Found Fish!

A while ago, I posted about these adorable earrings I had made from a pair of beads that I had received as a free gift along with my order. They were rose quartz and had a hole where the eye would be. I really liked the way they hung like that.
Anyway, the pair of earrings sold quite rapidly at the Gallery and I was dismayed that I could not find any more beads like that to make more earrings.

Well, time passes, and two things happened right around the same time, about a week ago. First, I found a supplier for those beads! They've got them in over twenty different gemstones. They are drilled lengthwise as well as the hole through the eye, but that's okay. I'm just glad I found them in a source that also provides so much variety, and at wholesale prices!
Second, the woman who bought the first pair of earrings from the Gallery had left me a note requesting another pair. She said the first pair she bought ended up as a gift, but she liked them so much, she wants another pair for herself.

That's such good news. It's funny how things go that way sometimes.
This supplier also sells sterling (and gold) findings that are way cheaper than where I've been getting my findings. So I can go to them for that as well. I think they have a minimum order, but it's only $50, so that shouldn't be a problem.
They do carry Swarovski crystals, which I like to use in those fish earrings, but unless my simple math abilities are seriously screwed up, they're not even close to being cheaper than where I normally get my crystals. That's kind of a bummer. But oh well. Such is the way business is done.

Oh! They also have bear beads, too! I've seem them called fetish bears, or zuni bears. I'm probably going to pick up a few kinds of those as well. You know, for those people that don't like fish. Who doesn't like bears??

In other news, I found more cardstock for my earring cards. I had been using leftover cardstock from my brothers wedding. But, I'm down to my last sheet. The 110# cardstock I got from Office Depot isn't heavy enough. It's fine for item tags, but it isn't sturdy enough to stand up on its own while supporting a pair of earrings. But, with the wonderful help of a friend of mine, I discovered that the stuff I had was 80lb. cover paper. I found a local paper supply store, brought in my last sheet, asked for 80lb. cover paper and eureka! It's a match!
So now I have a whole ream of it that should last quite some time. I can get four cards per page and I have 250 pages. So, after I sell 1,000 pairs of earrings, I'll need to buy another ream! I joke, but if people like these fish (and bear!) earrings as much as I do, then they should sell pretty well.

Busy, busy, busy!

Yes. Been a while. I know.

I'm now up to three sales from my Etsy store, and I'm even working on a possible 4th sale that will be a custom order. So far, my experience on Etsy has been great. Most of my customers have been so nice. I say most because one sale, I've yet to hear anything from. She paid quickly and so I sent her the item. It has been delivered, but I have yet to receive any word from her or even feedback. That's okay, though, perhaps she is out enjoying her new jewelry!

Speaking of feedback, in a previous post, I was lamenting how I wasn't sure if I should leave feedback as soon as the buyer pays or if I should wait to hear from them if they like it or not. Well, originally I had decided to wait to hear from them first, just in case they weren't quite satisfied with it or something. I wanted my feedback to include that sort of communication since I DO believe that paying for something is NOT the only responsibility of the buyer. They are also responsible for communicating their satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) with their purchase. How can I make things right if they don't tell me?
But, after that first sale, I just decided to go ahead and leave feedback for the buyer when they paid. Or actually... when I shipped. That way, I can send them a message telling them I've shipped their order, and leave the feedback at the same time. I've done it that way since and so far, I'm fine with it. It was just another thing to try to remember if I left feedback for later. *shrugs* We'll see if it continues to work.

I'm still trying to keep up with the Gallery... as well as trying to make more things to list on Etsy. I got a message the other night from the Financial Secretary of the guild. She's the one that makes sure the artists get paid for what they've sold at the end of the show. She's very nice. She just wanted to tell me that so far I've sold twenty things. She said she didn't know how much I initially brought or if I've been restocking often, but she just wanted to let me know so I could restock if needed. Heh, I guess it's not a common thing for an artist to sell that much in such a short time.

My success in the Gallery has made me think I should raise my prices a little. And everyone I talk to about it agrees. I see their point, but I'm also of the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" mindset. My brother says that if I raise my prices, yes sales might drop a little, but that would mean I wouldn't have to restock so often, and then when I DID make a sale, I'd get more money to make up for the decrease in sales. Sounds like sage advice... I think?

I wouldn't be so worried about keeping up if I didn't have that craft show looming over me in December. I'm still not sure how I'm going to keep up making things for the Gallery as well as listing new things on Etsy as well as have a decent inventory for the show.
I am getting a new order in soon, with lots more supplies. So, perhaps once that is in, I'll be able to just make tons of stuff and then sort it out later.

As I've said before... it's a good problem to have! I'm not complaining!

Gallery Work

Yesterday was my first shift as a Gallery Sitter. Liz was there to walk me through everything I needed to do. Though, I think she assumed that my mom had already told me everything since she seemed to kind skip some stuff. But, then again, I guess I wouldn't know that she skipped some stuff without my mom having told me, so there you have it.

I thought she'd be there for the whole shift. But, after she told me the basics, she jetted. That's fine. We didn't finish "training" until 3:15 or so, and my shift was from 1 to 5.

It was rather quiet. The most people I saw were people that came in for a meeting with one of the organizations that is also located in this building. I guess they thought I was some sort of receptionist which kinda irked the shite out of me. One girl I even looked her straight in the eye and said, "I'm not a receptionist." Heh. Nice.
I was getting really pissed off with every person that came through the door and said, "I'm here for the meeting." Okay, well, if you really want me to help you, you're going to have to give me more information than that. There are about 5 organizations that share this building with us.

But then I was reading through our Procedures manual and it said that the Arts Council of Fairfax is the organization that is "renting" us the space for the Gallery. Specifically this one woman... Ann.... something. I forget her last name. And there was a whole page that described how to handle her purchases and how it's so different and special compared to normal transactions because she's been so good to us.
So that made me calm down a bit, since all these people that were coming in for the "meeting" were coming to meet with the Arts Council. I figured it was kind of a favor to them to help their people since they were doing a favor for us and giving us this space. But come on... couldn't you post a sign or something!?!??! At least tell these people beforehand: "The meeting is in X building in X room and here's how to get to that room from X door."

That's just me being a bitch, though, I guess. That's fine. Buy my stuff while I'm being a bitch! Hee hee!

So anyway, the evening was quiet. I did make one sale. A woman bought one of Liz's stuffed bunnies as well as one of my mother's mosaic lazy susans. And you're damn straight I talked her up. "This is one of my mother's pieces!" The woman gushed over how beautiful, yet functional it was and naturally I agreed. She asked how often she made them and told her "All the time! In fact, I just talked to her on the phone and she's making more right now!" Which was true. The lady said she'd go check on her daughters color scheme in her kitchen and probably come back to buy another for her.
I hear that all the time... at shows, when I have a booth right next to my mom. People say that "I have to go check the color scheme." And I wonder, are they telling the truth or are they just being nice and trying to make my mom feel good by making her think they're coming back to buy more when they really aren't? Either way, there's gotta be some way to... I don't know... help.
Maybe mom should invest in a polaroid camera (They still make those, right?), and she could take a picture of the pieces that the people think might match the color scheme, but aren't sure. And they could take it home to check. And for those people who are just BSing when they say that, maybe that nice gesture will make them really do what they say they'll do and it'll result in more sales.
Or, if they don't make polaroids anymore, maybe she could get the persons email address and send them a picture of the pieces they were interested in? I don't know.

Anyway, I'm glad I could make that sale for mom. And yes, I called her afterwards to tell her!
And then I called her again when the cash box didn't match up with what it should be. Don't look at me, my only sale was paid with credit card, I didn't touch the cash box! The cash is supposed to equal $55.75. But it was 15 cents more. I think what happened is that the person from the day before made a cash sale and made a mistake when counting out change... they left out one nickel and one dime for the customers change or something. Because when I came in, the morning person had only written "$55. " for the cash box total. I think she noticed the discrepancy and then intended to go back and count, but never did. Then, as Liz was training me, she noticed that and said, "Oh, well, that's supposed to be $55.75!" and wrote in the 75. So, my mom suggested I take a nickel and dime and put it in the daily sales envelope with a note. Brian thinks I should've just pocketed the 15 cents and called it a day! Heh. No.
Well, at least it was OVER and not under.
So, it wasn't so bad. I did get one stretch bracelet made while I was there. I tried some byzantine with the square wire rings I got... didn't work quite like it does with regular rings. Gonna have to play with it.
Anyway, enough rambling. Go buy something from my etsy store! ;)

I'm SO in.

So, I just got back from having my work juried to be accepted (or rejected) into the Artisans United Gallery. I dressed nicely, but not overly so. I put my hair up, put on my best smile and stood there showcasing several representative pieces of my work to five women in their mid 60s.
I explained how I open, weave, and close each ring by hand. I explained all the materials that I work with. I explained how I anodize my own titanium. I explained aspect ratio and how it is key to the final look of the piece.

Then, after a short period of me waiting out in the hallway while they discussed my future, they explained to me how happy they would be to have me in the Gallery. They totally loved my work. In fact, the one lady taking down the review notes and comments gave up trying to write all the glowing praise that was coming from each review board member and just ended up writing "Excellent!!" and "Beautiful work!" with arrows to extend those comments across all categories for each piece.

I signed up to work my first four shifts for the first show. I'd like to work more to earn a decreased commission percentage, but until my schedule frees up in August, that won't be possible. Besides, the available shifts were slim pickings for this next show. I assume there will be more to choose from for later shows.

So now I need to get some items ready for the Gallery! I need to have them there by 5pm on July 2nd. I'm so excited! I have no idea what I'll bring! Lots of stretch bracelets (gotta make more of those!), some pendants, wine skirts (and those!), hanging candle holders, and of course, a smattering of necklaces, bracelets, earrings and finger rings. Huh. Guess I DO have an idea of what I'll bring.

So there we go. One of my goals is half acheived! I can't wait to see how successful it will be.
As a treat for my new guild membership, I shall post a link.

Getting Juried!

So I finally called to schedule a jury to look at my stuff. Wasn't necessarily due to laziness that I put it off. I honestly would tell myself in the morning to do it. But I thought that even though I know the lady works from home, I should wait until later in the day. Thinking it might be too early to call before 9am. But then I'd forget, because something or someone distracted me. And when I remembered it'd be dinner time and I'm NOT calling someone when there's a chance I'd interrupt dinner. And then I'd forget again after that. Next morning, lather, rinse, repeat.

But I finally remembered to call this morning! Spoke with Kathy. She's very nice and seems very excited to see my work. She said that they normally would have had a jury meeting already scheduled for this coming Wednesday. But since no one needed to be juried, they didn't schedule it. But she said she's so excited about seeing my stuff that she's going to immediately call all the jury members and make sure they come Wednesday after all. Nice!

So, I just gotta get stuff together. Clean it up, maybe run it through the tumbler. Whew. I'm excited!

Wednesday, June 18th, 7:30pm. Jury Day.

Oh, and I found a blog that lists all the etsy sellers that accept RME. Submitted my info for inclusion. Yay, RME!