We're All Ears April Challenge...

I've just discovered that each month the Earrings Everyday blog does a little inspiration challenge...I really need to pay attention sometimes! Anyway, I happen to catch the post for April's inspiration when I was catching up on the recent posts and decided (at the last minute) it would be fun to whip up some cute earrings and play along.

Seeing the picture I actually had an immediate idea...just had to find the beads in my current disorganization/reorganization...hopefully I'll have a post on that later. You can click here to see the original post including the inspiration for April's design.

Apologies for the somewhat crummy picture...I was experimenting...since my photo cube is unavailable during the re-organziation. Lampwork beads from Pinocean. Enamel leaves from Sue Beads. Ceramic birds from Gaea. They don't have a name yet...I'm not so great at naming my jewelry...so if you have any ideas feel free to help a girl out and post suggestions in comments! :)

And my adventure into wholesale begins...

I'll begin with a little back story... about this time last year I decided to do my first wholesale trade show. It was a last minute decision but by the end of the experience I had gained a wonderful mentor, lots of potential leads and a wealth of experience...I even made enough cash and carry sales to cover my show expenses and make a small profit. All in all, it was a success in my book. Of course, it's been a long year since that show...but I always believe everything happens when it's supposed to and how it's meant to be...

So now here we are in February, just after losing my day job, I received a call inviting me back to that wholesale trade show. This time I had even less time to prepare (just 2 weeks) but so much more knowledge and over the last year, I had made some changes, done some things to move toward this goal. Turns out this time was even better! While the show was a bit slow this time, I did manage to put my networking skills to use and came away with tons of connections, a lead for another trade show done bi-annually and my first wholesale order!

My jewelry is now available in Skamania Lodge gift shop...below is an excerpt from their website...

"Welcome to Skamania Lodge...

Skamania Lodge, a magnificent Washington State 

mountain resort nestled on 175 wooded acres, is located in the 

spectacular Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. 

The rustic yet elegant, grand mountain Lodge is located 

just 45 miles east of Portland, Oregon, on the Washington side of the Columbia River."

I love the variety of items selected for the first order...a selection of Petite Tulip Earrings in spring colors, several pairs of earrings from our Mini Gypsy Collection, Ephemera Pendant necklaces and a beautiful variety of one of a kind Earrings.

A gorgeous selection of one of a kind necklaces...including my design published in the April, 2013 Bead Trends...and the special request to create coordinating earrings and a bracelet so these could be sold as sets.

and last, but certainly not least, a specially created selection of ribbon wrap bracelets! I love the way these turn out...a few were selected from my stock on hand but the majority were created just for this order and I think they turned out beautifully. 

Now onto a few design challenges, blog hops, shop updates and putting together my marketing plan...busy, busy, busy!