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

The Learning Curve

First attempts

Lately I’ve been thinking about working in clay.  I’d like to experiment with making beads, pendants, plates, bowls, and more.  It’s been a long time since I’ve done ceramic work!  So, I bought a 25-pound bag of white clay and excitedly dug in. 

Oh dear!  It was not as easy as I imagined while lying in bed at 3 am. The clay was mushy and hard to work with.  It stuck to my fingers, cutters and molds. In fact, the “ugly” voice reared its head and repeated, “I hate clay, I hate clay”. I told it to shut up and stepped away for several hours for a trip to the movies and the mall.  I finally returned to the worktable after dinner to a brilliant surprise.  The clay had hardened some and I was able to execute a reasonable amount of control! 

Now, I have renewed faith and will take a stab at it again tomorrow.  If I had given up when it got frustrating, I would have missed out on a fantastic opportunity.  I’m always telling my students to stick with their projects and not give up.  Sometimes a time out is the best medicine. 

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.