Pricing Worries

So a couple of people today let me know that I should probably lower the prices on some of my pieces. It was a little unnerving because because I don't want to be pushing sales away by charging too much but I also don't want to be charging too little...arg! it's so hard to figure out!  But at the same time I was also told by the same person that I knit wrong, I should yell at my husband for having so many cars and that my dogs are going to bite me (just because they are a breed with a bad reputation)  Soooo...maybe not the best source to be taking advice from but still, a little hard to hear.  I just tried to be confident and proud of my work even though part of me was saying "oh my they must be right!". 
On the other hand I got some good reviews on a new style I'm trying out, I should have pics up soon, the camera cord is downstairs and I'm too lazy to go get it right now. 

Spring Has Sprung

Besides making jewelry my other great passion in life is horses.  I own a wonderful quarter-horse gelding named Mac and consider him, and my dogs, to be family.  Oh and my husband, he's family too :D.  Well with winter in retreat riding season is upon us once more and I am totally stoked.  Spring is always an exciting time for this reason but this year is even better. 

See, Mac has had a rough life, he isn't telling but somewhere along the line he was roughed up pretty bad.  Along with physical scars he has some emotional issues that come out when he's being ridden.  So I've been pretty shocked when, after getting on him for the first couple time since the long winter break, and expecting our usual rodeo he has been wonderfully behaved. So this year I think we can actually learn and perfect skills that were beyond us when each ride was just a new incarnation of his old anxieties.  I'm thrilled.

Mac

This has had some repercussions on my jewelry making though.  As you can probably tell my blogging has been far less than my goal of three times a week and I haven't been making quite as many pieces as I set out to either.  My balance is off.

I am a huge believer in balance, but not the best practitioner of it. Work, Play, Passions, Chores, I believe I will always be searching for the best way to bring balance into my life.  Personally I tend to heavily indulge in Play and Passions, leaving Work and Chores by the wayside.  There are many reasons for this, and I haven't always been like this but it is who I am at the moment.  Rather than fight my inclinations I have learned to combine my passions with my work, and my play with my chores. This approach to life won't gain me fame or fortune, but it will bring me happiness, which for me is the most important life goal.

However there are times when things need a little adjustment and, while it will bring long-term happiness, in the short term there's going to be some grumbling.  Right now this means getting my jewelry done in spite of my desire to be riding every moment of every day (you may think I exaggerate...not by much).  So I'll be figuring out a plan to get myself into the studio more often as well as attending to the increasing needs of the business aspect.  I'll be back to tell you how it goes!

Soldering Non-Tarnish Silver

    There's no denying it, I've been outright slacking on the blog. Oops.  There are exciting things going on though.  With my husbands help I got shelves up in my studio which freed up enough space that I could set up my soldering stuff without having to worry about setting things on fire (don't worry Mom, I have a fire extinguisher very hand, just in case). So now I can solder in my very own home!

    My first project were some large jump-rings for a necklace out of non-tarnish silver.  I have learned that non-tarnish silver requires some very careful handling when soldering since it's actually silver wire with a copper core and a non-tarnish coating.  For starters the non-tarnish coating burns off, so ventilation is a good thing (not having a hood, this means me piling on sweaters and opening a window) Secondly the wire does some funky stuff as it heats.  As the temperature goes up the silver disappears, but wait, don't panic yet, because right before the medium solder melts it comes back!  At this point you have to be careful because if you keep the heat on too intensely the silver will burn off and this time it won't come back. I'm not sure what exactly what is going on in the wire but it is (obviously) much more complicated than straight silver.  I've ruined quite a few jump-rings getting the hang of it but I'm slowly catching on. 
   
   I've also got some more designs up in my Etsy store. One pair of earrings sold on there so far. Yey!

First Online Sale!

I've been pretty lax about updating, it's hard to get really enthused about keeping up the blog when I know no one is reading it BUT it's also good for me to record my progress and my findings so I will persevere, hopefully.
Three Sisters' Marketplace is now officially open (my shop is here) and I have even made my first ever online sale...actually I made three!  Very, very exciting especially since two of them were to someone I don't even know!  I do have to say my mom has been my best supporter (and buyer) for as long as I have been making jewelry, and without her support I don't think I ever would have been confident enough to start my own business.  Even so, it is really nice to know that someone who isn't related, and at least somewhat required to like what you do, show their appreciation of your art by buying it.
I made a list (like I am wont to do when flustered) when the order came in and here's how it goes:

What to do when someone orders a piece of Jewelry
- Freak out (very important step, do not skip!)
- Polish piece.
- Assemble display (presentation is important!)
- Package jewelry carefully making sure to include
   - Care and cleaning instructions
   - Short thank you note
- Send Package ASAP
- Mark as shipped
- Celebrate! (with sushi optimally)
- Make replacement piece and list in store

It may sound silly but I actually need lists like this or I tend to get stuck on the first step, going "EEEEEEEEEE" and jumping around like a squirrel on speed.  My husband and dogs all very graciously put up with this step for a short while but are grateful when I move on and get to work. So are my vocal chords.

Now, even though I'd rather be at the barn with my horsie, I'm making those replacement pieces so I can
list them, hopefully sell them, and be able to afford nice things for said horsie!

Crochet, Etsy, Pictures

Yesterday I learned to crochet, I took a class at Joann Fabrics which was informative but a little expensive for what it was.  Crochet has always been a mystery to me, all that looping and twisting but now I know!  I'm thinking I like how knitting looks a little better but the process of crochet is a bit friendlier than knitting.  Once I actually make something other than sampler pieces I'll take a picture and throw it up here.

I've been meaning to write several posts on different subjects but always seem to wait until right before I go to bed to write my posts and then usually decide I'm too tired to write coherently.  I'm just going to have to switch my schedule around to make sure I get my blogging time in.

I now have an Etsy shop up and running, you can find it at www.etsy.com/shop/DancingTreeJewelry/.  So far I've found Etsy to be easier to add items to than Three Sisters, but there are also so many functions like circles, favoriting items and shops, that it gets a little complicated figuring it all out. At the moment there are different items in my shops, eventually I hope to have enough stock to have items listed in both places but that might take a few months before I get two of everything.

I finally got some pictures taken with the help of my wonderful husband. Here are a few of the better ones.

Four Tier Spiral Earrings in Non-Tarnish Silver

8in1 Chainmaille Cuff in NuGold

Thick Clef Bracelet in NuGold

By The Sea Necklace

Busy, Busy

So I've made a facebook page for my jewelry it can be found HERE or just go to facebook and look up Dancing Tree Jewelry.  If you like me I'll give you cookies...imaginary cookies, but still...coooookies!
    I've also been busy making a new one of these:

Egyptian Spiral Necklace in Silver

and still trying to get those darn ring sizes right for the Asian chainmaille.  Even with the wooden dowel it's not coming out quite small enough so I was really stumped until Rob came up with the brilliant idea of sanding down the dowel by putting it on the dremel and holding sandpaper against it so it would sand evenly to the correct size. Brilliant I say!
And yeah...the pictures...I'll get them soon I swear!

Frustration

I've been trying to duplicate some of my older pieces and I'm running into some frustrating problems. The mandrels I have to make jump rings on have either changed in size (unlikely) or are different than the ones I originally used.  It's only a difference of a mm or so but it's enough for the ratio of the rings to not work right.  Frustration!  Unfortunately metal dowels don't come in many sizes, at least not that I've been able to find.  I think I was using wooden dowels when I made  the pieces I'm trying to duplicate.  Wooden dowels are certainly not ideal but do come in many more sizes.   So for the moment, or until I have a brainstorm, I won't be able to make a tight  doubled Aisan chainmaille weave.  The Tragedy!

Golden Asian Chainmaille Bracelet

On the bright side, once I stopped banging my head against the wall, I came up with a nice, simple but elegant earring design.  Pics when I do another photo shoot.

I almost met my production goal for this week, I made two medium pieces, a bracelet anbd necklace and one small piece, and updated the blog twice.  I also received a bunch of  beads that I ordered from Fire Mountain Gems and Beads, they have great sales sometimes and I got a lot of goodies that hopefully I can incorporate into some designs.  To be honest I'm not great at beading.  I can spend hours and hours on a piece of chainmaille but try and do the same with a beaded piece and I get bored and frustrated.  Go figure.

In exciting news I just have to pick up a fire extinguisher to have in my studio and I'll be ready to start soldering!  I'm hoping that the micro-torches I'm planning on using will be hot enough, I'm not ready to make the investment in a full torch and gas bottle setup, not to mention not having the room.  As it is I'm going to have to do some major cleaning and put up lots of shelving to make room for soldering.  Even so I'm very, very excited!

Three Sister's Marketplace

I have decided to use Three Sister's Marketplace as one of the online venues I will sell my jewelry through. I have decided to go with them for a couple of reasons.  The biggest one is that they don't charge a listing or monthly fee, just a commission for what you do sell; on the downside that fee is fairly high.  It is a juried site so the quality of goods is kept high and attracts a buyer who is looking to spend money for quality. They are also a very new marketplace, not even open for business yet in fact, which is good because there are relatively few vendors, so my shop will be easier to find for random shoppers however, since they are brand new there are likely to be relatively few of those. Hopefully the site owners will advertise aggressively and build their reputation quickly. 
I have a few items up at the moment, I will be adding more as I get more inventory and good pictures. If you are interested you can find my shop here.

How to Price Jewlery

I may think $75 is a fair price for one of my necklaces, but what is it really worth? When I sell a piece of jewelry I need to be making money on it but often that means pricing it above what I personally may think it is worth. I suppose what really matters is what my customers think it's worth but that's a subject I'm going to dedicate a whole 'nother entry to.

Different artists value the same piece differently. Here's the same bracelet (materials and design) priced at $20 and $50 by two different artists. It also happens to be a design I make, though not in bracelet form. So what's reasonable pricing?

"Home Jewelry Success Tips" has a formula here and there are many articles linked to here at "Make for Business" most of which I haven't gotten to dig through yet. All the formulas can be broken down to include materials, packaging, labor, overhead, and profit. The formula in the first link is as follows:

Base price = (cost of materials + packaging) x 4 + your pro-rated hourly labor rate + 10% of that total for overhead costs.

The first question I had was why are the materials multiplied by 4? Well, the business needs to make a profit, above what you pay yourself hourly. This way you can buy new materials, packaging and tools. If you only pay yourself for the materials you used you can only buy enough new materials to make one more piece, much less any tools you may need to buy or replace. If you multiply your material cost you give yourself funding to buy more materials to make more pieces, and buy any tools you need.

So let's take the piece I feel should sell for $75:
My materials cost for that piece is $8 plus $2 for packaging. Times that by 4 gives me $40
Research shows that most independent jewelers pay themselves $20 per hour. This piece takes me 4 1/2 hours so right there we're at $90. Plus the $40 and we're at $130. Wow, and we still have to add 10%.

So my "$75" piece is calculated to sell at $143. Gulp. Most emerging artists tend to undervalue their work, and it seems I am no different.

So now I have some options.

• Sell the piece at the calculated price. This is the most profitable but also the scariest option. If there isn't a customer who also values the piece at that high of a price then I have no sale to show for my materials and work.
• Adjust my formula. I have never been paid $20 an hour in my life. In fact, when I was working, I was working for half that, and doing something much more difficult than making jewelry...long story. So, while I may be worth $20 an hour, I have a very hard time making myself believe it (Have I mentioned my low self-esteem yet?). So I can adjust my hourly wage. I can also adjust my profit margin, but no less than materials times 2.5, below that and I'm likely to be losing money when buying new tools and materials.
• Toss the formula out and sell the work for what I think it's worth. While this is an option it won't be the one I'll be taking. Not only will I not be making any profit, I will likely lose money through overhead costs. I also won't be making much at all for my time (I may not think my time is worth much but at least I know it's worth something). Not only would this option hurt my business, it hurts the handmade jewelry business as a whole since it leads customers to expect cheap prices when they aren't sustainable for the artists.
  
• Adjust the design. By adjusting a design to use less materials or to simplify it so it takes less time to make you can bring down the price of the piece. This works nicely for some pieces, and some actually benefit from simplification. Others, like the one I have in mind, just can't be slimmed down anymore than they already are.
• Work more efficiently. This is another subject I'm going to post separately on because it's so important. There are countless ways to make your life easier and make your work go faster in the studio. If you can cut down the amount of time a piece takes to make you also cut down the cost.
  

To wrap up, because it's getting awfully late and my head hurts (math was never really my thing), I will probably adjust the formula until I come up with a price that makes me a decent profit and won't make me feel like I'm ripping people off.

New Pictures

Clef Necklace in Silver (Aluminum)

Friday was picture day. Taking pictures of jewelry is tricky and frustrating but I am slowly improving. Getting the picture in focus, without glare and yet bright enough to be clearly visible but not washed out is a delicate balance. I found this site to be very helpful. It has as lot of great links and tips. I found the $15 photo studio link particularly useful for this round of shots. The idea is to use a large, clear rubbermaid box on it's side as your light box. It diffuses the light nicely and it's fairly cheap. Luckily I had one laying around that worked nicely. I didn't have quite the right lighting set up so I had to adjust the lighting in my photo editor for some of the shots. I also couldn't find my mini-tripod so I set up a stack of books and held the camera very carefully, hooray for improvising! Still, I don't have a macro lens so a lot of the shots came out blurry. I found that using the "speed" setting gave me the clearest shots. Perhaps when I re-read my camera's manual I will find a more appropriate setting.

This is my favorite shot of the day:

Byzantine Necklace in Silver (Aluminum)

The couple of props, the drape of the necklace and fabric, it just came out very nicely.

Goals

“If you don't know where you are going. How can you expect to get there?”

Basil S. Walsh

I have a certain aversion to goals developed from a long history of not meeting them. Both those that have been set for me by others and those that I set for myself. However, like the quote implies, goals are good. Goals are necessary. I can put all the effort I can muster into this project and it won't do me any good unless I have a map to guide my efforts, and map is useless unless you have a destination in mind. So today I'm going to set out my goals, large and small so I can start drawing my map.

Large Goals

• Start and maintain a business selling jewelry online,
  
• And selling at craft fairs.
• Earn $300 a month through this business.
• Update this blog at least three times a week.

The last one is pretty self explanatory but the first three are going to need to be broken down into much smaller steps.

Medium Steps

• Make two of each non-unique piece to list online.
• Make three of each non-unique piece to bring to craft fairs.
• Make one unique piece every two weeks.
  
• Find two online marketplaces and list jewelry.
• Find and sign up for two craft fairs a month.
  
• Price items reasonable yet realistically.
  

And once again breaking those steps down into smaller steps...

Small Steps

• Create at least one large piece and three small pieces a week.
• Take pictures of jewelry for online marketplaces and juried craft fairs.
• Research online marketplaces.
• Research local craft fairs.
• Buy packaging and shipping materials.
• Create displays for craft fairs.

So, there are my goals, all laid out nice and neat. If you think of any I've missed let me know in the comment section and I'll add them right in. Stay warm on this snowy day and happy goal setting!

The Plunge

Leaf Necklace in Non-Tarnish Copper

I am taking the plunge. I am starting my own handmade jewelry business... and a blog to go along with it. This will mainly be a place to keep anyone interested informed about what I'm currently making. It will also be a place to keep myself organized, set goals and track my progress. I also hope that as I navigate the twists and turns of starting a business I can help others who might be interested in doing the same, and share any wisdom I happen to pick up along the way.

Byzantine Necklace in Silver (Aluminum)