another edition of why I love my customers

Welcome to another edition of why I love my customers! When I started selling jewelry nearly four years ago, I never imagined that I would end up doing so much custom work and that it would be such a rewarding experience. I've had many great customer orders the past four years. This most recent order was no exception.

 
This customer is a teacher, and she wanted a set of jewelry in her school's colors. Do you remember this charm bracelet? I still have a bunch of those maroon buttons, which worked out perfectly for this order. I love the addition of the gray, silver, black, and white.

I created a second set that I now have listed in my shop. Sometimes I get stuck in a rut with the color combinations for a certain line in my shop without even realizing. I keep creating new versions with those same combinations without taking the time to experiment with something new. Getting the inspiration for a new button set was much needed.

This was also a great excuse to make a new set of button dangle earrings. I have never been able to keep these in stock for very long because they are so popular. I'm determined to have a whole bunch of new pairs ready for my fall shows this year.

This past year I started branching out with my photography because I felt like my product photography was stagnating, and I really needed to mix up the routine. I am thrilled to report that all of my photography work elsewhere has improved my product photography. I am really happy with some of these new shots and feel like they're at a new level from what I was shooting even a few months ago.

Have you been working on any neat custom orders recently?

Bead Trends March magazine feature

My second Bead Trends feature for 2012 is up and running!  I'm so excited that I can say that.  If you missed my post about my February feature, check it out right here.

As always, I got my two free copies of the magazine.

I also got another $20 gift certificate.  Believe it or not, I haven't spent any of these yet.  I need to make some online soon to do a big bead shopping spree at Fire Mountain.  For anyone wondering, I already checked with the site about using multiple gift certificates for a single order, and you can use 5 at one time.

I was pleased see with the feature that they actually photographed my whole item instead of just taking a couple artistic shots of it.  Anyone interested in making this project will have a decent shot at it.  They also clearly didn't have any better idea than I did how to capture this color palette very accurately.

This piece is now available right here in my Etsy shop.

I have revisited different variations of this color combination a few times over the years.  I'm sure that I'm not done with it yet.  These first two pieces are available in my shop.  Click on the photos to go to the listings.

In the comment section of my last Bead Trends feature post, Edi shared a great tip about submitting ideas to magazines:
Magazines are generally looking for ideas 3-6 months ahead of the current trends and season.  When you submit ideas, you should be in this mind frame, too.
Thanks Edi!

Any other tips about magazine submissions?  Share them in the comments!

I am included this post in Michelle's Delicately Constructed Friday - 3/9/2012.

Bead Trends February magazine feature

I have the privilege of starting 2012 with two features in Bead Trends magazine!  I am especially honored because Bead Trends is featuring a lot beadweaving in 2012.  Some of you may remember that I had my first feature with the magazine this time last year.  They were apparently impressed enough that they remembered my work and contacted me to see if I had any new designs to submit.  I sent about eight ideas to them, two of which they picked for early 2012 issues.  Talk about an ego boost!

Bead Trends featured artists always receive two free copies of the magazine.

I'll be honest: I don't love their featured photos.  The lighting and props are good, but the photos are very artsy.  That's fine for a feature that doesn't include a tutorial.  However, theoretically people should be able to make their own versions of these pieces based on the photos and written directions.  The photos make this process tough because they don't do a great job showing the pieces in their entirety.  However, the photos are still high quality, and it's always interesting to see how other people will photograph your work.  Hopefully my written directions are enough to get people there.

You don't receive any money for being featured, but you do get a $20 gift certificate to Fire Mountain Gems.  That's even better, right?  They definitely know what will appeal to their artists.

 

This piece is now available right here in my Etsy shop.

I really love this color combination.  It's a very unique neutral.  I used a similar palette for these earrings.  I also used a similar palette for my piece that will be featured in the March 2012 issue.  It includes one of Kristie's ceramic donuts.  I'll have more information about that when it's released.

For those of you who have also had magazine or similar features, do you have any advice for those who are interested in getting started with this pursuit?

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Looking for older articles?  Click here!

Where I linked up today:

new listing, new web site

I listed a new button charm bracelet last night: Button Charm Bracelet - Maroon and White.

 I created this design in honor of my grandpa who has been a professor at Texas A&M for 25+ years.  The Texas A&M colors are maroon and white.  This listing already has 2 hearts!  I got both of them within half an hour of listing it.

I'm in the process of creating my own web site.  I bought a domain name through SoopSee (because it's about as cheap as anything else I've seen), and I'm waiting for them to activate it so I can use it with the site (it can take up to 72 hours).  Otherwise I have most of it set up.  I'll let you know how it all goes and if the site results in anything.  A lot of people seem to have success with having their own domain and a web site separate from Etsy.  I'm not crazy about SoopSee so far.  I know that it's still pretty new, and I'm willing to give it some time, mostly because I'm not sure where else to turn at this point.  I'm honestly not very impressed with most of the online options for web pages anymore.  There used to be a lot of free options that provided neat pages for those not interested in pursuing something professionally.  I created web sites through such sites 10 years ago that looked better than most of the free templates that I've seen recently.  Now everything costs a lot of money.  I'm just frustrated by the whole process.  It seems like it should be easier to do this than it is.

I've also thought about putting the domain name with this blog instead and customizing it with more tabs and whatnot so that I could provide more access to Etsy and my other web presence (Facebook, Twitter, etc.).  I don't love Blogger either, but at least it is free. Then I would just be paying to host my domain name and not also run a web site.

Any thoughts on this whole process would be appreciated!