New Fall Designs PLUS 25% off Everything at Jacaranda!

I've recently added some fresh, new jewelry designs for the Fall. Check them out at the shop and while you're there, take advantage of the 25% off Labor Day Sale! 

Use coupon code SUMMER25 at checkout.

If you decide to shop at my Etsy Shop, you can still enjoy 25% off, you don't need a coupon code though as prices have already been adjusted.

Thanks!
Jane

P.S. Sale ends Monday September 4th at midnight.

By Popular Demand!

Over the years I've had many requests to create bird nest necklaces with a mix of blue and pink beads to signify sons and daughters.

So new in the shop this week are these sweet little gold bird nest necklaces with blue and pink pearl eggs. You can select 2, 3 or 4 eggs in total and also the combination of blue and pink pearls.

This makes such a meaningful gift to a mother! Perfect for Valentine's Day or Mother's Day.

Available here in my Etsy Shop.

      

New Packaging!

I spent a long time this past summer creating new packaging for my jewelry and I'm really pleased with the result.

All jewelry is packaged in a kraft jewelry box, embellished with Jacaranda Designs in a robin's egg blue, soft pink and chocolate brown. the earrings hang from earring cards also in the kraft color with blue. Necklaces are placed on necklaces insert cards in the boxes and the box is sealed with a simple elastic bow.

Here's a few pictures of how it looks.

Purple and Ivory Floral Cameo Necklace Back in Stock!

I've had quite a few inquiries about this necklace that had sold out.

The good news is that it is now back in stock! I have six available so don't delay if you're interested in purchasing one.

Thanks!
Jane

 

 

Clearance Sale At Jacaranda Designs

I'm having a clearance sale at Jacaranda Designs. There are over 80 items at 50% off! 

Prices have already been reduced so no need for a coupon.

Shop here!

 

Black Friday Sale!

25% off everything!

Visit Jacaranda Designs.

Happy New Year!

 

I hope you all enjoyed your new year celebrations last night. We went to a friend's party and for the first time since 2000 made it all the way to midnight. Usually we're at the cottage and after a full day of skiing, there is no energy left to stay up to see in the new year. This year however, we are home.
Do you have any new year's resolutions? Mine? Hmmm, I think to eat more vegetables and less sugar!
A sincere thank you to all my friends who comment on my BLOG and to customers of Jacaranda Designs. I really appreciate your continued support!

I wish you all a successful and happy 2012. May your dreams come true.

New Beaded Hair Elastics In Stock at Jacaranda Designs

I've recently added some new beaded hair elastics to Jacaranda Designs. Here's a peek.

Part 3 The Heartsy Deal - Helpful Hints

Taking part in a Heartsy promotion and receiving a huge amount of Etsy orders for Jacaranda Designs in the space of a few days is an event you have to be ready to handle efficiently. I've summarized some helpful hints that I feel may help you get prepared.

1. Have as much stock on hand before the promotion as you can. It's going to save a lot of time if you don't have to make your products as the orders come in.

2. Stock up on packaging and mailing supplies. Depending on how you package your product, you will want to stock up on items such as bubble envelopes, boxes, ribbon, tissue, business cards.

3. Create a spreadsheet ahead of time. On my spreadsheet I had the following columns:
a. Coupon Number
b. Customer Name
c. Amount of Etsy Order
d. Invoiced
e. Paid Invoice
f. Purchase Date
g. Shipping Cost
h. Shipping Status
i. Date Shipped
j. On Back Order
k. Etsy Fees
l. Paypal Fees
m. Remaining Shop Credit

I know it's a lot of columns but it certainly made it easier for me to track all the data.
As soon as Jacaranda Designs Heartsy coupons started selling, I started updating my spreadsheet and continued to do so through the entire week.

4. Make sure your expected shipping times are very clear on your Shop announcement.  I committed to shipping out all orders within three days of payment.

5. Day One - spreadsheet and responses. On Day 1, I did not even try to start shipping orders. I spend my entire time updating my spreadsheet as orders came in, renewing items that had sold and responding to customer inquiries (you may have a lot of these)

6. Day Two - Invoicing and Shipping. On Day 2, I started by invoicing all those customers who had spent more than the coupon value. Once I had sent off the invoices, I started to package up all those orders that had been paid in full (i.e. customer had spent less than the coupon value). On the evening of Day 2, I sent out emails to all the customers whose orders had been shipped that day.

7. Day Three, Four and Five. As invoices were paid, I packaged up those orders. Many individuals did not use their coupons on the first day so the remainder of the week was spent also dealing with a few orders coming in.

Anyway, that was how I got through a very busy time for Jacaranda Designs. My hope is that this information will help you if you decide to embark on a Heartsy promotion. You may not approach it the same way as I have but whatever you do, stay organized!

Part 1 :The Heartsy Deal - Jacaranda Design's Positive Experience

During early March I was lazily browsing through the Etsy forums on a  Sunday afternoon when I stumbled upon a posting about a relatively new site called Heartsy. I read that Heartsy offers special deals on selected Etsy shops, a little like Groupon. It sounded like an interesting promotional opportunity so I decided to investigate further. It turned out that in order for a shop to be considered for a promotion on Heartsy, the shop owner was required to add a few photos of their products and submit their "deal" for consideration/voting by the customer community.

A few minutes later I had submitted my Jacaranda Designs deal and moved on to other things. A couple of weeks later I had an email from Heartsy informing me that Jacaranda Designs had received sufficient votes to qualify. Heartsy administration were very responsive to my emails and questions, always getting back to me promptly. Together, we finalized the details of the promotion and a few weeks later, Monday April 13th, Jacaranda Designs was featured on Heartsy.

On the day of the promotion, I woke at 5am and around 7am began a wonderful, crazy busy day (to top it all my son was home sick from school for the day!).  In fact the entire week flew by as I prepared invoices, packaged orders and responded to inquiries.

I'm a pretty organized person (with a background in project management) so I thought I would be able to handle the load very efficiently. Although I did manage to package heaps of orders and mail them out within the three business days I had promised, I see now that I could have been even more efficient with my time.

All in all it was an enormously successful promotion. I know there has been a lot of discussion on Etsy forums regarding whether sellers should sell their handmade crafts at such a considerable discount and this is my opinion. I wasn't approaching this as a quick way to make lots of sales and profit. This was another form of advertising and marketing. I usually pay for advertising of Jacaranda Designs and I figured Heartsy was a way to advertise that would not cost me money. 

Anyway, I thought I would talk about my experience on my blog and hopefully help other sellers prepare for the big day or at least make a decision whether they want to participate as a Heartsy seller.

Part 2 (later this week) will discuss the math you have to do ahead of time. Yes, I know, many people hate math but in this case, you will have to do some number crunching to make sure you end up making, not losing money.


Stay tuned....

New Jewelry Designs From Jacaranda Designs

I thought this weekend was going to be a write off in terms of getting anything done but lo and behold I actually had time to take my camera out and capture a few of my new designs. I also re-photographed a couple of my older designs as I was never happy with the way the first pictures turned out.

Hope you like them and enjoy the rest of your weekend!



Simple Silver Starfish Trio Necklace




Ivory and Pearl Silver Starfish Necklace




Ivory Pearl and Silver Hydrangea Bouquet Necklace




Blow Me Some Bubbles Brushed Silver Necklace

Silver Coin Pearl and Silver Floral Post Earrings Perfect For The Bride



Ivory Pearl and Silver Floral Post Earrings Perfect For The Bride

Circle of Love Crystal Silver Necklace

Black Friday SALE

Black Friday SALE



Black Friday will soon be here and hence, the biggest shopping long weekend of the year. Jacaranda Designs will be offering free worldwide shipping on everything the shop on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday!
Not long to go until Christmas.
Shop early to avoid disappointment!