Don't Settle

Do you ever feel like you've "settled" for something less than you deserved?  A job.  A spouse.  A car.  A best friend.  A vacation get away.  Anything really.

Every now and then, I stop and evaluate where I am in life and overall, I have nothing to complain about.  There are a couple of areas where I feel I've "settled" rather than holding out for what I deserve.  I prefer to focus on what's good about my life but there are lessons to be learned from settling. 

I'm in one of those reflective moods lately.  I think it's good to reflect once in awhile and take stock of successes, failures, and where I am settling for something less.  Where I am successful, I want to keep on that same path.  Where I have failed, I want to learn from that situation to help me in the future.  Where I am settling, I have to decide if I'm OK with that or if I want to make changes to correct the situation.  It's not an easy thing to do.  It is a necessary thing to do.

How about you?  Are you "settling" for things in your life?

Getting Involved

One of my goals this year was to "get more involved" in groups and events that will a) provide resources to help me hone my craft, b) provide exposure for my business, and most importantly c) make some new friends.  I'm happy to say that I am meeting that goal.  I've met so many great people through online forums and I'm participating in some fun events.  I'm very excited about two upcoming events and wanted to share with you all. 

The first is Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party (BSBP).  Lori has been running this event for several years now and it is the creme de la creme of blog hops.  The 6th BSBP is just kicking off and I'm excited to be on the roster.  I've been assigned my swap partner, Dawn Pierro of Turtle Moon Designs.  We will send each other a "soup" of beads and then make something with the soup we receive.  On the appointed day, we will post our creations and then hop from blog to blog looking at all the beautiful creations. 

The second event I'm participating in is a silent auction.  I've donated a necklace and $20 gift certificate to the Leilani Farm Sanctuary Silent Auction to be held on July 3rd. 

You may wonder how I came to be involved in an animal sanctuary in Hawaii.  The story goes back almost 20 years when a delightful young woman, Sarah Kenefick (now Sarah Taylor), worked for me.  Sarah has since gone on to marry and build a career as a motivational speaker, published writer (Vegan in 30 Days), and educator.  I feel a little bit like a proud mom every time I read about one of her successes.  Sarah has always been an animal lover so it was no surprise when I read that she was involved in the Leilani Farm Sanctuary.  She recently posted on Facebook asking for donations for the silent auction; I was more than happy to support this endeavor and my old friend. 

I'm happy to be meeting my goal but even more so because of these great events and the people involved.  Oh, and as far as new friends?  I can't begin to name all the new friends I've made this year.  Keri, Carolyn, Diana, Linda, Lori, the list goes on and on and I treasure every one of them.

You can visit the following web sites for more information about the events:

Bead Soup Blog Party
Leilani Farm Sanctuary
Sarah Kenefick Taylor

Simple is Better

On Memorial Day, I was making a casserole to take to a cookout, and it struck me – simple is better.  The casserole I was making was an old recipe from my grandmother.  I cherish all of my recipes from her because I adored her and boy could she cook.  A lot of recipes today call for a variety of crazy ingredients and spices, but grandma’s recipes were simple and easy to make, and often taste much better than the fancy recipes.  This particular recipe was a calico bean casserole with different types of beans, hamburger, bacon, onion, ketchup and brown sugar.  That’s it!  Mix it all together, throw it in the oven and voila – a great dish for the cookout.

My revelation got me thinking about my jewelry making and how simple is often better there too.  Sometimes, I try to make my designs more elaborate than they need to be.  Why?  Because I figure if someone is going to pay the price for a handmade piece of jewelry, they should get something elaborate.   Don’t get me wrong – the elaborate pieces are very pretty and I’m told they are very reasonably priced.  However, I find that it is the simpler pieces that sell better.  I’m guessing that simpler is more versatile with different wardrobes and different occasions. 

One of my best sellers was this simple pair of disc earrings.  I textured and domed the discs, applied alcohol inks, sealed them, and hung them on the ear wires.   Nothing elaborate but they sold like hotcakes.

I realized that it is not the elaborate components but the design that people are looking for.  The lesson I take from this is:  1) Use simple, high-quality materials, 2) Don’t over-think the design, and 3) Put a little of my personality into the piece and people will love it.

What about you?  Do you like simple or elaborate jewelry?  If you are a designer, which sell best for you?

Events That Shape Our Lives

Disclaimer:  This post has nothing to do with beading or jewelry making, but it is one of the most profound experiences of my life and certainly contributed to shaping who I am today.

Last night I was listening to NPR and they were doing an expose on the US's last days in Viet Nam and the evacuation efforts.  The story brought back memories of the part I played in that evacuation effort.  It was 1975, I was in high school, my dad was in the Army and we were living on the Presidio Army base in San Francisco.  I should also mention that my dad served three tours in Viet Nam so I was very familiar with the war.

I don't remember how I heard about it but I became aware of the fact that hundreds of small Vietnamese children had been evacuated and were being brought to the Presidio in a plan they called Operation Babylift.  There was a need for workers to help tend to the children until they could find foster homes for them.  I had a Red Cross card from a recent babysitting course and decided to give it a shot.  I was 16 at the time.

The building was HUGE --could have stored an airplane in it.  I don't recall what it had been used for, but Harmon Hall was quickly turned into a temporary shelter for these small kids.  No one really asked me any questions.  They took one look at my Red Cross card and showed me where to check in.  I think I may have held my thumb over the part about the babysitting course. 

I could never, ever explain in words what that place was like.  Imagine a huge empty room with hundreds of mattresses lined end to end on the floor and a child on every mattress (actual picture below).  We were assigned to oversee one or more mattresses and make sure the children were cared for.  These kids were scared to death.  They had no idea what was happening to them and didn't speak a lick of English.  There were interpreters to help but there were so few of them, we were pretty much on our own to try and communicate with the children.  The kids were supposed to have come from orphanages however many had notes on them from parents who had forced their children on to the evacuation helicopters in hopes of saving them from what was to come in their country.  The notes all had the same basic message - "Please take care of my child."



Operation Babylift - Harmon Hall, Presidio, SF

  On my first shift, I was assigned one little boy to watch.  He was about 5 years old and terrified.  I could write a book on what it was like to care for him, get him to eat food he had never seen before, get him to pee in a bottle so they could test his urine, comfort him when he cried for his mother (he was one of the kids with a note pinned to his shirt).  Eventually, a placement home was found for him and he left the building.  I stayed with him for about 36 hours straight.  After that, I went home and got some sleep.

The next day, I went back again and this time was assigned to watch 3 orphan children.  Two sisters and a boy who they had taken under their wing.  Too many stories to fit here but suffice it to say, there was a very interesting dynamic between the 3 of them - one was most clearly the authority figure and the other two would not do anything without her OK.  When it came time to place them, the kids were split up.  I will never forget the screaming, kicking, and hysteria when they came to take those children.

I will never know what happened to those 4 children I looked after but I do think about them from time to time and hope their lives turned out OK.  At the time, I was not really old enough to comprehend the situation.  Now that I am a mother myself and much older, it breaks my heart to think of what those kids went through.  I am positive that the experience has made me a more compassionate person, especially when it comes to children.  I also understand all too well how war can have such a destructive influence on the innocent.

Like I said, this has nothing to do with jewelry but the story has been weighing on my mind since the radio show last night and I wanted to share.  Do you have one or more experiences that left a mark on your life?

First Impressions

I received a marketing email today from one of the online jewelry suppliers and was disappointed to read, “Each Wednesday, you have the oppertunity to save big….”.   Now, I know we all make mistakes from time to time, but this is the second instance of this same mistake, from the same vendor. 

The purpose of this blog post is not to call out a particular vendor but to emphasize the importance of making a good first impression.  What do you think about a company when their marketing materials have misspelled words, grammar errors, or terrible formatting?  To me it is a poor reflection on the company and I wonder what my experience will be like as a customer.  As the old saying goes, “You won’t get a second chance to make a first impression.” 

There’s a graphic floating around the Internet that is a perfect example of how one small mistake can be a game changer.  Imagine your first impression if you received the first sentence (below) in an email!

It doesn’t really matter that you are a one-person operation; a good first impression is how you make and retain customers.  I don’t profess to be perfect, and I cringe when I find a mistake that has slipped into a customer facing email, blog, marketing piece, etc.  To minimize the risk of this happening, I follow a few simple steps:

• First and foremost – I run spell check on EVERY document, no matter how small.  I have spell check enabled in every application that offers it.  Spell check won’t catch everything but it will flag “oppertunity” as a misspelled word.
• I don’t send or post my message right away.  I walk away for awhile and then go back and re-read it.  Does it still make sense?  Is my grammar correct?  How is the spacing?  Are my fonts consistent?  Do all of my links work?
• I read and re-read my message several times to make sure it has the right tone. It is very hard to convey emotion and tone of voice in electronic format.  If possible, I will ask someone else read my document and provide feedback.
• I ALWAYS print a hard copy of my message and read it out loud.  It’s amazing how different it sounds when read aloud vs. silently in my head. 

What are your thoughts on this topic?  What other things contribute to first impressions?  Do you have any great suggestions to share?

Hosting a Craft Fair

Starting up a new business while working a full time job is challenging.  I continue to look for ways to market my business and would love to do jewelry shows and craft fairs, but I can't see myself spending an entire weekend doing a show and then back to work on Monday.  I just don't have the stamina for that and I don't want my jewelry business to become a burden. 

One way around this dilemma was to host my own craft fair at home.  I hosted one last November and it was a huge success.  I will be hosting another one on May 5th and hoping that it is even better than the first one.

Get Your Bead On Display at the November Craft Fair

If you are thinking about hosting a similar event, here are a few tips:

• Invite crafters who make high quality items 
• Don't have more than two people selling the same thing (jewelry, soaps, art, etc.)
• Have a good variety of vendors
• Make sure the vendors are spaced far enough apart to allow traffic to flow
• In lieu of a booth fee, ask each vendor to contribute a small item to be used as a door prize
• Offer drinks and light snacks at your event (you might ask your vendors to help with this)

One concern with this type of event is opening your home to strangers.  I decided to only invite people I knew and asked the other vendors to do the same.  This way, we would have some connection to the people attending.  I found that people who attended were there to make a purchase -- I averaged approximately $20 in sales for each attendee.  

If you've hosted a similar type event, I would love to hear about your experience and any additional tips you might want to offer.

Doing It My Way

When I started this jewelry making adventure, I wanted to learn everything there was to learn, and try every technique for making jewelry.  I tried stringing, bead weaving, working with hardware, alcohol inks, wire wrapping, gem stones, glass beads, lampwork beads, copper, brass, silver, the list goes on and on.  I knew that at some point I would have to figure out “who I am” as a jewelry designer.  It’s hard to build a brand when one’s designs are all over the map.

That’s where I am now – trying to figure out what my brand is.  Brand is much more than just a logo or a graphic.  Brand is your product’s personality – What is it?  What values does it represent?  Who is the artist?  What is the artist’s style?  It’s a big undertaking but I think I’m beginning to get a handle on it. 

My first step was to figure out my style.  What materials do I like to use?  What techniques do I prefer?  What's unique about my jewelry?  I’ve narrowed it down to two very different styles that I will try to incorporate into one.  First, there is my beadweaving.  I love my beadweaving.  It gives me such a sense of satisfaction to work with those tiny beads.  On the other hand, I also love metal.  I love to saw, hammer, torch, rivet, etc.  I’ve got some ideas on how to use beadweave designs with metal components to integrate the two styles.  For the short term, I will work them independently.  I’m still not down to a single style but I’m a lot closer than I was six months ago.

The next step will be to develop a logo.  Still a long way to go on that front………. Another post for another day………..

I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject.  What is your brand?  Do you even have a brand?  For those who know me, what images or words come to mind when you think of my jewelry.