Yikes! How to Prepare for a Show? Part 1

So I finally bit the bullet and applied for a huge art show this year. I’ve been putting it off for several reasons… 1) I live in Michigan and our economy has been in a recession a lot longer than the rest of the nation; 2) I hate rejection; and 3) I’m not the best at planning ahead (ie: writing papers the night before they were due). But one of the galleries I was in closed, my business credit card keeps growing, and I needed another outlet for my jewelry!!

Sooooo, I applied to the St. James Court Art Show in Louisville, KY on the advice of my buddy Paula. Mind you, it’s been voted the best fine art and design show in the country by Sunshine Artist magazine. Nothing like starting at the top, eh? But it’s a well known show, it’s NOT in Michigan and I had a place to stay on the outside chance I juried in. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

I recently received notice that I made it into the show!! How about that?! Great news… except it’s the week before the West Michigan Bead Expo that I co-organize… YIKES! How am I going to get everything ready? I’m going to have to be more organized than I’ve ever been before.

Here’s the plan… I’m setting up a daily schedule. There’s 12 weeks till the show and I’m going to be gone for 2 of them. I have a rough idea of how many pieces I’ll need for a three day show. (Thanks Paula!) Earrings are usually a big seller so I’m thinking I’ll need about 300 pairs (just to be safe) which means I need to make about 30 sets of earring beads per week, pendants… maybe 10 per week, etc. By breaking everything down and dividing them into goals per week, I’m hoping to stay on top of bead production… Now to figure out how to get all the jewelry made and what my booth is going to look like… I’ll be back soon with more!

Nancy Sells Puffer is a lampwork bead/jewelry artist from Grand Rapids, MI. Check out her very own blog here and visit her website at www.nancysellsglass.com

A new direction emerges. Disk Mania.

Whew, I was beginning to think I was never going to have something worthwhile to contribute to this group again… But after a six month break from all things bead related, I’m back and excited about where I’m going with my beads and jewelry!

When I last made beads, I was having fun with hollows. I love building the disks, pushing them together and watching them inflate with the hot air being trapped inside. But they take a little longer to make and being a bit impatient, I wanted to come up with something quicker. I mean, it’s been six months, I had some catching up to do! That’s when I realized I could just leave them as disks… duh!

So, I started building disks. I can actually get five of them on a mandrel if I’m really careful and pay close attention to what I’m doing. And if I keep them simple, I can make quite a few in a fairly short period of time. In the pieces I’m making, they don’t have to be perfect, in fact, I don’t want them to be perfect. I want them to look edgy and unplanned, giving the necklace or bracelet more visual impact. I’ve even come up with a name for the series that is floating around in my head, something else I’ve never done before… Dsk! Dsk! Dsk!

So here I go, moving in a new direction, thrilled to have another chance at creating! Sometimes taking a break isn’t all bad (although it feels pretty bad when you’re going through it)… Sometimes it lets you open yourself up to new possibilities…

Nancy Sells Puffer is a lampwork bead/jewelry artist from Grand Rapids, MI. Check out her very own blog here and visit her website at www.nancysellsglass.com

I’ve lost that beadin’ feeling…

It’s been almost two months since I’ve had a torch session… That explains why I haven’t written an entry in awhile. I don’t think I’ve ever gone so long without making beads. I’ve sometimes gone a week or two, when I’ve been busy with other things, but this time has been different…

I think it has to do with finishing up a year that was much less profitable than in the past. Living in Michigan and dealing with a population that has already been touched with inflation is a challenge. I keep having to reinvent myself.

When I first began making beads and jewelry I created Beads-Me! ~ home parties where I would teach beginning jewelry projects. That morphed into teaching community education classes. Once I felt confident in my style, I approached a gallery in town and started selling my jewelry pieces. And since then have added several other galleries to my resume. Unfortunately, I’ve had several galleries close recently and the others had a pretty rough 2007.

I love to create beads and jewelry, it’s a large part of the person I’ve become. I DON’T like having to constantly reinvent the wheel. I love to design big, elaborate pieces. I DON’T like having to come up with less expensive jewelry that might have a better chance of selling here…

Do you ever hit bumps like this? If so, what have you done to get through it? I know I’m not alone! I’ll keep you posted on my progress…

Nancy Sells Puffer is a lampwork bead/jewelry artist from Grand Rapids, MI. Check out her very own blog here and visit her website at www.nancysellsglass.com

Twisties and Stringers…

Recently I’ve been having fun playing with twisties and stringers. I used to avoid them because I just couldn’t find the right spot in my flame. But a few months ago I decided to give them another try. Funny… even though I’ve been making beads for over five years now I still consider myself a newbie. And it always surprises me when I realize that I have enough control to use techniques that used to escape me!

It’s fun to play with bright colors and twist reactive glass together. I’m not always sure what the outcome will be but I usually like what happens! Now that I’ve added these techniques to my repertoire I’m trying to decide what to try next. I think it might have to be some new off mandrel work… See you soon!

Nancy Sells Puffer is a lampwork bead/jewelry artist from Grand Rapids, MI. Check out her very own blog here and visit her website at www.nancysellsglass.com

Reinventing the wheel, finding different avenues to sell your goods

I love creating my beads and jewelry… wouldn’t it be nice if they sold themselves? Unfortunately that doesn’t happen very often so a fairly large part of my time is taken up trying to find different ways to sell my work.

Over the years I’ve tried a variety of ideas that have worked for awhile. I started out doing home parties I called Bead Together’s. I would bring all the supplies to create bracelets, earrings and other easy projects, made into kits, and taught people how to make their own jewelry. That worked great for a few years until I began to run out of leads.

It occurred to me that local community ed programs might be interested in offering leisure classes in jewelry making and off I went in a new direction. Again, that was great for awhile but eventually Michigan’s economy caught up with community ed classes and it was time for me to find another venue…

For the last few years I’ve been selling my jewelry in galleries around Michigan and have been pleased with the response I’ve received. Unfortunately, this year sales have been way down and it’s time, once again, to come up with a new game plan!

A good friend of mine hosted an open house featuring my jewelry this week and I was amazed at how well it went! It’s got me wondering if there might be a way to do these more often. I have to confess it’s nice not having to split the profits with a gallery or shop!

So I will continue to plug along with my website and Etsy, but I know that I need to keep working to find new avenues to showcase my jewelry and beads. I never realized how much was involved in being a successful artist… Exactly when does my clone arrive??

Nancy Sells Puffer is a lampwork bead/jewelry artist from Grand Rapids, MI. Check out her very own blog here and visit her website at www.nancysellsglass.com