No Longer a Hobby

With my upcoming participation in the American Craft Council Baltimore Show I guess I can no longer call myself a hobbyist. I am in full production mode and between managing my two web sites VelinaGlass.com and ArtJewelryOnline.com, working full time and supporting my two sons in college to say that I am overwhelmed is an understatement. A lot of my previous work has been focused on organic shapes and big bangles. I will still maintain these items in my line, but I am now producing a new line that is focused on circles. So far I have thrown out 2/3 of my prototypes but I am extremely pleased with the remaining work. One of the things that I love about resin is that since the material itself is inexpensive I can work through prototypes using resin and not the more expensive metals. The value in resin is in the design and arduous finishing. I may spend anywhere from 2-4 hours sanding a piece so that it feels like silk. I am trying to get away from smooth surfaces to avoid sanding but some of my more popular work is smooth so I will continue to sand and watch TV so that my mind does not become mush. The work shown above is representative of my metalwork, organic and smooth surface.

American Craft Council

I am overwhelmed with fear and anticipation as this is my first year participating in the Baltimore American Craft Council show. I am doing both wholesale and retail so I am expecting 5 grueling days. I don't know what I would do without Lori Gottlieb (awesome jewelry artist) she has been helping me every step of the way! I thought all I had to do was make jewelry but there is so much more that goes into preparing for a big show. I am scouring the internet for more tips and tricks. Hopefully all will go well. Pictured is Lori's Open Pebble Necklace with matching earrings. It is my personal favorite!

EtsyHolidaySale and EtsyFreeShipping

I forgot to mention that my Art Jewelry Online Etsy store is have a holiday sale with worldwide free shipping and 25% off your entire purchase. Some of the bargains are left to right Single Pearl Cuff Bracelet Reg $280 Sale $210, Gentle Current Bracelet made of re-purposed Lake Superior Pebbles and peridot gemstones Reg $375 Sale $281.25, Love and Kisses hand blown glass perfume bottle Reg. $95 Sale $71.25, Dark Chocolate Mink Ring made of reclaimed mink and sterling silver Reg. $230 Sale $172.50 and my very own Fossil Brooch Reg. $295 Sale $221.25.

Shopping Online

Before I even had a website I was a devoted online shopper. The great sales bargains never outweighed my discomfort at waiting in long lines and exposure to large crowds. If there is anything I can't find online I send my boys out with a specific shopping list. I always felt the reason they called it Black Friday was because of my strong desire to avoid venturing out of my home. So for all the brave souls that go out into the jungle of holiday shopping I wish you short lines and great deals!

Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History

I now work at Terra Firma a jeweler's supply store in Pikesville, MD. The other day a mother and daughter came in to buy some display merchandise. The little girl about 11 was just too well behaved and when my coworker commented on her excellent behavior the girl smiled sheepishly. I then told the little girl to always remember that well behaved women rarely make history. To this she showed a wide bright smile while her mother shot daggers at me. Oh well, it is hard to censor myself at 52 and soon to be 53 YIKES! pictured is sapphire ring by Kelly Kerkes

Gearing up my Etsy shop for the holidays. I am adding lots of new work over the next few weeks from my Nudes series. I hope you will stop by and take a look. Just click on the button below for a sneak preview.

Empty Nest

This week I took both of my sons to college. I have dreaded this day for many years. What would I do without my sidekicks? Who would do the heavy lifting? They have now been gone since Wednesday and this thought came to me.

$500 for security deposit
$500 for 1st months rent
$1000 for text books
$200 for groceries
Having an uninterrupted day in the studio PRICELESS!

Pictured above, Stephen age 21 and Christopher age 18.

Art Jewelry Magazine Article

I have an article coming out in Art Jewelry Magazine's November Issue on how to make my resin pendant titled Celestial Seasonings. At first they said September so I hope there are not any other delays. Keeping my fingers crossed.

A Few of My Favorite Things

I love the work of resin artist Lulu Smith. Her use of vivid colors accented with silver is amazing. If you have not heard of Lulu here are some of her pics.

Three Dimensional Resin YIKES!

I am working on a rendering for a new jewelry line that I have had in my mind's eye forever but I am struggling with how to make the resin rise above the metal design without detracting from the metal or the resin. Placing resin on domed objects has always been difficult for me but since this piece is not just inlay it is a combination of sculpted resin and metal it is a challenge. The thickener that I use to add to the resin tends to make a lot of air bubbles. That is why most resin artists work on a flat surface or use opaque colors to hide the bubbles. I do all of my work in translucent resins and I am determined not to stop now. My primary incentive was that my 3 dimensional resin work did better at Artscape than the flat work that I usually do. Before I become too frustrated I am going to set the sketch aside. I'm sure the answer will come to me in a flash of brilliance usually found drinking my morning coffee and petting my dog. When done I will share my sketch. Until then it is coffee with Brittany.

Exciting Month

July was a blast! I had my
own booth at Artscape and I received an advance copy of a Lark book that featured my work. See Lark Book images below. For my first Artscape I did not do too bad. I can't wait until next year to capitalize on my presence. Highlight of Artscape was a free performance by Robin Thicke (I'm so in love with him.)

I Feel Pretty

I just love these hand blown scent bottles by Eloise Cotton. Eloise is known for her lampwork jewelry but her scent bottles are a lovely addition to her line.

Selling Jewelry Online Part 2

Selling jewelry online is always a question of time or money. Do I have enough time to run my own shop or am I willing to give up a piece of my revenue to have someone else do it for me. Let's take a look at the online vendors I discussed in my earlier post and how they may fit into your marketing plan. I have divided the different venues into three categories.

The first category I call wholesale sites. Wholesale sites ask the jeweler to provide them with a wholesale price (usually 50% of retail), images and descriptions. The site then manages the sales process. The wholesaler advertises, runs the site, pays the cost of shipping, processes payments, and pays the artist a commission at some designated time. They have a stringent jury process and can therefore maintain quality on their site. Two examples of wholesale sites are Artful Home and Art Jewelry Online. I think Object Fetish falls into this category but I am not certain. If someone could give me a heads up I would greatly appreciate it.

The second category I call step up web sites. They maintain a juried site so there is some guarantee of quality but since the fees are significantly less than wholesalers you will have to do a lot of the work yourself. Soleyne and America Creates fall into this category. Soleyne charges an 8% commission and America Creates charges 25%. In both instances you have to upload images of your work, provide descriptions, list tags and input pricing. Both sites indicate that advertising is forthcoming. They are both relatively new.

The third category I call the "It's Your Shop" venue. Here there is no jury process and anyone can sign up to sell their work. This is the case where you definitely have to have time. You do everything from category 2 plus all of your own marketing and advertising. They usually cost little to nothing to list merchandise and then take a small fee once something sells. Some have said that these venues are primarily for less expensive work but I have seen some high end artists do well on these sites. The key is know your customer and market like crazy to that market segment. Etsy, Shop Handmade, iCraft, Artfire and 1000 markets fall into this category. Etsy is the largest vendor of the group.

I don't claim to be the all knowing writer so I hope folks chime in and give me their perspective on things.

Part 3 will discuss how to write a business plan or what I affectionately call, "Where do you want to go and what are you willing to do to get there?"

Earrings by Emanuela Aureli

Blue Nile Vs. the World

Jeweler's around the world are rejoicing because Blue Nile's growth appears to have reached a plateau at least according to Jewelry Network an online industry newsletter. Blue Nile sales during 4Q 08 decreased 26.8% while brick and mortar stores only decreased 16.2%. I guess if I owned a store this would appear to be good news but I think this is a grim forecast for anyone in the industry. My feeling is that I want everyone to do well. What an awful perspective to think that your success depends on someone else's failure. Moving forward I would like to see everyone in the jewelry industry prosper...there's room for all of us!

Image is a reclaimed mink ring by Gayle Friedman.

Etsy Tips

I am a relative newcomer to Etsy, but I have recently found 2 tools that I love. Etsy offers Google Analytics on their site. The tool is found on the "your Etsy shop" page along the left hand column and is titled "web analytics". The instructions were relatively simple and easy to follow. This tool allows you to track visitors, source of visitors, number of visits, number of page views etc. Since I installed this tool I have found that I have about 1500 visitors to my Etsy shop per week. I never expected that number! The second tool comes from Etsyhacks.com. You can go to Firefox and add on the greasemonkey software on to your Firefox browser. Then when you want to relist an item or list a similar items go to the item's product page and you will see an icon directly under "report this item" that is called "copy this item". Click on the icon and voila your listing is copied. You need only add the image. Wow what a timesaver!


"Bells of the Ball" a Lampwork Pendant by Eloise Cotton

Selling Jewelry Online

I am surfing the web at 3 am and trying to figure out the best places to sell jewelry. Here is the list I have compiled so far: iCraft (Canada), DaWanda (Great Britain, France and Germany), Etsy, Shop Handmade, America Creates, Artful Home, Soleyne, Object Fetish, 1000 Markets, and of course my site ArtJewelryOnline.

Here's my opinion:

Etsy...Okay for price points under $100 but a challenge to sell more expensive work. I like the fact that you can advertise and track your visitors on Google Analytics.

Shop Handmade...Free to sell by selecting a sponsor like addicted to rubber stamps. I noticed lots of cutsie stuff on this site but I also found some talented jewelers.

iCraft...Free to sell 5 products or less. Not sure how to categorize this one. Primarily a Canadian site that has a full range to low to moderate priced goods.

Artful Home...juried work and tough for jeweler's to participate. Lots of artists doing jewelry but they get lost in all the furniture, glass etc.

America Creates...A newer juried site. They are still working out the technology kinks but appear to be a site for better jewelers. The take a 25% commission when work sells.

1000 Markets...I do not like that they use Amazon for checkout. Amazon has no support system. I prefer Yahoo and Paypal.

Soleyne...Advertises that they are more art than craft. Still in their infancy but appear to be headed in the right direction.

DaWanda...Totally free to sell here. Tough to work the overseas market, but very easy to use and set up shop.

Object Fetish is new to me so if you have any experience I would love to hear it.

ArtJewelryOnline...of course I love this one it is my site. What I like most is that I sell jewelry and nothing else. Not accepting new artists now but keep in touch for future openings.

Would love to here opinions about these and other shops.

Image of Basket Earrings by Gayle Friedman. 18k/ss bimetal.

Original or Imitation Jewelry

I work with this amazing artist Hratch Babikian and he produces work inspired by Sea Urchins. Imagine my surprise today as I was reading news at the National Jewelry Network on new trends from Italian designers when I saw an almost exact replica of Hratch's work. I do believe that two people can by coincidence come up with a similar design but in this case Hratch has been making his Sea Urchin jewelry since forever and it has been featured almost everywhere. So you be the judge, is it original or is it an imitation?



Click here for a photo of the Italian design on page 2.

Free Earrings and Jewelry Sale

www.artjewelryonline.com is having a sale with discounts from 30% - 60% April 22-29. You need a password to enter the sales portal and you can receive one by filling out the form at the bottom of the page to join our mailing list. We are also sponsoring an earring giveaway at Fabulous Fun Finds right here on blog spot. I wear these earrings almost everyday and according to my 17 year old son these earrings are banging! See you at the sale!

American Craft Council Show Baltimore

Last week I had a chance to visit the ACC Show in Baltimore and all I can say is WOW! I focused on jewelry artists and the caliber and quality of the work was amazing. Some of my favorites are Shana Kroiz, Lori Gottlieb, Sydney Lynch, Ana Cavalheiro, Debra Adelson and many more.

Shana's work is sensual, daring and impecably crafted. She is a world class enamelist and it shows in her work. You will not see anything like it in the jewelry world.

Lori's jewelry is feminine with a twist of surprise. I love that her design sense is unpredictable. This probably comes from her prior life as a surgeon.

Sydney's work has an organic feel and seamlessly melds color with metal. Her work has a certain elegance to it. She works in silver, gold and jewels.

Ana's work is a statement of class, color and glitz that is a style all her own. You will see lots of gold and precious stones in her work.

Debra's work is fun and well crafted. She works primarily with plastic and resin. It is amazing how she makes plastic look like a million dollars. She has also written an amazing book on resin and plastic. If you like to make your own jewelry I highly recommend this book.

I wish I could feature all of the jewelry artist today but I'll save some for tomorrow.

Lampwork Classes at the Gem Cutter's Guild

I am a member of the Gem Cutters Guild of Baltimore and they have an upcoming class with one of my favorite teachers Lisa St. Martin. Lisa makes the daunting task of making glass beads seem easy and thrilling at the same time. Lisa is teaching beginner to intermediate skill levels in this class which for her is as easy as pie. I attended two of her classes, one in DC and the other at Cauldron Crafts in Catonsville. Both were absolutely wonderful. Lisa has been making glass beads for so long her web site is www.glassbeads.com. She was an artist with vision snatching up that coveted web address. If you think you might like to try this class the description and registration information are below. Good Luck and hope to see you there! Bicone Bead by Lisa St. Martin.


• Lisa St Martin March 28 and 29 Saturday & Sunday 10 AM - 4 PM (2 days/12 hours) Tuition: $200 • There is a $35 materials fee - Paid to the instructor the first day of class This class is for the student who has taken a beginning class in lampwork glass beadmaking or someone who needs a refresher and is ready to try new things and improve skills. Class will have a short overview on equipment and safety, and then we will move on to more advanced color, shaping and decorative techniques. The emphasis in this class will be on hands-on torch work. Instructor will work with students on their individual needs. Join us for this exciting exploration of glass.

register at http://www.gemcuttersguild.com/classesespring.htm

Half-Price Sundays At ETSY

I just started a promotion at my ETSY store www.ArtJewelryOnline.ETSY.com called Half-Price Sundays. I ask visitors to stop by and vote on their favorite jewelry and the item that gets the most votes is featured for half-price the following Sunday. The first week was all about glamour featuring a reclaimed mink ring reg. $280 on sale for $240 and the Apple Mill mink earrings Reg. $120 Sale $60. Next Sunday I will tally the votes and feature the winner at HALF-PRICE!