Mother's Day -- May 13, 2012 -- Bring It On!



0-3 pearls & silver, gold, or copper combo

 I've got the biggest collection of new jewelry designs ever for May 13! (Why?) Because we traveled 6 of the first 8 weeks of 2012. (So?) So I've beaded in airports, in cars, & during every second of "down time"! My huge stash of goodies has multiplied! Please SAVE ME FROM MYSELF and check it out:)



Each week I'll post some of my "traveling collection" in Seattle Chic, my Etsy store. As usual, each piece is my original & unusual design, all handmade.  I'll still custom-make the Family Tree pendant for moms, as creating wire & metal art jewelry remains my personal favorite thing to do with 10 fingers. 

Here's a sneak peek at a few items I'll be posting on Etsy in the next few weeks. Shopping is easy. Hope you'll stop by:)

The "Pat Down"

Some folks travel with their pets. My pets are my jewelry tools & baggies full of "projects" to keep my hands busy. Passing through security on planes & cruise ships has become relatively easy for me, after learning a few expensive TSA lessons involving my favorite hammers. Yes, it's become easy & routine ... until recently. Perhaps more airports are using the x-ray machines? But in the 2 trips I've taken in 2012, I've faced the x-ray machine 3 times. Based on physicist's warnings about this x-ray exposure to the skin, I had decided to opt out of the x-ray, if the need arose. So I did. I didn't foresee my reaction to the alternate pat-down, however.

After waiting for the "female pat-down" announcement to produce a female agent, a very stern, uniformed, female agent proceeded to explain exactly what she would do. When she completed her speech & started the pat-down, I burst into tears. Why?! That was as much a totally embarrassing mystery to me as to her! I'm a mature, married woman, have been examined inside & out by doctors of both sexes, & had a baby! I mean, what's left to examine that hasn't been examined? She stopped with a stunned look on her face, as my shoulders shook with awful crying. I couldn't help but wonder if they would confiscate all my expensive jewelry tools, just on general principles. Surely I must be a threat in some way? But fortunately, I survived this dreaded process, with much less dignity, but with tools in tact. Hopefully it would never happen again.

BUT NOOOOO...

I've just returned from my 2nd trip & my 2nd pat-down. This time a young, sweet woman responded to the loud "female pat-down" summons. Again as she began her pat-down, I started this embarrassing crying. Why!!!??? Surprised, she stopped & said sympathetically, "Oh no! Don't cry! I'm nice." (Again, I could have crawled under the floor with embarrassment at the uncontrollable faucet in my eyes!) "What's the matter?" she asked. She sincerely wanted to know. With sudden clarity, I admitted that his process makes me feel... guilty. YES, guilty! Why? I mean, my daughter (with a loving smirk) calls me Honor Bright. I really try to be a decent person. I've never seen a bomb in my life. Then another light bulb of clarity: "I'm guilty because I'm Catholic!" Original sin & all that training about guilt in Catholic grammar school of the 1950's. Mystery solved. The TSA agent had never heard that excuse before. We both had a good laugh, as she completed the pat-down. When she was done, I hid in the corner & blew air into my red eyes, before facing my fellow passengers. I'm hoping I've had my last pat-down. But what are the odds... ? Plus I've still got original sin. UGH.

I Never Travel Empty-Handed.

"Love me... Love my satchel." My friends know that traveling with me includes my satchel full of tools & bead projects. But hey, it's easier than a pet, right? So here's a visual log of my recent, 5some girlfriend trip - an annual event of non-stop gabbing, laughing, & games covering 800+ miles driving around the SW. Each jewelry creation comes with a story & lots of happy memories-- NO EXTRA CHARGE:)

While flying Seattle, WA to Phoenix, AZ:

While driving Phoenix, AZ to Laughlin, NV:

While driving Laughlin, NV to Indio, CA:

While driving Indio, CA to Phoenix, AZ:

While flying Phoenix, AZ to Seattle, Wa:

As an added bonus, I always leave a few extra beads on the floor of planes & rented vans as a tip.

Finding a Unique Niche

If you're a jewelry artist marketing online, welcome to the Online World of Crafty Anonymity. It's tough out there in the OWCA, unless Oprah discovers us. I'm still waiting...

Pierre the Pelican

Until then, what can we do to stand out from the crowd? For me an idea strikes literally in dreams or unpredictably when I'm just living my life. It rarely comes because I want it to. I find ZERO satisfaction in putting a new spin on someone else's unique niche. That's HER creative idea, not mine. For that reason I never graze through websites for design ideas or inspiration. My latest unique niche came, thanks to my friend Sheila from New Orleans (where I lived my first 27 years). She asked me to create 13 pendants depicting one "symbol" of either New Orleans or Louisiana. The medium & design brainstorms were left to me. My birthplace immediately inspired at least 4 unique designs (not counting Crooked Louisiana Politician), but Sheila quickly selected my sketch of a pelican in silver & gold wire outline.

And so Artsy Doodads was born -- a collection of wire-art critters & objects, custom made to depict each customer's "favorite thing." Doodads can be charms, pendants, earrings, bookmarks, knickknacks (on wire stands) for shelves, or Christmas tree ornaments! I've since created many Artsy Doodads-- including playing card symbols, pets, stylized crosses, flowers, birds, fish, trees. My favorites so far are the crab pendant & the surgically-separated lion earrings:) Oprah has many "favorite things." If you know Oprah, please tell her I'm sitting here with wire & pliers waiting for her call.

Le-oh!

The Pincher

"Handmade" Links Buyer & Seller

I admit that I'm a little weird. The more time & effort I put into a jewelry creation, the harder it is for me to part with it... even for good money. That's why Challenging Path & Our Town, requiring 30 hours of labor each, are very special to me. So with mixed feelings I set them on my display table at the wonderful Renton Hassle Free Holiday Bazaar recently. They both attracted A LOT of attention from shoppers, but the price tag was too high for most, though my goal in life is to some day make WA State's minimum wage. (My prices are far from it.!) But the appreciative comments were very satisfying, and amazingly I felt a sense of relief when buyers left without my special treasures. (That's weird, right?)

Challenging Path

Our Town

Then a middle-age woman with a very gentle demeanor & a British accent focused on Challenging Path. She picked up the necklace like a fragile treasure & asked me about its name. Clearly the symbolism of life's winding path, full of gaps & obstacles, but beautiful in the Big Picture meant as much to her life as to mine.

She really wanted my creation! The price tag didn't push her away, though it was obvious that she was not wealthy. But this was her birthday, & she "deserved something special & this was it." I felt very honored that this jewelry meant so much to her. As she left with my creation, she promised to come back next year wearing Challenging Path, and gave me a huge hug. We definitely bonded over this necklace! This is weirdness I enjoy.

The next day, a repeat customer stopped by with eyes riveted on Our Town. She was fascinated by its 3-D engineering & unusual architectural design. She wanted it for her niece, but said she'd "test drive" it herself before Christmas:) She was impressed by the weight of the fine/pure silver in the piece. But when she saw the price tag, she knew she must think about it. Two hours later, she was back to see it again. Then off to think about it. That night after the show closed, the phone rang. Mary wondered if I had sold it yet. I told her it probably wouldn't sell quickly because it was so unique & I "wasn't giving it away." (I obviously need Marketing lessons!) But I felt that if she really had reservations, then I preferred to keep it. (Yes, more weirdness!) A week passed. Mary called again to say that she couldn't get it out of her mind & must have it! She "might" give it to her niece... "or not." She's a great repeat-customer who looks for me each year to buy the most unique items on my table of unique items. I was proud to release Our Town to her when she couldn't get it out of her mind.

It's amazing how an object created by hand & turned over to another's hands can create a bond. I LOVE seeing my repeat customers who seek me out at the few fairs I do each year. It's difficult for me to part with my most special pieces, but the appreciation in the buyer's eyes is just as important to me as the money they spend.

I look forward to seeing these 2 customers wearing "our" treasures next year in Renton:)

Holiday Craft Shows -- Y'all Come!

This is a Shoulda-Woulda-Coulda post, with my apologies for not posting my craft show schedule sooner. I only do 2-3 a year, usually during the holiday season, so I hope it's not too late to get on your calendar! I'm "Classic Beadwear" locally & have dozens & dozens of original jewelry designs in metal, wire, beads & stones. I've recently added Artsy Doodads to my repertoire. If you wonder what that means, good! Come see my shows:)

1) RENTON HASSLE FREE HOLIDAY BAZAAR- Time/Location on picture. This is a well-run, well-established show with over 100 vendors, plus refreshments & lots of parking. My "Classic Beadwear" booth is usually near the large garage door in the back corner. It's a great spot, diagonally across from delicious artisan breads. YUM! If I'm not in that spot, please ask for Classic Beadwear.

2) CRAFTY BRIDGE HOLIDAY BAZAAR- For Duplicate Bridge player customers only- at Eastside Bridge Center, Redmond, WA. Dec. 9 (9:30 am to 2:30) and Dec. 10 (9:00 - 5:30). What fun to combine a good game of Duplicate Bridge with a chance to snatch some high quality crafts, handmade by your Bridge pals!

ALSO, my shows are a great place to custom order your own Doodad or jewelry creation! We can work out the design together during slack times. Well, maybe I'd better explain DOODADS, ya think? Stay tuned:)

How RED HOT STUDS Got Their Name

For the past 3 weeks, I've worked intently on my latest brainstorm for a niche market-- the hundreds of avid Duplicate Bridge players from many countries converging on Seattle for our National Championships in November. It's a big deal for all of us addicted to competitive Bridge. I designed a line of wire-art & metal-art jewelry & bookmarks to commemorate this Big Event. After days of Designing, it was finally time to Create:)

I stacked my charcoal block atop the fire brick on my torch table & sat down on the tall bar stool. Satisfied with the 4 card symbol shapes I had cut by hand from copper sheet & already prepped for soldering, I carefully dabbed tiny snippets of silver solder near the Diamond's edge, & with upmost care placed the Club overlapping the Diamond, "just so." Everything was ready for the torch. The room was already hot & the torch made it hotter. The Club & Diamond began to glow red as I moved the Blazer's flame over their surfaces. I carefully positioned the titanium pick onto the top of my glowing-hot copper stack to assure the Club was absolutely horizontal & flat as the solder melted, sealing the 2 surfaces in the "just so" position. Then I sneezed. The pick jerked, sliding the double-wide, firmly soldered, red-hot copper off its "tower" of bricks. Before I could grasp the situation, it had bounced, onto the table, then onto my thigh. I looked down amazed at the smoke coming off my new Bermudas. But piercing heat shocked me back to a scream, a quick stand-up, & a final bounce of glowing redness onto the vinyl floor. Dilemma: Should I save the floor or my thigh?

I saved the floor, but not before yet another burn-freckle left my husband a reminder of my favorite work. Finally, ice wrapped in a wet cloth cooled down my burning thigh....

That was about 8 days ago. My thigh has survived. The new Bermudas got demoted to the gardening-only clothes pile. I finished the copper stud earrings... very carefully, BUT decided their name must commemorate my latest lesson learned, so "Red Hot Studs" was born.

I just received the new US Forge welding apron I ordered the next day from Amazon. I LOVE it. I'm 5'8" tall &, as you can see, it covers almost all body parts. (Actually, it's more like a suede "gown":) In addition, I will take a suggestion from a colleague & put a metal plate on the table & on the floor to protect those surfaces from more freckles. But most of all, I hope I have a line of eager females fighting over RED HOT STUDS.

Salvaging a Mistake

Our Town- Version 1

Do you believe in re-incarnation? When it comes to salvaging failed jewelry brainstorms to give them new life, I do. I keep reminding myself that the time & labor "wasted" have taught me some technical or design lessons that are worthwhile. BUT wasting expensive silver, gold, or other metals? NO WAY!!! I'm the woman who returns a cut lemon to the fridge until every last drop is squeezed.

Two years ago I imagined a pendant celebrating the beautiful Seattle skyline as representative of any city we cherish. I wanted the metal art to have a 3-D effect against a gold-toned silver disk background. Engineering this 3-D vision I had was a technical challenge. Getting the golden colors I wanted from the copper buildings & the silver disk was another. Handling & smoothing the beautiful silver disk without scratching it was another. I spent countless hours on Our Town, but was very proud of the result....

Except for one problem ... It was too big!

It was more like a medallion than a pendant. Should I frame it for sale as a wall-hanging? What else can one do with "a medallion"? Paperweight? UGH!!

Our Town- Version 2

For the last 18 months, I've been thinking about how to re-invent Our Town as the wearable art creation I'd intended, without ruining the components. It was emotionally painful to clip the rivets away, separate all the components, cut them smaller, then carefully replace the handmade rivets in the holes left by previous rivets! I tossed the bits of cut away metal to my treasured can of metal scraps$$, which I'll recycle when full. Finally, I decided that I liked the silver disk looking silver:)

While I miss the "medallion," the re-incarnated Our Town can now be worn with pride by a normal-sized woman:)

Time To Think About Holiday Shoppers... Already!

Where has the year gone? Holiday Shows are booking artists/crafters now, & my fingers are busy creating wearable art jewelry for holiday shoppers. October through December we've got our Arts-and-Crafts ON ... full steam ahead. By mid-October in this blog ("Unwired") I'll post my Seattle-area Craft Show Schedule. Please check back regularly for my holiday show calendar & plan to visit my booth:)

Madness begins for online shops as well. I'll post inventory into my Zibbet store regularly during Sept-- several pieces a week. My other stores will follow. I'll be fully stocked in all 3 stores when holiday shoppers get serious:)

Want a sneak peek at the most varied, original, imaginative jewelry designs around?

Copper Circles, Silver Dot

Crystal Snake

30 Hours of Labor! Do You Love the Baby More?

YES!!

Do you qualify to adopt this baby? (sniff)



CHALLENGING PATH- Metal Art @ zibbet.com/seattlechic



50%-OFF SALE TO FB "FANS"

I've begun to appreciate the importance of Social Media tools to market my creations online!

So I'm now on Twitter & Facebook in addition to 3 online stores- Zibbet, Etsy, & my main store ClassicBeadwear.

MY IMMEDIATE GOAL is to push Fan count on Facebook over 100. I'm almost there! Want to help out & get a big Thank You from me? Just click HERE to see my Fan Page, then click LIKE at the top. You'll benefit in 2 ways--

1. You'll always get a sneak peek at my latest, original jewelry designs.
2. You'll participate in Seattle Chic's 1st sale ever-- 50% OFF SALE on over 70 wonderful items when my Fan Count reaches 100. SALE ENDS 9/16/11, so bump Fan count over 100 soon & enjoy more time to shop!  U.S. SHIPPING ONLY.

What Drives YOUR Designs?

I'm very lucky that jewelry design is not my family's meal ticket or bill-paying resource. With those burdens, I'd be a very different designer than I am now. I cheer on artists in that position & applaud their courage & success. However, I like to make what I like to make-- what pleases me. Savvy marketeers must cringe at that statement. But jewelry design is not my career. It's my passion. I'm just lucky that what pleases me also pleases some women within my target market -- a subset of women 25-50 years young -- women who want something "different," yet pretty... maybe even quirky or funny. When a shopper at a craft show says, "Wow! Your work is so different with a variety of 'looks,' " I'm in heaven! Mission Accomplished:)

Here are some creations that drew those comments, PLUS a sneak peek at new designs for my holiday shows:

Quirky, Funny Designs

Every-day, Classy, Elegant Designs

Artsy Designs

WHAT DRIVES YOUR DESIGNS? That's both a personal & business decision for each of us, but I'd love to know. Feel free to "Comment" below this post.

Illusion Jewelry - Creating Magic

It was the BJ time in my life-- Before Jewelry-- when I was not yet an artisan/seller, but a retiree/shopper. I saw a woman at a distance with the most stunning stones floating around her neck. My eyes were fixed on the magic involved. As I approached, I saw the delicate silver snake chain responsible for the magic. A few years later, when I discovered the passion that would surprise & consume me for the next 6 years & counting, I couldn't wait to create some magic of my own.

Since then, I've strung delicate snake chain & fine beading wire through my favorite stones many times. Spacing them equally with a pinched, tiny crimp is a tricky, tedious business-- & hard on the eyes. Stringing multiple strands, with beads placed so they appear "balanced," is much easier. Illusion (aka "floating") jewelry remains a big favorite of mine and my customers. I suspect we all need a little Magic in our lives...

Happy Birthday USA!

It's been a week of frustrations==>  printer broke, my Facebook got corrupted, Hotmail quit listing all my email addresses on 1 page, Windows 7 failed THREE times to reboot (Where did I put those Rescue Disks?!), and my beautiful lawn got "mud freckles" wherever I burned it with fertilizer. I missed a lot of sleep this week trying to fix these problems. I was not a Happy Camper & my husband steered clear.

Last night while fretting over computer mysteries as approaching-midnight made my sour mood worse, I heard a series of loud booms. It was the first fireworks for July 4th. It shocked me out of my narrow, fretful focus. Oh, July 4th! Could I put the list of frustrations aside for 24 hours, long enough to be grateful for my life in this country? Could I focus on how blessed we Americans are?

• An honorable President- whether I agree with his policies or not
• Enough food to eat or places to get help
• Competent medical care & free public schools
• A wide choice of religions... OR... no religion
• Jobs, though more scarce. Again, there's help for the needy
• Laws enforced without bombs aimed at a population
• People that generally respect the law & justice system.
• Freedom to say, read, & write what we want
• No major earthquakes, tsunamis, revolutions, crazy dictator/killers, nuclear melt-downs.

This seemed like a good time for Cheryl to stop whining long enough to be grateful for her life. So I compiled a few creations from fellow artists on http://www.zibbet.com/ & on http://www.etsy.com/, who obviously thought about July 4th long before I did! Hope you enjoy my selections. I'm feeling better now, ready to go to bed fret-free:)

Happy Birthday to Us All

P.S. Just after the Big Booms, Windows booted successfully on the FOURTH attempt. Phew!

Creating One-of-a-Kind Versus Multiples

AS AN ARTIST/CRAFTER, WOULD YOU RATHER MAKE...

One-of-a-Kind (OOAK) Items

OR

Multiples of Your Popular Items?

I've experienced the pros & cons of both approaches. Here are some things I've learned:

• Owning the Only-- Few customers love an OOAK creation enough to pay significantly more for it.
• Creative Flexibility-- The artist's imagination has total control when creating OOAK inventory. It's fun! 
• Balancing the Challenge-- ...BUT if the joy of creating OOAK isn't balanced by marketability, prepare to be another Starving Artist:) Also, creating multiples of one's most popular designs is a great Plan B when the creative well runs dry.
• Wholesale-- Shops & pricey boutiques may buy a selection from OOAK artists initially. But they'll often followup with requests for multiples of the best selling ones, perhaps in different sizes & colors.  To support such a market, consider removing the OOAK label.
• Creating Multiples-- Each iteration of the item becomes easier to make. Hopefully that results in more profit as labor becomes more efficient. However, the process gets boring & might feel like the opposite of creativity.

SPECIAL CHALLENGE: Creating Custom Multiples for ONE Customer
Given ONE well-made custom item that meets specs, the customer will likely LOVE it. BUT delivering well-made custom MULTIPLES to a customer is riskier. Because each handmade item will be slightly different, she'll probably prefer ONE & wish all of them looked "exactly" like that one! The more particular the customer is up front, the more likely she'll find a Pick of the Litter & love the others less. It's human nature, even though the artist explains the certainty of differences before taking the job. Hopefully the customer can become happy with the unique beauty of each multiple:)

I have as many questions as answers about these practical aspects of creating art & hope you'll Comment with your own experiences. I'm learning the ropes in the School of Trial and Error. "T & E" is a tough school!

Mentors Are Priceless

I'm in awe of the internet expertise that's essential for making a business successful online! It's a steep learning curve & I'm slowly moving up 1 clumsy step at a time. I just want to give a public THANK YOU to Kay of A Crafty Arab for holding my hand. With her busy life, I don't know how she does it, BUT I AM GRATEFUL! With luck I'll be tweeting about my jewelry soon:)

Care & Feeding of Young Artists

When I was a child, the measure of our artistic abilities was how well we colored inside the lines that someone else drew in a coloring book. I was proud that I could stay inside those lines, as this impressed my parents & teachers. I also lived my life "inside the lines." I'm not apologizing for this. Our parents, despite having very little money, worked hard & raised 2 good kids in the days of "Leave It to Beaver" & "Father Knows Best." As a result, I lived as I was expected to live, picked "teacher" among my 3 choices of professions (nurse, teacher, housewife) & was mostly happy. Only in retirement from several great careers did I discover Art & the joy & freedom of coloring outside the lines! And who needs someone else's lines?! The New Me is enjoying a surprising talent for jewelry design that no one suspected, especially me!

Vivi is another story altogether:) I'm thrilled to see artistic freedom encouraged in kids today & nurtured by Vivi's teachers & our daughter. When Vivi spends the night with us, her body's alarm clock rings at 7:30 am, no matter what. One to two hours later when I stumble out of bed, I'm amazed to see her creations on the dining room table & how many of them she produced in 2 hours!

I'm so proud of Vivi & happy that she's discovered her freedom of self-expression at such a young age. Her world is full of open doors, and I couldn't be happier for her!

Multiple Online Shops- How to Handle?

I now have THREE online shops! My main shop- called Classic Beadwear, plus my Etsy shop & my NEW Zibbet shop -- both called Seattle Chic. It's challenging to "be found" online when you make jewelry. It seems that everybody makes jewelry! I'm so grateful for my loyal, local market. They sustain me & my business. It's gratifying to hear from them over & over how much they love my work because they actually SEE it:) Thanks to them, I know that if/when shoppers find me online, they also love my work.

BUT HOW TO GET "FOUND"?

• Should I advertise my 2 other sales venues on each of my 3 shopping sites? I'm thinking NO. Why confuse a buyer who's already found me?
• Who is the audience for each of my sites? I'm known as Classic Beadwear locally- my customer base. They use my CB website. The Etsy & new Zibbet sites are strickly for online shoppers who find me through Searches. I am Seattle Chic to them.
• Since 2 Seattle Chic stores seek the same online shoppers, should I post the same items on each site? I don't know! As a practical matter, I don't have time to post a lot of items on either site. So far, my Etsy & Zibbet sites carry different inventories, but I don't know if that's wise. However, I decided long ago to post all inventory on the Classic Beadwear website. Since I started my business in 2006, I've been about 85% successful meeting this goal:)

• In this blog & on Facebook, which of my 3 store/s should I market???
  This blog "Unwired" is about my journey as an artist, but mostly as a newbie small business owner. Here I bare my soul, warts & all. In Facebook, my Product Page is to publicize my work. The audience is presumably beyond local, so which store's posts will I show in my RSS feed- Zibbet's or Etsy's? Suggestions welcome! 

When I named this blog "Unwired- Watch As I Stumble Up the Learning Curve," I wasn't kidding! I would really appreciate your opinions as a crafter, marketing guru, OR a potential buyer. Feel free to Comment below. Many Thanks!

Business Cards -- Maximum Use; Minimal Cost!

I bet you like to save money as much as I do. I used to watch for online specials before ordering my business cards in various shapes & sizes. My skinny cards (like Moo cards) are double-sided & colorful. They're unique as business cards & pretty as hanging price tags for my necklaces. I also ordered 3 other cards featuring my brand "look" & logo, including a standard business card for handouts, a square card to hold & display my earrings, and a small card to string as price tags for small objects like pendants & bracelets. BUT ORDERING EACH SIZE SEPARATELY WAS RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE! What to do?

BRAINSTORM: To create all these cards, I now watch for specials on standard POSTCARD product! The high resolution image file I create in Photoshop Elements & upload to the online print business is exactly the postcard's size & includes graphics & cut-lines for 3 of the 4 cards sizes I need. Note that I added the orange margin so I wouldn't need to be so careful submitting my "bleed measurements." (I don't like math:) I chop off the orange.

I wanted contact info on the backside of my Moo-like cards, requiring 2 images, with matching cut-lines. I line up multiples of colorful jewelry pics on one side & my logo & contact info on the other side. The extra time spent aligning the back & front cut-lines exactly is worth the effort!

When my postcards arrive, I'm busy with the paper cutter until I've cut enough for the current project, but I can cut through 2 postcards at a time. As I chop, chop, I remind myself that I got THREE TIMES the product for 1/3 the price, & I did it all myself:) So the final image large enough for the postcard contains whatver size & shape card designs I might want, with cut marks to help with my paper-cutting task. The hardest part is preparing any backside image (contact info) so that its cut-lines exactly match the frontside image.

What online print shop do you use? I usually use Vista Print because of their frequent "free" product specials, where I pay only a reasonable shipping fee, plus a one-time fee to upload a particular image.

Special Gifts for Mother's Day

Mother's Day is a big deal in our culture, and I hope to foster this tradition. (Ok, I'm a proud mother & feel I earned the Big Deal:)

Q: How could I combine my favorite passion with Mother's Day?
A: By making Wire-Art jewelry, personalized with 0-3 children!

See full descriptions in my Etsy Shop!

International Sales -- Yes or No?

Shortly after opening my Etsy shop, I did major research before opting to include international buyers. It seemed complicated, & I wondered if it was worth the hassle. For example, I learned that "jewelry" on a Customs form might cause problems, as many destination countries exclude fine jewelry, gemstones, etc. Though all these issues seemed overwhelming, the allure of opening my market to the rest of the world won me over in the end.

My "Plan for International Sales":

• Shipping -- U.S. Postal Service's "First Class International- Small Package"- the lowest cost method for my small, light-weight items.
• Insurance -- U-Pic.com - 800-955-4623- 3rd party insurer, reasonably priced, excellent customer service. NOTE: They won't insure certain destination countries.
• Customs Form -- Depends on how shipped, item's size, & value. For me, Customs Form 2976 was right. Here's a chart outlining which form to use & another helpful "how-to" website.
• Product Category for Customs form -- This is a tricky business if you make quality jewelry. I chose the "Fashion Accessory" category to label my jewelry, a tip from a USPS postal worker. BUT I had my fingers crossed for its success.
• Beware of "Gift" category -- It's tempting to help out the buyer by tagging your product as a "Gift" on the Customs form, BUT this is illegal and you likely will get caught & fined. Certainly not worth it!
• Transit time -- Depends on the destination, but generally from 1 wk to 1 month.
• Tracking -- Another tricky business. It's really all about insurability, right? If the item is lost, with or without tracking, will you lose your item & your money reimbursing the buyer? I only considered low-price shipping==> USPS. (Who would pay $35 for expensive, tracked shipping on a $35-$90 item?) Besides, when using USPS in any form, the package is released to the local mail service of the destination country, so what good is USPS tracking at that point? U-Pic.com will insure un-tracked USPS shipping.
• If Lost or Damaged - I'd ask the buyer to wait 3-4 weeks for it, then credit my buyer myself, while I filed my claim with U-Pic.com to reimburse me. If damaged, I'd get pictures from the buyer, reimburse her myself, & file a claim. I've been lucky so far.
• Disclaimer About Customs Fees- I posted a note in my Policies page that Customs & other taxes are the buyer's responsibility.
• Sales Receipt- Pack it with the item to confirm for Customs what buyer paid.

THE RESULTS--
Unfortunately online sales remain insignificant, compared to loyal local fans of my work. BUT I never anticipated one possibility ==> That one international buyer would think my Shipping Fee included her Customs fee. (She didn't read my Policy statement?) If she accepted the delivery, the base Customs fee in the U.K. for this item would be about 50% of her purchase price...an outrageous tax! I felt terrible. She felt terrible.

I made TWO important decisions: I offered to reimburse her total purchase price if she chose to refuse the item, which her postal service would return-to-sender free (by international agreement)... eventurally, OR I'd split her Customs fee with her. She opted to pay the fee & keep her earrings.

My 2nd decision was to quit selling internationally. If I worked even harder to have an online presence, I might walk the risky international path with my jewelry, but so far, international business for me has not been worth the trouble. I'm certain that many other kinds of products aren't slapped with such penalty fees abroad, but sellers of quality jewelry will face hassles, & buyers in many countries will likely pay dearly. Luckily most buyers abroad are well aware of their country's fees before they buy from us.

Don't Forget to Pack Your Passion

I confess. I really don't need an excuse to pack my jewelry paraphernalia when I travel. So here I go again, loaded with the beading tools allowed in carry-on baggage & the disallowed in my checked bag. I've got about 5 hours sitting each way at airports or on plane PLUS about 15 hours driving around the SW laughing & gabbing with 3 girlfriends of 30 years PLUS about 15 hours of downtime when I'm not with my 3 "sisters." That adds up to a lot of new beaded jewelry to include in my 2011 Spring Collection. The biggest challenge before leaving is to package each beading project in ziplocks, while remembering to bring all the wire, crimps, & legal tools required. Oh, and my clothes! Off I go again:)