you don’t know your poor if you’ve never been rich…

okay, well that’s not entirely true. but you get my meaning. my friends are telling me that, though they’re still making the same amount of money, they’re can’t afford as much as they could before. since money has always been tight in our house, we can afford as much as we could before. and that ain’t a lot ;-)

but that got me thinking. i’ve been thinking about the expense of my materials, the cost of my most favoritist line (Bonhomie Charms) and weighed that all against what i’m trying to achieve. you might ask, “well, what are you trying to achieve?” i know that you might ask that question because i asked the same question! *grin* i’m not trying to get rich. yes, i am trying to contribute to the financial care of my household but what i’d really like is to provide meaningful jewelry. jewelry that is unique and makes the wearer feel special. i want to provide jewelry that is treasured. and with that revelation, i made a decision:

HUGE cut in prices. seriously. we may not have any money but we should all be able to have something special ;-) 

so head over to Bonhomie Charms and check out the new and improved prices! you also might notice that i made a few minor changes to the site and added something new (not brand new, just new to the site. but brand new is coming soon!)

then come back and tell me, if you had enough money to purchase one item that you knew would have meaning to you for the rest of your life, what would it be? and no, it doesn’t have to be a piece of my jewelry :-D

Waiting for my heart to start beating again.........

So. It's done. I've raised the prices in my Etsy shop. My palms are sweating - I can't even begin to describe how anxious I am but it had to be done. Before you go thinking I've developed some sort of huge ego, let me explain.........

In true "Kirstie" fashion, when I decided to go from hobbyist to artist, I did not plan carefully. I did not do my research. I just jumped in headfirst. Without a lifejacket. Needless to say, my pricing 'system' was a disaster. I wasn't accounting for the price of materials. I wasn't paying myself a dime. And I wasn't valuing my skills. Friends and family tried to tell me that my prices were too low but I was afraid. So my prices stayed 'as is' and every new piece was priced based on the prices I already had.

But now I'm ready to take my jewelry business to the next level. I love what I do and I want to do it full time. I want to contribute to my household. I want to make a difference for my family. I spent some time looking at other jewelry artists who are achieving various levels of success and determined where I want to be. I made some hard comparisons between my work and the work of those "successful" artists (in quotes because we all define it differently) who's genre I felt is similar to mine and I took notes - where do I fall short? what do I do better? And I also gave some serious contemplation to the notion of 'perceived value'. Believe me, this was not a quick and easy process - that's why you hadn't heard from me in so long! So here's what I've come up with:

• my prices were not an accurate representation of my work's value;


• I need to be proactive in the promotion of my work;


• I need to find my niche and stick with it (it's SO MUCH FUN learning new techniques but I have to accept that it's not all 'me'; the pieces that sell the most are the designs that come from my heart & soul);


• in keeping with the above statement, I need to let go of some of the lines that didn't necessarily work even if it means fewer items for sale; and


• I've found that the artists I keep going back to, who's work so impresses me, are the ones I know something about so..........my blog won't always focus on "look what I did! look what I made!" Sometimes you might log on a read about my disaster of a day, something sweet my husband did or the hilarious statements that come out of my son's mouth. In other words, this blog will be me :-D

After saying all that, I realize that you guys haven't recently seen my reason for doing all this. Here's a pic of me, my husband Dana and my son Aidan - we took a quick trip to Cape Cod this summer to meet up with my sister and her family. This was Aidan's first 'beach vacation' and we had an awesome time!

So, I'll keep you updated - on my jewelry and my life! Until next time..........

Time, talent and money.......

I've been doing quite a bit of work on spinner rings, lately. I'd like to say it's because I've had tons of orders but I can't. I have had more than usual but certainly not any kind of record! Nope, I've been doing a lot of work on spinner rings because I've had to remake - in some way or another - each spinner ring that's been ordered!! They're a bit tricky for me and I greatly appreciate all the advice and assistance I've gotten from Tammy over at Tammy's Treasure Chest! HUGE help!

Is it odd for me to admit that? The fact that I don't get it 100% perfect right off the bat? I don't think it's odd. I think it's honest. If you want to 'know' my jewelry then you have to 'know' me, too right? So here are my thoughts.

First, let me state that my pricing doesn't really include an 'hourly wage'. Many jewelers use a pricing equation to determine retail & wholesale prices. Something along the lines of:

rate x time + supplies x 3.

For the life of me, I couldn't come up with an acceptable 'hourly rate'. Many of my 'contemporaries' are trained and have been doing this for some time. What might take them 10 minutes may take me 1 hour. Certainly not fair to my customers. So I spent a bit of time looking at other's pricing and product, took at look at my supply cost and..........well, guessed. I'm not going to lie. I do make a profit. Aside from personal gratification, why else would I do this :-) But I certainly don't pay myself as would a master jeweler. (By the way, there's a really interesting discussion going on over in the Etsy forums about pricing.)

So getting back to admitting mistakes. I want happy customers. If I customer has a problem with a piece I've created for them, I want to make it right. I'll redo sizing, finish, what have you. But I'd rather there be less of a chance that anyone will have a problem in the first place! If I look at a piece - not just a spinner ring but ANY of my pieces - and I don't like the way it's come out, I'm not going to send it to my customer. It may take a bit more time and a bit more supplies - neither of which I'm compensated for, obviously - but I'll redo it until it's right. No use buying anything from me if it's garbage, right?

So if you've ordered something from me and it takes me the entire two week turn around time for me to get it to you, you can bet that I've made and remade your piece. You won't find that kind of dedication at your local Bloomingdales ;-) Hopefully my effort is appreciated - I certainly appreciate my customers!!