Zen and the Art of Jewelry

I've found that making jewelry for me is like yoga. In that - in one class I can't wait to get to natarajasanae and the next class I dread that pose like you wouldn't believe and I live for cobra but in the next class cobra gives me some problems and I'm all a twitter for downward dog and the class after that I loath the downward dog and am really looking forward to the inverted pose... see where I'm going with this? I've found the same is true with my work - with a lot less variation. Some days I can't stop making necklaces - I love my necklaces! The next - I think they are crap and earrings are definitely my thing.

In case you are lost - here is an example of natarajasanae

It should be noted - this is not me.

And here are some of my earrings - which I loved last week!

 

This week? I like my necklaces. But check back next week!

Now do you see the connection?

No? Well, I guess that is why one keeps going back to yoga - b/c it's always a challenge - there is always something to look forward to and you are never a master. The day I am completely satisfied with my work, cease to see it as a challenge and don't think there is any area for improvement is the day I stop doing what I love. I never want to master this.

Etsy!

I finally put stuff in my Etsy shop! I didn't put much in there - after getting photos ready to post (took forever!) I realized that I need to re-shoot pretty much everything. So I only have my earrings up. I'll be re-shooting the necklaces this weekend. 

Here are some examples

 

 

I decided to wear some - those photos were not easy! But I like to see the relative size of things and wearing it seems to be the best way to show that. Also - that little metal thing holding up the cards? I made it in one of my very first metal smithing classes ever - in high school! It was for some kind of soldering exercise. Apparently I liked it so much I decided to keep it for going on something ridiculous like 15 years (give or take). I'm glad I did b/c it came in very handy! I think I may keep using it to photograph my pieces...

Procrastination - aka My Etsy is still not up - aka if Time Managment were a class I would probably fail it. And that's really the point - not failing.

I was putting off writing this post in the hopes that I would not procrastinate and have my etsy shop up and running by now. This post is evidence that that hasn't happened. If you've clicked on the "my etsy" link on this blog this is what you will see:



That's right - nothing. That's not true this is what you see:

Very close to nothing.

The thing is - posting on Etsy is a lot more difficult then I ever thought! I know my life is so difficult. Well it's way more time consuming then I ever thought it would be. I really thought I would get it done in one evening.  Which brings us to my horrible time management skills. There really is nothing more to say on the subject than that - I'm really bad at managing my time. I try to squeeze way too much stuff into a little tiny window of time. Add to the mix that I'm a huge procrastinator and here we are at least two weeks after I said I'd have my Esty shop up, and well, I have a banner done... even if it is the same banner from this very blog. It's a start!

In my very first post I declared that I would use this blog as a way to hold myself accountable (as you can see I need it b/c I put things off!). But why am I putting this off - I need to sell my pieces (and stop wearing them - we'll get to that). I think everyone who has/is/or will put themselves "out there" has had this moment. The moment right before it begins when you haven't failed b/c you haven't begun. So to be completely truthful I haven't put my Etsy shop up yet b/c if I don't - I can't fail - I can't succeed either but that's not the fear.

In one of my meetings with my business consultant he said to me "I usually don't like working with artists because they can't seem to let go."... Yep! It was true when the university wanted to buy one of my metal pieces and I said "No way - I want that" You know where it is now? Not at the University of Iowa on display for all time - it's in my bathroom holding hair ties.

Evidence:

And it's true now when every time I make something new and I say to myself "Ooh, I like this - I think I'll wear it tomorrow." But will you (collective universal you) like it!?

Photography

So I'm not the best photographer - this is why I like screen printing and metal smithing - b/c with these mediums when I picture something in my head I can usually recreate it exactly as I see it in my minds eye, no problem. The same is not true when it comes to my photography. I never seem to get the correct angels and don't even get me started on lighting! My main problem with this art form is  that there is so much that is out of my control that I haven't learned to manipulate to my advantage yet. I have no problem using a torch to make metal completely malleable but shadows in photography make me cry with frustration. The whole point of this is that I'm trying to learn how to shoot my pieces - and I'm never completely satisfied with the outcome. Below are some examples of my latest attempts.

My opinion - meh. But! I won't give up! I should probably just cough up the money to get my things photographed professionally but it seems more practical for me to do this myself - or rather learn to do this myself as I need to take pictures as I'm creating and it just doesn't seem practical to make weekly photography appointments.

Here's a really bad one!

Okay maybe these aren't so bad and I'm just being hard on myself (maybe I should stop comparing myself (a newbie to this) to other who have a lot more experience!).

But I believe this is a very important skill especially because I am attempting to sell my pieces to people that can not feel or see (or try on) these things for themselves in real life - so the photography really needs be spectacular! That's how I shop - I've noticed that if the picture doesn't really do the piece justice I will move on (I'm assuming most people are like me - which may not be the case - but I'm still going with this generalization).

At any rate - I'm behind my schedule of posting my pieces to etsy so I'm just going to use what I have at the moment and continue to re-shoot until I'm satisfied. 

I'm expecting as I continue with this that my photography skills will improve or I just need a magic camera that is incapable of taking a bad photo... yes, I think that's my answer - magic.

Accomplishments - Kind of

So, while I feel like I haven't really accomplished that much in the past week (or two) since I last blogged - now that I'm actually writing it out I think I have! I have a preliminary business card.

I couldn't decide on colors - so I picked two!

This is just the front - it's sort of a prelim logo design. I can be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to design. I will redesign something to within an inch of it's life - so, I'm not completely satisfied with these. But I like the colors... The thing is, my business consultant told me I should come up with a logo; but not a text logo. However, I'm a bit of a font enthusiast so I like the idea of just using a font; but I understand where he is coming from. People need to be able to easily identify my brand.

But when I think about it I kind of like this design - maybe I should listen to my gut and go with the text... Well, that's what I'm going with at the moment. I'm also having a stamp made (it's similar to the above but slightly different) to stamp my packages when people start buying my pieces.

Speaking of buying - I'm still getting the photography straightened out (remember that perfectionist comment?) But I've found the packaging I want to use (exciting!) and soon I'll have my stamp! So maybe I did accomplish a bit more then I thought - logo, business cards, packaging. Oh, I've also come up with a display idea - more on that later!

So, in other news - my assumed business name was published... incorrectly. This will be the confession portion of this post. I can be a pessimist at times. As hard as I try there always seems to be this little voice in the back of my mind going "this won't work". And well, when I saw the incorrect posting I thought "is this a sign, that this won't work?" No. I called the Chicago Reader where it was published and the woman was very nice and fixed everything for me! She even called the city people (not sure who "the city people" are) to make sure this wouldn't set me back - and it won't! So all good on that front - I am now an official business in the City of Chicago - yay!

Next stop - Etsy. I'll be posting my store to Etsy this week. Look for that!

ETA: after reading through this post I feel I should have titled it - It's Official! - or something more positive to that effect and lead with the fact that I am now an official business. Having said that, narrowing my business card colors down to only two was way more difficult then registering my business...

Week 1!

While this isn't technically week one - for the purposes of this blog - we will call it week 1. So week 1! What did I accomplish? Photos! For my site!

While I only completed shooting the necklaces and I have a lot of re-shooting to do - I'm excited to get my site up. 

I'll post it as soon I re-shoot (really - you can probably just Google the blog name and find it). Some of my pictures turned out blurry and I still have a lot of earrings to photograph - which are proving a little tricky.

On Monday I have a  second meeting with a business consultant. After our first meeting he told me I need to get my site up (working on it!) register as a business (done!) get a sales tax id (done!) and figure out my pricing structure. Um... The thing is I'm horrible at this - I don't want to feel like I'm charging too much but at the same time a lot of what I do is very time consuming and I use some expensive materials. So I'm stuck on this one. After looking at a lot of other jewelry designers pricing I've come to the conclusion that pricing is completely arbitrary while staying in the range from $20-$80. So that's what I'm going with, somewhere in that range. My consultant probably won't buy that.

I'm planning on having my site up and running by next week - then my next step is packaging. I need to figure out how I'm going to package all of my pieces for all of the wonderful people that will soon be purchasing my work. I also do silk-screening and would really like to incorporate that into the package design...

Stay tuned for my new business cards and website!

Background

Maybe I should let everyone know a little about what it is I'm intending to do and what I have done up to this point.

I think all this started in college where I majored in jewelry and metal arts at the University of Iowa (go Hawks!). I had decided in high school that I would be an art major after I took a metal smithing class at my school - I won a competition and was done for as far as a medium goes (until I found silk screening and letter press but that's for later). So I continued happily through college going to my beloved studio classes until my junior year when I had a mini freak-out about what I was going to do with a degree in metals. Which is when I decided to do graphic design - it made sense it was still part of the studio program but a more marketable skill - marketable in the corporate world which is where I thought, at the tender age of 22, everyone went after college.

Which brings us to October 2010 after working in the corporate world for over 5 years (I know - so long! I gave it a fair shot.) I have decided I need out.  The thing is, I knew this about myself in college when my parents tried to talk me into taking business classes - I refused knowing I would never work in an office (Ha! if only 23 year old me could see me now).

So for the past 5 years I have been trying to figure out what it is I want to do - I have thought about this obsessively since leaving school always going back to metals. But it never really occurred to me until a little over a year ago why I kept going back - why I didn't feel right when I wasn't creating. And it all makes sense. I remember dreaming in college about having my own studio with my casting kilns, torches and giant butane tanks (and metals!) and then dismissing those ideas as out of reach. But why? Those thoughts have never left me. I like to believe that if there is something in your life you just can't let go - something that won't leave you alone - that is the universe telling you to pay attention to it.

From the time I won my first competition in high school - these thoughts have not left. I keep going back. Ever since I've decided to focus all my efforts on starting my own business I feel much better about this path (not that I'm not completely terrified!).

So here I am. I have a product, a business license, the beginnings of a website and a whole lot of learning to do. I think in order to keep up on my progress I should do a weekly post about what I have accomplished as far as turning this business into a legitimate reality. I see these posts going something like this - "Week 20: Major Meltdown". "Week 21: Sold something to a non-family member (it was a friend)" I'll intersperse these with all my delightful insights and general life happenings!

That was long - but stay tuned I'll be posting my website soon!

Beginnings

Of the blog that is - I've taken some - albeit small - steps in starting my own business but this is where I will record exactly what I'm doing and what it takes to do this.  Really this is where I'm going to hold myself accountable. So, wish me luck as I begin this journey and I'll be back soon to tell you how it's all going!