Saturday 30 June 2007

Saturday - a bit of rest for the wicked...

It's Saturday, so I had a bit of a lie in and didn't do the horses until 7.30am. Then brekkie with a friend at one of those oldy fashioned cafes with ketchup bottles on the wipe clean tablecloth and all the tabloids to read. Marvelous!

That seemed to use up the whole morning. I usually have a bit of a rest at the weekend - except in the run up to Christmas where if I stop, I can't catch up again! This time of year is great for stock checking and ordering new lines so that's what I'm doing. I'm also stocking my new website. This seems to take ages, but I'm pleased with how its looking and can't wait to be fully open.

I also wrapped a batch of parcels as to me, there is nothing worse than getting to work on Monday morning and climbing the 'parcel mountain' all day. I prefer to do it in batches of a couple of hours everyday, so that Monday isn't horrible. I guess this is a throwback to previous lives where I had to get into the office by 8.15 and have a dreadful meeting on Mondays! this way, my Mondays are stressfree :-)

There is a HUGE spoil of silver tone chain sitting in my stockroom and it's calling me(!) That's my next job - chopping it into batches. I've got this pretty much off pat now. It's quite repetitive, but quicker started, quicker done!

Have a great weekend all!

Friday 29 June 2007

it's Friday - that must mean counting..

Well along with the rather uninspiring counting... a silver lining!

I found a huge box of 'odds and ends' - single strands of beads mostly, freshwater pearls, gemstone chips and rounds. So, as I'm in a 'tidy up' mood I'm listing them all at 99p no reserve on eBay. I have a direct link to my eBay shop:

www.georgiegirlsgems.com

The 99p listings will be live over the weekend. There's LOTS!

I need the space because my Christmas stock is on the horizon. Yes, this probably sounds bizarre, but July and August are quieter for sales on the internet, so i use the time to make sure I've chosen stock of seasonal items - Halloween and Christmas - and I write up the listings for them. I do some last minute stock buying later in the year, but the core range will be in place (or at least on order!) within the next month.

That way, when it's October and everything goes mad, I know I have listings ready to go. This means I can concentrate on despatch, which is vital during the holiday period. I have a few Christmas Elves that need training though(!)

Aside from that, today I mainly wrapped parcels and did a little work on the website. I'm really pleased with how it looks and hope to have it thorougly sorted in around 2 weeks. If you'd like a sneaky peek go to:

www.madcowbeads.com

I hope you like it too!

Thursday 28 June 2007

Well Here Goes!...

I'm a bit slow on the uptake when it comes to new technology type things... but finally the news of blogging has reached georgieworld. Never mind eh? Better late than never!

My aim is to use this blog as a diary of a bead seller to give you a little insight into the people behind the beads(!) I'd better kick off with the introductions now...

My name is Georgie (you'd never have guessed that!) and I run a home based business selling beads findings and craft items on eBay. This is my fulltime job. The other fulltime jobs I have are looking after my horse and cats - oh and my husband. When I'm not packing beads, writing listings, marketing my site, making jewellery and sourcing new sparkly stuff(!) I enjoy horse riding and compete in dressage.

I have 2 fat ginger cats called Tabby and Corrie and a beautiful horse called Harry who is sadly very ill at the moment. He has an operation on July 11th, so all paws are crossed for that. The cats get very cross because they are not allowed into my sparkly bead room. They sit outside meowing when I go in to pack parcels!

I'm married with no kids. My husband is a farrier, so that's quite lucky for me as the horsey gets free shoes. He has his own website now: www.troythefarrier.com I've dragged him kicking and screaming into the 21st century! He has email and everything :-) he's staying with friends in Texas at the moment, so I have a little peace(!) .. not really!

What did I do today? Well aside from all that parcel wrapping, I did some work on my new website www.madcowbeads.com - it's not completely stocked yet, it's a work in progress - a little each day so I can make sure it looks nice and works properly. I also took some photos of a new batch of pewter charms ready to list. They're very funky - I think you'll like them, well... I like them!

I ran to catch the last post and arrived with my sack at our little local Post Office at 4.59pm - talk about leaving it a bit late. I managed to beat the postie through the door, but sadly, he informs me that tomorrow morning is a postal strike and nothing will go until Saturday. That's very annoying. I hope it doesn't go on too long!

Stock levels are the bane of a bead seller's life, so tomorrow is counting day. I have the problem of selling on eBay, the website and also face to face (a few local ladies pop round and buy their supplies!) so stock control is my biggest hurdle at the moment. I manage to keep a handle on it by frequent recounts, but it does get tedious - I'd much rather be looking for new shiny things to buy!

Anyway, enough from me for today. To keep up to date with this blog, you can subscribe via RSS.

Have a great evening!
Georgie