My advance apologies everyone, I have a very busy week ahead so I probably won't get any more posts written until next week. Not that I've been posting a ton in the first place, but still.
I play cello in the Black Hills Symphony and we have a concert this Saturday March 5th at 7:30 pm, so if you're in the Rapid City area come on by! Get tickets here (they're probably cheaper than you expect) and come enjoy the concert! We'll have two violin soloists performing with us and we're playing many familiar pieces!
This also means that I'll be up in Rapid 3 evenings this week then all day Saturday. So, have a good week everyone, talk to you after the concert :)
Monday, February 28, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Fresh from the desk: Custom turtle necklace
My cousin is wonderful. She immediately ordered earrings from my Etsy shop to match the necklaces I had already sent her. She officially rocks my socks. Then, she proposed a challenge to me: she loves turtle jewelry but has had trouble finding any. I'm on it.Honestly, the hard part was finding the turtle pendant. I didn't have all day to look and I don't get up to Rapid City very often, so my shopping choices were Michael's and Hobby Lobby, and to get it done quickly enough that Mom and I weren't late for our respective rehearsals. There was one turtle pendant at Michael's. One. And it was bright shiny orange glass. Not exactly what I had in mind for my cousin, who is a character but with class. I suspect there may have been more that would usually be in stock, but there were a fair number of empty pegs in the charms/pendants section. Instead of making that one work, we tried Hobby Lobby next. It took forever, and the first 3 that we found were very childish-looking, but we finally found this little tortoise.
I wanted to keep the design simple and small but unique. I couldn't use any overly large or bright beads with the little guy or he'd be hidden (I've decided the bead is male. Yes. Why? Who knows. Does it matter? Not really.). I decided to stick with a green/silvery palette to avoid overdoing it, but instead focused on using several different textures within the color scheme. I prefer to use earthy materials rather than metals, partly because of my goal to keep my designs hypoallergenic and partly because i like to use different textures like woods, glass, gemstone chips, shells, and pearls to keep things different and interesting. We found Heishi river shell beads in the same green as the "belly" of the tortoise and iridescent labradorite chips to complement both the silver and dark green.
In this design, I see the rocky journey the desert tortoise must make across the shimmering desert sands and rocky iridescent hills to find the green sustenance he needs, to remind us that even if the journey is difficult it is necessary but can also be beautiful. Maybe that's corny. Maybe I've been staring at it too long. Maybe I need to go to bed. :)
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Spring/Summer designs now listed on Etsy!
I finally got my Etsy page back up and running! I went on a beading hiatus for quite a while while I was getting my house done but we're back!
That's all for right now...but go take a look! :)
| Etsy sarahjdecker |
That's all for right now...but go take a look! :)
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Ultimate Indoor Garage Sale/Craft Fair: epic fail.
Not a fail for those who came shopping for garage sale deals, or for those who brought their junk to transfer to someone else's garage, but it was definitely a fail for me. Maybe the other vendor booths fared better. The one next to us was an Avon representative who brought a whole bunch of inventory and marked it all down to clearance prices, and they seemed to do pretty well, but another booth farther down the hallway with lots of Valentine balloons and gifts didn't seem to get rid of much stuff from what we could see.
My mom suggested we get a booth since it was a huge event at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in Rapid City right before Valentine's day, thinking we might get a few last-minute gift shoppers interested in some unique jewelry. Unfortunately for us, the customers were those who came with a large wheeled suitcase armed to get as much random junk as they could for $1, and they simply weren't interested in a $15 pair of earrings, no matter how cute. We had a decent amount of traffic at the table, and many of them gushed about "how pretty" it all was, but then they all walked away to try their luck at the garage sale booths. A few said they'd be back later, but most people were so overloaded with stuff on their way out that they were making a beeline for the door hoping they could hold it all until they got to the car. Several trips like that for some of them, actually.
There were a few entertaining things that happened while we were there. Our booth was the first one inside the gate so we got to watch everyone come and go. Admission was $1 for adults and everyone got their hand stamped, and it was funny to watch the kids stare at their hands, transfixed by the magical red smiley face. Some little kids were clearly hand-stamp veterans, nodding and holding out their fists to the ticket-takers, grinning proudly. Others were more reserved, or downright scared, and a few of the quieter ones gave the poor ticket-takers a dirty look when they got a hand stamp anyway. There were a few older kids who argued about whether the ink was permanent on their way through the gate and one who panicked at the thought of losing his stamp after washing his hands in the bathroom.
Another thing that never failed to amaze Mom and me was the kind of stuff people were leaving with... one pair of young men (mid-twenties or so) left with a large set of fake teeth. That's all, just a giant set of dentures. Makes me wonder what their apartment looks like. Countless others left with terribly beat-up stuffed animals, lots of baby stuff (cribs, strollers, etc.), the occasional trampoline or skis or bow-and-arrow set. It made me wonder how many times some of this stuff had been at garage sales, how many people had paid for the same item, how many times it had changed hands, and whether it would end up at another garage sale in the summer. Almost made me want to track something just to see.
I'm not sure what we did wrong, other than we were at the wrong event. You may think that being the first booth at a huge event would be a great spot, but you'd be wrong. No one ever buys at the first booth they stop at, and even if they make a mental note to return later they will probably forget after walking through the rest of the event. On their way out, when they could see us again, by then they had already spent what they had and were in a hurry to get home with their new treasures, exhausted and kids wailing. It may have been bad luck, bad placement, but I honestly think it was just the wrong crowd and they weren't shopping for what we were selling. Nothing except my string of pearls was more than $15, which I think is a plenty reasonable price for all of it and the table looked very nice.
Maybe we didn't do anything wrong. Maybe we did everything wrong. Maybe it was bad luck. But, whatever it was, that was my fourth craft fair and none of them went very well. Is it worth paying a table fee at an event when you'd have to sell everything on the table just to break even? I'm thinking probably not, especially when I prefer to do my work on a custom-order basis. I decided after yesterday that my approach needs to be different or I'll never get anywhere. Time to reinvent myself.
My mom suggested we get a booth since it was a huge event at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in Rapid City right before Valentine's day, thinking we might get a few last-minute gift shoppers interested in some unique jewelry. Unfortunately for us, the customers were those who came with a large wheeled suitcase armed to get as much random junk as they could for $1, and they simply weren't interested in a $15 pair of earrings, no matter how cute. We had a decent amount of traffic at the table, and many of them gushed about "how pretty" it all was, but then they all walked away to try their luck at the garage sale booths. A few said they'd be back later, but most people were so overloaded with stuff on their way out that they were making a beeline for the door hoping they could hold it all until they got to the car. Several trips like that for some of them, actually.
There were a few entertaining things that happened while we were there. Our booth was the first one inside the gate so we got to watch everyone come and go. Admission was $1 for adults and everyone got their hand stamped, and it was funny to watch the kids stare at their hands, transfixed by the magical red smiley face. Some little kids were clearly hand-stamp veterans, nodding and holding out their fists to the ticket-takers, grinning proudly. Others were more reserved, or downright scared, and a few of the quieter ones gave the poor ticket-takers a dirty look when they got a hand stamp anyway. There were a few older kids who argued about whether the ink was permanent on their way through the gate and one who panicked at the thought of losing his stamp after washing his hands in the bathroom.
Another thing that never failed to amaze Mom and me was the kind of stuff people were leaving with... one pair of young men (mid-twenties or so) left with a large set of fake teeth. That's all, just a giant set of dentures. Makes me wonder what their apartment looks like. Countless others left with terribly beat-up stuffed animals, lots of baby stuff (cribs, strollers, etc.), the occasional trampoline or skis or bow-and-arrow set. It made me wonder how many times some of this stuff had been at garage sales, how many people had paid for the same item, how many times it had changed hands, and whether it would end up at another garage sale in the summer. Almost made me want to track something just to see.
I'm not sure what we did wrong, other than we were at the wrong event. You may think that being the first booth at a huge event would be a great spot, but you'd be wrong. No one ever buys at the first booth they stop at, and even if they make a mental note to return later they will probably forget after walking through the rest of the event. On their way out, when they could see us again, by then they had already spent what they had and were in a hurry to get home with their new treasures, exhausted and kids wailing. It may have been bad luck, bad placement, but I honestly think it was just the wrong crowd and they weren't shopping for what we were selling. Nothing except my string of pearls was more than $15, which I think is a plenty reasonable price for all of it and the table looked very nice.
Maybe we didn't do anything wrong. Maybe we did everything wrong. Maybe it was bad luck. But, whatever it was, that was my fourth craft fair and none of them went very well. Is it worth paying a table fee at an event when you'd have to sell everything on the table just to break even? I'm thinking probably not, especially when I prefer to do my work on a custom-order basis. I decided after yesterday that my approach needs to be different or I'll never get anywhere. Time to reinvent myself.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
By way of an introduction...
Hello and welcome! My name's Sarah, I'm 29 and recently moved back home to the Black Hills of South Dakota after earning three music degrees and attempting to eke out a living in Chicago and Los Angeles. One day I would love to make a living composing music for movies, TV shows, and video games, but that's a long-term goal that will take a lot of free work before I get anywhere with it. My jewelry-making began in Los Angeles when I was stuck at home, largely alone, with a broken foot after several months of unsuccessful job-searching. I was looking for a relatively inexpensive hobby that could bring a little more income into our household since I was feeling rather worthless, being unable to find a job then being unable to even perform jobs that I normally would have. Jewelry-making was a natural fit for me, since I've always enjoyed handmade, unique jewelry for myself and I have enough of a mechanical mind to figure out how to make it myself. A few tutorials, tools, and beads later, I got started! I now own and run Jane Original Jewelry and am looking to expand my web presence to build my little home business.
I'm never one to settle for the standard. Just because it's popular, or "the way it's always been done" doesn't mean that's the way it has to be. That holds true in almost every facet of my life, sometimes to my detriment in my stubbornness, but often it forces me to step back and evaluate the situation and come up with a new (and often more logical) solution. This is partly why most of my designs are custom-made for the people who order them, so that they get exactly what they need. Somehow, I often design better if someone else gets me started anyway.
There are a few common themes through my designs that stem from frustration with most widely available jewelry and their lack of invention and quality. Honestly, $20 for a teeny base-metal pendant with a rhinestone stuck in it on a chain that will turn your neck green within the month? Who comes up with this stuff? Most of the time it's not even a cute design. Farther up on the price scale is teeny 10k gold pendants, also on a cheap chain, maybe with an itty-bitty cloudy diamond in it somewhere, but still certainly not worth the $150+ stores will charge for them. I am glad to say that many Black Hills Gold designs are an exception to this rule, but they're not available everywhere and, frankly, some of us just don't like little pendants on 18-inch chains. I try to keep my designs around the $20 range so that customizable, elegant pieces are available in any budget, and certainly can be dressed up with rarer stones if requested.
Another issue I have lived with for many years and encountered often during my time working in a jewelry store is people that are allergic to metals. Some are merely sensitive to nickel or the most inexpensive base-metal alloys that make up most earring posts and necklaces. Others, like my mother, are allergic to all metals, period. It's more widespread than I expected, but I talked to a good handful of people who can't even wear watches or sandals where metal parts might touch their skin without developing a rash. I decided that since I could make my own jewelry out of anything I wanted, there was no reason that I couldn't design jewelry that contained no metal at all. Many of my necklace designs are metal-free for this very reason, and the designs don't suffer at all for that. Another more practical reason is that I don't have the equipment for casting metal pendants or earrings, nor will I for quite a while, so it was easy enough to use string instead of wire to put the beads together. I also decided that the clasps should be easy to maneuver for those with arthritis or clumsy fingers that have trouble working the small clasps. Personally, I'm terribly annoyed by tiny spring clasps; they're far more trouble to live with than they're worth.
A personal annoyance that also holds sway in my designs is that the clasp should never rotate down to the pendant during wear. Period. This is easy to accomplish and I make sure that none of my necklaces have to be incessantly messed with just to be worn properly.
My little business is still in its infancy, and craft fairs around here are proving to not be a worthwhile venture for me considering that I would much rather build custom pieces for each customer.
So, with all that said, welcome to my blog! I have a website for my music and jewelry at sarahdecker.com which I try to keep updated, and occasionally I have listings on my Etsy page. I hope you enjoy my journey as much as I do!
I'm never one to settle for the standard. Just because it's popular, or "the way it's always been done" doesn't mean that's the way it has to be. That holds true in almost every facet of my life, sometimes to my detriment in my stubbornness, but often it forces me to step back and evaluate the situation and come up with a new (and often more logical) solution. This is partly why most of my designs are custom-made for the people who order them, so that they get exactly what they need. Somehow, I often design better if someone else gets me started anyway.
There are a few common themes through my designs that stem from frustration with most widely available jewelry and their lack of invention and quality. Honestly, $20 for a teeny base-metal pendant with a rhinestone stuck in it on a chain that will turn your neck green within the month? Who comes up with this stuff? Most of the time it's not even a cute design. Farther up on the price scale is teeny 10k gold pendants, also on a cheap chain, maybe with an itty-bitty cloudy diamond in it somewhere, but still certainly not worth the $150+ stores will charge for them. I am glad to say that many Black Hills Gold designs are an exception to this rule, but they're not available everywhere and, frankly, some of us just don't like little pendants on 18-inch chains. I try to keep my designs around the $20 range so that customizable, elegant pieces are available in any budget, and certainly can be dressed up with rarer stones if requested.
Another issue I have lived with for many years and encountered often during my time working in a jewelry store is people that are allergic to metals. Some are merely sensitive to nickel or the most inexpensive base-metal alloys that make up most earring posts and necklaces. Others, like my mother, are allergic to all metals, period. It's more widespread than I expected, but I talked to a good handful of people who can't even wear watches or sandals where metal parts might touch their skin without developing a rash. I decided that since I could make my own jewelry out of anything I wanted, there was no reason that I couldn't design jewelry that contained no metal at all. Many of my necklace designs are metal-free for this very reason, and the designs don't suffer at all for that. Another more practical reason is that I don't have the equipment for casting metal pendants or earrings, nor will I for quite a while, so it was easy enough to use string instead of wire to put the beads together. I also decided that the clasps should be easy to maneuver for those with arthritis or clumsy fingers that have trouble working the small clasps. Personally, I'm terribly annoyed by tiny spring clasps; they're far more trouble to live with than they're worth.
A personal annoyance that also holds sway in my designs is that the clasp should never rotate down to the pendant during wear. Period. This is easy to accomplish and I make sure that none of my necklaces have to be incessantly messed with just to be worn properly.
My little business is still in its infancy, and craft fairs around here are proving to not be a worthwhile venture for me considering that I would much rather build custom pieces for each customer.
So, with all that said, welcome to my blog! I have a website for my music and jewelry at sarahdecker.com which I try to keep updated, and occasionally I have listings on my Etsy page. I hope you enjoy my journey as much as I do!
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