Northgate Festival 2010 - "Special Sale!"

I've been as busy as I wanted to be so far this year, making & selling jewelry for a wonderful, mostly-local customer following. But as Fall approaches, it's time to THINK CRAFT SHOWS. I don't do many, but the first for me in 2010 will be the Northgate Festival on Saturday September 11, 11:00 am -- 7:00 pm, in Seattle, WA on 103rd between Northgate Mall & the new Thornton Place. I've not been to this show before, but it looks like a good venue for sellers & buyers alike, with lots of interesting "side events" & attractions very close by-- Northgate Mall, classic Mustang car show, & 2 stages of live music!... in addition to our craft booths, featuring original, all-handmade artisan work, food booths, etc. There's ample parking & a Park n Ride nearby. Lots to keep us all busy having fun! For a sneak-peek at the latest jewelry originals from my shop, check the links at Classic Beadwear. Then to make sure I bring to the show the specific items you want to see, just post a Comment below. SAY THE MAGIC WORDS FOR SPECIAL SALE PRICING==> "I'm a Classic Beadwear Fan." As a special "Thank You" to my local following, ALL online prices have been reduced & include tax! In addition, IF YOU SAY THE MAGIC WORDS & buy 2 items from me, you'll save another 30% on the cheaper item!

PLUS I'll be sharing a booth with my talented friend Roz of Scarf City. She's debuting her 2010 line of fashion-forward knitwear... FINALLY Seattle has cooled down enough to think knits:) You'll love her sense of style... and her sense of fun:)

Please look for our Classic Beadwear & Scarf City booth, near the Northgate Mall-end of the craft booth lineup. Hope to see you this Saturday!

Finding My "Signature Look"

I'm a work in progress. In my 5th year as an aspiring jewelry artist, I still find every medium I try a compelling challenge, full of surprises. Frankly, these are the experiences that motivate me to continue experimenting. When I'm really "in the zone," I go to bed reluctantly, obsessing over ways to solve some technical challenge to implement a design. Often the solution appears in a dream... really! Many brainstorms, sending me off in a completely new direction, were born in my sleep.

At this point in my evolution as an artist, I might work seriously one week with stones, another with metalsmithing, another with wire-art. How can I develop one signature look about my art? Do CUSTOMERS want variety OR one signature "look" from a Jewelry Artist? I do sense that the ART COMMUNITY wants a signature look...

Furthermore, my art really reflects who I've been all my life -- seeking, learning, branching out, evolving. This is my 4th "career," & I've loved them all with passion.

ONE look? It's not who I am...

Samples of Evolution...
2006 2007

2008


2009


2010

Assuring Product Safety for Kids

Today I read that another dangerous product had been recalled-- the Best Friends charm bracelet, marketed to children in the U.S. As a consumer, an artisan, & a grandmother, I'm always shocked when a manufacturer anywhere knowingly exposes children to toxic products.

What preventive action is the U.S. taking to protect our kids? CPSIA -- nightmare legislation.

Since 2008, I've heard about CPSIA. It mandates that most raw materials & end-products obviously designed for "children" -- anyone under 13 -- be tested & certified as lead-free & phthalates-free. Presumably CPSIA will expand its list of banned materials periodically. Too bad that I don't have a law degree because without one, understanding the regs will be a challenge for any small business owner, however conscientious. This flowchart (not intended as legal advice) by the Handmade Toy Alliance makes some sense of dense pages of CPSIA legalese.

To understand what's terrible about the implementation of CPSIA regs, let's look at an example of the processing sequence from manufacturing to purchasing by the parent for a child. Assume I make & sell handmade jewelry for children. (Thankfully I don't & I won't! I created Ladybugs below, using copper wire, as a gift for my granddaughter.) Assume I want to buy a batch of mystery metal wire with a silver finish because it's cheap. Because that mystery wire is not obviously intended for children, all producers & sellers of that wire are exempt from testing it under CPSIA regs. I also buy a batch of generic-looking inexpensive clasps, spools of coated beading wire, and dozens of red ladybug resin beads. Except for the ladybug beads (clearly intended for children), all are exempt from testing like the mystery metal wire. BUT if I combine these components to create necklaces designed for children, I must certify that ALL the components are free of lead & specified chemicals. Assuming I received written certification when I bought the ladybug beads that they tested safe (since they were made for children), I must have 3 of my 4 components tested at roughly $100 per test so I can document the safety of this batch of ladybug necklaces. When I purchase a new batch of raw materials, I must re-test & re-certify my next batch of ladybug necklaces. Note that all businesses that buy the untested metal, beading wire, & clasps I described to create their own products designed for children must repeat the same expensive tests I did to comply with existing CPSIA. The goal of the law is spot-on, but the procedures are redundant, wasteful, & will either bankrupt small businesses & artisans OR drive them underground.

THE POLITICALLY-INCORRECT REALITY: We all know the source of most dangerous raw materials & finished products we import. But in our Country of Political Correctness, we pretend we don't! Instead of burdening our small businesses with testing, why not spot-check ANY cargo ships of any nation arriving with goods from China? Stop the dangerous goods at its points of entry into the U.S., as we successfully did with the Best Friends bracelets? Levy heavy fines, with a 3 Strikes You're Banned policy for any exporter in China who violates our regulations. Honestly, except for children's products exempt from CPSIA regs, I don't know why any small manufacturer or artisan would make products for children. They should seriously consider opening product-safety testing labs instead...

How to Flyfish -- NOT!

Besides my family & friends, I'm passionate about 3 things-- making jewelry, duplicate bridge, & fly fishing. But stuck with only 24 hour days, I haven't seen my fly rod in 2 years. So yesterday was The Day... an opportunity for creative renewal surrounded by Mother Nature in all her glory. That was the plan...

Parked by my favorite lake 2 hours out of town, I stuffed body & layers of clothes into tight waterproof waders (How did they shrink so much in just 2 years?!), blew up the float tube, grabbed my equipment, fly rod, lunch, life jacket, flippers & lucky hat, & launched myself into the cool, serene water. WHAT A GLORIOUS ESCAPE --tall evergreens surrounding the small, glistening lake, the occasional bald eagle, but especially the water rings all around me as large rainbows sipped bugs off the surface. Finally! A day to watch fish take my visible fly! What luck!

But the next 4 hours were a slap-stick comedy of my errors--

• I discovered that I'd left my fishing reel at home.
• The reel I then borrowed from a kind local fisherman fell apart when my first rainbow struck the fly.
• I held the reel together to land the 2nd rainbow. YEAAA:)
• As I was whining to my husband, who was fishing another part of the lake, about all my dumb mishaps, I forgot to hold the borrowed reel together. So its spool with 200' of fly line fell out of the reel, bounced off my float tube into the lake.
• Luckily I retrieved the spool by pulling all 200' of its line into a rats nest onto my lap.
• I spent the next 90 minutes unknotting the mess of line to wind it back on its spool-- all of this while sitting in my float tube in the lake.
• I finally got the borrowed reel back together, kicked back into shore to return it to the kind man who lent it to me.
• By then it was time for us to quit fishing & go home.

From a fishing standpoint, I've definitely had better days:)! However, it's hard to describe the beauty of fly fishing from a float tube, half in & half out of the the fish's world. Landing the fish & gently releasing it unharmed are a very personal & intimate experience for me. Although my special day was full of mishaps & frustrations, it was still magical.

Life with a Man from Mars

Last night, flush with excitement that at last(!) she had finally wrapped 3 perfect silver wire bubbles into her new round earrings, she entered the bedroom. He sat glued to the chair staring at the History Channel. "Rattattattattattattat" blared through the speakers. She started to speak, but the Man-Brain was honed in on the fire power of the Gatling machine gun. She was invisible, standing 6" away from his chair. On & on the gun blasted -- first at a lineup of large watermelons (heads?), then at a perfectly good 1980 car, transformed within 1 minute into a shriveled blob of metal, smoking. With a tap on the shoulder of Man-Brain, she screamed, "Greg" to compete with the Gatling."What!" he yelled back............. "rattattattat"............... Realizing she couldn't possibly explain the asthetic of the beautiful sterling bubbles on the earrings or the 3 hours of frustration curving those circles just so to achieve Victory Over Metal. It was all too beautiful for Gatling guns. She quietly left the room & returned to the comforting clutter of Her Shop.

Planes, Ships, Trains & Jewelry Tools

It's a strange, new world since Nine-Eleven, with inconveniences we've learned to expect... on planes. I always travel with "project baggies" -- ziplocks with all the components to make each jewelry creation I envision, PLUS a ton of the jewelry tools allowed by TSA. I've learned the hard way what's allowed. But a recent cruise taught me new lessons about carrying my tools on cruise ships... at least my NCL cruise ship.

Here are some tips I've learned:

ON PLANES:

• Read my detailed post about tools in carry-on. You'll enjoy the surprises!
• It helps to warn the x-ray screener that your carry-on contains tools for your jewelry projects.
• Always keep a printout of the TSA rules in your carry-on, just in case.
• Hammers of any length are not allowed in carry-ons. Pack hammer & oversized tools in your checked bags.

ON CRUISE SHIPS (at least NCL's Spirit):

• Suspicious tools in ALL baggage (checked or carry-on) will be flagged.
• Checked bag: Porters take everyone's checked baggage to a screening area &, if ok, will deliver to your room hours later. If not ok, checked bag will be flagged, & you'll get a notice to wait in a long line to personally go through your bag with a screener. You'll miss a pingpong tournament & welcome-aboard cocktails. My long-handled, round-tipped metal scissors triggered the notice, but were approved when we examined the baggage together.
• Carry-on bag: Examined in your presence & tools discussed immediately when boarding ship. Tools deemed unsafe will be removed, tagged, & returned at end of cruise.
• SUGGESTION: Before boarding ship, re-pack baggage from your plane trip this way==> Put ALL jewelry tools in your carry-on so they can be discussed as you're screened to board the ship. Saves hours of precious fun-time.

ON TRAINS: To be determined:) I hope to make such a trip one day.

By the way, I sold TWO necklaces while creating them in the sunshine on deck, gliding through teal waters of the Caribbean & singing to myself as the band played Marley's "One Love. One World."

Happy travels!

Can a Real Woman Compete with Monique?

Proud of my latest metalwork creation (Triquetra), I couldn't wait to wear it to my favorite card club, where I see many loyal local customers each week & sometimes sell jewelry right off my body. (Marketing takes many forms:) I received 3 eye-popping Wowzas from 3 new admirers at the game. The next morning an email arrived from 1 of the women, wanting to buy Triquetra for her daughter's birthday.

So as I now wrap & kiss goodbye my newest favorite creation, I question again the most effective way to market my jewelry online==> with pictures of Monique the Mannequin OR pictures of the human variety. Monique's figure is beyond reproach, and she never complains about holding a pose. The potential human model can't seem to stay still, can't get her body under the daylight lamps while snapping the picture, and can't hold up a strapless dress. However, she does work cheap. Plus in Real Life, ordinary women do seem to enjoy the jewelry her 5'7" imperfect body wears...

I vote for Monique. As the photographer, I've finally learned to position the 2 light cones with daylight bulbs focused just about right on Monique as she poses 24/7 on her table. Besides, I think all of us mortal woman enjoy fantasizing that the svelte, (plaster) model wearing my jewelry in the website could be her, with just a little dietary tweaking.

More Travel = More Jewelry

I recently returned from my annual adventures through the SW with 3 "sisters" of 30 years.


We gab, eat, drive, laugh, play games for money, eat, gab, eat. Did I mention gab & eat? BUT I always lug my jewelry tools, beading board, & packets of "project components" I've prepared ahead of time. Driving in a car at least 20 hours in 10 days leaves much time to make jewelry while gabbing, laughing, & munching in the back seat with my pillow table in my lap.

So I've officially begun the Spring-Summer Collection of 2010, and if some creations have a SW "feel," now you know why.


Soon it's time to travel with my husband. In the next few days, I'll be preparing some jewelry projects in little ziplock baggies to take on our trip to the South & on a cruise from N.O. Once again, I'll be gabbing & eating, while keeping my hands busy with jewelry in whatever lag times exist. I wonder what Southern Influence will be seen in my next creations?

BUT even more, I wonder what I did with travel lag times before I caught the Jewelry-Making Bug?

Imagine "One Perfect Day"

If you could design One Perfect Day lasting as long as necessary, what would you do?

My day would be about 48 hours long, I'd be A LOT YOUNGER with the energy to relive a few amazing events in my life:

1) FLY FISHING: The day was warm but the water still cool, the sky overcast, & a light ripple on the small lake. No one on the lake but me. I quietly kicked toward the shore in my float tube with lightweight fly rod rigged with my very own rendition of a dragonfly. The real ones were flying low over the bubbly scum near the shore. I decided to false-cast my fly low over the water, too. Suddenly a fat 20" rainbow jumped 12" out of the water & snapped my dragonfly! I'd love to say I landed him, thanked him, & let him go. But I was so startled, I jerked the line, broke it, & kissed away the fish & my Magic Fly. BUT on my imaginary Perfect Day, I'd catch that Big One!

2) RACING: We were racing our 19' open sailboat (a Lightning) on a windy day in English Bay, Vancouver, B.C. Suddenly Greg at the helm steered onto a wave approaching from behind & the boat lurched forward like a racehorse at the starting gun. We surfed the wave as the 3 of us arched backwards over the side to keep the boat flat. I held on tight to the spinnaker line, letting the huge sail fill with each gust, wrapping my legs tighter around the strap. Our 3 heads nearly touched the water as the boat skimmed the surface. I remember feeling The PERFECT BALANCE OF POWER between Nature & Human Skill==> the Lightning literally surfed each following wave, then flew over the water's surface until the next wave. A thrill impossible to describe.

3) DUPLICATE BRIDGE: In a tournament near Tacoma, our 4some team had beaten the first 2 teams we'd played! Now we feared the Peter Principle, as we'd no doubt risen to the level of our incompetence. We greeted our new opponents as they sat at our table to play , Fred Fred Gittleman (a nationally renowned duplicate bridge player) and The Bill... yes, Bill Gates! Fortunately partner & I did not embarrass ourselves & really enjoyed playing against these polite, charming opponents! But we couldn't see who Bill's teammates were across the room playing against our 2 teammates. At the end of the round, all of us rejoined our own teammates to compare scores, but our teammates were green from defeat. They were shocked to learn WE had just played against The Fred & The Bill!! But we were all shocked to learn that the mystery opponents that skunked our teammates were Warren Buffet & Sharon Osberg (both fantastic players)! That will always be the highlight of my bridge life.

4) GREMLINS: At the end of my One Perfect Day, having energy to spare (Yes, this must be fiction!), I'd return home to await a visit from Vivi & Miles. The door bell would ring & ring & ring along with some persistent, lightweight knocking. I'd open the door & 2 pairs of open arms would embrace me.... "Grandma! Grandma!" The best words in the English language.

WHAT PERFECT DAY WOULD YOU RELIVE? We'd love to read it:)!

Jewelry Pics Made Wanda Wimpy

In my 3 short years as a jewelry artisan, how could I possibly take enough jewelry pictures to bring my computer to its knees? But I did! After all, my favorite geeky toy arrived in 2005 with the latest 74 gig harddrive- I was sooo proud of that:) In 2006 I started shooting away at my first jewelry creations... probably 5-10 RAW images for each handmade item, never dreaming how quickly those large files would eat up my C drive. But things were still humming along fine... until about 6 months ago. Over time, everything I wanted to do began taking forever, from opening Internet Explorer to check email to working in Photoshop Elements. Occasionally Windows complained that "my virtual memory was too low." Windows' auto-adjustment would help for a few days. But how much value was my high-speed, high-priced DSL connection if my computer could barely limp along?

I plan to buy a much beefier computer later this year, but I needed a bandaid in the meantime. By today there was very little storage left on the C drive, & computer performance was beyond intolerable. UGH! So I moved all 50 gigs of jewelry pictures (YES, 50 GIGS!) for my little business onto Tarzan, my name for the external drive I bought a year ago at Costco simply to store backup copies of our files, emails, favorites, outlook calendar, & contacts. With its 465 gigs of storage, Western Digital's "iBook" was a bargain.

The Copy/Paste of my 50 gigs from Wimpy Wanda to Tarzan took 2 hours 15 minutes! BUT my computer is once again humming along. Tarzan is so cool:)

There's Help & UN-help!

When you own a small business, you certainly must be grateful for any & all help. There aren't enough hours in a day for 1 person to do everything--designing, purchasing, marketing, online site development & maintenance, craft shows, bookkeeping, tax filing, making the jewelry, OH and saying hello to spouse, family, friends, PLUS SLEEPING! So I'm incredibly grateful for advice on marketing, photography, online sites, fashion trends, etc. One of my most persistent advisors even draws some designs for me! (Picture Grandma with a big, warm smile right now!) Vivian is only 6, but presents her ideas in GREAT detail, as you can see.


Then there's Miles, my 3-yr-old Weapon of Mass Destruction. He represents UN-help. Too bad he is fascinated with tools, especially MY tools. I thought he was taking a nice loooong nap next to my jeweler's bench... until I heard some small clunking sounds. The awful vision that popped into my mind's eye proved true: He had removed ALL my tools (half of them had just arrived as a Christmas present from me to me) & had lined them up in various places all around the room. Some places were so small that Grandma could no longer fit to get them!


Let me say 2 things about that "help" -- 1) Miles heard a tone in my voice he'd never heard before (suspect the neighbors heard it, too, AND 2) I still haven't found my favorite file or my sweet 2-in-1 rouge cloth. UGH!!!!!!!!

"Artist" VS "Crafter"

I've always been a practical, logical, Type A person, but after "retirement," discovered one surprising brain cell that was artsy. Since then my world has changed. I am now an old dog learning & loving new tricks! But am I an "artist"? Frankly I've spent little time philosophizing about the definition of an "artist." I'd rather just make my jewelry as well as I can. I certainly would love that title & will work hard to earn it one day.

But tonight as I was saying good-bye to friends invited to my party, I received a beautifully wrapped item from my new & instant friend Sue "to open later." Over the year I've known her, I've witnessed her passion for "crafting" (her term) & admired her creations... products of a life-long love for every form of creativity ==> photography, knitting, quilting, felting, writing... you-name-it! I am in awe of such people. When I later opened this stunning silk-felting neck scarf from Sue, I realized that she is not a "crafter," but an "Artist." Does she Sell? Market? Do Craft Shows? Have an Art Degree? Work As An Artist In Her Past? NO to all these questions. But she's an Artist.

Too bad she hasn't shared the beauty of her work with the world, but I'm honored & overjoyed that she shared it with me! If you know as little about silk felting as I know, click this helpful blog.

Jewelry Supplies -- Take Them or Leave Them?

I've got a husband of 41 years, a dear daughter & son-in-law, & their 2 special gremlins- ages 6 & 3. Greg & I are heading to the Methow Valley to spend Christmas with them. En route, we will celebrate our 41st anniversary in 2 lovely B & B's, nestled in tall evergreens & snow-covered mountains...



So how sick am I to want to bring along my jewelry-making supplies for those "down times"? What will I do when my hands aren't busy creating something for 6 days?

What did I do with mind & hands 3 years ago BEFORE I adopted this obsession?

Wish me luck, as I have no idea which decision I'll make tomorrow. HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU ALL:)

"Letting Go" of a Treasure

When I've spent 25+ hours creating a piece of jewelry I'm VERY proud of, I get an attack of Maternal Instinct. I reluctantly offer it for sale... I mean, I'm not totally nuts... but I do wish I could check the worthiness of any unseen buyer before releasing it for adoption!

So when A FRIEND is shopping to buy something & wants to spend "some money," I quickly gravitate to My Special Jewelry Babies. PLEASE TELL ME I'M NOT THE ONLY ARTSY 'NUT' OUT THERE WITH SUCH ISSUES!

Today I feel joyous that a friend bought Artistic, my wire-art special treasure. Maybe she'll wear the necklace & earrings when we meet so I can visit them:)

Bringing the Holiday Look Online

I may have had trouble cleaning & decorating my house for the holidays, but right after Thanksgiving I couldn't wait to decorate my online Etsy store==> SeattleChic.etsy.com. I spent a lot of time creating Holiday versions of my shop's banner & avatar. (Well, maybe if I hadn't spent so much time fiddling with my online stores, I'd have fixed up the house sooner! But that's another story:)

So here's my avatar with its Standard vs Holiday Looks:


And here's my store banner -- Standard vs Holiday Looks:



Cooooooollll!

SeattleChic's on Facebook- Another Learning Curve

I'm really proud of my new online store, SeattleChic.etsy.com. So I decided to add a Product/Fan page to my Facebook, also called SeattleChic.etsy.com. I admit that Facebook baffles me. I'm comfortable with a lot of techie things, but on FB I'm lost in a crazy maze! Please check out my new FB Fan page by clicking on the BECOME A FAN link to the right. I'D LOVE SOME TIPS FROM FB GURUS:) For ex, how can I get ALL the pics in my album to appear on that page... not just 3 pics. I'm a babe in the woods! HELP:)

Copper + Torch = Surprises

Torching copper is like a nail-biting adventure story where the heroine (me, of course) can either conquer or go down in blazing defeat & frustration. I've found no magic formula to guarantee victory over the copper. But what the stubborn copper doesn't know is that I am just as stubborn! I'll torch, then re-sand, then torch & re-sand as many times as it takes to have that AH HA moment of victory & sweet satisfaction.

Here are my latest 2 examples, where I sanded/torched no less than 10 different times before AH HA:) I think it was worth it. PLUS my niece Courtenay (necklace- recent visit here) & daughter Laurie (pendant-Big birthday), who received these as gifts, really loved them.

Cheryl Z's online stores: Seattle Chic and Classic Beadwear