How to Make a Photo Badge Reel

Photo Glass Cabochons 

Badge Reels made with photos supplied by my customer

Many of the id badge reels that I sell in my shop are made with photo glass cabochons.  These are very popular.  A photo glass cabochon  is made by placing a photo or graphic design under a glass disc.  These are used by many jewelry artisans to make photo glass pendants and earrings.  I use them to decorate the top of id badge holders.

Handmade at Amazon - A New Venue to Buy and Sell Handcrafted Items

Thursday, October 8,2015 was the big day.  Many serious artisans of handcrafted items were waiting for Amazon to launch their new Handmade at Amazon platform.  Artists applied to be a part of this group of people allowed to sell their wares on Amazon.

Five Benefits of a Well Made Beaded Lanyard

I enjoy creating lovely beaded lanyards, and I hope many of you like them as well.  However, a lanyard is not just a decorative item, it is a functional item as well.  It gets hard use every day.

Believe in Yourself!

Believe in Yourself!

Without believing in ourselves we can be swayed to live according to what others want and not what we really believe is right for us. We can also be defeated by all the obstacles along the way.

Adjust Your Sails

Adjust Your Sails

Years ago I referred to myself as a cock-eyed optimist. Every morning I would awaken with the thought that things would go well, and it would be a better day than the day before. I particularly thought this with regard to my relationship with my first husband. It is a lovely bright eyed idea, but it did not take into consideration that circumstances did not align with the stars in my eyes.

What was wrong? What was I doing wrong? Basically I did not adjust to the situations, circumstances, and personalities in my life. I just kept expecting it to get better. Of course, it got worse, not better.

When I was in the throes of a divorce, I began to learn to adjust my sails. Counselors and wise people in my life helped me see that I needed to adjust to forces in my life over which I had no control. God was there by my side to do that. Fortunately, my basic nature of being an optimist did not get lost. I learned to make choices that brought about positive changes in my life instead of just expecting that to happen on its own.

Some people whine and complain about fate and how they are always victims of misfortune. That actually causes them to be victims of misfortune, again because they are not adjusting to their reality.

Adjusting your sails is no easy breezy thing. Just like a sailor must learn the skills to adjust the sails to the wind so he can navigate through the water, we must adjust our attitudes and our actions to navigate the winds blowing through our lives.

Are you able to adjust your sails?

Adjust Your Accessories

Do you get frustrated and upset when you can’t find your glasses? Perhaps you need to adjust how you handle that and get rid of your frustration by using a Plum Beadacious eyeglass chain or a magnetic eyeglass holder.

Is your id badge getting on your nerves? Make it easier to wear and display with a chain or beaded lanyard, or attach it to your clothing with a pretty badge reel from Plum Beadacious.

Be Yourself

It has taken me way too many years to really internalize what this quote means to my life. For many years I was a person who compared myself to others. In school, even though I made good grades, I felt I wasn’t as good as many of my peers. I was afraid to speak my thoughts. I was so shy.

As I got older, married, had children, and worked in the business world; I got past the shyness, but still looked at what everyone else was doing and compared myself to them.

Now I am retired from the corporate world, and follow my dream of creating handmade items that I sell online. I am being myself, and believe I am and always have been putting something wonderful in the world.

How about you? Are you comparing yourself to others? Are you doing things because you think you should, but maybe it isn’t something you should be doing because it isn’t you? Be yourself!

Be Yourself at Work

As you go to work each day you have many choices to reflect the inner you. One small thing you might like to do is show your style with your id badge holder. Do you like flowers, butterflies, dragonflies, birds, or horses? Check out the selection of photo-glass cabochons badge holders from Plum Beadacious.

Do you prefer a beautiful lanyard for your id badge? Plum Beadacious has decorative chain lanyards and colorful beaded lanyards.

Do you have a student in your life who would like a stylish id badge holder? Take a look at the choices at Plum Beadacious. Choose from over 100 badge reel designs and more than 40 lanyard designs.

Do You Work Your Art?

Interview by Debbie at Work Your Art

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Debbie for a featured post on her website called Work Your Art.  It was a wonderful experience.

Debbie had a lot of good questions for me that required me to really focus on my business of selling workplace fashion ids.  You can read the full interview in her article "A conversation with LeAllyson Meyer from Colorado, USA."

What Do You Do to Work Your Art?

There are so many ways to work your art to get it noticed by those who are interested in what you have to offer.  The opportunities to sell online abound these days.  There are so many options, it is difficult to choose a path and settle on it.

Here are some ways to work your art.

• Sell it at craft shows
• Sell it at galleries and boutiques
• Sell it online through a marketplace such as Etsy, Zibbet or Amazon
• Sell it through your own website hosted by an online venue that provides templates, selling tools and support such as Shopify, Big Commerce or Volusion.
• Sell it through your own website on Wordpress or Blogspot by choosing a theme or plug-in that supports e-commerce.
• Send out emails to people who sign up to receive notice of your sales and new products
• Set up a shop on Facebook
• Run Facebook ads
• Regularly post on social media such as Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and Google+.
• Focus on obtaining exposure through magazines, blogs and other media

I certainly cannot find time to do all of these things.  Some fit my style better than others.

From all I know and read, the key to success with any of this is consistency.  I personally am consistent on my Etsy site and my Plum Beadacious website.  I am achieving results and growth there.  But I am not consistent in blogging, email newsletters, and social media.  I need to improve.

Education Lights a Fire

I have found that educating myself on new techniques, improvements I can make and e-commerce business really lights my fire.  I attended two days of webinars presented by Creative Live on Monday and Tuesday of this week.  These full day webinars were presented by Andreea Ayers of Launch,Grow,Joy.  The first day covered optimizing your website, and the second day covered Facebook marketing.  Both were excellent, and I took copious notes.

These webinars were free to me for those two days.  They are now available for a fee through Creative Live.  My point is there is so much free education available, it is amazing!  I have so many tasks to complete from the notes I took those two days, it could take the rest of this year to do all of them.

I know that paying a fee for some of the more in depth education would be worth it, but for now, I plan to take the best of what I obtain for free and apply it.  Later I can delve even deeper with paid education or consultants.

Outstanding People Who Educate on Selling Your Art

Debbie - of  Work Your Art

Andreea Ayers  of  Launch, Grow, Joy

Amy Porterfield  - Social Medial Strategist

James Wedmore - online Video Expert

Melanie Duncan - Pinterest Expert

Tara Gentile  - Business Coach

If you are marketing your artistic creations, let us know what you like to do.  What works for you? Let's start a conversation.