Art Fire vs. eBay

IMHO-Art Fire is 10 times better than eBay for handmade artisan products.  For one, Art Fire doesn't charge ANY fees to list an item or when it sells.  The only way they make their money is by artisans who sign up for their Pro Account (which is only 15.95 a month).  You are in no way obligated to do this.  You can stay a basic memeber for no charge and still get unlimited listings with no hidden fees.  It is awesome!  So any money that you make is all yours to keep.  I have also done much better with selling on Art Fire.  I have sold a total of 3 items on eBay in the last 2 months and sold a total of 6 items on Art Fire in the last 2 weeks.  Art Fire has many ways of advertising (for free) a listing or the entire studio.  It truely is dedicated to the artists. 
If you are an artist looking for a great way to sell your products at no cost....then Art Fire is where it's at!

eBay...

I finally sold my first piece of jewelry on eBay 2 weeks ago.  That only took a month!  But I was glad and I got a little feedback for it so all in all it was a good day.   I have since sold 2 others, now if I can just get at least 2 a week I think I will be well on my way to being able to make a little extra money!  I still have high hopes that it will do well.  My husband has stood behind me every step of the way and he seems to think that it is a good thing as well.  I hope he is right. 
I will keep at it because I believe it is worth it and it is something that I love doing, what could be better than that?

No Sales

Still no sales as of today.  It is very frustrating!  I have listed them on eBay, my facebook fan page, digg.com and have not gotten any hits as of yet.  I don't know what else to do.  I hope I can come up with something soon though.  I do have faith that from everything bad that happens something good has to happen.  I get laid off and decide to start my jewelry business so that must mean that it is gonna be a good thing, right?

On another note, I have to come up with a different logo, one that is better translated into different mediums.  If you are ever gonna have your own logo make sure that it is going to be simple enough to be recreated for different things.  If you create one from a free program on the web most likely you will not be able to recreate it to be able to make T-shirts if you so desire.  It needs to be easily configured in line art or otherwise.  Just a word of advice.

Making jewelry

I got laid off 2 weeks ago and decided to take my hobby to the next level.  I love making jewelry it is a passion.  I think that making very affordable jewelry that can be worn everyday is perfect for everyone.  I have run into a few problems so far though.  I listed my first 5 listings on eBay recently and I have come to find that if you do not have any ratings people are far less willing to take a chance but you can't get ratings unless someone buys something.  It is a huge circle of nothing happening.  Very frustrating!
I have made a fan page on facebook to try and help get the name out there and that is slow going but at least it is out there and you can put up pictures of some of the products.  It is very exciting and exhausting!
I will try to keep you updated on how things are going and hopefully give some advice and tips on how to make jewelry and go about selling it.