Beading Challenge 2 "The Results"

Okay I am done waiting for everyone to get me their pictures to post this. Those of you who participated and got your earrings done on time THANK YOU! and I am sorry it took so long to post this. Here is a picture of the beads everyone had to work with that DesignedbyLucinda sent out.


AmityD










TexasTesla









tassiewashie









pipsjewellery








reddhynnes









Once again it just goes to prove that it IS possible to have similar looking designs with no prior knowledge of someone else's designs.

I am normally a very even tempered person but I do have to say how terribly disappointed I am in the remaining people who agreed to participate and then did not. DesignedbyLucinda went to a lot of trouble and expense to send those beads out to the participants. Saying you just didn't like the beads or you didn't like the way your design turned out and then choosing not to do the challenge is extremely unprofessional. The exception to this statement is SantiamDesigns who was too ill to participate. I don't know if we will continue to do this or not.

10 % Off Everyday

So I have promoted the heck out of lots of artists mostly on etsy, a couple not. So today I am going to do a very short promotion on me. I have added a lot of new stuff to my shop (I am up to 256 items as of today and have at least 15 more to list. In my shop announcement you will see a small line that says 10% off multiple purchases. I don't have it in big bold letters or anything (not really my style but maybe I should think about changing that lol). This has always been there but I don't know how many people actually READ the shop announcement. So I am just letting everyone know that if you buy more than one thing in my shop you will receive 10% off the total order (not including the shipping).

I will hopefully soon be getting together with another etsy artist to work on a logo/branding thing which will include the logo, business cards, earring cards, and things like that soon. I am also currently working with another etsy artist on a press release to be sent out to some magazines and online places. It should be an interesting experience and hopefully will bring an increase in business. I am also going to be doing a local farmers market from July to Sept. It is located in our downtown area and I am looking forward to sales there. I am working on putting together a display (its been a while since I did the craft fair circuit lol) and once I have it together I will post a couple of pictures and you can let me know what you think.

Artist Review - Imagine Studio

Imagine Studio

Marion has some stunning art. The first time I saw her avatar I knew I had to see more. This is another wonderful find through my forays into the forums on etsy. Canadian native LyseI am going to lift a paragraph out of her profile since she describes her techniques much better than I ever could.
"Through more than 30 years, my one constant expression in art has been Collage, and for the past five years I have been working on transferring this art form into the digital world. Layers upon layers of thoughts, emotions and research have been turned into transparencies, textures, colours, depth, emotions, portraitures, etc. This virtual digital world of seemingly endless possibilities has given me a new take on my artwork, allowing me to pursue even further my undying need to produce lyrical, evocative and sometimes provocative images."
I love the fact that she is using the advances in technology to further explore and create her art. Which is awesome! I am very drawn to the images in her artwork and she is on my list of people I want to buy from lol! Many pieces of her art make me feel as if the person in the artwork is wearing their imagination in all of its glorious color and texture on their skin. On the outside instead of the inside so to speak. I am looking forward to seeing more from this artist and highly recommend a look at her shop.

Spring is Finally Here!

Yay! spring is finally here in Northeastern Ohio. I really feel like April has just arrived and keep writing the wrong dates on everything lol! I am so glad that the warmer weather has arrived. I am not a winter person (and WHY do I live in Ohio ha ha!). So yesterday I get up and I am really happy that the sun is out and we can open the windows. Then I got a good look at what the gloom of winter has been hiding in my house. Eeek! So instead of running off to play I decided that I had better do something about the house. Mind you I have been working really hard at getting my jewelry business off the ground and I spend a good 30 hours a week on top of my "real" job online either promoting or posting new items or just general shop and website maintenance. This does not count the time I spend making things. Not complaining just stating the facts. Now my kids have normal chores so all this time that I have been neglecting the house the basics have been getting done (as well as teenagers ever do things, I think I should have been paying closer attention lol). So I did get quite a bit accomplished but realized that I really need to take 1 day a week to just work on stuff around the house and maybe just check e-mails so I don't miss anything that has been sold. I would love some comments on how everyone manages to get everything done in their lives and still stay sane lol! I am off to check out the garden and see what is beginning to bloom.

Hopefully we will have all of the pictures in from our 12 designers for the 2nd beading challenge very soon. I will also be doing another featured etsy artist soon.

Etsy Artist Review - Designer Dog Collars

MADDIE'S CLOSET DESIGNER COLLARS

So I was browsing around etsy and chatting in the forums and came across this shop. Now if you have read my previous posts you know that I have three lovely Australian Shepherds. So naturally this particular shop caught my eye. She has beautiful colors and patterns that I have not seen anywhere else. Excerpt from listing "Collar is made with 1 inch heavy duty nylon with a jacquard ribbon overlay, a 1 inch
contoured side release buckle, and a 1 inch welded d-ring.Collar can be custom made to fit along with a 5 ft. matching leash." What caught my interest (besides the lovely designs and excellant material and workmanship) was the phrase "custom made to fit".. I love those words lol! I have the worst time finding colors to fit my dogs. They are either too small or too big and no matter how I adjust it is just off. So as soon as I get around to measuring necks and have a bit of extra cash I will be rummaging through Maddie's closet for three designed to fit colors for the wonderful canine companions in my life.P.S. Isn't Maddie cute!

Nesting Blue Herons at Cuyahoga Valley National Parks

Okay this is totally unrelated to jewelry but your are going to get that sometimes. Believe it or not I do have a life outside of the jewelry and the internet. Kind of. Anyway we live about 15 minutes away from the Cuyahoga Valley National Parks system in Ohio. Beautiful place and we spend a lot of time there over the summer, hiking, barbecuing etc. Lots of hills and valleys, a beautiful river that kind of thing. My husband and I decided to go check out the blue herons that nest along the park. They only nest in one particular spot for about a month. Blink and you have missed it. Well it was kind of a dreary day today, gray and damp about 60 degrees but we went anyway. It was an amazing site to see all of these beautiful birds building nests and feeding babies. Unfortunately most of my pictures look black and white and mostly look like silhouettes due to the gray nature of the day. But I am going to post them anyway lol. Also saw a beautiful magnolia tree just beginning to bloom at the ecological society. Maybe, just maybe spring is coming! I sure hope so!

So You Think You Are Unique Beading Challenge 2

Well we are well into our second contest in the So You Think You Are Unique Beading Challenge/Contest. We have broadened our horizons and opened the challenge to the international community also. DesignedbyLucinda provided the beads for this contest (Thanks Cindy!) and they look challenging! Here is the list of people participating this time around. And remember that SantiamDesign provided the beads the last time so she is making an entry this time.

pipsjewellery

Bath, United Kingdom




amityd


New Haven, Conneticut USA



reddhynes


Ottawa, Canada




foreverstartshere

Miami, Florida USA


TexasTesla


Banks, Oregon USA



SantiamDesigns


Mehama, Oregon USA





TwoObsessed



Seattle, Washington USA


CLKcreative


West Bloomfield, Michigan USA





PrettyChic


Richmond, Virginia USA



ravenworks


Portland, ME USA



eighty8words


Dayton, Washington USA



tassiewashie

Salem, Oregon USA




So these are our twelve and below are the two alternates in case someone doesn't get done in time. Also listed below is one of our judges, and we are looking for at least two more. If you want to volunteer to judge convo designedbyLucinda and let her know.

milburnjewelry ALTERNATE
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5156334

xueoriginals ALTERNATE
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5547109

I have three of the contestants that are already finished and I can tell already it is going to be another interesting challenge. How much alike or different do you think they will be?

One Judge so far:
crewelwhorled
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5641313

Poem for Peace

I found this poem in my mailbox at talentdatabase.com. It really touched my heart and spoke about the dreams for peace we all probably have for our world, ourselves and our children.

Title: Peace Please
© 2008 by DC Lessoway

When borders evaporate, war absconded
Hate ceases to breed contempt among us
When hands reach out, embracing those
Friends made out of enemies too

When the smile of an adult is childlike
One that is real, no longer a masquerade
When fear is only for the brave
Is when the world will finally become safe

This I want, hope for our children
Who have to face life’s struggle forlorn
But to have a world that is of peace
Would make their life such a sweet breeze

You can see more of what DC does at his myspace page www.myspace.com/dcles.

Thanks for the reminder DC!

How important are photos? The Results

I have several people who were kind enough of to send along some before and after pictures. Many of them show a dramatic difference. As you check these pictures out, ask yourself which one you would most likely click on and which one you would be more influenced to buy. Again, most of us are not professional photographers nor can we afford to hire one. But that's okay, you can see from these pictures that you can learn to take better pictures, at least well enough to get people to take a look at your items. I will start with mine and I will also add any comments that came with the pictures.


Silver River Jewelry

6000 pictures later lol!


TheBeadDreamer
For me, the photos are the hardest part. I have been making jewelry for years and continually seek to improve my work. I sell very well when a person can see and touch the item. Getting the pictures right is tough.

Candies64

For me, better pictures came by listening to what everyone was saying in the forums and practice, and more practice!


thewillowtree
The sock monkeys are 2 different ones, but they are both made out of the same socks, so they should be the same color! I took the first one against a wall in my kitchen, using artificial light. The second picture is on tissue paper, using natural light from a window in my living room. I also used a different photo editor (iPhoto) and was able to adjust the color much better, and make the white background smoother.


cuddlyquilts

My pictures were SO BAD before!


loosewirestudios






calloohcallay Here's a before and after of mine. The first one was taken with some photo lights (good ones, but I failed to block the window light at the same time, and who knows what else I did wrong). It's harsh and flat. The second one was shot with natural lighting and the colors are much better, the whole effect better (it sold after this).


So, you can see how bad some our pictures really were! Some people changed backgrounds (some of us more than once I am sure!). Some did a lighting/locations change. Some changed the angle at which the pictures were taken. Some of us did all three lol! There isn't any magic wand its just trial and error and more trial and error. Use that MACRO button, this is one of the most important features on your camera. Lots of people swear by natural light and it is one of the best ways to take pictures but if you don't have much access like me ( I work a "day" job and 8 months out of the year it is too late in the day to use natural light. And my weekends are packed, not much time to take pictures then. And it does rain on the weekends.) then don't be afraid to experiment with a light box. There are several very inexpensive ones that you can build yourself. My favorite and the one I started with is from www.strobist.com . This is a super way to get started with a light box for little to no money laid out. Play with your backgrounds, look outside for neat things to use in your pictures, try scrap booking paper, or material you have on hand. Just go for subtle and not too busy so that your items stands out. I would recommend staying away from red as a background for jewelry as it just doesn't seem to lend itself well to photographing. (keep in mind this is just a suggestion and if you can get it to work for you go for it). Last but not least, use an photo editing software program. This will allow you to adjust your pictures if the all of the above is not enough. (I use my software on ever single picture.) If you don't have any software, download Picassa or Gimp. I find Picassa to more user friendly for those that have no experience with this type of program.

Good luck to everyone, I hope these pictures inspire you to continue to improve your photos. Thanks to all who were kind enough to show those before pictures as well as the after. ( I look at mine and think sheesh! I can't believe I put that out there for the public to see lol!). Many thanks also to all of the people on the ETSY forums who so generously give out their advice on photographing pictures. You certainly shortened my learing curve.

Featured Artist

This time around I am featuring an artist who works primarily in steel with a bit of other things thrown in. He started out making furniture and decided to switch to making jewelry as the shipping was a wee bit prohibitive on the furniture end. And I would say that the switch was well worth it.

Timothy Adam Designs
I find his work to be totally unique in the way he puts things together. The pendants are very industrial looking at first glance but if you look closer there is a definite organic feel to them. I find this very interesting. I also find his use of different metals and shapes and the way he puts them together to be intriguing. This is a different perspective on the use of metals that most of us don't even consider for making jewelry. Honestly if someone would have said I would consider wearing jewelry that was made of steel and had an industrial feel to it I would have laughed. However, I have changed my mind and may be adding some of his collection to mine. (My personal one that is not the one I sell lol!). Not only does he make jewelry but he also make wonderful earring trees, and some very interesting sculpture. He has been very active in the etsy forums and has also been actively promoting other artists. This shop definitely deserves a look and probably a second and third look. Go check it out!

How important are photos?

So, I have several different venues that I am currently selling my jewelry on. Any way I am very active in the forums at these other venues and am constantly hearing the same thing. I am not being critical here but I see it a LOT. The QUESTION!! Why are my things not selling? Obviously there could be many reasons for this and I may go into those further on another day. The number one reason that I can see why most people are not selling is that the photo's are bad. Some of them are downright horrible. As in I can't tell if that is a necklace or a blob. Again I am not saying that to be mean but in all honesty, how can you expect to sell it if your customers can't see it? If the picture is so dark I can't tell if it is green or purple, chances are that I, and most other people are going to move on to the next store. There are thousands of them out there. I have to tell you that my pictures take a lot of work. I have hours and hours of photo time in my pictures. I have retaken photos of my inventory five time now. Most of the them with five or more different angles per items. I currently have 236 items for sale. Do the math (okay I will do it for you lol!) That is close to 6000 pictures. Trust me, they didn't start out this good. And I am sure there is room for improvement. However my customers can see my items in detail. Is it wrapped well? What color is it? Is it well made? My customers need to be able to see this in order to have confidence in my product. Plus, pretty pictures make you want to click.

Use your macro setting if you sell small pieces. Use a light box. You can build one for less that five dollars. (www.strobist.com). Use this it can be your best friend. Yes everyone says natural light is best but you know what? I work a job and don't get home before dark every day especially in the winter. And can I wait two weeks for the sun to come out (NOT). Edit your photos after you download them to your computer. If you don't have software you can download Picassa or Gimp online for FREE. Picassa is much more user friendly that Gimp for people unfamiliar with this type of program. Crop them, lighten them, brighten them whatever you need to do to make them look good. Experiment with different background, but don't make it too busy. Have fun with it and play a little. Develop your own style and aim for something that people will say hey, those earrings are from Silver River Jewelry because I recognize the style. I hope that you found these tips useful and it would be cool if you sent me some before and after pics. If enough people send them in I will do another post showing the pictures with links to your site.

Judges Results for Beading Challenge 1

Okay so here is what the judges had to say about our entries. Keep in mind that there is no prize and the reason we started this was in response to the massive amount of threads on Etsy about people copying other people's designs. We wanted to see what would happen if 12 people recieved the same exact beads and how similar or different the earrings would be. You can see the results in my previous post.

EmmaRoseJewelry
They are different, but I can see where if they'd just appeared in someone's shop that someone else could say, "Did they riff that off mine, they're kind of similar or that one part is almost identical." It's a good lesson!

Love the variety and the surprise of several people using copper. Beautiful and unexpected (to me)!

I also love that within this variety that there are clear stylistic differences. I can point to every pair and think, "This is what my friend Kat would wear. Those are my sister's style. My niece would love that pair."

Due to the fine quality of the designs, this was much harder than I thought it would be to judge.

best use of beads
BeadyMonkey and StonesandStartlings

most original design
melaniehazen because she transformed the beads into an integrated design where you're not as aware of the individual beads as you are of the whole piece

most similar
Earthly Creations
Designed by Lucinda
TeaguesBeads

YadaYadaYada
As a judge for this contest, I vote as follows:

First Place: StudioHart wins for most unique and eye catching.

Second Place: SilverRiverJewelry for most creative and technical.

Third Place: blackcoral for best mix of materials.

Fourth Place: StonesandStarlings and sleepingcatbeads tie for most use of the beads.

Good job everyone! I had a tough time judging!

Marelle

Best Use of Beads: Sleeping Cat Beads
Most Original Design: Beady Monkey
The two designs that are the most similar: Designed by Lucinda and Teague's Beads
Thank you for this opportunity to participate as a "judge". I was most interested in seeing the distinct individuality even when similarity existed.
Marilyn


The House of Worn
thanks for having me as a judge. Her are the catagories you asked for:

best use of beads:
melaniehazen

most original design:blackcoral

two designs that are the most similar:
DesignedbyLucinda
TeaguesBeads

As you can see there were several designs that were very similar and several that were completely different. No one saw what the other people were making including me (I made mine before all but the first design picture was sent to me. And I had already sketched out my design at that point. This just goes to show that at first glance something may indeed be very similar or even almost an exact copy. Before we jump to the conclusion that someone has stolen our design or copied us, maybe we should slow down and realize that it could just very well be a coincidence and the fact that the other person may just think like you do. I am not saying that copying does not happen because we all know that it does. I am just saying that you need to thoroughly investigate the issue before jumping to conclusions.

Stay tuned for Beading Challenge 2. We will start this on Friday, March 28th at 1pm Eastern Standard Time. This contest will be open to the international community as well and DesignedbyLucinda is providing the beads and shipping this time around.