Business 101-Chase Designs

My business is making lampwork beads and marbles.  I have read a few of my colleagues are creating their yearly business plan and that just makes my head spin.  How could I possibly know what I want to accomplish in the next year?  Other than sell enough beads and marbles to pay my bills and save a little cash.  Though these days I think many artisans are just pleased to stay in business.

So, while I don’t write a business plan…ever, I do have goals.  I have a certain amount of product I want to make each day to list on various outlets.  Currently I list on Ebay, Etsy, Artfire, and my own website.  I plan for two new items on ebay, two new items on etsy, one on artfire and one on my website.  That is five new items in the form of a set, marble, pair, daily special, whatever.  Plus I list two of my husbands marbles every day.  Well, six days  a week.  I do not list anything new on Saturdays.

I admit, I almost never make my daily goal of new product.  That takes  a back seat to special orders, which I do get quite often and regularly.  It is still my goal though and when I reach it I get euphoric, then I panic.  It’s kind of sad in a way because I know if I met my goal I am caught up.  Then I am left wondering when the next order is coming in.  I know, I can be a mental case.

So my business plan is to always have new product to offer and of course provide excellent customer service.  Timely emails and fast shipping.  I cannot express to you enough how much these two things matter to our customer base.  Yes, the product should be well made and hopefully desirable, but in this world of do it yourself service, the customer certainly notices when you go the extra distance.

A Matter of Style by Solar Flare Creations

I was shopping with a girlfriend the other day (an exceedingly rare occurrence for me) and when she looked at the clothes I had selected to try one she said ” You definitely have a particular style dont you, I would have picked all of those things for you”.

Sometimes I think it would be nice to have my bead style so readily apparent.  My modus operandi really does not lend itself to developing a specific style or signature bead.

I like to try new techniques, skills and designs, but the reccomended ‘practice, practice, practice’ does not sit well with me.  I tend to try something new once, then look at the result.  If it worked well, I generally declare it a success and move on.  If it didn’t turn out well, I tend to mentally put it in the ‘too hard basket’ for a few months, when I will try again. Luckily, sometimes my skills seem to develop by osmosis – I do a lot of my learning in the back of my mind, mulling things over.  Generally when I come back to it, the technique will click and off I go.  That’s how I learnt to make hollows.  I’m sure if I had kept trying the first time, I would have got it eventually, but my method is a lot less stressful and wastes a lot less glass.
🙂

So while I do have some favourites styles, namely Warring States dot beads,  my work tends to be eclectic and touch on a wide variation of styles.  I worry sometimes I should be developing a ‘signature’ style or design, that people will look for and keep coming back. But then I also wonder if it works just as well to produce work that satisfies a wide range of tastes and interests.

I may not have a signature bead – but I guess I do have a personal style… to dabble, to experiment, and try everything once.

www.solarflarecreations.com.au

Shows – Susan Sheehan

Many artists are solitary people. We love the time alone in our studios to do as we may. Selling online has made this even easier to embrace. I can list at all hours and the money comes in while I’m sleeping, torching or cooking dinner. I think if not for my family, I could easily lose all sense of reality. But the day I realized I was holding conversations with fixtures about what colors to use I knew it was time to get out.

Years of doing art shows for my photography left me dreading the idea of doing a bead show. The set up, the hours on my feet, the feeling of hope slowly deflating away as I left yet another show with comments of “I could do that.”, echoing in my head. What I had forgotten was the important information garnered from watching what people touched, lingered over and asked questions about. I realized I can’t see how long someone looks at my listings. I can’t know how many times they click through the pictures and what questions they are asking the screen. I needed to break free from my safe little world and face the world of shows.

I decided my approach to shows had been all wrong. Instead of making money being the primary objective, I needed to change focus. Market research was going to be priority number one. Unless nobody actually looked at my beads, I couldn’t fail.

I prepared for the first bead show in my most anal of ways. Lists galore, setting everything up in the basement to ensure a good looking table and focusing on a wide range of price offerings. I pulled out my dusty Bruce Baker craft show sales tape (where on earth did I have a tape player anyway?) and pumped up my ego.

I was in for a treat. First of all, carrying in 3 loads of table displays, supplies and beads was practically liberating. I was used to heavy grid wall, boxes of matted prints and framed pieces. Band-aids and a change of clothes weren’t necessary for a bead show. After setting up in merely an hour I had two to spare. How glorious! I promptly got a cup of coffee and a bagel. I browsed the other vendors’ tables and even had time to make a purchase or two.

When the show started I realized not only was the set up a dream, but the room was full of motivated shoppers. Bead shows aren’t the kind to draw in those looking for mere entertainment. The majority of participants were women in fashionable clothing and wearing handmade jewelry. What a bonus! I had actual examples of styles, colors and designs my target market liked to wear.

As the shoppers stopped by, I found I was unusually comfortable. Joking and chatting as if they were my friends. I wasn’t selling, I was sharing information. I had so much fun. I was learning plenty about what people wanted and what they loved.

After a break down in under an hour I drove home from my first bead show basking in my achievement. I had a head full of ideas, an exhausted voice and a sense of pride. I am good at what I do and others noticed.

I didn’t make thousands of dollars, but I did discover shows are good for my work and my sanity. They mean much more to me than a sales venue. They validate what I do, feed my ego and inspire me to make more beautiful beads.

 

Susan

Getting Motivated by Suzanne of Solar Flare Creations

Motivation is a slippery creature – sometimes hard to catch and often even harder to hang onto.  I am often thankful that I do not need torely on my glasswork for a living, as I think that having to torch, rather than wanting to, would make motivation a very rare creature indeed.

I am motivated to melt glass by the joy it brings me, the fascination with the flame and the way molten glass moves and by the objects of beauty that are produced at the end of the process.  I’m motivated by the feel of glass beads in my hand, and by the appreciation of those who admire my beads.  I am motivated by a need to master new techniques and a fascination with a craft that has existed for over 3000 years.

Molten glass inspires wonder… and a sense of wonder is a powerful motivator.

Space Poppies on Etsy Now

Thats a Weird Place to Start the Journey – Deanna Chase

Confession time: I am a bead maker who doesn’t really care all that much about beads or jewelry. Have I shocked you? I know, it’s a horrible thing to say. Did she just say she doesn’t care about beads? Yes, I said it and worse, I wrote it down. Let me first clarify, I have a great respect and admiration for all the wonderful bead and jewelry artists out there. I am constantly amazed at what each of them continues to create and send out into the world, making people smile and giving us such gorgeous eye candy.

The thing is, I just have never had much of an eye for fashion. I am simple in that regard. Dressing up for me these days means clean jeans and a black t-shirt. Seriously. Okay, I have a few skirts, that might count, but I still wear t-shirts with them, though I do refrain from wearing my tevas with the skirts. I just can’t go that far. I almost always forget to put my jewelry on when I leave the house. Just because I said I don’t care all that much about it, doesn’t mean I don’t have some. The stuff I have is treasured as well, but not because I have a great love of jewelry. It is because it was either made by or included beads made by some of my very favorite people. It makes me feel happy to wear it. I also have a few pieces of my own work, made into simple necklaces. The very few I have are special pieces I made and have loved so much, I didn’t want to give them up.

So you might be wondering how it is a person who just isn’t all that into beads, ended up making them for a living. Most women I know who are bead makers came at this craft from the jewelry end of the journey. I have heard over and over again from people who say they just loved beads and making jewelry. Then they found glass lampwork beads and were hooked. The journey for them started there. Certainly that isn’t true for everyone, but it is a common story.

My journey actually starts with my husband. He saw a lampworker selling her wears at a local art show back in early 2000. Two days later he ordered a torch and a starter supply pack and was up and running within a few weeks. He really wanted to learn to make contemporary marbles, but found starting with beads was easier. Even at that point, I still wasn’t all that into beads. Greg was making sculptural stuff and little mini figurines, all fun stuff, but not anything I ever thought I could do or even wanted to do. A few years later when we started meeting up with other bead makers, I got to see in person some of those gorgeous little works of art, full of dichroic glass and flowers. Finally I was interested. How do they do that? I asked myself that question more than once.

Then I had a few lessons, first from Greg, then Anne Scherm Baldwin, then Kaye Husko. I was fascinated with the process of making beads. I still am. There is something wonderful about sitting down at the torch and blocking out the rest of the world and just creating something, anything. It is all that much better if it comes out pretty and even greater when someone actually wants to buy it! How wonderful.

So, it’s true I don’t care about beads in a “I want to surround myself with them and make a bunch of jewelry” kind of way. But I do care about the wonderful little works of art out there and the artists behind them.

Texture – Susan Sheehan

One of the amazing things about glass is the ability to alter light.  Glass can transmit, bounce or reflect light.   Who doesn’t love a good suncatcher in the window?  The magic of sunbeams dancing about a room is fascinating. To create light altering beads I employ texture. 

Not only can texture send light flying in all directions, but it can produce a look that begs to be touched.  Adding depth to my beads is a challenge I enjoy.  Using a varitey of tools, I can manipulate glass in sculptural ways.  The beads can bounce light as well as take on an interesting shape.

Texture in glass is not only a feeling, but a look.  Silky smooth glass can also appear to have texture. A mixture of transparant and opaque glass is a subtle way to create depth. 

Creating with glass offers possiblity and challenge.  Employing the concept of texture helps add dimension and interest in glass beads.  Focus on texture in your next work and see where it leads you.

Susan 

Fashion and Trends? Yes! – Susan Sheehan

You wouldn’t know it from looking at me.  I’m incredibly practical in my attire.  I have little contact with the outside world and most days my outfits are seen by nobody other than my children.  But, I love fashion and trends. 

I get fashion magazines and can flip through the pages over and over again.  I admire the photography, the design of a dress and the colors.  Oh the colors!  When one grabs my eye, I tear out the page and frantically search my mind for just the right glass to reproduce it.  Should it be a floral?  Maybe a more graphic design?  What should I pair it with?

Clothing catalogs get me excited too.  The necklines help me visualize the right bead for necklaces.  The jewelry helps me determine shapes and designs.  Even the shoes can inspire a bead design.

I do maintain the right to make what I like.  I’m rather classic in my sense of fashion and it does shine through in my bead making.  But there is nothing quite like the time I spend with my cup of coffee and a big thick edition of Vogue, to get my creative juices flowing.

Susan

Being open to inspiration is the first step to finding it – Deanna Chase

Finding inspiration for our art can be both spontaneous and a challenge. Absolutely the best kind of inspiration is when an idea just pops out of no where and grabs hold of you. Well, maybe it doesn’t just pop out of no where, but it is an idea you were not expecting. Then it grabs on and doesn’t let go. I have learned to pay attention to those moments, but to not force them.

My most recent inspiring moment, was when I was trying to come up with a gift for my father for Christmas. I knew I wanted to make him a marble, but I didn’t know what kind. I am pretty new to the marble scene and pretty much my ideas are limited to what I know how to do. In my brain storming, I was coming up with things he enjoys and likes to do. One of his favorite hobbies to restoring an old Ford truck. I have no illusions that I would be able to some how make a Ford truck inside a marble, so I quickly ran through his other interests. My next thought was golf. He really does enjoy golf, and when I was younger we had father/daughter golf day a few times. So, the golf marble was born, using stick figure animation I call it. Which led to a whole series of sports themed marbles, which I am currently having a ball with. No pun intended.

It is interesting to see where ideas can end up going. I have plenty that went no where, but the water bucket. Which is death for any kind of hot glass.Those ideas are not necessarily abandoned, just on hold. At some point I hope I will learn something that will bring me back to them.

In the mean time I will continue to be inspired by nature, brain storming with my hubby, and my most favorite places to find inspiration, which are book stores and google images.

The Journey – Suzanne of Solar Flare Creations

I came to glass beadmaking in a rather convoluted way, although, like many people it stemmed from jewellery making.  As I may have mentioned, I am a member of the SCA, a medieval recreation group.  There is something for almost everyone in the SCA – leather work, cooking, singing, brewing, sword fighting, archery, weaving, embroidery… the list goes on.  As I had no desire to get enormous bruises by being beaten up by big guys with swords, I was relegated to watching the tourneys, and for many of the women in the SCA, that means they are often spinning, weaving, sewing etc while they watch.  Unfortunately, despite the fact that I was a textile teacher, I hate sewing etc, particularly fine needlework.  I just can’t do it – I’m too messy for starters.

 

So, to entertain myself at SCA events, I started ‘merchanting’.  I sold feasting gear, fabric trim and handmade jewellery.  My ‘mundane’ (non SCA)  jewellery was made with purchased glass beads (ones I now know were mainly cheap imported beads from China and India) and silver plated findings, but my SCA jewellery was made with semi precious stones and pearls, as befitted the medieval period. When I eventually started making jewellery from my own beads, I wanted to produce a high quality product that did justice to my glass creations.  From then on, I only used sterling silver findings, semi-precious stones, and Swarovski crystals.

 

When I was at University, I had majored in Photography and Metalcraft.  When my husband suggested he get me a soldering torch for my Birthday, so I could return to silversmithing, an American friend in the SCA mentioned we could make glass beads on it.  I had never heard of lampworking, so that brief comment planted the seed that was to eventually turn into a fully fledged glass obsession. 

 

For one reason or another, I never did the get the soldering torch, but about a year later the same friend pointed out a lampworking course at a local TAFE (Technical and Further Education) college, and I immediately jumped on the chance to sign up.  I completed a 2 day beginner’s course with Kathryn Wardill, a wonderful Australian Beadmaker and Master Jeweller, who at the time, was one of the few people in Australia making a living from Glass Beads.  A few months later, I completed an advanced course, again with Kathryn.  I got a great grounding in the basic skills from Kathryn.  She ensured we understood safety issues, COE and glass compatibility, and insisted we learn how to hand shape a variety of forms, like tubes, squares, triangles etc.  She taught me that it is important to learn the fundamental skills that you can then build on as you acquire new skills and tools.

 

 

                        My first ever beads –  Day 1

 

                                    Day 2

 

 

 

I worked on a Hot Head torch for over 4 years, not being able to justify the additional costs associated with a surface mix torch, and not really feeling my HH was holding me back.  It did teach me patience, as I have always made large beads, but apart from extremely large vessels and sculptural forms, I never felt limited (although I could have done without the noise!).  Eventually I upgraded to what we beadmakers often affectionately call a ‘Big Girl Torch’ a couple of years ago, and I have enjoyed the increased flexibility (and the blissful quiet) that it allowed.

My glass journey has perhaps been slower than it could have been, had I not been a hobbyist with a full time career, but it has been enjoyable, inspiring, frustrating, fulfilling, enriching, expensive and rewarding in turns.  And it’s not over yet!

 

 

www.solarflarecreations.com.au

Shows – Lori Anderson

Shows are my bread and butter – the majority of my sales are made at shows, and in this article, I hope to share some of the ways I make them successful for me.

First, of course if finding the right show.

If at all possible, visit a show that you’re interested in and take a look before making a decision. You can learn a lot this way – are there a lot of customers? What genre seems to be predominant?

If you can’t visit a show beforehand, do some research. My favorite tool is Sunshine Artist Magazine (www.sunshineartist.com). What makes it a wonderful publication is the tons of show reviews that are written by the vendors, not the promoters. You get the skinny on how hard it is to set up, what last year was like, how busy it was, and what selected vendors made over the course of the show.

Be careful about putting too much weight on what any one vendor tells you. Someone may say, “OH this would be a GREAT show for you!”, but you don’t know what that person’s definition of “great” is. A good show for them might be $300, while a good show for you might be $3000. So take all suggestions with a grain of salt.

Decide if you would prefer a juried or non-juried show. Non-juried shows are usually inexpensive and they pretty much take anyone who applies. Juried shows require you turn in slides or digital photos of your work (about 4-5 pieces) as well as a slide of your booth, and the competition is high, particularly in certain categories like jewelry. These shows are normally more expensive, but can also net a lot of money.

Applying to shows is a lot of work.

I’ve always equated it with applying to college – fill in the application way in advance, pay your application fee, then wait and wait. Most juried shows have applications out in the fall and winter for the coming year’s shows. Here are some things to keep in mind:Pay a professional to photograph your work. You have literally seconds for the jury to see your work, and you want it to look its best. Additionally, the difference between professional slides and do-it-yourself slides (no matter how good) is easily seen to juries that see thousands of slides each year.

Keep a calendar that is JUST for your shows. I print out mine off the computer, pencil in shows that I’ve applied to, mark them out if I don’t get in and highlight them if I do. That way, you don’t accidentally apply to two shows on the same weekend, and you can pace yourself and not overextend yourself (or your inventory).

Be prepared to get rejection letters. I do about 15 shows a year, 95% juried, and I get my fair share of rejection letters. As I make jewelry, I’m already at a disadvantage – promoters get far more applications for jewelry than they do anything else. People who have done the show in the past usually get preference, so there may be only one new slot a year for your category!

Your booth is important!

When jurors look at slides and find two people whose work they love, the booth slide is often the tie breaker. You want your work to be presented in the best possible way. For jewelry or similar items, get your tables UP – I use bed risers to get them closer to eye level. I’ve collected pretty boxes from Marshalls or TJMaxx that I set busts on, to give height and levels. I tried to make my booth reflect a cute boutique – you may choose to make yours ultra-modern, with all black, white and silver, or go for a whimsical approach, and have all kinds of colors and cute stuff.For outdoor shows, you’ll need a tent. If you are just getting started and are not sure this is what you really want to do, an inexpensive EZUP will work. As the name says, it’s easy to put up, but it won’t stand up to abuse and if you are going to do tons of shows in various environments, you will probably want to invest in something else. I have a Light Dome (http://lightdomecanopies.com), which is expensive, but I love it because it’s quite sturdy, and I can use the frame for my indoor shows as well.

At the show:

Smile, have fun, and enjoy yourself, no matter what happens. There’s nothing that turns a prospective customer off quite like a vendor that is grumpy and busy talking to anyone who will listen about how slow the day is/how little money they’re making/how the booth two over is selling cheap stuff and killing your margin. If I encounter someone like that, I just walk away. Who needs the negative vibes?

Never ever ever read a book or newspaper at a show. Never. I can’t tell you how many vendors I’ve walked right by because they had their nose in a novel and I didn’t want to bother them. On the other hand, I do encourage you to work on a related project whenever feasible. I take chain maille or another time-intensive project with me to every show. Some shows, I’m too busy to even touch it, but when I do work on it, people like to stop and look, and it shows them that yes, you DID make all that stuff!

Whenever you make a sale, ask if they would like to receive your email or snail mail newsletter. A lot of people don’t like sharing emails anymore due to the huge increase in spam, but don’t mind giving a home address. This will allow you to market to them, promoting web sales or other shows in their area. I get a lot of repeat business this way.

Doing shows takes a lot of work, a lot of energy, and a lot of practice. I’m fortunate that my husband sets up my tent for me and is Chief Schlepper, but we also have learned to set up in rain/wind/with a three year old screaming. You just never know WHAT will happen! Here’s a couple of hints to keep you sane:

Keep a packing check list so you won’t forget things.

Keep a tool kit JUST for your shows.

Carry water. And aspirin. Oh yeah. And band aids.

Keep your sense of humor.

Before leaving town, go online and find out where the closest Walmart/Lowes/Home Depot is, for emergencies.

So there you go – a bare scraping-of-the-surface about shows. If you have more questions or need help, please feel free to email me at lori@lorianderson.net and I’ll gladly assist!