Back in the Day

I started designing jewelry for fun about 12 years ago and was lucky to have found a niche market with artisan lampwork when there weren't many doing handmade artisan jewelry.  Above is one of my earlier pieces.  One of the things I was particular about was using the best quality components--sterling and hilltribe silver, gold filled and gold vermeil, swarovski crystals, designer clasps and beads.  There were two reasons for that---I love nice things and good quality and I also realized that I could not compete with the cheap imports.

After several years at my workbench, I took an extended time off and just recently returned to jewelry design.  I have been really enjoying getting back to working my way thru my stash, but find major sticker shock when needing to replace components.

When I started,  the first Bali sterling silver I purchased was 35 cents a gram and Hilltribe silver was 45 cents a gram.  Vermeil and gold filled findings were just a pinch higher.  That was for clasps, beads, jump rings, everything. Then a few years later when I started buying designer findings, I thought it was sky high to pay 85 cents a gram for special toggles and connectors, that no one else had. I think most of my last purchases for the really great findings was in the neighborhood of $1.10 per gram sterling and maybe $2.10 for gold vermeil and gold filled. You can imagine my surprise when I returned this past spring to jewelry design and I  finally computed how much it would cost me to replinish my supply of precious metal findings as I worked down thru my stash!  At a  recent show production line Bali sterling silver was $2 a gram and the prices went up from there to around $4.00 a gram and more--wholesale.  Other materials have gone up too, but not by the same proportion.   Is it any wonder that copper, bronze and brass have replaced the metals used in jewelry design? 

Last week I wanted a handful of 4mm jump rings, didn't want to wait to order them so I went to my local retail jewelry store.  They wanted 30 cent each for sterling silver 4mm jump rings.  They were 22 guage and by my calculations that would mean sterling jump rings were going for close to $300 an ounce.  Whaaaaaat?!?  If you bought 100 you got a 25% discount--now that's a deal!  That was a retail store, but wow! I think I'm going into the jump ring business!!!

So, going with the trend, because taste has followed right along,--the once snubbed copper and brass, are now the fashion followers new 'must haves', I went in search of some new findings with those metals.  Ack!!!! Findings in pure copper and quality antiqued brass or bronze are more than I last paid for sterling silver, just three or four years ago!  I do understand the pricing for sterling and gold filled/vermeil findings due to the market prices for those metals, but I really do not understand copper.  It is currently trading for around $3.40 a pound...not an ounce, a pound...so how did copper findings get so expensive?  I look at my boxes of sterling silver and realize I have to pay the same or more for copper and that is sticker shock.  Then I look at my sterling silver and fine silver and gold vermeil findings and realized that if I use them and want to replace them, it prices my jewelry designs in the pricy range.  So I try to split the difference--use a little, price things fairly.  I think I may just save my silver for scrap--it's an investment hedge and using it in jewelry I'm looking old school and costing too much, lol.  Of course, the real conundrum comes--replace it with base metals components that require a substantial investment at current prices and they don't really have much actual value compared to precious metals. What to do, what to do!

 So, I've gone thru my stash of beautiful designer findings and decided to sell some at discounted prices in my vintage/destash etsy store--check them out if you're looking for a special  piece.   http://www.allweneedislove.etsy.com/  
An example---this Saki Silver sterling and gold vermeil clasp is 28mm, retails around $85, I'm offering it for $60--about a 30% discount.

 Here's a big, bold Shiana Hilltribe .999 fine silver clasp that is a hammered heart, for sale in my etsy store as well...12 grams and I'm selling below wholesale for $28.00

Some Saki silver sterling connectors that currently retail for $18 apiece I'm destashing for less....

and it goes on.  Some of these things have become almost impossible to find,  As I get them photographed I have lots more to share... and possibly whittle down my stash...or not.  Otherwise my surplus will just end up as an inflation hedge. It's likely on the way, so maybe silver will be the new gold standard!

How to Turn Sizzle into Fizzle

Yep, I'm talking about my sizzling summer sale of the past week.  It was a phenomenal fizzle.  I'm not complaining, but just musing a little about what's happened to my little 'business' that really has been more of a 'hobby that paid for itself'.  I know I suspended my blog and didn't pay any attention to my etsy store for a couple of years while we were off trying to figure out some family issues, and I know the economy has shrunk the potential customer base, and I also know that there are almost 22000 lampwork bracelets and almost 25000 lampwork necklaces on etsy and jewelry has just saturated the market which certainly figures into the equation...but I also know there are some innovative and fabulous designers out there who are selling alot of beautiful jewelry even with all that. (Whew, how is that for a world record run-on sentence, lol)  I have to conclude my designs are a little stale, a little underwhelming, not innovative enough.  I think to distinguish yourself ,you have to be exceptionally innovative, original and find a niche where the market isn't so saturated.  Right now, I'm just I'm falling short. I get plenty of views and even lots of favorites in my etsy store, but I suspect it's mostly other jewelry designers looking for inspiration rather than buyers finding just what they're looking for at my place.  Hint to you other designers out there:  you probably aren't getting much sellable inspiration in my etsy store, because nobody is buying what I'm selling!  For sure, lampwork jewelry is a hard sell right now,and that was my original niche in the jewelry market. Another thing I've noticed is sterling silver and vermeil are used very sparingly right now.  Presumably to save costs, but I'm seeing designs with base metals and czech glass that are more stylish and selling for as much as my artisan lampwork, gemstone and sterling silver designs...so it's not the materials, it's the designer and maybe a little bit--the marketing. 

Now here's the bottom line.  I have boxes full of findings, gemstones, artisan lampwork and all other kinds of quality jewelry designs materials...I can either try to sell it all off at cost or below or use it for therapy--to please myself.  So, of course for the most part, as you might guess, I'll keep playing with my little treasures, use the materials I have to design things that are esthetically pleasing to myself.  Keep some, gift some, keep an etsy store and pretend I might sell some...and generally do what I started out to begin with--have a wonderful hobby that gives me a creative outlet where I can go and forget some of the everyday stuff that clutters my mind with confusion.  Fortunately I have wonderful family and friends who at least pretend they are delighted to get my little treasures--and for the most part I think they are--if only because it is a little handmade part of me that I made with love and my time.  And that is quite enough for me, shouldn't it be quite enough for anyone?  And who knows...maybe I'll get my mojo back and think up something fabulously innovative and gorgeous that will bring the world knocking at my door...and if I don't it's still cheap therapy!  (well, maybe only cheap while I'm working thru my bodacious stash, built up when I could sell everything I could make)  >^..^<

Thanks for listening to me think out loud....

Some Random Thoughts

Just some random thoughts here....instead of making soup with my stones, I've decided to just use them to embellish my soup tureen...see, I told you I'd find a way to use them....lol.

 I can tell it's summertime here at the beach, I actually see people when I take my walks now. Mostly I'm used to solitary walks on the beach, where I'm surprised to see more than one or two people along the whole strand...lots of birds, and dinky crabs, even a jellyfish or two and the neighborhood sealion--but people, not so much...but now they're coming to enjoy what I enjoy.  I especially love to watch the familys with children--building sand castles, running in and out of the surf, laughing and playing...reminds me of when my grandson is here and I can share in his delight of everything surf and sand..and makes me miss him all the more!  Solitude is sometimes overrated...there's a time and a season.

Yep, once upon a time I did Viking knit and I found this piece stashed away in my treasure trove of goodies, so I put it in my etsy store last night  http://www.rickitic.etsy.com/  I also 'reopened' my vintage/stash store on etsy http://www.allweneedislove.etsy.com/ and added some lampwork from my stash.  It's time to let go of a few things that haven't called my name for awhile and declutter.  Do they call that Spring Cleaning?  Not sure, but today is the first day of the rest of my life!  Have a good one!!!

Working hard....or hardly working.....

In spite of the fact that I continue to be a mostly 'absentee landlord' of this blog space...and contrary to the popular opinion that I have fallen off the face of the earth...I'm back for another hit and miss update. After 7 weeks tending to my mother as she recovered from her pelvic fractures, I continued my 'time out' while I joined my husband in the Palm Springs area where he has been working on a project for the past several weeks.
I brought along a smattering of my jewelry supplies, in case the mood struck me, but without a good camera and some motivation they stayed packed away in their suitcase--until I heard from Judy Carlson of Jujee beads with an invitation to participate again this spring in her Scuba Show at Long Beach. Intrigued, I agreed to try my hand after an all too long layoff...wondering if I still remembered what to do and how to do it.
Thanks to a pandora's box full of inspiring lampwork, I've been crazily creating for the last 10 days or so and having so much fun, I'm really sorry to be finished and ready to ship the finished designs back to her.
I'd almost forgotten how much I love playing with my little treasures. As you can see, I still don't have my best camera or editing program to show off my little designs to their best advantage...
but I still wanted to share with you a sample of my handiwork and say, I'm not finished forever. Although at the price of sterling silver these days, I'm mighty glad to have a sizable stash to draw from...and wondering how to ever restock when I run out! Everything here is off in the mail tomorrow.
and that's a good thing. We are leaving the desert the end of the week, so it's time to clean up, pack up and leave for the next adventure.
Here's hoping it doesn't take me so long to dig out my suitcase full of goodies again...but no promises, just taking it one day at a time.....

One Knot, Two Knots, Three Knots, Four......

A funny thing happened last night while watching tv with my hubby--my fingers got itchy. It had to be something simple, because otherwise I would be so distracted I wouldn't be good company. So, I started knotting, and couldn't stop. There is something very soothing about doing a little knotting now and then. I'm sure I wouldn't think that if I had to do it all the time, but sometimes it's just the relaxing thing that fills the bill. I scrambled for some odds and ends I had around the house and once I started I couldn't stop. These ended up to be the most comfortable, and delightful bracelets. I'm happy to say they made my itchy fingers sing!

This one is my favorite, although the pictures don't show it off as well as I like. If you've been around very long, you know matchy-matchy isn't my favorite, so I loved the color combo--yummy olive greens and dark aqua/peacock blues and the occasional round pearl among the coins. I also love the sterling and brass clasp from Pegasus--there's something very bohemian

..and very me about this one.

Well, I really liked this one too...I made this with leftovers of one of my favorite strands of carved mossy pink amethyst ovals. They were hand cut, which makes them just enough different from one another to please me. Combined with this delicious Saki Silver gold vermeil flower toggle, it puts a smile on my face.

Whoa, these lush rich wine colored mother of pearl ovals aren't too shabby either....and I love this exotic matte gold vermeil clasp to add a little warmth.

This bracelet with some fancy smancy larimar ovals was where I started, these have some yummy color variations and I used a very cool gold filled clasp that slips together for a lovely finish. These beads came in an exchange/bead swap with Lori Anderson---so thanks Lori, here's how I used your lovelies.

Knotting is easy, knotting is fun....once you start you'll never be done!

Trying to keep my promises...

Well, I did say I'd post some jewelry today and yes, I have gotten rather busy..first off a simple pair of earrings in sterling silver and onyx for pierced ears. I've had these beautiful woven sterling earwires for quite some time and could never decide how to use them...I think I was trying to make them too busy. They just needed a simple gemstone drop..that's what I decided anyway.

This bracelet is a remake of one I made several years ago with some of Jena Fulcher's lovely beads. It had broken some time ago during a show and I put it away where it lay forgotten and forlorn. So back together again with only a few small adjustments and I'm happy to put it back in my inventory. If no one wants it, I'll have it to wear myself, since I love this color combination....

Here's another old favorite that I redesigned with a set of some of my favorites from Gayle Hood of Graciebeads. I adore these beads and when they didn't sell awhile back I put them away to redo and just finally got around to it. I love the sterling and brass beads I used with these interesting original beads and I might just keep these for myself too...do you get the idea I love bright colors...you got it!

Once upon a time I got a lovely large set of beads from Melanie Moertel that I've rationed out a few at a time. I think I made two other bracelets from this set and this is the third and final edition. They seem perfect for this fall's fashions--so much brown and opulent detail on detail...pattern on pattern fashion, like a Turkish spice market. I've combined them with oxidized sterling silver and a stunning custom clasp from Donna Millard, I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

The pink coral bracelet below is my 'version' of a gemstone charm bracelet. I've used pale sponge coral beads combined with a sterling silver and angelskin coral charm and sterling toggle clasp.

It felt really nice this week to reacquaint myself with my gemstones, and lampwork and silver, oh my! Pandora's box...I'm baaaaaaaaaaack!