Waking up.

I've been doing some reflection on what I want out of this little project. I'm trying to revive my business with more of a deliberate direction rather than a whimsical one. I've read a ton of articles and blog posts about how to make my business better. I'm in the middle of Artfire and Postling's Social Media Bootcamp (you may need an Artfire account to view that forum thread) as I'm determined to get a handle on that aspect and make better use of it as a means of connecting with people. Also, last month I participated in an online workshop which helped Etsy shop owners to better articulate what it is that makes their work unique and why they do what they do. Out of the fourty-five minute workshop, I not only gained a succinct shop description and mision statement, but I was also able to understand what I'm trying to do here a little better.

There's something else I've realized in the past year or so during my hiatus. I've realized that where I really excel is custom commissions. There's something about creating a piece with a specific person in mind that really brings out the best in my abilities. I use custom pieces as my playground to work with new materials, try new techniques and really stretch my limits. Perhaps my two favorite pieces ever are things I was commissioned to do for friends and relatives as gifts.

This necklace and earring set was commissioned last spring from a friend for her sister's birthday:





It's a huge wire-wrapped snowflake obsidian pendant (perhaps my best and cleanest wrap to date) strung on a beaded necklace of more snowflake obsidian, freshwater pearls, black onyx, "ice" quartz and silver glass seed beads. The earrings consist of the same beads as the necklace that are strung on Sterling silver wire.

This one was commissioned from my mother-in-law for my brother-in-law's girlfriend as a Christmas gift:

It's a Monarch butterfly wing portion set in a copper bezel pendant and preserved with epoxy. I strung it on drapey copper chain which is accented by two beaded sections (freshwater pearls, black onyx and amber chips on copper wire). I only wish I had gotten better pictures of it. The butterfly wing turned beautifully translucent from the epoxy.

I'm wondering if I could possibly apply this design strategy to the things that I put up in my shop for a wider audience. If I could trick myself into believing that I was creating this piece for just one person, perhaps I could pull that sort of custom performance out of every piece made. It seems I'm not able to create my best work just for the sake of creating, but that I require purpose and direction. So, I'm trying to go about everything a little less haphazardly this time around. Wish me luck!

Diversify styles and sizes to broaden your market.

As I'm working on cropping pictures and getting a new batch of items ready for my stores, I was thinking about why I choose to make a wide array of sizes for things and adjustable clasps and such. My thought process traced the origin of this practice and it was born in something I learned about real estate. I've never been in real estate and I've only bought one house. But in that process, we studied quite a bit and we went through a phase where we watched a whole lot of HGTV and DIY network shows about buying, selling and decorating houses while they're on the market. We learned that as you display your house for sale, you tone down colors to a neutral palate. You take down very personal decor that labels the house as yours (such as family photos). You basically try to make your house as generic as possible, but not too bland, so that anyone could come in and feel like they could live there. You want it to be a good fit for a wide variety of personalities which broadens the market that will consider buying it.

Now, I'm not saying I try to make my jewelry generic. My aim is quite the contrary. However, I do diversify my designs so that hopefully many types of personalities could find at least one thing in my stores they might like or that they see I could easily do something custom in their style, if they're looking for something specific. But when it comes to sizing items, I try to make necklaces and earrings of all different lengths. Anything choker length, bracelets and wrist watches get a small length of chain to adjust the clasp. I don't want someone to come see something and think, "wow, I really love that, but it won't fit me." I don't want to close any doors. I work in a medium that allows me to make my pieces fit a wide variety of people. If I were making clothing, I couldn't do this necessarily. But since I make jewelry, I try to take advantage of the positive points about the medium to diversify my pieces for my potential clients.

I know it's hard not to get worked into a niche. But as you're designing and sizing, maybe think about how you can make each piece work for lots of potential customers. Also, think about your lines and what they may be lacking, if anything. Are there any styles you've wanted to explore but haven't because you're just so comfortable doing steampunk or contemporary or deco or nouveau or boho or whatever?

And try to keep your mind open for lessons learned from other areas of life. There are so many applicable lessons that can be learned from the most unlikely places.