The Business of Beading

2:53 PM Posted In , , Edit This 2 Comments »
Today has been all about the Business of Beading... blugh. I love making jewelry, making beads and creating fun tutorials. The reality is that I have to make some money doing it at the same time... Today I was able to make this necklace: the second item in my Indie Expression Series:

Tree Girl Handmade Scrabble Tile Necklace and Earring Set



However, I have spent the rest of my morning/early afternoon photograping jewelry to be listed on Etsy, or photographs to update items I have already listed. I have realized that since I have started selling my jewelry on Etsy a few months ago I have gotten much, much better at figuring out the best way to show my jewelry, so I'm going back over some of my previous pictures, realizing that what I thought was pretty good then, really could be that much better. For Example, check out the new pictures for my Sparkling Wine Necklace and Earrings Set



Check out some of my new listings:

Key To My Heart Necklace and Earrings Set




What's The Plan, Stan?
  • My next step, once I am done photographing, editing photographs, editing and updating Etsy... I am going to sit myself down and make a... dun dun dunnn Business Plan! I realize that since I am taking this jewelry making seriously, and hope to go far with both my blog and my Etsy... and it's already become quite and investment of time and money, I need to set down some short and long term goals.
  • One of my short term goals is to create a line or series of jewelry that I could market for a gift shop at an apple or other fruit orchard. I live in rural New Hampshire where these kinds of farms are all over the place. A lot of them have quite nice gift shops, but any jewelry they have in there is tacky. My goal is to create several designs that would be apropriate for those kinds of shops and then see if I can't get a couple businesses to sell my jewelry there on consignment. I did consignment a couple years ago before I really knew what I was doing. I am older, wiser and honestly a much better jewelry artisan now.

2 comments:

Azure Accessories said...

Great pieces Callie...your Tree Girl pendant is very pretty!!!

I've certainly done my fair share of experimentation with photos for my pieces...it has taken me three year to be satisfied and occasionally very pleased with a photo!!! I think it is something we are always improving on! For me what made the biggest difference was finding the right light source, which for me is an east window...now if I want an a piece to sparkle I wait for a sunny day...sometimes, especially in the winter they are few and far between so I will make due with a bright cloudy day!!!

Good luck with your business plan...
Cheers

callie said...

I'm really glad that you like Tree Girl - I am so in love with her! Dabbling in scrabble tiles has been a bit of an 'iffy' thing for me, but the more I do it, the more I love them.
I would have to agree... lightsourcese are tough. When I'm at school, I have a great photography studio that I think I will try to take advantage of. At home, I tend to use that cool winter daylight.