Looking for Metal Stamping Supplies?

I found a great seller of metal stamping tools and supplies on www.etsy.com called JCStuff. He has been so helpful, has great items and always answers my emails quickly. It has been a great shop to do business with and I have placed two successful orders and plan to do more business in the future.

Check out JCStuff's shop (he is on holiday but will be back on July 9th):
www.jcstuff.etsy.com

A New Way To Get Your Fashion Magazine Fix

N.E.E.T. Magazine is an online magazine that showcases grassroots creativity and fashion forward style. The pages are filled with bright colorful spreads that feature independent designers and vintage clothes and accessories. The photography and thought put into this magazine is high quality and the editor finds items that are unique and eye catching. You can flip through it like a real magazine with a click of your mouse but think of all the trees you will be saving by reading it rather than a printed magazine! A great read for people who want something different and unusual.

Check out the magazine and my luli designs advertisement near the back of the magazine.

How do you make yourself real in an online world?

I have been selling my handmade jewelry on www.etsy.com since the end of November 2007. I have sold 209 items, have 766 hearts and 189 feedback. Etsy is not my first experience selling online, previous to selling on etsy I had an ebay store unrelated to my jewelry.

Being an online seller is really an art unto itself. You never get that personal experience by being able to look at someone and interact with them so you have to somehow create that personal experience and make yourself a real person to the buyer. As much as we deal with anonymous people in our world today because of phones and the internet we still all in the end want to know that we not just dealing with a computer but that we are dealing with real people.

Here are a few of the things that I do to hopefully make me a person not just a computer screen:

• when I ship an item I write a short email to let them know when and how I shipped it.
• my profile is a personal story which tells people a little about me.
• every package I send includes a personal handwritten note (hopefully with no spelling errors but I guess that would really show they are dealing with a real person!)
• emails are a great opportunity to get people to know you and to make a great impression.
• if someone mentions a purchase is for a special occasion or a gift I like to refer to that when I communicate with a customer because then it shows I am paying attention.

The notes listed above are just a few of the small things that I like to do that I hope make a big impression. When selling handmade items buyers want to know that even though they can't see it there is a face and crafty hands behind the purchase they made. I would like to think that one day I will have the online world of selling all figured out but I think it is an endless learning curve and each seller has to make it their own.

Adventures in Metal Stamping

I have been looking to add some more metal work techniques to my designs to try and add more individuality to my pieces. The catch is that I do not have a jewelers bench or access to a space where I can do any soldering and that kind of work so it has to be something that I can do in my apartment.

After doing a couple of jewelry metal courses and looking around online I discovered metal stamping. This technique only requires a few tools, is not messy or take up much space and you can buy cute little design stamps like leaves, flowers and hearts! All this makes it just the perfect introduction for me to add some metal work to my pieces.

The first thing I decided I wanted to do was to try and make small sterling silver tags with an "L" for luli to put on the back of my necklace chains to create more of a brand for my work. I went to Lee Valley tools and bought two sizes of letters and number stamps and bought sterling silver tags from my wholesale supplier, Bamiyan Silver.

The only advice I had at this point was from the guy at Lee Valley tools who said that a regular hammer would work just fine to tap the steel stamp to get the imprint. I went home and looked around for the best place to start off, I often work on the floor so I pulled out a piece of wood I have in the closet that I sometimes use to work on. The piece of wood use to be a very cheap pine Ikea shelf.

I thought I would just go for it and and hammered the steel stamp into the thin piece of silver. The result was less than satisfactory. The sides of the metal curved and the letter was surrounded by a circle because the stamp had sunk into the soft pine. My next thought was to look around my apartment for something harder to work on...my floors are solid wood parkey, this should be perfect as it is so much harder than the pine that I had already tried working on...do not try this at home, I have a permanent tiny "L" somewhere on my wood floors. This was clearly not the way to do it. At this point I decided I needed some help and I decided to buy an ebook about stamping. I bought it from a great seller www.tfakler.etsy.com.

Her ebook was super helpful and I thought that I had enough knowledge to have another go. This time I had so much more success with the letter stamps and I was able to get a well centered clear "L" on the tag.

Next, it was time to tackle the cute design stamps but I decided to practice on a 24 gauge sheet of copper which is much cheaper than sterling. These stamps are a whole lesson within themselves! The design stamps are not as deep as the letter stamps therefore you have to hit them a lot harder (I hit my thumb with the hammer a couple of times ouch!). I ended up using a mallet to hit the design stamps as there is more area and more weight so you are less likely to slip and do not have to use as much force to hit the stamp. By the time I was ready to be done for the day, I still had no where near mastered using the design stamps. It was really difficult to get even pressure on the wider stamps so there was often part of the design missing and it was hard to line the stamp up just right.

I have by no means given up on the design stamps and I will be trying out whole words with the letter stamps soon (wish me luck!). My lesson learned is that this is one of those things that looks so much easier than it really is, practice is key and getting knowledge from someone else before you start is so important!

Here is a list of the tools that you need to get started:

• steel block
• rubber block
• chasing hammer
• 600 grit sandpaper
• polishing clothes
• metal hole punch
• steel letter and/or design stamps
• sheet metal or shapes
  

Happy stamping!

Being Prepared for a Show

My show was a success this afternoon and I was really pleased with the number of people that came and the amount that was sold.

Here are a few things to remember when preparing for a show:

• clearly label jewelry with price and materials used
• don't forget change for your float
• bring a bottle of water, if it is busy you won't be able to leave your table
• a calculator is always helpful
• sales sheets that you write what you sold and for how much are very useful
• mirrors handy for customers are a must
• good lighting is more important than we ever realize
• make sure you have enough credit card slips
• more pens are always better because someone always walks off with one by accident!
• think carefully about packaging materials, this creates a huge impression on a customer
• bring more business cards than you think you need, you don't want to run out

I am sure that my list could go on for miles but there is a small start of things that I thought about before my show this time. Shows can be a lot of fun as long as you are prepared and have everything you need with you. Having the chance to interact with customers is a great opportunity to make new customers for life if you create the right impression and give the buyer a good buying experience.

Hope all your shows are successful shows!

Louisa

Success applying for a show

This Sunday I will be showing my jewelry at the University Women's Club at Hycroft in Vancouver. The process for applying for the show was to fill out an application form, write an artist statement and artists bio and send samples of my work to be juried. I always find this process very stressful. how can an artist really show what they can do and what their style is in just 3 pieces?

In this case, I guess I was successful at choosing the right pieces as I was accepted to do the show. The following are the pieces that I submitted to the jury:

Here is the artists statement that I presented with my jewelry:

"This collection of jewellery is inspired by a kayaking trip to the Broken Islands on the west Coast of Vancouver Island. The beautiful waves and amazing wildlife motivated me to create a line of jewellery that reflects the magnificence of the ocean and nature.

The colour and texture of the sea can be found in the twist necklace with it’s deep blues and greens as each intertwining strand loops over the next like the rolling waves. The sparkle of the crystal is like the sunlight hitting the water with a twinkle. The deep warm colour of the wood reminds me of the driftwood on the shores of the beaches that we camped on and the use of tan beads hint at the colour of the sand at these same beaches.

Even though the kayak trip was a damp and cold experience it will be a memory that will stick in my mind forever."

My next post will be a a list of the things to remember and think about when preparing for a show.

The first day...

The first day of anything can be scary and nerve wracking and I think the first day of starting a blog is pretty much the same as any first day. I have been putting off starting my blog as I didn't know where to start but here I am!

I am a full time self employed jewelry artist and wouldn't trade my life for anything. It is constant struggle making your living from your art but it is worth it for all the rewards of working for yourself.

Hopefully I will be posting lots of interesting things like my new work, other artists work, tutorials etc so check back often and I will try and post often.

Louisa