Baby friendly jewelry

In this post I wanted to talk about my new line of mommy and baby jewelry and how I came up with the idea. Since the birth of my cousin last December I've been more into looking up baby accessories on Etsy along with my mom. We came across a great variety of teething necklaces made out of wood or silicone and since I already have been making jewelry for few years my mom asked me to make a special gift for her new nephew! :)
While shopping for the supplies I thought to myself why not buy some extra materials and maybe sell them at my jewelry shop. I created three new designs, one of which is already sold out!

These necklaces are:
- Made of 100% Food Grade Silicone beads
- BPA Free
- No PVC's
- No Phthalates
- No Lead
- FDA Approved

- Silk pull away cord
- Easy to clean - simply wash with soap and water!

This necklace offers mothers a stylish but practical way to ensure teething relief and a colorful toy is always within reach and babies will love the soft and chewable nature of child-safe silicone.

They can be found in the ``Mom & Baby`` section of my shop here.

I`m really excited about adding more baby friendly designs to my shop in the upcoming months and would love to hear everyone`s feedback on my first few designs! :D

xoxo
PinkDiamondGirl

Saturday Spotlight #1

Hey everyone,
As some of you know I'm starting a new weekly series on my blog called Saturday Spotlight where I feature 1-3 amazing Etsy shops and ask them a few questions. This week we have 3 lovely participants, all with very beautiful shops. So lets get to know them a little better.
First off is a lovely clutch by Laura from atomique47...

Click photo to see Laura's Etsy shop

When did you start selling your craft and what inspired to open your shop?
I’m a professional interior designer. I design hotels, resorts and restaurants all over the world. I love color, pattern and texture in interior design which naturally translates into fashion as well. When the economy tanked a few years ago, people weren’t spending their money on travel as much anymore so my day job slowed down. I used my down time to start my Etsy shop and it gave me a place to direct my creative energy. I really enjoy not only making my bags but the whole branding aspect of opening a shop.

 How did you come up with your shop name?
I had a horse that was a very important part of my life. Her name was Silver. I wanted to name the shop after her in a creative way. On the periodic table of elements, the atomic number for Silver is 47. I chose the French spelling of Atomic (Atomique) because I liked that it sounded like a combination of Atomic and Unique. My clutch bags often feature handmade felt flowers which make them unique and stand apart from the average handbag.

If you could have any famous person try/buy your product who would you choose?
I can definitely see Zooey Deschanel rocking an Atomique47 clutch. The colorful patterns, wood felt and the handmade element are very much her style. Hopefully you’ll see one on an episode of New Girl someday.

Next we have a cute doll by Corrie from StrangelyEverAfter..

Click photo to see Corrie's shop

What would your dream work space/office look like?
It would probably be the equivalent of an indoor fabric bazaar. I would love to have a space that is pretty much the size of a small house to dedicate to my work; a place where I could have everything spread out so I could more easily visualize the different color combinations and how the different textures play off of each other. It can be frustrating having everything stored in clear plastic bins all stacked up against the wall so I can move around in my current work space.

How did you come up with your shop name?
I have always been so inspired by fairy tales and folklore and wanted to incorporate that into my name but also to give a nod to my more unusual aesthetic. I struggled for days trying to think of something but then it just came to me and I immediately went to my county office to register it as my business name.

If you could have any famous person try/buy your product who would you choose?
Neil Gaiman! I've read all of his books and I think he has such a special and unique voice in the literary world. At least a couple times a week I am tempted to make a Coraline themed set of dolls since the animated movie had such a great balance of creepy and cute.

And last but not least we have amazing photography by GiGi from AroundTheGlobeImages..

Click photo to see GiGi's shop

What is your favorite thing about selling on Etsy?
Etsy is a true community in every sense of the word. I love engaging on a personal level with both sellers and buyers. The cultural diversity, talent, and entrepreneurial spirit found here is inspiring! Often I’m contacted by people who are originally from the countries I’ve photographed and I love hearing that an image I’ve captured reminds them of home, a moment or happy experience in their lives.

Tell us about your creative process.
It’s all about chasing the light! Whether I am capturing a particular landscape, wildlife, or even a Route 66 vintage sign, I spend a lot of time researching weather conditions, the position, direction, and quality of the sunlight or moonlight at particular times, and then I scout out various angles and positions of my subject, all the things that will help me reveal the story or emotion I hope to capture with the image. Then it’s just a matter of lugging my gear and waiting for the right moment to click the shutter. After that, I do very little post-processing other than basic dark room development or basic edits in Photoshop.

How did you learn your craft?
I’ve studied photography on the college and post-graduate level for a number of years and am currently on my way to earning my Masters in Fine Art Photography. I’ve studied the work of Master Photographers ( and still do!). Being out in the field shooting with other photographers and experimenting on my own with different cameras, lenses, and technologies has definitely helped me hone my craft.

Hope you all enjoyed this post and I really look forward to featuring (or shining the spotlight on) more wonderful Etsy shops.

XoXo,

PinkDiamondGirl

TMI TAG (Blog Edition)

On my spare time (Specially right before going to bed) I like to watch Youtube beauty/lifestyle videos and some Vlogs. I've been seeing this Tag going around called the TMI TAG and I thought to myself even though I don't do Youtube videos I'd love to participate in this tag! :-D

It's a long list of 50 questions and there are some references to Youtube which I've switched to the word Blog. It's a great way for everyone to get to know each other in a fun way, and I tag everyone who follows my blog! :-) 

So here we go...

1: What are you wearing? I'm wearing black yoga pants and a pink Victoria's Secret shirt
2: Ever been in love? Yes
3: Ever had a terrible breakup? A couple
4: How tall are you? 5'5" or 165 cm
5: How much do you weigh? Kind of personal, but between 110-115 lb
6: Any tattoos? No, and I think there is a 1% likelihood I will ever get one. I'm quite indecisive and get bored of things easily!
7: Any piercings? 3 piercing on each ear lobe but only 1 remains functional! :P
8: OTP? I don't really watch much TV anymore so I can't think of any "one true pairings" :)
9: Favourite show? Shark Tank
10: Favourite bands? Hmmm I don't listen to a lot of music lately so can't think of a favourite
11: Something you miss? Right now I miss warm weather. It's been a long, cold winter here in Canada this year and it's been 6-7 months since it's been warm enough to go out with only a tshirt
12: Favourite song? Right now I LOVE John Legend's "All of Me"... obsessed with it, can't get enough! 
13: How old are you? 31 
14: Zodiac sign? Virgo
15: Quality you look for in a partner? Kind, compassionate, adventurous and easy going
16: Favourite Quote? Many, but this is the last one I posted on my facebook "You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time." -Abraham Lincoln
17: Favourite actor? Leonardo DiCaprio.... yeap! :)
18: Favourite color? Pink and Aqua (and any pastels at the moment)
19: Loud music or soft? Soft when I need it to be in the background, and loud when I'm driving/working out etc.
20: Where do you go when you're sad? My bedroom!
21: How long does it take you to shower? between 10-40 minutes, depends!
22: How long does it take you to get ready in the morning? On average 30 minutes
23: Ever been in a physical fight? No, unless fighting with my brother when we were kids count
24: Turn on? Humility, thoughtfulness, sense of humor 
25: Turn off? Arrogance, Selfishness
26: The reason I joined Blogger? To use it as an outlet to express myself, share my projects, connect with others.
27: Fears? I can't swim and I'm terrified of deep water
28: Last thing that made you cry? A rejection call from a job I interviewed for! :-/
29: Last time you said you loved someone? Few hours ago
30: Meaning behind your Blog Name? I have a jewelry shop on Etsy called PinkDiamondDesign and I thought it would be cool to name the blog PinkDiamondGirl to kind of match! :-D
31: Last book you read? Wow it's been a while, I use to be obsessed with reading when I was younger but lately haven't had the time
32: The book you're currently reading? None :-/
33: Last show you watched? I watched Shark Tank last night
34: Last person you talked to? My mom
35: The relationship between you and the person you last texted? My mom hehe
36: Favourite food? Love Persian food, Sushi, any food really
37: Place you want to visit? Many countries around the world, Several in Europe and Asia
38: Last place you were? At the mall to meet my friend
39: Do you have a crush? Not in real life, but "celebrities" sure.. A few! :)
40: Last time you kissed someone? A few months ago
41: Last time you were insulted? A few weeks ago, I think
42: Favourite flavour of sweet? I love coconut or anything with nuts in it (Walnut, Almonds, Pistachios,..) 
43: What instruments do you play?? I played the guitar in high school but nothing since then
44: Favourite piece of jewellery? I love them all but I wear necklaces more than anything else since my wrist and fingers are too small for most standard sized jewelry! :-/
45: Last sport you played? Badminton but that was monthsssss ago haha
46: Last song you sang? "All of me" by John Legend.... While driving in the car
47: Favourite chat up line? Don't have any
48: Have you ever used it? Never lol
49: Last time you hung out with anyone? Couple of days ago 
50: Who should answer these questions next? Everyone who reads/follows my blog. Please leave a link in the comments in case I miss it. 

What do you guys think of turning Youtube tags into blog tags? I think it's kind of fun! :)

XoXo,

PinkDiamondGirl

For the love of tea...

If there is one thing most people in my life know, it's the fact that I LOVE tea. Growing up in a Persian family tea or (Chai) has always been a big part of our lives. It's the drink they serve you at get-togethers, work or most formal functions. We have tea with breakfast in the morning and most enjoy a cup of tea in the afternoon or evening as well. Having lived in Canada for 17 years has definitely not changed this habit one bit. I still enjoy my average 2-3 cups of tea daily, and the tea of choice, cardamom black tea!

Traditionally Persians serve tea in clear delicate glass teacups and enjoy it with condensed sugar cubes.

Inspired by this love for tea, recently I added a couple tea inspired jewelry pieces to my shop which I wanted to share with you all. The response has been great and I do really think they are quite cute and fun to wear! :D

First in line is my gold ring with a cute ceramic white teacup on top.

You can find this ring in my shop here

And next would be my teacup earrings. Now these teacups are even tinier than the one I used for the ring. I think they are quite adorable! :)

These ones are also in my shop here

I hope to add more to this lovely tea party collection soon. Maybe a milk pitcher necklace soon?

Here I leave you with a picture of my now Sold Out teapot necklace which I was quite in love with! :D

Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

xoxo
PinkDiamondGirl

How to get started on selling handmade jewelry

It is about 3 years since I started making and selling handmade jewelry. For the most part it has always been a hubby first and not a main source of income. I've always been passionate about designing and being creative, and making jewelry is definitely a fun creative outlet.

When I decided to start to sell some of my jewelry designs, after learning about techniques and material needed, I decided to open an Etsy shop. Etsy is a well known popular website to buy and sell all things handmade or vintage. I was inspired by so many different things and I dived right into purchasing a lot of different materials and created and listed many different styles of jewelry.

I've learned a lot about some of the DOs and  DON'Ts of selling jewelry online in the last few years, however it's only recently that I've started looking into turning this into possibly a full-time job.

I thought I would share a few tips on how to get started on selling jewelry online and share some of the lessons I've learned along the way.

1) Research - It is very important to research the market before you open your shop. There is a lot of competition out there for selling handcrafts, specially jewelry. With enough research you'll know how to stand out and where your target customers shop. You also will learn what they look for and purchase most and this way your customers will find your work when you open your shop.

2) Have great pictures - Again, when there is a lot of competition you need to find ways to stand out from the crowd and one of the most effective ways of doing this is by having amazing pictures of your products. This is something that I noticed shortly after I listed my first few items in my shop and it took me over a year of trial and error and research to figure out how I can have pictures that make my product stand out better. I still have a lot of room for improvement but I continuously work on bettering my photography and presentation.

3) Social media - This is probably not mandatory to success but it is definitely beneficial to have a web presence and to interact with your potential customers on different social media platforms. Most companies these days have at least a facebook fan page and a twitter account. It is free to open both and you can start growing your fan base by first inviting your friends and family and asking them to invite their friends. You can also pay a small amount of money to have facebook ads for your fan page. Depending on who you choose as your target audience, you can pay as little as $2 and gain as many as 50 new fans for your page in a day.

4) Wear your creations - This is a very simple and effective way of advertisement. Wear your jewelry (or anything else you design) as frequently as possible, and also give some to your friends and family to wear as well. If you get asked about or complimented on what you are wearing you can start a conversation about your creations and your shop. If people are interested you can have business cards ready to hand them out.

There are also other options, like participating in craft shows in your town or having local stores selling your items, which is something i'm looking into trying for this year.

If you do choose Etsy as your selling platform, I also recommend adding new listings frequently, reading up on SEO as much as possible and participating in some of the teams and forums available on the site for guidance and encouragement.
You can find my shop on Etsy here. :)

Happy crafting and happy selling!

xoxo
PinkDiamondGirl

I'm back!!

After a few months of break, I've started working hard at creating many new pieces of jewelry and adding them to my shop. My goal is to reach 300 listing by the end of spring and I'm almost 1/3 there! :-D

To see all the new jewelry I've added to my shop in the past couple of months please click here.

I hope to start blogging at least once or twice a week from now on... I've really missed it!

xoxo
PinkDiamondGirl

Bracelet obsession..

Hey everyone.. As promised yesterday, I'm going to share a sample of my newest obsession.. bracelets!!

Taken with my iphone in bad lighting, please excuse the quality! :)

Even though I had experimented with making different bracelet designs in the past, I never posted any in my shop for sale. But lately after seeing tons of gorgeous stacking brackets everywhere and getting inspired by all the colors and textures, I decided to start making some of my own. It's been quite fun so far and I will probably have some of these featured in my store in the next couple of weeks.. 

Meanwhile, hoping  my new lighting equipment will get here soon so I can start practising and improving my photography skills. 

What are some of the projects you guys are currently working on? :)

xox

PinkDiamondGirl