De-Cember is De-Clutter Month

I've been thinking a lot lately about where I want to go with my jewelry and other creative outlets. I've been revising an order to my wholesaler for over a month-yes, it's become an epic struggle to figure out what I want to concentrate on next year. So far, here's what I'm planning:

Teaching is a big one. Half of my wholesale order is materials for kits for classes I'm planning.

Chainmaille is high on my list because I love doing it and I want to do it in more colors and learn new, more intricate patterns.

Sterling Silver, on a small scale. Sterling is sooooo expensive… More earrings, a few charm bracelets and one spectacular necklace is what I'm planning, as a way to ease myself into it.

Upcycling. I love going to yard sales and finding old jewelry to either resell in my vintage shop, Bearchicksundries, or remake into new jewelry.

So, teaching and the three categories of jewelry are what I'm going to concentrate on next year. And I've decided that mixed media is not something I'm working on right now so for the next few weeks, I'm working on De-Cluttering my stash. Some things I've already given away and I've started one bag of donations and another to resell.

In 2011, my plan is to focus more on having fun with my jewelry and not worry so much about "business". What's the point of being creative if the business side stresses you out so much? I work full time, so my expenses are met.

I want to concentrate on learning more and making better jewelry. Sometimes I get sidetracked by wanting to make things that will "sell" and throw myself off track. It's a balancing act--do I want to sell a lot or do I want to sell the best jewelry I can make. I've decided I want to work harder on the better jewelry and make the little things when I have the urge. I still like to do the simple earrings, memory wire bracelets and things like that sometimes. My goal is to make my Etsy shop the better jewelry--chainmaille, sterling, upcycled, Swarovski, lampworked elements-- and the Artfire shop the "sellable" things--Simply Simple earrings, memory wire bracelets.

Bear Chick has been such an adventure. It's interesting to look back and see how far my little business has come. Next year is my tenth anniversary as a Jewelry Composer!

Do What You Love!

www.bearchick.etsy.com
www.bearchicksundries.etsy.com
www.bearchick.artfire.com

Busy Business Weekend

I did an inventory of jewelry a few weeks ago and discovered I had a LOT of jewelry that isn’t online. So yesterday I spent a good part of the day photographing necklaces, bracelets, anklets and earrings.

I was eager to list my first aluminum jump ring project. I love the mix of silver and lavender:

It’s called Byzantine ala Mare, since it’s not truly the Byzantine pattern as it should be done. I broke it up a bit, partly because I didn’t quite understand it in the beginning and made up a bunch of the patterns only to realize each pattern builds on the next… Live and learn. But then I really liked the way I had connected them separately. I think it gives a bit of breathing space to a very dense pattern. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!

I also got a new bracelet and anklet listed on Etsy.


You R A Star bracelet was done with pieces that are meant to be dividers for multi-strand necklaces. I love working with things in ways they weren’t intended. Makes me feel really creative! And stars are right up there in my list of fave shapes, just under hearts.

The Diamond Girl anklet started out as sale items from my wholesaler. I connected them with oval shaped jump rings and finished with a lobster claw clasp. All my anklets are self-adjusting, so you can attach the clasp where it feels most comfortable and the remainder of the chain dangles stylishly.

Click on any photo to take you to Etsy or ArtFire, where it's posted for sale :-)

Anyone on Facebook? I’m working on a Fan Page. I’ll probably make an official announcement in a week or so but if anyone wants to be a Bear Chick Fan ahead of the crowd, here’s the link (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bear-Chick/40472594959) or just search Bear Chick. I’m planning to have discounts and contests and other fun stuff. I’ll keep you posted.

Hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day. I did some gardening this morning in the below 70 degrees weather (nice) but now I’m all congested from the dust and pollen (not nice). It was good exercise and my yard looks better, so it’s all good!

www.bearchick.etsy.com
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Give Me Some Credit!

I haven’t been told officially yet, but it looks like I’ll be going back to part time at the Day Job soon. I’ve been busily making plans to ramp up Bear Chick and one of the components to that is accepting credit cards again.

I’m planning to do more shows this year, especially in the fall and into the holiday season and taking credit cards at shows is always a good strategy. Also, folks who don’t like signing up with websites like Etsy and Artfire can provide their CC info over the phone to me for their treasures. I’m also going to carry around credit card slips in my purse in case someone falls in love with a piece I’m wearing and simply must have it but there’s no ATM is sight. It could happen!

Just in case you’re interested, I signed up with Propay, who I’ve worked with before. There’s just an annual fee, no monthly fee and then, naturally, fees for each transaction, that are actually quite reasonable. It’s a great deal for crafters who only do shows at certain times of the year or just sporadically.

www.bearchick.etsy.com
www.bearchickart.etsy.com
www.bearchick.artfire.com

Every Have One of Those Days?!*&#

Ok, it hasn’t really been that bad but in editing photos I took today, I got a little frustrated and did some goofy things. Here’s Bear Chick’s version of outtakes:

This Oh! Rings! Necklace, for some reason, had a blue tint I just couldn’t work with. So now it’s neon pink.

A somewhat blurry cell phone strap in pinks becomes a study in blue.

*Sigh* It’s a process. I’d really like to get a Canon camera of some kind. I’ve seen a lot of good feedback on them on my social networking sites. Someday… For now, I’m really happy with my camera--it’s me that needs the improving!

www.bearchick.etsy.com
www.bearchickart.etsy.com
www.bearchick.artfire.com

As Promised, The Contest Necklace

At last, (drum roll, please) here is Tequila Sunrise!

I took these pictures after a day at The Day Job so they’re obviously not the photos I’ll send for the contest. But they show the color pretty well.

The category I’m entering is Glass and I’d say this is 99% glass. I think a couple of plastic beads snuck in in my passion for orange. But the majority has to be glass, so I think I’m safe.

It's pretty amazing how heavy this piece is. And I love the sound it makes, like little windchimes.

I originally wanted a toggle in the shape of a sun but when I couldn’t find that, I went to a local bead shop and lucked into a brick red enameled toggle, that matched my color scheme. I was very happy to find it. C Koop is the designer.

Hopefully I’ll have the time this weekend to take some really good photos and get the entry in. I’m getting ready to meet my mom in Vegas for a week, so there’s a lot going on right now.

I also want to make an entry for the Heart category and after that, there’s a necklace I’m designing for the Orange County Fair…

www.bearchick.etsy.com
www.bearchickart.etsy.com
www.bearchick.artfire.com

Work in Progress-Beadstar Contest Necklace

For those who follow me on Twitter, I’ve been mentioning working on “the contest necklace”. Well, here’s what I’ve been talking about.

Raw materials~~I knew I wanted a very specific color scheme, so I gathered all the reds, oranges and yellows I had and put them all in a big container, so they’d be wicked easy to work with.

I’ll be filling in all the chain up to the two red/orange beads at each end, an 8 to 9 hour process, doing each bead or bead set with a wrapped loop. I love the toggle. It’s an enameled metal I found at Brea Bead Works. I wanted a gold sun toggle but I don’t think they exist, so I was happy with this one since the color totally works with my design.

I may take off the faceted round red beads that frame the focal. They hide the pendant piece too much and for this necklace, I really do want to make sure that the focal has presence.

This entry will be in the glass category but I may also do one in the hearts category, since that’s one of my favorite shapes and I have billions of heart charms. Ok, 100’s…

Not that I want competition ;-), but here’s the link to the Beadstar contest http://www.beadingdaily.com/beadstar/Bead-Star-Rules.asp

Once I get this finished, I’ll post more pix. Wish me luck!

www.bearchick.etsy.com
www.bearchickart.etsy.com
www.bearchick.artfire.com

Let's Talk Color

The folks who forecast color trends have pronounced Rich Colors will take the lead for spring. I've always loved purple and so I use it a lot in my jewelry. I also love the primary colors in general. Let's see what Bear Chick can offer for Rich Color Trends:

Mardi Gras Necklace

Comforts of Home

Splendid Color Necklace

Peace and Love Necklace

A big Howdy! to all my fellow Blogfire Guild members!

www.bearchick.etsy.com
www.bearchickart.etsy.com
www.bearchick.artfire.com

Only in Cali

The Husband and I found ourselves with time on our hands today. I won’t bore you with the details of the travails we’re having with our automobiles. Suffice to say we’re still driving a rental (we were supposed to have it till Friday, today’s Saturday…) and since we found out we had to keep it when we were so close to the beach, we thought we’d have ourselves a nice walk on Balboa Island.

Balboa, a 5 minute ferry ride from Newport Beach, is one major piece of real estate. The smallest, tiniest houses are worth 7 figures there. Even though they’re crammed together with inches of space between dwellings.

But we don’t really care about living conditions… Ok, I admit we have Island Envy and would move there in a heartbeat…

But for now, firmly rooted in reality, we just like to walk the 2.2 miles around the outer perimeter, looking at the houses and docks and yachts and ducks and, oh, yeah, these wild examples of Cali style decorating…

A chicly rusted llama, for a private dock…

As the husband says, some people can afford to import their own national monuments…

This Dinosaur gets the royal treatment during the holidays~~lights and ornaments~~and a front row seat for the world famous Parade of Lights boat show…

Life has been a little hectic lately, not much art being made around Casa Bear Chick, but I went to one of my fave bead shops tonight for a midnight madness sale and I am terrifically inspired by the beads and charms I got great deals on! As soon as the taxes are ready to go to the tax lady, I’ll be beadin’ up a storm!

www.bearchick.etsy.com
www.bearchickart.etsy.com
www.bearchick.artfire.com

My Favorite Clasps

Here's a quick rundown of the types of clasps I use and why I use certain ones on certain pieces.

Toggle

Toggle clasps are my favorite favorite, because they're so easy to use and they're made in endless variations of design. A lot of my older personal jewelry had those boxes you needed to line up the thinner piece with and slide it in till it clicked and connected. I spent many frustrating mornings trying to get those to work. When I started making jewelry, I fell in love with toggles. It's generally not difficult to find the hole in the design of the larger piece, send the bar piece through and then settle it on the surface. Of course, I'm partial to heart shapes, but I also like flower themes, stars and anything with a pattern to it. Using the toggle as part of the overall design makes for an interesting piece. I use them for all my necklaces and a lot of my bracelets.

Magnetic

Lately, I've been using magnetic clasps more and more for bracelets since it's so hard to put on a bracelet by yourself. With the magnetic clasps, you just have to get them close enough together, usually by hanging both ends down from the wrist and, woosh, they attract each other easily. But remember when using them you need to slide them apart, not pull them apart. Pulling will dislodge the actual magnet. Learned that the hard way, although I was able to slide the magnet back in and all was well.

Lobster Claw

I use the lobster claw clasps primarily on anklets. Most of my anklets are self-adjusting, which means you can pick the length you want by attaching the clasp where it feels comfortable. You can't do that with the toggle or magnetic clasps because they're basically finite. They're relatively easy to use since you can see what you're doing with an anklet, which isn't always true when you're trying to work a lobster claw on a necklace. They also fit well into the design of most anklets since they're relatively flat and make a pretty statement wherever they're clipped.

If you see a piece of mine that you like but would rather have a different type of clasp, let me know. There's always a way to create what you want!

www.bearchick.etsy.com
www.bearchickart.etsy.com
www.bearchick.artfire.com

My "Studio"

There are several magazines that showcase artists' studios. I am envious of their dedicated, organized spaces. I'm sure if I searched "art studio" on Flickr, the photography website, I'd find 100's of examples of studio's at their finest. Beads neatly stored in plastic cases, fabric folded and piled on shelves by color, paint brushes in shiny little buckets.

But you won't find a picture of mine. Anywhere. I can always blame it on the fact that I work full time. That I have a husband and cats to take care of. But the real reason is I've always been messy. ALWAYS. I have no photographic evidence, but I'll wager that my crib was cluttered with stuffed animals, books and zwieback. I have a talent for taking up more space than anyone (ironic, since I'm usually the smallest one in the room), with an abundance of stuff, junk and things. You can always tell where I've been sitting because there's a corona of stuff around the area. I try to keep things neat, I really do...

My jewelry "studio" consists of a little set of drawers meant for nuts and screws and a huge amount of those pretty storage boxes you buy at hobby stores. They're piled off to the side of the sofa in the living room. There's a Harry Potter pillow on the floor, mashed flat as a piece of paper, that I sit on to create jewelry. Assorted components and findings slip off some other boxes near the coffee table. Oh, yeah, then there's a bunch of other things in the rolltop desk across the room that's really supposed to be where I create... Sequins and little beads decorate the space between all these boxes and holders. I actually went through all the boxes a few weeks ago, to donate some supplies to a friend who teaches jewelry making at a homeless shelter. Barely made a dent in all this stuff. But that's a different blog post (The Obsession with Beads...).

My bathroom serves as my other "studio", for art and ATC's. This is The Kingdom of Paper: old books, maps, colorful pages ripped from magazines. Paints fill a big plastic holder and brushes and colored pens and pencils teeter on piles of ATC blanks and stencils. Rubber stamps, ribbons and buttons fill drawers. Oh, and there are some more of those pretty storage boxes again, filled with jewelry from yard sales and church bazaars, waiting for me to breathe new life into them.

*Sigh*

We have a work room. The plan is to turn it into a studio.

*Sigh*

Someday...

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http://www.bearchick.artfire.com

Fun with Rubber Rings

Hope that doesn't sound risque'!

After I started making chain, I noticed rubber rings in my favorite wholesale jewelry component catalog. I'd been using rubber tubing specifically designed for memory wire, which I liked, so I thought I'd give the rings a try.

They're so much fun to work with and the patterns I can create with them and jump ring connectors are endless. The colors are bold and whether I combine them or go monotone, the designs are always eye-catching. They come in different sizes and are so light weight, it's like wearing feathers.

I love that they're so reasonably priced and quick to work with, so I can offer them at low prices. This is costume jewelry that's fun and affordable!

Here are some examples, on ArtFire:

Mardi Gras Necklace

Rubber and stone earrings

Light as a feather green anklet

If you have a request for a particular style or color, let me know. I love to do custom work!

www.bearchick.etsy.com
www.bearchickart.etsy.com
www.bearchick.artfire.com

Beaducation, A Learning Resource

I don't often reveal my sources but my Blogfire Guild on ArtFire has a theme of How-to's coming up so I thought I'd share the site that turned me onto making chains.

It's called Beaducation, founded by Lisa Niven Kelly, and along with selling metal stamping tools and other jewelry components, they teach all sorts of jewelry techniques, hence the Beaducation name. All of the video's I've downloaded have been very thorough and easy to follow. I'm a visual person, so I have to see techniques done and when it's a video with close ups and step by step instruction like these, I do really well. There's nothing more frustrating than not being able to follow what an instructor is doing because you can't see them working or they're assuming you're at a higher level than you are.

The really cool thing about these video's is that once you buy one and download it, it stays in your queue on the site so you can watch it over and over. You've paid to download the video, not just to see it once, then it goes away. So it's a resource you can keep and refer to as needed.

This is a very smart company in that they offer free video's to show you some basic techniques. Once you get hooked by the freebie, you want to take all the more advanced classes! None of the pay classes are over $28.00, which is really a bargain. Some examples of classes are metal stamping and design, chainmaille, fusing, beading, PMC and wireworking.

I've mostly taken the chain classes and here are a few examples of what I've done:

I'm looking forward to taking more of their classes soon. Give them a try when you have the urge to try something new!

www.beaducation.com


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www.bearchickart.etsy.com
http://www.bearchick.artfire.com/

Bear Chick's Guarantee

Oh, how I hate to admit this, but I was standing at my boss's desk earlier this week when a necklace I'd made 5 years ago suddenly broke, spewing beads all over her desk and floor! She laughed and helped me pick up all the errant fire polished glass, lampwork beads and aventurine. But I was SO upset. It's never a good thing when the stringing wire breaks.

So this is an excellent time to reiterate my Bear Chick Guarantee. No matter how long you've had an item of mine, if it should break, just send it back to me and I'll remake it, plus refund your postage. When you buy something from Bear Chick, that isn't the end of the transaction. I want you to be happy now and 10 years from now!

I've been working on some fun projects with rubber rings but haven't had a chance to take pictures. This weekend, I promise! They'll be on ArtFire or Etsy.

www.bearchick.etsy.com

www.bearchick.artfire.com

Bio of a Jewelry Fanatic

I'm Bear Chick and I'm a jewelry addict. I love to buy it and I love to create it. Be kind to me!

As if you didn't already know that, if you've been reading my blog for more than an entry or two. But I joined Blogfire, a guild for blogging ArtFire members, and I need to write a little introduction and bio for the latest Blog Carnival. It occurred to me that I probably haven't actually done anything like that on my blog, so here goes.

As long as I can remember, my mother and grandmother were jewelry fanatics. My grandmother's last gift to me was a shirt box full of her old jewerly. So, the adornment obsession comes naturally.

I came to jewelry making late in life, not believing I could craft anything people would like. But I took one adult ed jewelry class and I was hooked. I've always loved pattern-I can pick out a pattern in the most mundane things-a tile roof, shadows, polka dots. When I first started beading, making patterns of colors and shapes and materials fascinated me. I'd stay up late into the night, stringing, stringing, stringing. Now I've branched out into other things, like chain making, which is Pattern Nirvana! But I've also been doing a Charm N Bead series of necklaces and bracelets that are as random as I'll ever get-I admit, I place the charms in somewhat of a design, but the beads are totally random!

I sell my creations on ArtFire (chains and a Charm N Bead or two) and Etsy (beaded jewelry and artwork). This spring I'm planning on upgrading my show booth to go out into the world and do some shows again in the summer/fall. I love to do custom work because it's like a puzzle, especially when someone comes to me with the materials to make something--that's my kind of challenge.

In my life outside of jewelry, I work full time for a Shoppers Guide publisher, where I just celebrated my 20th anniversary. I've been in payroll most of that time, first doing actual payroll checks and now more into the auditing side of the department. 20 years is a long time and I'm happy to say the people I work with have made that time fly by.

I've been married for 28 1/2 years to the nicest guy on the planet. The Husband works at a SoCal amusement park, playing banjo and robbing trains and he's my biggest supporter. We have two crazy cats, who enjoy keeping us up at night. We love to travel and can occasionally agree on what to watch on TV.

Reading is one of my biggest pleasures. Books, magazines, blogs. If it's got words, I'll read 'em, even backwards and upside down!

So, that's my story. I'm looking forward to reading all my fellow BlogFire members' bio's now!

www.bearchick.etsy.com
www.bearchickart.etsy.com
www.bearchick.artfire.com

How Did All This Work Get Done?

Even though I was fighting a cold this week and working my butt off at The Day Job, I managed to make a few things and list them on ArtFire and Etsy. I kinda took a miss on Valentines Day. I intended to do a bunch of new ATC’s but that never happened… Since I had a couple of strings of these cute green shamrock beads, I worked with them to get a jump on St. Patrick’s Day. So, here’s an Irish themed bracelet on ArtFire:

And a cute pair of earrings on Etsy:

And I also experimented with gold and silver and made this flower design chain with a gold heart toggle, also on ArtFire:

And I FINALLY finished the travel themed Charm N Bead necklace I’ve been working on for weeks. It was one of those times, I guess, when I’d come up with ideas and just work on them, "you know, really quick… I’ll get back to the CNB tomorrow… " So here’s a sneak peak at the Travel necklace. It’ll be going on ArtFire soon.

The weather here is ridiculous! It was over 80 degrees today. We were driving around in shirt sleeves with the windows rolled down. My Massachusetts friends curse me, since they’re having a really cold winter. The subject line of my BFF’s last email was, “My face is freezing off.”

Well, back to work tomorrow for a week of craziness. They’re merging two companies into the payroll system, so there’s going to be a lot of checking and double checking of all the info that we’re importing for all these new people. I’ll be cross eyed by the end of the week.

Have a good one. Stay warm or cool, whichever applies!

www.bearchick.etsy.com
www.bearchickart.etsy.com
www.bearchick.artfire.com

Bear Chick is SRAJD #2116!

I kept seeing Self-Representing Artist Jewelry Designer #’s and logo’s on people’s websites and shop pages, so I finally Googled it to get the scoop. It’s basically a web world of jewelry artists who can encourage and learn from each other.


Here’s how the website describes it:

Member Benefits: You don’t receive anything tangible from the SRAJD organization, but you benefit from being part of a growing grassroots effort to raise customer awareness of the difference between artists trying to sell their own creations versus middlemen trying to make a buck off of slave labor and/or assembly-line craftsmanship. Connecting with like minds and being part of a team that strives to improve conditions for the artist can be considered a benefit, too.

So, I’ve already been browsing and posting in the forums and looking over the roster to see the other talented people I’m included with. I am totally inspired by the beautiful jewelry displayed! It makes me want to work all that much harder!

You’ll want to check this out, whether you’re a jewelry artist or a jewelry enthusiast (click Roster on the left side of the screen).

www.srajd.com

I was very happy to be included in this up and coming group and I’m looking forward to participating on the forums. Poor Husband. Just something else to keep me tied to the Evil Computer! (see today’s post on Maresjourney.blogspot.com for more computer ties…)

Another Anklet on Artfire!

www.bearchick.etsy.com
www.bearchickart.etsy.com
www.bearchick.artfire.com

Bear Chick’s Artfire Studio

Ok, I finally broke down and started an Artfire shop. I’ll tell you why. Two reasons.

1.) I wanted to be able to differentiate my chain work from my bead work. When I look at a shop, it’s a little chaotic when they sell a bunch of different styles or products. That’s why I opened BearChickArt for the ATC’s (which I haven’t been inspired to work on in a while--ATC muse is on winter break, apparently).

2.) I had just read an article saying the more places you are on the web, the better to be found in Search Engine searches. That ended my debate on whether I should just quit thinking so much and have everything stay on Etsy only.

So, I closed the Shophandmade shop because their beta never got better. I found them to be very uninspiring and just didn’t like the layout. Artfire is more like Etsy, in that they’re trying to foster a community of artists by offering forums and featuring articles by and about the artists themselves. It’s still in the Beta stage but I’ve heard a lot of good things and I follow the founder on Twitter, who seems to be very hands on. It’s a snap to add new items and I like the search feature. There are things I miss from Etsy, but it’s all good. Here I am:

http://www.bearchick.artfire.com

And here are two of the new anklets you’ll find at Artfire.

Pretty metal swirlies with a flower design chain

Sterling silver swirl connectors with a double chain pattern

So, come by and see me. We need all the traffic we can get. And tell two friends so they’ll tell two friends and so on and so on and Scooby dooby dooby. OK, I was up late last night…

www.bearchick.etsy.com
www.bearchickart.etsy.com