Mistakes Can Be Your Friend

"The man who makes no mistakes does not normally make anything."

   - Edward John Phelps - January 24,1899

Oh gee! How many mistakes have I made?  Countless mistakes.

One of the biggest deterrents to taking up a new hobby or activity is the fear of failure.  Years ago I thought I had no artistic ability.  Why did I think that?

My father could draw very well.  He had been a commercial artist for awhile when he was a young man.  When I  was a child, he would entertain me by taking a blank piece of paper and with a pencil, he would quickly sketch a picture of a puppy or Mickey Mouse or any number of delightful pictures.

This was wonderful. Unfortunately, when I picked up a pencil to try to do the same thing, I was slow, clumsy, and really not very good.  I gave up and decided I had "no talent".

It was many years later that I started painting.  I learned that it takes practice and patience.  I really think that "talent" plays the least important part.

Early attempt at jewelery and photographing it

I don't paint much now, but I started creating jewelry about 7 years ago.  Again my first inclination was that beading wire and working with pliers, crimpers, and cutters was definitely not my cup of tea.  Yet I was drawn to the beautiful beads and the endless possibilities to create unique jewelry.  Once again I found that practice and persistence paid off.  Now I am not so clumsy when I wrap the wire or attach a clasp.  It is fun to do these things, and it brings me hours of enjoyment.

More recent piece I made and photographed

Did I goof and make mistakes to start with?  Absolutely!  Many many mistakes. I had to cut wire off the piece and throw lots of it away, and then start again.

Do I still make mistakes?  - Oh, YES! Not as many, and not the same ones, but every time I try something new, I go through a learning curve and make new mistakes.

Never fear making mistakes!  It is part of the path to success!

Have you had similar experiences with learning from mistakes?  We would love to hear your story. Comment below. 

"Though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand."

                                                                              Psalm 37:24 -NIV

Jewelry Marketing Successes

Sometimes I have trouble seeing how far I've come because I can see how far I still have to go to meet my goals. Does that ever happen to you? If you are creating handcrafted jewelry and selling it, do you feel like you are succeeding at what you want to accomplish?

When I look at the numbers and all the time I put into trying to sell my jewelry, I sometimes get discouraged. So I decided to stop and look back over 2008 to see what I did in the last year. I was pretty surprised!

• I doubled my overall jewelry sales last year from the year before. This was combined online, craft show and word of mouth sales.
• I started this blog.
• I redesigned my website, www.plumbeadacious.com and now publish it via a different web host.
• I redesigned one of my Etsy shops, www.leallyson.etsy.com to focus on Filigree Romance jewelry
• I joined ShowMeEtsy, an Etsy street team, and participated in one of their craft sales.
• I've tried a little bit of social networking.

What are your successes? Please leave comments to share them. Celebrate your successes!

A few items I sold this last year: