From my enameling days….
I realized after looking through my stash of pieces that I created I came across these lovelies. I’ve worked in many mediums over the years and I stopped working in enamels because I simply could not keep up with the custom orders and I got burnt out.. Looking back I should have just kept it simple and stayed with a few colors that appealed to me and my line instead of letting everyone dictate what colors they wanted for me to use. I have spent thousands on my kiln and enameling equipment and I’ve always felt like I wasted my money on something that I may never get back to but after looking at my pieces I realized I love enamel.
My plan is to keep it simple with a very small offering of colors without custom orders, it’ll be basically what you see is what you get because it’s the custom orders that made me drop enameling all together. “Work smarter not harder.” These enamels will not be the resin type liquid but from fine sifted glass fired in my kiln at 1650°. I could have gone the liquid route but I prefer the reflective appeal of glass on metal.
I’ll be working in 14kt Gold and have an enamel and Diamond combination type thing going on. I’m staying away from cotton candy colors and going with deep eggplants, black mica and iridescent type colors that compliment Diamonds nicely.
I hope to have some new pieces with gold and enamel up soon for a bit of luxe and color just in time for the holidays..
It’s Easy Being Green: Green Is the new Black
It was a very nice surprise to wake up to a Google Alert pointing me straight to this article that I was mentioned in. I can’t tell you how honored I felt to be mentioned along with such awesome people that are for the Green Movement. I’m happy to see that designers are having such a great influence on the people that buy their goods hopefully planting the seed of being kinder to our planet and it’s diminishing resources. Everyone can make a difference no matter how small your business is and this is what that article proved to me. I have no idea who decided to include me in this wonderful article but I would thank them with a big hug if I could. This not only made me feel like the little steps that I’m taking are making a difference but that I can move towards my greater goals without fear of feeling like it’s all for naught.
So awesome.
Giveaway Time!
I’m offering for this giveaway, my flora studs-recycled palladium sterling.
To enter this giveaway is simple as always:
Stop by my website www.andreabonelli.com and tell me what your favorite piece is or what you’d like to see more of.
1.To get multiple entries, Tweet this contest daily and post the link by cutting and pasting:
Tweet: Enter to win Recycled Flora Studs at www.anythingindie.com!
2. {Like} my Facebook page
3. Sign up for my Newsletter
This contest will run until August 22nd.
{The winner will be randomly selected using a number generator so anyone can win. :}
Good Luck!
**********************
The winner of my contest is..
Entry #50 Kaitlyn!
Well you certainly increased your odds of winning with your multiple entries! yay!
Giveaway Time!
I know I’ve been talking about doing my giveaways again, so here’s a goodie.
I’m offering for this giveaway, my Recycled Oxidized Silver and 14kt Gold Drop Cuff.
To enter this giveaway is simple as always:
Stop by my website www.andreabonelli.com and tell me what your favorite piece is or what you’d like to see more of.
1.To get multiple entries, Tweet this contest daily and post the link by cutting and pasting:
Tweet: Enter to win an Oxidized Cuff Bracelet at www.anythingindie.com!
2. {Like} my Facebook page
3. Sign up for my Newsletter
This contest will run until July 9th.
{The winner will be randomly selected using a number generator so anyone can win. :}
Good Luck!
*Update!
The winner picked randomly for this contest was #62 Amber Kane!
Thank you so much to everyone that entered! My next giveaway will be a gorgeous pair of luxe recycled Silver/Palladium studs. :)
Stay tuned for the next giveaway this month!
{hugs}
So I’ve had a strange week that will soon be nothing more than a distant memory but for now I feel it’s something worth discussing.
As a self taught Metalsmith that makes organic jewelry, the one thing that I like about my jewelry, as well as the jewelry of other small Metalsmiths like myself is that our jewelry has character. I like the fact that my jewelry is not perfect like what you find in stores because those are cast and processed through assembly lines and have zero character and soul. That’s why I love what I do and as my line progresses I plan on making my pieces even more organic and free form exaggerating all the subtle flaws and beauty that resides in hand fabricated metal.
I had a very nasty encounter with a customer this week that took my rings to a professional jeweler that of course ripped my jewelry apart. She was thrilled and gushing at how beautiful the set was when she initially received her order but the tables turned very quickly. During the month of May, I got inundated with orders on a particular ring set because it was at a very good price point. I was very happy to get the orders in but soon got very overwhelmed because of the sheer number that came in. I miss-sized a set for this particular customer and they fit but were a bit snug and she got really nasty very quickly. I offered the customer the option to send the rings back for a re-size and that I would take care of it. If I make a mistake I always refund shipping costs to get it back to my studio as well as shipping it back to them for free. Instead of taking my offer to re size them she in turn decided to try to shake me down for half the price of the set.
So something that I could have handled very quickly to make her happy turned into a crap fest about the quality of my jewelry, etc. that she initially loved days ago. After intensely negative and demeaning emails from this woman, I decided that enough was enough. She wasn’t going to be happy no matter what I said or did for her so instead of taking anymore abuse I told her to return the wedding set for a full refund. She doesn’t want a refund, just the discount. What?! So my jewelry was good enough to wear at a discount but not bad enough to send back to me for a full refund. This customer is still emailing me telling me that I need to offer the partial refund and that if I’m a good business owner that’s what I would do. No. being a good business owner is about being smart and knowing when a bad customer is just a bad customer. Yes, there are bad customers and No, the customer is not always right.
Am I going to change the way that I make my jewelry? Yes, my pieces will be even more organic because I prefer a clientele that wants handmade and not someone merely buying handmade because it’s cheaper than if they went to a retail store. The thing is, the 3 rings that I sold in this set was way less than this customer could find in a retail shop and I truly feel as if she wanted a cast type perfect ring at a bargain price and what she got was what was in the picture. A handmade product.
It’s a good lesson for me because It’s made me come to the realization that I want my pieces to be more organic to filter out buyers looking for perfection. That’s what retail mall jewelry shops are for. They have plenty of factory cast sweat shop pieces at high markups to suit every taste. I just don’t want the type of people that like shopping in those sweatshop catered retail stores to come to my site looking for a bargain and expecting mass produced quality because it’s not going to happen. I’m not a factory. So in light of this eye opening situation certain ring styles and sets are going to be disappearing from my shop so that I can rework the bands a little to give them even more character because truly that’s what I’m about. I want character in my pieces. I want for people to see the work that I put into taking raw materials and assembling them into jewelry that they could love for years.
I’m glad I stood my ground because in the end it will work out. She can buy her jewelry elsewhere and I’ll have materials in which to scrap and recreate into something else. Works for me.
I’ve been in the jewelry biz for a while. I started in 04′, after attending my first jewelry party and getting excited I jumped in with zest and zeal and bought every book that I could get my hands on in order for me to learn metalworking. I’ve done some stupid things in my time as a jeweler and can say that I’m blessed to still have all of my fingers and no 3rd degree burns to speak of. lol
My jewelry has evolved and as I worked from medium to medium my tastes would change and I would no longer be satisfied with my current work. The good thing about having a personality like this is that I never settle. In fact I’m like this with all things. From my teaching myself to build a computer from a motherboard, chip and an empty case, to taking on large home projects, I feel this is what keeps me truly feeling alive.
I’ve found that I still at times make mistakes which end up being very, very costly. My biggest mistake set me back by a couple grand because I took on a task that I should have thought twice about. It’s made me sit back and think about what I’ve been doing with my jewelry line and what needs to still be changed. I realized that I simply cannot cater to everyone and that I need to just say no. I also need to pare down my line a little more to where it’s manageable and only create pieces that I have 1000% confidence in fabricating. I’ve already turned away many buyers in the span of 2 weeks all either wanting items that I no longer make, or wanting so many changes it would cut into the time needed to create it and my current workload won’t allow it. In the past I would never say no, I would just take every single order and end up stressed and unhappy and the whole point of me doing this is to do what I love doing. I’m going to start offering much less on my site because I want to only focus on what I love making. Offering less items will help me get a little more focused and not leave me as frazzled.
This ring was worth every second that I spent on it but next time I think I'm going to carve it in wax and have it cast.
I’m hoping that my transition to offering less items won’t be much of a shock. I’ll still be offering my top sellers on my website but I want to work more with colored Sapphires, Tourmaline and Rose Cut Diamonds so my focus needs to be on that goal. I also have a MASSIVE amount of stones that I plan on working through so a lot of 1 of a kind rings and pendants will be coming out soon.
Wish me luck. :)
www.andreabonelli.com
So I scored a wonderful Vintage Wolf Dress Form and I was more than thrilled to get my hands on one. I had been on the look out for a year but they were always WAY too expensive {thousands} or I would miss one just as it sold. I loved my previous dress form because it had a solid colored body but the linen color was way too light, no where near looking like a natural skin color and I wanted something a bit warmer to complement my jewelry. I struggled a bit with my photography yesterday because it seemed that all the natural aged staining was amplified since I use a macro lens for most of my shots and I felt a bit deflated about my purchase. I didn’t want to use anything that looked “too” aged or dirty for my jewelry photography but I figured it’s so awesome looking, I could also just display it in my home with a cool scarf and a few of my pieces.
I think I can work with it as long as I add a bit of a vintage wash over it to give it a bit of a mood and to tone it down a bit.
My daughter has been delegated to be my hand model since her young hands don’t look like the hands of a working Metalsmith. Sure I could model them myself, but why bother when I have a perfect stand in. Besides I don’t think anyone would be impressed to see my newest saw/nail mishap.
Seriously..Saw. Blades. Are. Sharp.
