This darling little butterfly necklace is one of my newest creations! I make them from natural coquina shells I collect from our nearby beaches, each on is unique and one of kind! I've added a little peek at the creation process ; )

Jewelry Tumbler Care

I use my tumbler pretty much daily, it gets quite a workout! When the steel shot gets dark, sluggish, and less effective I employ a couple of methods for cleaning it, depending on what I have on hand at the time. Apple cider vinegar and a bit of water or soda pop (Coca-Cola, Pepsi, RC Cola, or generics), though I rarely have this in the house. If you plan to use soda pop make sure you pour it into a glass and add a tablespoon of granular sugar first before adding it to your tumbler, or you'll end up with a colossal mess! The sugar will remove the carbonation and you'll be left with just the soda as a cleaning agent.  Be certain to rinse your shot and tumbler thoroughly after cleaning, so you don't contaminate the next batch of pieces you tumble. Side note; I use a little original Dawn detergent and water as the lubricant in my tumbler. It works great, lasts forever, and it's much more cost effective than burnishing compound!

This pretty much says it all! Some design ideas I get I have a pretty good idea that they'll be great and those are usually the first ideas that pop into my head. Most are at very inopportune times like while I'm trying to center and calm myself with a walk on the beach, just falling asleep, or as random as grocery shopping. The ideas I get while I'm creating the first deisgn are the ones that usually apply to the above. Some are a swing and a miss and back to the drawing board while others are a swing and it's out of the park ;)

2015

2014 was quite the year! As for most for me there was some good and some bad. I'm truly glad it's over and done and I've been given this clean slate to begin again! 2015 offers the promise of great things; I'm in a fresh new studio, there's a new family member due in Feb (my sister, not me) and I've already begun creating new designs so stay tuned ;) Sending love and light your way, there is hope!!!

Moving Day...

Labor day weekend was moving day for the garage extension of my studio, so I can now create in a comfortable air-conditioned space = )

In Print...

I am so proud, honored, and excited to announce my first magazine print feature!  I was contacted in May by the senior editor of The Crafts Report magazine to feature my work in their special eco conscious July 2013 issue!  I excitedly accepted of course and the photo above is of the 2 pages containing my work within the magazine.  If you have the opportunity to peruse the issue, I'm featured in the "Crafts Scene" section page 14 and "FACE Time" section page 50.  To view it online click here and hover over "subscribe", then click "view sample issue", I'm on pages 14 and 54 : )

How to talk to artists at Art/Craft Shows - Do's and Dont's

This wasn't written by me, but I found it to be pertinent after participating in many art/craft shows.  I've had similar experiences and felt it needed to be shared! This is a blog post by vlasicstudio

***Warning you've probably done at least one of these***

I visited the Cherry Creek Arts Festival here in Denver today. I go every year. As an artist I was fortunate enough to be chosen to show at this festival (one of the top 3 outdoor art festivals in the country) for 3 consecutive years back in the 2000′s. (I’ve since moved on to strictly gallery exhibits) As I was wandering around enjoying the art, I was struck by the conversations around me, and reminded of the “horror stories” shared by fellow artists (and experienced myself over the many years of doing outdoor shows) about rude and insensitive people, and even well-meaning people who unintentionally insult the artist. On the other side, I see many people who are intimidated by art and feel insecure talking to artists and asking questions. So if you are one of the millions of people visiting an arts festival (or gallery opening, or art walk) this summer, this “How to Talk to Artists” Primer is for you.

Lesson One: Understanding the Artist

We may be somewhat unconventional people, but we are human, just like you. What sets us apart is the intense drive to create. It is what we are made of. We can’t not create. (I apologize for the double-negative) What we make is part of us. The pieces you see hanging on the walls are our “children”. We put our blood, sweat and tears into every one of them. Frankly, it takes (ahem) big balls to put ourselves on display, to open ourselves up to criticism and judgment. No matter what we do, there are going to be people that don’t like it. Being an artist is a hard life. We are all self-employed. We do not have companies to give us regular paychecks, insurance, and security. Most of us also have to do all our own marketing, sales, packing & shipping, and everything else it takes to run a small business. A typical working artist spends 50% of the time on marketing and sales and the rest of the time working on his/her creations. We also tend to put in 50-60 hour work weeks. Make no mistake, being an artist is a JOB, not a fun hobby we do in our spare time. Most of us went to school to learn our craft and earn a degree, and have spend years (in my case, decades) continuing to learn, practice, and get better at what we do, just like any job. It can be a thankless job as well, as most artists make very little money especially in the beginning. It can be a rather humbling career.

Lesson Two: How did these artists come to show at this festival, and what does it take to get here?

With the larger Arts Festivals around the country, this is how it works. There is an application process about 6 months before the festival, with artists submitting images of their work (usually with an average fee of $35) to a jury who selects which artists will be allowed to show at the festival. The competition is fierce. With the Cherry Creek Arts Festival for example, only about 9% of all submitting artists are chosen to exhibit (and of course, the jury fee is not refundable). The artists then pay a “booth fee”, which can be anywhere from $800-1600 depending on the show (CCAF is $850 for a 10 x 10 space for 3 days). The artists then have to supply their own booth and display. Artist’s displays can cost in the range of $1000-$5000, some even more. Many artists also travel great distances to get to the festivals, usually driving with all their art and booth set-up hundreds and thousands of miles, incurring costs for gas, hotels, etc. As you can see, most artists are out-of-pocket for thousands of dollars before the festival even opens.

Here’s what doing a festival can feel like for an artist: Imagine packing up a tent along with all your most valuable possessions, being on the road driving for days, then setting up your tent on an asphalt street with hundreds of other people in 90 degree heat, and placing all your valuables in this flimsy tent. Then, you get to spend 10-12 hours a day for three days standing in that hot tent (you can’t leave except for bathroom breaks and to grab a fast bite), smiling at thousands of people till your face hurts, and hoping like hell people like your valuables enough to buy a few from you. Then, at the end, when you’re dog-tired, you get to pack your tent and things back up and drive all the way back home, or to the next festival and do it all over again.

Lesson Three: What to Never-Ever Ask or Say to an Artist

So you’re at the festival, looking at the art on display. If you’ve read the above, then you know more than most of the people there already (good for you!) and probably have some appreciation for the artists, even if you don’t like their work. Here is the Top 9 List of what to Never-Ever Ask an Artist, and why:

#1 “Can I get a discount?” Or, “Will you take $xyz instead of $abc for this?” First off, this is an immediate insult to the work and the artist. Unlike a flea market, artists DO NOT expect to haggle. These are not store-bought tchotchkes. This is their livelihood and their blood sweat and tears on display. Think of it like this: What would you say if you went into work on Monday and your boss asked you to work at half your usual salary for the week? You’d probably quit.

#2 “Does this come in any other size/color?” Each piece of art is a unique creation by the artist, not a mass-produced item. Again, this question is insulting the artist’s work, however unintentionally.

#3 “Is it finished?” Another one that makes artist’s cringe. If it is on display and for sale, always assume it’s finished.

#4 “How long did it take you to do that?” I can feel artists all around the world shriek in horror at this question. How long it takes to make has no bearing on the value. My favorite answer to this question is a little story about Pablo Picasso. Pablo is having a coffee in a cafe’ when a fan comes up to him, exclaiming how much she loves his work and asks, “would you draw something on this napkin for me?” Pablo does a drawing on the napkin, hands it to her and says, “that will be $10,000″. She cries “$10,000! but it only took you a a few minutes to draw it!” and Pablo replies, ” But madame, it took me a lifetime to learn to draw that way.”

#5 “How did you make that?” This is a touchy one, as it’s all about the context. Often, this question is asked with the intention of, “I’ll go home and make one just like it!” Which is always a bad thing. Inquiring about the artist’s process (ie: “Tell me about your process.”) is ok.

#6 “Your work is just like so-and-so’s.” Ouch. Every artist likes to think they are unique creators. We do not want to be compared to other artists. This one hurts. It IS always ok to ask who the artist is influenced by.

#7 “It must be fun to just paint all day.” and/or “What do you do for a living?” If you’ve read the above paragraphs, you already know why this one is a no-no. They are artists. That’s what they do for a living.

#8 “I want to learn to paint when I retire/have free-time, etc.” This is insulting as it implies that art is a hobby, which to these artists, it most definitely is not. This question goes hand-in-hand with “How can I learn to paint like that?” Just don’t go there.

#9 It should go without saying, but never insult the work. Even if you think it’s hideous. Just keep it to yourself. That’s a person’s heart and soul on display, even if you don’t like it. Comments like, “My 5 year-old could paint that!” are always rude. I’ve had many rude comments thrown my way, such as, “Why would anyone want to hang that on their wall?” (CCAF 2008) and, “You’re painting on top of photographs!” (Spoken very loud and accusingly at my own art opening in 2010) It just plain hurts. That person standing behind you may be the artist, don’t assume he can’t hear you. I’m an artist and see work I don’t like all the time, but I always try and have enough respect for the artist to keep my mouth shut. If I want to discuss the work in a negative way, I wait till we have left the festival or gallery. Always.

OK, if I haven’t completely scared you away from talking to artists at art festivals by now, here are a list of questions that will always be welcome:
 #1 “Tell me about your work.” It’s the perfect question.

#2 ” What/who influences you?” An excellent conversation starter, always welcome.

#3 “What inspired you to create that?”

#4 “What attracted you to working with pattern/the figure/still life’s/animals, etc?”

#5 Sincere complements are always welcome. “Beautiful work”, “well-done”, “great technique” is always nice to hear. I had one man tell me, “This is hands-down the best work of the show.” and I could tell he really meant it. That was 4 years ago and it still makes me smile.

#6 It’s ok to just be silent. (it’s much better than an insincere complement) A person thoughtfully and quietly studying a piece is always welcome. Don’t feel like you have to say something.

A few final notes:

Never take pictures of the art unless you ask the artist for permission first. There are unfortunately people out there who take hi-res images of work to make prints of and sell. Obviously this is a highly illegal copyright violation, but it happens. Also, some folks take pictures thinking they will go home and try and copy the piece (this is theft and copyright violation). Both these scenarios are bad news for the artist. You may just want to take a picture because you think it’s pretty, but the artist doesn’t know that. Ask before you shoot.

And lastly, remember these folks are working hard and are here to sell their work. Don’t take up an artist’s time chatting if you have no intention of buying. They need that time for their paying clients.

Don’t feel bad if you’ve been guilty of one of the “bad” questions. We’ve all been there, even the arts professionals! You are now armed with more art festival knowledge than most, and you’ll never be in danger of unintentionally insulting an artist again. So go forth, explore the arts, and have fun!

Still have questions? This artist will do her best to answer them for you. Just ask in the Leave a Reply section.

PLEASE NOTE: This post has generated a lot of discussion, and that’s a good thing. However, please keep your comments of a constructive nature, and refrain from rude and insulting comments. Thank you.

A Guide to Basic Necklace Lengths

A Guide to Basic Necklace Lengths

Reflection...

As I reflect on 2012, the ins and outs and ups and downs, I can't help but let out a sigh and smile.  One because my first full year in business is under my belt and two because I consider it a success.  Of course it wasn't without it stresses, problems, and let downs, however I prefer to focus on the positives and work toward the future.  I met and in some cases far exceeded every goal I set!  I feel as though I spread myself a bit thin though.  I tried a lot of new strategies to get my name (brand) out there, but couldn't really give all that was needed to any one of them, so I in-turn became stressed that I wasn't doing enough, or I was failing at this, that, or the other and there just wasn't enough time in each day.  So this year I'm thinning out and pairing down!  Focusing on what I now know works and what I truly want to work!  I have a lot of new designs in the pipeline and big plans!  So get ready 2013, here I come ready and raring to go!!!

Holiday Wish List Service...

This is a free and easy service I'm offering this holiday season so you can receive the gifts you want instead of another ugly sweater you'll never wear!  It's simple, visit my Etsy shop SSMDesign ~ Jewelry Personified or Facebook page and send me a message with the item(s) you love from my shop and the name and email address(s) of the person(s) you'd like your "wish list" to go to and I'll send an official email to each person : ) (THE NAMES AND EMAIL ADDRESSES PROVIDED WILL BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE ONLY!!! Your loved ones will not receive spam or further communications from me unless otherwise requested!!!)

Old Borrowed and Blue as Inspiration...

If you've ever pondered the origin of my inspiration of my "Sands of Time" shake necklaces  this post will put your curiosity to rest.  A little more than 14 years ago I married the love of my life and high school sweetheart wearing the lovely necklace pictured above.  It was my old, borrowed, and blue compliments of my mom from her jewelry collection from days past.  The crazy thing was that when I asked about the necklace, we both remembered it being broken, but when she finally found it it was completely intact and ready for me to wear on our wedding day.  We're both still baffled by it to this day, I guess it was meant to be!  She ended up gifting the necklace to me and many moons later it inspired what I consider to be one of my best designs thus far!  I am continuing to evolve the original design and now offer many different shape options as well as pendant filling variations including beach sand, gold flakes, rough diamonds, and the newest are faceted diamonds and gemstones in a multitude of colors!  I am also currently working on designs to expand the line to include bracelets and earrings!

Unyeilding...

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Back From Hiatus...

Here she is, my brand new niece who just couldn't wait until her due date.  I am blessed in that I own my own business and could close up shop for a bit to spend some very valuable time with her just after her birth : )  I am happy to report that she and mommy are doing very well and thriving!!!  She is such a good baby and I am so in love her, it was quite difficult to leave!  My solace is knowing that I will be able to see her again in a few weeks when she returns to Florida with my sister and my mom!  It was incredible to watch how much she changed just from day to day during my visit.  She was born with very dark hair and eyes and 14 days later her hair is markedly lighter and her eyes are turning blue like her momma's.  She will be a very different baby when I see her again next month!  I'm back in the swing of things now, all orders placed in my absence have been made and shipped and I am back to business as usual.

It's Really Happening...

I've held off in announcing this huge news until the deal was done and now I am ecstatic to proclaim that SSMDesign ~ Jewelry Personified is officially a successful business!  I got my first wholesale order and it's ready to ship, so you can now visit Dragonflies Handcrafted Jewelry and Gifts in Saint Augustine, Florida to see, hold and purchase my jewelry in person!  I've had some false starts, but this is real and I feel like Pinocchio must have felt the day he became a real boy, I couldn't be more proud : D  Hopefully this is the first of many!!!

Much Ado About Nothing (kind of) ...

After spending much too much time virtually chasing my tail yesterday trying to track down an international package mailed April 3rd that had not arrived, I've been forced to make changes to my shipping policy yet again.  If you've read some of my other posts you know this is not the first time the US Postal Service has let me down.  Every shipment is important, my jewelry designs are like my babies.  I imagine, create, give birth to, and nurture each piece, but some are more time sensitive than others!  Many are for baby showers or weddings and though they've been ordered in plenty of time, it ends up being a close call once they leaves my hands.  The good news is, she received the package today.  The bad news is, international shipping with the US Postal Service is a crap shoot at best!  I understand that we shouldn't really expect them to be held responsible for a package once it leaves their facilities and enters customs, but at least claim some accountability!  If you're gonna charge $18 for priority service, and the word service should be taken with a grain of salt here, we should at least receive something for our money.  This is precisely how the USPS is putting themselves out of business, but then what are our alternatives!?!  Fedex and UPS prices are double and triple or DHL, no thank you, they can't even find my house (call me for directions, hello ever heard of google maps) and I live in a large development!  The point is, we need more and better shipping options!!!  I'm not going to bore you with all of the details.  What I will say, is that I haven't had a lot of overseas sales, but I appreciate my international customers and I hate that I have to punish them by only offering express service, however I need to have some recourse.  If she hadn't received her gift, I would have been out the money to make it, ship it, make it and ship it again.  And as a small business I don't have those kind of margins!!!  At least with express international packages can be tracked and insured, but the cost is ludicrous at $38.  Anyway, as you can see, I have not come this decision lightly.  I'm just doing the best I can do with the tools I've been given, and these tools should be reinvented : (

Accomplishments...

This is a pretty big day for me as I've just finished creating my very first made from scratch ring!  Learning to prong-set gemstones has been a long-time goal finally realized : )  I still have a lot to learn and I'm looking forward to every wonderful frustrating moment!  I am currently on week 3 of a 5 week jewelry design course at Art Center Manatee with Wendy Thurlow.  The class itself is very laid back and Wendy allows us to suggest what we'd like to learn and I asked for prong setting, of course!  I thought the class would teach me to cut seats in the prongs of pre-made mounting, but I was definitely mistaken!  Last week we learned how to build a ring from the band up, so to speak.  So everything you see in the photos above was created by me (with the exception of the sterling and the apatite gemstone), from the band to the prong mounting, to the texture and I am pretty darn proud of myself I must say!!!  And though it may not be perfect, I think it's very good for my very first attempt : D 

Trial and Error...

I'm learning a lot through this my first art/craft show season!  Last weekends show, which I thought would be a home run, was a huge disappointment!  And though I wouldn't say it was a complete waste of time, it was pretty darn close!  I have one final show this season this coming weekend at 5 Points Park in Sarasota and fingers crossed will end the season with a bang!  Throughout the season there have been many wonderful moments, but one moment from this past weekend truly puts a smile on my face!  A customer very excitedly enters my tent and exclaims "I'm so happy to have finally found you, I've been looking for you at every art and craft show since January", which made the disappointment from the previous weekend fade into the distance!  And though her husband did try to work a deal by talking me down on the price of the item she so coveted, I am happy to report that she did leave with the treasure she was seeking!  Just in case you've ever wondered, an art/craft show is NOT a garage sale!  Many of us don't have a physical storefront and this is our venue to display our hard work to the public. So it is not acceptable to most artists that you try to wheel and deal us on our price, in fact many of us find it quite offensive!  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy getting a good deal as much as the next person, but this is not the place for that kind of thing!  There are a lot of factors that go into how we as artists price our works and many artists don't charge for their labor as it is, so our work is generally priced more than fairly!  Anyway, I apologize for the sidebar, but this situation was a bit disconcerting for me.  But as this was to be her birthday gift and I could see that she would be heartbroken to walk away empty-handed, I didn't make a big deal about it and did work with them a bit.  And although it put a slight tarnish on the experience, I think the outcome was good all the way around and I'm ecstatic that someone enjoys my work that much : )

I've been weighing my options, trying to decide if art/craft show gypsy is for me and I think I've decided to participate in local shows early in the season (Nov. - Feb).  It just seems as though the market in Florida is pretty saturated with multiple shows per weekend, so traffic gets more and more diluted as the season progresses.  I don't want to pull out completely because I really enjoy meeting and getting to know my customers face to face, so I'll be trying this schedule out in the fall.

I also made my very first art for art trade with a very talented local artist Robert Johnson whose art I've featured above.  I love his use of perspective and color!  He and his wife Sandy are residents of Anna Maria Island and Bob paints scenes from many local establishments as well as nature.  They participate in quite a few of the local art and craft shows and they'll be in Englewood on Dearborn this coming weekend, so if you're in the area stop in and say hello!

And lastly, I'm super excited to start classes this week to learn some new jewelry design techniques and hone my skills, so wish me luck!