Pulling It Together

A week before Bead Fest, end of the summer here in the US (which means for most of us, kids are heading back to school), and there are always lots of things going on in everyday life to juggle.

I don't know about you, but when stress like this settles in, and my brain has no more room for one ounce of though - I am thankful for little things in technology that actually help pull things together through "social media" instead of spreading things thin and making one feel like "I give up. I have no time for figuring this out".

So here are two things that I think will be helpful:

1. If you have a shop on Etsy and are selling your work in a booth there, you can add your information HERE on their Etsy Local page:

Screen shot of Etsy Local Page for Bead Fest Philadelphia August 2014

If you want to check your "local" area for Etsy sellers and events, click HERE.

You can always add an event that you are participating in or join an event if someone else has already created it. It's a great marketing tool!

2. For those of you going to Bead Fest Philly Summer 2014 and you want to know who else from our handmade jewelry beading online community is going to go and possibly meet up with them to say Hi:

Hope to see you at Bead Fest in just about a week!

Bead Show Prep: The Madness

by Staci Louise Smith

It is that time of year again, Bead Fest is right around the corner.  I know I am not alone in this preparation hurricane.  If you make your own beads and components, and you are getting ready to do a big show.....now matter how much you plan, or prep ahead of time, you are making beads for weeks straight.  It is just how it is.

I love it and hate it.  I love the intense bead making, I love the last minute creativity that floods my brain, but I hate that my body doesn't always co-operate.  Oh well, this is 40.  I must listen to my body when it says NO MORE BEADS....lol

I have been snapping pictures, meaning to post, and share updates on how things are coming along, but I have hardly posted any at all.  So here is a glimpse into my world right now. (in no particular order, just to try to capture the chaos that is my home)

 antiqued bronze just rinsed on top, in liver of sulfur below

 kits being put together for class

a tray of bronze waiting for liver of sulfur

 my helper working off some debt!!! lol

 carved beads

 more carved beads

 organic metal clay shapes

black carved beads

 metal clay components for class

 class table stuff

sanity

 naked beads

 piles of junk

 sari ribbon

 sea glass for sale- drill bits and sea glass, and just sea glass packets

 figuring out the layout

sugar skulls riveted- still need a liver of sulfur bath and sealing

 the "still need to be riveted pile"

 the sound of a tumbler running non stop in my studio while the metal clay was beind made.  This double barrel tumbler from Harbor Freight totally saved me though- its awesome, and can hold an entire kiln load of bronze and copper in one shot.

So there you have it.  I am on track, so, hopefully all goes well and I complete everything in time.

Next phase is painting the polymer.  After they are done, its pricing and packing.  

 just a few to paint

Now, add all this to "three kids and end of the summer stuff, like Bible school, youth camp, and pre-school preparation" throw in some dental appointments and some asthma and allergy appointments, and I am going to be pretty busy.  Wish me luck, I can't wait to be there!



Making your mark

                                                                           Carol Dekle-Foss

Have you considered a maker's mark for your jewelry creations or handmade beads? It's great for brand name recognition and also adds perceived value. There are all kinds of custom maker's mark stamps including ones for metal, clay, and Precious Metal clay. 

In doing a little research for this post I discovered a long history on hallmark stamps and their meanings. Lang Antiques has tons of information and examples if you are interested in knowing more. Here is the rabbit hole. Hallmark stamps have been in use in England and France since the 14th century. One of their purposes was to to protect the consumer when purchasing precious metals. The purity stamp or "fineness" mark signifies the content and quality of the metal, such as the .925 mark or 14k. The maker's mark was a designation of responsibility for the designer. Every country has their own way of handling hallmarks. The USA doesn't necessarily hallmark, but precious metal jewelry has to indicate fineness as of 1906. In 1961 the responsibility or maker's mark became mandatory if a purity mark is used. 

So here in the USA, if you put purity stamp like a .925 mark on your jewelry, by law you have to have a maker's mark as well. Good to know! 

I recently designed and purchased a maker's mark. Looking back to when I created my business name, I would have made it shorter! I tried acronyms for the stamp, like TRD, but that was lame. Who wants a piece of jewelry from turd? Lol. So for recognition I just used the whole name. It's a bit large, but oh well. 

I went through Infinity Stamps. Their customer service is great, the stamp came a week early, and the detail is amazing.

Here are just a few ways to use a maker's mark.

The ring was my very first piece to stamp. It's going to be hard for me to part with and may very well end up in my jewelry box. I forgot to add the .925. Oops.

 I love how the round tag added a bit of jangle to the bracelet!

 I'm still learning the placement and how hard to hit the metal. The .925 ended up being to close and crooked.

So tell me, have you considered investing in your very own maker's mark? I hope this post has inspired you to do so!

Use Your Words By Karen McGovern

“Nestled in the loving embrace of flame-warmed copper, colored to transport you to the misty Aegean Sea, a droplet of Byzantine Amethyst glows with mulberry fire…. “  BLARF.

Writing descriptions for jewelry designs is hard.  And sometimes ridiculous.  Those of us with online shops know how mind-numbing it can be to come up with readable, detailed yet interesting descriptions for our designs that are also enticing enough to COMPELL the reader to hit the ADD TO CART button.
 

Books have been written on the subject.  You can find online seminars about it.  You can also find HILARIOUS examples of over the top, worthy for romance cover illustration descriptions on just about any selling platform.  I will not link to any here, because I know how hard it is to write what is essentially a sales pitch to describe the work, and I know how easy it can be to slip from imaginative text to absolute drivel.  I look back at some of my descriptions used early in my selling career and I am painfully reminded of the episodes of Seinfeld that featured the J Peterman catalogue.  Remember the Urban Sombrero?????

Anyway, there is romance and emotion associated with jewelry.  It’s personal, often given as a declaration of love or intention.  It’s passionate and yes, dramatic.  BUT, that doesn’t mean that every description needs to be a verbal teleportation to nirvana via a pair of drop earrings—or a hat.

"Devastating brim" made me squirt milk out of my nose...okay, it was wine, but whatever. LOL

Here’s my take—First, I flesh out a simple description that answers questions the reader will have.  What is it made of?  What kind of metals?  What are the gemstones (real names, please, no references to unicorn tears or sunsets on Jupiter), and is the design treated or sealed with anything?  THEN, embellish.  Tell a little story if you want about your inspiration in making the design.  If you are a raging freak for turquoise, say so.  If you found the gem or inspiration on a special trip or visit to the world’s funkiest flea market, mention that.  If you wrote a poem inspired by the piece, include it.  Bottom line, I believe that our clients enjoy—and appreciate—connecting with us on a personal level.  Getting a glimpse of who we are, how we think, what inspires us—that’s not just a selling point, it’s authentically SHARING, which is what we do every time we create, right???  Use your own voice.  If it sounds stilted or forced to you--it is.  Mary Jane Dodd is the MASTER of using her voice freely in her listings.  She writes gorgeous poetry and verse to go with her designs and I have been left breathless on more than one occasion.  She is amazing.  And singular.  As in, I would never try to do that in a million years.  As in, I am green with envy.  Sigh.  She's great, and just like what she writes, her works are so---HER.  You know her work on sight, instantly.  I just bought my first design from her, and the description reads in part:

"'earth is what we all have in common.' wendell berry
pearls for the sea
honey calcite for the sun
stones for the earth
and leaves, stitched in silk

this talisman started with the double sided stitched pouch - i wanted you to be able to keep that which you treasure close to your heart. or perhaps that which you need on any given day - a word, a stone, a picture. our needs change.

my stitch work is inspired by nature and mandalas
mandalas are symbolic of the universe and our relation to infinity
nature representing growth and the full cycle of life.

we walk the earth for a short time - to do so unawakened is tragic.
both for yourself and for all others.
you have gifts to share"

LOVELY!!! And bear in mind, not every design we create is epic.  It’s perfectly okay for a description to read something like:  “Copper patina disc earrings created with hand forged sterling silver ear wires.”  THE END.

The design photograph takes front and center stage anyway.  If your layout and images rock, the rest is icing on the cake, but you might as well make the cake as tasty as you can, right?  Just not tooth-decay, nausea inducing sickly-sweet cake.  More like a really good flourless chocolate cake....mmmmmm....cake.  Wait, what were we talking about?
 

Beautiful homeless Free People

Catalogues that jump to mind skating the razor’s edge of inspiring vs CRAP are Free People and Sundance Catalogue.  I love both.  Visually they are stunning and drool-worthy (I basically hand my paycheck over to Free People at least once a month).  Occasionally the text and images are just….too much.  I know they are representing a quasi-fantasy lifestyle (who are we kidding--it's total fantasy), but it can be a bit overwhelming.  My husband refers to the Free People catalogue as the “rich homeless people catalogue”.  While it’s perfectly okay to make fun here, I certainly don’t want someone feeling the same way about how I present my works. That would really bug me, because I am not like that.  I try to be authentic in how I present and write about what I create.

But that is my opinion.  I don’t live in a dream world of diffused lighting and I don’t wear artfully distressed leather boots with my flowing silk maxi dress (I prefer be-dazzled Keds with my formal wear).  That being said, we are all offering a feeling along with our work--that's what art does.  Art imparts attitude and emotion.  I want what I offer to be real.  I want my clients to feel like they “get” what I am trying to say with the design, and hear my "voice" in their head.  It’s very subjective, and different for each and every artist/designer.

How do you convey your intent in the text associated with your work?  Are you a story-teller or a bare-bones “just the facts” lister?  What gets your attention as a buyer?  Short and sweet or chapter and verse?  I’d love to hear your opinions….