Save money with PayPal?

Do you sell online, and do you accept PayPal as payment? If so, I'm sure you have seen the tiered charges (ie the charges go down the more you accept through PayPal - receive payments up to £1,500 and it will cost you x%, receive payments up to £3,000 and it will "only" cost you x%).

Do you know that you actually have to apply to receive these tiered charges? I had no idea, I thought it was something that happened automatically! If you accept PayPal, go and check this page to see if you qualify, and apply if you haven't already.

OWOH Give-Away Event

I'm taking part in the OWOH event this year. It is a give-away event, open to all bloggers around the world. It is a way to unite bloggers, and it gives you as a reader a chance to win something too - sounds good to me! At the moment there are 742 give-aways listed, and with mine added soon hopefully there'll be at least 743! They're from people all around the world with some amazing things being given away.

Here is what the organiser say about it:

"The original idea behind this giveaway event was to bring bloggers together from around the world who may never ordinarily meet. It closes the gap of the blog community and enables us to interact, discover new and wonderful people, and in the process possibly win a prize or many prizes along the way...This is more than wanting to win something.......that is only the means.......in the end it's about finding kindred spirits. Someone who may be fairly new to blogging, not sure how to navigate, find others and have others find them....Some are long time bloggers and in some cases well known in the art community. Whatever the case it brings all of them together...We are not solving the worlds problems nor are we curing anything nor are we changing the world. We are merely generating a closer community between humans through blogging."

All you have to do is post a comment below with a link to your blog, including your name and email. By doing this I'll enter you into the draw for the things shown below! (EDIT - A lot of give-aways on the list seem to enter any comment, even if there is no link to a blog - so I'll do the same. I would love to see your blog if you have one though, so IF you do, please post a link!)

If you want to take part yourself, read more at: http://oneworldoneheart.typepad.com/

So, I'm giving away:

1 - 7gm Art Clay Silver 650 silver clay - perfect for testing the metal clay waters... Enough to make a couple of charms, or a small pair of earrings, or a little ring, or a.... you get the idea.

2 - A set of sanding sponges. Perfect for metal clay (Art Clay, PMC, and BronzClay) and other crafts, like polymer clay, metal and wood work, for instance. Fine abrasive sponges which wrap around your piece and leave a super smooth surface.

LAST CHANCE TO JOIN THE DRAW!!!

To take part you must leave your comment before 11am on the 12th February. The winner will be drawn on the 12th, using a random number generator, and the names will be posted here on the blog in the evening. I will contact the winners and ask to hear back from you within 3 days with a delivery address, if I don't hear back from you I reserve the right to draw another name.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Hmm. Have to get myself back into the swing of things. Maybe posting tiny little posts will help? Ok, here we go:

Did you know that you can write on (dry) unfired bronzclay with a pencil - and after firing you can still see the writing?

It is easily rubbed or brushed off, but it works great for marking up people's pieces in a class.

Hep!

Happy New Year!

Today is my first day back to work after the holidays. Though I love my job, I must admit I'm not feeling very inspired at the moment... My son is still at home, enjoying his last day off school, and all I want to do is play with him! So it will only be a half-day for me in the office..

2008 was a fantastic year for us here at SilverClay. We seriously expanded our range, and now offer a huge selection of metal clay and jewellery making tools and equipment - we're one of the largest online metal clay shops in the UK. This really notices in the office and stock rooms. We have stock stacked up to the ceiling, and are spilling out into every free space there is, the office is starting to feel like a little metal clay grotto! I think the floor has a green carpet but I'm not sure anymore.

In September Lisa and I organised the first Art Clay World EU Conference at West Dean. This was the largest metal clay event to take place in Europe. We had visiting international teachers like Gordon Uyehara, Robert Dancik, Toshihide Uyehara, and Katie Baum, and of course also many of our local tutors, making it a truly international and inspiring event. I was thrilled with how well it all went.

We were also busier than ever with the mail order side of the business. I'm pleased to say that we're still managing to get 95% of orders sent by the next working day after they are placed. We were taken by surprise a couple of times though, what we had planned would last us for one month was gone in less than two weeks, so I'm sorry if some of you had to wait for your clay a little longer than usual. This was extra surprising as it happened just as the financial crisis really "took off" in the UK.

We now go into a slightly worrying year. I just heard on the news that they estimate that 1 in 10 risk losing their job in the near future. Just before Christmas one of the larger beadshops in the UK closed after many years of trading, due to the sterling losing strength against the dollar and the euro. I feel for them, I know how hard we've been hit with the same problem. Most of what we buy is being purchased in US dollars or Euro - the last few months have been pretty bad, and it doesn't seem like it is getting any better.

We're definitely facing changes in this country, lets hope it turns for the better soon.

However, all is definitely not gloom. There are some very exciting things going on here at SilverClay. 2009 is going to see some changes to how we work, new experiences, and more new products. I promise I will share them all with you. Soon. As soon as my inspiration comes back.

Credit crunch? What credit crunch?

We're so busy here at SilverClay - the last two months has been absolutely manic. We can't keep up at all, and has run out of clay twice since half-way through November.

I think this is surprising considering the disastrous news we've been hit with recently. People losing their jobs, businesses failing, the pound absolutely crashing against the dollar and Euro, and other depressing things.

It seems like people turn to things like craft and art when things are tough. Maybe, when it seems completely out of reach to think about a new job, new house, or new car, a nice piece of jewellery is a perfect treat. Something that makes you feel special. A lot of our customers who make commissions and fingerprint jewellery have been inundated with orders before Christmas. People want to treat themselves to "real things", handmade things. Great news I think!

Long may it continue. (Not the credit crunch of course.)