have to start getting ready for my friend's wedding in Greensburg - an hour and a half away. My boyfriend was supposed to be able to go with me but now has to work. :( It's going to be a long drive - but I could probably use it. :) Have a good day!

First Official Art Festival

Whew. I've been so busy trying to get ready for my first official art festival. Brownsburg Festival of the Arts. It was an overcast and oddly chilly day in July - but the turnout wasn't that bad. I've made a ton of new designs - those that did well at the fair will be remade and added to my website on etsy. I can't wait to get them up there - I had a lot of great feedback at the fair. I plan on attending again. I'm also excited to participate in the North Salem Old Fashion Days. I need to buy a white - straight leg canopy before September though. Ugh. I really wish I had known about more festivals this summer to attend - as most of the deadlines are well past... Now I need to go through the mess I've left for myself after the art fair - AND GET THESE NEW DESIGNS ON THE SITE. :) Can't wait for everyone to see them. :)

Toooo Hotttt....

So - I haven't posted in a while. I've been trying to get motivated - but it's been unbelievably hot in my house. I did go vintage shopping yesterday with my sister. Found some great vintage dresses soon to be posted in www.beanblossomvintage.etsy.com - I also have a sale going on in that shop right now - any dress is %15 off - even if it's already on sale. :)

On the jewelry front - I've been acquiring a bunch of new leather working tools - and I can't wait to use them. I can now make personalized leather bracelets stamped with designs and letters. :)

I've also been considering making and investment on some more design stamps for metal. I'm so excited to try them. I've found a ton at http://www.beaducation.com

I also subscribe to another etsy seller's newsletter - piddix. She is great - she has the most amazing insight on all things selling and handmade. I love reading her letters. The most recent had a great link to a tutorial on making rings out of shrink plastic. You can also find that here: http://www.planetjune.com/blog/shrink-plastic-ring-tutorial/

I'm going to get off my ass and start working now that my boy has left to go work out. :)

Your daily bitch: "I'm spending money I don't have, on things I don't need, to impress people I don't like."

Have a good day!

Cincinnati Trip

So... my friend Nate asked me to go to Cincinnati with him to a college friends party and an IKEA shoppping experience the next day... and how could I say no really... so more procrastination on my part. It was interested - I was able to see his old college campus - Cincinnati Christian - and an awesome view of the city. The keg was done early in the night and I decided I was done drinking after eating bbq and watching the red wings lose. We hung out outside which was nice. Then... (que the scary music) I wanted to go to sleep. I feel like an old person because people were still up playing beer pong and I was really sleepy. So I stared wondering where I was going to sleep - because this house was a typical college fratty boy house. I ended up in a room right off of the bathroom, on a mattress thrown on the floor, next to an old filing cabinet and a trash can. Thank God I bought my pillow, because all I had to cover up with was my jacket and nates towel he had brought for the morning shower. It was fun to get away for a while - and Nate's hilarious so it was a good time. And I'm now in love with IKEA and just finished putting together my new clothing rack a little bit ago. I worked on a few new hand stamped designs tonight, drilled holes in my new poker chips for key chains, and went through some Dave Matthews, Sister Hazel, 311, etc. lyrics for new hand stamped metal pendants and bracelets and possibly some leather designs. I can't wait to take pictures and post them. I'll also be posting pictures from my little trip on facebook and flickr soon. :) I'm also planning on visiting the talbot street art fair tomorrow. But - it's almost 3 a.m. .... so I should probably try to get some sleep.

Your Daily Bitch for today: Everyone has the right to be stupid. Don't abuse it.

Couldn't Be Better...

I had all these plans for yesterday... I had just bought the supplies to start making bottle lamps, I had a custom order necklace to metal stamp, I just bought new leather blanks and dye, I mean I could really go on forever about what I COULD have done yesterday. Instead a good ol' friend from high school called and asked if I wanted to get lunch and go shopping - so of course I did that. So I met up with Sarah (yes, another Sarah - in high school, two Sarah's seemed almost the equivalent of twin sisters to boys -and of course we loved it) and we got lunch at Mongolian BBQ - Just like we used to back in the day. We caught up, talked about all the girls who are prego, married, or both that we used to go to school with. Got sad, told ourselves we didn't want any of those things, and moved on. We went shopping at the mall and spent money we didn't have - but I found the most awesome pair of brown heels with cheeta heels that were - get this - 79$.... marked down to $19. It seriously made my week. After the guilt started setting in from our shopping spree - we decided it would be best to drown our sorrows by the "sea" - we went to Rick's Boatyard for a few drinks and some fried calamari. YUM. Sarah got wasted face and I had to drive her home. :) We sat around and drank some more, and Dirk came over for a while. It was a really good day. And today I can't wait to get my ass in gear and get ready for my date with Natalie. We're going to Cabaret on the Canal downtown and listening to some sweet symphony music and sippin on some wine and pretending we have class. Not sure when I'm supposed to get all this work in.... SOOOO Many projects and not enough time to do them. ESPECIALLY since I'm pretty sure I'm going to Cincinnati with friends this weekend to go to IKEA. Sarah's shopping > Sarah's money. :(

Your Daily Bitch for Today: A Normal Person Is Just One You Don't Know Real Well.

Wake Up Slow...

Well I was excited when I woke up "early" this morning because of an unwelcomed text message... however I've spent the whole morning playing on the internet and bugging my little sister who was still trying to sleep. Now I have to make us breakfast and get started on todays work ... I'm hoping to get some fabric dyed for my sundress ideas and find the items needed to start making my glass bottle lamps. :) Wish me luck. A daily bitch for today: "Do not try to out-bitch this bitch. You will not win."

Oh Procrastination...

So here I am - I should be working on adding new items to my vintage shop on etsy... beanblossomvintage.etsy.com - but instead I'm playing with this new blog, eating cold pizza, and barely listening to True Hollywood Stories : Serial Killers. Kinda put me in a weird mood since it's been a marathon all freaking day. I still want to work on dying fabric for my sundress idea by the end of the day... but I have a ton of pictures to take of vintage stuff to do. Plus it's so humid I just want to sit and do nothing. Ugh. I leave you with a daily bitch from possibly the best calendar I've ever bought : "Overworked and Underlaid"

Here I Am

I've been fighting this whole blog idea for a long time now - and I've finally caved. I've found that a lot of etsy sellers write blogs - and I've always enjoyed reading them, so hopefully someone will enjoy reading mine. I plan on writing about my new product ideas for my etsy shop, how my new jewelry designs are doing, and my basic bitches about unemployed life. I also think it might help that I have an outlet for all of my thoughts and what nots - so as not to overload my boyfriend-ish guy every day. :)