Pulp Sushi

Hitting A Creative Block

Oh lordy lordy. I'd hate to complain but I'm in a creative rut.  I've done my usual tasks to get me out of my funk - blog hopping, Etsy browsing, staring at my supplies - the Creative Well has run dry.  I know it's not the end of the world but do you ever get in a rut like this and worry that you'll never get out???

Sometimes going supply shopping helps but Etsy sales have been SO slow this month, I haven't been able to purchase any new supplies. I feel sorta stuck.   My stress level has been rather high lately and it's been taking it's toll on me physically.  I'm fighting not to go into full-on Depression Mode like those people you see in those anti-depressant drug commercials.  It all comes down to money and worrying about how I'm going to get by, it's making me feel creatively stunted. I hate this feeling. =/ 

It's Friday, I took the day off from work so I can have an *extra* long weekend (Monday is a holiday) and I'm going to try to just enjoy it and not think about the Etsy shop or my blog too much, hope you don't mind.

Maybe this magic frog will bring me some luck and help me kick-start the drive and creative juices again...

This froggie was so soft and fluffy, I wish I could have taken him home. Taken at Dream In Plastic in Beacon.  Have a great weekend!

May Sponsor Meet Up

A very big THANK YOU to the lovely ladies that have swapped ads with me this month. Let's take a closer look at some of them along with their blogs other links.

Twitter / Instagram / Bloglovin

Blog / Twitter / Facebook

Blog / Shop / Facebook

 

Blog / Twitter / Facebook

Facebook / Twitter / Blog

Blog / Twitter / Facebook

Etsy / Facebook / Twitter

New Bracelet & Bridal Giveaway News

Another new flower bracelet was added to the Etsy shop...

Wonderland Dream was made with the last of these blue flower beads, pretty!  They can even be worn with these earrings. 

I'm working with the lovely ladies at The Broke Ass Bride who are hosting a giveaway for me.  There is actually a nice little write-up about the shop too.  I wanted to get involved with a wedding website but not just *any* site.  The mission behind BAB is right up my alley. :) 

Speaking of giveaways, I will be annoucing the winner of the Atomic Cowlick giveaway tomorrow!

Guest Post: Basics of Living Creatively & How To Keep Going

Today I'm over at Five Sixteenths sharing one of my favorite Spring/Summer activities.  Once you're done here, make sure you pay a visit over there! Thank you Moe for today's post! ~ Marilyn

 

Why hello there! I am Moe, the blogger behind Five Sixteenths.  I am a southern girl with a yank for a boyfriend & a hankering for Sweet Tea.  Five Sixteenths is where I blog about my adventures in life, my BFA, my focus on ceramics, ways to boost your blog, my art/design/handmade shop & my online yard sale.  Phew, that was a mouthful right?  I'm here today to share with you my journey back to being creative.  I hope to inspire you to get back to what makes you happy & to keep up with it!

Rewind about a year and you'll find me walking across the stage in a cap & gown accepting my Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree.  I went to a small southern college where I majored in art.  Rewind about 5 years from then & you'll find a shy, nervous girl starting off a small southern college studying Math.  It wasn't until I met my best friend & current room mate that I took the plunge to change majors.  Rewind about 3 years before that & you'll find me staying at my aunt's house answering the question "If you could do anything, what would you do?"  I answered with "I'd like to own my own little shop where I sell things I make."
So if you've kept count, that makes 9 years ago that I said I'd like to be doing what I am doing now.  Took me 9 years to realize that it all starts with a dream.  Last year I had a rough time finding a job & had no time to make this blog or my art/crafts what I wanted them to be.  After a few months of struggling to get up on my feet, I found a perfect job that lets me be pretty creative & pays for my clay habit.  Now I am back to doing what I totally love: being creative.  More specifically: Making art.  If you want to read about my artist statement & see some of my work, feel free to check out my artist website.

Why am I saying all of this? Because if you've ever thought you should be doing something else or that you have the most fun doing the things you love & wish you had more time for it.....it is possible.  Here are 4 ways to get yourself inspired to do what you want to do:

Buy so many books on the topic your bookshelf starts to bow //  When I first thought that I wanted to pursue a creative business outside of my studies I stocked up on books that were helpful.  I still buy books & look for resources that will put me on track with what I need to do.  Buying these books will also keep your dream as a part of your everyday life.  You'll look at them on your book shelf & be inspired.  Also, when you're bored on the internet go ahead & do some research on the thing you are interested in.  Save great pages to your bookmarks & go through them every once in a while.

Start a blog as an inspiration to keep going  // A blog is a public platform to make your intentions known to the world as well as a place to keep record of what's going on while your on your adventure of seeing your dream become reality.  That's why I started to blog.  Keeping track of your goals, sharing what you know about the subject you are interested in, & joining like minded people is really the main focus I've run across on all blogs!  If you have an interest, share it with the world and inspire others.  You never know who you might meet or what your blog will become!

Save room for reflection //  Setting goals requires a lot of evaluation, re-evaluation, and reflection.  I've touched on goals before on Five Sixteenths, but let me share something with you: I am the worst at keeping goals.  I should say, I am the worst at keeping goals the same.  I set a goal & work to it...then I accomplish something else along the way & reevaluate the goal I set in the first place.  I live by the motto 'Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter.  Try again. Fail again. Fail better.'  Just keep on keeping on!  Working towards your goals is sometimes an organic process but if you have a dream, you need to keep working towards it.  Break it up in to chunks or sections and go through it that way.  Sometimes you'll weave your way to it in the end.

Just Do It  // Take the time right now to do what you want to do.  The only person telling you that you can't is YOU!  Now it isn't all buttercups and lolipops, you will have to work....but the pay off of knowing that you are on your way should keep you going.  Remember that every accomplishment is a milestone & don't get discouraged.  Rome wasn't built in a day & all that jazz.
I hope sharing with you these 4 things that I keep in mind while working on my creative life has helped or inspired you to work towards your dreams.  It's never too late!  Pop by Five Sixteenths & stay a while if you're picking up what I'm laying down.  Have a great weekend!

Want To Swap Blog Ads In June With Pulp Sushi?

It's about that time of the month when you start seeing the call for next month's sponsorships.  I am taking that plunge once again at some Sponsorship options for my blog - don't worry, I am still going to offer free blog ad swaps every month but there will also be an affordable Feature option.  

My call for June Sponsors! 

Large ad - 250 x 125 - $12.00 for one month (discount for multiple months). Ad appears above small ads and you will get a Feature blog post for your business and/or blog with the option of a giveaway. Your ad will also appear in my e-newsletter for the month.  Ad can be for your blog or business.

Small ads - 125x100 - Free with swap - blogs only. I will display your button as long as my button appears on your blog. Ads are rotated mid-month.  You'll still be include in my #FF Sponsor tweets.

Please email me at marilyn @ pulpsushi.com if you are interested in either one. I'm accepting ads until May 27th.

Update: I do not plan to post monthly a "Call For Sponsors" post but I will keep the page linked under "Blog Menu".

Home Tour: My Workspace (Enter If You Dare!! ☢)

I love how Paige from Little Nostalgia recently posted what her workroom looks like on any given day when not made pretty for the blog, Creative Minds Are Rarely Tidy and I thought it would be fun if I played along too.  

I don't have a workroom or studio. I have a corner in my living room and you will never see this in any magazine or in Apartment Therapy.  So I introduce you to where all the magic (sometimes) happens...

I say "sometimes" because I usually just take my stuff and work on my coffeetable which is a couple of feet away but for the most part, I'm here. 

1) This is where I keep my chains, baggies, metal jewelry supplies, blank stationery sets and random crafty stuff I've forgotten about. 

2) Believe it or not, all of my inventory are in these two trays!

3) Two items are marked three because they're the same thing: BEADS!

4) All of my cardstock which I use for photo backgrounds

5) These bags have my yarn, thread, all knitting/crochet/embroidery stuff

6) Gift boxes, tissue paper, bubblewrap

7) My mail/fliers/coupons and craft books

8) My craft fair essentials are in this box (receipts, square, small signs, etc)

9) Business cards

10) Ribbons & address labels

11) It's kind of hard to see but this is actually where I hang my personal jewelry collection. 

Hope you enjoyed my quickie tour! =P

My Bust Craftacular Recap

I wanted to start off the bat with sharing my purchases from this past week's Craftacular.

Sideshow Soap Co was the only vendor listed that I was planning to purchase from. I've been following them on Facebook and I'm always on the look for awesome handmade soap to try. So far I am not disappointed. And Jessica is SO sweet!  

Speaking of sweet, across from me was Laura from DollsvilleNYC. Not only was I admiring her bright red hair, but her beautifully crafted hair accessories. I purchased three cute little bows and a CD of her band.

I was so excited to spend the day with Judy working our booth. I think our stuff looked great together, really colorful!

I started the day off right with a large coffee (who am I kidding, that's every day).

So it was a good day for Pulp Sushi! I was pretty happy at the end of the day but I think that going forward, the only way I can do a Bust Craftacular is if I share the space with another vendor, it's the only way I can enjoy any real profit with their high vendor fee but they do get people in the door.

Did you miss my giveaway annoucement on Monday? Click me to check it out!

Getting ready for BUST!

In getting ready for the Bust Spring Craftacular this weekend, Judy from JSWMetalworks & I thought it would be a good idea to meet ahead of time to kind of map out how our set up would be. We're both jewelry sellers but we have different styles so hopefully between the two of us, we can cover a wide range of tastes. She came by a couple of weeks ago and worked it out.

Hmm, looks like there's a ghost in my apartment. Anyway, most of these awesome displays are hers. She does a lot more shows than I do. I'm so glad she's doing this with me. In the past I've wanted to share with other sellers but Jewelry folks are weird, they don't want to share with other jewelry people and I totally understand that but I also don't see anything wrong with sharing if you have different styles. Thankfully Judy is not a weird Jewelry person. :) I know I had my gripes in the past about this show and it's location but I'm willing to give this another shot since I'm kind of saving on the vendor fee.  Really looking forward to it.  Just got our booth assignment too. I just hope this spot is better than where I was last year.

Check Out My April Blog Swapees

Is "Swapee" even a word or did I just make that up?  I wanted to point out my new sponsors for the month of April. Remember when I was looking for folks to swap with? These are them! Some of them may look familiar as I've been exchanging ads with them for a while (and I ♥ them for that) but there are some new friends so make sure you click around.

   

Now if you'll excuse me, this is a Wrestling household and Wrestlemania is tonight!!!! =P

A Couple of Friendly Reminders :)

1) I'm close to reaching 600 sales on Etsy and I would like to offer a free gift to the next set of customers to help me get there. The next group of customers to help me reach 600 will get a Pulp Sushi Vanilla Sakura Candle included with their purchase, no minimum order or coupon code necessary.  

2) PulpSushi.com is closing for good this Saturday (3/31). Get 20% off your purchase when you use the code SUSHI20 at check out.

3) Check me out in today's post over at This Enchanted Pixie. I share what Happiness means to me. :)

4) I usually don't post on the weekends just to give myself a break, but this Sunday I will be introducing my new sponsors swapees for April.  No April Fool's Joke here!

Closing PulpSushi.com (The Shop)

It is with a weight being lifted off my shoulders that I write this post.  This decision was a couple of months in the making.  I decided that I will be closing the shop PulpSushi.com.  I will continue to sell my jewelry on Etsy and I'm keeping the domain (I'm not stupid!). It has become clear to me that I wanted to try something a little different but chose the wrong time to do it.  Not to say that I won't do this again somewhere down the line.

I believe that in 2011 I was going through an identity crisis with Pulp Sushi.  I was taking in SO MUCH information about running a business that I got so crazy enthusiastic about putting the business on overdrive.  I am not ashamed to admit that I am so desperately dying to get out of my 9 to 6 office routine. In that desperation I made some decisions that were not truly thought out.   Why did I decide to have different shops with the same name????  This is NOT how branding is suppose to work people! I wanted to be something else than just another jewelry shop because there is such an oversaturation of it.   My vision got a little distorted from my frustrations.  I wanted to get into craft fairs as something OTHER than jewelry.  That was foolish.  I need to let my work speak for itself. 

It was back in February, I woke up at 3:58 am thinking about this. Am I really losing sleep over this??  Promoting one shop online takes a lot, two is even more challenging especially when you have a full-time job. I don't know how people with two or three Etsy shops do it! The sales just aren't happening and I feel like I am letting the vendors down who trust me to sell their items.  The shop does fine in person but I don't sell at a market every weekend.  Seeing the monthly costs of keeping the shop open with no return stings a little. I really thought I was able to pull it off.  I know it hasn't even been a year yet since I launched the new shop but my gut is telling me that I can't keep going in this direction.  The shop has taken a backseat to Etsy & the blog.  While brief, it ran it's course.

So it's time to scale things back a bit and get back to what got this ball rolling in the first place which was the jewelry.  I can't be timid anymore about the work that I do.  I started this post saying this is a weight being lifted, that's how I see all of this. I don't see it as a failure, maybe it had to happen in order for me to truly see which direction I should be going.

I didn't think this day would come...

"This day" being Friday that is, this week was incredibly SLOW for me.  I took this picture the other day during my lunch break on the way to an unplanned trip to Ann Taylor Loft.  I came back with TWO new outfits.  I needed pants. Badly.

The drama with my camera continues. :( I contacted Support at Canon and they suggested I try a couple of things to see if it would kickstart the camera. Still no luck.  They offered this Loyalty Program where I can exchange for a refurbished camera at a discounted fee. I may have to look into that. In the meantime, I'll continue to use my iPhone to take Etsy photos, it just makes the whole listing process take longer now but I gotta do what I gotta do!   Enough of my whining.  I hope you have a great weekend!

Keep Blogging Fun Shall We?

I'm a member of the Etsy Blogger Team and some of the members are new to blogging and they don't know where to start or are afraid.  Some are borderline freaking out about it. What do I write about? How much should I write? How do I get people to read my blog? Why am I not getting comments? What should I use for a blog? Gaaaaah!!!!!   I'm hoping that if I share what I get out of this blog, maybe it can bring some comfort to others.  It's really not that bad and not as complicated as you make it out to be.

1) Shop Updates: First and foremost this is a blog for Pulp Sushi news & updates.  Those posts are maybe once or twice a week, depending on how productive I've been. 

2) Write Reviews:  In the last year this blog somehow got on the radar of some publishers and I have been lucky to receive some amazing craft books to write about. I love to write, always have. Writing is my favorite form of expressing myself.  Before doing reviews on this blog I've written a few for Venuszine.com. Now that the Pulp Sushi blog has become a place a reviews, I'll take it! =D

3) No Income: I don't write this blog to make money so there's less pressure to update constantly and keep my sponsors happy.  Would I like to get paid for this? Heck yeah, are you hiring???

4) I ♥ Reading Blogs: For real, my blog feeds are ridiculous but I make time to get some reading in EVERY day.  There is so much awesomeness out there, I can see how someone new to the game can be a little intimidated to jump in. However there is a risk where you start seeing blogs posting similiar things and you think you'll have to do the same. Don't do that.

5) Chatty With My Blog Friends: That is if I'm not talking to them on Twitter or Facebook, I leave comments, they leave comments. Although I don't write posts to get comments.  It's a crazy way to communicate and be in touch with people but this format is here to stay. 

And now I leave with you some quickie tips.

*Write for yourself first - let your blog be an extention of who you are. It's more fun that way.   If you're obsessed with fashion, food, movies, music in addition to telling people what's new in your Etsy shop, share it!

*When it's stops being fun, take a break.  Your blog will still be there when you come back.

*Have a Facebook or Twitter? Link it to your blog so when you post an update, your friends and followers will know.  The readers will come.

*Make it as personal as you want it to be. I don't share much about my family, what I do with my boyfriend and where I work.  That's my own choice. If you want to share stuff like that, go for it!  I like to share my feelings sometimes, even if they're not good, just to get it out like writing in a diary, except everyone can read it so I try to be mindful of what I say.

Are you ready to embrace your blog now? I have maintained so many blogs throughout the years before I settled with this one and I've changed my style a lot.  Don't be afraid of getting yourself locked in to a certain type of blog, it can always change.

Special thanks to Ashley from After Nine To Five for launching this week:

Pulp Sushi available at White Rabbit!

I am happy to annouce today that you can now find some of my items at:

White Rabbit
112 South Linn Street
Iowa City, IA 52240

Mostly my Flower Bouquet necklaces can be found here so if you had your eye on one and you're not in Iowa, you'll need to make a road trip. ;) I'm so happy to add this wonderful place to my list of retailers! Click the link above to check them out on Facebook.

Blog Positivity Week - March 19 to 25

Ashley from After Nine To Five is at again! She is preparing to launch Blog Positivity Week and it looking for bloggers to participate. It is open to new and experienced bloggers, any type of bloggers not just crafty, small business ones. Do you want in? Here is the sign-up page *click* and check out her blog post for a little background on this.

Bullying doesn't just occur to kids in High School on their Facebook pages, it happens to bloggers too.  We put ourselves out there to connect with others and sometimes people with no lives will find that as an excuse to attack the person just to make them feel better about themselves.  It hasn't happened to me much but I've seen it happen to others and it's upsetting.  It shouldn't be.

 

Blog: New Line of Earrings ~ Fanciful Deluxe

The Bead Expo hit me with some serious inspiration.  As soon as I got home I to work on a new batch of earrings which invoke a less kitschy, more fairytale wedding feel to it using flowers and pearls - Fanciful Deluxe Earrings

 

 


You'll notice I have a watermark on these pictures now. There has been so much talk lately about the Pros & Cons of Pinterest that I'm just playing it safe. I love Pinterest and I love using it for my personal inspiration boards and other references (ie: food receipes, home decor ideas).  I have a board for my jewelry and they are getting pins but I can't say I'm getting much sales from it. Unfortunately, I've seen some of my items getting pinned to boards with names like "Jewelry Ideas" or "Things I Want To Make". Oh well, not much I can do about that but I'll keep using it and hope that something good will come of it.

Shop Update: More Pretties For Your Ears

On a serious earring-making kick lately.  Personally, that is the one piece of jewelry I can't leave the home without.  Necklaces are ok but I need to wear earrings or else I feel like I look like a man ha ha! 

I'm using the last of my Tagua beads for the bottom two pairs of earrings. I've had them since I first started making jewelry and then I stopped,  I don't know why I do things like that.  Anyway, I did stock up on a ton of supplies this past week. I went to a bead show and spent WAY too much on new stuff but it's so inspiring.  I took some snapshots while I was there. 

I already made some more earrings when I got back home. Can't wait to make more!

Sugar Coma anyone?

Did you do anything for Valentine's Day? As much as I enjoy the decorations (like for Halloween & Christmas). Mike & I don't really make that big of a deal of the day.  Not that we're super romantic and every day is Valentine's Day (ha!), we're just not too smoochy smoochy about it.  However we both have a sweet tooth and we'll use any excuse to eat candy, cake, ice cream.  I use to make a cake for Valentine's Day but then realize that it's just TOO much cake for people to have at home so I get us treats instead.  This year, it was cupcakes from Crumbs.

Their cupcakes always look so nice, taste-wise they're ok, I've had better but they're conveniently located on the way to and from work. It's really hard for me to come across a cupcake I didn't like.  Oh! We did watch the Westminster Dog Show, congratulations Malachy!

I was rooting for the Daschund but I'll accept the Pekingese winning Best In Show.

My sale ends THIS Friday! Your last chance to get 20% off your entire order on Etsy and PulpSushi.com when you use coupon code LOVEU20. I have a lot of older items in the Etsy shop that if they do not sell soon, they're going to be shipped to one of my retailers. There is one new store that is interested in selling my items that I'm gathering for too. More news on that soon. So if something has been on your wishlist, now is the time to pounce!

Blog :: Cheeseburgers & Necklaces

My first attempt at a Chevron Necklace, what do you think?   You see this shape on Etsy often but not too many that are beaded in a bright green like this.  It's the latest addition to the Enchanted Sideshow collection, where I play around a little more with shapes using Czech glass beads. 

Did you have a nice weekend? It was First Saturday in Kingston, NY so we made the trip up and tried out a new restaurant - B3, which was so good! I gotta write a Yelp review.

Then we headed over to Karmabee just to say hello and maybe do a little shopping. :) I said hello to my little shelf which I just restocked.

I previously had some necklaces on displays but Karen, the owner, made an interesting observation - people were afraid to remove the necklaces from the displays (???) so we're trying out just laying them flat to see if people are less timid. Customer Psychology can be so weird sometimes. Personally, I still think it needs *something*.

Treasury Love & No Love From Etsy Sales

I've been fortunate to find some of my items a part of some really cool treasuries.  Here are two of them.

An Open Book

A Little Love

Since joining the Top Treasury & Avid Treasurer teams, my views and favorites have shot through the roof!  Yay right? Well I struggle getting those views to equal sales.

I've only had two sales in the month of January where last January I had eight.  I sold an item the first week of January and I got excited thinking this year would be off to a good start.  I'm not ready to throw in the towel by any means.  I continue to wonder if my prices are still too low and if people are turned off by it?  I can't go any lower. I raised my prices a little this year but I just don't feel comfortable going higher.  Am I letting my insecurity get in the way? When I offer coupon codes that people hardly use, it makes me question if there is still an interest. 

Sorry I'm not looking for a pity party and compliments on my shop. I love what I make, I just wish my online sales were more steady.   Anyone else find themselves in a similiar funk? How did you get out of it?