Mar 29th, 2010 Posted in Business Topics | one comment »
It’s been a pretty creative and productive time in the ol’ studio lately, thanks to a healthy dose of spring weather. There is not much better than fiddling with metal and beads and putting ideas into practice while the windows and doors are wide open and a crisp spring breeze is playing with your hair. Not to even mention the variety of colorful and bright blossoms and buds that are breaking up the stark bare trees and bushes all around.
Most likely inspired by all this spring-ness, I have created a new line that I have a very good feeling about. It’s called nesting, and it was born using the same materials I have already been using for my other lines; fresh water pearls in a nest formed of coins from around the world.
Shaping metal is a new technique for me, and I am going to predict that this may be the gateway into a whole new world for me. Metal working has always been an intriguing and mythical creature to me, and we may have just come to the point where I am confidant to explore that medium a lot more.
But for now I give you:
© Lucky Accessories 2010
Available in the etsy shop!
Tags: Designing, etsy, Gift idea, metal, nesting, New Products, Product Development
Feb 24th, 2010 Posted in Business Topics | no comment »
I have been working on a few new mom pendants in preparation for Mothers’ Day, and it’s making me a little obsessed with using my awesome vintage Letraset transfer letters to make pendants with common expressions. These are the first two that I spat out, and in their making I came up with a few more. You gotta make some nonsensical goofy goodies every once in a while to keep the basic stuff interesting, right?
Tags: Designing, New Products, Product Development
Jan 13th, 2010 Posted in Business Topics | one comment »
Customers have been asking me about peapod bracelets for a while now, and while I have been meaning to get to offering them, so far it’s only been developed in my head.
This week I received a custom order for one, and since things are relatively quiet right now I thought I would jump on the opportunity to bring the design that’s been in my noggin, and see if it works in real life. And I think it does! The peapod works really well in bracelet form, and now I am all that much more excited about offering it in full in the hopefully near future!
Tags: Designing, peapods, Product Development
Apr 7th, 2009 Posted in Business Topics | no comment »
Added a slew of Made of Money necklaces to the website! I can’t get enough of these guys. Not of making them, not of selling them, and not of hearing people telling me how much they love them! Yay for money!
Oh, and I added a few to the Etsy shop too while I was at it, for good measure.
Tags: Available Online, Designing, Etsy stuffs, New Products, Shop update
Mar 13th, 2009 Posted in Business Topics | no comment »
File this in the category ‘long time coming’. I finally got around to photographing and listing the vintage wallpaper initial pendants. For now (as seems to be the theme around here these days) they are in the Etsy shop, to be added to the website soon. Get in line pendants.
Have a great weekend all! This has been a marvelously productive and rewarding week for me, I hope it’s bee the same for you!
Tags: Available Online, Custom work, Designing, Etsy stuffs, New Products, Product Development
Feb 20th, 2009 Posted in Business Topics | one comment »
These goodies are on their way to the wonderful shop of ShanaLogic.com where I assume they will sell as hot cakes (or should I say hot peas). I absolutely love selling to Shana’s website. I don’t know how she does it, but she manages to sell my goods at amazing speed, all the while being so supportive and sweet and inspiring all at the same time.
Shana never fails to inspire me to try harder and reach further with my designs and my business. Her enthusiasm is contagious and just emailing her with random questions often gives me that extra shot of creativity I needed. I think basically, I just want to be her when I grow up.
So check out her shop asap if it’s not already on your favorites list (’cause it should be!) for all things adorable and cute, and be sure to visit it next time you are shopping.
Tags: Available Online, Designing, New Products, Product Development, retailers, wholesale
Sep 25th, 2008 Posted in Business Topics | no comment »
(I am totally stealing my own 365 picture from yesterday for this post)
I believe I have mentioned before that when I conceived the ‘made of money‘ jewelry line I had a great feeling about it. I felt that these pieces were really something that my customers were going to get excited about. And not to drive the subject into the ground, or pat myself on the shoulder (yet again!) but I have to share how confirming it is when I DO see you get so excited about something that I dreamed up by my very self! Every show so far these necklaces are earrings have been leaving my booth at lightening speed, and it makes me oh so happy! You’d think by now I’d be used to people liking, or even loving my creations, but I am not, and honestly I don’t think (and I don’t hope) that it’s something I will ever get used to. It totally lights a fire under my behind and keeps me excited about designing and creating and making and producing. These things can get very tedious let me tell you, so anything to keep me excited I am eternally grateful for.
So these cute little blossoms above are for the next batch of made of money necklaces. I am going to try my darndest to get a few of them completed, photographed, and uploaded to my etsy shop by the end of the day today. But today it’s early release day for my son’s school so I am not making any promises.
Speaking of my son, he has discovered my old camera this week, and he can’t get enough of taking pictures! I am absolutely loving this new development. Photography is a great source of admiration and inspiration for me and something I’d love to eventually get some education in, so to see Nolan so intreagued by it too warms my heart. Aside from that, anything to get his focus off vacuums or cars and onto something new excites me. If you desire, you may read more about his new discoveries here.
Tags: Child, Crafty, Designing, Etsy stuffs, Product Development
Sep 9th, 2008 Posted in Business Topics | no comment »
Today I had an exceptionally great session of soldering. It was going so well that I may have soldered the most I ever have in one sitting. I find that soldering can be somewhat iffy at times, and it seems there needs to be the perfect mix of temperature, humidity, wind from the fan, solder iron heat, the aligning of the planets, and my mood. And today apparently they were all spot on! There are times when I sit down, planning to finish a sizable batch of soldering, only to have to abandon that intention after two pieces because something in ‘the great balance of soldering’ is off, and everything is going wrong. The tape doesn’t stick, the solder gets totally chunky, the flux doesn’t do it’s job. It’s all a loss. Best thing in that case is to just put it all down and try again some other time. Like today. Today was beautiful.
By the way, notice the orientation of the pendants above? They are an additional style I started to make pendants in. I am absolutely thrilled about the way they are coming out. Up until now all my rectangle pendants have been vertical, but these pendants will hang horizontally, with the chain going through two rings instead of the single one. These should be added to the site some time soon, but they will be at shows with me as soon as I have them cleaned up!
As I finished up soldering today I got inspired by one of the vintage wallpaper pieces (I think you’ll be able to tell which one) and decided to have a go at designing my own pattern. The idea had been in my head after reading in several blogs about Spoonflower. The idea of being able to get fabrics printed in your own patterns just makes me so giddy you won’t believe. But I have never made a pattern before so had to do a bit of googling to get myself acquainted with the process. With the rushed search I performed I didn’t find any one great place to spoon feed me the info, but I got the gist of it by looking at a few sites and adding 1+1.
This is what I cam up with. Isn’t it sweet! I made lots of mistakes on the way, and this particular version would be sacrilege to ever send to an actual printer, but isn’t that the way to learn best! Making mistakes, figuring out where you did what wrong, and trying it again. So even though I totally messed up here several times, I wanted to share it, because it makes me a little bit proud. (I am easily pleased)
Speaking of learning, I am working on a pendant soldering tutorial to post on this blog here soon. So if you are into that kind of a thing, check back later!
Tags: Crafty, Designing, Lessons Learned, Product Development
Sep 5th, 2008 Posted in Business Topics | no comment »
Well, it seems that this tropical storm Hannah is going to be me messing with my shows schedule these next two weekends. This weekend I was looking forward to setting up at the Wilmington Art and Antique walk, but the city had to pull it’s license for that show as it’s outdoor, in the path of the storm, and it’s going to be awfully wet and windy right around that time, they just didn’t want anybody getting hurt while getting some artful goods.
Fortunately they did re-issue a permit for allowing the show to instead happen the following Saturday, but I am already signed up to to the Designers Downtown Market at that time. I am going to have to be creative with this situation. I want to be at both, but there is only one of me. What to do.
While I figure this out, I do want to wish luck to all the people who are going to be (more) seriously inconvenienced by the buckets of rain and unavoidable flooding that this will most likely cause. I hope all will stay safe, dry and I hope the flooding will not ruin all you’ve worked for all year!
On a lighter note, today I have been furiously photographing all my stock of the Made of Money earrings, and began listing a few in the Etsy shop. Something tells me they will soon get a more permanent spot on the website, but for now the Etsy shop will do.
At my last show the Made Of Money necklaces were my best seller BY FAR! I don’t think I have ever had any specific style sell as well as these necklaces did, I sold TONS! Which really excited me as it’s so nice to know that when I think I am on to something I actually am! I am not crazy after all. Well, not all the time anyways.
Lastly, back to hurricanes- if you’d like a fun little tool that shows you this years hurricanes paths, past, current, and predictable future, find it here. Careful it’s a little addicting. Then again maybe that’s just me.
Tags: Available Online, Designing, Etsy stuffs, New Products, Shows, Weather
Sep 1st, 2008 Posted in Business Topics, Family, Handmaidens | no comment »
Tags: Available Online, Designing, Garden Journal, Lessons Learned, New Products, Newsleter, Press & Praise, Shows
