We ignore TV for the most part and are very protective of our time and environment. Given that we both use creative activities as part of our way of living, we try to have as little distraction as possible, and that the spaces we are in are conducive to “the vibe”. Our spaces are separate and well-organized, but there’s always an extra comfortable chair where the other can sit and work on something while the other is doing his thing. This also allows frequent collaboration when trying to update our websites and other media for public relations.

Both of us are blessed with the ability to totally zone out while working. My space is a furniture defined area in the living room, but he can watch an action movie and I will almost never really notice.

That creativity-friendly enviroment is amazingly helpful!

I was temporarily in the black. Then I bought the gold wire – hehe. As long as my next show and Christmas do well (and any other small festival I find, I’ll be OK. I also bought the gold wire knowing I already had people who wanted the gold wire wrapped items I’m about to make, so I’m at an advantage. Making samples and showcasing them as “I can make this. What do you think?” or “Here’s a design that can use almost any colour stone. What colours would complement you?” generates interest in items I then make for sale. Knowing in advance what people want is very helpful, but it doesn’t stop me from stretching myself on other designs.

I’ll also admit that this is not a full time job. My full time job is quite stable (thank goodness) and releases me from having to have an absolutely firm bottom line to meet in a fiscal year.

What a concept !- a handmade jewelry business in the BLACK??? darn. I never thought of that. I can’t even express my wishes, Paul, for your success in the coming months!!! Christmas is coming (I am knitting gifts already)… try using everyone’s nature consciousness some in sales, is my advice. Gold is natural – it’s an element refined in breast of dear old mother Earth!

Agree about festivals- I always wanted to try another consignment store but it COST money per month and my husband talked me out of it. His sanity and rationality were very effective in debating the issue.

I totally agree about selling own Jewelry face to face.. did it for a very short time. Loved it. Just went to the store where my things were sold on consignment and started talking to customers.. they were thrilled to met THE craftswoman.. (I can’t bear to call myself an artist!) What an emotional rush it was to box up and write the sales receipt for something I had made myself!
Good luck again!

I’m going to post your reply in a separate post. It’s so good to hear when others are successful.

I loved selling to people face-to-face. I will definitely do it again.
My idea to use the old, cheap quality stock and out it into it’s own category was a good one. I also took materials I will never use and divided them into packets roughly equal to $1 – $3, and sold a lot of it that way, at the cost that I paid for it. This event pushed my jewelry business into the black for 2009. The profits were turned around and bought higher-quality materials. Now I can offer gold wire wrapped items.

I found that the cost of vendor booths at some small festivals in this area are amazingly high compared to the traffic/average spending expected. I also didn’t mind having my designs vetted for “fit” at some venues. I did find it odd that I was told by a reviewer that “No-one would buy those at our festival” In this case, “those” was one of my bestsellers, and the fair was a non-specific event mostly attended by my target audience. It wasn’t a place where anything I sold would be out of place or reach for most people. Oh well.

Pictures were taken, and my desktop photo studio performed admirably. Here is a hint for people taking pictures with old digital cameras: tape or hold a piece of tissue so it covers the flash. The light is diffused through the tissue and you don’t get the shiny metal causing contrast problems, and pearlesence is somewhat retained. Using a setting for close-ups, I managed to get most of the photos with one shot.

The website, without store is almost ready. The webstore is still sitting there, but that goal is pushed until October, giving me more time to evaluate different software. I reviewed Mal’s, and it seems OK, but I need to see more examples than their demo.

The copper wire project was a success in making coppery doodad goodness. I didn’t try for consistency yet. There was too much fun making the shapes.

The tutorials are waiting, since I’m within two weeks of my next event, and want to keep making new materials. I also need to get someone to take pictures of me holding the in-process pieces because it’s way to hard to hold wires in place AND take a picture.

In the meantime, a wire-wrapping commission inspired me to create a method for making very delicate flowers/snowflakes.

So, “Whew” for what’s happened so far, and “Oh my goodness, I thought I’d accomplish what?” by the end of the summer.

Paul, you’ve set some pretty intense goals for yourself, and I think you’re going to breathe a real sigh of relief when they’re accomplished. Have you looked into Mal’s cart as an alternative to Zen cart? I don’t know anything about Zen cart, but I do know from experience that Mal’s is quite easy to set up. http://www.mals-e.com/

Next weekend, I have a vendor booth at a local neighbourhood association. I need to finish preparing for that and assess my experience from it and decide whether that’s my style of selling.

Also, I’m using it as an opportunity to use up older cheap stock from when I was just starting so I can buy higher quality stock and increase better perception of my work through those materials.

I’ve been playing with copper wire, hammering and texturing it. That is going to be practiced so I can make components consistently for patterns I want.

Picture of my jewelry items for sale need to be taken and descriptions written for the website. After the show next week, I have another vending opportunity in August and I need to provide teasers of stock.

I also need to make tutorials of some of my newer wire wrap pieces to also sell them on my website. One of them, I’m going to preview here (if Cyndi lets me )