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We use them every day of our lives, but now we can adorn ourselves with them: the humble alphabet. How would we do the crossword? Texting? All great uses for letters. Until now.

Wooden Letter Blocks Ring by Glamour Twinkles Jewelry

Wooden Letter Blocks Ring: created with the idea of children’s letter blocks. I know they’re only small letters and don’t exactly bring toy blocks to mind but that was my thinking as soon as I saw the bag of beads sitting in the bead shop.

Alphabet Necklace by Glamour Twinkles Jewelry

Alphabet Rainbow Necklace: I so badly wanted to call these Sesame Street Necklaces. But I didn’t want the wrath of CBS or NBC or whoever brings us the letter T and the number 5. A few years ago a school painted an old toilet block, to brighten it up. They used a terrible looking reproduction of Donald Duck. SOmehow Disney found out and demanded the remove it. Donald has gone. I don’t want Glamour Twinkles to go out like Donald Duck did.

Pink Purple Green ABC Alphabet Earrings by Glamour Twinkles Jewelry

These are my ABC Earrings. They’re bright and colourful and lightweight. I just didn’t have enough ABC’s to make a big bunch of earrings so I started doing EFG earrings as well.

With Alphabet Jewelry you will never be lost for words.

Blue Green Pink EFG Alphabet Earrings by Glamour Twinkles Jewelry

Etsy Gift Wrapping - Glamour Twinkles Jewelry

Using words one does not know the meaning of is entirely irresponsible. I am shamed.
Now back to me. The wonderful iPhone has a giant technical flaw – I can’t login to websites. I’m stuck in App Land. Not to worry, most sites have apps and the one I’m excited about is Tapatalk. It allows me to conversate with the fiendishly friendly folk I’m discovering at Attack of the Craft. Gotta say I. Love. This. Site. It’s like having my real life friends – only they’re into craft and they live thousands of miles away.

Violent Orange Tropical Necklace - 19 February 2012

Unfortunately the Etsy app doesn’t allow me work on draft listings.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the app it’s just that  iPhone doesn’t have a work around.  Hey, if you’re reading this blog and you work at Apple can you tell me how I can log into US and UK sites?  I just get stuck in login + password + working… login + password + working… login + password… working……  You get the drift.  I can still login into Trade Me which is great.  Glamour Twinkles now accepts credit cards.  Well, she will once I get a bank statement containing an activation code.  I love Trade Me.  They are the site you can trust.  Reputation is everything!

Other news: I’m still stuck on a witty/quirky marketing tag line (Cryptically Cute? Dashingly Different? Handmade Jewelry) for my marketing e-course. But we all know that inspiration strikes in the most unlikely places.  I’ll probably be performing heart surgery or accepting an Academy Award when the perfect slogan will pop into my head.

Baby Blue Pink Tropical Necklace -19 February 2012

I’ve been struggling to stick to my new routine this week. I’d completely forgotten that feeling of satisfaction in ticking off my Things To Do list like I did the week before.  Instead I had to cram a bunch of work in on Saturday.  Hence the photos that have not yet been loaded onto Etsy.  Sorry…

Tiny, delicate, unassuming. Never words to be associated with jewelry produced at chez Glamour Twinkles. No, my thinking is more along the lines of:

“Can I get an couple more beads on this?”

Pink Bauble Ring - by Glamour Twinkles Jewelry

Such is th spender of Beaded Bauble Rings currently avilable in my Etsy Shop.

These rings have been in my my own wardrobe for a couple of years. They always get comments on their size (“that’s a big ring” – “why thank you kind stranger”) and shape (“looks like a science experiment” – “how kind of you to notice”).

The rings are clearly fantastic conversation starters.

White Bauble Ring - by Glamour Twinkles Jewelry

When you wear these fully adjustable silver plated Beaded Bauble Rings you’ll get noticed. Oh and feel free to use these witty quips. They’ll come in handy.

Voodoo Earrings by Glamour Twinkles - coming to Etsy real soon

Those Romans were onto a good thing when they invented The Calendar.  I have recently rediscovered the primitive paper and pen variety of time keeping.  I have finally succumbed to lure of The Planner Diary.

Yes, I have joined the rarefied few who plan their days in intricate detail.  We attend to the tasks that must be achieved on certain days and then we sit back smugly because we know that we totally rule.

It happened like this: last week while I was at my office job, I was assigned the awesome task of doing admin for our newest project manager.  This means I have to keep track of the boring filing, photocopying, emailing, you know, the boring tasks that end in “ing”.  I was getting tangled up in whose work needed to be done when so I went and got myself a hardcover diary.  Luckily they are all on special right now. So I am busily filling in the diary with worky tasks when it suddenly hit me: why not have the same sort of set up for my jewelry business?  I mean iPhone is great but I don’t really seem to be “on top of things” at Chez Glamour Twinkles.

Thusly, I now have a spunky red hardcover planner at home/small business headquarters.  I’ve created all-encompassing topics for each day:

  • Media Monday
  • Trade Me Tuesday
  • Etsy Wednesday
  • Attack of the Thursday
  • Photo Friday
  • Edit Saturday
  • Blogging Sunday

These 7 topics cover a good variety of areas where I want to concentrate my efforts.  And I don’t want to be too restrictive either.  For example:

Media Monday is when I do work on my media e-course.  Anything related to that course is saved for Monday – unless it is absolutely imperative, all else will be ignored.

Trade Me Tuesday covers all aspects of New Zealand’s favorite auction site.  As I have a few items listed there I can spend Tuesday evening honing jewelry categories, adding photos, reading the blog.  Anything, as long as it relates to Trade Me.

Etsy Wednesday has me doing any Etsy related stuff, tending to my shop, reading threads, updating tags, creating Treasuries and so on.  It also happens to coincide with my new “Behind the Twinkle” Wednesday blog post spotlighting my latest Etsy listing.

Now, I’m sure you’re wondering about Attack of the Thursday.  I few months ago I gained a twitter follower called @aNGrYGiRLGear who is a fellow Etsy shop owner. She sent n automated message to me asking if I knew about Attack of the Craft and, naturally I checked out the website and I found my kinsfolk.  Well, you’d probably call us Alt folk. Whatever we’re called I found many like-minded people. Alas, I’ve neglected this great social network and it is high time I got back into networking.  Hence Attack of the Thursday.

Edit Saturday is my favorite day of all.  It means I can pretty much do what I want so long as it involves editing of some sort.  Edit photos, listings, blog posts, videos – you name it, I can edit it.

Blogging Sunday is for this blog as well as unadulterated blog reading.  My media marketing course included a bunch of bloggers and I’m working my way through the list to find the ones I want to keep following.

So this post has been noted in my Roman Time Measuring Device and I can sit back today and blob out in front of the television knowing all my work is done…

Why aren’t I famous yet?

Voodoo Earrings by Glamour Twinkles - more coming to Etsy real soon

Warning: Unintended Offence May be Caused.

Welcome back to Wednesday’s Behind the Twinkle post, featuring my latest Etsy shop listing – Brown Rosery with White Cloisonné Cross Necklace

Brown Rosery with White Cloisonné Cross - by Glamour Twinkles Jewelry

I love rosaries.  I love the Y-style design, the pretty crystals, the ornate crosses, everything about them.  However, I’m not Catholic, and I do feel a little bit guilty calling my latest listings “rosaries”.  (Huh, guilt = Catholic, sorry I couldn’t resist) So I’ve called them Rosery – the Rosery That Isn’t a Rosary.  As a listing title that is quite a mouthful – and somewhat unnecessary.  I’ve tossed and turned over the description for these pieces, and I have around 6 or 7 of them sitting in their sealed plastic baggies waiting for a good home – or neck, as the case may be.  But these Rosery’s look so pretty and are a good seller at the craft shows I’ve attended. Just think of the fantastic little story you can tell your friends when you buy this pretty little trinket.  But don’t show your children the unintentionally topless mannequin shot.  It was the only way to show you the length of the necklace. I gotta do what I gotta do.

I'm Going to Miss Picnik

My, how we’ve changed.  I used to devour actual magazines with gusto.  Not so much now I’m afraid.  Well, apart from tattoo magazines but that’s not what this blog is about. No, I’ve been working on my marketing e-course and purchasing the first mags I’ve got in, I don’t remember how long.  Sadly, I’ve changed.

To market a product one must know their audience.  One should also know a little something about possible promotional options.  Thusly, magazines were purchased to that effect.  Little hint, I’m not sure what my market is so I decided to purchase only NZ and Australian magazines.  I figure if and when I have to send samples out the postage won’t cost the earth.  So I went out and purchased:

Simply You

NOT the magazine for me.  Full of very expensive glossy clothes and high-end hair styling products.  Weird, I thought it was a fashion mag.  Purchased because it’s cover told me it held a “what to wear guide”. Didn’t really gel with this little reader.

Fashion Quarterly

The cover of this tome told me it had “summer’s hit list” and it also had a couple of articles on stylists which I’ll probably read later.  Much later.  Sorry, another no go from me.

(embarrassingly) Cosmopolitan

Cry, sniff, I used to love this magazine. The cover told me it had “fierce fashion, super glam looks….” ‘fraid not.  I knew it was full of relationship BS but it used to have great editorials and fashion spreads.  I used to find great pics that I would cut out and keep in little scrap books.  And I’ve got plenty of these little style books - that’s what I call them.  Sadly, this mag had nothing to write home about.  Ciao.

Cleo

See above.  Cover had “look lush for less”.  Very unlush to me.

My point is that I couldn’t see myself pitching an editorial storyline for any of these magazines to feature my jewelry – well, I mean for them to just look at my jewelry – and I was beginning to despair until I remembered one last magazine that I had forked out for:

REMIX

At last. Exclamation points abound!  Love this magazine. I’ve folded the corners on so may pages and articles that I may even be back next month for my magazine fill.  Hurrah!

White Skull - Voodoo Earrings by Glamour Twinkles - available soon

I’m now back at my Girl Friday job in the big city and this past week has been rather distracting with new Twitter followers beeping my phone, blogs to read and pesky office work interrupting my dreams of featuring in print.  But then, my job keeps me in the lifestyle I am accustomed to so I’m getting my head back in the work game.  And as such I’ll really need to come up with a work plan if I want to keep up with all the Glamour Twinkly things I need to do to get my “bling” out there.  Quite unlikely if I ever again refer to my jewelry line as “bling” argh!

This weekend has seen me in full photo shoot mode with the new items I’ve made these last two weeks (too many sunny days do not a good photo shoot make).  Oh, and last night I got the shocking email from Picnik telling me they were closing.  You know that moment when you read something so unbelievable that you must read it a couple of time before it sinks in?  That was me last night as I prepped my dindins.  I read the email and (being the habitual paranormal/hoax footage skeptic I am) I was waiting for the punch line.  No, Picnik will be gone and Google+ will “take over many of their awesome features”.  It all happens on 19 April 2012.  As you can probably tell I really love using Picnik.  It is an awesome photo editing system.  But the show must go on.  Thank goodness I always saved my edits to my PC and not on their servers.  There must be some frantic saving going on in cyber space right now.  So that’s been my past week.

Orange Bear French Fries - Cutie Pie Milkshake bracelet - photoshoot results

Remember those drunken new years resolutions we all made 2 weeks ago? No? Well, this little twinkle remembers and is unveiling one of them now. I present to you my new regular Wednesday post: Behind the Twinkle. See, fulfilled my NYE resolution to do more with my blog.

Latest Listing – Behind the Twinkle

Light Blue Gothic Pagoda Earrings - available now on my Etsy shop

Light Blue Lampwork Gothic Pagoda Earrings

Remember when Jim Carrey did a serious movie and no one liked it? That’s how I’m feeling about the serious nature of this listing description. Where’s my trade mark hilarity? I just really wanted to add them to my shop, something to show for all the behind the scenes work that goes into listings. The mannequin photo shows the earrings at their realistic best but I’ve got plenty of other photos to fill up the rest of the picture boxes – Price US$22.

Light Blue Gothic Pagoda Earrings - mannequin

Red Gothic Pagoda Earrings - now available from my Etsy shop

Red Rosebud Gothic Pagoda Earrings

Ten points if you noticed that this description is virtually the same as the Light Blue Gothic Pagoda Earrings – sans Jim Carrey-like humour. I’m sure Jim C shops at Etsy – Price US$22.

Red Gothic Pagoda Earrings - mannequin

Cutie Pie Milkshake Bracelets by Glamour Twinkles - orange, pink and green colours

Oh silly girl, you shouldn’t have done that. I went and checked the lists I was listed on in Twitter. And aghast, I see @glamourtwinkles on a “They Follow” list. I do not think so! Okay, so it might seem like I just follow people randomly if they follow me.  It reflected how I’d been using Twitter in the past.

Armed with these two websites below I am now all the more Twittier:

Now instead of automatically following everyone who follows me I have a 2-step process.

Firstly, I logon to Tweepi and check out my new followers.  From here I can view their profile, and when they last tweeted – which is very handy for sorting the quality from the spam (or porn).  If I don’t see them fitting into my Lists I don’t follow them. And, yes, I’ve gone through virtually ALL of my followers to check for any bad company, so to speak.  I’ve cleaned up my own “following” tweeters.  i no longer follow anyone who randomly tweets words of wisdom EVERY MINUTE. Come on, no actual human being can realistically do that!  I don’t follow anyone who only tweets listings of whatever they are selling. I appreciate they have a business to run and I don’t mind the occasional listing tweet. I do this myself. But here’s the thing – I actually like reading tweets. I get inspired to work after reading someone’s tweets.  An endless procession of Etsy listings does not make for very good reading.

And lastly, armed with Twitlistmanager  I’ve got most of my followers sorted into lists.  I’ve made my lists private, mainly because of the quirky names I’ve used, along the lines of: “actual humans”, “makes my business look good to follow”, “blogging bloggers”; “Supposedly Famous”, etc. BTW, none of those are the actual names I use.

So, if you see my name on a “They Follow” list and automatically assume I will follow you, just remember I will check you out.

Cutie Pie Milkshake Bracelets by Glamour Twinkles - orange, pink, blue

I put together the cutest bracelets ever.  My sis gave me these brilliant little cuties for Xmas.  I finished putting a bunch of bracelets together over the weekend. Unfortuateky it’s been too sunny to shoot any photos for my Etsy shop but they’ll be appearing there post haste.   It’s my homage to the glam-fabulous @beibadgirl (discovered many moons ago on Twitter).  Check her eyeliner-riffic gals on her blog BeiBadGirl.com.

Ever joined a cult? Me too. Every single day Handmadeology send me an email. And every single day I gloss over the craft business links they include, especially those that require me to watch a video – my ultimate Don’t Wanna Do It. But yesterday something made me click on a link called:

Product Marketing Breakthrough

Why I clicked I’ll never know but I’m not ashamed to tell you that the things Andreea Ayers said resonated with me. Chortles, “resonated”. I’ll talk normally from now on. This gal had some faboo tips and tricks and they were… FREE! They are simple tweaks I can make to the various online ventures I have out there right now. She didn’t speak in that oh so annoying Motivational Speaker style: drilling down, brightening my core and believing in the positivity of my inspirational vision. Blah! Anyway, I’m watching the vids thinking “oh great, to get ALL the tips and tricks that work I’ll have to buy something”. Then Andreea says:

You must invest in your own business

Ding, lightbulb moment!

Funnily enough, I’ve got no problem forking out for materials and online listings but I’m hesitating to pay for tried and true methods that will make me money and get me customers? Just Do It Twinkle. So I did. I paid $900 for a course.

KIDDING!!! I don’t have that much money.

It wasn’t that expensive. But it was an investment in my business – that wasn’t a frivolous laptop. But just think, if the $200 I spent gets me new orders, I could buy 50 MacBooks.

Now that’s catch your dream money.

You guys can now look forward to me activating my lifeline by re-dreaming my life goals. Nah, I’m just gonna do new stuff online to grab my moment in the online sunshine money train! I kind of feel like I’ve joined a cult…

Red, Blue and Green Charmed Ring - available on Etsy,and serves as my new Twitter background image.

After I signed up for the 500 videos (kidding, you guys, come on!), I went through a deleted a lot of the clutter from my Twitter feed. Don’t worry, I’m sure I didn’t delete any of my precious readers. I mainly deleted robots that automatically relist products. I actually like reading Tweets from humans, you know the kind of things I’m talking about:

“had a ham sandwich for lunch”; “I got new shoes”; “the teller a the bank wouldn’t hand over all the money”; “on the run from the cops”, no wait, that last one is from Facebook.

Well, you didn’t think I’d really joined a cult did you?

Free gift available with every order from Glamour Twinkles on Etsy

For my next post, my leader Andreea has asked me to give up all worldly possessions and follow her into the jungle. I’m packing my sandshoes as we speak.

Annoying glare, shot using an old Pop Art handbag for background

The humble photograph, probably the internet’s best friend. Online we see fabulous photos, scandalous photos and incredible photos. We know that these photographs have been carefully chosen from many other rejected shots. But what about the ones we never see.  We seldom lay eyes on the failure fotos, allowing us to imagine that the viage before us was simply snapped and then magically appeared on a blog or website or online shop. How wrong we are.
I spent literally hours reshooting Swarovski Potion Necklaces for my Etsy shop. I’ve never been happy with the necklaces photos I had in my shop.  They failed to capture the sparkling crystals, the subtle colours and the sparkliness within.  And its all because of my enemy – GLARE. I found myself bending into yoga-like contortions to get one shot that didn’t have a big white band of glare reflecting on the little potion bottles.  I read every hint on Etsy’s tips to take great photos.  I changed setting on my Pentax I-10 camera, I had paper tacked to the window, I held my camera in one hand whilst holding a DIY glare guard in a futile attempt to rid the potion bottles of that infernal glare.  Nothing seemed to be working.  I put the camera away and realising that I’d wasted a good three hours on futile photography attempts, I decided to tweet my anger with visual proof.  I leave the necklace where it is, snap a shot with my iPhone and . . . it was the best photo I had taken all day.

Glare, shadows, frusration building

Through tears of joy, I reshot the rest of the necklaces in less that 2 hours. What a relief.  Although it did feel a little strange taking somewhat important photographs with a cell phone but if you could’ve seen what I went through over the past two fruitless days you would understand.  And then, brilliant idea – BLOG IT.  Above I show you the rejected photos.  They stand as a testament to the glaring lack of focus I’ve had.  I think that line ties in rather nicely.  Below are the final iphone-a-riffic photos:

Fire Red Swarovski Potion Necklace by Glamour Twinkles - Etsy-worthy photo

Blue Swarovski Potion Necklace by Glamour Twinkles - an Etsy worthy shot

My Etsy Shop

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