Etsy Rolls On

Yesterday, I sold another bead on Etsy. It is a slow process to build up a customer base but I think I could get used to selling a bead or two every once in awhile. The bead I sold had been listed awhile and was one of my favorite ones. In fact I had made a necklace out of similar ones back in the summer as a gift to a very special friend for feeding my very special pets when I was in Oregon at the very special bead show in Portland. I think I will make some more of these type beads maybe in a different shape. This bead sold to a different Etsy customer/seller than the first three items. That pleases me. Maybe it wasn't a fluke.

My daughter's very special boyfriend Brian, has expressed some concern that I am selling them too cheap and not making a profit. My DH has the same concern. I think I am ok for now. Yes, I am not getting rich quick. I am loving every minute of the journey and learning as I go. Yes, I think my beads are worth more than money and sometimes it is very hard to part with them. But it is a necessary evil in order to make more beads. My daughter feels that I have something in common with the TV show "The Hoarders". I am trying to prove her wrong, although my mother and I do have that tendency in common. What good would a whole house full of beads do anyone?

It would be wonderful someday to command the prices that I see sometimes on the web for my work. I realize that will take time, practice and a very good reputation. I am willing to work for it.

What did we do before the Internet?

Today, thinking it might be my last snow day this week, I wanted to concentrate on trying to get some half way decent pictures. I read two reference books this morning, printed out two tutortials took 35 more pictures and tried to edit them to the best of my ability. Still not the pictures that I desired. This definitely is not the camera. I used my daughter's Cannon EOS Rebel XTI for the pictures. I then took a break and was reading some web pages from a bead artist by the name of Julie Nordine. She has a blog that had a post that shared some of her tips on bead photography. She shared where she got these tips and I read those sites also. Maggie and I both learned from this. We made the changes to the settings on the camera and I took more pictures made some more changes and took more pictures. I had to do very little in the software program to make the pictures absolutely sparkle. Now they accurately depict the beads, flaws and all. That really makes you pause. But that is really what is best if you are selling something on the internet. I want the buyer to actually see the item for what it is, HANDMADE.

These beads are not cranked out of a machine in china. They are hand crafted one by one in with a single torch on a mandrel and then put into a kiln, cleaned by me and inspected by me. The tips that Julie shared were not major changes but just enough to make the big difference. I am consistently amazed at the sharing of knowledge that occurs within this community of artists, they share freely, they teach each other, they exchange product when needed and treasure each others friendship. I have been involved in other artistic endeavors but never have I seen or experienced a group of people like this. It is wonderful.

The pictures above all have been posted prior to today on etsy, facebook or in this blog. I my opinion they are so much better than the first attempts. I got so excited that I didn't even miss not making beads tonight. It will make me a better artist just knowing that I can present a accurate depiction of my work for sale.