How I organize my jewelry making process

So I was talking with some friends on a jewelry forum about how we organize our time in order to have lives AND make jewelry. It is hard. Here is what I posted as my response (with the addition of visuals):

I have come to accept that I will not find the "perfect" time (or circumstances) in which to create.

Sure, in an ideal world, I'm sitting at my work table with a cup of coffee and a sleeping dog at my feet while the kids are in school. But the reality is, the dog usually wants a walk, the kids need rides to hockey, my office job takes up about 10 hours out of every day, and coffee is usually drunk on the way to somewhere.

If I wait for ideal conditions, nothing gets designed, created, photo'd, or listed.

The only alternative is to do everything in "bits and pieces". The living room coffee table is my work bench. From there, I can get up and stir whatever's on the stove, watch tv with my kids, and continue to be part of the family in general while still working.

As I make each piece, I write on a piece of already printed-out paper how much the materials cost. This paper will follow the item into a ziploc bag. This is an accounting of the cost of the item, based on the materials used. This is infinitely easier if you have labels on each box or bag of components with the price per piece.

My sheet looks like this (before):


And here's an example of the paper that went into a bag with a necklace I made the other night (after):


I have a lot of "works in progress". But once a piece is completed, I put it in a box on the bookcase (in the same living room). Once a week (or so... you CAN'T make strict schedules without feeling like a loser 'cause you can't stick to them), I set up my photo stuff and shoot everything in that box.

Then I take the items over to the computer (with a good light) and edit the photos. Yes, I take the jewelry with me because I'm anal about getting the best representation I can when I show my listings.

From there, I write info about each piece (on paper already printed with the questions):

Lampwork Artist _______________________
PC Artist _______________________
Artist Location ____________________
Main bead size ________________________
Total Materials Cost _______________
Size _________________
Approx time to make _______________

Now I can remove the materials cost sheet and replace with this one. I'll refer to it to make my listing.

Next is listing. So now all these creations are in the second box (already photographed, ready for listing). I have all the info I need on the papers with each piece so I can list on the road if I have to (meaning, with my son's laptop while at a hockey practice).

I use a WORD template and all the info I need to put into the listing is highlighted, so I just go and fill in the highlighted areas and copy and past the template into wherever I'm listing (eBay, ArtFire, my site, etc).

Once listed, the creation goes into a third box (photo'd, listed, waiting to be sold and shipped) where they'll stay until they're sold.

Bottom line for me is that there is no perfect time... squeeze tasks in where and when you can. I have certain projects that are more mobile than other ones. If I take my kids to a hockey practice, I'll grab a WIP (work in progress) that is just wire-wrapping because those are more transportable. (And having people watch you work in a public area will get them interested in what you sell.)

Today was busy as heck... but the evening is early

Work was a real bear, but it's over now and I'm at home with the kids. Since I did so much today, I feel like it's later than it is. Strange to think it's only 6pm.


New Torching Forum

There's a new discussion forum for lampwork and jewelry fans. I joined, but didn't even have time to look around yet.


ArtFire

The SRAJD Members Guild is taking some time out of my day, but I really like it. Some nice people and fabulous jewelry. I hope more people start feeling comfortable enough to post.


Mini Beady Jam

Four of us are supposed to get together this weekend to eat, socialize, share new creations, and discuss the Bay Area chapter and an upcoming get-together.


Creating

Okay, I was keeping this posting short 'cause I am missing creating. Want to get over there (the coffee table) and get to it. Look for some upcoming lampwork creations... sorting my bead collection reminded me of all the awesome beads sitting in the dark screaming to be made into jewelry.


So... talk to you tomorrow (lots of info coming up tomorrow!).

Oh look, it’s 12:15am… and I have to go to work in the morning.

I decided, however, that laying in bed and not sleeping was sort of useless. If I’m gonna be awake, I may as well make good use of my time.

Then I had a brilliant idea… who would be awake at this time to vie for eBay auctions against me? Certainly not as many people as there would be at 1pm in the afternoon, eh? So I head over to eBay and look up lampwork beads in the U.S. category and sort the auctions by “ending first”.

Wanna see what I saw?

http://srajewelry.com/transfer/ebayUSbeads.jpg

Make sure you look at this closely… Hong Kong? What part of the U.S. is that? Or… were these beads made by U.S. lampworkers and then imported to Hong Kong to be sold from there? Yeah, that makes sense.

Why does eBay allow this? They want the money… or they’re just too big for their britches? Well, if they’re getting so much money for all the schlock listings, they can hire more people to weed this crap out. ARGH! It’s stuff like this that is driving sellers and buyers away from eBay… in droves!

Oh well… just beating a dead horse.

I’ve also given up on Etsy (but don’t get me wrong… I know both eBay AND Etsy work great for some people still). My next hope is ArtFire. So far, so good (if admin communication is a gauge). I also need to check out 1000-something or other.

Hmph! Bear decided if I wasn’t using my bed, he would.

Went back to eBay and counted… of the first 37 listings that are about to end, 36 were from Hong Kong (yes, still in the U.S. lampwork category). The remaining listing was from Canada. Close, but still no cigar. Phft. Whatever. It’s a dumb category anyway. I always said it should be middleman sales versus SRA sales. I wonder if there were “annealed” and “non-annealed” categories, what the truth to lies ratio would be.

Then there are those pictures that… I’m guessing are supposed to be “artsy”. Shrug. It’s a super-cropped, super close up of… something that you don’t know what it is unless you click on the auction. I’m all for close-up shots, especially for the gallery photo, but if all I see is a red square, I’m probably not going to be intrigued enough to click on the link.

Of course, then there are those whose gallery photo is a distance shot, so that you can’t tell at all what the item is and you feel really, really old trying to squint hard enough to make it out (without having to click on the auction to get the answer).

No, I’m not cranky. I’m just scrolling down through the eBay listings and calling them like I see them.

Oh, and none of this means I haven’t done all the things I’m mentioning as criticism of others. Far from it. If there’s a mistake to be made on eBay, I’m sure I’ve done it. All, except photographing my beads while naked without realizing my au natural bod shows just fine in the reflection of whatever is it I just took a picture of. So think of this less as snarky and more as helpful.

Disks seem to be very popular in the lampworking world at the moment. China better get a move on if they want to jump on that bandwagon. That and shards.

Oh, and something else I was going to mention. I’m really tired of buying beads that are NOT the same color or hue as what the seller showed me on the computer. And don’t give me the “monitors may vary” spiel. Okay, that MAY be the case and it may not, I don’t know. But if (and I could name five well known names right now!) so-and-so is selling beads online, they owe it to their public to get a monitor that doesn’t make the beads look so washed out on their own computers that they add a TON of saturation to the colors of their beads. ‘Cause guess what? On MY computer then, it looks like a set of brightly colored beads… and when I get them, I have to then cross you off my list of people I’ll ever buy beads from again. C’mon peeps… at least TRY.

Oh, one thing I’ve noticed… heh… when I rant a little bit, a ton of people come out of the woodwork telling me they could tell I was talking about them. Uh…. No. But if they THINK my rant was about them, maybe they should look at their listings or whatever. They obviously believe with some part of themselves that what I said applied to them.

I once did a blog muse, or maybe it was a forum posting… I don’t remember, about copying. And a person actually got totally up in my face about how she knew I was talking about her and blah blah blah. I couldn’t stop laughing. My rant was NOT about her and if she’d have asked me (civilly), I would have told her precisely how I felt about her jewelry, which was that she embodies the idea of being inspired b others without downright copying them. I can usually tell when someone makes something that was inspired by a piece of mine (we’re not THAT big a community) and I’m flattered. But this person obviously felt guilty about getting ideas from other people’s jewelry. Well, duh… where else ya gonna get ideas from? We should embrace inspiration from others. Flat out copying or being TOO similar to another’s trademark invention… now that’s a no-no (in Laura’s world… mind you all this is merely one person’s opinion… I am not any wiser or any more ignorant than any other jewelry maker… we all have opinions… and sometimes they even change).

Yeah, I’m glad THIS item is in U.S. lampwork…
http://cgi.ebay.com/8mm-Smart-Blue-Agate-Loose-beads-15_W0QQitemZ370148220038QQihZ024QQcategoryZ4643QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This listing is wrong on so many levels.

Who is BUYING these Hong Kong lampwork beads? Are there really enough “newbs” in jewelry making that they still don’t know… or is it that there’s really a market for it because some people wanna just make jewelry that may not last long and won’t be too expensive to the buyer?
Oh dear… just found some overly vibrant boro beads. I’m bidding on them. Why? Ask the knights why they were trying to find the Holy Grail. You know it’s not out there, yet something in your human spirit still hopes.

Rehashing (or maybe it's just reiterating) some thoughts on Spiritual Beliefs

I’m freezing. This is really unusual. I’m guessing it’s a combination of the weather change and my fluctuating hormones.


Revisiting an Old Muse

Was giving more thought to the idea of spiritual beliefs. I didn’t come up with anything new… I’m just still on the same page as before regarding how I feel about the following: If you found out (at the end of your life) that during your life whatever it was you believed in spiritually was completely wrong, would you regret certain ways in which you lived?

Example… let’s say your religious beliefs had to do with chastity, monogamy, same-sex relationships, vows of silence, poverty/materialism, sensual pleasures, harsh or humiliating punishments, praying, isolation, being kind or a humanitarian, doing hail Mary’s, meditating, fasting, birth control, etc…

Anyway, say you found out, at the end, that what you believed in was wrong. Would you regret having lived your life in a certain way because of your religious beliefs?

It seems to me that ideally, your response to this awareness would be: “No problem. I lived precisely how I wanted to even if what I had believed in turns out now to be complete fallacy.”

Do you know what I mean? I want to live in such a way that it doesn’t matter to me WHAT the end entails. I want to be happy and do no harm. I’d like to do a few other things too, but the two biggest ones are those.

So when I think about something that may have to do with my current spiritual beliefs, I ask myself, “If this spiritual belief changes or dissolves, will I still be happy with the choice I’m making now regarding how to live?”… I want the answer to be “yes”.


Where My Time Went Today

After coming back from Gabe’s game at Bridgepointe (they tied… a real shocker, I know), I spent time on ArtFire, taking care of Guild stuff. I also organized some of my lampwork.

It’s 9:30pm and Bear’s snoring away. I guess that means it’s too late to take him out for a last walk around the block. D’oh! Oh well, hope he lasts until morning.

And… I guess I’d better get ready for bed too. Oh hey… Bear’s sleeping in my bed. Hmph!

Addictions... always a bad thing?

I am addicted to Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and the National Geographic Channel.



ArtFire

I finally hit a glitch today. I emailed admin. Will let you know when and how they respond.


New (non-jewelry) Listing

Oh, listed something new today. It’s a little Excel file that I’ve been using to calculate ideas for wholesale and retail pricing. I may add to it later, too.

Jewelry Pricing Formula Calculator - 7 Scenarios - Easy to Use


Supernatural

Sorry I left this until the end of the day… now I have to go watch Supernatural. Yes, have to. Mmmmm…


Coming Soon…

Tomorrow I’ll try to catch you up on the latest Monica news (health and future career options) and some of our new jewelry listings.

TTYL!