New Listings Today

I finally got the time and energy to make more accessories and listed them this evening in my etsy store.


Now I realize that I listed a few new items 2 weeks ago and never mentioned it in my blog! Shame on me!


Ok, here's the preview:


This is the Lime Twist Charm fob.

It can be seen at:

My Etsy Store - Accessories




This is the Crystal Charm fob.

It can be seen at:

My Etsy Store - Accessories









This is the multi-color beaded charm fob.

View this at:

My Etsy Store- Accessories

The previous listings that I never wrote about here were for two key chains, and a beautiful crystal and glass pearl necklace.





This beautiful necklace would be stunning with a little black dress for a holiday party or that New Year's Eve event.

See it at:
My Etsy Store - Necklaces



Two keychains that are also in my store can be viewed here:

Luck of the Irish Keychain
My Etsy Store - Accessories

A pink and blue beaded keychain
My Etsy Store - Accessories

If you see something in my shop and you would like it in different colors, please convo me on Etsy or email me at rukar@karuss.com and I will work with you on your request and create a custom listing for you.

Time To Get Back To Business

I've been slacking off. Not only has it been almost a week since my last post, but I haven't done any creating in a week. I'm not sure if I was on the verge of getting sick or if I was just having an uninspirational week.

Anyway, last week was a really exhasperating week at work, one thing after another went bonkers, starting with no power all day on Monday, no phones Thursday morning, no phones all day Friday, plus my wide-format printer decided to crap out on me Friday.

My husband and I decided on Friday afternoon to run away for the weekend. We had a blast! Went about 2 hours north of home, and holed up in a cozy suite for the weekend. Saturday morning we went out for breakfast and found a bead shop nearby that had beautiful beads from Botswana, Africa, and many other exotic locations. I also found the gunmetal findings that I've been hunting for.

If you're in Illinois or Southern Wisconsin, this is a great bead shop to stop at. Their website is http://www.beadsandreeds.com and they are located in Rockford IL, right on State St, near the Cherry Valley area. The sweetest lady runs the shop and they not only have beads and findings, but also hemp craft items, display products, classes, and handmade jewelry for sale. I have a feeling we will be taking more trips there in the future. The beads I found there are unlike any I've seen before. They have the standards and also some really unique items.

I am hoping work will be less tedious this week so that I have energy when I get home to create more jewelry and accessories for my shop. I have so many beautiful beads to work with, I know that once I get started, I'll be on a roll. So keep your eyes open for new items in my shop real soon! I will post the new items here so if you subscribe to my feed or blog updates, you'll be the first to know about them!

Blog To Be Named Later

Have you ever stopped to consider how much we are taxed in America? We work and get paid for working. That pay is taxed. Federal Income Tax, State Income Tax, and in some cases, Local taxes. Then we take our meager remainder after taxes and pay our every day living expenses. Housing, utilities, medical, groceries, etc. Many if not all of these expenses are taxed separately. We pay sales tax at the grocery store when we spend our already taxed money for groceries and other items we need for our homes and families. We buy a car, we pay sales tax and use tax, sometimes exise tax. It depends where you live as to the amount of taxes you are subject to.

Many generations ago, there was a revolution to protest "taxation without representation". Now we have taxation WITH representation. The representation by our elected officials who set up laws that determine how much tax we are to pay, and on what, and to whom.

All this was instigated by my wondering why, when I pay tax on the materials and supplies that I buy to make my jewelry and accessories, do I have to charge and then pay tax on anything I sell to residents of my state. Didn't I already pay tax on the components of the item that I created and then sold? If you think about it, when I buy supplies at say, my local Michaels, I pay 8% sales tax on my purchases. Then, when I sell it to someone in my state, I have to charge them 7% sales tax, and then file and submit that tax to the state. So isn't that like taxing the same thing twice? Oh, I know that the tax is based on my sell price, and the tax I already paid was on the cost of the components. So shouldn't the tax on the sold item be the difference? Take for instance, I sell something for $1, which consists of materials that cost me 35 cents. The tax on the 35 cents was based on the cost of the materials, so shouldn't the tax I charge on the completed item be on the amount that is the difference of the sell price and the materials cost? I doubt it works that way but it sure is something to think about.

Next thing ya know, blogs will be taxed under Entertainment Tax!

Technology Failures Part 2

It isn't even Friday yet and already I'm experiencing technology failures.

This morning I wanted to add some info to my web sites, and when I got into the editor to make the changes and tried to update, the changes disappeared! No broken icon, no empty text box, NOTHING! just POOF!!

So I headed over to the trouble ticket place and submitted yet another request for help. I'm sure they're starting to get tired of hearing from me, but I'm tired of not being able to do what they promised me that I could do when I forked over the bucks to let them host my webs. I am seriously considering a move to another host.

That isn't an option I want to resort to, it's a lot of work to get a new site set up. I have this one the way I want it, but if I am going to be met with site issues everytime I try to do something, it tends to make me want to start somewhere else.

The hosting site I use now has a lot of great features, when they work. I could have my jewelry store on my own web, with a shopping cart, checkout, catalog, etc., but I am really reluctant to do that considering all the server issues it has. I don't want to worry that their server in Denver is going to take a poop and my site will be inaccessible by everyone except a small group of people in the Pacific Northwest. Right now the host site has an issue with Sprint/Nextel and another network that I have never heard of. There is a block on traffic between the two so anyone on the other side of the Sprint connection is unable to access email, web sites, etc. if they reside on my hosts server.

I am really in a quandry. I will wait til I hear back from tech support to find out what is going on. My host contract comes up for renewal in March, so if things don't improve before then, I guess I will have to bite the bullet and move my webs.

Makes me miss the old days when all you would do to advertise your wares was put handwritten notes on the windshields of cars in the local grocery store lot.