Saturday, September 1, 2007

Yes, that is a an odd title. I don’t really know where to start so firstly, let me say that there’s lots more new items added to my store =) I’ve been working really hard to create new designs, take good photos and actually list items. I had to sever my connection with a boutique that I sold my work through but it actually works out nicely for me because I won’t have such a hard time keeping my etsy store up-to-date and I won’t be under such pressure trying to add new items.

I was thinking about it for a long time and it’s such a difficult decision. My work sells for much more in boutiques and I get more money even when they’re screwing me. It’s also difficult to confront somebody with a professional attitude. What happened was that when they gave me a statement for the work that had been sold, they were listing the prices lower than what the work had actually sold for. They get a percentage of the sale price so this meant that they were basically keeping more money for themselves than agreed. I found out because I had an idea that there was something going on and I sent my friend down to buy a one of my designs from the boutique. Sure enough the price on my statement was different than the price she had paid. I was really livid about it so I went down with her receipt and my statement and confronted them about it. They said that THEY were disappointed by my actions!? I mean WTF? Was there an alternative? They said that it was just a mistake on that particular item probably because they had marked items down as 30% off. The discount was on their computers picelist and the statement had been generated from that but somehow the actual piece itself had inadvertently not been marked down on the price tag before it sold. Yes, well apart from my initial suspicions and the fact that I know what my works sells for, the ‘somehow” and “probably” or “inadvertently”, that was a reasonable enough explanation if it hadn’t taken them so long to come up with it! I said that I felt that there was no relationship of trust between us and that it would be better if I took my business elsewhere. It just goes to show how easily independent designers can get screwed, even the seasoned ones. I think that this is definitely a lesson for old and new designers to be careful with consignment even when everything seems to be in order on paper.

Oh well, on the positive side I’ve been featured on two blogs this week: http://jellybeansart.blogspot.com/2007/08/etsy-feature-tenjewel.html
& http://visitatwhitsend.blogspot.com

My gorgeous new hill tribe silver arrived too! I kind of just want to get stuck in. When I see pretty things then I have difficulty pulling myself back and being considerate about my designs. I’m going to take my new supplies, my camera, my sketchpad and myself to the Japanese Gardens to gather my thoughts and designs. I haven’t been there in ages and I could do with some wind down time anyway. The peace and harmony there is unexplainable. The Japanese Gardens at Tully are world-famous, considered to be the finest in Europe. The gardens are a hundred years old and trace the journey of a soul from oblivion to eternity. It’s really fascinating and gardens are not just horticultural but artistic, philosophical and historical. It’s such a beautiful place where every element comes together and every tiny little thing is a part of a bigger overall design. I can’t wait to go and gather some inspirations and hopefully I will come back with great pictures and some good designs too!

Labels: consignment, design, etsy, featured, garden, japanese, jewelry, screwed

posted @ 8:58 AM
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Thursday, July 26, 2007

My blog has had a make-over! I think it's much more simple and easy to read now.

I visited my DeviantArt page today with great intentions of replying to my messages but every time I blink there are like 100 more of them. I feel guilty for hiding out and not replying when people have taken the time to look at my work and comment on it so I'm going to go through them all at the weekend. I just hate sending repetitive messages and I want to look at other peoples work and give them some sort of valuable feedback. I hate sending messages like "wow, that’s great!" or "beautiful!" because It sounds like I didn't really look or I'm a serial bestfriender. I know it's much more useful for designers to hear what works or doesn’t work with the design.

I've gone mad making earrings lately. I started to make my own earwires, which I put off for a while because I was nervous that I'd forget to file one of them and somebody’s' ear would get ripped off. I understand that customers prefer jewelry that doesn't maim them, lol. It really is simple though, you just wind the wire around something like a fat marker then cut up one side like you would for split rings, turn a loop at one end, file the other end and that's it. Now if only it would stop raining, I could take nice photos of them all!!

Labels: blogger, Blogging, design, deviantART, earrings, Jewellery, jewelry, making earwires, silver, template, website

posted @ 12:28 PM
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Monday, June 25, 2007

I just finished re-designing both my sites and linking them back to etsy. Etsy doesn't allow you to post links or URLs anywhere in your shop to your website as it encourages buyers to purchase your items elsewhere and that's considered fee avoidance. You cannot list an item for sale on Etsy and then list the same item for sale anywhere else.

Previously, I had been listing items on etsy and listing different items on my own website. This became a bit difficult for me, like trying to run numerous shops when all I really needed a website for is to drive more traffic to my etsy shop and list more information, have a page with it's own look and feel that tells people what my designs are about.

I've basically taken advantage of Etsy mini to create my website and all my items are linked back to etsy. All items can only be purchased through etsy so it's not fee avoidance. Hopefully things will just be much easier now.

Screenshots:

http://www.tenjewelcollection.com/