Jazz Trio - Rings & Things Product Review

I'm a little behind on my Rings & Things product reviews. The good folks at R & T send their blog partners things to review or experiment with each month. Products provided by Rings & Things include the 8mm Swarovski crystal cubes in topaz and montana blue, the 22 gauge copper wire, the round copper blanks and one lonesome brown lava bead left over from a previous review

I also wanted to work on a piece that used the color scheme of the Art Bead Scene challenge. If you've seen this month's painting, it's a crazy folk art piece featuring a piano playing cow. So to say I stretched the connection between the inspiration and my piece may be an understatement. I loosely used the color scheme of blue, orange and green. .

So here is what I did:

I took the copper blanks and textured them with a screwdriver for the dot pattern and the other blank I used my ball peen hammer. I used my handy metal hole punch and added two holes to make those disks into connectors and then I pulled out my wooden dapping block and domed them into a concave shape. I used an eye pin to hold the beads in the center of those connectors. Next I wire-wrapped the cubes and black wooden beads to the copper chain. The rest of the components are connected with copper eyepins and jumprings. So there we have a nice little necklace that reminds me of improvisational jazz with elements speaking and playing off one another.

Tools provided by Rings & Things: wooden dapping block, ball peen hammer and metal hole-punch.

And really with those 3 tools and a bench block you can make so many different things with wire and metal, I would consider them as essential as your set of pliers.

October Skies

For the Vintaj trunk show I created lots of limited edition pieces. The beads had a successful run in Galena and have returned home. This was my favorites from the batch. I did a whole collection of beads called "October Sky" that featured leaf and branches canes. There is a yellow/orange - blue/muted purple theme going on that I'm lovin. I really miss the leaves changing colors, we just don't have that here in SA.

Along with this style I did a few other bezels with a mix of canes and painting, but I'm going to do a layer of resin on top of those. They should be ready next week, if all goes according to plan.

Here is the back of the pendant, it's a Vintaj piece that I've dapt (or dapped, I'm not sure which way it's said and it's too late at night for googlin'.)

Thanks for the words of wisdom on pricing. I hope that by sharing my struggle I can help someone else who is in the same boat. It's always hard to talk about that kind of stuff and I was feeling a little exposed yesterday. But I'm glad I had the chance to hear your encouraging words.

Pricing Jewelry

A few weeks ago I decided that I'd like to offer a line of jewelry along with my beads. While making jewelry is fun and it's where I started with my business 17 years ago, I have to say that it's been a struggle to give myself permission to ask a fair price.

Everyone has different reasons and systems for the way they price their jewelry, so I'm not saying one way is good or bad. I'm just offering my thoughts here. If you have overcome this struggle in your journey as an artist, please share your story with me!

So these are the thoughts that have been rolling around in my head:

1. I have to charge for more than materials. I need to support my family. This isn't a hobby for me, this is my livelihood. If I'm going to spend my time making jewelry it has to be worth the investment that it will take out of my day. Along with the physical making of the beads and jewelry, there is photography and design work, marketing, advertising, selling costs, packaging, shipping and paperwork that goes along with each piece of jewelry.

2. I don't have to afford my jewelry. So my price needs to reflect what my work is worth, not what I think is affordable. I'm a bargain hunter by nature. It's just a hold-over from my survival skills as a young 20's something mother with a husband who worked manual labor. Thankfully now I can afford all sorts of luxuries but it's hard for me to pay certain price points for things and I just need to let that go.

3. My time is valuable and there are intangible qualities to my work. There are my design skills, my craftsmanship and my ideas. These are harder to quantify into a dollar amount and make it harder to pinpoint a formula.

So I do have a basic formula for the price as a guideline and I have a general idea of the fair market value for work that is comparable to mine. But I still struggle to ask that higher dollar amount. I know a gallery or boutique could ask for more for my work than I'm charging, so why can't I give myself the okay to charge more? It may just take time. I might find that the demand for my work is growing too much and then I'll have to charge more. (Okay that was weird to write, like I might as well of asked for a pocket full of pixie dust.)

I feel like I need to look in a mirror and say, "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and doggone it people will buy my jewelry." (Nod to Mr. Stewart Smiley.)

Share with me - if you know of a good link or have a jewelry designer that you admire I'd love to see it!

Bead Trends Giveaway!

When the editor of Bead Trends asked me to be the Featured Designer for the October issue I knew right away that I wanted to create a series of jewelry that reflected the seasons, my love of nature and incorporated art beads from some of my favorite artists. The 11 designs featured in the issue are some of my favorite pieces that I've ever created. Tomorrow I will share more about the art beads used in the projects.

Projects In the issue:

1. Water & Seed Necklace and Bracelet

(Pictured above, photo courtesy of Bead Trends Magazine)

A woodsy combination of seeds, wood and water inspired beads.

2. Blue Skies Calling Bracelet, Necklace and Earrings

Nests and birds take center stage amid blue lace agate, yellow opal nuggets and copper.

3. Seek Wisdom Necklace and Earrings

A wintery blue set with branches, kyanite and ceramic beads in frosty hues.

4. Tiger Lily Necklace and Earrings

One of my favorite flowers of summer, this tiger lily set features a mix of copper disks, keishe pearls, rutilated quartz and gunmetal chain.

5. Letting Go Necklace and Bracelet

A seed of knowledge: letting go of our worries will help us get closer to our dreams. This is the theme of this set with harvest inspired beads, trees, leaves, acorns and wood.

Did you know you can purchase a digital copy of the magazine? I did this the other day and it's awesome! You subscribe to one issue for $4.99. You pick which issue you want, uh go for Oct. 2009 to see my goodies, and it's instantly available online. You can download the issue to your computer. You can make notes, there are direct links to the suppliers, it pretty much rocks. Although I still like to hold a magazine in my hand, this is a budget-friendly alternative! Click here for more details.

To celebrate being the featured designer in the October issue of Bead Trends I am hosting a giveaway on my blog this week.

The prizes: Bead Trends has donated one 6 month subscription to their magazine (a $49.95 value) and I am giving away a $30 gift certificate to Humblebeads.com!

To Enter: Make a comment to this post. If you don't have a blog, please make sure to include your email so that I can contact you if you are the winner!

To Win: One random winner will be drawn from all of the comments on Monday, October 12th.
One entry per person.   This drawing is now closed, thank you!

Let's give you something to comment on other than kudos, although I do appreciate those:

From the 5 themes/projects mentioned above which one appeals to you the most?

Inspirations for my latest beads

My inspirations:
In an old library hidden within a great manor, a woman in a dark blue silk dress tucks a feather into a dusty volume of her favorite book of poems. She dreams of freedom.


A cameo sits on a vanity next to a wooden box that holds pearls and a locket with the photo of her beloved. She touches a ribbon that once tied together a bouquet from their younger days.

A walk along a crumbling stone wall at the beginning of a cold October evening. The sun sets with a rush of midnight blue over the countryside. She heads away from the call and comfort of the glowing lights, from the safety of home and heads toward the forest...

I'm thinking filigree lockets, luscious ribbon, wood beads, stones in earthy colors, dark jewel tones, Victorian influences, autumn colors...

What is inspiring you today?