Start by telling the readers a little bit about yourself. - When I start talking there is nothing 'little' about it. I like to talk...ALOT..so I'll keep it brief, sort of. I started making jewelry about 4 yrs ago when my son (only child) and my husband started to bond over video games. That left me to my own devices. Weeks prior my best friend asked me to help her make some stretchy bracelets to raise money for her Breast cancer walk. I had so much fun making them but realized that I wanted to do more than that. So I did what I always do, I researched stuff on the internet, planned on what materials I needed and went on a shopping trip. I never start out small, and next thing I know I'm over run with pieces that I had been creating. I started to give them to my friends and family, when someone suggest I try to sell them. So back to researching again, then a friend recommended Etsy to me. And the rest is history (that is if I want to keep this short) if you want to know more of my story you can see it here in my "About" pagehttp://www.etsy.com/shop/CCARIA/about/
Do you have a favorite piece that you have made? I have many several pieces. But I think one of my favorite is my very first WDD (World Diabetes Day). My son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes 5 years ago (this month). I joined Twitter and made a lot of friends with parents with kids with Diabetes and Diabetics themselves. One person asked me if I could make a necklace for her, and this is the result. That trigger all sorts of pieces to my Diabetes Awareness Line http://www.etsy.com/shop/CCARIA?section_id=6909612 all my proceeds are donated to JDRF.
I'm also starting a new line for children/tween, those pieces can be seen herehttp://www.etsy.com/shop/CCARIA?section_id=12949937
Describe your workspace... (include a pic if you'd like) My workspace is 'cluttered' but I seem to thrive in that. I have a HUGE work space and yet I'm still very cluttered. So no picture included here HA
When you are not working on your crafts, what else do you like to do? When I'm not working on my crafts, I'm working full time (I am a Finance/Associate Executive Director for a Non for Profit) or spending time with my family golfing (in the spring/summer/fall) and just hanging out in general with them.
Lastly, do you have any advice for fellow crafters/entrepreneurs just starting out? My advice would be to do your research. I researched how to make the jewelry and pricing and all that good stuff, but I didn't research enough on how to market it. My first few years on Etsy were sort of a 'throw away' I didn't know what I was doing. It was and still is a hobby to me, but I realized that I needed to put much more effort into it. Just posting it doesn't mean it will sell. So do your homework, join teams, promote and tell everyone you can about your products. Don't be afraid to give your products to people to promote for you, whether it's for fundraisers, or blog or on your own social media giveaways. The more you get your product out there, the better shot you have of selling it.
Feel free to include any blog links you have, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Twitter https://twitter.com/C_CARIA
Pinterest http://pinterest.com/ccaria/
Lovely jewelry! I was very moved reading about Cari's Diabetes awareness line and the inspiration behind it. And thanks to her for the great advice about on starting out-very helpful to hear. Great post-thank you!
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