Handmade Artists' Forum Blogtastic: Heather's Haven

You'll notice one thing about my jewelry -- I don't work with the tiny beads. Those wee, willy nilly seed ones that make me squint and send my fingers sprawling trying to keep up with them. I have a HUGE amount of respect and admiration for crafty folks who not only work with these tiny wonders but create amazing jewelry. Although Heather creates in other media, it's the teensy bead aspect I'm focusing on for my blogtastic feature.

Take this beaded cuff with Russian serpentine, just lurve this!



Heather is extremely active and supportive on the Handmade Artists' Forum. I love that she takes the time to comment on other posts and keep the Share the Love program going.

Links for Heather's Haven:
Blog -- http://heathershaven2.blogspot.com/
Etsy -- http://www.etsy.com/shop/heathershaven
Artfire -- http://www.artfire.com/users/heathershaven
Twitter -- http://www.twitter.com/heathershaven
Facebook -- http://www.facebook.com/HeathersHaven2

Friday Front and Center: Foxy G. Knits

Do you ever meet someone regardless of the environment and know immediately that you were cut of the same skein, so to speak? Lois Stifel has been just such a person. I've been astounded by the number of folks I've met recently who are both insanely talented and outrageously giving, and I'm not talking about giveaways or promotions.

Lois is always thinking about what she can do for you which in my book is the epitome of everything I aspire to be. Not a day goes by that she hasn't pointed out a site of help for someone or forwarded a useful tip to the rest of us newbs. All this and she consistently updates her blog (Foxy G's Den of i-KNIT-quity) with witty, insightful articles about whatever strikes her fancy (from sherbet to the solstice to sock monkeys) along with in-depth features on other artisans who give back in various ways.

So I want to take a few moments and just bask in the glow of a few of my favorite items from her Etsy shop because behind everything is a deeply talented fiber artist, or Foxy G. Knits.

The first piece from her shop that really stunned me was her entry in the Team NorGa June challenge, the Goddess Shawl Wrap - Summer Solstice. Believe me, I'm saving my pennies for this one (and some cooler weather which Lois and I are both anxiously awaiting).



Lois works with a variety of fibers and yarns but I was really smitten by this new listing of her Oooh La La Ribbon Scarf which is full of funky textures and colors and looks like my neck would be in lurve.



A huge proponent of Pay It Forward, or PIF, Lois maintains a large number of gorgeous items in her shop as recently featured (like today) on Etsy Item of the Day.

So scarves ready in a salute, to you, Lois aka Foxy G. Knits!

Friday Front and Center: Purified Art

A couple weeks back I clicked on a random link in a twitter feed (click to recreate the moment) and lo the sky opened and down tumbled some Purified Art. It was a ring, described as future-primitive on the Flickr feed, but I knew it was unique and I liked it. Isn't that enough?



The gent behind the purification is Bill Martin, who maintains a blog called "Here there be Monsters" and I highly recommend putting it on your reading list. One of the things I like about how Bill approaches blogging or twitter or facebook, is that he is himself, it's not constant, "I listed twenty things, go look, go now, buy buy buy." So when he does post a link to a new creation, I'm excited about it and want to go look (and buy, but more on that next).

Bill does a fantastic job of keeping his Facebook fans up to date and keeping the flow of comments going as well. If you aren't a fan, go be a fan by clicking here and doing your being a fan thing.

So on Wednesday, June 10, 2009, at precisely 6:55 pm, Bill posted a photo of his new creation which utilized omg-yummeh-fantastical-you know that was tree sap once-AMBER and my brain melted. I mean, I'm a sucker for a few things in this world (honey, sock monkeys, fresh paper mmm) and amber is right at the top of the list. The absolute ONLY thing that saved my pennies was the size and as soon as my pennies are equal to the amount that would behoove not saving them, I will contact Bill about making a precious for me.



Bill on twitter is @Billpurifiedart and his Flickr photostream has a lot of really great photos of his current work and past art. See more of his creations for sale in his Etsy shop as well. Take a moment to visit Purified Art and let Bill know what you think!

Friday Front and Center: Halley Dawn

One of the things I've really enjoyed from reading other people's blogs are when they turn the spotlight away from their own creations for a bit to let you know what they like about somebody else. I've been a frantic bookmarker and shop hearter and for some of these folks have tried to track down whether they are on Facebook, Twitter etc.

I first came into contact with Halley Dawn's mosaic art either from pounce or a treasury on Etsy, I simply can't recall, but I was immediately drawn to the organic nature of an inorganic medium. Her piece "It's Still Me," pictured below is available in her Etsy shop.



I wish my brain could remember how I connected with Halley but I somehow let her know her art was stunning! (At least I hope I did that out loud and it wasn't just my imagination...ya never know eh?)

It was a few weeks later when I saw her link on Twitter (@HalleyDawn) for this new mosaic planter, with a fantastic photo of a flowering dogwood. The flower really pulled me in and made me wish I had a patio covered with these pots, all stuffed with blooms of course! This one, Gray and Blue Planter, is also available in her Etsy Shop.



When I went a' Googling (because my brain thought I had remembered a blog but I couldnae find it) I found her website at halleydawn.com and discovered her paintings! Follow the link on this one but really was pulled in by Double Self Portrait, a contrast to the light of her mosaics.

So please to enjoy one of my new favorite artists and if you see her on Twitter, say hullo (or give her Etsy shop a heart or looksy).

My first treasury!

Thanks to the new treasury clock at Craftopolis, I was able to figure out when something was opening up! Also, the tips from Erica at WorthySoyCandles posted on the Team NorGa forum helped immensely. I kept refreshing the page until I saw her tip that the box would magically appear...and it did! I had the title of the treasury read to go and a vague theme in mind (you know it would be either all green or something with flowers...)

I look forward to making many more treasuries! Click here to view and please make comments and visit the artist shops! You will get hugaroons. Promise.

Keishi pearls, yummeh!

Katey knows, I was hankering for keishi pearls for awhile and made a point of looking at all of them at the intergalactic bead show (although depending on the quality and size, oh my are they expensive). I read a great primer on pearls recently and learned that keishi pearls are in fact freshwater pearls but they don't have any starter material so they are the purest pearls so to speak because they are whatever the oyster churns out.

I love working with materials that were created in a process like that similar (in my mind anyway) to amber or honey. It came out of something else that may or may not have known we were going to process it so like Tom on Top Chef says, 'you have to honor the protein.' That may not make any sense but what I'm trying to say is that I feel a connection to the material and want what I make from it to be the best I can make it for what I have on hand or my skill level.

I didn't use to like pearls but that's before I knew they came in such crazy colors and shapes. Now I'm pearl crazy! Oh wells. I posted these (Dark Blossom) in the Etsy shop so please to enjoy!

Thursdays are always good...

Today was a new Art from the Heart from Foxy G. Knits and she featured Seedlings! I feel extremely honored to be featured since previous (and future) features deal with much more serious issues and folks doing hands-on work with cancer survivors.

If you haven't visited Foxy G. Knits blog or Etsy shop, please do so. She has gorgeous creations and does many Pay It Forward items all the time!

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I had made a list of things I wanted to accomplish today and I hit a few of them. I fixed the chainmaille necklace I made last week so that I can actually wear it. I'm going to road test it tomorrow at work.

I also made two new pairs of earrings that I will post in my Etsy shop early next week. Once the end of the month sale is over I'm reorganizing a bit (again, haha!) and they will be part of that rollout. Please do take advantage of the BUY ONE, GET ONE 50% OFF sale while it lasts through May 31. You won't hurt my feelings!

Coming in June:
Red Planet - earrings in argentium sterling silver and glass


Sustain - earrings in copper, glass, and shell

Time to eat your veggies!

Peas and Carrot earrings are currently featured in an Etsy Treasury all themed around peas and carrots! It will be viewable through Saturday.

Oddly enough, it was one month ago today the amber grapes were featured in a treasury. We'll see if our luck holds true on June 20...stay tuned!

A little Etsy shop cleaning.

I decided during the organization of my office and work area and subsequent cleaning out of my jewelry case that I didn't want to carry around so much stuff and I also think it has been in there awhile! I created a sale section in the Etsy shop and deactivated quite a few listings that I think I put in there when getting the shop going but since sold those pieces offline so no use having them in there at this point if I'm not going to make another set, etc.

So get in there and take advantage of my compulsive nature to store things for awhile and then resulting need to have them gone right away!

Click here to view the new sale section in the Seedlings Etsy shop.

Night off from jewelry? Sort of.

I spent some time tonight getting the house straightened and cleaned. I really neglected it during the week of vacation but I can't get too mad at myself right? It was a vacation.

I promised myself yesterday that I would take a break from any actual jewelry creation tonight and just write down any ideas that came to me or work on something completely different. I got online briefly and checked the Team NorGa forum and realized the deadline for entries for the current flier contest was tomorrow.

When thinking about what I wanted to include, I didn't really want to showcase my jewelry nor did I want to randomly grab stuff from other team members' shops. I went around my work room and picked up some items to photograph, hoping that would give me some inspiration. I started with some wire and hammers but had a difficult time getting a good set-up. When I started working with the yarn, that's when the idea hit me.

The materials we work with may be fantastic in their own state but what sets them apart are the people who take them and meld them into art. Click here to view the four variants I submitted. I hope at least one of them gets picked!

Staying busy is the best remedy.

My moods vary greatly, always have. I find that I enjoy when I'm feeling a bit more manic more than when I'm feeling down but according to the laws of Sharon's universe, it is a cycle and therefore I follow it. Having projects really helps, usually! I do have projects that continue to go undone because I replace them with other projects (finishing putting up photos on the wall comes to mind...)

I've been trying for the last two days to make my own bead caps out of wire that somewhat resembled a flower to no avail. I've given that a rest to let my mind mull over some solutions and decided to at least have a small taste of success with some simple, fun earrings. The amber beads were a gift from my friend Katey so I've made her a pair of Tree Candy (pictured) and I'm sending my sister a pair because I've owed her a necklace for almost two years now but she loves amber. (Hmm, unfinished projects keep popping up.)

Tomorrow I'm going to take a small break and focus on cleaning the house. It is amazing to me how dusty things get when you are focused on making jewelry!

This weekend I'm snagging aforementioned Katey to go to the Intergalactic Bead & Jewelry Show in Atlanta. We are going to set some spending limits before we step inside but I think it will be great to meet some vendors. Someone from Kazuri (fair trade beads from Kenya) will be there too; would love to see their beads up close.

Also, posted a secret Pay It Forward item to my Etsy shop. I mean, it's not really secret but with all the back and forth lately about whether PIF is for fun or for marketing, I just wanted to tuck it in there for some person who was surfing around and found it by accident. To me, its more like a scavenger hunt.

For anyone who knows me, if you compliment me on something I'm likely to just give it away...bad business practice I know, but the joy to me is creating and sharing. I'm thrilled to learn new things every day and love, be loved...all the good things. Hooray, my good mood is back!

Now, get out there, create and share.

3 Simple Customer Service Rules

Over the past decade in roles from retail to consulting in industries as varied as baking to web design, I’ve experienced a range of customer service. I’ve heard a lot about it too but mostly from executive types who loved charts and graphs. I’m sure there were nuggets of wisdom in their countless slides but the folks who deal with people every day will tell you they have a few simple rules to keep their customers happy.

1. Keep your customers informed. Whether this is an e-mail letting them know you’ve received their order or a verbal acknowledgment to someone in your shop, “I’ll be with you right away,” you can stave off so many difficult situations if you just keep the lines of communication open.
   
   Why wait until something is a problem when you can get your customers involved early and work out a solution quickly? For example, I recently ordered a custom item from an online retailer. We e-mailed back and forth over all the details and I was assured it would be shipping out the next couple of days but after that initial flurry of information, nothing. I sent them a message to find out what had happened and got a quick, “sorry for the delay, I had some difficulties getting everything together.”
   
   How simple it would have been to send that message two weeks ago instead of inspiring me to write an article about good customer service. Even at the beginning of the relationship with your customer, make sure you have enough information about your products or services that they can get the basics before coming to you for help. How you frame that information i.e. marketing and promotions is part of it...



2. Be consistent with your message. This includes your branding, your packaging, your pricing across shops – anything that is your product identity needs to face the same way. The next time you are at a cold beverage display, pay attention and if some of the bottles are facing with the label off-center; see if it makes you skip that bottle or give the impression the store is messy. It’s subtle but important.
   
   When I first created the look for Seedlings: Jewelry Because, I had so many people ask me if it was a brand I was reselling because everything was so coordinated. Everything from the little cards to hold earrings to the colors of the links on my blog were in essence facing forward in the display.
   
   In the latest A List Apart, Stephen Anderson has a great article about the importance of aesthetics in design, how it conveys confidence in your product. I feel this carries over into everything that is part of the message I’m trying to convey with my jewelry and they are easy things to do. Even if you aren’t a pro with graphics or printed materials, make some friends who are and do a trade!
   
   Beyond creating an experience for your customers, being consistent solves potential problems with your shipping policies or pricing between online shops. If you do market differently depending on the shop, see rule number one and state up front why there is a difference (i.e. these are my fashion earrings versus the ones made entirely from rubies and butterfly kisses.)
   
   As you reach out to your customers in various ways with consistency they will look forward to your updates, to your new creations, to weekly blog posts, to tutorials and contests. They will be ready to reach for a second bottle from your forward facing display and share it with others...



3. Follow-up or “make new friends but keep the old.” If you are keeping everyone informed and being consistent with your message, you will have repeat customers. These folks appreciate you and your product and are now fans. How fantastic do you feel when someone remembers your name or sends you a note thanking you, puts a little something extra in your package or even just a coupon for a friend?
   
   From a communication view, a quick e-mail a month after a sale asking if they are still happy can be an opportunity to turn them into a permanent fan with recruits. One popular feature for my recent customers has been to get Spotted in their Seedlings. I ask people to take photos with their new jewelry so I can feature them on my website and Facebook fan page. Another easy follow-up would be to give your previous customers a special discount on new items.

Customer service can mean many things to many people. To me, it’s about consistent communication on all levels of your relationship with your customers. With handmade items, you really are putting yourself into everything you do – why not make the entire experience a true representation of the best of yourself?

I challenge you all to examine one aspect of your current customer service and find an area where you want to make some changes. Use the upcoming month to create a plan to move the business side of your creations forward. I’d love to hear about your ideas and if you feel the same way (or not) about customer service!

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Rejuvenating weekend.

I was fairly focused on only accomplishing a few things this weekend but everything I was able to do I feel good about. It was a nice change of pace from either feeling very manic or just plain down. I spent a few hours on a copper wire project on Saturday night that I didn't finish but am not giving up on, it just involved a lot of bending and hammering so my wrists and hands needed a break today. I want it to be 100% handmade so I did all the jump rings etc. so it's taking a bit. Right now it's a mess...from that mess will come order! Well, enough to enjoy it.

I also joined the Etsy North Georgia Street Team and I'm excited about being more involved with crafty folks in my area.

As far as successful weekend projects go, I whipped up three pairs of earrings that turned out so well I put them up on my shop. I also made myself a pair of the Water Gears ones with smooth washers and a non-matte glass bead.

All earrings in the shop are buy two pairs, get one free!

And I'm not even a water person!

Ever since the Paradiso family started our annual trip to Hilton Head, South Carolina, I've realized that some part of me loves a certain kind of beach. I'm not a fan of the heat-baked white sands of say Florida, but the moody tides of the Eastern coasts (and mind you, I go once a year so allow me my romanticism) are wonderful.

So I've been hoarding bits of shells for awhile now (some cowrie shells since 1995 I brought back from Ghana) not really sure what to do with them. I think with shells too it's hard to do something neat and tidy, sort of against their nature at least how they ended up. I started making the wrapped loop charms last night and came up with a first version of the hemp part but didn't care for that so took it all part tonight (not the charms, ye gads, that took me long enough).

The idea to wrap the hemp in wire was a whim (I wanted something to contain the strands mostly) but once it stretched out I realized it looked and acted like the edge of a spiral-bound notebook and that appealed to me immediately. Mind you, this thing is nice and long, just shy of 30 inches so all those shells are front and center. It could definitely be shortened though and would make a very neat choker I think as well.

So I posted photos on flickr and have posted this necklace in the Etsy shop too. Now it's time to do all the things I promised myself I would do instead of what washed up in my head...

The Grapes in green and dark blue are featured in an Etsy treasury!

This is the second pair of the Grapes earrings to be featured in an Etsy treasury in about a week. The last one featured the amber color ones, this one features the green/dark blue ones. Such a lovely treasury too, please check it out while it's up (through April 23)!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=51078

Tonight's project: crochet and pearls!

In the latest Bead Style magazine there is a how-to on making a simple necklace with wrapped-loop pearls and lucite flowers but I'm not a huge fan of lucite preferring to stick with natural materials when possible. For some reason my mind jumped to yarn and I asked my friend Katey if she had any yellow yarn I could work with.

She returned a bountiful bag full of wonderful bits I'm going to have much fun with, I can tell already. I decided to work with one of the purplely hued ones partially for the color and somewhat for the texture. It felt like it had a bit of wool in it and Katey confirmed that earlier in the evening.

The fringe is really what sets this necklace apart I think. I've found with a lot of my ideas, the execution is simple but what really draws me in and makes me spend upwards to an hour pulling each tiny skein apart is that simple plus simple multiplied by simple sometimes makes fantastic.

I think that's why I like repeating patterns so much. They aren't usually very complex but when you start layering them you see larger patterns emerge within the structure and you are never quite sure if you are going to see a glimpse into the inner workings of the universe.

The other thing that really appeals to me about this necklace is that it really reminds me of all the cosmos we had in our garden growing up. When I had my first house, I even went out of my way to plant a big row of cosmos against the side of the house one year. It is a simple flower but because it overwhelms with the sheer number that spring up, it becomes fantastic in the simplicity.

This necklace was fairly labor intensive but I love the result. I'm going to experiment with other yarns and textures but meanwhile this one is now on sale in the Etsy shop.

Little sleep but having fun!

So this last week I finished up the last batch of wire swirls for the grand vision of Swirlmaille and I have to say I'm very happy with the result. I do consider this version 1.0 though and have several ideas for improvement in the next round. I am itching to work with actual sterling silver and fine silver among other things and plan on getting that going very shortly.

I'm waiting for a few new supplies to come in from folks I found on Etsy including a chainmaille kit for hubby!

I started a flickr account to help keep my photos organized and to get them out into the world a bit more, http://www.flickr.com/photos/seedlingsjewelry and I also post these photos to the Facebook page but apparently not everybody is on Facebook (haha)!