Studio Time: A little something to look at

Sorry for the late post! I can't guarantee my reliability in the next month or so. But, check out these sweet little necklaces by my niece! She has paid attention to some of my design suggestions and she came up with these pieces completely on her own with some beads I gave her. So impressed with her!

Rose

Plum

And finally, I got a chance to play a bit myself. I'm smitten with Michal Silberberg's style--tons of color, intricate detail. She has some winter sales going on right now, so if you're fancying something new and different, check out her Etsy site. I absolutely love this green and blue piece.

And!!!

Introducing MoonKatty Studios...my friend who started this lampwork journey at the same time as me made these complementary beads. I had requested her to make some of her Cutie beads in my favorite colors and I adores me these beads. We were looking at my new treasures from Michal and these beads from MoonKatty landed next to each other and looked perfect together. So I wired them up simply on a figure eight chain. I can't wait until MoonKatty opens her shop so I can link out to her!

Studio News: A Preview of Upcoming Posts

I needed to take a break this week, but I wanted to at least give you a preview of a series I'm working on. This will eventually be compiled into a single free tutorial for your use in marketing jewelry containing artisan glass beads.

Lampwork for the Jewelry Designer - Identify the characteristics of quality lamwpork beads and the multi-step process of how beads are made. The objective of this tutorial is to educate the jewelry designer on what to look for (and what to avoid) in glass beads. Understanding the time and investment the artist puts into the beads will help you, as the jewelry designer, market your jewelry containing artisan glass beads.

If you are a lampworker: what is your two-minute "elevator speech" you give to someone who knows nothing about glass beads?

If you are a jewelry designer: what is your two-minute "elevator speech" you give when explaining the value of the glass art beads in your designs?

Thanks, and have a great week!

Creative Finds: Artful Blogging - the Next Installment

More raving about Artful Blogging (Autumn 2008) (Volume 2): After reading Emma's enthusiastic blog about Artful Blogging I started looking through my copy of this journal again. (Yes, I read her blog about my blog...) Then I stopped at the tagline: "Visually Inspiring Online Journals."

Visually Inspiring is the essence of what I want to achieve on this blog.

On to dissecting more reasons I choose printed magazines:

Regional or Local Flair: The majority of my marketing comes from in person contact. I find understanding my chosen home is essential to appealing to my audience. People usually want something that evokes a sense of where they are living or where they are visiting. For example, turquoise and silver are a staple of southwestern jewelry. I think in terms of Southwest-y-ness in colors I pick for my glass beads and also in terms of using turquoise stones in the jewelry. In magazines like Su Casa, SantaFean, Cowboys & Indians, and Texas Highways, I am able to gain additional insight into the textures, shapes, patterns, and colors of the locale. My home will soon be Hong Kong, so you might see a different flair. It might have a splash of the southwest ('cuz I really like the Southwest) along with an Asian twist. Hmm...that is really quite a combo - Texan and Asian. I am interested to see what my brain does with that...How this can help me: appeal to the local audience.

The story: My favorite art pieces in my home come with a story...how it was created, who is the artist, what the artist was thinking when they created it. I have picked up an occasional magazine highlighting artists in different media such as sculpture, painting, and photography. Since art is a highly personal and individual subject, the story is a way to create a connection between the minds. How does this help me: create a compelling story with my art pieces.

Learning Something New: I have been eyeing up the many craft and jewelry magazines out there. I can’t wait to get my hands on them. But…I’m trying to divest myself of the stuffage so I don’t have to lug it across the globe. I’m very into digital media these days. I look forward to when the Kindle: Amazon's Wireless Reading Device will be in color. How this can help me: provide useful information to my blog readers.

Small business gumption: (Gumption = I think I've been living in Texas too long.) I like to ruminate on the stories of small businesses run by creative individuals. How this can help me: Creativity and the business of selling beautiful things provide a catalyst to help me figure out how and where I can grow or not grow my business.


Inspire. Entertain. Inform.


Which magazines do you pick up? Why?



And a final note: Whew! That was a bit of pressure to finish a real article for this week. We’ll see if I can maintain this pace. I have a bunch o’ ideas for later, but need some courage (and time) to execute.



Credits:
First Photo: Su Casa, Spring 2005. Photograph by Jack Parsons. Inspired the use of wooden beads in the jewelry.
Second Photo: Pottery Barn, May 2008 Catalog, Page 57. Inspired the use of Dark Turquoise, Nile Green, and Pale Sky Blue in the jewelry. (This is a Version 2.0 of the necklace from last week's post.)
Third Photo: Pottery Barn, May 2008 Catalog, Page 37
Fourth Photo: Victoria, May/June 2008, Page 7, Laura Ashley advertisement. Inspired the hot pink and light pink dyed cultured pearls color combination.

Resources:
Artful Blogging (Summer 2008)Artful Blogging (Winter 2008) Single Issue (Vol. 2)Artful Blogging Subscription