A little inspiration creates

While on vacation over the Fourth of July, I took the time to sit down and make a bunch the designs that had been sitting in my design notebook for a while. One of them was this piece, inspired by the neckalce worn by Diane Lane’s character in Under the Tuscan Sun (great movie, dry book).

Her necklace was a thin, simple gold chain with a clear stone in the center. I’m not a fan of gold, and I can only do work of a certain size, but these are without a doubt the smallest shapes I’ve ever wrapped! These tiny figure 8s were created at the very tips of my round-nosed pliers. It was quite fun to sit there and wrap these while I watched cartoons and tried to find favorite voice actors. Not a bad way to spend one’s vacation, if I do say so myself!

The bead itself is roughly 3mm, to give you an idea of the size on those figure 8s. I’d like to try the design one more time, with a slightly bigger bead. It’s a great, simple design. Very clean. Very relaxing to make! I’m planning to put a clasp on it (now that I have replenished my stock) and wear it out this week to get feedback! You can leave your feedback in the comments, and order inquiries can be directed to my email.

A good reputation makes it easier for you to sell

I’ve had this figured out for a while, but scientists have now proven that people are more likely to buy from an eBay seller with a good reputation. It’s really not much different from the real world where people are more likely to buy from a company they feel they can trust. Just like their brick-and-mortar counterparts, these sellers are capable of charging more as well.
What does this mean for the first-time sellers, or those who haven’t been fortunate enough to sell anything on eBay and therefore have no feedback? I haven’t figured out the answer to that question, and its answer actually worries me a little bit. I’m in that second category. Of course, I’m also trying to sell jewelry, which is supposed to be one of the more difficult things to sell on eBay (where you can sell your grandmother for the right price).

It’s a very interesting study, and a very fine line, I suppose. We need trust, even more so when we’re buying in a situation where we can’t look at what we’re purchasing. (Of course, this is also why a credible business offers a return policy for just this reason.)

What’s the right answer? What’s the solution? If I figure it out, I’ll let you know!

Tips for preparing the elevator pitch

Any entrepreneur or freelancer needs to be able to deliver their elevator pitch on the spot. I’ve been working on mine off and on for months now. One of the benefits of working on this thirty-second speech is that it really makes you take a close look at what your business does, really define the niche your company fills.

Recently, I’ve come across two great formulas for developing your pitch. Both discuss getting right to your point, the actual point of an elevator speech, and presenting your company in a problem-solution format. I really like the second because it’s a fill-in-the-blanks template that lets you get started quickly, and then you can edit and tweak as necessary.

For example, if I were to attempt one for my jewelry business, it might look something like: I’m the jewelry designer that (okay, I have no hook). I specialize in simple, elegant designs created from silver wire for those looking to own nice jewelry without spending a fortune on it.

It occurs to me that I’ve also painted myself into a corner and can’t add in a third sentence that isn’t redundant. I think I’m going to have to work on this elevator pitch idea.

Buy locally

I’ve just returning from a much-needed vacation on the other side of the state. I spent the weekend in a quaint little town with a friend who works at the fossil center. He was kind enough to help me get some of my simpler jewelry pieces (and thank goodness I thought to take some with me!) put on consignment in the center’s gift shop.

In Seattle, I’ve had the worst time trying to get any of my work consigned. Everyone tells me it’s lovely, and then the ball gets dropped somewhere in setting up the meeting to establish the contract and get pieces to the shops. It’s been enough to drive a girl crazy! At the center, the woman asked me if I had anything on me, oohed and aahed over it, took several pieces and wrote up a consignment agreement on the spot. She even put one of the sets on display and instructed someone to create the tags for my pieces right there. I was in quite a bit of shock.

What’s the difference? The fossil center is a small operation in a small town that enjoys offering unique pieces to visitors from all over. They supoort other Washington artists. In Seattle, an artist is almost lost in the sea of other artists, so the shy ones have a hard time getting work out there without the aid of friends. At least, this is my theory on what’s happening.

For any area, supporting local artists should be encouraged. These artsits often help to create the atmosphere and charm that makes a region distinct, unique, and it’s a great way to bring in tourists. By supporting local artists, you are working to keep talented people in the community where they can help contribute to the area’s growth. You are also encouraging a growth of the arts, inviting new ideas to be generated that can also better an area.

When you can, buy locally. Support local artists!

How to drive yourself insane

I’ve been on vacation all weekend (I realize :paleoichnum: would hotly disagree with that statement, but oh, well.) and so I’ve been tackling all sorts of projects that have been neglected over the past month.

In this (very long) list were several jewelry pieces. I’m only about halfway through them currently. One of them can’t be finished here because I somehow managed to forget to bring the rings I needed to finish out one of them.

Saturday morning, I plopped myself down in front of a batch of cartoons that I would have missed in Seattle (silly Mariners playing an early game!) and went nuts. I expected to complete two necklaces. Instead, I made one of the planned necklaces, shelved the other necklace due to lack of correct supplies, and then created two others.

Here is where I truly think I went crazy. (I had decided to try my hand at creating the smallest possible figure-eights for one design. So there I sat, hand-turning roughly forty little figure eights (they’re about half the size of the ones I normally make on the wire jig) while identifying voice actors in a not-very-good cartoon. It was quite the interesting experience. I can’t believe I managed to sit there for so long doing one specific task without injuring my wrists.

It did lead to a pretty little piece that will be finished at home (because somehow, I also forgot my clasps) and then I’ll scan this weekend’s labors and share them.

Hopefully, I’ll be finishing out the rest of the jewelry today, along with wrapping up some editing and writing projects that haven’t quite made their way to done.

Originally posted at deviantArt