Delegating jewelry making tasks

Remember how I talked a couple of weeks ago that one of my "words for the year" was delegate?  I had an opportunity to do that this week.  I gave my assistant a task that directly involved making the jewelry itself.  (Many of the tasks I had given her before had been more office duty and errand type work).  I gave her a sheet of my designs for the scrabble tiles, and asked her to cut them into squares to fit the tiles.  I am happy to say she "did good".  It wasn't perfect, but the important part is that I found out the sky didn't fall either.  Some she cut too close, some the ends weren't a good point, but for the most part they were usable.  This is a huge step for me!  I don't consider myself a control freak, but I'm very particular about making sure the jewelry is "perfect" since it's my name and reputation on them. 

The other exciting part is that she actually wants to do a good job and was very receptive to my feedback.  When I talked to her about some of the problems with the first set, she was eager to improve.  I gave her more designs to cut up yesterday.  She used a different technique, and the results were better.   I'm actually pretty excited this looks like it's going to work out just fine and free up time for me.

Handmade silver and resin jewelry video

I finally took the plunge into making a "movie" about my resin jewelry. It's been something I've wanted to do, but quite frankly, I just didn't know how to do it. A blogging buddy of mine turned me on to Windows Movie Maker and I used it to create this two minute video about my silver and resin jewelry. While it's not going to win an Academy Award for best short documentary, I think it turned out pretty well. Enjoy!

Resin jewelry and art festivals

So I completely should be fired.  I promised on Friday's post that I would take pictures of my booth as I was getting it together for the Thornebrook Art Festival.  I was almost done when I realized, OOPS!  I hadn't taken a single picture.  I had a few minutes Saturday morning after getting the jewelry in the case to get some pictures.






Thornebrook is the only outdoor show I do where I don't use a tent.  I'm under an awning next to one of the stores in the complex.  I display my work under glass, mostly because, I hate to say it, it tends to get stolen if I don't.  I place the jewelry on display pieces.  I use scrap granite tiles and travertine stone to help give the display some lift and visual interest.  I also have signs up briefly explaining the procedures and prices.







This time of year is my one and only advertised sale.  I prepackaged all my sale jewelry this year and had it in two baskets.  A lot of my shoppers said they were getting their holiday shopping done early.  I was only left with a handful of pieces.








This was the first time I had the scrabble tile pendants in public, and they were a hit!  The biggest sellers were the Halloween themed pendants (seen in the lower right corner of this picture.  I will have the Halloween jewelry up until October 31.  Click here if you would like to purchase a piece of Halloween jewelry.







Thanks to all who came out to see me at the festival.  See you next month at the Downtown Festival and Art show!

Getting resin jewelry ready for sale

I'm happy to say that as I've been getting ready for the Thornebrook Art Festival this week, I've also had the opportunity to ship out some sale jewelry. Customers have come to know that this is the only time of year I put my jewelry on sale and pounce on it with some zeal!  I did a post earlier in the summer on how I package jewelry to ship to customers.  In case you're wondering what happens once you place an order, you can see I carefully inspect and package the resin jewelry before I box it up to ship.

I put the finishing touches on some resin scrabble tile pendants and wanted to share some pictures.

These are finished pendants on a tray.  The resin has completely cured.  (Almost looks like a tray of cookies -- to me anyway)

A close up of the pendants.  A little hodge podge of all the retro, and art deco designs I have ready right now.

I'm applying the silver tone bails with a high quality acrylic adhesive.  I "eyeball" where the bail goes and place it on the pendant. 

I leave them for several hours to completely dry before moving them.

Once they're completely dry, I stack them in "recycled" storage boxes.  I place them in one layer at a time with wax paper in between.










I will have some pictures next week of me getting my booth ready for art festivals.  I hope to see you this weekend, but if not, mark your calendars for the first weekend in November for the Downtown Festival and Art show!

Scrabble tile jewelry in progress

 I have been concentrating on the Scrabble tile pendants over the last couple of weeks.  The early comments from my customers and wholesale accounts have been positive, so I have been focusing on them.









As I was working on them yesterday, I loved how the random assortment of them on my tray looked like art itself.  I've been having fun working with different colors, patterns and simulated textures.









This is just a preview of what's to come!  Stay tuned.

Photographing new jewelry

I have some new resin pendants using recycled Scrabble tiles.  I'm just now starting to list the first set of resin necklaces with cupcake designs, but I have lots more designs to list as well.  I love the look of these:  dainty, cute, unpretentious.  As much as I love the necklaces, I'm "unsettled" with the photography.

There are several aspects of my jewelry photography that I'm struggling with.  First of all, I'm having a hard time getting the true beauty of the pieces to translate onto a computer screen.  I've heard multiple times from customers that my jewelry is much prettier and nicer in person.  It's certainly meant as a compliment, but I also know that means my jewelry pictures just aren't that great.  I struggle with lighting, backgrounds, angles, and much more.  This is definitely one of those jobs that I would be happy to have someone else do on a regular basis.

I also struggle with using photoediting software such as Photoshop.  First, I'm a bit of a "purist" about capturing images of my resin jewelry.  I don't think it's fair to do much more than correct a wrinkle or adjust the contrast.  I don't want to manipulate images so much that it's completely computer generated.  Secondly, I just don't have a good grasp on using Photoshop.  Maybe if I was better at using it, I wouldn't feel so bad about using it to improve my jewelry photographs.

The important part in all this, is that I want to hear what readers think.  I want to hear your perspective as a customer, another artist, general fashion enthusiast, or whatever!  Do you like seeing the jewelry on the natural, beige colored stone?  Do you like a completely blank (white) background better?  Would you rather see it on a model?  How about the graduated light gray to dark gray background (see an example here)?  A fresh set of eyes might just help direct me on how to photograph my resin jewelry.

P.S.  If you're looking for the next post on the resin bracelet making process, I promise it's coming.  I decided to install a new piece of equipment to help me with the procedure, which I will talk about in the post.

Cupcake resin jewelry pendants

I'm excited to show you some new scrabble tile resin pendants I have finished.  These cupcake pendants are available at Yum Cupcakery, Gainesville, Florida. 

Claire and Stephanie Browning of Yum Cupcakery were wonderful in allowing me to only describe my idea to them and saying yes to the new line of jewelry.

I dropped the pendants off a couple of days ago and got these pictures before I left.

The digitally enhanced cupcake images are adhered to the back of a scrabble tile and finished with a dome of resin on top.








There are many styles and colors of cupcakes.  The silver tone bail allows many sizes of chain, cord or ribbon to pass through.  The pendants come on a 24 inch silver tone ball chain.









I had a great time making them.  The process fits well with making the other resin bracelets that I've been blogging about as well.







Claire and Stephanie said a lot of their patrons are "die-hard" cupcake enthusiasts.  I hope they like to wear them as well.  *smile*













We talked in the future about expanding the cupcake resin jewelry line based upon customer feedback.











I love how I was able to photograph this cupcake with its "inspiration".











They are very light to wear.  They are water resistant, but not water proof. 

These pendants retail for $12.  

While I don't have individual pictures right now, if you have a particular interest in one you see here, or want to inquire about color patterns, please email me.  Otherwise, be checking the KMS Designs website for pictures in the next couple of weeks.

A new style resin jewelry pendant

If you're reading this hoping for the next step in the resin bracelet making process, it is still forthcoming.  I have a slight detour in the jewelry making series.

I blogged a few days ago about my visit to Yum Cupcakery in Gainesville, Florida.  The owners and I discussed if I could do a line of jewelry for them that would fit with their bakery.  I had an idea in mind and decided to go with it. 

This is a resin jewelry pendant with a cupcake image on the front of a scrabble tile.  The cupcake image was digitally created and printed onto high quality laser paper. 

The image is sealed with decoupage glue (just like the bracelets) then adhered to a scrabble tile.  Resin is placed on top and allowed to cure.

The pendant is finished with a silver tone bail that will allow most any chain, cord or ribbon to pass through the bail opening.  The pendant comes on a 24 inch, silver tone ball chain.  The chain can be cut to fit as desired.







This is just the first in the series of several cupcake styles.  I will post pictures of new pendants along with the resin bracelets also in process next week on this blog.