Exciting News!

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you may have a wee inkling of what I’m about to tell you. Also, you may have noticed some permanent ads popping up on the side of my webpage.

Let me explain …

I started making jewellery a while ago and I fell in love. Since then, the house has been full of little beads and random pieces of wire flying across the room and landing on the floor.

Believe me, it was no longer safe to walk barefoot!  When I vacuum, that’s all I hear – lol.

So, we made things worse!

We invited thousands more to come and play.

We Bought an Online Jewellery Supply Store!

Our spare room is now lined with shelves sporting all manner of beads and findings (the components used to make jewellery).

Let Me Tell You the Story

In my other life, (not a blogger) I work as an instructional designer creating learning experiences for corporates.  I have been feeling the need for a change for some time.

I was outside painting the deck one day and I was thinking about an online store I had placed an order with but it was never fulfilled – then called AJMS.co.nz (Affordable Jewellery Making Supplies). I remembered, whilst working in the hot sun, that the stock was all 50% off, and there was a notice at the top of the website about buying the entire stock.

It got me thinking – what if that could be my new ‘thing’.

I love jewellery.

I love making jewellery.

Why not?

So, I sent the owner an email.  

She responded and we talked.

A couple of weeks later Andy and I were on the ferry on our way to Christchurch to collect the supplies.

Wow! My head was spinning.

A Huge Undertaking

I must say, I was not prepared for how much work I was undertaking.

There is a lot more stock than I had anticipated.

As time had passed, the old owner had lost interest and things were in a mess.  Lots of tangled strands of beads and mixed packets, sometimes all mixed in with wire and findings.  All needed to be sorted, priced, photographed and uploaded to the new website that Andy designed.

So was born, Affordable Jewellery Supplies.

Da da!

Two and a half months on, I’m really happy.  We need sales (hint, hint), but we are getting there.  Still not as organised as I’d like to be, and there is still stock that I haven’t catalogued and uploaded.  Jesse was a huge help.  He had a long semester break because of lockdown so he spent much of it working with me to sort, jar, label, photograph and upload the stock.

Looking Forward

I was talking with someone the other day who said to me, “Why don’t you do jewellery making tutorials on your blog?”.  

I was stunned that I have never thought about it.  Why? I have no idea. I do tutorials for other things, so why not jewellery?  

Anyway, that has got me thinking.  

I’m going to start.  

I’m actually planning on creating tutorials for Affordable Jewellery Supplies so why not share them here as well.

Starting with beginner steps, so, even if you’ve never made anything before, you can follow along.

What do you think? Would you like that?

Anyway, I thought I’d share my exciting news.  Make sure you follow Affordable Jewellery Supplies on Pinterest and Instagram so you can get an idea of what’s coming up.