The dreaded 'S' word Shopping carts ! on your website

English: Shopping cart. Português: Carrinho de supermercado. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

         So  you had a few direct sales and sales via your exhibitions and before you knew it people wanted to know whether you accepted credit cards. Well lets face it, its the easiest way to buy anything online these days.Well I recently had the same query and was all gung-ho about 'growing up' and getting me a shopping cart !
Well I found its not as easy as it sounds, first there are so many payment gateways ( that's what they are called) that you need to wade through all of them and their terminology. Then once you have narrowed them down you need to go through their requirements of you.These are mostly documents from the government and residential info and stuff that proves you actually are a legitimate business.  And you can forget banks cause they actually require you to have a very large turnover.

Now I am not naming names here nor am I complaining as the institutions are simply following rules set by the authorities and nor is this a how to on integrating shopping carts. Just stating my experience.
So this little jewellery artist will not be adding a shopping cart soon but will continue to use 'Pay-Pal' for online sales and I am thinking of adding their buttons to my website :)

What experiences have you had and what service would u suggest, do drop a line.

How to Prep for a show

            For the past few days now I had been preparing for a jewellery show well not exactly a show per-se but an exhibition that I have organized at a nearby suburb on the occasion of our Independence day . This is not my first show but it is the first  time that I am flying solo :) I always imagined getting ready for a show meant creating lots of new pieces, getting my cords and packaging in place and I was done, well turns out there is a lot more and I am not even scratching the surface.
Here is my list of 'Stuff'

Looks like a lot but I wish I had more inventory !

• Flyers
• Banner
• Display stands and mannequins
• Getting my cell phone battery changed! (imagine going through a whole show day with no cell phone connectivity!)
• Visiting cards ( those flew of the shelfs like they were on sale !) 
• Packaging materials (bags, boxes and tags )
• Drape cloth to cover the table
• Mirror ( for people to check themselves with my jewellery on )
• Printed version of my newsletter
• Guest book
• Pens ! ( at least three)
• Water ( I get very thirsty smiling and saying 'hello' :)
• Receipt books
• Pins, staples, glue and scotch tape 
• Also sandwiches, fruits and I really wish I had taken some tea along there was none at the venue!

My Blue Nile necklace on a brand new neck mannequin 

You can see my visiting cards here to the right 

Check out my ring stand , single earring stand and neck mannequin in this picture. (you can also see my packing bags and receipt book here should have hidden those better :)

Well I had a really fun show and thanks to all the folks at the NRI complex Seawoods estate for their support and big Shout out to my friend Sharmila Sankar for her support and for her original idea that I have my show there :) Thanks Sharmila !

Daisy ring with pearl

Pearl Daisy ring
Copper, vitreous enamel, pearl cabochon
©2012 Nayna Studios™

I love this style of layered rings and simply had to make this one ! As a added bonus I put in a pearl cab :) what do you think of this ring and should I be making these in more colours??