Almost done...

....with work. No big surprise there. I can't wait...no surprise there either. I love what I do for living (teaching) and I would have given up after the first year if I didn't. But somehow my little devils tire me more this year than they did previously. It's probably because I've never had so much work to do-28 classes per week, and the norm, as we call it, is 20. More work means more money, but I really do hope I'll have less work next year. I haven't made a piece of jewelry for only God knows how long and I really miss my creative side. Luckily, I've joined EtsySecrets site and there's so much great work to be seen and so many great people to meet.
Back to that 'more money' phrase I used-thanks to this, I managed to buy some really great supplies and I can't wait to use them.
Off to work now.

Preparations

Starting a business is not easy...starting an online business might sound easy, but it's not. Nowadays it doesn't take much money to start it-rather less than brick and mortar business-the real effort is in making it take off.

Fortunately, I joined the team at EtsySecrets and am learning the ropes at the speed of light. All of the elements I'm working on are coming on nicely, though slowly (I'll have more time when the school is out). This blog needs only a proper banner and a few more widgets installed. I still can't find a good layout for my web page-it seems I'll have to roll up my sleeves and make something on my own. I figured out how Twitter works, I tweet regularly and follow Timothy Adam's instructions. As I mentioned before PayPal doesn't support my country and I found an alternative: 2CO.com-signed up for it yesterday. The biggest work of all is clearing up and sorting out my home studio-it's never been in worse shape as everything is upside down in it. During these couple of months on inactivity I just kept piling up things one on top of another. It's gonna take me at least three days of hard work.
Only then I'll be able to start creating.

The end is near

These last few days of my life are really hectic. As the school year is coming close to its end kids I teach suddenly wake up and decide that NOW is the time to improve of their grades. But I have a surprise for them...I've been telling them all year long to follow up on the grades lists I posted for them. Basically, every time they had a test, or an exercise I graded, I posted a list with all of their grades and an average for each one of them. It was their task to follow up on their grades and to work harder if they wanted to improve them. It seems that some of them just woke up and decided they want an A instead of a B, B instead of a C etc. Unfortunately for them, I have no intention to load myself with another ton of work and their final grades are done and just waiting Monday to be recorded. And going soft in this matter is not going to help them learn how to be responsible about their actions (or in this case the lack of them). I really love those kids...you have to love them to be able to deal with them...but there are limits.

Well, all this ends on June 15th....just 9 more days and I'll be in heaven!

How I started designing jewelry?

It happened quite by accident.

Almost four years ago (has it been that long?) a friend of mine asked me to look for some jewelry supplies online for her (she didn't have access at the time). And while I browsed the only page with supplies and projects I could find close to me, Chemaco, I simply fell in love.

Few days after I found myself in the shop and felt like a child in a candy store. With its 120 square meters this shop was a dream come true. I bought two blocks of polymer clay, some fishing nylon, some beads, few clasps and a bag of crimps, came back and started working.

I had stopped several times lately, but I don't intend to give up on this one.

In these four years I met a whole bunch of great people, first on the forum Radionica Snova I created, where most of the girls (and a few boys) are from Croatia. This forum has now grown huge considering the specialized information it contains and the language limitations, and it's in the hands of other, very dedicated people.

These days I'm trying to catch up with my work obligations (it's usually a feeding frenzy for teachers as the summer holidays are approaching), as well as to find time to set up my own site and methods of payment (PayPal doesn't support my country....thumbs down for them), in order to start selling online.

Well, no pics of jewelry this time, but I do hope I'll be able to produce something new soon.

Hello everybody

...from another jewelry designer out there. Being creative as I am, I really don't know what took me so long to start blogging in English (I blog locally, have a look HERE . If you go waaay back, you'll see some of my first ugly ducklings). You can also find me on dA if you care to look.
To make a long story short, here are some facts about me:
I'm 33, female and Bosnian (i.e. born and living in Bosnia-Herzegovina).
I teach English language in primary school and my pupils are at their most adorable age: 8, 9 and 10 years old.
I come from a family of goldsmiths (my mother's side) and jewelers (my dad), but I only started designing jewelry in summer 2005, during a long period of unemployment...and I fell in love. Although I work full time now, I still manage to find time for my hobby, and the results you're about to see.
Before I start with pics I would like to invite all of you creative and crafty people to leave me links to your blogs so I can add you to the Links section.
And here are some pics: