New Shop, New Designs, and my Toho Challenge piece in an Advertisement in Bead and Button Magazine

Today 16 May 2017 is the day of the opening of my beautiful new shop. 

I left Etsy, or let's say it as it really is: I'll let them 'suspend my seller's rights' on the 18th, because their new mandatory payment system is not very sustainable for us here in Europe. I hesitated to do this when their obligation to collect VAT on our sales of electronic files resulted in 30% increase of the price of a tut for some customers in Europe, because they are a gigantic platform. But I'm not. I stayed because Etsy's advantages still outnumbered the disadvantages. However, their rude e-mail, less than 4 weeks ago, not giving us a reasonable deadline to change (on purpose, I guess) ended up being the incentive I needed. Please forgive the mistakes and imperfections - tell me about them so that I can improve your shopping experience. Or just write to say what you think about it, I'd be really pleased!

I thank Mikki Ferrugiaro who paved the way and opened a shop with IndieMade,  a simple, inexpensive solution to easily build a nice website for stand-alone-artist like me who don't have a phd in i-technologies. I also thank Heather Collin who gave me a simple but very efficient tip that was that the listings, once transferred by csv file from Etsy to Indie, could quite easily be modified to become digital items instead of physical items. Certain things among which shipping need to be adapted. I suggested a profile be created for a bulk modification and maybe you will soon benefit from that option in the future. Their support is extremely fast and good. And sofar the cyber attacks of the past days haven't affected the shops hosted there. It may be a little bit slow at some moments, because of the firewalls being active, but that is another reason why I am happy with them.

Sadly I will loose the 5-star feedback you folks gave me on Etsy. I would like to thank you for that, and for your support over the past 4 years. If it wasn't for you wonderful peeps and for beading, this would never have been possible. So thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Note: the thank-you coupon code which was valid in my Etsy is also valid in my new shop (the Etsy shop will be closed on the 18th of May 2017). I hope that you will visit often to discover my new designs, or maybe order something custom-made. I love to make OOAK jewelry, things with a meaning. 

To welcome you to my new shop, you can have a special 25% discount on your first purchase. Use coupon code

CATHSNEWSHOP

to include before you complete your order.

This is valid only during 2 days on your first purchase

***correction - this is valid until the 20th of May 2017***

In French they say that "a good new never comes alone". In English it is always plural, and it's true:

My arms are better and my desire to create and write tutorials is back. I'm working on pretty designs and tutorials for you. Preciosa Ornella sent me Farfalle beads and Twin beads to participate in two challenges in February and March that greatly inspired me, and both designs I made were chosen as winners. 

The tutorial for the February design is already available, I called it Farfalle stitch, a new pentagon stitch mixing DW variations. It draws lovely little butterflies, bows or pretty flowers.

  

I will soon work on a tut for the Pinwheel cuff, winner of their March contest:

 

Right now I am working on the tutorial for the beautiful Cosmic Spiral (below left) based on Colimaçon spiral (below right) part of my Toho Challenge. It offers lots of options, you can use many sorts of beads, and make it spiral a lot or a little.

  

"Time has Wings" will be exhibited in Milwaukee in less then a month - it pleases me to be at the show somehow! Toho chose my design to appear in an advertisement in Bead & Button Magazine, which makes me feel very proud:

The photo in the ad shows only the Wings of my piece - see everything and learn more about i in my blog article about the inspiration and wip regarding this piece. I am so happy with how this piece came together. It represents two months of true creative bliss. This piece made me realize how much I love beading.

You can see more photos on my blog, but also in the portfolio on my website where you can (re)discover my work other than the tutorials (still adding photos).

Last but not least, you probably know that the book Diamond Weave was finally published on Amazon through their Print-On-Demand press. I couldn't be more proud of it! I was happy with the POD option because printing only what is necessary represents a limited toll on Mother Earth, which is a subject dear to my heart, as you may know. However, Amazon is admittedly very expensive when a book exceeds a certain number of pages, so if you have been waiting for the book to be published electronically, you might be happy to learn that it is available in my new shop as a PDF, an even more ecological solution! The reviews about the book are very positive, which makes my heart sing. I hope that you will enjoy it too. It is a 200-page bundle of bead bliss and knowledge with great projects, beautiful photos and clear illustrations.

  

Writing about all this, I felt the sudden need to found the group of Indie Beadweavers, which I immediately did. I nearly started working on the blog, but I really need a good rest now, and many things need my attention: my plants are nearly dead and my apartment needs a good clean.

I'd love to have your feedback about all the above!

Thank you very much for your support!
&
Happy Beading!


Cath

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