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Designers Corner ~ "A Special Place for Jewelry Designers & Artisans"
Designers Corner has been
created for jewelry designers and artisans—professionals and hobbyists alike.
I'm very proud to pre-launch our Designers Corner with sage advice from the
gifted Louise Coulson of
Kingfisher Designs,
with more great content and invaluable resources to follow in the coming weeks.
(See Kingfisher Designs' Exclusive Gallery at SPJ
here, and Louise and Don Coulson's Kingfisher Designs website
here.)
Louise
has been kind enough to contribute a fascinating article,
"Jewelry Artisan's Hindsight or What I
Wish I Had Known", that as a budding
designer, I found most helpful and I know you will too. I'm sure veteran
designers will relate to this lively and vibrant designer's journey into
becoming a jewelry artisan.
Sell Your Jewelry at Yessy!
Handcrafted jewelry is art, and at SPJ we celebrate
your wearable art in our Designers Showcase. This feature is specifically
designed to showcase your jewelry in an elegant art gallery-style format, and to
promote your business. However, SPJ does
not currently have the capability for you to create your own store where you can
actually sell your work.
I am working on it but in the
meantime, Arriel Goodwin of AriDesigns Jewelry, one of the featured artists in
our Designers Showcase, has
referred me to her fabulous store at Yessy, an art gallery/online shop for all
art including jewelry. I checked it out, love it, and highly recommend it for
selling your jewelry. Arriel gives it rave reviews and is doing very well at
Yessy. In fact, when I get my photos done of my
own collection, Silver Spirit Designs, I plan to set up shop at Yessy, too!
Use the following link to
create your own 14 day free trial at Yessy!
FREE
TRIAL ART GALLERY AT YESSY
Jewelry Artisan’s Hindsight
or
"What I Wish I Had Known"
By Louise Coulson of
Kingfisher Designs
Any new relationship starts with the fire of passion and
excitement. Of course, this is how my entrance into the world of making jewelry
started out. If I had
 known
how much I would love this work, I would have started years ago. The excitement
of designing and creating a piece of beautiful jewelry pulls me to my workbench
every day. Many novelists say that they work every day just to see what is
going to happen next. This is the motivation of much of my jewelry work. Some
of the
pieces of jewelry almost seem to become pets while I am working on them.
Of course, I made many missteps along
the way and a few correct decisions in the beginning. Fortunately, I had a lot
of fiber experience and the desire to create something different and not follow
too closely in the footsteps of those who have gone before me. I do try to find
the original approach and build each piece on the learning experiences from the
pieces before often striving for a different version or variation on a theme.
If I had only known, I would not have:
- Wasted money on bulk buying cheap grab bags of unknown
parts and pieces
- Changed my domain name twice
- Bought cheap displays only to replace them with decent
ones
- Did not focus early on the techniques I loved best
- Wandered around trying to figure out the image I
wanted my jewelry to portray
- Organized my workday and balanced my tasks better
If I had only known, I would have:
- Bought the best in materials from the beginning
- Bought only the tools I needed for the job and the
best of those that I could find
- Developed an inventory system right away for materials
- Created a labeling system
- Started my blog earlier -
My workbench log
- Learned more techniques earlier
- Bought good packaging to begin with instead of trying
to save money on something that is so important to the image of the jewelry
- Kept better photographic records
But what have I done right?
- Wrote a 3 year business plan
- Wrote a marketing plan
- Obtained a tax number right away
- Opened a separate business account
- Obtained a merchant account
- Obtained a domain name
- Stayed focused on the goals most of the time
- Had beautiful cards with a photograph printed
- Developing my own style
- Written an eBook,
ShowCase: Artisan's Guide to Website Maintenance and Marketing
- Participation in online promotional sites like
Metal Chasers
and
Talent Database
- Developed links by contributing to online ezine sites
- Platinum Expert on
ezinearticles.com
- Developed a support system of mentors and peers who
work together for common goals keep me motivated and focused when my own
resources are gone.
We all, as jewelry
artisans, seek the magic at our workbenches every day.
Over the years, hand crafted
has come to be that magical combination of creativity, materials, and
craftsmanship. I wish you magic in your jewelry designs.
Copyright
© 2008 by Louise Coulson. All rights reserved.
Louise Coulson is a jewelry artisan who works with
Kingfisher Designs. She is webmaster for
Kingfisher Designs
and
Jewelry Spectrum.
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ETSY
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