Things!

Because of a silly negligence on my part, the Mid-Monthly Themed Challenge Hop reveal date is postponed until Saturday, June 11th! Sorry about that, folks. This is definitely a learning experience for me! XD I'll post another reminder when there's a week to go. You folks are so nice and understanding!

The other thing I wanted to share with you concerns a cryptic email I received yesterday. It seems that Michaels craft stores have decided to join us in the 21st century and have just launched their own rewards card! ;D While I love to shop online for art beads and at small, ma-and-pa stores, I do also love Michaels. Heck, whoever sells beads has earned my love. Hahaha!.... Wait, does that make me a bead whore? D:

At any rate, looks like very exciting things---discounts, coupons, and special offers. I'm a dork and went right out yesterday to get my card. No purchase necessary, or you can apply online at the Michaels's Web site and have the card sent to you.*

 *This blogger was not compensated for this blurb, although she kind of wishes she was... in beads, of course.

I've been experimenting with electro-chemical etching and plating, and will have some stuff to show for it early next week. I don't know how much I like the process; it's messy and somewhat unpredictable (out of about thirty test pieces, only nine of them turned out), so I don't think I'll be sharing a how-to. At least, not until/unless I discover a better process. The pieces that turned out, though, are rather nice; they'll be posted sometime this week, along with some pirate-y things already promised.

AGAIN, don't forget! Memorial Day in the States means 21-gun salutes; be on the look-out for empty brass bullet casings---they can be used to make unique jewelry pieces! I've already promised my little brother a dollar for each one he brings me. ;) Ahhh, it's great when you can put the little ones to work for you, eh? Hahaha!

Have a GREAT weekend, everyone!!! <3 <3 <3

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New new new!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while here. We've just started the arduous process of moving... It's going to be a pain, but definitely worth it in the end. I've got my studio space set up already, and I can't tell you how nice it is to finally have a space to keep my beads nice and to work without all sorts of stuff in the way or having to worry about where I put something because it's all right here! Check it out:

 

We're eventually going to replace the folding tables with a single sturdy table, but for now, they are fine. There's so much light, I love it! I've still got a lot of organizing to do, but it's already a thousand times better than my previous setup...which was pretty much nonexistent. XD YAY! On the left (along with my business papers and such) is my burgeoning collection of beading magazines. I am going to be labeling them for easy browsing. Up on the top shelf I've got my tiny collection of beading books (including a new one I'm going to share with you soon!), some design books for color inspirations, and a few books of fairy tales for when I'm starting to get frustrated---nothing clears your mind like a delightful story!

We took a long walk today. The woods were beautiful! I forgot my camera so I'm going to have to describe in words as best I can... The sun was glinting off the river and the rush of water filled our ears. The air had that green smell that comes with spring; everywhere were blooms---trilliums, wild violets, forget-me-nots, tiny star-shaped blossoms that we did not know the name of, minuscule orange bulbs springing from the moss like a forest in miniature, white blooms of wild strawberries. Light breached the canopy and fell like golden coins on all the new leaves. Just spectacular.

I'm drifting along on this sunny day and am very happy.
Wherever you are today, I hope you are happy, too. :)


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BTW and CT Beads Share

Oh, gosh. Sorry about the absence. All sorts of things have been going on! Before I get into that, though, I have some new pieces to share for Bead Table Wednesday, including a piece I made out of beads that Patty and I bought together in Connecticut.

As we all know, Patty loooves birds! So with that in mind, I used my beads to make a bracelet. Some of the other beads I got at Sugarbeads served as accents. :)

 

I know it's very simple... I tried adding more, but that was just it---it was just more. Sometimes you can do more with less, and these beads have such character, I just stuck to a simple design. Here are two other bracelets, one made with the swirly glass beads from Sugarbeads, and the other was made with a brass butterfly I altered to use as a focal.

 

I was asked to show my jewelry work at the Emmanuel Congregational Church coffeehouse near my hometown, so we rushed back to the north country. It was wonderful; lots of live music, poetry, and delicious things. Because we rushed back, I unfortunately forgot my display stuff back at our apartment. I made a quick stop at the Dollar Store (oh, shame!) and picked up some little black picture frames, wooden trays, and white paper. I wrapped the glass in the frames with the white paper and put necklaces around the frame legs and draped them over the front so that the pendants rested in the center. It worked surprisingly well!

Who'da thunk it?!

This week, a gallery I've shown at before called me to see if I wanted to participate in a show this weekend, so I've been scrambling for that. The gallery owner let me come in early this week to help me set up my stuff. She and I made a great display, although I need to get some more inventory in there. Check it out:

As you can see, I held onto my little black frames. I've grown to love them! The show is horse-themed; I don't really have any horse jewelry, but I am putting my painting and drawing skills to use by making some pictures. Proceeds from the sale of artwork and jewelry go to Equine Advocates, so it's for a good cause, too. :)

Are you all having a good, productive week?

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About Pricing and An Apology

You've probably already seen "An Artist's Guide to Pricing" by Brandi Hussey on Art Bead Scene's blog last week. If you have not, it is a wonderful free resource certain to be indispensable to those starting out in the jewelry-making (or any craft) business. It definitely opened my eyes.

Pricing has been one of the most difficult things for me to do with my business. This is due to several reasons (which Brandi explores in her e-book, too). The first is that I've been an art student for most of my life and it has been ingrained in me that art has no real material value. Not only that, but it's been ingrained that this is the way it's supposed to be. It's like artists aren't supposed to be successful. Brandi calls this the "purist" attitude and it was an unbelievable relief to know that I am not alone in suffering from this damaging mindset.

The second thing is that I have always been extremely self-conscious. Doubts about one's self can definitely effect and be transferred down to how one thinks about one's work. I've always believed my artwork to be inferior for some reason. (When I was in school, no teacher I ever had approved of what I wanted to draw or paint. I have a sneaking suspicion that that had something to do with it...) Anyway, I've felt the same way about my jewelry. Even now, I struggle with it. No one likes me, no one will want my jewelry. When I give people drawings, paintings, or jewelry, I bet they imagine I'm too cheap to get them a real gift. My work is something they'll shove into a nook of a bookshelf or something and never look at again. It's just paper and ink, it's just acrylic paint, it's just beads and string. It's worthless in the real world. People buy things from me because they feel sorry for me. And so on, and so forth.  This is a real battle. It happens daily. Brandi Hussey says we must separate this sensitive artist part of ourselves from the pragmatic business part of ourselves in order to succeed. I am really starting to feel like she is correct.

The third one is ignorance. This is my first business experience. It has been one lesson learned after another. When all this began, I had no idea about pricing at all. I treated it like an afterthought, considered what I would pay for something sort of similar at Wal-Mart or someplace like that (HUGE MISTAKE). I didn't know what competitive selling was (I'm not a very competitive person). I didn't know any equations for computing cost of materials, overhead, or profit. Now I know a lot more and I owe you folks an apology. I had no idea what sorts of consequences underselling myself could have for other people involved in the world of handmade goods. People were telling me all the time that my prices were too low. Customers would often give me extra money and I didn't understand. I thought they felt sorry for me or were just trying to be nice or something. But then an art gallery owner made an offhand remark about my prices and a fellow artist took me aside and gave me a stern warning. It shocked me a bit. Again, though, I am not alone. Brandi has similar stories in her e-book. This is something I will have to seriously reconsider, I thought. Where to start? But her book lays everything out so simply and poignantly, it all makes so much sense.

I will have to revise the way that I do the business side of my business, especially if I want to continue making mostly one-of-a-kind pieces. I've put my Etsy shop into vacation mode and am going over my inventory.

To all you folks out there living the life of the artist, I'm so sorry. I certainly never meant to offend you or cause uneven competition between us. I hope you can forgive this newbie.

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