Behind the Biz of being Molly the Pirate

I don't use my blog to talk a lot about my Etsy shop because I have about a gazillion interests and this blog covers a lot so it doesn't need to cover that too. However, this is the only venue I have for showing off all my behind-the-scenes-ness that goes into my business.

I get a lot of, "Molly the....pirate??" Yep. Tacky and juvenile? Completely. Memorable? I hope so!

I once had a guy at a craft show ask me about it and then every time he'd see me he'd point and say, "Hey it's the pirate!" It was quite funny. :)

I had two college roommates my freshmen year of college (I was an English major. Also let me just throw out there that I am 5'2" and one roommate was 5'10" and the other was 5'11" - what is UP with that.) they both got tickled at me saying, "Argh!" when I got frustrated with something so they started calling me Molly the Pirate. And you thought there was something nefarious behind that nickname didn't you. ;)

I have a lot of supplies. Sometimes when I have to empty a supplies container I think...I am a jewelry supplies hoarder. And then I wonder when someone is going to show up to stage an intervention.

A very small fraction of what I have...



I have a large flower garden and you can tell that by how many flower beads are in this photo. My garden inspires a lot of my pieces.

My vintage beads collection inherited from my great aunt Ellen. See more about that here.

Last year I completely emptied my roll-top desk and turned it into a super-organized creation station.

 What am I going to make today? Too many things to choose from!

 


Sometimes my supplies aren't quite what I need and I have to fix them.
Like this metal link I aged to go on this necklace.

This is what mornings typically look like. Delivery confirmations, measuring tools to help me give the most accurate descriptions I can, and sparkly goodies waiting to be measured and listed. Of course here I was also checking out my usual online haunts (Gothique shown).

I don't have a space in my desk for keeping my completed bits o' shine but thankfully my most wonderful cousin Judy gave me this jewelry case and it has absolutely saved my life. It's not sucking up if it's true.

Each item is kept in its own bag and organized on my trays so I can find things quickly when I need to ship them. This keeps everything clean and untangled. And have you noticed an organization theme? I love organization.

 Sometimes I end up making a lot of the same thing - like this bridesmaid's earrings order of my Jerrica earrings. I love this earring so much I even have a pair for myself. The sparkle is incredible.




 I feel bad for the first few people who ever ordered from my shop; they weren't treated near as nicely as my customers are now. I started using boxes to hold the jewelry because I wanted something sturdy to make sure things weren't squished in transit.

And usually, I will use paper shred inside the boxes rather than the fluff that comes in them. I've just found this to hold the jewelry still when it's getting moved around and holding still and cushioning mean it arrives to my customers safely. If I'm shipping something internationally I sandwich it between two box fluffs for extra security.

I write notes on the underside of the tag, some people don't find them right away - or ever -
but that's alright. :)





If you enjoyed getting a behind-the-scenes look, feel free to "like" me on facebook or follow me on twitter, where there is plenty of material that is only shared there.

Questions? Ask away! Answers are free, but correct answers will cost you. ;)