The Chanel Inspired Bracelet

I was talking to a great friend who suggested that I try and go out of my comfort zone of roses and try something completely different! Why not get inspiration from other designers of jewellery?

So I thought, ok! I adore everything Chanel in general, I don’t know why but I do. Their designs are exquisite and their colour combinations are just one of a kind! They scream luxury and beauty all at once.

As I was browsing through the wonderful world of the internet I came across this blog with some fantastic pictures of Chanel items.

http://www.chriissydollxo.com/2012/11/chanel-jewels-cruise-201213-collection.html

And this is the item that inspired me.

This is actually a necklace (though when I was referring to it I swear it was a bracelet!!) A short necklace with flowers (which as you all know are my thing!). But it was the colour combination most of all that I wanted to play with. I’m not a huge fan of gold, but this just worked!

So I experimented!

After about 3 hours of working with the clay I came up with this piece! I'll show you the individual bits before I reveal my master piece! :)

                                                                The smaller flowers.

                                                                  The roses and the little flowers.

                                                                   The large flowers

I added gold dust to the edges of some of the flowers and on top of the roses to give it some sparkle and also the rhinestones in the middle of the flowers which, at the time, I wasn’t sure about. But as I began to build the necklace, it started to come together.

On most of my necklaces and bracelet, it is simply a single head pin through, however because this bracelet needed two chains to hold the larger flowers, a lot of the flowers have a quadruple connection. This keeps the structure of the bracelet and allows the flowers to be part of the bracelet rather than just decoration.

And finally, this is the finished design! I think its a great adaptation now. As I say, before I put it all together, I was really not sure. When I posted this on my personal facebook, I had a lot of positive comments on it. That is when I thought it would be a good idea to blog the journey!

I hope you like this entry and I hope it inspires you to go out and try something out of your comfort craft zone! Happy crafting!! x

5 Passed On Pieces of Advice for Any Craft Business

So you've decided you want to run a business (and in this case I'll be using hand made jewellery selling), but what next. How do you turn things that you have made into money? Well, its not quite as simple as putting them on Ebay or Etsy or where ever. See the following tips to help you maximise your business from the very beginning!

1.  Know your product

Try really hard not to like it or love it -- in fact the more removed you are from the product, the more objective you can be with descriptions and the less upset you will be if that particular piece does not sell. Know what style your pieces are (I'm terrible with this) and know what people would type into a search engine to find your particular piece.

In my case, I assumed that my pieces would only pop up under "polymer clay". Which they do -- BUT there are other ways to approach my products such as their style (romantic or bohemian) or their colours (bright, vivid, quirky) or their uniqueness (every heard of OOAK? One of a kind!). Try and think outside of the box (which is really hard I know) and remove yourself from your art, if only to do the Search Engine Optimisation and descriptions of your work.

2. Know your customer

If you want to be really successful you must know your demographic -- who are you making these pieces for? If the pieces are being made for someone like you, then who are you? Age, gender, dress style, music taste, career, finances....you get the picture.

Its really hard creating something for someone else, which is something that I have found whilst making my jewellery. Inspired by pieces are super hard because they are often inspired by colours I don't particularly like but ones that are "on trend". Its more difficult because to my eye, they don't look right -- I want to add vividness or bright red to it!!

3. Really know your style

So, what is your style? Steampunk? Goth? Jock? Ok, so I made that last one up, I ran out of ideas. You see how great I am with style, huh? Mostly, my style seems to be Disney-fied. Not sure how good or bad that is! Haha! But its a romantic style, very floral and bright. Thing is, I DON'T know what my style is, and therefore the pieces are not necessarily cohesive and neither are the new pieces I make. I have an idea in my mind but the pieces never seem to hit that mark. Hence why I am struggling.

But I am here to help you. Have a style board/mood board where you cut out pictures from magazines, the internet, photocopy books etc so that you have general feel for that style. Is it floral? Metal? Are the colours the basis of your style or is it the materials? Establish a strong style and you'll never waiver.

4. Market, market, market!

Get a facebook page, get a blog (ta daaa), get twitter, wanaloo, pinterest...anything to get your products out there, to get yourself out there. The best thing about social media is that the reach is HUGE but you don't have to be corporate in your approach, just friendly, professional to some degree and helpful. Showing people the real you can help you win friends and influence people.

Get chatting to your potential customers, keep them happy and then the world is your oyster. I know the crafting side of your products is probably the core of your business, but equally, so is interacting with your potential customers. You never know when someone is going to stumble across your facebook/twitter/whatever and think, 'Hey, I think I'll check this guy's shop out!'

5. Keep up!!

One thing that I have really struggled with is trying to keep up with everything: accounts, marketing, blog, making products, updating descriptions etc etc. I blame my depression but it still affects the business. Remember illness that stops you doing any of your business things WILL affect your business. So try and get on top of things, don't let things slide. Keep going.

Use scheduling apps such as Buffer that connect to your twitter and facebook which allow you to schedule your posts. And the great thing about this little tool is its FREE, its EASY and you then spend little time on social media. You can type things in there, or add photos or websites for 1 hour a week and then the weeks worth of marketing is done!

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I hope this article has helped you. I'm not a great example as I have yet to apply these bits of knowledge to my own work! But these are some great tips that I have picked up from here and there.

Don't forget, if you want to see the items in my shop look here or my facebook here

Below is my latest custom piece for a friend. Its actually one of my favourite necklaces that I have made :) Constructed from wire, handmade roses of three colours and metallic look beads.

How To Price Your Hand Made Jewellery: Tips

There is a lot of confusion on how to price your hand made jewellery, and I haven't quite grasped it yet either! You might think that pricing you items low will make it sell quickly as people are always on the hunt for a bargain! Right?...Well, thats not always the case, especially with hand made items. If you under value your work not only are you under cutting fellow artists, but you can make other people think that your items are low quality or are even mass produced (which is one comment I had about my rings when they were seriously under priced!). Of course, you can do damage to your business by going too far the other way and over pricing your pieces, which can obviously put people off. 

Selling jewellery is a huge learning curve for those of us who make it and there is always more to learn!! So here is an article that may help you from the jewelrymakingjournal.com!

Pricing Handmade Jewelry Too Low

By Rena Klingenberg

Many artists make the error of pricing their handmade jewelry too low.

Often it’s for one of these reasons:

* They don’t value their own talent. They feel “lucky” to sell one of their pieces at any price, even if the sale barely covers the cost of their materials.

* They believe their jewelry is “unworthy” of netting higher prices.

* Their well-meaning friends and family (who don’t know anything about the handmade jewelry market) urge them not to “risk failure” by setting their prices too high.

* If their jewelry isn’t selling, they assume it’s because of the pricing – so the first thing they do is drop their prices.

* Their financial situation makes them desperate to make a sale, so they hesitate to put higher prices on their work for fear of scaring customers away.

* They’re not sure how to price handmade jewelry.

But why not charge low prices for your handmade jewelry?

I’m going to share some of my thoughts here, and then I hope you’ll leave a comment below to share your thoughts and experiences regarding low prices on handmade jewelry!

 Working Harder to Earn Less

Pricing handmade jewelry too low means the artist may have to make and sell 5 pieces of jewelry to earn $50, rather than earning the same $50 for just 1 piece.

When jewelry artists set themselves up to work harder while earning less, it’s not a sustainable way to run a business.

Sooner or later the overworked artist tends to either burn out, or shut down the business because it’s not profiting enough to stay afloat.

 Growing the Wrong Customer Base

Under-pricing handmade jewelry also means that artists tend to attract a customer base that consists of “bargain shoppers” rather than “handmade jewelry shoppers”.

That makes it hard for the artist to raise their prices without losing a big portion of their customer base.

It Devalues the Overall

Handmade Jewelry Marketplace

When some artists get into low-price wars, or try to compete with cheap imported jewelry, it can hurt other jewelry artists’ sales.

Unrealistically low prices can cause some customers to equate “handmade” with “cheap pricing”, and pass up jewelry that’s priced higher and more realistically.

Undercutting other jewelry artists doesn’t do you or your fellow artists any good.

You Don’t Want to Make

This Kind of Jewelry Sale!

I’ve seen some jewelry artists actually buy other artists’ low-priced jewelry … specifically to take it apart and remake the components into a much higher-priced piece of jewelry!

The under-pricing artist is thrilled to make a sale – but has no idea their creation is being bought as a cheap source of jewelry supplies.

Don’t let that happen to you!

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I hope this has helped you at the very least see the reasons why you shouldn't under price for the sake of attracting customers! Its likely to put people off you rather get people to buy from you!

In the meantime here is a selection of gorgeous jewellery from: http://www.nintaijewellery.co.uk

Until next time x

Kick Start Your Creativity Part II

I has been a while, but I have started on a whole new project that may (or may not) take me far! Watch this space! :)

http://lifehacker.com/5963282/creativity-takes-courage

True Story!

So, a while back I wrote an article on how to kick start your creativity. I promised a part 2, so here it is!

Match your interests, hobbies and skills

What do you love to learn about, know, make, hear and see? What perks up your day when you read about it? Now, ask yourself what you CAN do. Can you write, craft, sew, cook, inspire or motivate?

Matching the answers to those three questions can give you new ideas on what to make or how to form a business out of what you love. Recently, I have been through this. I made three columns on a sheet of paper. What I love, what I like and what I can do. Oddly enough, I had a connection of two or three things that WEREN’T TO DO WITH JEWELLERY! And so, I am now exploring those. Not to necessarily make money, but to keep my creative flow moving and to allow me to explore past what I thought I loved and find some new things to love.

It’s all about pushing boundaries BUT you have to find those boundaries to begin to be able to push them!

Be excited about it!

Whatever your idea, whether it is doable or not in its infancy should get you excited! It should be able to keep you up at night just thinking about the possibilities! If you are not excited then it is not the right thing for you. If you are looking to build a business for example, you are going to have to keep that business going with new ideas and new directions for a long time (if you are successful which I hope you will be!) Eventually you will run out of excitement. And THAT is when it is time to change tact.

It is like writing a dissertation. You know that you have to write 10,000 words, possibly more on a subject which you have to thoroughly research and pick apart and argue over months and months. So it better be a subject which gets your blood pumping!!

Try to do the opposite

Now, this is a far out idea. If something isn’t working for you in whatever path you have chosen or found yourself on—then do the opposite.  Been writing? Do drawing. Telling everyone? Keep it to yourself. Buying lots? Using what you have.

It will make you think more about what you are doing and where you are going as you will be going against what your mind is used to doing. From this you can then develop different ideas and ways of thinking that allow you to build on everything that you have done and learn more about everything that you are going to do.

Or do a bit of brainstorming with opposite ideas. So what is the problem and how do people usually solve it? List a few then list the opposite to those answers. You will soon switch your mind set and journey off into a completely different road that will (hopefully) keep the excitement up and those creative juices flowing!!

Imagine you are someone else—how would they solve the problem

If you are stuck in a rut with your job, creativity or life in general then imagine you were someone else.  

So for me, I imagine (don’t laugh) that I am Lara Croft. A) because I am a woman and b) because she is absolutely kick ass with no compromises thrown in. And SHE would be able to solve any problem! (Let’s face it, if she can come back from that awful Angel of Darkness series instalment, she can do anything! Oh, and she beat death. Lots.)

So if she was going to attack any problem she would think logically, and hit it hard. So that what I do when I hit a problem that really knocks me for six. I think like Lara.

You could think like Einstein or President Roosevelt or Gordon Freeman! You will probably you’re your own role models. Let them help you think your way out of a problem!

Finally….interview your future self

Now this is a hard one but if you are already set in your role model mode then you can always answer the questions like they might.

Interview yourself from the perspective of 5, maybe even 10 years in the future. What have you achieved? What was your biggest obstacle? Who helped you get this far? Can you give anyone any advice on how to start? What was your very first step?

You can think of more if you try that are more personal to you. If you can see the goal, perhaps you can think of how to get there. Baby steps but in the right direction will give you the time and perspective that you need to keep you thinking on the track. Don’t rush, the journey is worth it!

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So that is the second part to the “Kick start you creativity”. I hope it was helpful. I am on a new journey now having worked through the above ideas with regard to Bewitching Bijou which will hopefully bring you all some interesting work and art from me!

Have a wonderful Spring!!

5 Ways to Kick Start Your Creativity

So you may have noticed that I haven't blogged in a while. Well life has, inevitably gotten in the way. It has also gotten in the way of my work! So here is an article on how to bring your creativity back,even through life's challenges.

I have been struggling with my creativity recently-so much is happening in my life and so much is changing that it’s hard to stay in an inspiring way of thinking. So I thought perhaps I could do a post on how to get inspiration and keep your creativity going even in the most stressful of times. When life gets in the way the fountain of creativity is there, just beneath the surface. You just have to know how to tap into it.

1.       Ask people about your work.

Other people often have great ideas about how you can change your work or adapt it. We all have different life experiences and it’s time to draw on that. For instance you might ask you family or your friends: One of my friends sometimes asks me about her makes and how to approach things differently. She swears that she gets her inspiration from me! Ask for advice from other crafters—you might find some sellers on Etsy or Folksy, you can even use forums such as Craftster to get advice on your makes.

The best thing to do though is to talk to children. They often have crazy ideas that are not fraught with practicality and it can really help you to think (cliché phrase moment) out of the box. Remember how creative you were when you were a kid? I was full of ideas, so full it would’ve been impossible to write them all down. But all the ideas were incredibly convoluted, exceptionally brilliant and totally impractical!! I knew a young boy who once said to me “My head is so full of ideas, I don’t know which to try first!” As adults, I think it’s great to talk to children who are still so full of imagination without being bogged down in reality.

2.       Word Association

This is a great way to start your mind up. Start with a word, any word. It could relate to your product or it could be something like “bus”. Now, write down another word, the first word that pops into your mind. Be quick! Now write down the next one that comes into your brain! Don’t judge the words, just keep going until you have fifteen, maybe even twenty or more words. Stop and start again with a new word.

OK, it’s not an original idea but it helps to get your mind focused, to make your mind somewhat abstract and for it to think in a different way. You can do it with pictures too if you prefer drawing. Draw something, just a sketch-nothing artistic, then draw another of something different, and another and another. Sometimes I find this easier as I have a very visual mind but sometimes the words are a bit easier. Try it out for yourself and see if you can come up with some brilliant ideas.

3.       Brainstorming or Mind Mapping

This was always a fun way to revise for my psychology when I was in high school! It’s great because you can shape it however you want. Start with a subject, lets say “Bracelet”. Put that in the middle. Then work some branches off it so “Occasional Wear” “Daily Wear” “Adult” “Kids” for example. So off “Occasional Wear” we might but birthdays, prom jewellery, weddings etc. You can then focus your attention on each one in turn. Just put down what is in your head.

At this stage, do not throw any idea away. You need all the ideas, lots and lots of them. Being critical about the impracticality of an idea at this stage limits the amount of ideas you have to develop at later stages which limits you creativity. Remember asking the kids in suggestion 1? They aren’t equipped with the practicality critic. The idea of brainstorming is to think like someone who doesn’t have that critic. So just go with it. Write down some silly, big, intelligent, crazy, unique ideas. Develop them LATER!

4.       Ask questions

So sometimes it is really difficult to develop an idea. You know you want to, you know its right but you’re not sure where to go from there. Well, ask questions about it. So perhaps you know that you want to make jewellery but what style? ßThere is a question!

You might also ask:

a)      What style(s) should I specialise in?

b)      When should my style be? (1920’s for example?)

c)       Who is my target demographic?

d)      How will I make my jewellery?

e)      What tools will I need?

f)       What colours should I use?

g)      Why would someone want to buy my jewellery over others?

h)      What makes it unique?

i)        How will I market my product?

These are just a few questions you could ask--should ask! This is my favourite way of developing ideas. It’s a nice way to try to specialise a type of something that you want to do and it helps you focus on it rather than bombard yourself with ideas. Write all the answers down and keep refining them until you have something that is perfect and covers everything you think you need.

5.       Research

This is a skill I am relearning from my school and Uni days. It was boring then going through pages and pages of terribly insightful but insufferably boring facts….but now it’s awesome! I am looking through subjects that I LOVE! So I look through jewellery articles, ways of making, styles and trends. I print off about a billion pages of images, colour swatches and “in looks”. Sometimes I watch various programmes on television about fashion just to get an idea of style and colours.

Most of my jewellery seems to be a very retro look, so I often look into that to see if there are any avenues that I have missed on that. There are hundreds more still!! You can also USE your research and put it on a mood board. Now mine is at the moment empty as I have stripped it, ready to begin research into something slightly different (stay tuned!!) tomorrow. I use a cork board, about A2 size. I can paint it, which I sometimes do, then I pin pictures up, print offs, articles about fashion, about flowers, sometimes a list of useful or inspiring books that I have read. Sometimes I find real flowers, press them and put them on there too; sometimes its photos that I have taken, or even postcards with inspiring views just keep my mind fresh; occasionally, its colour combinations I like which can come from anywhere.

The truth is the world is your inspiration! But if you can capture it and keep it in front of your work space it can give you a window into the world and into your imagination.

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I hope this article has been informative and please, if you have any ideas on creativity or how to create inspirational ideas, please do share in the comments! Thank you!

Remember to keep an eye out for new things in my Etsy Shop and keep up to date with news and competitions by using the Facebook Page

Etsy Treasuries

This week I have delved into the world of “Treasury Lists”. I’ve never made one until today but was so inspired by a few items that I had randomly looked upon in the week that I thought that they deserved to be in the same place so that admirers could see the gorgeousness!

So here are the links in case any of you want to see what I have selected!

This one is features some gorgeous floral jewellery (not a rose in sight!) I absolutely love the items and have snooped out some real treasures! Here are a couple but click HERE for the full list!

LikeinaFairyTale

Mocahete

This one features roses!!There are a couple of examples below, but CLICK HERE for the full listings! I have been going a little bit crazy for roses so I thought it only appropriate to post some other peoples work in a gorgeous treasury. I was inspired when I found a bouquet of roses made from paper (who knew!) and thought I wonder how other people use the rose theme within their items. I found an absolutely wonderfully diverse range of applications.

             uniquastudio                                                                    kayjaygems

Why Use a Treasury? 

CONNECTION

For those users who have never used a treasury, it’s a really nice way to connect with other people. When you make a treasury, the users whose items are featured are notified that they are in a treasury. This usually leads to lots of positive comments and exposure of others work. Sometimes, other people will repay the favour and put your item in one of our treasuries thus exposing your work to a wider audience.

You can then open conversations with other Etsy sellers and create a community of support and helpful hints. Most Etsy sellers are absolutely lovely, and if you are new to Etsy, they will help you immensely. (Remember to be courteous to anyone online at all times, treat them how you would want to be treated. Also remember that sarcasm and other tones of voice often can be misinterpreted in online communication so play it safe and just be nice.) Every Etsy member I have met online has been an absolute pleasure. 

EXPOSURE

This links to connection really, but it gets your name out there as an active user. People can see the work that you have put into the Etsy community and see you as a professional seller. This may not be the case, but I certainly feel when I see a seller with a large community of admirers and treasury lists that they are an established seller. Therefore, I would be more likely to buy from them. Having said that, if the item is absolutely fantastic, I would buy it regardless of the Etsy sellers lists and community repertoire.

Etsy often hand picks treasuries to feature on the front page-this is great exposure for the items but also for the member who put the items together. They tend to pick treasuries whose items are trending at the time. So pick a topic that is popular and get picking some delicious items!

You can look here look here for items and themes that are in trend.

INSPIRATION

You may want to make a treasury because you are struggling with creative block or you want to see how you can do something another way. A great thing about treasuries is that you can group together your favourite items and keep them to look at them when you need to get your creative juices flowing. I like to look at other peoples work as inspiration, to see how people tackle the same theme differently. It’s really nice to see all the different approaches and the variety that one theme can get!

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So now you know why treasuries are great I think its time to feature my inspiration of the day.

by Lindy Blake Miller at theepapergirl

I needed some inspiration for my roses and wondered how others tackled it. That's when I found this gorgeous piece! I love it...I never thought you could make a bouquet so elegant out of paper! 

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xx

Stupid Cupid

Not all of us love Valentine’s Day. My recent experiences mean I am not an exception. Therefore, in my quest to find something to post about Valentine’s Day I found some gorgeous ANTI-Valentines gifts and trinkets.

Whether you are a sexy single or a disappointed partner, these gifts to yourself will make you smile and remember the funny side of romance.

My first is in single and definitely not mingle…..

Happy "freedom" day ;)
Stitchmomma

This beautiful embroidery pattern is for all those people who are sick of the mushy Valentine’s day themes and who want to celebrate their single-ness. Although Valentine’s day origin is shrouded in mystery, the “Valentine” (in which ever version) is generally accepted to be a martyr. So why not celebrate your own martyrdom with this gorgeous pattern from Kelly at Stitchmomma.

I’m lovin’ it

Perhaps not quite as much as I would love a burger, but OK... ;)
Purple Treasures

This cute little key ring makes me smile. It is absolutely gorgeous. What is more ANTI-Valentine than wearing a key ring that pretty much says “Glad I’m not with you!” Let’s all celebrate Single Awareness Day together!! (Anyone else notice that the initials of that phrase spell S.A.D.??)You’re your addition to your singles kit from Christy at purple treasures.

Violence is never the answer…

Its like a sad version of the ginger bread man...not the gumdrop buttons!
rubygirl

But passive aggressiveness can be helpful! This unique silver pendant is very creative. Hand cast from a rubber doll, the pins give a small amount of contrast. Let’s face it, nothing says “I don’t need you” like a sterling silver voodoo doll handing around your neck. This one off item is available from Shannon at rubygirl.

Cupid’s on the prowl

Watch out for those arrows!
Jewels4Thought

This bottle top pendant is a fabulous ANTI-Valentines piece of jewellery. It’s hip and young (Wow, that doesn’t make me sound old, does it?) and is just a really nice and simple piece of ANTI-Valentines/Singles Awareness Day jewellery. Though Cupid may not be your homeboy, just beware Cupid’s descendants; those pesky cherubs! From Tracey and Audrey at Jewels4Thought!!

Because I am still a bit bitter…. J

Can you get these books in bigger sizes!!
Journaling Jane

I was in hysterics at this one. Its brilliant!! Although, perhaps this notebook isn’t big enough to list ALL the reasons… This is a fabulous buy for anyone who is still a bit sore about a break up or for a bit of a giggle with a friend. This is one of my favourite things on Etsy at the moment as it is so simple and yet so poignant. Get yours from Paula at Journaling Jane.

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So, there you have it! However you celebrate February the 14th there is a gift for everyone. Thank you to all the craftsters/sellers who have let me feature their pieces this week. I hope you enjoy their work as much as I do.

See you next time!!