Another Reminder

Another Week is finished, and it is time to open up a Bottle of Wine.

Well, not exactly. I have already opened the Bottle-Yesterday.  A friend brought me a Store-warming gift...Yes you guessed it my Bottle of wine. I told him that I would offer him a glass but I did not have a corkscrew in the store-Note to self, get a corkscrew for the Store.
The look on his face was Great, "But aren't you still open?"
"Yes, but I am the Boss, and I think it is time for a glass of Wine"
"Alright, I have a corkscrew in my office". Off he goes, and within seconds he is back.  I think he Needed the Wine as badly as I did.

So, of course, we had a laugh or two about what I was going to have to do to the Boss to get away with drinking on the job. Just another reminder that I do not have to answer to anybody else at the Store.

I am liking being my own Boss.

I now have a couple of days off-well the Store is closed for the next two days-but that does not really mean that I am going to NOT be working on stuff.  I have a feeling that, even though I can set my own hours and close any days that I want, I will NEVER really have a day off anymore.

That being said, I am still Liking being my own Boss.

Birthday Request

The other day-Monday to be exact-My Mom, Sister and Niece came to visit me at the store. Really an excuse to go to lunch together, because it is a day off from the store.
Well my Niece was going around pointing out the pieces that she likes-and what she would like for her upcoming birthday.

So looks like Grandma is getting her one and I am making one special for her. I would not say she is Spoiled, but she does LOVE the fact that Uncle Vincent is a Jewelry Designer.

Who's the Boss?

Oh Yeah. ME.

I had 2 of my Best Friends come to visit me at the Store today for Lunch. So at 12:30 I locked up the door went across the street to JJ's and had a great lunch.
Good Food.
Great Company.
LOTS of Laughs.

Before we knew it, it was time for them to go and Pick up the Kids from school...
Yep School.
We sat in the restaurant that long.

That spawned comments about what the Boss was going to say/do when I got back. How I was going to make it up to Him/Me.
And you know what? I started getting nervous. Wondering what was gonna happen when I got back.

My first real experience of being the Boss. Granted I have made all the decisions on design and look of the Store. Set up all the utilities and banking etc...But this was completely different. I still felt a bit guilty about a long FUN Lunch.

I just realized I do not have to answer to ANYBODY anymore-well except my Partner.

Back to work Tomorrow

Yep. The weekend is done, and it is back to a full day tomorrow.

I did have appointments-yes plural-today. Even though I was only in the Store for about an hour, I did sell my FIRST piece of Jewelry today.  One of my most popular pieces, which  lately have been my least Delicate Pieces.  The Braided Bracelets are loved by Men, Women and Children-even my Niece requested one. Pink of course.

I am in serious need more Silver to finish Commissions-of Braided Bracelets, of course...LOL

Now if the Snow would just quit so that Everyone-including the Mailman with my Silver-can get up to the Mt. I walk to the Store so, No Problem for me, except for maybe slipping and falling on un-shoveled sidewalks...

BUT I WILL be open at 11!!!

Week 1

Well, my First week of being open is Finished.

I was not very busy, however, I am exhausted.  My space has been vacant for SO many years that people walking in the Neighborhood have NO idea that there is a New Business in the area.
I have an Idea that I will place Balloons outside, place a sandwich board on the corner where there is a bit more foot/car traffic-only 100ft away, but it has been so windy that my sandwich board keeps getting blown over.  Not Balloon Friendly Weather, yet.  BUT it will be.

Ironically, I open a Jewelry Store and all of the sales that I have had for the week have NOT been Jewelry pieces. My Earring Trees and Cards have been VERY popular, though.  I love the fact that the people coming into the Store are spending quite a bit of time in there.

It is only 250 sq ft, so if you are spending more than 5 minutes there, you must see something that you like.

I have no doubt that my Jewelry has a Market, and I intend to CREATE it if I cannot find it

Board Meeting

Wednesday is finished.

I finally finished my Sandwich Board for outside. AND within minutes I had 2 different parties walk through the door.  One woman and her Mother spent at least 10 minutes in the Store, and when the place is only 250 sq ft, THAT is A LOT of time. They were very impressed, asking ALL the right questions concerning Custom Designs, Special Orders. They took Business Cards and were VEY EXCITED about seeing and following on Facebook-Y'all do know you can follow me on FB as well? DeAndreaDesigns.

Then a Board Meeting for the Mt Washington Community Development Corp, I sat in on their Fund Raising Brainstorms-and actually was able to contribute a point or two. During the Team Building part of the meeting, a "trivia contest" was held. One of the prizes was one of my Handmade Cards-eliciting a gasp of appreciation and questions of "You have cards?", "Are they blank inside?",  "Do you do them yourself?", "You will definitely see me for those Cards"....

Now I a ready for Sunny Warm Spring-like Thursday.

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day All...

I was Photographed in the Store this afternoon. I had NO idea that it was going to happen, so my upbringing came in handy...

My Mother would ALWAYS do her hair and make-up, get dressed JUST IN CASE-most days it was just to clean toilets or do laundry, BUT sometimes someone did stop in.
I must have been channeling her this morning, because I shaved when I really did NOT have to. Changed my clothes 3 times this morning to find just the right look.

The photo looks GREAT. If you go to my Facebook Fan page-DeAndreaDesigns-you can see the results.