I really do feel more connected to our Etsy shop with the current work that I am doing on it. Bringing the qualities of the materials we use more to the fore and naming things differently resonates more with my personal world view.

I’ve looked at other Etsy sellers’ titles and descriptions. And there is something to be said for presenting the information pretty much straight up without much flare. But I like a little poetry.

Life is beautiful and I want to reflect that in what we make. And part of that is how we title and describe our jewelry. You can say “this is made with copper wire and one fresh water pearl.” But why did you choose the pearl? What prompted you to use that rather than, say, turquoise? That’s where the art comes into it. That’s also where intention enters the equation and gives it meaning. Otherwise, to me, it’s just stuff.

As an example, I came up with a design that employs four spirals arranged and connected in different ways. Initially, I titled them “Four Scroll Pendants.” Totally accurate and totally lacking in any kind of poetry.

In most item descriptions, I include metaphysical information on the materials used, but it has been more of an aside than anything else. I might also include information on the spiritual meaning of symbols like “phi” and “spirals.” But the weight I gave the information and how I presented it never really resonated with me.

So I am updating my personal information on symbols and metals and stones to better reflect their places in the world and how I view them. That way I can better represent them in my work.

In the past, my concern was that potential buyers would look at the information and think that maybe I was some sort of kooky purveyor of New Age mumbo jumbo. It kept me from truly expressing myself. But I’ve let that go. Partly it has been the sure knowledge that you can’t please all of the people all of the time, and that maybe a niche isn’t so bad.

This is another example. I originally titled this sort of design “Floating Rings.” But after some thought decided I liked “Circles of Life” better because of what the circle symbolizes.

So now, because of how I view the symbolism of the spiral, those Four Scroll Pendants have a new name … Becoming Pendants. And if, say, it is made with brass wire, then it might be titled “Brass Uplifting Becoming Pendant,” reflecting the inherent properties of brass.

I have a new challenge in that these new names can get unwieldy. But I’m working on it.

There is currently something like 485 items in our shop, jewelrybysyzygy.etsy.com 

I’ve made a good start on editing the shop, but I have a lot of work still ahead of me. But it’s good work. It’s fulfilling work. It’s work that is bringing the shop closer to my true self.

Image courtesy of Brainy Quote.