It’s a Virtual Craft Show! Day 2

DAY TWO Promises to be just as much fun as Day One.

 7 Days, 70 Artists, GIVING AWAY 70 things.

Can you believe it????

Visit Day Two by clicking here!

I hope you’ll take the time to visit these 10 new artisans’ shops and blogs, too.

Visit Lori’s page and follow the instructions to get points for entries into the drawing!

I’ve got a great sampler set of beadcaps in the drawing at her blog and I was in the Day One grouping.

In the meantime, you can save 20% in my Metal Me This Etsy store
with Etsy coupon VCS2011

It’s a Virtual Craft Show!

 7 Days, 70 Artists, GIVING AWAY 70 things.

Can you believe it????

Visit Day One by clicking here!

I hope you’ll take the time to visit all these artisans’ shops and blogs, too.

Visit Lori’s page and follow the instructions to get points for entries into the drawing!

I’ve got a great sampler set of beadcaps in the drawing at her blog.

In the meantime, you can save 20% in my Metal Me This Etsy store
with Etsy coupon VCS2011

Motivation on a Summer Day (or any day)

Designing jewelry is something I kind of fell into. It was a way to hang onto a shred of sanity during an incredibly difficult time several years ago. It relaxed me. And then people wanted to buy what I made (which meant I could buy more beads and silver and pearls…without feeling too guilty!) and that was satisfying as well as motivating. Sometimes.

But real life gets in the way more times than not and things don’t happen at a pace that you would like. I’ve always worked best under pressure…deadline-driven is how my other business has to operate and I’m much more productive when there are hard deadlines. Like many artists, though, the thrill of having someone want your work is often as motivational as the monetary result. It pushes me to step out of my box more and reach for new ideas. However, sales of jewelry aren’t exactly “needs” in the economic scheme of things, so when sales are slow, the motivation to create new things slows for me as well. It should work the opposite and I’m working to change that mindset.

I am someone who has to be busy…if I’m watching TV, I’m doing something else too. Just the way I’m wired. I like learning new things and taking on new projects. Working with metal is one of those areas…fueled in part by the insane price of sterling silver and the general slow recovery of my jewelry sales. It took me a while to warm up to using copper and brass, but it’s been one of those “move out of your comfort zone” things that takes me into color schemes I might not be drawn to and it’s been a lot of fun.

I haven’t yet found a market for all the copper and brass Joolz, so I moved into creating metal components and have been selling them to lampwork beadmakers and other jewelry designers. I’ve been really happy with the success of Metal Me This in the last few months.

It’s been a huge amount of work to list regularly and attract a new customer base. And my nails may never recover from stains and metalworking (LOL…think of the money I’m saving on manicures!) I’ve got loads of ideas and have had special requests come in and all of that, along with regular sales is great motivation…for everything but new Joolz. Oh, I’ve got ideas there, and once I have a few new tools that I need to implement the ideas, I’m sure the motivation and creativity will come together.

In the meantime, I’m contemplating shows and whether to pursue some with the metal and bead caps. But that’s for another post.

TTOTW or even Tuesday Tool of the Week: The Guillotine

I’ve got friends who schedule recurring themes for different days of the week and it makes great sense! Helps to schedule and organize (two things I long to be really good at…)

So, welcome to Tuesday Tool of the Week, where I choose one of my favorite metalworking or jewelry making tools and share why I love and it and how I use it. I’m no expert by any means so maybe you’ll have some tips that will make me love that tool even more!

My current fave is my guillotine. It’s a compact “paper cutter”, but for sheet metal and who knew I’d love it as much as I do! I’ve got wrist and finger issues so my day job as a book designer and my work with metal and jewelry all take their toll, leaving me with distressed digits a lot of the time. Cutting sheet metal, even with good metal snips or shears just wasn’t cutting it (sorry, it just came out that way).

I knew a guillotine would help, but the price was holding me back. Then I stumbled on a great deal for a barely used one in a bead forum I frequent. The stars must have been aligned right…the seller was willing to wait til my silver scrap check arrived that week and Voila! Cutting relief in sight.

Maybe you’re still asking yourself what it does. Here’s how I use it. I make LOTS of beadcaps from copper and brass and that involves one of my other faves (disk cutter). Cutting disks leaves lots of sharp scrap and cleaning up the leftover sheet by hand means hammering out uneven spots and generally wrecking my hands. With the guillotine, I can cut a row of disks and then trim off the section where there holes were without losing any excess metal. So more efficient and better use of materials. A+ in my book. (And I’d have more photos if my USB port wasn’t being ornery this morning…)

I also etch metal sheets and the pattern sizes can vary so the guillotine lets me cut crisp edges that look more professional to me.

Here’s another angle of the whole tool. It’s got a long lever that brings the blade down. Nice that it stores upright and really doesn’t take up much space on the bench.

If you look very closely, you can see the “Shop Dog” just down and to the right…ever vigilant (er…snoring).

So, there you have it. The first TTOTW…my guillotine. Maybe I should name it? Guillermo? Guinevere?

What’s one of your favorite tools?

Dog Days of Summer (Sale)

I’m running a sale on Etsy for the next two days and instead of calling it “Christmas in July”, I opted for “Dog Days of Summer” as a tribute to my little Maltese, Nash, who scurries from the studio the minute I sit on my red stool. He does not like hammering! (This photo is from a couple years ago on a particulary bad hair day!)

After posting about the sale various places, I had this thought: “What if the ‘dog days’ aren’t until next month?” (It was late, I was tired…) So I went to Google and found this information on Wikipedia:

“Dog Days” (Latin: diēs caniculārēs) are the hottest, most sultry days of summer. In the northern hemisphere, they usually fall between early July and early September. In the southern hemisphere they are usually between January and early March. The actual dates vary greatly from region to region, depending on latitude and climate. Dog Days can also define a time period or event that is very hot or stagnant, or marked by dull lack of progress. The name comes from the ancient belief that Sirius, also called the Dog Star, in close proximity to the sun was responsible for the hot weather.

So…as it happens, we really are in the dog days here in Phoenix and will be til mid-October most likely…but, it’s a dry heat! And I hope you’ll stop by Metal Me This and take advantage of the sale sometime today or tomorrow. Brass and copper bead caps and etched metal sheets are on sale.