Happy New Year in Necklace Town

It's a New Year and hope yours has been Happy! It's still buzzing in Necklace Town. More than half the orders have been shipped. A huge shipment of stones, finally just arrived. Now we can get a big portion of that part of the order going in the next two weeks. There's a lot more to go, but the pace has picked up, everyone knows these pieces quite well now. We're hoping to be finished by the end of the month, fingers crossed!

It's real close to how we've kept to the original amount of chain that was ordered for this. Not too bad, when trying to determine how much chain is needed for four different types of pieces that total to be about 14,000, give or take. Oh to be the one multiplying and multiplying by inches and feet and dividing all that to determine amounts for each one. Oy! And the shipping department! They are packing, labeling and taping hundreds in flat rate boxes twice a week. The biggest load I have taken to ship in my Volvo station wagon so far, is 1,100 pieces.

Out of all that has been shipped, just a small handful have been returned for damage, or the wrong thing was ordered and needed an exchange. Not bad considering all of these 14,777 necklaces were made by hand, here in the United States of America. In the Hudson Valley, New York City, Stamford, Lagrangeville, Pleasant Valley, Poughkeepsie, Fishkill, Montrose, Brookfield, Ossining, Scarsdale, Croton-on-Hudson, Pleasantville, Carmel, White Plains, North Salem, Brewster, Amawalk, Putnam Lake, Hopewell Junction, Cortlandt Manor, Poughquag, Mahopac, Mount Kisco, Shenorock, Mount Vernon, Yorktown Heights, North Yonkers.

Jewelry Assembly Chicks are also administrators, teachers, opera singers, college students back for Christmas break, bass players, full time homemakers, brand new moms, painters, financial administrators, retirees, some unemployed, some working full time. All them working over the holidays, in their homes, at their peak times. Some people like to work late at night, some early in the morning. All of them thrilled to make this jewelry by hand in Necklace Town. There have been many other customers too, to have the ability to over see their production here in Necklace Town, USA, no matter how big or small their needs are. it's been great to help them achieve that. To keep their production here and not in China, Bangladesh or Taiwan.

Everyone has been so wonderful. There were some hiccups. Back ordered supplies. Snowstorms causing a mess of trouble. Some people would get sick but other people stepped in to pick up what someone couldn't do. Or they would come in, stand at the doorway to pickup supplies, lest they contaminate us with a sneeze or cough! Someone had their wisdom teeth pulled but called to find out when they could come in and grab supplies. I did insist she stay home and rest after oral surgery. The team work has been amazing. Everyone has been so cooperative, so helpful.

Sometimes it would be so overwhelming to me, feeling like, such a mountain of STUFF to conquer, so much chain, bubble bags, stones. Boxes crowding out my Christmas tree in the living room. UPS delivering several 50 pound boxes every day, bringing it up and down the basement stairs and up and down the front porch stairs, load the wagon to deliver the finished product. I lost 12 pounds since this order came in and dropped two pant sizes! But it's been the citizens of Necklace Town helping me that has made it possible to conquer this, to make this happen here in our community, keeping the momentum going. I can't thank them enough. Meeting so many nice people in the past two months has been a bonus to this venture. And it was all here in Necklace Town, USA.