Sunday, September 27, 2009

Weekly Wanderings Around the Beadosphere



Last weekend of September already. Nights are getting longer, it's barely light out when I have to get up to get ready for work. I think I'd love living in a much more southern latitude. Had a great visit on Friday night with some virtual acquaintances - I'd only met one of them before in person. I'd had a pretty awful day up till I sat down for drinks and great conversation. I may blog about that on my other blog one of these days.

Then Saturday was a lazy day, talked to both of my kids and watched shows on TiVo, took a long nap mid-afternoon. Cooked a late lunch for the husband and me, too - if you can call making salmon patties, nuking a tray of store-bought mashed potatoes and opening a can of peas cooking. It was very yummy nonetheless. Sunday will be a jewelry making day, I hope, because I've got a lot of ideas to work through.

Well, enough about me...this is about all my neighbors out there in the Beadosphere - so let's check 'em out!




Just one little plug for me - I finally broke down and started one of those 'fan pages' on Facebook. I'd love it if you'd become a fan.




Hope you're not too worn out from our little hike around the Beadosphere this week - lots of great places to visit. I highly recommend bookmarking or following the blogs mentioned so you never miss a post!

See you tomorrow for Monday Miscellany - I've got a good post planned! And if you're on Twitter, I hope you're going to enter the #TweetYourStudio contest - the contest runs tomorrow only and there are three great prizes being offered!

Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Bookmark and Share

posted by ohdawno at 6:00 AM 0 Comments

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Weekly Wanderings Around the Beadosphere














Well, that's it for today's wanderings - see you tomorrow for Monday Miscellany. I have a Beadin' Path design partner necklace to show featuring their new glass River Rocks, *plus* I'll finally be able to share pictures of that Step by Step Beads Colorworks design contest finalist necklace I made, so I do hope you'll stop by.


Labels: , , , , , ,

Bookmark and Share

posted by ohdawno at 6:00 AM 6 Comments

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Weekly Wanderings Around the Beadosphere


Today is the Mountain View Art & Wine festival and I'm really looking forward to visiting it. The weather will be cooler this year with a small chance of showers. Maybe that'll make it less crowded in the morning when we go. I love to visit all the jewelry crafting booths - they're part of the inspiration to make my own jewelry. I only get to buy their pieces once a year, but in the meanwhile I can create complimentary things on my own all year 'round.

It is also my son's 24th birthday today. Happy Birthday, Matt!

Well, I know you're not here to hear me ramble - you're ready to wander so let's get going!





That's it for today - I'm sure this was a lot less exhausting than the Art & Wine wandering will be - but definitely easier on my pocketbook! See you for tomorrow's Monday Miscellany where I'll share some of the new work I've managed to get done between bouts of workroom clean-up (it seems to be a neverending task!).


Labels: , , , , , ,

Bookmark and Share

posted by ohdawno at 6:00 AM 6 Comments

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Dawno's Weekly Wanderings Around the Beadosphere - Rather Abbreviated Due to the Holiday Weekend



It's Sunday, so you know the drill - grab your walkin' shoes (aka, mouse) and let's go wandering around the beadosphere...







Speaking of suppliers - don't forget to peek back at my Supplier Sales Saturday post if you missed it to get the scoop on some good sales - some are ending today, others pretty soon, so don't miss out. I hope to make this a regular feature every Saturday.

If you have the time tomorrow, do drop by, I'll be sharing a new piece which is *finally* using the last of the Rings & Things gluable challenge (and it was back in March) bracelet blanks that's been sitting on my worktable mocking me since.

I visited Michael's on Friday to pick up, oh, one or two things (ha! thank goodness I remembered my 15% off coupon) and found a whole bunch of gunmetal items from Plaid. One of them inspired me to grab that bracelet blank and make something! Hint: it's not a bracelet and there's no glue involved.

Labels: , , , , , ,

Bookmark and Share

posted by ohdawno at 6:00 AM 5 Comments

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Tuesday Tidbits - Colorworks Contest in Step by Step Beads Magazine

I got this in the mail yesterday - talk about stunned!

Congratulations!

Your work was chosen by Margie Deeb as one of the top ten finalists in our first Colorworks contest! Though you did not win first place, your piece will be showcased in a special Colorworks gallery in the November/December 09 issue of Step by Step Beads. Thank you for submitting such outstanding work!

Best regards,
Editor in chief,
Step by Step Beads
the rules were:

Enter the first Colorworks Challenge!

Tertiary Colors

The orange-purple-green tertiary triad presents a challenge of bold and striking contrasts. Create a piece of bead jewelry (or a bead in any medium: polymer, beads, glass, etc.) using the triad from the color wheel. Black, white, or clear are welcome, but the predominant colors must be the orange-purple-green triad (any shades of those colors).

And I'd started playing with using pale orange faceted coral beads, a purple firepolished bead, some green cathedral cut beads and copper, which met the color criteria, so I worked on several versions of it (consisting of adding new strands) until I came up with the design I submitted. I wrote to the publication to see if I could post a picture, I haven't heard yet so I'm going to wait a little longer on the picture, but I couldn't wait to share the news!

Materials used: copper stamped links and copper chain from Accessories Susan, copper bead caps, clasp and spacers from Artbeads, copper wire guardians, crimp covers and Scrimps from Rings & Things, green cathedral cut Czech glass beads from the local Global Beads store, faceted coral beads from JJBead in Huntington Beach, and Satin Copper Beadalon stringing wire.
Dimensions: the collar is from 1.5 inches to 3.5 inches in width and 16" in length.

Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Bookmark and Share

posted by ohdawno at 6:00 AM 15 Comments

Saturday, June 13, 2009

A Slow Starting and Lazy Saturday

Started off waking up a bit late, was a cloudy morning, I'm exhausted from last week, and the DH planned a movie (Ghost Town - lovely movie, funny and romantic) and pizza lunch, so it's 2:30 now and probably won't get much done creatively today.

I do have my Patti Stoll Starry Night Sunflower beads sitting out, the ones with the bright yellow sunflowers and swirly sky of blue and white above them. I cannot for the life of me decide what to do. I want to use the two small beads as earrings and the larger one as a pendant. Other than that I'm stumped.



Maybe Russ Troll will inspire me? Yes, my Russ Troll bead showed up the other day. Here he is examining my photo studio and being examined by the cats. Lying down and "playing possum" was probably the right thing to do with my fierce felines.



(Pudding at left, Jello at right)

I am got a bit of photography done today and listed this necklace that includes brown lava stone beads from Rings & Things that I've named Hale-a-ka-la is Dreaming. I've had this out at both shows this year, gotten lots of compliments, but no sale yet. Not sure why, but I'm going to put it out on the web, maybe it'll find a home.



Update, Saturday Night: Wow! The power of Twitter - this piece is now sold!

I'm also going to re-work this one, showed it at BayCon and got some positive reaction, but there's something about it that's just not doing it for me yet:



Do come back tomorrow for the weekly round up: Dawno's Wanderings Around the Beadosphere!

Update! Update! Update!
Russ Nobbs shares the Russ Troll Story!
(promoted from comments)

Blogger Russ Nobbs said...

Wonderful pictures of your cats with my ceramic likeness. Literally made me laugh out loud!
Those "russ troll" beads are one of the best and funniest things we've ever done. They've created laughter amongst beaders all around the globe.


Exactly why the the design came about is shrouded in mystery. *we can't remember* Some years ago, Michelle, who now heads our problem resolution and quality control sections, asked her dad to do a caricature of me. No one remembers exactly what for. Just for fun? to use in the catalog? To throw darts at? Whatever..... He did a cute one. I do remember using it in a catalog as a coloring contest. I still have some of the better entries. An airbrush artist even sent in a T shirt with the design airbrushed on it. It happened to arrive while I was in the hospital trying to survive an allergic reaction to sulfa drugs. The wonderful shirt went a long way towards restoring my health and sanity.

I think the hands are behind my back just because it's hard to sketch hands if they aren't doing anything. Maybe I should be fondling some beads?

A few years ago, Kim and a couple of the buyers got together with another strange bead icon, the guy who has the ceramic beads made down in Peru. They thought up what was supposed to be a surprise for me - a hand painted ceramic version of the Russ "troll."

As it happened, when the picture of the prototype bead came in most of the people who were in on the plot were out of town. So they asked me to "approve" the sample for production. After I stopped laughing, I said "Yeh! Sure! Why not?" It took a few months and now we finally have them "in stock" available for sale to anyone. Even our competitors are allowed to buy them for their dart boards or to hang from their cell phones.

There's talk of making a few more styles.... one with the worn out denim cap I like, one with my glasses propped tackily on top of my head, one with our logo on the shirt, one with a huge strand of chevrons, that sort of thing. Then we'll put it out there that it's cool to collect the whole set.

I hope this one inspires you!!!!


Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Bookmark and Share

posted by ohdawno at 2:30 PM 7 Comments

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Debut of Thursday Feature: Reviews and Interviews - Presenting John A. Jacobs, CEO of Art Fire

Today I debut a weekly reviews and interviews segment and have the honor of presenting an interview with John A. Jacobs, CEO of ArtFire.

ArtFire, in its own words, is "...the premier online marketplace for handmade products designed by artisans around the globe. Our free community is designed for artisans to buy and sell their works, while celebrating unique handmade items and designs. It is always free for buyers of handmade products to search through our listed artisans, buy, or request for items to be specially made. No matter if you are looking for local handmade crafts, or handmade products from artisans around the world, Artfire.com is the marketplace for you."




You'll want to visit their "About" section to learn more about the people and history of ArtFire - it's a great story.

ArtFire - Buy Handmade - Sell Handmade
images courtesy of ArtFire.com

Dawno: The love and respect you have for your mother is very obvious - if you are comfortable about it, would you talk a bit more about what kind of jewelry she created, if she is still active in crafts and what does she think about Art Fire?

John: My mother is very active in many different handmade genres and very much enjoys making custom jewelry with semi-precious gemstones and sterling silver. She is one of our biggest fans here at ArtFire and certainly one of our earliest fans! I recall when we were just getting going with ArtFire, my mother, Kay offered to start making handmade items for EVERY category and sub category of ArtFire so we could start filling all the categories!

That still makes me chuckle a bit as we now have over 200,000 items in thousands of categories and expect many millions of items to pour in over the next year! My mother taught me balance and though I find myself in the office six days a week, I always remember that family must come first! She really is the glue that helps hold our family together and has certainly guided my course over the years.

My mother's struggle to establish herself as a successful artisan has always been very frustrating for our family. ArtFire has really become an answer for all those artisan who, like my mother, are trying to get a foothold but just can't afford the fees and cost of starting a new business or stepping up to the next level with their businesses. There are not many venues or companies that are willing to help a starving artist and we think that's a shame. ArtFire was built for my mother and all the mothers (and fathers), sisters, and brothers out there that just need a hand up and deserve a chance at being successful.

Dawno: As an Air Force brat, it was rewarding to read about your service. You mention that you "worked hard to both fulfill my service to the country and attend college full time. I graduated from Louisiana Tech University and then returned to Tucson after an honorable discharge from the Air Force." Just to clarify, you went to college full time during your time in the Air Force or was it afterward? If during, when did you find time to sleep?

We worked very hard in the Air Force in fact most typical days at Barksdale AFB were 12 hour shifts, and we worked six days a week. Of course there were TDY assignments, training, etc on top of staying proficient at my duties and volunteering for the local SWAT and Emergency Services Teams.

Just making it to class was a challenge every day. Most days I was late to class or had to pull the undesirable posts to earn the right to go to school. I often say the Bachelor's degree that I earned while serving on active duty was substantially harder than the Master's degree I earned as a civilian.

That being said, I wouldn't have it any other way. Much like what I learned in the USAF, we pride ourselves on speed of execution of projects here at ArtFire, and our team understands that to be successful and to truly serve the ArtFire community, we must work harder than we are comfortable with, and accomplish our goals each and every day.


Dawno:What would you say was the most important thing you learned during your time in the Air Force that you apply to your current role?

John: I learned the meaning of discipline in the Air Force and decided that I would carry that with me in life. Not just in work though, but in my personal relationship with my family and my wife, with physical fitness, and in with the way in which I allow myself to think. Discipline to me means pushing yourself to do the right thing even when it is not the easy thing to do.

I think that most of us can point to dozens of missed opportunities each day that if we would properly motivate ourselves to do, could change our lives. I find that to live a disciplined life, the first step is to never make an excuse when a solution or action could be substituted (even if the action does not yield the perfect result), inaction can often be the worse course.

Dawno: It's no surprise, after reading "About our Founder", that you are passionate about supporting the independent craft artisan, and the Art Fire business model certainly proves that. Were there nay-sayers in that regard? If so, what did they tell you that you've,so far, proven wrong and what challenges are still left to overcome?

John: Sure there are always challenges to success and naysayers along the way. To build any business takes an overwhelming belief that no matter what the challenge, you can and will find a solution to it and push through. With every business I have ever built, we have been undercapitalized, understaffed, under experienced or just plain not as qualified as our competitors.

Here's the good news; in most situations, none of this matters. Success has nothing to do with money or experience, success is a choice that we each make every day. Make a list of what you can and will accomplish today and don't allow yourself to fail. If you are working on a large project, then break it down to daily tasks. If you do this with your business, with your relationships, or with anything in your life that you want to complete; there is nothing you can't accomplish.

Dawno: Other than it being your home town, what are the business advantages to being headquartered in Tucson?

John: Tucson has a strong history of technology and is the home of the University of Arizona which produces world class talent that we are fortunate enough to be able to draw on. We are not too far from California either and have seen an influx of technical talent in the past several years, which has really turned Tucson into a hidden technology gem than many companies such as Intuit, AOL, Ratheon, Reliasoft, and even IBM have greatly benefited from!

We have a burgeoning arts and music scene here and a relatively low cost of living as compared nationally. By being based in Tucson we can effectively compete through substantially lower operating costs as compared to companies based on the east and west coast. This allows us to keep our overhead and ultimately our rates lower for our members.

Dawno: How important do you think social networking, web 2.0, etc., are to Art Fire's success now and in the future - any thoughts about what that future might look like?

John: The reality is that social networking is how business will be done as we move forward and technology evolves. As many as 80-90% of fortune 500 companies are increasing their investment in social networking and online channels or virtual contact points with their base. If a company wants to lower costs, become more efficient and sustain growth it is now more important than ever to use social tools to connect with their customers.

ArtFire could be compared to a traditional Gem or Craft show like CHA, G&LW, GLDA, etc. in which a 10x10 booth might cost thousands of dollars for a weekend, or a brick and mortar collectables shop that might run thousands of dollars in overhead to operate each month. ArtFire utilizes emerging technology to connect member artisans to an enormous pool of buyers, which never would have been possible for many artisans because of the cost barriers.

We take it even further than that with ArtFire though. As costs continue to fall on bandwidth, servers, storage and with an aggressive system of management and a focus on ease of use for our members, we can deliver the absolute lowest cost solution for sellers available on the Internet. Our objective is to be substantially less expensive than even building your own Web site and thus far we have easily pulled this off. On ArtFire there are no listing, final, or hidden fees. Just $12 a month for unlimited listings in your full custom Fusion Studio with integrated features and functionality that help artisans and business owners easily utilize social media sites to promote unique handmade items.

Best of all, we do all the hard work for our member, with just the click of a button, items can be posted to sites like Twitter and VoteHandmade.com or members can promote themselves by writing for sister sites like HandMadeNews.org.

ArtFire is young and the future is bright! We have shown amazing month over month growth numbers in traffic, members' sales, and market penetration that we expect will continue and accelerate. We have plans for many more facets of the community and even more sites and our commitment is to never stop innovating and executing ideas quickly. In fact some of the most innovative US companies are now following the lead of ArtFire and attempting to match our business model and features.

Dawno: You briefly mention your mother's and your experiences with eBay - where do you think they most went in the wrong direction for the independent artisan? Are they still the web's 800lb gorilla and if so, any thoughts on why that is?

John: I remember when eBay used to go around to gem shows and almost beg sellers to sign up and sell on eBay. Yep, an actual person would shake your hand and explain what eBay could do to help support your business. Over the years eBay changed and appears to have forgotten that their site was built on the backs of its members.

There was a time that you could find many independent artisans on eBay but changes to eBay which put substantial pressure on artisans and businesses to lower prices and offer free shipping just to get seen, have since driven many great artists and businesses away from eBay.

Several years ago we saw Etsy step up as a solution for many handmade artisans and most of us hoped that this would be a new approach and a potentially a venue that could support the true needs of artisans. Unfortunately I think that where a venue goes wrong is when they bring in Venture Capital and profits become more important than service. It may seem noble to go "public" with a venue, however when this happens the fiduciary duty of management by law must shift to protect the interests of the investors or shareholders, even at the expense of the members.

Yes, eBay for all intents and purposes is still the 800lb gorilla, they were one of the first to market and they do have momentum, however there has been a drastic shift in where the internet is headed and being the gorilla is not the necessarily the best strategy for survival anymore. Micro segmentation and customer service is making a comeback as companies like ArtFire can be built and serve communities better for far less expense, overhead, and operate with a flat management hierarchy that connects management with members.

We now see a thousand, one hundred pound gorillas that are fast and flexible taking market share from sites like eBay, and we think this is an exciting change that will prove to empower the seller/user/member/buyer and we will be a part of this change!

Dawno: What are the two or three most important things you thing an Art Fire artisan needs to do to get the most out of Art Fire - and not necessarily become the biggest seller or make the most money, but the whole package - community, collegiality, and yes, sales, too.

John:

1. I mentioned this technique already but I think it is in fact one of the most important things you can do for your business. Commit to your business and your success and make a list every day of things you can do today to improve your business; then check those items off as you accomplish them each day. We make ArtFire as easy to understand and use as possible, but there is still alot to learn. The Internet is far easier to use and grow a business on now which means that every day there is an increasing amount of competition that you have to consider. It is simply not good enough to put up a Web site and wait anymore. You have to have a plan to promote and we want to be your partner in this endeavor.

2. Put a schedule on paper that plans for one hour a day to promote your business using social medial sites, writing a blog, submitting an article to HandmadeNews.org and building Karma on sites like VoteHandmade.com. As a business owner you have many tasks on your plate. Stay focused on what needs to get done and how you will accomplish critical tasks like customers service, shipping, making listings, creating new product and budget time for each of these tasks. A venue or a web site does not sell your items for you. Your efforts are necessary to drive your success. Planning and managing your time effectively is critical to your success.

3. Embrace change and adapt quickly. If you see that one of your items is getting more views than others, what do you do? You should figure out why this item is getting more attention. Does it have a better picture or title or is it an item that is more in demand? Change the rest of your items to follow the lead of your successful items and look around you at your competitors for suggestions. Sometimes the items that you don't enjoy making, sell the best... You might have to make more of what the market wants. This can be hard for artisans, my mother and my sister have taught me this very well, but a balance can be found if you are willing to embrace change and adapt.


Many, many thanks to John for his time and wonderful answers. If you want to thank him personally, follow him on Twitter @ArtFireJohn and let him know you read about him here.

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bookmark and Share

posted by ohdawno at 3:00 AM 9 Comments

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Dawno's Weekly Wanderings Around the Beadosphere


Let's get on with the wandering!

I'm going to start off with a great giveaway at SmuTopia. Beautiful bracelet to a lucky winner at the end of May. Visit her blog for the contest rules. Be sure to add her to your reader or follow her, too, when you get there.

This week on Tish's blog she's talking about DIY display ideas - look at the great ideas and *hear* her on her first video post!

Lisa at A Bead A Day has another week of beautiful beads to share - the week started with the new Swarovski color "Indian Pink" and musings about how they come up with their names and ends with a featured artist who makes beautiful woven wire pieces. Don't skip the days in between, though!

Aladdin's Lamp, Russ Troll, A Snowy Day Commuting Option and Thanks to Bloggers Mentioning R&T are all part of the Rings & Things week of blogs.
Artbeads

On the Artbeads blog there's a birds-eye view of the Artbeads building, an interview of one of their staff designers (there's a dream job!), and the most current post showcases a striking beadwork necklace and a link to info on how to submit to their Customer Gallery of Designs

Robyn Hawk's blog, Gem Shows provides a great service - Gem Show listings (May). Click on her profile link and visit all her other blogs, too.

And a welcome to my blogroll (and Google Reader) for Wendy, who blogs at the lovely, informative and fun Craft Dinner. She also has a beautiful studio blog at Winged Heart Studio. Check out these cool black and white earrings (she says in the post, "I have another pair just like them" hee hee)
Would you like to see your link up there next Sunday? Mention this Sunday's post with a link to this list of blogs & links (or feel free to copy and paste the info with link to this blog), on your blog this week, leave a comment with the link to your post here, and I'll feature at least one of your recent posts in next Sunday's list!

Check the blogroll in my sidebar for some of my other favorite places to visit. Remember, you can add me to your list of blogs to follow, if you're a Blogger user, by visiting your dashboard and adding my URL.

And a word from our sponsor:



Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Bookmark and Share

posted by ohdawno at 9:00 AM 6 Comments

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Steampunk - What Does That Mean?


Steampunk Theme Pendant

As I've probably mentioned way too often, in three weeks I'm going to be at Bay Con 2009, Santa Clara, California. The theme of this year's con is "The Lost Sky City of Pyrocumulon" and as the official newsletter of the con said: "- steampunk is key". This text from a link on my Google search into steampunk is apt, "Steampunk is the intersection of technology and romance." I would elaborate that it's the intersection of pre-electronic, pre-silicon based technology, i.e., late 19th Century.

While steampunk can be realized by adopting a Victorian look and style, with the right kind of accessories, one can also imagine it as how one would look if they had descended from an alternate timeline which has led to a present day where steam engines and mechanical devices are still the backbone of industry and electronics are a curiosity, a side show. Per this, snipped from Wikipedia, "Other examples of steampunk contain alternate history-style presentations of "the path not taken" of such technology as dirigibles, analog computers, or digital mechanical computers (such as Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine); these frequently are presented in an idealized light, or with a presumption of functionality."

Those of us old enough to remember the TV show The Wild, Wild, West should easily be able to envision the look and feel of steampunk - Artemis Gordon was definitely a steampunk scientist. My first introduction to steampunk (although I'm pretty sure I didn't know that term, nor associate this with it) was the book, The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling published in 1990. I frequently re-read it just for the fascinating imaginings of a world where steam is king.

If steampunk still puzzles you, some visuals might help and I've done the Googling for you:

In General (gadgets, home decor, costuming):
The Steampunk Workshop
Brass Goggles

In Jewelry:
Earthenwood Studios - Melanie is going to Penguincon and shares one of her pieces.
Rivka's Mom - the absolute master of the look
Nouveaumotley's Etsy store - lovely pieces
poetsummer's Etsy store - vintage look, romantic and steampunk styles

Steampunk themed comic (one of my favorites)
Girl Genius


Tomorrow I'll be posting my Wanderings Around the Beadosphere again. I haven't seen anyone take me up on last week's offer to share these links around on their blogs, but I'll still post links, and the offer remains open!

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bookmark and Share

posted by ohdawno at 6:00 AM 7 Comments

Friday, April 17, 2009

Getting Ready for a Crafty Weekend!

Because it's one of those "you had to be there" kind of things, I won't explain why, but I'm going to be making something for my daughter and me featuring these:



Whatever gets made won't be identical because, while I found two packs of charms with the lobsters, I wasn't able to find more than one pack that had the starfish and scallop - so other charms will have to go on the second creation. I was thinking bracelet for me, but daughter doesn't wear them, so she'll get either earrings or a pendant. Or some kind of dangly thing she can use on a purse or hook to her keychain or a zipper...still working all this out in my head.

Tidied up my workspace a bit and did some minimal sorting, in order to be more focused about what I'm going to work on tonight and this weekend. I had a vague idea of the things I wanted to work on, while I was doing this, but I've decided to do something new to help increase my odds of actually ending up on Sunday with a sense of accomplishment.

As in real progress rather than sitting surrounded by piles of beads and findings, more piles of partly finished things, and the occasional running-out-to-the-store-for-something-new-because-I-got-a-wild-idea progress. Not that there's anything wrong with that sometimes.

Anyway, I got to thinking about how haphazardly I go about this whole jewelry obsession I have. I'm moving from "hobby" to "part time business" and maybe, in the not too distant future, full time business. At the conclusion of this ponderment, I decided that in order to be successful, I have to apply some of the project management skills (btw, that's a big part of what I do in my day job in the techie world) I've picked up along the way. Especially right now, if only to put some structured goals around what I need to do to prepare for Bay Con at the end of May.

For example, I will have a pretty small space so that sets one parameter - how much room I'll have to display, which limits what I can bring for sale pre-made. I am going to be sitting out in Artist's Alley again, so I need to be working on something all the time. That sets another parameter - what supplies to bring. The type of con, theme of con, typical con-goers, etc., help set the parameters for what kind of things might sell best. The easy parameter is "days left until show".

From all those parameters, I'll create a task list, maybe using Google Spreadsheets - if this is a successful trial-run, maybe someone will want me to share what I did, and it's very easy to share with Google. The task spreadsheet will include how many, and what kinds, of prepared bags of things to make at the table and put due dates for completion of those. Other tasks would be things like "what new items do I want to display" "complete pricing and tagging" "create inventory list".

Once the task list is created, dates assigned and priorities established, I can focus on getting the things I need to do for Bay Con done. If I get the tasks done before their due dates, then I can do whatever I want for the rest of the time, or move on to other tasks and move ahead of schedule. I'm actually liking this idea a lot, the more I write about it.

I first started using some of these techniques back in college, when I over-scheduled myself one quarter in my 2nd year. I found a book (title long forgotten) that saved me from dropping out in abject failure - and I'm not kidding, it was a really grim time. The key was breaking my days into 15 minute increments, setting achievable goals for those increments and rewarding myself periodically for success. Also dropping one class.

The organizational tips it gave were very much like a project management how-to, but written for students. Also like the time management stuff Franklin-Covey, Day-Timer, etc., have made their fortunes by providing seminars and supplies for. Me, I used Mead 4-subject 5x8 sized notebooks with graph paper pages and colored pens.

By organizing, setting goals and managing my time better, using the techniques in the book, I got thru that quarter, and subsequent quarters, graduated in 3 years and did it cum laude as well. I apply many of those same tools to my day-job. So why not my jewelry work, too? As I begin to approach this more as a part-time business than a hobby, it's essential!

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bookmark and Share

posted by ohdawno at 5:45 PM 2 Comments

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

If You Live in Maine, You Can Visit in Person! (I'm Jealous)

The wonderful Heather from The Beadin' Path (@beadinpath on Twitter) ran a little contest on Twitter a bit ago, and I won a gift certificate! (I hardly ever, ever win anything and I was so excited).

I ordered some beautiful beads (Keith O'Connor Ceramic shells, and carved & stamped raku seascape mix beads) and some tiny round gunmetal beads (not shown)



as well as joined their monthly subscription to the Monthly Bead Club and got these beauties for this month:


And a darling pair of gift beads that I bet Tish or Lisa would have very clever ideas on how to use - me, I'm just thinking earrings...



My order came yesterday but I've been a bit distracted by RL stuff, and didn't post. But I really wanted to share more than just the beads - I wanted to also tell you a little story about making my order with The Beadin' Path.

During the ordering process I ran into some trouble - turned out to be user error, not their site, but before I figured that out, I clicked their live chat help. It was fabulous! I got a help person right away who was very helpful and once I figured out the problem was my own "doh" moment, stayed a bit to chat with me, because it turned out to be the wonderful Heather, who recognized me from Twitter, on the chat.

I am a customer for life. Anyone who is using the web tools as cleverly and helpfully and just plain happily as The Beadin' Path does deserves tons of kudos. Plus they have really great beads and beading stuff. I don't wish I lived in Maine, I'm not a winter person - lived in California all my life and the first half of it in Southern California and that mainly in the desert. I am not fond of snow or long stretches of cold. But I would love to be able to visit Freeport, Maine and visit The Beadin' Path. I'm going to have to figure out how to work that into some future vacation plans.

Ok, so what have I accomplished in the past few days I've been neglecting my blog? Bits and pieces of stuff - added some length to the lava rock bead and shell necklace I posted about the other day, plus a little Romeo and Juliet type ring I hand wrapped with 20 gauge gunmetal colored Artistic Wire I found at Global Beads:




I'm going to make more of those rings in different colors of wire with pairs of Czech druk beads, and put them out at my Bay Con table this year - I think they'll be popular - as well as offer to make more 'on the spot' for anyone who wants customized ones. The rules of Artist's Alley are that I have to be working on my art and interacting with people, not focusing mainly on selling. That worked out just fine for me last year and I think I had a successful weekend.

I also finished everything but the clasp on this necklace...



...with some beads from my trip to Michael's with my daughter over the weekend, before she headed back south. For the clasp, I'd love for you to suggest some links, if you know of anything different - especially if it's unique and hand crafted - out there that you've seen.

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bookmark and Share

posted by ohdawno at 6:23 PM 2 Comments

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Beachcombing Necklace

Used some of my new beads last night - shell heishis and little whole shells, with tiny freshwater pearls, amber shell beads and brass Artistic Wire.



Reminds me of summer days spent at the beach, searching for little shells, chasing waves. I decided to make this with a rustic look. I used 26 gauge Artistic Wire in an antique brass finish to link the heishi shells and make the dangles.

See some additional closeup angles at my Art Fire shop!


Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bookmark and Share

posted by ohdawno at 12:02 PM 2 Comments

Friday, April 10, 2009

Gorgeous "Red Magma" Swarovski Crystal Disk Pendants from Artbeads

As one of the Artbeads' Blogging for Beads participants (you can find us in the blogroll on the Artbeads Blog, and I feel so fortunate to be part of this great group of crafters). I was given a choice of many wonderful pendants and other Artbeads items to blog about this month. As I mentioned a few days ago, many of the other bloggers selected beautiful painted canvas on wood pendants. Lisa at A Bead A Day chose the cool large Swarovski Crystal Button rivolis. Kelley at Kellscreations picked a beautiful copper and enamel Faith pendant.

Me, I chose the 25mm disk pendant in a new color "Red Magma". There is a 38mm size also available at Artbeads.

Red Magma is well named, it has a molten, fiery color - and the cut used on these really flickers and glows like flames on a hot coal. You can read about the new color and the new shape at the Crystallized Swarovski Elements website. I immediately pictured it with gunmetal chain - and had a nice stash ready to work with.

While I would like to work with Swarovski all the time, the price point is a bit high for my convertible badge/eyeglass/necklace lanyards except as an occasional piece, but I don't have as much of a pricing concern with single purpose jewelry, and may start using more Crystallized Swarovski beads as I deplete other (usually Czech glass) stock in certain shapes and colors. The extra flash and sparkle of these beads is distinctive and notable - especially so in a large focal like this disk pendant.

For my project with the disks Artbeads sent me, I made a customized length of gunmetal chain by disassembling a chain made of open diamond shaped links:



and then hooked them back together with some gunmetal figure 8 closed links (that were actually part of a hook and eye closure set). Tool marks on the chain are very bright and obvious, so I used my fingers and nylon tipped pliers for the links.



plus a couple feet of a small, simple, gunmetal link chain, I wanted to use.



I looped the small chain through two of the disks and attached them to the open diamond shaped links for the sides of the necklace both from the top and bottom.



I then used a smaller length, hung a third disk through it and a link, then connected the link through the center figure 8 to make a pendant.



I 'floated' the last disk on a length of the smaller chain, suspended it in the middle of the necklace.



I finished it off with a hook and eye clasp. The length of the longest part of the chain is 20". The distance down from back clasp to the end of the pendant is 12". Here's the finished necklace:



You can click on any picture to see more detail.

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bookmark and Share

posted by ohdawno at 12:11 PM 5 Comments



Bead Artists who Blog
Powered By Ringsurf