Pennsic XLI

Every year I try to go to the big annual event held by the Society for Creative Anachronism and I've just returned.  I didn't take any pictures this year, partially out of laziness and partially out of repetition.  People come from all over the world and hold competitions, display their Medieval style art, sell an amazing variety of things, eat, drink and socialize.

This is a rather miserable picture taken at the opening ceremonies several years ago.  Did I mention that over 10,000 people participate at some point or other in the two week event, not including staff.  The campsite stretches over 2 miles.  We camp in groups defined by geography and friendship.  My group has at times been as large as 100 campers but is now down to about 60.

 One of the many reasons to go is for the shopping.  There are products specific to Medieval reenactment that you just can't find anywhere else.  Some of the shops are really great too.  These are not permanent structures.  They are assembled on trailer bases and disassembled afterward and packed up for the next year.

 Most merchants sell their wares out of tents and this is entirely appropriate for the time.  The event is modeled on a war.  The primary purpose is actually to see whether the East or the Middle or the Allies will win the martial competitions.  The reason for the vendors, classes and restaurants (called taverns) is to support the war effort.

Becoming a vendor is a complex process.  Primarily, you will be given a spot if you were there last year.  A few new merchants are accepted every year and that's why I'm writing.  It doesn't matter if you sell handforged Damascus steel blades or electric toothbrushes, these observations might help.

First - go where they want you.  If you've been a vendor at a show before and it worked out for you, go back!

Sell what they want!  Every show has its own market and how well you fit into it will determine whether you will be successful.  At this one, artisans who handcraft authentic items using period techniques are favored.  Artisans who create historic type items using modern techniques also get a bit of a boost.  There are plenty of people who sell T shirts and bumper stickers but if that's all you're planning on selling you're not likely to win one of the coveted new merchant spots.

Have plenty of inventory!  You will not make any sales and you may not be asked back if you don't have enough inventory to cover the length of the event.

Have help!  Everyone has to eat and answer nature's call.  You are open a given number of hours and if you aren't there you will not do well.

Sweeten the pot!  One of the most popular shopping days is Wednesday's Midnight Madness.  The merchants start packing up Friday and Wednesday night stay open late to decrease the amount of stuff they're going to have to cart home.  Some (the popular ones) offer special deals.  Hours will be determined by the show but you can have special coupons for returning customers or on your Facebook page.

Make people want to look for you next year!  You've got the most awesome items the show has ever seen but returning customer coupons and careful customer service will make people remember you.  Every year I shop based on my memories of the previous year.  The merchant who carefully wrapped my pottery and gave me a nice, reuseable, WATERPROOF shopping bag will be my friend next year.

Finally, don't forget to enjoy it!

Thank You Notes

I've been streamlining shipping lately and am skimping where I shouldn't be.  Namely, the thank you note.  Ideally, it should be an individually written card lovingly enclosed and packaged with the order.  It should thank the customer, remind them who they're shopping with, and encourage them to come back.

I'm of two minds.  I truly believe in my deepest of hearts that most of my customers toss them.  I've seen a couple board posts with people lamenting the waste of paper and packaging on simple orders.  I can't skimp on packaging - all it takes is one order arriving damaged and needing to be replaced and I'm in the red.  Promotion is a different story.  We've all got business cards and enclose them in each order.  Even with returning customers.  I keep business cards in a file on my desk with notes on them as to what I bought and if anything happened but I'm not sure anyone else is this compulsive.

Where does the thank you note fall in?  Again, this is something I have sent but stopped when I started seeing that the same people who I sent them to complained about wasteful shipping.  At the same time, I just received one from a large supplier I placed a wholesale order with and I'm rethinking the whole thing.  It was individually printed, customized to what I ordered, tasteful and shared what they did that made them different from the other places I might have gone.  There was an individual's name (first and last), their phone number (not 800 but we're all on one-price unlimited calling anyway) and an invitation to call for any reason at all.  When I read it I was struck by the thought that someone actually cared.  I was planning on doing business with this company again anyway because they have great prices and their product arrived in good condition, exactly as advertised and promptly.  I confess that the thank you note I received is tipping me more in their favor.  It was a wholesale order.  I'm a small fish in a big pond.  A person with a last name gave me their phone number if I'd like to discuss my order.  I'm impressed.

What does this mean to me as a small business owner?  I'm going to enclose a thank you card again.  I have them, I might as well use them.  The ten seconds it takes me to write one out is priceless.  Please let me know if you find this offensive or tedious.  I will flog an idea to death.  If you disagree I want to hear about it!

If you've stumbled upon something that your customers find extra special, please share it with me so I can steal the idea.

My Hot Tip of the Day

Sometimes a custom order requires frit that just isn't available.  This means I have to make it myself, a process that leaves me cursing with tiny bits of glass flying all over the studio that Joe finds with bare feet.  I just found the best way ever to make frit without investing in a special machine.

I blew bubbles of the desired colors in the proportions I wanted then popped them in a deep saucepan and crushed them with a hammer UNDER WATER!  No glass flying all over the place.  Most of the water poured right off and the little bit that was left was easily boiled away.  Nearly instant frit!

Note that I used the saucepan Joe made rice in that had been burned so badly I had to use pumice to scour out the carbonized remains so I couldn't hurt the pan any more than it had been already.  I wouldn't suggest trying it with something good.

Here is a picture of my test bead - no pictures of the process, since I can't trust Joe with a camera

Moving In Part 2

Today is a bit of a bittersweet post.  My new studio is all set up.  Here it is

The only fly in the ointment is that the thermocouple on the kiln was damaged during the move and I had to order a new one.  It will come next week and I can wait until then but I'm not a happy camper.  Imagine the scene.  I've spent the day scrubbing and toiling with the reward of a couple precious hours of torch time.  I fire up the kiln and commence to dip mandrels.  Nothing happens and that dreaded tcL message appears on the display.  I knew what to look for this time and it didn't take long to find the problem.

Dragonjools had written a post about it here
http://dragonjools.blogspot.com/2012/04/kiln-troubleshooting.html
and it was a quick and ready reference I was grateful for.

I still made a few beads and cooled them in the annealing bubble I use for demos.  Small beads for my own use that I won't care if they break.  I've got more of the glass I used to make them and will be able to if they don't hold up.  I just had to make something.  More glassy posts when the part arrives.

My First Week

 My first week of unemployment has been a busy one.  I've concentrated on my lampworking and have made a bit of progress on that front.  I've started making watermelon slice beads again as they have been popular in the past and are proving to be so again as everyone looks to warmer weather.

I'm expanding a bit into non-lampwork jewery.  It's a saturated market but it's nice to be able to offer a range of prices rather than all labor-intensive lampwork.  It's also nice to have something I can work on late at night when the noise of the torch and dremel tool would keep the neighbors awake.

Time on my Hands

Having just lost my day job I find myself with a lot of time on my hands.  I'll say right off the bat that I feel horrible but I'm determined not to let that paralyze me.  I'm devoting more time in the "studio" and building my lampwork connections.  I feel creative and am very happy with the beads I've been creating.

The above is a little gift to myself.  I made a working hourglass and wired it into a pendant.  It's more of a secondglass and it's lopsided, but as a first effort I'm loving it.  My sister came up with the idea and it's a good one.  If I could come up with a way to get the glass as thin as it needs to be and symmetrical I could offer these on Etsy.  As it is, I'm going to wear it with pride and thanks to Ruth.

I've got 24 hours in a day just like everyone else.  I choose to use them doing what will make me happy.  I will not waste them in negative emotions.

One Thing Leads to Another

I've been oh, so slowly working my way through Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party and at the rate I'm going may finish by Thanksgiving.  For a link to my bead soup reveal click here.

Making jewelry was such a challenge and such a rush, I felt compelled to keep it up and have been working on some new pieces I'd like to share.

 This necklace was created at the request of a friend and will be auctioned to benefit the local humane society.  I used a set of matching lentils and spacers I had and made some more spacers, added a few copper accent beads and joined it all together with a simple leaf clasp.

 This bracelet uses one of my tabular focals and some lampwork spacers in black and silvered ivory that I combined with pewter findings, black glass rounds and a cool pewter snake toggle.  It's a drama piece but I love the way it turned out.  It is currently in my Etsy shop here.

I'm having so much fun I've got more in the works.  I'm trying out another asymmetrical design using beads I made with CiM African Gray and DH Psyche, some iris black pearl coins, gunmetal and miscellaneous bits and bobs I've got.  I'll confess I've got this idea in my mind but am having trouble getting it together.  I need something to lighten up the colors visually, or do I?  More to follow, I'm sure as I work this one out.

Looking at Your Listings as a Buyer Would

I have never had the oppurtunity to look at my Etsy page with a shopper until today, and what an eye-opener it was.  I now realize why it's so hard to sell my beads.  Below is my primary picture.  I felt this showed how pretty each bead was best.  She asked me what they were and how they were used.

 I then had her click the view below and immediately, she got it.  "oooh...I want a pair of earrings in these colors, showing me which ones on the picture.

I've tried very hard to photograph my beads as accurately and attractively as possible, but as a seller.  I'm thinking of how the colors and texture and clarity come out and she's thinking how do I use this?  I'm going to start changing a few things in the way I photograph and props.  She knows what she wants, I have to show her what I have in a way she'll find it.  It was an aha! moment in a dreadful day and the little light it lit was more precious than rubies. 

At my day job we don't have problems, we have oppurtunities.  Personally I think this is a bit of risible spin doctoring but in this case, I see my oppurtunity and I'm going to see where it takes me.

Here's a picture of the finished earrings.  I hope they are what she had in mind...

What's New?

These are the beads I sent my bead soup partner, Hilary Frye.  Sadly, and embarassingly,  the rust colored leaves wound up being unstable.  The rest arrived in good shape and I can't wait to see what she does.

 I listed this little brown jug on Etsy a day or two ago and heard it was (very briefly) on the front page.  I didn't even get to see it, it was gone that fast. 

 I love working with Effetre mosaic green even though it's both gloppy and sparky and hates being marvered.  The color is just too cool.  Grass green pastel is a (sort of) close approximation but the shade is a little different.  Here's the listing for my black and green set.

 I made this tiny, wee, little acorn earring pair just for fun.  I used Cim Maple, and boy, is it a pain to photograph.  I think it's a little less amber and a little more green, but any changes in my picture I tried just made the color less like the original.

 I was running low on gas (now I'm out) so I decided to keep it small for this set.  The middle beads on the bottom are encased but the rest aren't.

I have a lot more new, but not a lot of space to go on about it.  With no gas for the torch, I'm concentrating on other tasks I've let slide.  I have some polymer clay beads to do the bench work on and turn into earrings, a pair of bog shoes to make for Joe, some sewing I did at Pennsic to reinforce and, oh yeah, I should get on some of the routine things I've been neglecting.

New Beads at Last!

I've been working like mad in my "studio" and have felt like I'm just treading water, so it is with great pleasure that I am sharing the newest beads I've listed on my Etsy site.I've been gravitating toward simpler color combinations and red and black is one that has always attracted me.  I love the intensity of this red, Effetre dark red.  With white or ivory it washes out to a fire engine red and with black it deepens to a bit of a burgundy, almost like it's picking up some of the color it's with but it's nice and saturated at the same time.  For a look at the listing click here

With this set of leaves, I was going for simplicity and complexity at the same time.  At the most basic, they're just black and white.  What makes them interesting to me is  the contrast of milky and metallic and shaped leaves and plain spacers.  To see more views please check out my listing

I love the sparkle on these.  I based the beads on blue aventurine filigrana and for the focal put on an opposing wrap of goldstone and encased the whole thing in another layer of clear.  It reminds me of stardust.  This is the listing for these beads

Finally, I've been thinking of this one for a bit.  It's a warm bottle brown wrapped in handblown silvered ivory shards.  A simple, warm brown for fall.  Here's the listing for this vessel

Please check out my new additions and the other lampwork in my shop.  I've decided to continue my 20% off sale with free domestic shipping through the summer because we all like a bargain.

Giveaway!

If you'd like to win these lampwork beads, made by yours truly, go to my Facebook fan page, like me, and leave a link or way to contact you on the "I wan't some beads!" topic under the discussion tab.  After I receive 20 entrants or on July 30, I will draw a winner of this lovely set of beads

I'm also running a special sale in my Etsy shop.  I'm offering free shipping for all US orders and reduced shipping to Canada and elsewhere.  In addition, everything in my sale section is at least 20% off.  I've added new items, like

My Crystal Flowers bracelet

 and my Black Veil lampwork set

and this cute Candy Corn earring pair.

Check it out and take advantage of the savings!

Carl's Bracelet

My friend at work asked me to make him a bracelet to commemorate his time in Viet Nam.  He served as a radio man during the Viet Nam War and the one thing that kept him going during that painful time was hope.  If you read the bracelet from the clasp counterclockwise, it spells "hope" in Morse code.  How cool is this?!

Another friend had sent him a similar bracelet, but it was delicate and feminine and he gave it to his wife.  What he wanted was a manly equivalent he could wear as a reminder.  I hope this does it.  I asked him what color he wanted or style and he said blue and plain.  To him, it's the message that matters rather than the embellishment.  I couldn't resist either the sentiment or the challenge.

When I select a gift for a family member, I try to pick out something that says who they are and who I am and I put a lot into the selection.  Don't get me wrong, I've given my share of ivory sweaters in my time, but I really try to find the perfect gift if I can.  Carl isn't family but because the sentiment is too cool and out of the respect I feel for how he served our country I owe it to him to do the best I can.  I hope this does it.  It's simple and manly and I checked the fit on Joe to make sure a man can wear it without cutting off circulation to his hand.

Here's to a good man and a good thought!  Cheers!

Facebook Giveaway

I'm having a giveaway on my Facebook fan page Fire in Ice Lampwork.  If you'd like to win this set of beads

please like my page and leave a link under my discussion tab "I want some beads!"  Once I've got 20 entries I'll randomly pick a winner.

New Beads

 I've been making and listing lots of new beads, and here are a few.  My Summer Meadow set pictured above is newest on Etsy here

 or you may fancy my Peacock beads

 If blue's your thing, these Deep Water beads might be right up your alley

 or a quick visit to a tropical beach with Tropic Sands beads.

Finally, the above set of Seashell beads sold but I couldn't help posting them anyway because I am so thrilled how they turned out.

I've got these beads and more in my shop, and with my coupon freeship1 for free shipping and my expanded SALE section there's a little something for everyone!

Product Review: Planet Glass Universal Bead Release

When I started lampworking, a bottle of Fusion Products bead release came with the kit and that was what I used for a while.  It worked well, and suited my needs because I hadn't tried anything else.  Once in a while, I would marver a little too vigorously and the bead would come loose and I'd have to be finished whatever I was doing.  That was when I remembered someone talking about this blue "dip and go" stuff that was so much better.  Nothing I looked at was blue, but there was a product from Milliron Tools called Dip-n-Go Sludge that seemed to fit the bill.  It worked very well and suddenly, flakes of bead release on the beads and having to quit real quick weren't a problem anymore.  It comes in a wide-mouth jar and is a bit of a pain to mix but is smooth, consistant and reliable.  Then a jar of Planet Glass' bead release came with some glass I bought and I had to give it a try.

 I'd like to note the shape of the bottle.  Long and narrow is a good thing.  When it comes to using it, though, there are one or 2 little issues.  Dipping the mandrels results in uneven coverage so often I've taken to dipping them twice.  Also, flame drying this much bead release results in a bit of flaking, which I'm not at all comfortable with.  Assuming that I have the foresight to dip ahead of time and am careful, I have mandrels dipped in release.  It works well.  I didn't have any separation or flaking off when using and the beads are cleaned in a fraction of the time it takes with my standard Dip-n-Go.

Short and squat results in a lot of product that is just sitting on the far and not the mandrels, and I have to combine almost done jars to get enough to use.  It flame dries beautifully and doesn't come loose.  For cleaning either.  I often have to keep scrubbing.

Would I buy Universal Bead Release?  Probably not.  I like my standby, even though I wish they'd come out with a different package.  That uneven coverage thing and having to dip mandrels more than once is a drag.

'Tis Better to Light a Candle than Curse the Darkness

 Yesterday was beautiful, sunny and just the right temperature.  It was, in short, the perfect day to take pictures of the beads I've got piling up for listing.  By the time I got home from the day job, it was too late to do anything more ambitious than make dinner and catch up on my down time.  I did not take advantage of the fading light to photograph anything.

 Today dawned hazy and, indeed, while I was slogging off to the bank and grocery store, errands that needed to be done if I wanted the cats to let me back in, there were even a few brief moments of hazy sun.  This was not destined to last and as I put the last can of cat food away, the sun went behind a cloud for good.

 I was forced to decide whether to list these with pictures taken with artificial light, not showing their best, or wait until the sun reappeared and hope I was at home when it did.  This deep transparent purple vessel actually doesn't look too bad.  It looks a bit better in sunlight, of course, because it is transparent and artificial light doesn't show this well but if I have to use these pictures I could.

 This vessel, made with CiM Sangre, is not going up until I can get a decent picture.  The one on my hand isn't bad but it's nowhere near as red as it is in real life.

 This one isn't as good.  I had to use a lot of editing stuff, and it looks it.  The others I took aren't even this good...

So is it better to light a candle or curse the dark?  Not sure.  I'll light a candle anyway but still curse.

Sweet Summer Dreams

One of the things I like most about summer is that all-too-brief respite from the daily toil and strife known as vacation.  I'm actually taking one this year, and to celebrate, I've created a special sale section of my Etsy shop.  click here to see it

My little cutie above is in it and more.  All prices are reduced 10-25% and will return to normal when I get back.  I will be putting the shop in vacation mode from a few days before until I get back, and I'm leaving my coupon codes "bonus1" for an additional 10% off and "freeship1" for free shipping active, so the oppurtunity for saving is very great indeed.

Here are some of the other beads and jewelry items I've discounted:

 My Earth bracelet

 My Leaf necklace

 My Sea Lentils bead set

 My Some Like it Hot earrings

and my matching Some Like it Hot necklace

These are only a small number of the items on sale, so check it out!