Hi Gypsy
Yes I am still dealing with joint pain and swelling and other symptoms like dry eyes and mouth (Sjögrens) and some mild fatigue but about 80% better. Used to be bedridden after ten minutes gardening and cleaning the garage now I can work on things for several hours with breaks. My doctor who was a professor at USC gave me an article he had written saying my conditions would get better, worse or stay the same. I thought he was an idiot but they got really bad. I was so bad I was disabled and also diagnosed with fibromyalgia. When I stopped working I got much better. I think the physical and mental stress of my work was killing my body. The exhaustion cleared up when my doctor added a second thyroid medication. But it took about a year to heal.
Autoimmune conditions (which actually means your immune system is fighting itself instead of outside pathogens, it’s the opposite of weak) and fibromyalgia seem to be more common among women and it’s so frustrating that something not very exotic is so ignored. I had doctors tell me I was crazy or making it up. Again if possible I recommend Dr. Daniel Wallace at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles. He is truly gifted at diagnosing.
Your jewelry is gorgeous and your photos also. If I come into money I’ll buy those bangles!!! So beautifully crafted. I agree with everything Maki wrote and if you won’t mind I’d like to add a couple of things.
If possible find a model or use yourself (I got good at flattering angles on my aging hands) Some people like to be artistic but this is a business and people are paying a lot of money so I used to photograph next to a ruler and a coin to show size. Then on a model. Give measurements of everything including ring size and earring length.
Don’t model earrings, people are weird about that even though rubbing alcohol cleans them. I also used to write that all my jewelry was cleaned before packaging which it was.
I used to use tiny ziploc bags (sold at Walmart) inside of brown gift boxes and I’d use my Michaels coupons to put pretty 3 D scrapbooking stickers on my gift boxes then fill the mailer with shredded paper or bubble wrap. I always paid extra for the 3 rd party insurance Etsy offered. Know that if the jewelry gets bent in transit your insurance will reimburse your buyers once they return the jewelry. On the other hand if tracking shows the item as delivered and the buyer claims it is stolen you are not responsible. Only a few people in six years tried to scam me but you are selling expensive items. Protect yourself.
I also can’t stress enough what Maki said: use every word you’re allowed. That’s how you stand out and it’s how people find you. For example: dangling earrings, post earrings, vintage 22 kt gold earrings, Indian gold earrings, Indian earrings, gold earrings, Indian jewelry, 22 kt and gemstone earrings-every word you can think of that you would use to search. Use as many of those words in your titles and down below as allowed. And people use different terms as Maki said: bracelets, bangles, bangle set, bracelet set, twisted bracelet etc I know it’s exhausting but it pays off in the end. People use all kinds of strange terms to search with try and think of them.
One thing I did was search for similar pieces and then see what came up first in my search and copy their terms.
I’m so sorry for what you’re going through. It’s one of the main reasons I’m still in Los Angeles. The sheer number of good doctors for my never ending weird/rare health problems. I know my dad lived 30 years in Tucson and really trusted the Mayo Clinic in AZ. So I hope they help. Don’t give up though there is a doctor somewhere that can figure this out. I worked with a gifted infectious disease specialist named Dr. Chia also when we thought it was chronic fatigue. It’s so hard but you’ll get through this. I will be thinking of you.
Hi LERCA ....are you still dealing with your autoimmune issues ? I've been healthy all my life & always had a very good immune system (never got sick). I'm so tired of dealing with this !!!!!
I just set up a Etsy shop for my jewelry today....it will be interesting ....never did anything like this before...
https://www.etsy.com/shop/DharmakayaTreasures
I wish you well also....thank you :heart:
