View entire thread: I just had a site set up for my earrings
Posted by Don T on Mon Jul 10, 2006 6:17 AM Post subject: Re: I just had a site set up for my earrings
I got all the pages -after being insulted about my browser "not" being firefox- and nary a price to be seen
anywhere. It didn't create any burning desire to return either. Just another blah site. -- Don Thompson There is
nothing more frightening than active ignorance. ~Goethe It is a worthy thing to fight for one's freedom; it is
another sight finer to fight for another man's. ~Mark Twain "Peter W.. Rowe,"
<rec.crafts.jewelry@earthlink.net> wrote in message news:vch3b2dimdr95s32acdmkrtdnu794jh6ng@4ax.com...
[quote:984daea7d2]On Sun, 09 Jul 2006 20:10:19 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry gamenutt@comcast.net wrote: I just had a
site set up for my earrings so wanted to know what ppl thought of them..get some feedback ya know! Heres the link:
http://www.thevickiespot.com thx in advance :) Well, to start with, you may wish to use a different hosting service.
I managed, when I first clicked your link, to load the page, and see the first two pages of designs. Then the site
stopped sending anything. I closed my browser and tried again. No luck. Tried again this time with internet explorer
instead of firefox. Still, no response from your site's hosting server. couldn't connect. Now, maybe it's my own ISP
(comcast) holding things up, but I'll bet, since other sites loaded quickly enough, that your hosting service has too
low a bandwidth. The pages which did load also seemed somewhat less that speedy in doing so. That could be either the
size of your files, or again, your hosting service. About the only other thing I had time to notice was that if you're
trying to sell things, you might make things like price more visible. Never saw a price listed next to any of the
designs, even when clicked to bring up more detail. So far, though I didn't see more than the first few pages and could
be wrong, all I saw was a showcase site, not an e-commerce one. If you've got an e-commerce site in mind(you want to
sell your earrings, not just show them), then you may wish to include things like the price, and shopping cart icons
easily available along with the images. A whole seperate page for a price list might have been there (didn't get that
far into the site), but that's making people work harder to buy your work. As to the earrings, I won't comment too
much. Nice colors, and I'm sure they'll sell well, if your prices are reasonable and you can market them successfully..
Personally, I'm not so drawn to whole lines of earrings that basically only string various interesting beads on wire.
But that's just me. I'm a jeweler who works metal to a greater degree than just bending wire around, so I've got a bit
of a bias about the simpler methods your work requires. That doesn't, of course, invalidate your work, and I'm sure it
will sell OK. I just can't say I'm terribly excited or inspired... And I'm sure you already know that with this level
of technology in your work, you've got a LOT of competition from commercial producers, as well as a lot of hobbyists and
just slightly more than hobbyist level jewelers. If you can elevate the technical and aesthetic sophistication of your
work a bit, you could do more to create a line of work that would have some more in the way of a personal identity
(yours), rather than being just one more of a large pack of jewelry producers buying fun and inexpensive glass or
semiprecious beads, and hanging them, in some form or another, from pretty commercial looking plain ear wires... Again,
the problem with doing this is simply that you've got so very much competition, from beginner level craftspeople, all
the way to the mass manufacturers in asia producing costume level jewelry in very large quantities for pennies per
earring pair. If you can compete with these folks, my hats off to ya. Otherwise, I'd suggest finding a way to make
your work more unique, so it stands out from the crowd. Usually this means you'll have to make more of the work than
just the wires connecting commercially purchased parts, and it may require you to do a bit more metalsmithing too... My
two cents. Use it if useful to you. Otherwise, ignore... :-) Peter Rowe[/quote:984daea7d2]
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View entire thread: I just had a site set up for my earrings
Posted by Peter W.. Rowe, on Mon Jul 10, 2006 4:29 AM Post subject: Re: I just had a site set up for my earrings
On Sun, 09 Jul 2006 20:10:19 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry gamenutt@comcast.net wrote: [quote:b0bbebab31]I just had a
site set up for my earrings so wanted to know what ppl thought of them..get some feedback ya know! Heres the link:
http://www.thevickiespot.com thx in advance :) [/quote:b0bbebab31] Well, to start with, you may wish to use a
different hosting service. I managed, when I first clicked your link, to load the page, and see the first two pages of
designs. Then the site stopped sending anything. I closed my browser and tried again. No luck. Tried again this time
with internet explorer instead of firefox. Still, no response from your site's hosting server. couldn't connect. Now,
maybe it's my own ISP (comcast) holding things up, but I'll bet, since other sites loaded quickly enough, that your
hosting service has too low a bandwidth. The pages which did load also seemed somewhat less that speedy in doing so.
That could be either the size of your files, or again, your hosting service. About the only other thing I had time to
notice was that if you're trying to sell things, you might make things like price more visible. Never saw a price
listed next to any of the designs, even when clicked to bring up more detail. So far, though I didn't see more than the
first few pages and could be wrong, all I saw was a showcase site, not an e-commerce one. If you've got an e-commerce
site in mind(you want to sell your earrings, not just show them), then you may wish to include things like the price,
and shopping cart icons easily available along with the images. A whole seperate page for a price list might have been
there (didn't get that far into the site), but that's making people work harder to buy your work. As to the earrings, I
won't comment too much. Nice colors, and I'm sure they'll sell well, if your prices are reasonable and you can market
them successfully.. Personally, I'm not so drawn to whole lines of earrings that basically only string various
interesting beads on wire. But that's just me. I'm a jeweler who works metal to a greater degree than just bending
wire around, so I've got a bit of a bias about the simpler methods your work requires. That doesn't, of course,
invalidate your work, and I'm sure it will sell OK. I just can't say I'm terribly excited or inspired... And I'm sure
you already know that with this level of technology in your work, you've got a LOT of competition from commercial
producers, as well as a lot of hobbyists and just slightly more than hobbyist level jewelers. If you can elevate the
technical and aesthetic sophistication of your work a bit, you could do more to create a line of work that would have
some more in the way of a personal identity (yours), rather than being just one more of a large pack of jewelry
producers buying fun and inexpensive glass or semiprecious beads, and hanging them, in some form or another, from pretty
commercial looking plain ear wires... Again, the problem with doing this is simply that you've got so very much
competition, from beginner level craftspeople, all the way to the mass manufacturers in asia producing costume level
jewelry in very large quantities for pennies per earring pair. If you can compete with these folks, my hats off to
ya. Otherwise, I'd suggest finding a way to make your work more unique, so it stands out from the crowd. Usually this
means you'll have to make more of the work than just the wires connecting commercially purchased parts, and it may
require you to do a bit more metalsmithing too... My two cents. Use it if useful to you. Otherwise, ignore... :-)
Peter Rowe
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View entire thread: Changing tastes - natural gems vs. dyed
Posted by Kalera Stratton on Mon Sep 18, 2006 3:41 AM Post subject: Re: Changing tastes - natural gems vs. dyed
Patti wrote: [quote:2b64a57e68]I used to be really snobby about the semiprecious beads I used. I wouldn't use any that
were dyed or irridated or stabilized or whatever it is they do to them. Then, they came out with those amazing colors in
"Jade" - aqua, purple, lavender, fuschia, orange, which are really glass. Gem dealers say that they are dyed
white jade, but the prices are too low to be real jade (maybe serpentine?). But, the colors fill a place in the
spectrum which was lacking before, so I'm designing with them and being very honest about what they are. I also like the
stuff which gem dealers are passing off as "bamboo coral", which is really dyed bamboo since there is no such
thing as "bamboo coral." It's hard to find a true red in natural gems. After I explained all this to one of my
customers, she said, "If they are beautiful, I don't care what they are." How does everyone feel about this?
Do you use these or not? Patti www.pattiwhiteley.com [/quote:2b64a57e68] As more of a buyer of jewelry than a maker of
jewelry, I am only snobbish where wear is concerned... as long as the materials are correctly identified, and they do
not pose what I consider a "weak link" in a piece's wearability (like base metal crimps or jump rings) then I
am not too concerned about how high-profile they sound.
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View entire thread: Changing tastes - natural gems vs. dyed
Posted by Kathy on Sun Sep 17, 2006 3:02 PM Post subject: Re: Changing tastes - natural gems vs. dyed
Patti, I agree with your customer. If everyone is honest about what the materials are and the dye does not come off, I
see nothing wrong in using something beautiful, whatever it's composition. KathyH "Patti"
<DichroArtist@aol.com> wrote in message news:1158256816.334822.247220@i42g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
[quote:0e54cf2bf4]I used to be really snobby about the semiprecious beads I used. I wouldn't use any that were dyed or
irridated or stabilized or whatever it is they do to them. Then, they came out with those amazing colors in
"Jade" - aqua, purple, lavender, fuschia, orange, which are really glass. Gem dealers say that they are dyed
white jade, but the prices are too low to be real jade (maybe serpentine?). But, the colors fill a place in the
spectrum which was lacking before, so I'm designing with them and being very honest about what they are. I also like the
stuff which gem dealers are passing off as "bamboo coral", which is really dyed bamboo since there is no such
thing as "bamboo coral." It's hard to find a true red in natural gems. After I explained all this to one of my
customers, she said, "If they are beautiful, I don't care what they are." How does everyone feel about this?
Do you use these or not? Patti www.pattiwhiteley.com [/quote:0e54cf2bf4]
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View entire thread: Changing tastes - natural gems vs. dyed
Posted by Patti on Thu Sep 14, 2006 7:00 PM Post subject: Changing tastes - natural gems vs. dyed
I used to be really snobby about the semiprecious beads I used. I wouldn't use any that were dyed or irridated or
stabilized or whatever it is they do to them. Then, they came out with those amazing colors in "Jade" - aqua,
purple, lavender, fuschia, orange, which are really glass. Gem dealers say that they are dyed white jade, but the prices
are too low to be real jade (maybe serpentine?). But, the colors fill a place in the spectrum which was lacking before,
so I'm designing with them and being very honest about what they are. I also like the stuff which gem dealers are
passing off as "bamboo coral", which is really dyed bamboo since there is no such thing as "bamboo
coral." It's hard to find a true red in natural gems. After I explained all this to one of my customers, she said,
"If they are beautiful, I don't care what they are." How does everyone feel about this? Do you use these or
not? Patti www.pattiwhiteley.com
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View entire thread: When, and how, did YOU start beading?
Posted by Patti on Thu Sep 14, 2006 2:35 PM Post subject: Re: When, and how, did YOU start beading?
I started beading in 1990. My hobby at that time was photography. I had been working as a floral designer when I came
down with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (none of the doctors knew what it was) and was on disability for awhile because I
couldn't walk. I decided I needed something artistic to do that I could work on when I felt well and not work on when I
had to stay in bed. About this time I got an invitation to do an art fair with my photography. I did several art fairs,
beads were just starting to appear in my area, there was one bead store near us. I bought some beads to make earrings
while I was in my booth waiting for people to buy my photography. People started to buy my earrings instead and I took
the money I made from that and started a jewelry design business. I started attending bead society meetings and made
several good friends who are also beaders. I've gone to many large bead shows - Bead & Button and the Gathering
(International Society of Glass Beadmakers) with my bead sisters. In 1995 I saw dichroic glass for the first time and
went out to the Embellishment show (old name for Bead and Button) in Portland, OR to take a class with Donna Milliron. I
saved up and bought a kiln and added fused dichroic glass to my repetoire. I tend to do intricate strung designs (I hate
the term "simple stringing") using semiprecious beads and dichroic glass. I prefer to make my own patterns
rather than bead weaving. I do art/craft shows. I work part time at our local library and teach beading at some of the
nine libraries we have in our system. Since I live close to NYC, I am able to shop in the bead districts in the city,
which is great fun. Patti www.pattiwhiteley.com
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