21st-Century Women's Conference

Friday June 26th, 2009 I will be attending the 21st-Century Women's Conference as a vendor.

The conference is held in West Burlington, Iowa and is located at the Southeastern Community College. I believe this is the first year they have conducted this conference and I am looking forward to displaying my jewelry to the women attending.

The keynote speaker is Mary Schulte LoVerde and she will be speaking twice. The title of her talks are "I Used to Have a Handle on Life But It Broke: Innovative Strategies for Thriving in Uncertain Times" and “What If the Hokey Pokey Really IS What It’s All About: Innovative Strategies for Dancing Through Uncertain Times”. They both sound informative and entertaining.

The session is for one day only from 9:00 - 4:00 on June 26th. Registration is at 8:00. There are multiple break-out sessions in addition to the main speaker.

There is still time to register and as an added bonus you can stop by my table and say 'Hi'. I'll have all of my latest jewelry there and guarantee some GREAT sales with some jewelry as much as 40% off.

For additional information check out the full brochure at this link: 21st-Century Women's Conference Brochure

The Promotional Clothespin

I'm constantly looking for unique and inexpensive ways to promote my business. A couple of months ago I had a number of jewelry shows coming up and wanted some type of give-away with my business name on it.

Through my membership at Unique Women in Business (UWIB) I ran across these great promotional clothespins by TootsieBear.

You can customize them with any web address, business name or other information that will fit. You can also choose from a wide variety of paper backgrounds. On one side is your information and on the other is a magnet so your customer can put the clothespin on the fridge and hopefully see it every day.

As a bonus I use it to close the bags before I hand a purchase to my customer. This actually saves me a lot of time. Previously I was scrounging around trying to find the twisty ties for the bags I use - then taking more time to attach them.

Now I just fold the top of the bag over and clamp on a clothespin.

I have received SO MANY comments about the clothespins from customers that I know they are great investment.

So - It's a unique and functional AND inexpensive way to give your customers something to remember you by.

You can find these great clothespins by visiting TootsieBear on Etsy.

UWIB is an online group of businesswomen promoting each other. Click here if you would like information on becoming a member of this supportive group.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Here is my forever favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe:

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream:
2 sticks of butter or margarine (softened)
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 brown sugar

The creamier you can get this the better

Add 2 eggs - beating in one at a time
Mix in well:
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 1 teaspoon warm water
1 teaspoon salt (I don't put quite this much in)

After the above is mixed really well...

Add 2 cups of flour about 1/2 cup at a time mixing well.

Set electric mixer aside.

Fold in 1 cup to 1 1/2 cup oatmeal.
Fold in 1 cup chocolate chips.

Grease your cookie sheets. Spoon dough onto cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for about 9 minutes. Don't over bake them unless you like them crunchy.

If you prefer to make bars instead of cookies pour all of the dough into a 9 x 13 pan and spread evenly (don't grease). Start checking after 35 minutes, may take up to 45 minutes. Remove and cool before cutting.

If your cookies are too flat - add a little more flour. Don't want or have the oatmeal - use 2 1/2 cups floor instead of just 2 cups.

Enjoy!

Special K Bars - Favorite Snacks

OK - we just won't discuss calories in this one.

Here is one of my all time favorite snacks - Special K bars with chocolate/butterscotch topping.

To make:

Put 1 cup Karo syrup and 1 cup white sugar in large sauce pan. Heat on medium heat until sugar dissolves and starts to boil. Do NOT overheat as it will burn - let it get to small bubbles throughout - stirring frequently. No need for large rolling boil.

Turn off or remove from heat and immediately add 1 cup creamy peanut butter. Stir until peanut butter is completely melted into syrup mix.

Immediately add 6 cups Special K (I like Special K a LOT better than Rice Krispies). Fold gently until cereal is completely coated.

Put mixture into ungreased 9 x 13 pan and spread evenly. Set aside (or in fridge) to cool.

In microwavable bowl add 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup butterscotch chips. (You can use a double boiler if you want, but I prefer microwave). In short increments (30-45 seconds) heat the chips on high. Remove and stir. Repeat until you get chips completely mixed and nice and creamy. Be careful - it is very easy to burn chocolate chips. Do not turn on and leave for more than 45 seconds at a time.

Pour chocolate mixture over previously prepared mixture and let set until topping has cooled. You can refrigerate to cool - but bars will be very hard to cut if you leave them in the fridge.

Cut, eat, and enjoy!!!

Making the Most of Business Cards

Business cards are an essential part of any business. It is an easy and inexpensive way to give someone a reminder of what you do, along with the ways a potential customer can contact you or find your store.

I use business cards to hand out when people ask what I do. I include them with orders so people will remember where they bought that favorite piece of jewelry, and I have them sitting on my tables at shows, so future buyers can check out my store or contact me at a later date.

For years I had a standard business card that I was pretty happy with. The supplier was reliable, the quality good and they were inexpensive. However I was limited to 6 lines of information. When I opened my Etsy store and started my blog - I wanted to include additional information on my card. In addition, I wanted my business card to be more of a marketing tool.

Happily I stumbled upon Moo.com. Moo.com allows you to very easily download up to 50 of your own images to use as the front of your business card. In addition, the format I selected had room for nine different lines of text, so I was able to put everything I wanted on my cards. In the picture above the top part of the image is the front of one of my cards and the bottom of the image is the back.

For a jewelry designer this business card solution is perfect because I can showcase dozens of my designs. People often stop at my jewelry table and go through my stack of cards to look at the different designs I have. And, when I tell someone I design jewelry, I can pull out 8-10 cards and go through them to show the person the types of designs I create.

The only drawback is that they are very expensive compared to what I was purchasing before. But the quality is exceptional and I now feel like I have a real marketing tool.

Cosmic Ring Earrings - Magazine Feature

I just received my copy of my second magazine feature. Check out page 74 of June 2009 Bead Trends magazine and you'll see my Cosmic Ring Earrings featured in the the Quick and Easy section.
The cosmic ring Swarovski Crystals are beautiful and SO fun to work with.

The picture shows the earrings in Burmuda Blue. Other colors are available include Clear Crystal, Cyrstal Copper, Sahara, Jet Black, and Vitrail Light. I'm waiting on pictures for some colors but you can view/purchase the following at my Etsy Store.

Sahara Cosmic Ring Earrings

Crystal Copper Cosmic Ring Earrings

Bead Trends can be found in magazine sections at Barnes & Noble and similar stores. It is FULL of wonderful designs and each designer must provide step-by-step instructions along with a materials list.

The top picture shows my feature page and below is a picture of the June 2009 cover.