Just wanted to give a quick update since it feels like I haven't been able to torch or post in a while. I feel like such a slacker lately, but I do have my excuses. I managed to crash my car and get a nasty cold in the same week. My car has been fixed, but I'm still feeling pretty crummy. Unfortunately that means no torching until I'm feeling a little better. You wouldn't believe how difficult stringer work is when you're sniffling and sneezing every two seconds.
I should be back soon. I miss my torch :(
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Friday, July 2, 2010
Interview with TheMayFlower
TheMayFlower is a growing business on Etsy that sells fun and unique clothing and jewelry on Etsy.The first thing that caught my eye when browsing were these adorable little turtle earrings. Too cute!
Check out TheMayFlower.etsy.com for more cute jewelry.
How did you first start your craft?
When I entered middle school, I learned the social hierarchy of cliques and how discriminating they could be. You were not considered "cool" unless you dressed a certain way and wore a certain brand. Of course, this infuriated me. I could not be accepted unless I conformed! Instead, I enrolled in weekend class at the Fashion Institute of Technology and learned how to sew and make jewelry. From then, I practiced the skills I learned day after day. I've made a few things that I've worn outside and I received many compliments from my friends and family. They encouraged me to open an Etsy shop and I did so last August.
What was life like before your craft?
I have always been artistic most of my life. At a young age, I started drawing and eventually took lessons. I learned how to use pastels, paint and sketch. It was fun at first, but I eventually got bored of it. I was never passionate about painting or sketching. Art is interesting, don't get me wrong, it just wasn't for me.
What made you take it a step further and sell?
It was my passion for designing and making jewelry that really pushed me to open an Etsy shop. All the compliments from my friends and family and the need for money were factors too, but it was the fact that I loved doing this that convinced me to open shop.
Where do you sell? What are the pros and cons about selling in this venue?
Right now, I only sell on Etsy. I started expanding to MyHandmade and UsTrendy, but I don't know if it will produce sales. The great thing about Etsy is that there are a lot of buyers who love discovering handmade products, but the downside is how many sellers are on Etsy. I'm competing with hundreds of thousands of other shop owners and it takes a lot of effort to get noticed!! The positive about selling on MyHandmade is that I get to choose how much % of sales they receive. The negative is that there aren't as many buyers as Etsy. UsTrendy seems to be more toward my target audience, but again it faces the same problem as MyHandmade; the number of buyers are significantly less.
What is your daily routine?
Oh gosh. I don't have a routine! My life is too crazy to have a schedule! I am a full time college student, so during the school year I am basically limited, but I do not stop crafting at all. I will stay up nights on end thinking of new ideas or sewing a garment or piecing together a necklace. During the breaks, I tend to wake up, exercise, eat breakfast, check emails and Etsy convos, chat in the forums and promote a bit, finish up any orders i have, eat lunch, come up with new ideas, promote some more, take a break (read a book, listen to music, exercise some more, etc) and then execute my new ideas. But I dislike monotony, so I take some days off and babysit, or play ultimate frisbee with my team, go out to lunch with the girls,and other things like that.
How do you define your style?
I think the perfect way to put it is in Leonardo Da Vinci's words: "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."
What are your goals for the future?
My first goal is to create more clothing pieces. I want to expand into shirts, shorts, pants, cardigans and other items. I'm also planning on making printed t-shirts and open a separate Etsy shop for them. In addition, I also want to make more headbands. I started with a few this year, and they were fun to make, so I'm trying to find new ideas! My second is to blog a bit more! I usually don't have enough time, but I'm trying to at least write one post once a week.
Who or what inspires you?
A lot of things inspire me, but my surroundings have the most impact. If you look at my Spring/Summer collection for this year, I was mostly inspired by gardens, clusters of flowers, vines, acorns, etc. that I have seen. A lot of designers inspire me as well. Leanne Marshall and Halston are two of my favorite. Their designs are simple, yet elegant and stylish, and I strive to make my jewelry and clothing pieces the same way.
Do you have any tips of advice for others in your medium and other crafters?
Well, I'm still a newbie, so I don't know if my advice is any good. But one thing you should always do is constantly check Google Analytics. Don't just create an account and ignore it. Use it. It's very helpful. It allows you to determine how many views you get in a day, bounce rate, how many visitors you have each hour in a day, where they're from, what page they landed on when they were searching, what keywords they used to search. It can really help you find the correct tags for your listings, so that you're targeting the correct audience.
Check out TheMayFlower.etsy.com for more cute jewelry.
How did you first start your craft?
When I entered middle school, I learned the social hierarchy of cliques and how discriminating they could be. You were not considered "cool" unless you dressed a certain way and wore a certain brand. Of course, this infuriated me. I could not be accepted unless I conformed! Instead, I enrolled in weekend class at the Fashion Institute of Technology and learned how to sew and make jewelry. From then, I practiced the skills I learned day after day. I've made a few things that I've worn outside and I received many compliments from my friends and family. They encouraged me to open an Etsy shop and I did so last August.
What was life like before your craft?
I have always been artistic most of my life. At a young age, I started drawing and eventually took lessons. I learned how to use pastels, paint and sketch. It was fun at first, but I eventually got bored of it. I was never passionate about painting or sketching. Art is interesting, don't get me wrong, it just wasn't for me.
What made you take it a step further and sell?
It was my passion for designing and making jewelry that really pushed me to open an Etsy shop. All the compliments from my friends and family and the need for money were factors too, but it was the fact that I loved doing this that convinced me to open shop.
Where do you sell? What are the pros and cons about selling in this venue?
Right now, I only sell on Etsy. I started expanding to MyHandmade and UsTrendy, but I don't know if it will produce sales. The great thing about Etsy is that there are a lot of buyers who love discovering handmade products, but the downside is how many sellers are on Etsy. I'm competing with hundreds of thousands of other shop owners and it takes a lot of effort to get noticed!! The positive about selling on MyHandmade is that I get to choose how much % of sales they receive. The negative is that there aren't as many buyers as Etsy. UsTrendy seems to be more toward my target audience, but again it faces the same problem as MyHandmade; the number of buyers are significantly less.
What is your daily routine?
Oh gosh. I don't have a routine! My life is too crazy to have a schedule! I am a full time college student, so during the school year I am basically limited, but I do not stop crafting at all. I will stay up nights on end thinking of new ideas or sewing a garment or piecing together a necklace. During the breaks, I tend to wake up, exercise, eat breakfast, check emails and Etsy convos, chat in the forums and promote a bit, finish up any orders i have, eat lunch, come up with new ideas, promote some more, take a break (read a book, listen to music, exercise some more, etc) and then execute my new ideas. But I dislike monotony, so I take some days off and babysit, or play ultimate frisbee with my team, go out to lunch with the girls,and other things like that.
How do you define your style?
I think the perfect way to put it is in Leonardo Da Vinci's words: "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."
What are your goals for the future?
My first goal is to create more clothing pieces. I want to expand into shirts, shorts, pants, cardigans and other items. I'm also planning on making printed t-shirts and open a separate Etsy shop for them. In addition, I also want to make more headbands. I started with a few this year, and they were fun to make, so I'm trying to find new ideas! My second is to blog a bit more! I usually don't have enough time, but I'm trying to at least write one post once a week.
Who or what inspires you?
A lot of things inspire me, but my surroundings have the most impact. If you look at my Spring/Summer collection for this year, I was mostly inspired by gardens, clusters of flowers, vines, acorns, etc. that I have seen. A lot of designers inspire me as well. Leanne Marshall and Halston are two of my favorite. Their designs are simple, yet elegant and stylish, and I strive to make my jewelry and clothing pieces the same way.
Do you have any tips of advice for others in your medium and other crafters?
Well, I'm still a newbie, so I don't know if my advice is any good. But one thing you should always do is constantly check Google Analytics. Don't just create an account and ignore it. Use it. It's very helpful. It allows you to determine how many views you get in a day, bounce rate, how many visitors you have each hour in a day, where they're from, what page they landed on when they were searching, what keywords they used to search. It can really help you find the correct tags for your listings, so that you're targeting the correct audience.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Steampunk!
Steampunk is such an awesome category to browse through on Etsy. You can steampunk anything it seems! Here's how Wikipedia defines it...
Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction and speculative fiction, frequently featuring elements of fantasy, that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used — usually the 19th century, and often Victorian era Britain[citation needed] — but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date.
It's quite random, but a lot of fun. Here's a selection of fun finds on Etsy.
Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction and speculative fiction, frequently featuring elements of fantasy, that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used — usually the 19th century, and often Victorian era Britain[citation needed] — but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date.
It's quite random, but a lot of fun. Here's a selection of fun finds on Etsy.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Happy Summer Friday!
Hey everyone! Sorry for the lack of update last week. I was on vacation from work and laziness just kicked in :) You know how that can be. This has been a great summer so far, but it's not very good for motivating me to get to the torch.
Anyways, I've got tons of scrolls this week on Ebay. Ebay is becoming a more regular place to find my lampwork beads. You can always click above on available work to see what's ready to buy. Here's a small sampling of my Ebay auctions.
I've also been posting sparkling pixiedust sets on Ebay. Pixiedust is always so much fun.
On Etsy, I've been on a pandora bead kick. So if you have a bracelet you need to fill up with pretty beads, stop on by. My favorites lately have been these striped beads.
They look like cute little tigers and I've been creating them in multiple bright colors like aqua and lime. I haven't decided if I will be offering these on a made to order basis in the future. Either way, they're super cute.
Anyways, see you all next Friday :)
Anyways, I've got tons of scrolls this week on Ebay. Ebay is becoming a more regular place to find my lampwork beads. You can always click above on available work to see what's ready to buy. Here's a small sampling of my Ebay auctions.
I've also been posting sparkling pixiedust sets on Ebay. Pixiedust is always so much fun.
On Etsy, I've been on a pandora bead kick. So if you have a bracelet you need to fill up with pretty beads, stop on by. My favorites lately have been these striped beads.
They look like cute little tigers and I've been creating them in multiple bright colors like aqua and lime. I haven't decided if I will be offering these on a made to order basis in the future. Either way, they're super cute.
Anyways, see you all next Friday :)
Friday, June 11, 2010
Lots of Scrolls for Sale
So this week has really been a scroll week. I have a lot of scroll weeks though. I do think they're my favorite style of bead to make. I love the curving lines, the raised texture, and the precision of the stringer design. It's taken me a lot of practice to get good at them, but I think it's been worth it.
I've also been back to giving ebay a try. Long ago when I was making beads on a hothead in an apartment, I sold a handful of beads on Ebay. Since then the fees on Ebay have gone up quite a bit, but it's still fun to have an auction style listing. So here are some of the bead sets I have on Ebay now, or I will be putting them on Ebay this week.
I do have a lot more too, but I don't want to bombard you guys with too many pictures. Just check out my ebay, etsy or facebook. I can reproduce any of these sets as well, so I will be adding pairs of each of my newest sets up on Etsy as a made to order listing. When I finally get beads available to buy on my website (I'm slacking with this), They'll be available here as well.
I'll be updating you guys on more beads for sale next Friday, til then I hope everyone's enjoying their summer.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Jolly Rancher Discs and Sparkling Cheerios up on Etsy
So this week, I've really been focusing on the simple beauty of transparent colors. Nothing against pastels and all those beautiful metallic glasses, but when we all think of glass, the first thing that comes to mind is transparents. I replenished my glass supply last week, so I had to reacquaint myself with transparent colors.
This week, I put up disc pairs in my Etsy store. Each of these handmade discs is made with a transparent color and embellished with a stripe of either silvered ivory or Psyche glass. These beads really make me think of jolly ranchers.
Silvered ivory is a lot of fun because of the unique organic look. The longer ivory is worked, the more crackly lo0oking it gets. When fine silver is added to it, it gets some beautiful striations.
Psyche glass is black or dark purple before being hit with a propane rich flame. Once the glass is worked in a propane flame, blues, greens and purples bloom with a metallic sheen. Pretty!
I've also been playing with a lot of pixie dust beads this week. I always have pixie dust spacers available, but I've recently created pixie dust big holed beads for Pandora and Troll bracelets. They're very sparkly and a perfect splash of glimmering color for your bracelet. I've left them uncored to keep them inexpensive. I can't help but think they look like sparkling cheerios though. Lol
These will be available to order as many or as few as you want. Feel free to stop by my Etsy or contact me
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Interview with Morning Star Arts
Morning Star Arts is a family business with Amy, making jewelry and fiber articles, John making copper and glass items and occasionally one of their sons listing one of their many creations. Their Etsy store has tons of beautiful necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. My favorite is their kaleidoscopes. But then again, their currency boxes are really awesome! Feel free to check out their shop here.
What do you create?
Currently, as well as the jewelry, I am needle felting and embellishing recycled sweaters; my dh makes our glass "treasure boxes" and other glass and copper items.
How did you first start your craft?
Well, I have been a stay-at-home-mom for 25 years, and a homeschooling mom for the last 17, so it wasn't as if I was looking for something else to do! But, my dh started lampworking about 8 years ago and wanted me to take a jewelry class so I could "do something" with his beads. I did, and I did, and now he doesn't even lampwork any more! But we have saved the equipment and hope to both do more of it when our boys move out and we have a little more space--too many hobbies ate up the house.
Where do you sell? What are the pros and cons about selling in this venue?
In addition to selling on etsy, we attend about eight or nine art shows per year, I consign with a couple of local boutiques, and I (just) joined a gallery where I hope to sell both jewelry and sweaters. I love seeing people enjoying my workmanship, but I am naturally an introvert so the actual selling has taken a lot of effort, and I still wouldn't say I'm particularly good at it.
What is your daily routine?
At the moment, my daily routine is in a seasonal flux; during school I address my boys' schoolwork first, housework second, and business third, but this varies enourmously depending on what needs doing most urgently; each summer is different and I don't really plan a routine, just kind of "fall into" one. The one constant is that I usually work on needle felting for an hour or so before bed; I find it very relaxing, and then I know I accomplished SOMETHING that day. I try to spend an hour doing online/etsy work each day.
What are your goals for the future?
My goals for the future are pretty simple--I'd like to be able to sell all I make. Right now I've had to put the brakes on jewelry-making a little bit because, with the economic situation, jewelry sales have slowed down, whereas the sweaters have been selling very well (though they may slow down during the hot weather months).
Do you have any tips of advice for others in your medium and other crafters?
My advice to others would be to try new venues and don't be disappointed with the ones that don't work out; I have tried one or two new shows each year for several years and about half of them just didn't work for me (I've found that my designs sell better at "art" shows than at "craft" shows, and better at juried than non-juried--this is different than many of my friends). And be organized (not TOTALLY!); don't skip from product to product without giving your ideas a chance to sell--sometimes it takes a while for people to start buying something new. I don't know how or why this is true, but it's been true for some of our biggest sellers.
What do you create?
Currently, as well as the jewelry, I am needle felting and embellishing recycled sweaters; my dh makes our glass "treasure boxes" and other glass and copper items.
How did you first start your craft?
Well, I have been a stay-at-home-mom for 25 years, and a homeschooling mom for the last 17, so it wasn't as if I was looking for something else to do! But, my dh started lampworking about 8 years ago and wanted me to take a jewelry class so I could "do something" with his beads. I did, and I did, and now he doesn't even lampwork any more! But we have saved the equipment and hope to both do more of it when our boys move out and we have a little more space--too many hobbies ate up the house.
Where do you sell? What are the pros and cons about selling in this venue?
In addition to selling on etsy, we attend about eight or nine art shows per year, I consign with a couple of local boutiques, and I (just) joined a gallery where I hope to sell both jewelry and sweaters. I love seeing people enjoying my workmanship, but I am naturally an introvert so the actual selling has taken a lot of effort, and I still wouldn't say I'm particularly good at it.
What is your daily routine?
At the moment, my daily routine is in a seasonal flux; during school I address my boys' schoolwork first, housework second, and business third, but this varies enourmously depending on what needs doing most urgently; each summer is different and I don't really plan a routine, just kind of "fall into" one. The one constant is that I usually work on needle felting for an hour or so before bed; I find it very relaxing, and then I know I accomplished SOMETHING that day. I try to spend an hour doing online/etsy work each day.
What are your goals for the future?
My goals for the future are pretty simple--I'd like to be able to sell all I make. Right now I've had to put the brakes on jewelry-making a little bit because, with the economic situation, jewelry sales have slowed down, whereas the sweaters have been selling very well (though they may slow down during the hot weather months).
Do you have any tips of advice for others in your medium and other crafters?
My advice to others would be to try new venues and don't be disappointed with the ones that don't work out; I have tried one or two new shows each year for several years and about half of them just didn't work for me (I've found that my designs sell better at "art" shows than at "craft" shows, and better at juried than non-juried--this is different than many of my friends). And be organized (not TOTALLY!); don't skip from product to product without giving your ideas a chance to sell--sometimes it takes a while for people to start buying something new. I don't know how or why this is true, but it's been true for some of our biggest sellers.
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