Reality Bites

I seem to have thrown myself into this new endeavor with more energy than usual.  A couple months ago, I was talking to a friend about a New Year's resolution and immediately added, "But it won't work out."  He replied, "When you die, your tombstone will say, 'Here lies Laurel.  She gave up before she even started.'"  And I do tend to pessimism (although I like to refer to my worldview as realism).  So I'm determined to give this a good shot...at least until it stops being fun.

That's one of my main worries--will the blogging and such take the joy out of jewelry making?  What about introducing money to the equation by selling my work in a serious way?  Thoughts like this kept me from progressing with my journey for a while.  I have finally decided to proceed, full speed ahead.  If this stuff takes the fun out of jewelry, I'll take up a new hobby.  Like felting or Chinese brush painting, lol.

In a burst of activity over the past few days, I set up this blog, a Facebook page for my jewelry, and an Etsy shop.  Not familiar with Etsy?  In a nutshell, it allows artists and crafters to list their works for sale on the Etsy site for a small fee.  It takes a lot of the stress out of starting out--it's easy to set up a profile and post items.  But then you run into all the STUFF.  How much to charge for shipping, keeping in mind that Etsy is a worldwide site and you could get an order from Australia?  What about your return policy?  Etc, etc.  I've noticed that a lot of people dream about owning their own business, but I have never been one of those people.  I am the child of two small business owners, and I know about every nitpicking thing that makes owning a business a pain.  Terms such as "sales tax" make me break out into a cold sweat.  Reassuring myself that this was completely different from my parents' businesses--no employees, no physical location to keep up--I forged ahead.  Once I committed, it was easier than I thought.  I hit the "list" button and sent my few little items out into the brave new world of Etsy.  I don't really care when or if they sell; the point is that I did it.  I can say casually, "Oh yes, I have a shop on Etsy."  And the beauty of Etsy is that you can list just as many or as few items as you wish.  You don't have orders piling up or anything like that.  Perfect for the commitment-phobic...like me.  :)