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This is a maiden voyage for me. I have never guest posted before, so this is a little out of my comfort zone. Thank you Jen, who was my Bead Fest neighbor this past August, for taking a chance with me.
First a quick introduction, I'm Anne and the name of my company is
Gardanne. I sell handmade glass and enameled
beads and assorted jewelry components. All of my glass and enameled pieces
are created at my lampwork torch.
When I started vending at the Innovative Bead Expo shows a couple years ago, many
customers would hold up one of my glass beads or jewelry components and say,
"I really love this, but what do I do with it."
Since making the bits and pieces for jewelry artists is my
strength, I could relate to what the customers were saying. Making jewelry has
always been a slow process for me. If I do need to make jewelry, what usually
helps me is a visual, maybe a color combination from Pinterest, a walk in the
garden, or drawing some pictures in my sketchbook.
Since a visual
gives me a starting point when making a piece of jewelry, I thought that having
jewelry samples using my components on display at bead shows would help my customers jump start their own inspirations.
Over the years I have learned that you can't be good at everything
so I turned to several of my online and show customers for some help in the
jewelry making department.
This lariat
style necklace was one of my favorites from that trunk show. Kara used my
enameled keys and keyholes as the charms on the end of the lariat. Since I have
displayed this lariat at my shows not only have the charms become popular for
more than just earrings, but I also end up selling about three rolls of the chain per
show as well.
This is a photo of how Kara uses my glass headpins, my brain stops
at a wrapped loop for these. But as you can see there are always several
different ways to use the same component.
Another artist that has caught my eye recently because of the
creative ways she uses jewelry components is Keirsten Giles of Lune Designs. I special ordered a couple pairs
of earrings that she made for show samples, because I was not quick enough on
the draw for the originals.
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| Photo by Keirsten Giles |
These little tulip caps are my best sellers, every time I think my
customers have exhausted the possibilities of what to do with this component,
they come up with another idea. I know it would not have occurred to me to have
waxed linen and seed beads coming out of these little caps but it totally
works.
Picking out jewelry to wear before a show is always easy, I just
take what I need from my display. Remember wearing your handmade items whether
you sell the handmade bits, make the jewelry, or both is your best
advertisement.
Last but certainly not least is Lorelei Eurto. Lorelei was my second online customer
when I started this journey 4 years ago and she has certainly given me the
confidence to keep moving forward.
Lorelei is a
huge supporter of handmade jewelry components, but what I have learned from her
is that you only need one handmade component in a necklace or bracelet to make
a unique piece of jewelry. I am realistic, it would be cost prohibitive for
most if not all of my customers to make an entire necklace or bracelet only
using handmade lampwork or enamel beads. But just using one unique handmade
bead in your jewelry designs will allow your customers to be able to own a
piece of jewelry that no one else will have and still stay within their
budget.
This necklace Lorelei made is a perfect example, the lampwork bead
is by Mindy of Moogin, she a very talented lampwork
artist. I have serious stringer control envy when it comes to her bead designs.
In the photo above that one handmade glass bead that Lorelei included in her
design makes this necklace one of a kind.
Supporting handmade
is great, but an equally important message is creating unique designs. With a
vast amount of jewelry designers in the marketplace being unique is what will
make you stand out from the crowd.
I believe in full disclosure so before I purchase a piece of
jewelry for a show sample I always tell the jewelry designer my intentions for
the jewelry. I feel it is very
important that they know their jewelry will be on display at my bead shows. If
we are both in agreement I always request a few cards to hand out to interested
customers since I do not sell my samples. Remember a lot of jewelry makers
bring their non-jewelry maker friends to shows, and they are generally looking
for finished jewelry. I also do not allow customers to take photos of the
samples, inspiration is OK copying is not.
So have the samples helped sales at my shows? They most certainly
have, and at the very least it starts a conversation, which leads to a
connection, which may lead to future sales, and future friendships.
I hope you have found this post helpful, thank you to Jen and the
entire Art Jewelry Elements team for giving me this opportunity.
Anne Lichtenstein
anne@gardannefarms.com
