Buying American

In a recent article I asked, “Should we buy American?” The answer may be difficult as many believe we no longer have access to many American made products.

While there are thousands of foreign made products in our marketplace, we still have many choices for products made in America. You may have to look a little harder but, there are many, high quality, American made items.

To buy American, you just have to commit to read labels. We still have food produced in American factories as well as other items. Did you know that Kimberly Clark, think Scott Towels, is an American company? While they ship globally, and have factories all over the world, they keep Americans working with over 20 facilities here in the United States. Whirlpool, Bun-O-Matic and Nesco are all American companies, with factories across the country, employing Americans. You can find a comprehensive list of American manufacturers at Still Made in the USA.Com.

American flags; what better way to show your support for buying American made. Try buying American made furniture, anything from wine racks to a dining room table. American made furniture has always been some of the highest quality you can find.

There are some amazing American made supplies and toys or designer clothes, jewelry and collars for your special pet. Wouldn’t you love to see Fido in his custom-made, studded collar?

More American made products are available than most people think. It just takes some research but if your purchase of a Nesco Cooker helps to put someone to work, it is worth it.

Emergency Kitchen Food Storage

In my article, Food Storage Tips for Your Emergency Kitchen, I discussed the ways to store bulk item foods. Doing so does require knowledge of shelf life, what items store best, and containers for your food stuffs.

I love to freeze things but you must know what will and will not freeze. Will It Freeze? is a great book listing foods that will or will not freeze. This book was written by a British author so you may need to cross reference some things. However, it is a great resource for anyone wanting to preserve their food.

Food storage is a lot easier if you have the proper equipment and some, I consider, a necessity for a well stocked pantry.

I think a vacuum sealer is a must have for anyone preserving food. This is my third sealer and my favorite.



Some say these do not preserve your food any better than freezer bags. If sealed correctly, a good vacuum sealer will extend the life of your food; sometimes doubling it. It takes a little practice getting a proper seal but, once you learn; you'll wonder how you did without one.

This is going to be my next large purchase. Not only do I want the mill but I want the accessory kit and the motor. I would love to grind my own grain for and my goal is to have this in my home by May of this year. I know it is a huge investment but for the health of my family and the long term savings, the price will be well worth it.





I love books and have at least one for everything I am interested in. For cooking and preserving, I have so many, I can't tell you the exact number. I do have my favorites though, and this book is great.

What I love about this book is that it is not an apocalyptic, doomsday book but a well-written  book that is full of no-nonsense suggestions. This book is written on the basis that stuff happens and everyone needs to be prepared...I love this book.



This is another favorite. I have had this book for years and use it all the time. There is everything from cake mix to meatball mix. If you do once-a-month cooking, using a mix is ideal. It is so easy to pull out a jar of a pre-made mix to start my monthly freezer cooking.



These are on my list of must have stock. If you are serious about storing food for the long term. You need these bags. For long term food storage, these Mylar bags block sunlight and provide an additional oxygen and moisture barrier.  They are easy to seal, just iron the opening shut with a hot iron. When I want something to last a long time, I use these. With their water-tight seal, these bags work well for canoe trips or camping and backpacking.

Today I thought I would list e-books. I am a fanatic when it comes to books, both print and e-books. You should see my book cases. They are full of all kinds of jewelry and craft books (I have 4 very large book cases).


Here are some e-books for your jewelry and selling your jewelry that I thought might be helpful. Some of these I already have and others, I either know the author or the e-book has been recommended.

Rena Klingenberg is one of my favorites. You can’t go wrong with any of her books.

Ultimate Guide to a Profitable Jewelry Booth

Guide to Profitable Jewelry Booth

This isn’t an e-book but I had to put a plug in for my favorite program. I love this software. I use it for my jewelry and my sewing. The only program that I love just as much is my soap maker software. It is “well” worth the investment

Bead Manager Pro

I actually bought this one some time ago when I needed some tips on doing home parties. Lorri has some great tips and ideas.

Start Your Own Jewelry Party Business

I know some of you are just starting out and looking for reference in the beading side of making jewelry. This is an awesome book. It even guides you in the healing properties of different types of stones.

The Complete Bead Guide

This e-book was recommended on one of the other lists I am on by a reputable member. I know we have a lot of newbies and this sounds like the perfect e-book for beginning wire artists. I may order this myself, even though I’m not a beginner.

Wire Work Secrets

Save Money and Still Eat Well

In my article, Eating Well on a Tight Budget, I listed several ways to feed your family and still keep within your budget. Below I have given you several resources to help accomplish my suggestions.

For people like me, it comes as second nature since I was fortunate to be raised in a family where everything was done with our household budget in mind. Whether it was growing or raising our own food to cooking and preserving. But it seems that when my generation started raising our families, we got farther away from doing things ourselves and the mega million dollar business of fast food took over. Not only has it made a negative impact on  our health, it is now making a negative impact on our budgets.

If you haven't read my article, please click on the link above. If you have read it, then I have listed some products that will help you on your way to controlling your household food budget. All of the items I have listed are extremely helpful in moving you toward tighter control on the dollars spent each week for food.

Growing Your Own Food

Organic Food Gardening Beginners Manual

Food 4 Wealth - Great Investment

How to Grow Herbs and Vegetables in Small Spaces-Kitchen Gardens - No Space? Try this.

My Shed Plans - This is a great package. I love this one. I have done several projects with this. Not excatly gardening but it will help with storage issues.

Canning and Preserving

My favorite canning book is Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. This book covers everything with many recipes and a time table chart for all types of food.

Good equipment is a must. Your most importan investment is going to be your pressure cooker. I use the Presto 1755 16-Quart Aluminum Pressure Cooker/Canner. This will hold 7 quarts or 10 pints and is made of sturdy, cast aluminum.

A must have is a complete set of canning utentsils like the Presto 7 Function Canning Kit. This has everything you need.

If you plan on canning fruits a Columbian Home 33-Quart Jar Canner and Rack is the perfect investment. This canner will hold 7 quart jars and is very durable.

I love this steam canner. I use it for all my high acid foods like jams, jellies, pickles ect Victorio Vkp1054 Aluminum Steam Canner, 7-Quart

I love dehydrating and own a small dehydrator Open Country 4 Tray Trialmaster 500 Watt Dehydrator Kitand a large square one Excalibur 3900 Deluxe Series 9 Tray Food Dehydrator - Black .

I also use my counter top convection oven Hamilton Beach 31199XR Countertop Convection Oven.This works very well then the rest of the year I have a second oven to bake in.

Cooking

Make Your Favorite Restaurant Dishes at Home

Kid Approved Meals - Every mom needs this to plan their week

Feed a Family of 5 for Only $50 - This is great for people like me that has a hard time planning meals

Miscellaneous

Complete Survival Course - This has it all. Gardening, canning and preserving and what to do in a disaster. I highly recommend this to those that want to be prepared

A New Venture

I am going to go way off my usual jewelry-crafting venue here and talk about something I recently stumbled on to that I wanted to share with you. And right up front, I am going to tell you that, yes, if you follow the link I give, you will be helping to build my team. So no surprises there.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but with the way things have gone with the economy, we have struggled to make ends meet. Our gas and groceries are now more per month than most of our bills put together. This puts a crimp on making things to sell because I no longer have the extra money to put into the materials. Other than getting a second job, I really didn’t know what to do.

During my vacation around the Thanksgiving holiday, I was up late one night, restless and unable to sleep. Nothing was on TV so I decided to check my emails and see if I could get a little writing done. I had decided to start writing again but I was getting discouraged at the paying opportunities out there. Most places want you to write pro gratis or for very little, many times only about five dollars for an article. I was considering going into copy writing since the money for article writing is very small. However, this would mean a slight learning curve since I only dabbled in copy writing through my work.

As I was searching for ways to make copy writing pay, I ran across an affiliate marketing site known as SFI. Normally I would just close out of a website like this because many of them are scams and I didn’t want to waste money trying them out. Right before I clicked on the home button, something caught my eye; no cost to become an affiliate. Okay, maybe I will take a look. I am sure there is a catch I mean really, no one lets you into these types of programs free. So there I sat until 2:00 in the morning researching this company. Much to my surprise, I liked what I read. I have always wanted to work online but never could find anything that sounded even remotely legitimate. But, there it was, right in front of me, SFI.

After researching and reading reviews for the next couple of weeks, I finally decided to join. I wasn’t going to know if this would work unless I tried. Plus, it was free to join; no $69.95 to learn about the company, then another $99 to use a coaching system just to understand the offer. So, I entered my information and I was off to investigate a little more deeply.

While there are a lot of rip-offs and scams out there, what I found during my investigation is that SFI “is” a legitimate company with lots to offer. Their training program is great and there is a lot of help for all of their affiliates. Even if you have no internet marketing experience, with all the success tools SFI offers, you can do this.

This is not a get rich quick plan. If you want to make a lot of money in the first few months, this is not the way to do it. In fact, I don’t know of any plan that will do that unless rich Uncle Fred left you money in his will or you do something not so legitimate. What SFI does offer is tons of support for their affiliates and a base of thousands of products through their online stores and their penny auctions.

Some people join and sit back and wait for something to happen without putting in any effort. Some take a few weak stabs at selling some products or signing up distributors then give up because they didn’t make $500 in the first week.

The bottom line is, growth of any business, whether it’s selling Tupperware or timeshares in Mexico, will depend on the time and effort put into it. And yes, as in any business, you can’t expect to not invest some money and be successful. To make money, you really do have to spend money.

SFI makes it very affordable to get started and become successful. I have never seen an affiliate marketing program that offers so many cost efficient means to build your business. Even if you choose not to invest any money, you can still earn by leading people to one of their professionally designed websites. After that, SFI takes over. Should they make a purchase, they are automatically assigned as your customer. SFI will process the payment, deliver the product or if necessary issue refunds. The affiliate receives a commission for the sale. No getting out in the ice or snow to deliver the Tupperware product someone ordered.

For all of us jewelry designers and other crafty people, SFI offers an added bonus. You can list your jewelry, supplies or anything else. The cost is minimal and they have a better listing fee structure than Ebay.

Now, here’s my pitch; at least sign up and research it. And yes I want you to sign up through me!

http://www.sfi4.com/11561932/Real2

It won’t cost you a thing to just sign up. I do ask that you do start out by going through the To-Do list on your main affiliate page. This is excellent training, plus you gain valuable points that help to boost your business.

The SFI affiliate program is a great place for a beginning internet marketer to get started. Plus, it has added perks for those of us already trying to get our own items out there.

Bead Manager Pro Review

I was recently given the opportunity to work with and write a review for an exciting jewelry inventory and pricing software called Bead Manager Pro.

This software is great for anyone that makes jewelry for profit or for hobby and it is flexible enough that it can be used to track various other types of handcrafted items you might make for sale or for fun. I have started using it for my sewing and quilting items as well as my jewelry and I think it is going to be the perfect solution to tracking my cost versus profit.

Out of 5 stars I give this software a 4.5 and the only reason I don’t give it a full 5 stars is because I wish there were a way to separate the different categories of products that I offer. Or at least, I haven’t found a way to do that yet.

If there is a way to do this, then I have no doubt that I will find it because this company offers a large selection of help information for using the software to its fullest potential. You also get access to a comprehensive user’s manual by clicking the help button in the software.

Bead Manager Pro provides:

1. Instant stock level tracking and inventory management

2. Automatic pricing of your completed jewelry pieces

3. Customer records and alerts for special dates

4. Data export into Excel format

5. Professionally printed labels, invoices and catalogs

6. Notes and storage archive for designs details

7. Backup and storage of data

8. Invoice management and tracking

9. Vendor tracking

10. Tax calculations for completed items and invoicing

11. Compatible for all countries and currencies

12. Works with Windows based or Mac platforms

Now, as for the reasons I love this software after such a short time, other than the above list of items, is the ease of use and the comprehensiveness of the software. There is a customer database where you can even set up alerts for special dates and you can print labels, and a whole lot more. Plus, the price is very reasonable for this type of program.

I highly recommend purchasing this software and plan on writing another review once I have a chance to play with it some more. I never thought about using it for hobby things as well but it is a great way to track exactly how much I spend.

To read more about this great software, click here.

Enjoy!

JCopia Review

If you are like me, you love the free tutorials you can find on YouTube and the various websites that offer wonderful instructions via audio and video. There is a wealth of information on the internet and I find myself searching the various video sharing websites in search of those little golden nuggets that help me when I want to try out new techniques for my jewelry, sewing or just about anything else you can imagine. But, sometimes, trying to organize these tutorials for later reference can be a real pain.

I work full time, plus operate a small craft business so I don’t always have the time to watch the tutorial right at the moment I find it. Plus, I am a visual person so I like to refer back to the tutorials as I am trying out the instructions for the various items I like to make. My interests are broad, so you can imagine the amount of tutorials I can amass in just one setting.

I recently had the opportunity to review a wonderful software program called JCopia, offered by the Jiteco Corporation and I must say I like it. There are several things I would love to see added to make organization easier (I will list those later) but overall, it does a good job and the price is right, just $17.99 as of this writing.

Normally, my filling system for my audio and video files has always been a link in my favorites or sending myself the link by email, then putting it in a special folder. Then there is the problem of having a slow internet connection at times that makes it impossible to watch or you go to click on the link and the video is gone (I hate this!). JCopia has solved this problem for me.

JCopia captures the videos you want then stores them on your computer as files. Now you have a great collection of tutorials to watch whenever you want. No need to use an internet connection or worry that just as you decide to follow that tutorial that shows you how to teach Rover to roll over, the video has been removed. You have a record of it for as long as you want.

For me, this means I can download the tutorial to my laptop then carry it wherever I need to whether it’s my workroom, my sewing room, or just to the couch so I can follow the tutorial but still be with my family.

Plus, the video copy is fast and you can set it to run in the background. That way, whenever you pull up a video to watch, JCopia starts recording. I would say, in about a minute or two, the entire video has been captured and you won’t need to sit there and watch the entire thing, you can move on to the next video.

You don’t want all the videos it captured? Just right click on the video you don’t want then delete. You can even rename your captured files.

The only things that I did not like is that when you watch the video, the display is small. Unlike watching on YouTube, you cannot adjust it to fit the screen. For me, that is an issue because for one, the screen on my laptop is not that large so to see what they are doing in some of these videos, I have to adjust it to fit the screen. One thing to remember though, to make it slightly larger than what it normally defaults to, you must set your YouTube to “Fit Screen”, that way, the display in JCopia will be just a little bit larger.

Secondly, it needs a better way to organize your files. So far, I have not found a way to make new folders and then move the files into the folders. This, I think, is also another big issue.

All in all, I would give it 3 stars out of 5. It is a good program and the price is great. It is definitely one I would recommend and will continue to use myself.

Also, JCopia has a giveaway for any of my readers if they also create a review in any blog/forum/twitter/facebook, etc, and contact Jennifer Johnson with link to the review,

You can read more about JCopia by following this link: JCopia Video/Audio Capture