New Necklaces on Etsy

Design Number 10

Big news!  22 of my new ceramic “Myco Necklaces” are officially uploaded and for sale in my Etsy shop. 

They are one of a kind drawings inspired by microscopic views of mushrooms, slime molds and lichen.   Each tile is lovingly formed, sanded, fired, and glazed to be confortable on the neck.  They are strung on a black silken cord and secured with a hand-made sterling silver wire clasp.  Check them out and let me know what you think. 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/PamelaHeyda

Design Number 20

Design Number 18

March Madness

I didn’t blog at all in March.  Ooops!  I guess I should explain my absence. 

March was a tough month.  It started with needing to devote extra time to teaching (not that this was bad; the work was fun, creative, and rewarding).  Then I’ve been sick for about three weeks.  The cold/flu thing that seems to be going around and doesn’t want to go away.  I still have it, but am feeling better. 

For the reasons mentioned above I spent little time in the studio, which resulted in little to blog about.  As my to-do list got longer and longer, my momentum slowed to a snail’s pace.  Ah, but this is par for the course of being an artist. 

As I was filling out my timesheet for my paid job, the little light bulb above my head went on.  Why not fill out a timesheet for my studio work?  I like the idea of keeping track and holding myself accountable.  Also, this way I can gauge my productivity.  The rules are that in order for the studio hours to count, I need to be doing something to further my creativity, career, or business.  As I blog, I’m on the clock.  Checking my e-mail, surfing the web, or messing around on Facebook does not count unless it directly relates to promoting my art.  The other rule is that I need to complete at least one hour of work in the studio per day.  If I miss a day, I have to make it up within a week.

But the timesheet wasn’t enough.  I needed some sort of reward for my time.  After asking for suggestions from friends on Facebook, I went with cash.  I get paid $1 for every hour of studio work.  Yeah, I’m underpaid.  The beauty is that those dollars can add up.  The more I work, the more money I make.  I could use it to buy art supplies, treats, or clothes, but I needed a more compelling goal.  Of course, I knew immediately what that was: Mendocino. 

I love the Mendocino/Fort Bragg area of California.  I’d move there in a second if I could.  There is something about that wild and wooly coast; it reflects my inner wild and wooliness.  And I love the woods, the art community, the quaintness, the funkiness, the remoteness and quiet.  I am saving for a trip to Mendocino.  The trip will be completely justified, because I earned it.  I’ll go for quiet and inspiration.  I may even go alone, and make it a personal, spiritual, artist’s retreat.  But, I’m getting way ahead of myself.   If I don’t put in some serious studio time, it could be years before I can afford to go. 

I started clocking my hours on March 25^th.  I’ll pay myself monthly, so in March my earnings are $10.  That’s okay for starters, but I can do better.  And for Joe Q. Public out there; I won’t be keeping large amounts of cash in my house.  Once the money jar becomes more that I would carry in my wallet, it’s going in the bank.  I’ll leave an IOU note in the jar. 

Disclaimer:  I am full of motivation and inspiration to make art, the savings jar is just to get me over the hump between wanting to create and laying on the couch watching TV because I’m tired from working all day.  I’m excited.  It’s the little extra push I need.  I did great with my goal of getting my Etsy store up and running by a particular date, so this goal will be good for me.

In other news: during my month of "March Sickness" I started working on a clay commission for a friend.  I’ll share it with you later in the month when it is complete.  I finished the sculpting and the piece is currently drying.  It will be fired, glazed, and fired again.  She hasn’t seen it so I can’t share it yet.  It’s a surprise!  I also completed a commission of a wire wrapped beach stone pendant.  This friend found a beautiful piece of quartz on the beach and I wrapped it with sterling silver wire.  For some reason, I didn’t take a picture to share!  Finally, my paintings will be on display for another week at Studio Gallery on Polk Street as part of an Easter display in their front windows. 

Wow!  Look what happens when you don’t blog for a month.  I sure am chatty today.  I’ll be back to my 3x a month schedule, so stay tuned!

My Studio Door

Myco Drawing

Clay Pendants in Progress

I’ve been working with ceramics lately, learning what I can on my own.  I want to create something new for my Etsy site that is inspiring, and unique.  So I formed a handful of clay shapes and bisque fired them.  Over the past few days I’ve been drawing on these forms with a ceramic under-glaze pencil.  Much of my inspiration comes from nature.  These drawings are of microscopic slime molds, lichen, and fungi.  I love the forms, beautiful, abstract, and 100% non-fiction!  I’m very happy with how they look.  My next step is to coat them with a clear glaze and fire them again.  If they look good I might make more, next time focusing on ocean fauna and flora.  Stayed tuned!

Lichen

Slime Mold

Slime Mold

 

A New Batch

I’ve been playing around with clay all week, making 60-70 pendants of various shapes and sizes.  They look simple, but take time to form, dry, and sand.  I'm going to try sketching on some with a ceramic pencil after bisque firing.  I would like to find something new, unique, and interesting to add to my work on Etsy.  Along the way I’m learning a lot about clay and glazes and having a lot of fun.  So stay tuned! 

You Win Some, You Loose Some

The Keepers

A while back I was playing around with making clay pendants.  I bisque fired everything and they came out great!  Then I ordered some special glazes and fired them again a few days ago.  (I didn’t glaze everything).  Some of my creations came out beautifully others were a disaster.  Without going into detail, some of the pieces ended up touching each other in the kiln.  Ooops!  I had them on a bead tree (kiln furniture) on a thin wire, the wire bent and they touched things they weren’t supposed to touch. Also, I may have overloaded my bead tree because I couldn’t wait for another firing.  At least I know what my glazes look like.

What you see in my photos will not end up on my Etsy shop; I’m just playing around, trying to get to know the medium.  Tomorrow I plan to break out the clay again for round 2!  I can’t wait!

The Losers

February Goals

 

Now that my Etsy store is up and running I can shift my focus.  No longer is it all about getting the site up, now there is maintenance, networking and marketing.  I need to work on a business plan and make sure I’m utilizing Etsy to its fullest.  I also need to collect my receipts to see how far in the hole I am!  The good news is that I’ve made a few sales already!  It is encouraging to know that others like what I’m creating.  I feel very satisfied with what I’ve done so far and look forward to seeing where it will all lead. I hope that one day this blog may be of help to others looking to start their own Etsy shop or craft business.

Gift Wrap

Gift Wrap Example

 

If you’d like to order a gift from my Etsy Store, and want it gift wrapped, I can do that!  Just message me before making your purchase to let me know.  Be sure to include a short note for the gift card.  Your jewelry will be placed in a Kraft box, wrapped in white tissue, and tied with raffia.  The gift card will be attached as shown.  If you want the gift mailed to the recipient, make sure you give me the address. 

Valentine’s Day is coming up….hint, hint!  ;-)

Facebook Fan Page

My Facebook Fan Page

To help support and promote my new Etsy store I have created a Facebook fan page for my jewelry designs.  Following me is a great way to stay up to date on what I’m creating and selling, as well as special discounts for my subscribers.  When you go to the page you can click “like” or “subscribe” to follow my work.

Here is a link to the page:

https://www.facebook.com/PamelaHeydaJewelry

Open for Business!

My Etsy Shop!

After 5 months of hard work and planning in my free time, my Etsy shop opened today.  I feel very satisfied seeing it come together, and proud that I stuck with it even when things got difficult.  As I’ve said from the beginning, this is all a big experiment.  This way, if it doesn’t work out to my liking, I can chalk up the experience to a great learning adventure.  I still have a lot more work to do; this is just the beginning of my business, and my life.  I hope you can stop by the store to check it out!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/PamelaHeyda

Bookmarks

Five Bookmark Design

It has been recommended that I include a little something extra with my Etsy order, as a thank you for the purchase.  After some thought, I decided to make bookmarks.  These were fun to make!  I used scanned drawings of five bracelet designs.  The images were printed on cardstock, hole punched, and accented with a black string and snap tassel.  They are so cute!  I hope to give away many of them.

Etsy Banner

Etsy Banner

Creating a banner for the front of my Etsy store was a must.  Luckily I was able to use the banner I made years ago for my art website, www.pamelaheyda.com, with a little tweaking.  I’ve used it for eight years and still like it.  It contains my name and tree symbol.  I’ve been drawing that tree for more than 20 years, so it was a natural choice for an icon.  It symbolizes my potential and energy, love of trees, and passion for nature.  The store should be open in about two weeks.  Stay tuned!

Postcards!

Postcard Front

Postcard Back

After designing my business cards I started on postcards.  I created them to put in the envelope with purchases.  The printers called me the day after sending them the images.  For some reason the text had pixelated.   I blew up the images to 300% and sure enough, there were little gray dots all around the letters, when printed they would show up as a shadow.  I’m so glad they caught that and called me to fix it!  After some experimentation I found that my Photoshop files were clean.  The pixelation happened when the file was converted to a jpeg.  Easy fix!  I just sent them the Photoshop files instead.  For the future though, I need to figure out what happened.  Any suggestions? 

Cabinet of Curiosities

A couple nights ago I had a fantastic dream.  I was in a crowded place, perhaps a store.  I walked up to a cabinet filled with fascinating things.  There was a large box of toys, some from my childhood and some imagined.  Then I found some little self-published books by different artists, notebooks, and miniature carved animals attached to sticks, books of Buddhist poetry with golden binding, and more.  “This stuff is amazing!”  I exclaimed.  The best part was knowing that everything in the cabinet belonged to me.

I woke up filled with tremendous energy and inspiration.  It was 3am.  As I waited for sleep to embrace me again, I thought about this cabinet.  It seemed to be filled with all the precious ideas I've had over the years.  It was my artist’s wellspring.  Surely it was inspired by getting close to launching my Etsy shop.   I couldn’t help but think that every person has this wellspring, a cabinet of curiosities, where they have tucked away all the seeds and gems of a creative life.  For some it is buried deeper than others. 

So I’m wishing for those reading this, a magical dream tonight, of your cabinet.  May you awake feeling ready to explore all that fascinates you in this life. 

Setbacks

Large surf at Tennessee Valley Beach on January 5th, 2012.

I’m a week behind on working on my January Etsy goals.  Sometimes the unforeseen gets in the way.  Last Monday I decided to start the New Year with an updated computer, and downloaded Mac OS Lion 10.7.2.  Little did I know that my most important software (at least 10 years old) would be inaccessible!  I was so upset!  I managed to get most of my programs updated this week and my computer is almost back to normal. 

The only major disappointment is that I am locked out of my website.  I designed it with Adobe Go Live, which was discontinued in 2008.  If I want to update my website I’d have to undo Lion and everything else, and I don't want to do that.  It was time for a change anyway.  As soon as I get the Etsy stuff up and running I’ll create a web based portfoilo. 

The good news is that I’m ready to move forward with designing a postcard, business card, and Etsy banner with my new Photoshop Elements.  I’m so excited!  It will be easier with this new software.  So things are moving forward.

“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” – John Steinbeck

Product Description

"Oneness" earrings.

In the typical Etsy shop, the customer will click on an item of interest to find out more about the merchandise. There can be up to five photos of the item plus a detailed description. I have been working on my descriptions! Here is an example for the earrings pictured above:

*****************

“Oneness” Earrings

The idea behind the Black Snap Collection came in a dream in which I was making necklaces out of colorful snaps. When I woke up I immediately went to my grandmother’s sewing box to see if I had the fasteners. I was curious if they could be easily linked like in my dream. I was thrilled to discover my dream was possible and went about creating the work you see here. They are striking conversation pieces that look good with casual or dressy styles.

The “Oneness” earrings are named for the symbol of the circle and the belief that we are all one consciousness, made of energy and stardust. They are the companions to the “Oneness” necklace.

Length: About 2”

Materials: Black snaps (tin), two 1 1/8” hand fused, hammered, fine silver rings, Sterling silver filled jump rings (stronger and more silver than silver plated), sterling silver wire (on the rings), and sterling silver filled French hoop ear wires.

$51.00

This item is mailed in a gift box. If you’d like me to send it directly as a gift, please leave a note to the seller with your gift message and I’ll include it in your package.

Please Note: Orders placed before 5pm (PST) will be shipped on the next earliest Monday, Wednesday, or Friday.

Handmade in the USA

Thank you for your interest!

Artist's Statement

A wind direction sculpture I discovered at Fort Mason on Monday.

I worked on my artist's statement last week and thought I'd share it with you. This is the statement I will use in my Etsy shop, so it is geared towards the jewelry shopper. Artist's statements are so hard to write! I find myself wanting to say so much about who I am and my artistic vision. It is hard to sum it up in a couple sentences. In this case I think shorter is sweeter. Any feedback is much appreciated!

***

“Making art and jewelry has always been the center of my life. As a child I was lucky to spend much of my time in the presence of two excellent craftswomen - my grandmothers who inspired me to pursue my own creative interests. Throughout my childhood and beyond I’ve dabbled in many types of media. In college I attended the San Francisco Art Institute, majored in painting, and graduated with a BFA. For the past 15 years I have been teaching art to elementary school students in public schools.

I am inspired by color, shape, line, Bay Area artists and most of all, nature. I am happiest when making things with my hands. Jewelry is the perfect art because I get to work with a wide variety of materials and create small beautiful things I can wear wherever I go. My portfolio of skills also includes painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, and mixed media sculpture.

I hope you enjoy my Etsy store. Come back frequently as my work is always evolving.”

The Crunch

 

I’m in the home stretch!  My goal is to have my Etsy store up and running by the end of January.  There is still so much to do.  I’ve learned I can’t always know how long a task will take.  I can only hope most of these will be quick and easy.  I think my greatest challenge is creating a new business card and postcard.  My strategy is to do the hardest things first.  I’ll be blogging updates all month.  It will be challenging because I am hoping to teach two after school classes a week, so I have less time than usual.  Hopefully I won’t fall behind on the blog like I did in December.  I don’t know if you noticed, but while on vacation I made up for all the blog entries I missed.  

Wishing you a warm, wonderful New Year!

Processing

Choosing photos from iPhoto

I thought I’d go into a little detail about the process of putting photos of my jewelry on the web for those of you considering creating an Etsy store of your own.  It is a longer process than you might think, and requires a substantial time commitment. 

1. I went through all 833 of my jewelry photos in iPhoto, picking out 5-7 for each piece.  A variety of views are ideal, so the shopper has a strong idea of what they are buying.
2. I listed the file names in a notebook.
3. Each file was opened in Photoshop and saved with a descriptive file name.
4. The photos were then organized into files: The Collection Name > Type (Ring, Necklace, etc) > Name of Design > Individual Photos

Recording file names to keep track

The next step is to go into each photo using Photoshop to crop and clean up the image. 

If I don’t post much about my progress, know that I am working on this.  It is hard for my back and neck to sit at the computer for hours on end, so I’ll be doing a little at a time, taking lots of breaks along the way.  Once I have my store up and running, this will be easier.  I’ll just post a few new pieces at a time.

Organizing photos into computer files

Holiday Crazies

I’ve been away from the blog for a couple weeks and don’t have a good excuse.  I could say I got caught up in the holiday crazies (shopping, decorating, partying, baking), but that just isn’t true.  I did partake in a few of those things, but not to the degree I suspect most people imbibe.  I can only blame procrastination.  I wanted to blog about how I was making progress towards my December goals, when in fact I was making no progress.  I had nothing to write about. 

The good news is that is changing.  For the past several days I’ve gotten myself back on track.  I have about 200 photos to process for my upcoming Etsy store.  Each picture needs to be handpicked out of hundreds, titled, filed, cropped, spot corrected, and adjusted.  I’m on my way.  This is the drudgery of opening an online store.  Five photos for each item, and I have about 30 pieces.  You do the math.  I’ll need to retake a few along the way, but it is all progress.  I was gifted with the perfectionist gene, so what you see is my absolute best. 

Uncharted Territory

The "stage".

 

I’m completely comfortable sitting down at my studio table to make jewelry.  Even if I’m trying a new technique, I’m confident I can do it. 

Now that the jewelry is made it’s time for the next step in opening an Etsy shop.  I need to photograph my work, and I’m not feeling so secure anymore. 

I have some decisions to make.  If I’m photographing the work on a model, do I use myself, or ask a friend to model for me?  Do I show the whole face, or just the part of the body where the piece sits?  Do I go for a slightly artsy photo, creating a “look” to inspire the customer, or do I go for straightforward, plain and simple?  The only thing I know for sure is that I want the work to look professional and to tantalize buyers, all the while informing them of what they are getting. 

Part of me wants to run, throw in the towel, and go back to making stuff.  But I know that at some point, I’m going to have to master this.  I’m sure there are business people out there who would just hire someone to do the photography for them, but I’m a DIY kind of girl.  The learning curve seems steeper than I thought, and it will take longer than anticipated. 

After chatting via e-mail with several friends about yesterday’s model shots, I have decided not to use them.  They will be great for profile pictures, but are not the quality I strive for in presenting my work.  I was going to try modeling them again today (with my real camera), but decided to take a little break from that and set up a staged shot instead. 

I’ve seen some fancy photography studios on the web, so this is my first attempt to imitate them with white drawing paper, cardboard and clips.  It’s not bad.  I’m not thrilled with the bowl as prop, but not horrified either.  I’ll have to do some dishes tonight and try a few others.  The light seems pretty good, but I’m going to have rig some sort of barrier around the tripod to hide it from reflecting in the bowl. 

 

I’ll get there!  Tomorrow is another day.

Bowl display.