Semi precious stones add great value to your work. People love to hear that the stones in your handmade jewelry are real. Immediately the perceived value goes up!
BUT: you might say, hey! I don't know anything about them. How do I know what to buy?
Choose stones and beads that have great markings, good color and clarity, texture and eye appeal. People love impression jasper (and there are many kinds) because of amazing bits in them that remind of stained glass, as well as lovely blended color created by dyeing. The fact that a stone is heat-treated or dyed doesn't mean the stone is not legit.
What it probably means is, it's got a great vibe. The long strand of stones in the middle toward the bottom of the photo above, are aqua terra jasper---a type of impression jasper. These are especially fun to work with as they are cross drilled at the top, making them perfect for earrings, or small wire-wrapped pendants.
Usually this shape and type of stone comes in a long strand 15-16 inches at least. There are MANY stones on the strand, so even though you might pay 30-40.00 for the strand you are getting lots of beads, tons of fun, and cha-ching---if you are making to sell, you will make back many times what you paid for them if you make those pendants or, especially earrings. Look for two pieces similar and wrap the tops, briolette style. All you need to do then is put them on earwires! Easy.
Stones you see in the photo above (lifted from a very recent video) are: milky-white moonstone, turquoise-dyed howlite, aqua terra jasper, rare grey keshi pearls, amazonite chips, quartz, imitation pink rhodochrosite (dyed quartz), faceted amazonite beads and far, far left, leopardskin jasper. In my hand is a lovely hunk of labradorite with crazy-good chatoyancy (flash, fire, glow) and it's perfect for wire-wrapping.
The Jaspers and Howlites are generally quite inexpensive. Amazonite and the imitation (simulated) rhodochrosite cost a bit more. Labradorite and moonstone cost the most of all the beads in the photo, but these are not super-expensive. The more chatoyancy (glow) those feldspar-family stones have, the more they cost....along with clarity of color and lack of inclusions (those little dark bits that you see occuring in the beads along the strand of moonstones are inclusions). The grey cornflake keshi are freshwater pearls and rare, on the expensive side.
I like inclusions; I think they give character to a piece. In some rare cases, they give value. For example, if you ever find a piece of amber that's natural amber and has a bug in it...you've found a treasure. It's a fossil, a remembrance of a day gone by centuries ago---perhaps, millenia--when the bug found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time---embedded in resin as it oozed out of a tree. Over time, the resin aged and petrified, and became amber.
You'll find a great deal of variation in the way stones are formed, too. In the photo below, all the 40x30mm cab stones are leopard skin jasper. But no two are alike, and vary in color from mustard yellow to deep rust to dramatic brown and black markings.
We've carried semi precious stones on and off at B'sue Boutiques for a long time. Recently I've taken a deeper interest in them and decided to expand the selection at our website. I do have some basic knowledge, but there is so much more to learn....and there always will be.
Whatever I learn, I'll share with my friends, customers and those who enjoy our YouTube videos on the bsueboutiques channel.
There's a new video today about this very subject! I hope you'll get a chance to see it--because here in my blog, I've only skimmed the surface of the video discussion.
And if you don't mind, how about subscribing to the bsueboutiques channel at YouTube?
That way you won't miss the next parts of this series about gemstones and how to use them in your design work. Take the journey with me! We're gonna have a great time!
There are times when we all find ourselves retreating to some lovely green place, in our memories. Sometimes the memories are sweet, and others are bittersweet. Still others, just are what they are. Life passes quickly.
Beyond that line of trees in the photo, only detectable to those who know this place, is a spot that once was my grandmother's garden. She was always to be found there. In my lovely green place where time does not pass, I can close my eyes and see her there, picking the green beans for supper, or pulling out weeds. Yes, her garden was her happy place, and it makes me happy to remember that way.
It was another time.....a time in my life when there was far less hurry and far more time for reverie.
They say there was once a part of the old Nemacolin Trail in that field behind the horses in the foreground. That's what Grandaddy said, anyway! He hung the moon for me, so I believed anything he said. Nowadays we sometimes laugh and remember things he said, and call them "Naylorisms". His name was Naylor and he had his own spin on facts. I know that, now. But I do feel this information was probably correct.
The Nemacolin Trail was developed from an old Native American trail. Found in the Southern Allegheny Mountians, it traverses land not far from the point where Pennsylvania reaches Maryland. Later, the trail was improved by George Washington and Edward Braddock and other engineers of the National Road, which is old Route 40.
My grandaddy's farm nestled directly between the old National Road, and newer Route 40 where it cuts through the back acreage of his farm. We would walk across Route 40 and pick blackberries along the fence and call out to the cows in the pasture, just as he did, in Pennsylvania Dutch. He always called the cattle in Pennsylvania Dutch.....for some reason. I may never know why, in fact, I'm not sure I realized it was Pennsylvania Dutch until later in my life. But, that's what he did.
My best souvenir from those days is Daisy's cow bell. Daisy was the lead cow who brought the other cows home to the barn when he called them. When he called, she would raise her head up a bit and move it back and forth a little, and she would head for the barn door, as if to say, "Okay, troops, the party's over, time to go home."
Grandaddy really loved that cow, odd for a man who had been a farmer all his life, a farmer who felt that animals had their purpose. He gave them a wonderful life on his farm, but he didn't get attached to any of them. Except Daisy.
I was up in the barn with him about 35 years ago, and I saw the old bell. I liked it because it was a country primitive and at that time, I loved prims. He told me I could have it, but that I needed to take care of it for him....because it was Daisy's bell. Today, it hangs on my back door from several layers of sari ribbon tied in a bow, in lieu of a doorbell. Daisy's cow bell still rings to announce a visitor.
Souvenirs can be those green memories, or they can be boxes full of photographs. Like Daisy's cow bell, they might be bits and pieces from our lives, or a someone else's life lived long ago, handed down to us. These souvenirs are my most precious possessions.
Roselawn Farm is among my souvenirs, nestled forever in my 'happy green place'. That is the place where I am a child again, helping Grammy in the kitchen and running across the gravel drive to Great-Grandma Cora's stone house, to see what she was doing....then up to the barn to check out the chickens in the big chicken house. No one can take those souvenirs away.
When these memories come, often times the sound track rolling through my head is Connie Francis singing that old chestnut, "Among My Souvenirs". If you don't know it....
A lovely song, but are you depressed yet? A bit maudlin, don't you think? Yet that's the song I hear in my head! Thank goodness, it is not what I feel. My souvenirs are wonderful things, slices of my life that I would not give up for any sort of money. Memories, photographs...... bits and pieces. I love to be the keeper of the 'bits and pieces'.
Here is a memory that always makes me smile. When I look at it, I am back in the mid 60's, watching late night television on Cleveland (Ohio) channel 8.....at 11:35 on Friday nights.
If you wanted to be cool in school, you didn't want to miss the Ghoulardi show. Ghoulardi was played by Ernie Anderson. The show was primitive and crude, a bit like Ernie himself. He totally pushed the ticket for the time. Ghoulardi memorabilia was sold in a number of places back then, but none so much as the Manner's restaurants in the greater Cleveland area. Today those mementos are highly collected hereabouts by baby boomers who were fans of the show. I wanted the special milkshake glass that the poster below, describes. I wanted one back then, but I never got one; we didn't go to Cleveland often.
I wouldn't mind having one now, but I don't want a cheap repro, I want a real one. Sadly, a REAL one costs. Sigh. So, in lieu of that milkshake glass, I've settled for this well-worn poster, which I have in my outer office just behind the door with Daisy's cowbell. It really doesn't belong there, but I ask you....WHERE would such a thing belong, anyway?
What can I say? It just takes me back to a green place that makes me smile.
The sign is even green!
I will never forget the experience of having my own shop. More green memories.
We were using the back of the shop for business; the front was being prepared as a place to sell jewelry and 'cute stuff'. My wall of doors, the separator between the front and back of the shop, was just being planned and built, here. We took seven old doors and hinged them together, painted them mint green, distressed and decoupaged and stamped them. OH! how I wanted to bring them home when I left the shop, but we would never have had a place for them. So I sold it back as artwork to the antiques dealer I first purchased the doors from.....for far too little.
We bought a great deal of vintage furniture from the lady who owned the building. I loved the old depression dressers!
But....they had to go, too, when we left the place. We were there for three years. Most of the memories of being at the shop are in a very green place in my memory. I'm not gonna lie, there are some very anxious memories from that place, too. Well, those things are over, now. So I choose to remember the good, green memories. Selective memories.....souvenirs.
When we were selling the shop out, I had so much STUFF we had accumulated in only 3 years. I sold a great deal of it off by Muse Package. Maybe you will remember those? For 100.00 I would pack as many tchochkes from the store as I could jam into a medium sized shipping box. People got gift shop merchandise, small displays, jewelry, linens, old buttons and stuff to make jewelry as well as a lot of great collector's books. Everyone was so happy and I had a good time packing them. Green memories. I think we sold 40 of them.
This necklace is a green memory. It is the bridal bracelet I made for my niece, Andrea. The bracelet would convert into a necklace. She looked beautiful that day and I was so happy to make the jewelry for her. Everything on it, she picked out, herself.
What can I say......
I'm a sentimental fool. I'm fairly sure that's why I have such an attachment to the 1928 Jewelry Company these days, its history and its jewelry....my sentimental heart. I know I am not alone in feeling that way. Theirs is jewelry that truly will be found among the souvenirs of many people.
I've gotten to do so many meaningful things this last year or so. One was to work on 'reprise' pieces of jewelry, in other words, jewelry that 1928 made long ago, but had not been made again for many years.
The first time I visited their factory in Burbank, California, Mel Bernie, owner of the company, brought out a curious little black box of very, very old souvenirs....pretty bits that had been collected up by he himself or the designers that worked for him years ago. In that box was this little silver pill bottle. As you can see it is quite old. My guess is that it is mid-Victorian (about 1839-1865 area, depending on who you ask for the historical dates of that period).
To give you a better idea of the pill bottle's circa date and purpose, I am including a photo of a complete mid-Victorian chatelaine. Look closely.....the pill bottle is right there. It has a different pattern, but it's the same size and same design type as the little bottle from the 1928 'black box'.
The things in that box were collected up for a reason. Many of the little treasures squirreled away were used to make models for actual pieces that were sold in the 1928 line. As you can see below, this was certainly true of this historic little piece. Somewhere around 1980 they cast a model of the pill bottle and made this necklace for a short time. The model is still out in the archives. Mel and I talked about making it for the B'sue by 1928 line, but it didn't cost out right. It just made more sense to reprise it.....so he did. He made it for me to sell to 1928 fans who wanted souvenirs, as well....collector pieces.
We had it in silver, and also gold. We STILL have a few silver ones left! Find them here:
All are made with the original 1928 Jewelry Company barrel clasp that you might remember. Same scroll chain, too. After my last pill bottle necklace 'souvenir' sells down, I don't think we will be making more. They are very special.
As for me, among my souvenirs are both a silver and a gold pill bottle 1928 reprise necklace, but also the original sterling pill bottle that undoubtedly dropped from an old chatelaine 150-160 years ago, in Europe. The very one you see in the photograph, here.
Most of the things in the 1928 keepsake black box came from Europe, as the designers would travel there for treasures to mold into jewelry that others could still enjoy. I bought this piece for super-safe keeping. I have the black box with me for the time being, as well, while I continue to work on writing the book. It is an honor to have it for the time being.
But! Now, let me tell you about this ratty plastic suitcase. It is the ULTIMATE 1928 souvenir; there is only one in the world, it cannot be reprised and it cannot be purchased.
This pitiful little case is where it all started. This is the briefcase that Mel used to display his mod watches when he first hit the bricks to try and sell back in about 67-68. You can see the tape on the inside of the lid of the case. He used to tape them there as samples, and then put the ones for sale in the bottom. I can only imagine what it looked like the day he set out for the first time, to sell them to stores. He didn't know a thing about jewelry and the only thing he knew about watches is that they were supposed to keep time and sometimes, he wore one.
A while ago, I asked him if he still had it, and the reply was, "I think so." A couple of weeks back, I got this photo in my email with the subject header "this is where it all started."
I dared boldly to ask him if it could be sent to me so that I could get some pictures for the book, etc. I promised to take great care of it and return it all wrapped in bubble and tissue wrap.
The first response was yes, sure, he would send it. Then, he wrote and said....."You don't need to send it back."
I still hardly know what to say, except to think about this fellow as a young man and the whirlwind that he started that day, venturing out with those watches. He was stalwart, wouldn't take no for answer. For me, this souvenir says, if you want something bad enough, you can probably have it if you work hard and find yourself in the right place at the right time.
Wow. There is still so much to learn about this company. The more I dig, the more layers there are. But, soon Mel Bernie's original selling case will be among my souvenirs.
I'll take care of it for him, just as I am taking care of Daisy's cow bell, for Grandaddy.
I've been doing what I do in a number of incarnations for going on 30 years. In those 30 years, I have made many mistakes. I don't beat myself up for having made them; as the mistakes were made, I've struggled to break bad thought patterns and habits, and turn things around. Sometimes I am more successful at change than other times.
As I prepare to teach the Build A Line Master Class again this winter, I have been thinking of a short summary of 'big mistakes'. I think I can speak to these errors well, because I'm guilty of all of them. I have MADE these mistakes. I STILL struggle with a few things.
So here's my short list of FIVE big mistakes that artisan jewelry designers tend to make, especially when they are just starting out. See what you think, and if you want to leave me a comment, by all means, do that. If you blog, maybe you will have the next five big mistakes and continue on for me! But these are the ones that stand out the most, at least for me:
1. Going over the top too much.
Artisan jewelry designers are all about the art. They love texture, they love unique materials, they love to make a statement with their work. They WANT their work to be memorable. They want it to resemble the droolworthy photos of big-opus pieces that might make better wall hangings than neck hangings, so to speak.
The photo of me in my old video set, above, is a great example of going over the top. Everyone wants to know about that necklace, when they see that picture. It was from my 'kitchen-sinker' video. What fun it is to make kitchen sink jewelry----in other words, jewelry that has everything on it but the kitchen sink! But how much is practical?
Well....what would I have to charge for that necklace? I'd say at least a couple of hundred dollars. All of the heart pendants are handmade. I stood there, rolled out polymer clay, cut it, textured it and added surface treatment to 14-15 pendants. I baked them, re-drilled holes, and then I arranged them on a triple strand necklace I had to carefully measure, and if you know me, I only use good chain. So there is probably 25.00 worth of chain in that piece, too.
Then that chain went on a mannequin where I spent half the afternoon connecting, arranging, re-arranging, fiddling and fussing with the placement of the hearts and other assorted doofus. When I got done, yeah, it looked pretty good, and it drapes well, as you can see.
And it weighs a ton. Do I wear it? No. Is it for sale? No. I honestly don't think I could get enough for it. How many newer or even established artisan designers have clientele that will pay 200.00 up for one piece? Some do.....but the vast majority of us do not.
Tell you what. That necklace should be taken apart and made into 14-15 separate necklaces on less-expensive (but nice) chain, accompanied with a few little ornaments/charms to make them pop, and sold for 29.95-35.00 each. Let's do the math on that one: if I did that, was able to sell them all, and priced them at 29.95 each, I'd make 449.25. That's over twice what I think I would have to get for this one necklace.
This doesn't mean you should never do over-the-top pieces. They are GREAT window dressing for shows or even your online shops. People love to see them. They may make sales for you via people stopping to look and then having a look at all your other more practically-priced lovelies. They have their place and isn't that grand? Because we all love to make them, and we still can. There really is a need to scale back on the big statement pieces, though. Break it down to what people will really buy, and can afford.
Having said that, it leads us to the next mistake....
2. Having no concept of the customer. Being artists we love to go off on our own artistic tangent and do as we please, use the colors we like, go where we want to go with the piece. And you CAN, sometimes. You NEED to do that for your own soul. But: if you intend to make any money and gain clientele as an artisan jewelry designer, you can't do that all the time. You MUST think of your customer.
So who IS your customer? Who IS it that buys your work? Who do you WANT to buy your work? What do you think your customers would like to buy from you?
You might think, well, I want to play to very wealthy ladies who have everything and will pay me to do whatever I want. Well, okey dokey!! Don't we all? Being very honest with ourselves, though, we'll quickly realize that it is the masses who will pay your show rent and keep you in business as an artist. They do not have unlimited funds. They are probably not quite comfortable wearing things that are too busy. So, the trick is to find that balance between who you are as an artist, and who your customer is.
I had a ball making that big floral necklace and it went together easily for me. It was a custom commission as a mother of the bride piece. The customer went nuts over it and paid me well. But I don't imagine for a minute that she wore those huge earrings or this heavy necklace all night. It probably made a fantastic entrance, though.
If I was to do it again, I would do ONE of those sections, less fussy, on 18-20 inch chain accented with a few beads and accompanied by a pair of drop ears. I could probably make it in 30 minutes and use far less product, and I think I could get 45.00 for it. And I could make more than one, which would mean a number of people could enjoy this pretty look. That's called 'artistic generosity', reaching out to please and play to more than one customer. Find a way to do your thing and still make people happy and your work affordable.
It's just smart business. And you do have to be a business person besides being an artist. Which takes me to number 3.....
3. Ignoring the Pyramid of Sales
How can you ignore it, though, if you never knew about it?
Okay, I'll give you that, maybe you didn't know about it. But now you do, and here is a great visual for you.
You will notice that the bottom layer, or tier, of the pyramid, is 25.00 or less. This is your FOUNDATION. This is where you have something for everyone. I have often suggested to those who do sales that they have a rack of 5.00 earrings. Some balk at that, they say they don't want to play to the 'cheap market'.
Yet, having such things is SMART. It's not that people are cheap. They have stopped at your show booth or website because they love your look. They hang around because they are intrigued. The fact is, they just don't have the money to buy the big pieces. Maybe it is gifting time and they have a bunch of people to buy for. GIVE THEM THAT OPPORTUNITY. With the purchase of a bunch of 5-10.00 pieces, hand them some extra business cards. Be kind, be obliging, THANK THEM for shopping with you. Money is hard to come by for MANY. And here, look at that! They just spent what they had with YOU. What a grateful heart you should have, thinking of it that way is humbling!
You can create a lot of goodwill by having as much as you can in that lower tier. Make a special section for it, because you DO want to showcase your better pieces as well. At the same time, though, be sure to have something for everyone. This can be the difference between having a successful show, or an unsuccessful show or selling season.
I hope you will spend some time with that pricing infographic and adapt it to your art, and see what you come up with. We discuss it at length in the Build a Line Class, which will start again in January 2018.
4. Not counting the cost properly.
It's a sticky wicket, costing. So many of us begin not costing out and pricing our work effectively. It's something we have got to get a grip on.
You need to be able to sell at a profit, but also at a practical price. Many fail to figure in the cost of every aspect of what it took to create their jewelry, down to the last jump ring and a little bit for the cost of the electricity in your work space as well. They don't often think of the cost of packaging and branding materials; these, too, must be figured into the cost of a piece. You've got to take a careful look at this or you won't be making enough money to keep going.
There are many pricing formulas that you can Google and consider. Find the one that works best for you and don't be afraid to jiggle it a bit. You must work as hard not to price your stuff too high, as not price it too low.
And finally.....
5. Not having an organized work space.
This is a shot of one of the many incarnations of my workspace, from about 7 years back when I began to shoot instructional videos for my You Tube channel. It has evolved greatly over the years, and my guess is that yours will, too.
If you want to take yourself seriously and get something done as an artisan designer, you need a dedicated work area and there needs to be some organization to it. It's okay if it gets messy sometimes. The photo above was when it was all cleaned up for a video. Normally that space looked like this:
I think organized chaos is okay, so long as you have a basic idea of where you can grab this or that when you need it, instead of wasting precious creative time, searching for things.
I have the best creative space I have ever had so far, now:
I have more work surfaces than ever in my space, I can make messes everywhere! But I have a place for everything and a basic idea of where I might find it. I can get everything out and have it at my fingertips before I even get started. My biggest error when I create a new work space is being practical rather than trying to decorate the space. It's good to have fun and personal stuff in your space as well as things for inspiration, but there are things here in this last picture that had to go, like the dolls. I moved them to another spot, as that surface along there is a major mess-making place.
These pix were taken just after we moved back from the shop we had had, downtown. Now I have carpet on the floor and more rubber matting. There is also way more stuff in here, and it is truly my happy place. Everything I need to make mixed media jewelry is down there. I don't have expensive tools; I have only basic stuff. That's all I need.
Many are working in much smaller spaces than this, and some are working in fantastic renovated barns and even little sheds and buildings created just for their art. Small or large doesn't matter at all for jewelry making. The main thing is that you are able to work efficiently. If your space is poorly organized and you cannot find anything, result will not be creativity, but confusion and disappointment. We all only have just so much time to spend doing this, so we must make the best of it. Even if you have the privilege of being a full time jewelry maker, you still have to quit at a decent time to eat well, get enough rest, and live a balanced life.
You know, that last statement could really be a number 6. That is the one I still struggle with most of all.
Living a balanced life, eating right, getting exercise, and getting my rest is something that has always been hard for me. It's so easy to become so immersed in what you do that you neglect your health, and sadly, sometimes even friends and family. If you take a good look at your life as an artisan designer and find that you are being neglectful of these basic, very important things....resolve today to find a way to straighten that out as soon as possible.
Focus is a good thing, obsession is not. Do your best to find balance, and you will find you are not only a better artisan designer, but you will be living an artful, generous life.
(If you would like to join us for the 2018 Build A Line class from B'sue Boutiques, you will find basic information here: Build a Line Class Syllabus This is last year's syllabus so those are 2017 dates. A few other things have changed to make the class simpler; for example, we are posting our lines at Pinterest rather than blogging as a class. Also, you can join me in my work shop by watching my free instructional videos at You Tube: B'sue Boutiques Channel )
(photos found at Pinterest. Top, scienceandsociety.com uk, middle home.kpn.nl, third, no attribution for the vintage photo was found).
These photos have one big truth in common: Sellers must have a product.
Why sure! Elemental, you say!
Why is it, then, that so many new designers get tripped up on the infinite number of classes offered and books written about social media, entrepreneurship, and marketing? Over and over I see one after another taking limitless classes on the business end of things....but never getting their product quite ready. I think they have somehow become convinced that they've got to have all of that down, first. Gotta have all the ducks in a row.
Okay, I'm not ragging on those courses. To be sure, I have taken a few of them myself, and they have been very helpful! They are helpful even though I have had a product and been a busy seller for well over 25 years. I never fool myself into thinking I can't do it better. I like to hear another opinion.
I had my jewelry design line in the 90's. My look has expanded but my style remains mixed media/assemblage with a strong vintage foundation. Pinterest and books on vintage jewelry are my constant source of new inspiration. Ways of selling have changed distinctly since I had my line, so while my designer identity is still in place, I find I do need help with the new algorhythms of social media.
Interestingly, Wikipedia describes an algorhythm as " is an unambiguous specification of how to solve a class of problems. Algorithms can perform calculation, data processing and automated reasoning tasks". Really? Unambiguous? HA! They seem to be more of an indescribable enigma none of us will ever master. There is something new daily. Yes, I think that's what is stopping any number of us from moving forward. JUST. TOO. MUCH.
And...feeling beaten before we even get started.
Did you notice that I said that my designer identity is already in place? Step back and think, do you know what yours is? Have you considered it? Do you know yet what your product will be, what it will look like, how you will make it?
There would be no need of a cart, no need of a horse, no need of advertising, except for what is IN that cart. You can have all the marketing experience in the world, but if your creative act is not pulled together first, if you have no idea where you are going with your jewelry making, and you have not made any collections or developed an identity through your work....that's what you've got. You've got a horse and a cart, but nothing to sell and no idea really what your wares will look like. You've no clue on how they will present to the public, because you don't have anything concrete to show anyone.
In effect, you've got the cart before the horse. Obviously, that doesn't work.
Maybe you think you have to go to school to be a jewelry designer? Must you have endless courses, seminars, continuing education before you begin? A certificate, something on paper, before you will feel legit enough to be taken seriously?
No. Classes never hurt....but no, no, no. A hundred times no.
It all starts with admiration of a design style, passion, a desire to create. What gets your notice? What colors do you favor? Whose work do you admire? Are you observant? Do you notice light, color, flow?
Start with a journal. Sketch your ideas, write them down. If you have a phone where you can record notes, do that when you see something that strikes you. Record your feelings and take photos of what you see that you love, and save them someplace. Secret Pinterest boards are an awesome place to do that, by the way!
You Tube videos can show you the skill rudiments. Try them, practice them, get them down and build upon them and see where your hands and heart take you. Don't start out thinking that you have to have all the best tools and equipment, either. Start with a decent set of pliers, flush cutters, jump ring turning tool, a hammer, a bench block, easy peasy stuff. Many of the best design lines require little else than that, anyway! You will discover that as you go along. Streamlined and simple makes more money for a designer, and sells more work.
If you want to sell your work to many people, you have to come up with something that they will want to wear. Investigate, look at the fashion magazines, check out the Pantone colors of the year and other color palettes, make your own palettes and see what you think. Think about who your customer will be, and then think about what makes you happy as well....and play to that.
You'll need a dedicated work space of some sort. It can be very small at first, even the dining room table if need be. You'd be surprised how many lines began on a dining room table! But in time you will want a place that is all your own, where you can make a mess and leave it.
So be thinking about that, if you don't have something set up, already.
Make it a place of delight. FUN. Your happy place. A place where you enjoy working. Organize it so that you know where all your basics can be found quickly.
I like this one but there are any number of them out there....do a little shopping and you will find the perfect one for your needs. Sometimes at the beginning, all you need is ONE cart that rolls.
Be patient. It couldn't be truer: Rome was not built in a day. It might take a little time to come up with something that's just right, that is your own, that shows your particular hand as a designer. But when you find yourself pulling it together, you need to think of collections, lines, things built from a common piece, or a similar look.
Below is a photo of an example of how that works, by Allison Murray of Bordeaux and Pearl. As you can see here, all the pieces have a common design style and common elements....things that 'go' together. The look is cohesive. And, if you know Allison's work, it is all done in her voice. It's all Allison-style. She makes big over-the-top things, and she makes simple things, too. But everything she makes is Allison. She is not all over the place, but has centered on techniques that work best for her.
This is what the Build a Line Challenge that I teach every winter, is all about. It is not a marketing course, although it does have marketing elements. By and large it is about helping you get your creative act together to produce your PRODUCT.....
So that you have something to market!
In class we talk about cohesive design, color, what people want, what people buy, identifying your style and then, identifying who the customer for that style might be. We learn to work in collections, or lines. This can begin with the use of even ONE critical part.
This video might help you 'get' the beginning concept for building a line and creating a product:
Maybe you will join us this year for Build a Line. The class is conducted in a private group on Facebook. It takes three months. There are two deadlines to meet and you will create at least one line of five pieces or more for the class. At the deadlines, you simply upload your photos to a Pinterest Board created for them.
The class is not conducted in real time so you can come and go at will, you don't have to be physically present. We allow three months so that everything is easily covered and no one has to race through anything. Students may ask questions and we have many class discussions. The requirements for the class are simple: you have to want to try, you have to meet the two deadlines and show what you have come up with. There is no longer any judging, any best in class. The playing field is completely level, all skill levels and skill sets are invited. The class is about YOU......so what you put into it is what you will take out.
It's about you getting your design act together, moving forward, and producing a viable product. Will you learn everything in three months? NO. But you will certainly know at the end of the class if you want to go forward and be a jewelry designer in a professional sense....or not. It is a time of great discovery for many.
You can have a look at it to get the over-view and basic idea. I will have this year's syllabus in a few weeks and sign ups will start around November 15, 2017. The class will begin roughly around second week of January, after the holidays are over. Cost for new students is 95.00, and for alumni, 75.00. I will accept a few to audit the class, and that cost will be 90.00. I will only accept a very few people as auditors, as wereally need full participants to make a good class.
Think about it....check out the syllabus, and come and join us. If you have taken the class already, continue considering your design product and keeping it fresh, while keeping it cohesive (pulled together).
If you find yourself still struggling or feel you just need the exercise, join us again. We would love to have you! And new ones, please don't be intimidated, some say they are by taking a class like this. No need to be. There is no criticism, no calling out, just encouragement.
The 2017 Build a Line challenge began in mid-January. So far, we've been examining our style, what it says about us as artisan-designers, and trying to identify our customer. For many, some of concepts are things that can't be answered in a just a few days. It might well be a process. That's the purpose of the class, to re-route thinking and help the artist to discover which path to take.
To get started, the students were first required to make photo collages of past work. This way we would have a sense of where they were in their journeys, so far. The collages also helped the students step back, with a visual, so that they could be more objective about their work. They were asked to try and imagine they they are NOT the artist who made the collage, but someone else entirely. And then....to ask themselves, does it look like the same person made this stuff or a bunch of different people? They were also asked to try and identify common elements in the collages of their work.
A big reason for the class is to help them pull their look together so that it will speak 'one voice'. Some of us become too intrigued numerous techniques and design styles that we never do two pieces that look as if the same person made them! To be successful in developing a line, you need to get that 'one voice' concept, down. Your lines must flow and hopefully, get to a place via your hand and your branding, where people may come to realize who made them even before they are even told who made it.
We've come to the place in the class where we are sharing what our theme will be for our prototype lines developed as a class exercise. The photo collage at the top of the page was one made for the theme reveal by Suzanne Valeriano, of A Silk Purse. She's going with Art Deco-inspired jewelry design.
Here is another, which happens to be a color palette...from Joy Turner of Fireskye Designs:
I have to say, I'm quite drawn to that palette and would love to make things in those hues, myself!
Erika price went with a lovely collage of vintage pieces that inspire her to make jewelry. I believe she is the maker of some of them:
I am working along with the students but doing something a bit different....I am developing the B'sue by 1928 cast findings line:
That line has been out with its beginning 30 pieces, since late December:
The students posted 4-6 collages or photos that identified their theme feeling, like inspiration boards. Then on a final photo, the theme was revealed.
All of the photos are marked, and can be found at this Pinterest board. Believe me, you want to take time to have a look....no more long reading like we had in the blog hops! All visual!!! And they have knocked it out of the park....go over and look, just for the inspiration!
The final round will be the BIG reveal: the showing of the prototype lines made for this class. That's always so exciting! So be sure to check out the first round and come around again for the second! You get to see the BIG REVEAL by the end of the first week in April, 2017.
There's a line from the song, "Happy Talk", which is part of the score of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical SOUTH PACIFIC. It goes something like this:
"Happy Talk, keep talkin' happy talk,
Talk about things you'd like to do,
You got to have a dream,
If you don't have a dream...
How you gonna have a dream come true?"
Allison Murray has a dream.
She is the designer of Bordeaux and Pearl Jewelry. It's an artisan line that has a great deal of heart and lots of vintage elements. Much of what is presented can be mixed and matched. The components used are culled from U.S. jewelry making history, parts also employed in many of the golden-age lines made in the Victorian Revival period of the 50's. As you can see, the work is assemblage. It has a hint of the old Miriam Haskell look with a twist of Hattie Carnegie and modern repurpose on the side.
Many, just like Allison, dream of becoming jewelry designers. Often they start out on an incredible high, but it's inevitable, there will be obstacles to overcome. Some will really hit a wall. Hitting that wall too many times can kill a dream.
Why does something so much fun, something they love to do so much, all of a sudden become so difficult for newer jewelry designers?
There are many reasons.
For one, it's common to loose viable opportunities due to not having enough components on hand. It also might be that their work is too much one of a kind, custom work. Their prices might be too high or even too low for the market. There may be a failure to completely identify the target customer. Maybe what is being made is dated work, too fussy, much to be admired but not what customers want to buy. Or, perhaps the craftsmanship is not consistent and the artist is frustrated by having returns caused by issues with skill level, or even components.
Allison is working hard on her dream. Right now she is in that spot where she's learning new techniques and experimenting with many ideas. Each demi-line of jewelry or parure that she makes, shows more thought and more skill than the one before it. She is working hard at presentation, photography, and knowing her target customer well. If she keeps that up, and continues to work hard on her brand through all the glitches, she just may arrive at her destination. Her dream of being a self-supporting artist or a jewelry designer with her own company might just come true.
I felt the same way back in the 90's when as a fluke and maybe a little natural talent, I created a jewelry line quite by chance, and it worked. In a few years we had 500 wholesale accounts and the line was 300 styles deep. Yet, within a decade, it had run its course....as many small lines do.
Why?
I didn't have a good plan. The line didn't change as trends changed, so it lagged behind. I had trouble having enough inventory on hand to ship quickly, and trouble hiring enough competent help. My line was hard to make, so it was hard to train people to make it the same way I did. Eventually, I threw in the towel. I had had enough. I have no regrets because I learned so much for having the experience. Still, I have to be honest: I jumped in madly with no mission, no view of what I wanted of the future, no knowledge of the trade. It's amazing that it worked for me at all, actually!
My friend, Mel Bernie, owns the 1928 Jewelry Company. Back in the late 60's, not long out of the service, he decided his vocation would be to create and sell jewelry to small chains of retail stores. From what he could see, it didn't look like it would be so hard! So, he saved up from his day job of selling watches so that he could buy some basic tools and manufacturing equipment, and then he tried to teach himself to use it in his garage. He had great ideas, but bringing the great ideas out to the public in a sophisticated way was going to take more expertise than he could quickly learn. He really didn't know how to make jewelry.
Since his dream was to go BIG, he needed to surround himself with competent, knowledgeable, highly-trained jewelry makers who could not only help him make his dream come true, but teach him how to make jewelry in the process. Mel was now on a mission and would not quit until he found the right people.
Well, he found them. In a very few years, the company catapulted to huge success, selling their lines to the buyers of every major department store around the world. And....many of the people who are working today at 1928, have been with him for years.
On the right is Pia, who has been designing for 1928 since the very beginning. She has designed many of the 1928 pieces that you have collected and loved. And yes, that guy next to her is Mel. We were out having Thai food. Pia is an expert on Thai food, as she originally comes from Thailand.
Here I am in the factory at 1928 with my friends, Rene, who is the factory manager for many years, and Oscar, who came to 1928 a long time ago after having trained as a goldsmith. He knows well how to cast gold and other precious metals, but he is amazing at spin casting the proprietary blend of pewter that 1928 uses to make their products.
The guys explained to me that the 1928 pewter blend flows exceedingly well and contains a bit of silver. The best lead free pewter blends do! Their expertise as well as this special pewter blend is why 1928 is able to cast intricate filigree like no other company can.
Check this out and you'll see what I mean:
This is a very special vintage piece, a locket, from their castings archive. A few of you may even own one!
Every creative or business journey has its ups and downs....there are always highs and lows! But when many US companies have failed or pulled the plug on their enterprises, Mel Bernie's continues. 1928 is still known as one of the largest costume jewelry makers in the United States. They have not only made their own lines, but they have made jewelry for many other companies as well, under private contract.
There has ALWAYS been a plan at 1928. Since I've become friends with Mel and some of the great folks who work with him day in and day out, I've learned a great deal about working "smarter, not harder" in the jewelry business. Here is Mel meeting with some of his designers, working out a few bugs on a new line for New York Market Week:
I got to be the proverbial 'fly on the wall', listening to them and even having a tiny part in the conversation that day.
The line they were working on did not have lots and lots of pieces. It was pulled together just right, with a certain type of customer in mind. Everything about it was costed out to perfection so that it could be wholesaled to department stores and still allow the company to make a profit.
When they decide to put a piece into a line at 1928 Jewelry Company, the piece is sketched in such a way that every component is obvious. There is NOTHING that is casual about it. Every casting that is needed for the piece is referenced. The designers must come out into the large archive of over 35,000 molds owned by the company, and find the part number for every last piece used in that style. They made need to consult with Rene and Oscar or the mold maker, Herman, to see if the mold just right to do the job and if there is anything impractical about using it in the design. All the other components must also be referenced so that they can be sure they have enough to make hundreds, if not thousands of pieces of the style. If they don't have enough, it must be ordered immediately.
Then: every component is counted, down to the last jump ring. Quality is number one; only the pieces that truly work for the design and that are durable are used. It's been done this way, from day one. Every piece in the style must be referenced, costed, and then, the entire design costed out, including the cost to plate the pewter. It all has to work, or they cannot put it in the line.
Do you approach your design work this way? Yes, I know, it doesn't sound like tons of fun! Who wants to do all that dull planning? But if you do not have your information at hand when you work your dream and design a line, you could make little profit or even lose your shirt! Or, you might be caught short right in the middle of a huge order, where you have a strict deadline.
I said I would never design a line again. I had had the experience and was very glad for it. I was content to share what I learned about having done it with others. For a lark, though, I did it in miniature for my yearly Build a Line business class last year. The initial plan for the line and its sublines made a great deal of sense and everyone loved it. I even seriously considered going ahead with it:
I decided to call the line Sugar Shop Jewelry. I even purchased the online domain for that name and I began to think about creating a dedicated website so that I could sell it. The photo above was when I was in the planning stages of the first part of the line, which was going to be done in segments. This segment was to be called Chocolate Frosting.
Why didn't I refine and simplify the line, cost it out properly and keep going?
Well, my 'day job' is running B'sue Boutiques which is a small jewelry supply company where we sell very unique things and have been doing it online since 1997. It takes most of my day to manage it! Part of managing B'sue Boutiques is providing a great deal of support to new to intermediate jewelry makers who are working hard to work and live their dreams. They need quality findings and they trust me to provide them.
These days you cannot have a supply company without providing strong support. In these days of strong competition and burgeoning social media, it can be quite a juggling act!
Another blow to progress on Sugar Shop Jewelry was that the choxie finish on the brass I was using suddenly became inconsistent. Apparently there have been some changes on what chemicals may be used for plating in the US. A crucial part of the plating 'blend' became unavailable. So, I couldn't get the chocolate ox finish to match, batch to batch. Not good.
Lastly, I was offered another opportunity that I felt was much better for me and for my customers. Mel Bernie asked me if I would consider pewter and have my own proprietary castings made for B'sue Boutiques. I would also be permitted to curate part of the line from their castings archive.....and I would be allowed to put my own designer finishes on them.
Two factors here were extremely unique: first, pieces and parts made for 1928 Jewelry have never been released to the creative marketplace. It was never considered to allow artisans take their specially-designed pewter and use it to make their own jewelry. Second, 1928 would never put my custom finishes on their lines. These finishes are by plan very funky and geared to current trend in the crafts industry. They wouldn't work for most department store buyers.
Since last fall I have been working very hard on this line, which is called B'sue by 1928. The name of this venture includes the 1928 logo because it IS 1928. At the same time, it is my B'sue line, totally B'sue Boutiques, echoing my roots in the vintage jewelry trade and everything I personally love about designing jewelry. I curate the collection based on my knowledge of selling components for parts of three decades. It is a high-end designer line of unique components like no other.
We got our first batch of samples back from the finisher at the end of November:
By the end of December we had nearly 30 styles and were ready to launch. The line has done very well ever since. In fact, it was just on the back inside cover of the current BELLE ARMOIRE magazine:
The editor of the magazine liked it so much, she gave it a full page "Editor's Picks" review:
They said such nice things about B'sue Boutiques and the 1928 Jewelry Company, too!
I am still pinching myself that Mel not only invited me to test the waters with pewter findings this way, but he allowed me to be called, in part, by the 1928 name. He gave permission to use their logo known all around the world, melded with my own, to establish a brand.
The line I created in the 90's was a dream that came true out of nowhere. By all rights, it should never have succeeded at all, because there was no adequate planning. For my B'sue by 1928 components line, the game has changed. All I do is plan!
What's coming down the road for The 1928 Jewelry Company?
Well, I think their catch phrase says it all: Then. Now. Forever.
As the company reaches out to its public through its website, 1928.com more and more people will be able to enjoy new designs as well as the timeless ones they have always loved. When you visit their website, be sure to click on the top drop-down boxes and see how many lines there are.
Each line has that unforgettable 1928 look that we know and love. Everything is well planned and beautifully designed and crafted. Much of the work is done by hand! Nothing has happened by accident. It's classic and will never go out of style.
Well, there are certainly no plans to try to corner the market, not now, anyway. For now there is more need to observe what happens and how people use the components. I need to be thinking of new ways we can use them. It's about enjoying the journey and presenting constantly via our You Tube channel: B'sue Boutiques at You Tube
We hope to partner with other artists who successfully submit to quality craft magazines, or who have a proprietary line that would blend with this one, being ambassadors for each others' lines. We will continue to advertise in print in BELLE ARMOIRE as well as JEWELRY AFFAIRE, both being jewelry crafts magazines produced by the Stampington Publishing Company.
Perhaps down the road we'll will do a little wholesaling, but we are not ready for that or for distribution, now. I don't think we will be, for awhile. I'm still building the line. In a few weeks what we have to offer will more than double. After that, the intention is to add new pieces more slowly, 5-6 at a time, every 6 weeks to two months.
It's all about experimenting, watching and working the line, listening to what community and customers have to say and suggest.
Mel Bernie calls it 'chasing the business'.
So....the clock is ticking! I guess I'd better run!
As time goes on, all jewelry makers become acutely aware of the need to pull in and tighten up. They must progress and learn to brand their work by making it recognizable. They need to think hard about who their key customer is and what that customer would want....and how they can provide that for them. That goes not only to the work itself but the way we present our work.
This is why once a year for three months, I present the BUILD A LINE MASTER CHALLENGE CLASS. Via this class you will discover there may well be new and better ways to make money with your jewelry design, than what you are currently doing.
You don't necessarily have to stop doing the repurposing thing or the one of a kind thing.
BUT! you may need to become more cohesive in your work, understand your inventory better and also, explore the possibilities of being able to reproduce a few of the things you make. If you can learn to do that, you will make more money for the time you spend, and you will grow your brand.
I know how to do this because I DID do it. I had a line of jewelry that was sold nationally to approximately 500 accounts in the 90's, for the better part of a decade. The line was handmade, and I used the same supplies then ---that I sell, now. We grew rapidly and we stayed in the black.
Somehow in my gut, I got the concept of building a line. No one taught me how. I had my hits and I had my misses.....If I was do what I did then, again, today....there is not a whole lot I'd change except the misses! Amazingly, I find that all of the principles still apply.
The badge above is from last year and shortly we'll have a new one for the 2017 class. Sign ups will commence Monday, November 14, 2016. I hope to have 35 active participants in the class, although I will conduct it if there are only 25. Usually we fill the class fairly quickly, but this year I will take applications up until a week before class begins on January 9, 2017.
Also joining us for class will be last year's best in class winner, Erin Whitacre. A few alumni from previous years will be serving as judges, monitors, mentors and admins for the class. Those serving as such will only speak in class on select "Judges Weekends". The rest of the time they will be silent. They will not be participating in the day to day activities or required blog hops, but they will be reading along.
Last year I created a line along with the students, which you see in the first photo. THIS YEAR: I will be pulling together a line of proprietary findings, which is a whole different animal! Students will get to be privy to that process as well as offer their opinions on choices for the line.
TO APPLY FOR THE CLASS:
1. The class will start January 9 and go through April 12, 2017. There will be two blog hops, February 10, 2017 and March 31, 2017. Previously there were three but we've cut that back to allow more time for students to work on their lines without having to meet that extra deadline. SO: because we have blog hops as part of the class exercise, YOU MUST HAVE A WORKING, FUNCTIONING BLOG when you apply for the class.
The hops may NOT be missed. They are vital to the class. Sadly, if you do not participate in the hops, you will not be allowed to continue the class.
2. You must also have simple knowledge of a photo editing program like PicMonkey, Picassa or even some forms of Photoshop. I use PicMonkey, it is so simple and intuitive, there are tutorials in the program and it's made for 'dummies'. You must know how to make a photo collage for the class as we use the collages as tools in our studies.
3. You must choose a theme. I will not accept more than two students with the same sort of theme. So when you apply, choose three if possible, so if yours is taken, you can do something different.
Only FIVE prototype jewelry items made in that theme AS A LINE must be made. Some make far more, that's up to them, we love to see them all. But you only HAVE to do FIVE. They must ALL be made inside your theme, in a cohesive way. You will learn more about that in class.
4. You do have to use some items from http://www.bsueboutiques.com B'sue Boutiques, the sponsoring website, in your work. It doesn't have to be all B'sue down to the last jump ring, but you must include visible pieces. They can be pieces you already own and have ready in your workshop or they can be new ones you might want to purchase. You will be invited to use your own special skills or techniques to make your line, there are no restrictions on the techniques you use.
Your use of our product is one of the reasons why a three-month master class that demands a great deal of my attention can be offered for so little. Similar classes elsewhere would cost 3 or 4 times as much.
5. Class fee is 100.00 for new students, 75.00 for alumni who would like to repeat. Payment can be by PayPal or by credit card. If you want to use a credit card to pay for the class, please tell me in your application so that arrangements can be made to get your payment. Otherwise, please provide the email you use at PayPal to make billing you efficient. All fees must be paid within 48 hours of acceptance.
There is a new provision this year as well. Some folks are really interested in this process but are worried their schedules may not permit them to make the deadlines, or just don't feel they can get a blog ready right now.
I will accept three auditing students for the class this year. These students will be put into our virtual classroom at Facebook and be allowed to view all the class chapters or modules. They will be able to see all the feed and observe the process. They will not participate in the exercises and they will not be permitted to speak in class or ask questions in class. They will be completely silent. The charge to audit is 125.00. I am charging more because truly, this class is nothing without active participants. So if you are not going to participate fully, you will need to pay the 125.00 fee.
Starting Monday morning, November 14, 2016 you will send your application to me by email to [email protected]
No Facebook messages or applying by phone, please. Just send to [email protected] Thanks!
1. Name and PayPal email address for payment.
If you will be paying by credit card, let us know and we can work that out by phone when you are accepted.
2. Address
3. Phone number
4. Website if you have one (not mandatory to have a website!)
5. Blog URL (a URL being your blog's internet address)
6. Name of the photo editing program you use and assurance that you can use it to make a photo collage.
7. your theme for the challenge....ideas:
Will your line be a fashion line? Victorian, vintage, Art Deco, geometric, shapes, a certain color palette (I did Chocolate Frosting last year) Boho, Retro, Minimalist, Rockabilly, Steampunk etc are ideas
Will your line be a gift line? Dogs, cats, animals, jewelry for nurses, jewelry for teachers, Sister jewelry, BFF jewelry, charm jewelry, locket jewelry, chain jewelry etc,coffee, tea, wine jewelry.
Think outside the box and see what you come up with. It's great to make pretty, eye-catching jewelry, but when you do that and it has a theme/purpose as well it almost always sells better.
For help, explore some of the themes people are using in their Etsy shops!
This is a theme done last year by Erin Whitacre:
And a theme done by Marica Zammit:
Just a few of Marcia Tuzzolino's Bloomin' Tulips:
Hopefully those visuals get the ideas flowing.
I don't have this year's syllabus written yet, but you might like to review last year's. Just remember, this year we are only doing two blog hops and the curriculum will contain a few extra modules to consider, and be more refined.
Once you are accepted to the class...and I will let you know quickly! You will make your payment and then I will go ahead and place you in the Build a Line virtual classroom at Facebook. You will be able to use the time before class begins to scroll back through the feed from last year. That way you will get quite a look at how things move along. Also, the current modules are stored there in the FILES section. Some will be revised before we do them in class, but you can read ahead a little.
One point I must make about the modules in class: they are for your use ONLY, they may not be copied by link and shared elsewhere on the internet. The material is all copyrighted material. You may, however, print them out to put in your own personal journal.
AND! there's a BIG benefit to graduating from this class: Upon closure of each year's class, everyone who finishes the class work will be placed in a special ALUMNI group. This is a tiny group of folks who have already taken the class. Our discussions continue casually, there. And, all the modules are also housed at this group. Right now there are only about 77 members, but all have taken the class.
I'll be looking for your application on Monday, November 14, 2016!
I'm playing around here today at making a new photo station in my studio. I decided I would like to have one to photo jewelry that I have made, one that is permanently set up down there in the workshop. At the same time it has to be something that's not in my way, taking my creative space.
I have a nice mannequin, just a half body to the waist, that I picked up when a store went out of business. Fits on my counter just right, and it's fun to dress up. And it swivels, too!
Right down on that far end of my big central worktable....on the left, just out of the photo. She fits just fine. And she stays there.
Not in the way of our video set up, or my work stations!
I got the mannequin a pretty top that fits just right but won't compete with the jewelry. You can see it in the first photo. The white folding screen is just inexpensive foam board, a tri-fold I picked up at Walmart for maybe 5.00 or so.
When I am not doing a photo shoot, I can just take that down , fold it up and slide it into a clean, safe place under my big worktable. Out of the way and takes just a second!
I have these funky 'balloon' lights that can be twisted and positioned, and they are on a pole. Easily moved around, and they provide far more light than my photos here show:
They cost 19.99 at Home Depot . I can put them on a stool or a box to direct light down or up, and I can position them at will. When I am not using them, they go back against the wall out of my way. I have continuous electric strip around my L shaped workspace just behind me, so I can plug it in anywhere. Easy access to a plug with that strip!
Above, I have stepped the folding foam board screen down to a narrow table I recently purchased. It is narrow, and sits right in front of the table. It takes up very little room and doesn't interfere with anything.
So the photo gets made....
A little crop, a little adjusting in Photoshop....
Not terrible.
Here, on the mannequin:
Certainly there are any number of tricks I will learn as I play around with it.
One thing I already know is when I use the wooden table, I will be using white paper backgrounds or muted scrapbook sheets that enhance the jewelry and won't compete with it. I have a great start here, but the white paper will provide light and make the details of the piece much sharper and stand-out.
Photography buffs will be far fussier with their set up than I and will have a lot of advanced tricks to avoid shadows, etc. There are some amazing cameras and all sorts of equipment you can buy to make your photos band-box perfect. I envy those who know how to work that sort of equipment!
My problem is I don't have the money to buy that gear....and what's worse, I'm not tech-y. Having to sit and read and watch videos and work out all the bugs with new equipment saps my time and strength. I usually get pretty fussed up with those things. I want to make jewelry and be productive in my workshop, and spend minimal needed time on cameras and computers.
I'm more of a you-figure-it-out and then, you-show-me person!
In the long run, what a gal like me needs! is a photo that will work sufficiently to sell a product. Good, clear, all the details in view. Get the picture, load it to the computer, do a little adjusting with my simple Photoshop skills and voila!
Ready to go! This whole set up cost me:
1. 20.00 for the mannequin at the going out of biz sale at Fashion Bug
2. two of the balloon lights, about 40.00 total, and enough lightbulbs to fill them, about 10.00 from the Dollar Store
3. foam board at Walmart 5.00
4. top for the mannequin at Marshall's, 10.00
Then my little Nikon camera, and good to go!
The version of Photoshop that I have is rudimentary, but has all the tools I really need. And it was FREE! My tech team loaded it to my office computer when they set it up. Thank goodness, I didn't have to. They set it up for me, and Javi tweaked it.
If I want to do more photo editing, I will go to http://www.picmonkey.com and use the tools in my pnline account. That's fast and easy, too!
This will work out just fine, and I will find new tricks as I go along.
It doesn't matter if you like vintage jewelry or not. These days many people are into recycling, upcycling, redesigning, and taking apart old pieces to make something else. I've done plenty of it myself!
I first got interested in the assemblage or collage art form many years ago, several years after I started picking and selling vintage jewelry. There were always broken pieces to throw back, and I saw photos of things people were making from broken jewelry. There were articles in VICTORIA magazine, one of my favorites! about memory jewelry and recreating wearable things from bits of the past.
And then.....one of my vintage customers told me about Wendy Gell. When I first saw Wendy's jewelry, I was mesmerized. She happened to be in just the right place, just the right time in history for her collaged 'wristies" and funky big brooches to make it big in the fashion design business.
This is a custom bridal wristy made by Wendy Gell. Beautiful work! Totally unique to the world of jewelry design when she began decades ago, nowadays we see work like this all the time on the internet. Wendy Gell is not the first assemblage jewelry artist to walk this earth, but she IS, for me, the beginning of art jewelry collage in this style, in more modern times. If it weren't for Wendy, many of us probably would still be making tree collages out of Gramma's old earrings. She got the world to pay attention and made assemblage jewelry high fashion! Wendy Gell's jewelry appeared in Vogue and on the Vogue cover numerous times.
There are pieces of Wendy Gell's work in the Smithsonian. They are considered part of pop culture.
AMAZING! And then....there is the other Wendy, Wendy Baker:
Wendy Baker is a responsible repurposer. She creates most of her vintage flower jewelry from vintage parts, not pieces that have been broken down. Her work is bold and inspirational, and much of her work is done with cold connections like wire and jump rings, rather than glue. I love her work and I love Wendy. I'd love to spend a day creating with her. We've both got it on our bucket lists!
What does it mean to be a responsible repurposer?
I used to write for a leading vintage jewelry publication, in fact I did so for eight years. I had my own column. At the end of my articles, I would always sign off with, "May the jools of your dreams land in your lap and only cost you five bucks!"
Hey, we all want to find stuff to work with and make money without having to fork over a lot! For many the latest flea market has become another sort of crafts store. It's a great place to find bags of busted stuff, bits of this and that for jewelry making! And pretty pieces of old jewelry. Yard, tag and estate sales are another brilliant resource for those things.
But just because the items were cheap, missing stones or needing a great cleaning, or are just OLD, does not mean they should automatically be fodder for your next jewelry creation. Is a new stash of vintage jewelry your new artistic playground?
It could be! It also might be the source of a new income stream that will get you far more money than randomly taking pieces and breaking them down for parts.
AND THAT is what RESPONSIBLE REPURPOSING 101 is all about. Wouldn't you like to learn to identify pieces that may have great value? Don't think you won't find any! It happens all the time! Sometimes all you need is a few minutes on the internet to learn about your piece, get it ready to sell, and find a buyer. There are avid collectors of the old pieces who are willing to pay good money for what you find! In many cases, they may pay you more money than you would make cabbaging parts and making new assemblage pieces.
Who doesn't need money for good tools, storage equipment, a show tent, supplies, adequate branding for their artisan lines? Who couldn't use a few extra bucks to supplement family income? I assure you: You CAN get it this way. This is an adventure in learning that you definitely want to be serious about, and a journey you want to take.
I know because I did it.
This is exactly how a poor young mother was able to trade a tiny mobile home for a modest house, and buy a decent car instead of enduring a very old one that broke down all the time.
It is how she bought diapers for her baby boy, got him to the doctor for his well baby visits. It's how she bought him school clothes, and how she put braces on his teeth.
How she helped him get his first car and into college.
It is also how she built a business that gave her a sense of value and purpose. Everything that she parlayed into a career as a jewelry designer came from the money she made from learning about vintage jewelry and finding buyers for it. B'sue Boutiques as you know it today would not be here if learning to make money from vintage jewelry hadn't happened, first.
In Responsible Repurposing 101 you will learn:
---How to train yourself to first look at vintage jewelry for value and condition, rather than immediately think of how you would remake or take down the piece for parts.
---how to separate, or triage, a box of old jewelry for value as well as parts good for repurposing.
---You will be learning how to be careful to dispose of tags on old jewelry that is good for repurposing, not use parts of a design that include a logo, be aware of possible lead content and allergens in old pieces, especially old metal and chains.
---You'll learn about names and marks and will be given resources for researching them. We'll talk about what is very popular among today's collectors, and how the vintage jewelry trade is just as trendy as the fashion business.....because it remains to this day, part of the fashion business.
---What to do if a piece is substantial but unmarked.
---You will learn how to circa-date jewelry ( get the approximate age and design style of the piece).
---There will be a discussion of OLD PLASTICS, OLD METALS.....and, a bit about OLD BUTTONS!
---You will learn what to look for in NEW designer names. There are some that already have value on the secondary market, and others that soon will.
---You will learn how to establish a value according to current trend and price that piece to SELL!
---You will learn how to find and continue to find vintage jewelry.....and how to find BUYERS for it.
---You will learn about starting a small collection of your own.
---We will discuss the INSPIRATION FACTOR: what we can learn from designers that have gone before us.
---We'll talk about repurposing heirlooms into more wearable designs without damaging them...and also what to do when someone comes to us wanting us to alter an old piece that they possess but is very valuable.
That's just the tip of the iceberg!
We will also talk about potential value in unusual unsigned things we find along the way. This pendant was made by a local woodworker. It is like a miniature doll house under plexiglass. I bought it for about 50 cents.
I sold it for 50.00.....to someone who collects miniature work.
Interesting!
The class will last 4-6 weeks, depending on what students need. If we can cover all this territory in a month, then we will. If there is more to say and students still have questions and want to listen, I won't rush them off.
We will conduct the class at FACEBOOK in a private group made just for this purpose, the same way as the Build A Line Challenge class is held each year. The class is NOT project-driven. It will be structured discussion and you will have modules that you can print out for your own use, and put in a folder. There are NO BLOG HOPS, NO DEADLINES, NO REQUIREMENTS. You can come to class every day, or every few days and just scroll back and catch up with the discussion. You will be invited to post photos of things you have found, and would like to talk about. The class, being on Facebook, will not be held in real time, but you know how it is on Facebook! Our groups are chatty, and I expect the discussion to be brisk.
There is no application process for this class. First come, first served. I will accept up to 40 for the class group. The classroom has already been "built". As soon as payments are received, you will be asked to 'friend' me at Facebook, if you haven't already. That way I can place you in the class.
The class fee is 95.00 and worth every dime. It will be an eye-opener and turn you into a jewelry detective! And if you put the advice given into play, you will have much more cash in your pocket to get the things you really want to develop your jewelry design business.
Sign ups will begin Tuesday May 2, 2017. You can private message me at Facebook for a PayPal invoice, or call us at 1-800-868-4393 to make a payment by credit card. The classroom will be opened the last week of May and everyone will get an invitation to join us there.
Class will begin on Tuesday, June 6, 2017 and will wrap up in late August. In the summertime, we need to allow a little more time as people have events and vacations and we want them to be able to catch up. As mentioned, I won't be in a hurry to rush you off. If the class needs another week or two, they shall have it.
I can't wait to share the secrets of Responsible Repurposing with you! The things you learn will not only help your bottom line, but they will INSPIRE YOU as you learn new ways to view vintage design.
After three months of diligent work, the members of the Build-a-Line Master Class are finally ready to share the lines they have created with the world! Not only that, doubtless many have reached some conclusions about where they are going and what they will do, going forward.
Some have found they are quite content where they are, enjoying jewelry making as a hobby and perhaps selling a bit of work here and there to help defray costs. This class has helped them to understand what is really required to build and sustain a line of jewelry that sells well, and it might be more work than they wish or need to do. There's nothing wrong with being a hobbyist; honestly, I think that's a wonderful place to be.
For these ones, the class helped them to understand the arduous process, make a decision, and at the same time, how better to pull their work as artists together.
Others are ready to go to the next level....really diving into jewelry making, being ready for shows, home parties, and consignment opportunities. They've learned how to clean up their online selling presence and make their brand more visible. Some have learned for the first time what a brand really IS.
I daresay we also have a few students whose intent to make a solid business plan, and then, become very serious makers with their eyes on that elusive brass ring. They wish to be jewelry designers, build what they do into a solid sideline business or even their primary business.
There was a time when that was all a dream for me....
I was 29 years old. As you can see, I had a young son to care for, at this time about 8 months old. I was very poor. We lived in a small mobile home out in the country. Being out in the country was our big luxury, for we did have a very large piece of ground and every year I made a wonderful garden.
I was always business-minded, so after toying around with a few secretarial jobs I decided to be my own boss. For eleven years I had a very successful cleaning business. I was a hard worker. I worked on my hands and knees for working women and a few quite wealthy ladies, scrubbing floors....even until I was eight months along in my pregnancy and my blouse also wiped the floor along with my scrub rag. Jordan was a very large baby! LOL But he was with me in my work, even then.
Not very long after he was born....about the time this photo was taken, I began hunting flea markets and yard sales, mostly for things for him. I began to find some things of value and was able to sell them to supplement my meager cleaning income. It wasn't long before Jordan and I were scouring every flea we could on a weekly basis, and I was growing an antiques/collectibles by mail business. Off we'd go, me with a large market basket and him in his stroller.
Eventually I parlayed that income into what eventually became my own designer line of jewelry that in time, sold to over 500 store accounts. We sold about $100,000.00 a year of that jewelry....by no means were we any big shakes in that industry. But I did all the same things that others who WERE big shakes in the industry had to do to sell their lines. I had no one to teach me but some great networking and my gut. I learned as I went along. We lasted doing that for the better part of a decade, I was able to make an income at it, and cleaning was a distant memory.
Jordan was with me every step of the way. He hung out with me in the workshop, did little chores down there, helped me schlep packages to UPS and the post office. The most wonderful thing about it all is that by the time he went to school, I was able to stop cleaning and be there to put him on the school bus every day and be there when he got off. I have no regrets! If for that ALONE, it was all worth it.
By 2001 that line was completely over. I sold off my manufacturing inventory and had already begun to sell supplies. B'sue Boutiques as you might know it now began on the internet even some time before I completely phased out that line. Our first website was in 1997 and we sold basic things for people who were repairing jewelry, mostly. But it wasn't long before I began to really develop us as a supply company. All the things I had learned about old jewelry, all the things I had learned about business and making a line of jewelry sure came in handy!
And along the way, we have had seven stand alone websites, 14 years as powersellers at Ebay, almost five years now at Etsy (I think!) and we are always looking for ways to improve what we do....for you.
Jordan is still quite involved, as you know. He worked for me all through home school (he home-schooled 10-12th grades and finished early) part of the time he went to college for business administration, and here and there as needed when he got his job in the bakery at Giant Eagle, which is a huge grocery chain in these parts. He moved up to managing a fuel store with food service and grocery and worked for 'the big bird' as we call it, for six years.
One day he said, "Mom, it's time for me to come home and help in this business. The bird's not for me, but B'sue Boutiques is."
So he handed in his resignation and we have never looked back, not he, not me.
We are a TEAM, along with his wife Lauren, my best friend Shelley, my niece, Javi, and sometimes here and there her husband, Rob...and Rob's mom, my sister-in-law, Donna (or JewelryDonna which is her brand, she is developing her own line, too!)
Part of the deal for this year's class is that I would be creating a line of jewelry along with the class. It's been a very long time since I have done this; I feel I have the cohesive thing down as I am a designer of many years and my stuff goes a certain way that says B'sue. But...BUILD A LINE???? What WAS I thinking? Was there not enough to keep me up late at night already?
WELL......I did it. The idea came right along; I decided to bring back our old chocolate ox brass and use that. We used to call it choxie! It looks like milk chocolate, no kidding. So, the idea of Sugar Shop Jewelry presented itself. I have even procured the domain name for it. It's a solid idea....
Sugar Shop Jewelry will have several facets, or sub-lines/collections. The first, which I am working on for the class, is called Chocolate Frosting. Are you ready to see that part of the line so far?
TA-DA!
This is by no means all of it, but it is the primary part.....for now. I consider this a practice line; I am still bouncing ideas. I have indeed gotten a sense of direction from the exercise. True to B'sue, it will be a feminine, fussy little line, but not too fussy or too elaborate. I guess the best adjectives are sentimental and pretty.
Some better looks at some of the parts in this part of the Chocolate Frosting sub-line:
That's a variation of my bound-wire charm bracelet....and the parts that pull it together with the rest of the sub-line are the cameos and the choxie brass.
Brooch and earrings and cameo string necklace.....I love this style of necklace and have made myself many. Dunno if I ever made any to sell!
A longer length necklace with mini assemblage on a two-sided puffy heart:
And another, featuring lovely filigree beads and Czech glass in the neckline....
I made a series of brooches for the line as well:
The fussy little brooch in the center is deeply inspired by the line I had in the 90's. One of our most popular pieces was built a bit this way, only the top was engraved.
I don't have the pin backs on yet as it made photo a little easier. I see I need to do some clean-up. The front is ready to go except I see some glue strings that need pulled off, etc. That camera doesn't lie! You'll find it's your best friend when you go to check your work and see if there is anything you've missed!
Here is the back....I have a tiny signature on it but I see some glue bits and a bit of dirt on the back of the old buttons that are part of the base. A little Goo-Gone on a q-tip will make short work of them. After I do the Goo-Gone I will have to do a little alcohol on a swab, and let dry before I glue on the pin back. The trick then is to get enough glue on the pin back, but not make a mess and then, place it just right so that that pinback does not shift as it sets up.
Here are some of the backs of the other pieces, with signatures. I like to do mine by hand.
There is more to this line, though.
I made a lot of earrings, most with the cameos, but some with rosaline Czech glass and some pretty bead drops. So Rosaline is another collection, but still under Chocolate Frosting.
Those cabs are just luminous! I love the way this one came out. I do believe I will keep it!
I still didn't have a statement part to the line, so, I made this parure. It has a color add, so I guess this collection would be Chocolate Frosting with Sprinkles:
I put Chocolate Frosting Mosaic on it, but naaah. Should be 'with sprinkles' because of the color add. I used tiny looped robin's egg blue Czech beads and Czech fire opal stones.
All in all with some earrings I didn't photo, I have over 18 pieces.
Now, I need to spend a bit of time re-checking connections, adding pinbacks and doing that little bit of clean-up. Then it's time make some good photos for selling. I will put it on my regular website just to park it for now.
There is a ferocious mess up here in the office....I made most of it as I binge-watched most of eleven seasons of Frasier on Netflix. Well, during at least the last four seasons. To be honest, I have made most of this stuff this week!
That's why I haven't been on line much. LOL
Anyway.....now that I have this ferocious mess, I also have some more ferocious ideas. I will straighten this place up but I will continue working.
Let's see where this road goes, since I have plenty of things to use up!
And after our May workshop here in Columbiana, Ohio, Jordan and I will sit down and build a solid business plan for Sugar Shop Jewelry.
Or not.
We do have some decisions to make, since our primary business is supply and taking care of other artists' needs....and those needs will not be neglected for jewelry making. First and foremost I have a commitment made to those who come to me for components and assistance....and new ideas! That commitment means everything to us.
Regrettably, I have had to come to the realization that there really are only 24 hours in a day and I should be sleeping at 7-8 of them. Perhaps he and I can figure out a better creative schedule for B'sue.
If nothing else it was a TON of fun and will surely lead to some new videos!
AND NOW.....THERE ARE LOTS OF OTHER LINES TO REVEAL! Hop along with me and check out all the other students' work! Below you will find the list of participants and links to their blogs. I surely appreciate their participation in class and all their creativity. Be prepared to be blown away!
If you can, stop for a moment and leave our class members an encouraging comment. It will do much to boost confidence and keep the juices flowing.
