Customer Expectations

Many of you know that I have been selling my jewelry on etsy since 2007. My 7th anniversary is coming up in February. I've been selling my jewelry for much longer than that in person -- since 1997.

Something happened fairly recently that I'd like to share with you. I have had 3 customers in the past 3 months express surprise at the length (or lack thereof) of the earrings they purchased from me. One of these customers returned a pair because they were too small. The other simply let me know how surprised she was.

Since the beginnings of my online selling, I've included length measurements in inches and centimeters. Is it possible that people have stopped reading descriptions thoroughly? Or is it that reading the phrase, "these earrings are 1 1/2" long" has no meaning without a visual?

Whatever the reason, I decided to add a new type of photo to each of my new listings. I will not go back and add this photo to all of my existing listings. That would make me pull my hair out!

Here's a sampling of what I've added:

What do you think? I would really appreciate some feedback on this. I think the photos of the earrings in my hand not only demonstrate how big or small they are, but they also create a subtle connection to handmade.

All of these earrings are new in the shop. You can click on the photos to go directly to the listings.

A Sale in My Etsy Shop!

Hey guys -- I'm having a sale in my etsy shop. You can use coupon code SUMMER20 to get 20% off your entire order through Tuesday July 16! If you haven't visited recently, there are plenty of new items for you to choose from.

Here's a small selection of what you will find in my shop.

Black Onyx Earrings with Mixed Metals

London Blue Topaz and Peridot Earrings

Copper Rutilated Quartz Necklace

Happy Shopping!

New Ideas -- They're Always a Surprise!

Most of you know that I've been doing this jewelry thing for a long time. 16 years. Many times in those 16 years I've felt as if I'd used up all of my ideas. Like there was a lifetime quota that I could not exceed and that I'd used my quota. Luckily, those moments passed and something new was created in my studio.

That very thing happened again today. I was busily building inventory for the State Fair, wholesale accounts and my fall craft shows. For some reason, I was working at a frantic pace, even though there is no deadline currently.

... and when I say frantic pace, that's relative ... I never work at the kind of frantic pace that comes to mind when one uses the term frantic pace ...

Suddenly, I was staring at these beautiful white pearls in a rondelle shape. I bought them many years ago in Tucson because they were lovely, different and had wonderful luster. I gave no thought to how I might use them, as that shape always gives me trouble. I never did figure out how to use them effectively. Until today.

As you can see, it is a fairly simple design that really shows off the luster. I vaguely remember trying to use them on a headpin in a stack sort of arrangement. They never looked good or right that way. Plus they would sometimes wobble in an unattractive manner. 

Then I located some long forgotten chunky sugilite rondelles and really beautiful smooth turquoise nuggets. I dare you to guess how long I spent going through those irregular pieces of turquoise trying to find acceptable pairs.

The frantic pace was no more. As a matter of fact, the turquoise nuggets are still spread all over my table screaming at me to make more pairs!

Working By the Batch

Today started out slow and I was sure I would get very little done. With Rick out of town (he reached California safely yesterday), Jet has been very needy and I've been indulging him. By this afternoon, we had just about enough of each other and I got serious about making some necklaces.

This collection of pendants were all made within a few hours -- I was on a roll! I always make the pendant part of the necklace in batches like this. Once I'm in Wrapping Mode, I figure I better just keep going. Tomorrow I will make the chains and add any other embellishments. That part isn't nearly as fun as working with the stones, so I'll probably procrastinate a bit. And I'll blame Jet for that.

In no particular order: bronzite, rutilated quartz with chrysoprase (also with peridot, ruby & kyanite), huge ruby, a couple of whiskey quartzes, hypersthene, garnet with labradorite,London blue topaz with turquoise, ruby in zoisite with an emerald rondelle, 2 moonstones with Botswana agate, prehnite/chrome diopside/tourmaline trio and prehnite/tourmaline/moss aquamarine trio.

If any of these combos appeal to you. let me know and I'll make the necklace especially for you! Just tell me which one and what length! If you click on the photo, you'll get to see it enlarged.

As a treat, here's JetMan in the snow. He had a haircut last week and looks like a totally different dog!

 

What's On My Work Table?

I haven't done one of these posts in a very long time. While there have been lots of things going on with my work table, this particular picture of it is something I don't think I've shown you before.

I decided to resurrect an old style of earrings that I made for many years ... and then stopped making. This happens because I tire of the design or the components become unavailable or my customers stop buying it. These earrings disappeared because I tired of making them. They were good sellers for many years and now I feel the need to reintroduce them.

As you can see, the design centers around these triangle glass beads that have the holes across the top. And yes, they come in lots of colors and two different sizes. Here's a look from a different vantage point.

Don't forget, you can click on the photo to get a larger view.

And what do I do with these triangles, you ask? This is the only pair I ever photographed and they sold on etsy back in 2008.

Pretty cool, huh? One length of 20 ga wire, made into a spiral, then flattened and formed through and around the bead. I will probably work on these earrings next week and I plan to list some in my etsy shop!

Seed Bead Projects

For a while now, I've been wanting to start working with seed beads again.  I used to do quite a lot of bead weaving, but in recent years, that activity hasn't had much appeal.  Suddenly, the desire came back!

I signed up for a beaded cabochon class at the Alaska Bead Company and made a wonderful brooch.  I have a bunch of these gorgeous labradorite cabochons and selected one to work with in class.  I'm very pleased with the way it turned out.

Even though I somehow got the pin back finding on crooked, it won't matter once it's pinned on.

Another seed bead project involves a bracelet pattern a bought at one of the Tucson bead shows from June Wiseman of Tapestry Beads.  The bracelet is called Ebb and Flow and it's the perfect name for it!  The pattern was extremely well written and very easy to follow.  The resulting bracelet is fabulous, if I must say so myself!  Even the toggle clasp was easy, which surprised me.

I chose some metallic and metallic looking beads for this bracelet.  I think it will go with just about anything I wear.

I liked the pattern so much that I immediately made another one in blues.

What seed bead projects should I tackle next?

New Wedding Jewelry

I purchased a few strands of these fun teardrop shaped pearls during my last trip to Tucson.  The shapes were just different enough to give them an organic feel, but similar enough to evoke a feeling of cohesiveness.  I created simple pearl solitaire necklaces that would be perfect for a bridal party.  The quantity listed is 5, but it is simple to alter the quantity in either direction -- whatever the bride needs for her bridal party!

Click on the photo to go directly to the listing in my etsy shop. Feel free to share this with any brides-to-be you may know  :)

Cold Connections

No, I'm not talking about dating in the Far North.  I'm talking about using rivets to connect metals.  It was one of the primary things I learned during my last class at Volcano Arts (almost a year ago now!)

When I returned from that class, I did a series of blog posts here, here, here and here.  And I also created some pieces last summer using the skills I learned and posted them here.  Now that my General Earring Inventory is close to where I like it to be (~200 pairs ready for either wholesale or consignment), I decided to tackle some new projects using rivets. 

The first few things I made turned out ok, but not awesome.  I think I was trying too hard to come up with interesting designs and not planning enough.  One of the most important things I learned in that class was to plan your piece from start to finish.  Otherwise, you can get yourself stuck in a corner, with no way out.  Not good.

This oak leaf pendant is well executed, but it doesn't excite me.  It's too flat ... or something! 

My dissatisfaction with this helped me make the decision to go back to a familiar design that DOES excite me.  Basically, I'm moving forward with "variations on a theme", an approach that has served me well with almost all of my jewelry making for the past 16 years.  With each piece I make, I learn something new and my technique improves.  Yes, the pieces are similar, but there's nothing wrong with that.  It lets me hone my skills, without the added pressure of coming up with new designs.

Better, right?

Even better yet!

(well, except for the stupid ding just to the left of the top rivet... grrr)

I'll be at it for the next few days, making more of these 3 dimensional pendants with copper, brass, pearls, gemstones and who knows what else!

Interchangeable Pendants/Necklaces

Remember this post?  Well, I now have a bunch of these interchangeable thingies listed in my etsy shop.  This basic listing is for the bail and 2 types of necklaces: sterling snake chain and black leather.  Here, it is shown with the snake chain.  The black leather lends a much more casual look.

I have also listed a bunch of pendants/drops/dangles -- can't really decide what to call these things in a new section of my shop, called Interchangeable Pendants.

If you have a moment, please take a look at a few of these listings and let me know if they are worded clearly.  I want to make sure that shoppers understand that the pendant listings are for the pendant ONLY and that the bail/chain/leather are listed separately.

Thanks for your help!

Tucson Gem Purchases

I had a wonderful time shopping for gems at the Tucson shows this year.  I found myself being more selective, which resulted in higher quality gemstones. I also managed to spend a lot less money than usual.  This is a very good thing!

Apparently, I was on a lapis kick during this trip.  Here are: teardrops, cushion cut briolettes, rondelles, pear briolettes.  Actually, if I had to summarize my purchases in one word, it would be BLUE.  Sure, I bought other colors as well, but blue was predominant.

Above are blue chalcedony, aqua chalcedony, Swiss blue topaz and kyanite.  See what I mean about the blue-ness of my trip?

Gorgeous turquoise teardrops (the vendor, Mike -- yes, we are on a first name basis after 10 years! -- told me that David Yurman bought these same turquoise stones.  I'm in very good company indeed!), green chalcedony, chrome diopside, smooth kyanite.

Amethyst (can't resist a gorgeous cut like these long faceted teardrop briolettes), green onyx rondelles, super smooth black spinel, garnets.

Sapphire rondelles, honey quartz, labradorite flat nuggets, olive green quartz.

Now I need to get busy creating more jewelry.  These stones will provide the inspiration and Rio Grande will provide the wire and findings!

Work Table Transformation

What a difference a few days can make.  My last post prompted some great input from my artsy friends Patty and Brandi.  I'll be ready to photograph and list a whole bunch of those interchangeable pendants when I return from my annual trek to Tucson.

 -- I always say that I go to Tucson to buy gems, but this year, it seems equally important to go there for a break from our extremely cold (sub-zero) month of January --

Working on the above mentioned project spurred me into action.  Kind of love when that happens.  I've been working on a series of duet and trio necklaces.  The process of selecting pairs of gemstones and trios of gemstones is really the most fun part of this.  Here's a look at the completed dangles.  Now all they need chains, clasps and prices!

It's always good for me to use a bunch of gems right before I go to Tucson.  That way, I can convince myself that I actually need more.  Right.

I'll close with a great picture of Jet during our walk down to the inlet the other day.  He's the most handsome guy!  He doesn't seem to care that it is -15!!

What's on My Work Table?

I haven't done one of these posts in a very long time!  It's not that I haven't been working on jewelry projects, because I most certainly have.  I just don't seem to think to blog about it as often as I used to.  But this project is a little bit different and was begging to be documented.

I found these interesting pendant bails in Tucson.  They allow the wearer to pick and choose which pendant they want to wear.  A perfect item for those who want versatility in their jewelry!

In the above photo, you can see that I've wire wrapped several briolettes and a few still need to be wrapped.  The above mentioned bails have an opening and secure closure which holds the hanging briolette.  It may be easier to see how this works in the photo below:

These bails rest very nicely on a snake chain or any sort of link chain.  But I suspect it would work really well with a leather or satin cord as well, for a more casual look.

My biggest problem with this new product is how to market it.  Should I offer them with individual drops?  Should I make duets?  Trios?  Obviously, the price will be higher, the more drops I offer with each bail.  And how do I approach this if I want to sell them on etsy?  Should the duet selections (if I go that way) be fixed, or should the buyer select the desired stones?  My guess is that would be a nightmare, involving too many convos and extra photo-taking, just to make a single sale.

If you have any suggestions for me, please share them with me! 

Sale in My Etsy Shop!

That's right folks, I'm having a 20% off sale in my etsy shop.  Follow these simple instructions and your discount will be applied automatically!

When making your purchase, use the code NOV20 in the coupon code field.  Click the blue "Apply Shop Coupon Code" (it will be on the right hand side of your screen) and enter the code in the box that appears.  Don't forget to click "apply". 


This Coupon Code will be available through end of day Saturday, November 12.  Happy shopping!

New Earrings in My Etsy Shop -- Finally!

Now that the Great Flooring Installation of 2011 is complete, I'm finally back to work in my studio.  There's nothing like a little renovation to get me motivated again.  My studio was completely empty for several days as the floor was installed, so I took the opportunity to sort through stuff, clean and rearrange a bit.  While it looks the same (to the untrained eye), it feels very different to me.  In a very good way.

Without any further delay, I'll share with you two new pairs of earrings in my etsy shop.

Midnight Blue Pearls

Concave Cut Green Amethyst

Stay tuned -- I have more earrings to come.  The photos need to be edited, blah, blah blah.  As usual, click on the photos to go directly to the listings in my etsy shop.

Work Table Update

Now that the necklaces are completed, priced, tagged and stored, it's time to get back to making earrings.  I spent most of last Sunday making pairs of gemstones, adding to the batch you saw in the necklace post.  I really have my work cut out for me with this huge number of pairs!  It will probably take most of a week to complete this batch of earrings.

Click on the photos to see some finer detail.

Do you see any pairs you really, really love?  Most of these pairs will end up in my inventory, waiting for craft shows, the state fair or wholesale/consignment orders.  A few will probably get photographed for my etsy shop.

What's on my Work Table?

While Jet is still taking huge chunks of my time, I'm forced to figure out how to get some actual work done in preparation for the Alaska State Fair and my fall show season ... and keep up with consignment orders and hopefully some additional wholesale orders. Just typing all that has exhausted me. I'm getting old.

Since earrings are the "bread & butter" of my business, I've spent what time I could keeping those earring boxes full. The boxes are finally bursting at the seams so I recently switched to making some sterling silver necklaces.

What you see here, in the two bottom rows, are a bunch of pendants -- trios and duos -- ready to be put on chains. The pendants are fun to put together. I enjoy finding interesting groupings of gems. The cutting of the chain (I buy the chain in bulk and cut it to length, then add a clasp) and assembling the necklaces is quite boring.

In the two rows above the duos and trios are paired gemstones for earrings.  As I said, I'm taking a reprieve from the earring making, so these will have to wait!

*Hint -- click on the photo to get a much better look at some of my gemstone combos!

New Metal Projects

Remember this post?  It features a pendant I made while in class at Volcano Arts back in April.  Now that I have my new miniature jeweler's bench and a small drill press, I decided there were no more excuses -- I had to start actually making some things.

Starting with the same design featured in that blog post, I made 2 more pendants.  For this first one, I etched a piece of brass and free-cut a circle-ish shape.  Because most of the brass is hidden, you can't see the gorgeous leaf pattern that I etched.  The black layer is a ready-made circle of anodized aluminum I found in my stash.  The center piece is sterling silver that I stamped with the letter "S" around the edges.  The 3 layers are held together with a rivet I made from 14 ga copper wire.  The bail is also copper, with a sterling rivet to attach it to the pendant.

The bottom layer of the next pendant  is a piece of copper from a sheet that I patinated (about 4 years ago -- I still have plenty of it left!) with an ammonia and salt concoction that I learned from Linda & Opie O'Brien's book Metal Discovery Workshop.  The middle layer is another piece of anodized aluminum that matches the aqua patina below it very nicely.  The center is a copper circle that I stamped.  The rivets and the bail are also copper.

This last piece is one I started while still in class 2 months ago.  All of the complex sawing was done in class, without a plan for how I would finish it.  This is sort of a no-no, as I've been taught to have a plan (thanks Christine!).  Having a plan ensures that all of the steps are completed in the proper order.  I can't tell you how important this is in a metalsmithing project.  Because of my lack of planning, I ended up with plenty of scratches that could have been avoided, and stupid time-wasting work-arounds.

Taking that into consideration, I think the piece turned out great!  I'm especially proud of the back, where I can show off my improved riveting skills:

I am so pleased with all of my pieces ~~ *pats self on back*

Sale in My Etsy Shop!

I'm having a sale in my etsy shop!  Use coupon code SUMMER20 to get 20% off your entire order.  This will be effective through Saturday, June 25.

Happy Shopping!

New Earrings in My Etsy Shop

I've continued to add new earrings to my etsy shop.  I sell necklaces too, but earrings are the bread & butter of my business, both online and locally.

Solar Quartz & Faceted Pearls

Lapis Teardrops and White Pearls

Copper Circles with Brass Wraps

You can click on any of the photos to go directly to the listings.  There are lots more, as I've been trying to add at least one new item per day.  I've also decided to let some older listings expire.  So, if you've had your eye on a particular piece of jewelry, now is the time to make your purchase.  Hint:  check the back pages of my etsy shop to see some of the oldest items that will expire soon.

Lots of New Earrings in My Etsy Shop

I have been on an earring-making freight train since late February.  I needed some for wholesale, some for consignment and some for my etsy shop.  Here are a few that I recently listed.

There are more, but this was getting to be a boring sort of post.  Click on any of the photos to go directly to the listing.