Bead Buying Tips

Lots of people are buying beads these days—to create jewelry for themselves, jewelry to re-sell, or for craft projects of various types. I’ve been buying beads from a wide variety of sources for over 20 years, so I thought I might pass on some buying tips.

The number of bead stores, both brick-and-mortar and online, has exploded in recent times, along with great information in online articles, books, and magazines (Bead & Button, BeadStyle, Stringing, BeadUnique, Ornament, Lapidary Journal). Let’s look at a number of buying contexts and see what might be useful to consider.

Buying beads online or by mail-order:

If you’re buying beads online or by mail-order, you don’t have the advantage of seeing and handling the actual beads. This does make it a little more difficult to determine the quality, so we’ll talk about that a little later. In any case, be sure to read the descriptions carefully so you know the size of the beads (online and catalogue photos may not be the actual size). It’s good to note also details such as what the beads are made of, where they are from, whether they’re dyed, how large the holes are, etc.

If you’re not already familiar with the company you’re ordering from (or the type of beads you’re choosing), it’s a good idea to start with a smaller order to make sure you like their beads, their shipping and packing, and their customer service.

Also, many places have a minimum order amount; sometimes you can order even less and just pay a small fee for going under the minimum. If you are buying to make items to re-sell, be sure to contact the company and see what their wholesale arrangements are for discounts; they may involve a larger minimum purchase. Usually, you are then asked to provide your tax number.

Remember that beads are often fairly heavy (especially glass and stone), so try to be patient and request the ground shipping to save money. Another way to save when doing these kinds of orders is to look into the company’s policy on assortment. Sometimes beads in a particular category can be “assorted” for discount. This means you may be able to select different colors or sizes if you want more variety, as opposed to bulk buying, and still take advantage of the bulk discounts. Some companies have discounts according to assortment based on total number of items purchased. In this case, it’s great to choose a number of small inexpensive items, such as crimps, jump rings, etc., to increase your numbers so you can get the more costly beads at a good price.

Always keep a copy of your order, even if you do it by phone, so you can check it against the package when it arrives. Now, back to the question of quality. When you check in your order, look for broken or chipped beads, beads with the holes drilled off center, or even beads that are just disappointing to you in terms of color, size, regularity, etc. Most companies have some sort of return policy. On the other hand, don’t be afraid to order beads from “bargain boxes” and the like with the idea that you can cull a few bad ones and still have a great deal on price. Also, beads that don’t seem as attractive as you imagined or aren’t the color you thought they’d be might actually turn out to be just right when used with other beads in your collection.

Buying beads from bead stores:

The most straightforward way to buy beads is from a bead store. This is a good option for beginners because you can see the beads and ask questions of the salespeople. You can see a lot of different kinds of beads on display all together and get a sense of what you are most interested in. Some stores have working areas and tools so that you can create some jewelry on the spot with some assistance. Many bead stores offer classes or short workshops.

Retail prices in bead stores tend to be higher than mail-order or online, but that isn’t always the case. Watch for specials. Occasionally, retail bead stores will sell to you wholesale if you are buying within a minimum price and they have quantities available.

Another advantage of buying in a bead store is that the store may carry small quantities of unusual handmade or vintage beads or beads made by a local artisan. If the store is in your town, drop by often and get to know the owners; tell them what kinds of beads you’re looking for so that you can find out when they become available.

If you don’t have a bead store in your town but you travel from time to time, always check the yellow pages (or the Internet) for the place you’re staying to see if there is a bead store there. Even on a busy business trip, there may be a quick stop to pick up some interesting beads in a boutique near where you’re lunching!

Buying beads at a bead show:

One of the best ways for jewelry designers to buy a number of interesting beads and findings in one trip is to attend a bead show. A variety of organizations (for example, International Gem & Jewelry, Inc.) put on shows, usually in large exhibition halls, once or twice a year. You can find announcements for these shows as advertisements in bead magazines and online. They are not often held in small towns, but a bead show is such fun that it’s worth making the drive (see my earlier article about our trip to the show in Collinsville, Illinois (http://www.handmadespark.com/blog/bead-show-road-trip/). Some of the shows, such as the wonderful Milwaukee show for Bead&Button, include classes and workshops as well as the sales events.

Individual bead companies also hold what they call “trunk shows” in hotel meeting rooms. These can be good opportunities to get bargains from a reliable company, to see the beads in person, and to buy beads that aren’t offered in their regular catalogue because of small quantities. Or they can be an excuse for some businesses to try to get rid of their leftovers. So use some caution on these one-vendor events.

Ahead of time, find out where the show is being held, the parking arrangements, the show hours, the number of vendors (sometimes vendor names are available too, which is helpful for shows you’ve attended in prior years), and the admission fees. Many organizations send out discounts or free admissions if you have attended the show before. Occasionally, vendors you have shopped with send out admission cards as well.

If you want to buy wholesale, be sure to bring your tax number with you (the actual paper form itself is sometimes requested). Many shows have a separate area (or a large exhibition hall of its own) specifically set aside for wholesale vendors. These are usually well worth checking out–even though you may also find good beads and good deals in the retail room too (if you aren’t too exhausted by then to do another room!).

Bring a sturdy tote (the ones with wheels are the best!) for carrying your purchases around. A water bottle is a good idea too, although most shows have some concession areas with snacks. A big show can be exhausting, so remember to rest periodically and allow yourself enough time to visit the booths you’re interested in. Some of the shows feature non-bead items such as finished jewelry, cut gems, fossils, geodes, etc. You may even find handbags, scarves, perfume, sheets, and imported curios for sale!

Bring some cash because not all vendors take credit cards, and it’s quicker for small purchases. It’s a good idea to bring a pad and pen and keep track of your purchase totals as you go so that you don’t spend over your pre-set limit (if you set one!). Believe me, at a big show, overspending is so easy to do! Also, keep all your receipts for your tax records. If you have a tax number, you won’t be charged sales tax for your purchases.

So now that you’re at the show, where should you go first? It might be the wholesale room or just the booths closest to the entrance (or restrooms). Or, if you’re been there before or have ordered from vendors listed on the show program, be sure to check out their booths early on before you spend all your money. Otherwise, you can just start anywhere and move in one direction so you walk past all the booths in a given area. If there is a type of bead you’re not looking for on that trip, you can save time by skipping the booths that sell one kind only (all pearls, all stone, all crystal, etc.), although many vendors offer a variety of items.

What should you buy? Bead shows are great for finding new and unusual beads of all sorts. But remember that they are also a good source for findings, wire, chain, tools, and even display equipment. One thing that you shouldn’t overlook is the importance of what I call “trim beads,” i.e., small glass or stone rounds, rice pearls, tiny crystal bicones, bead caps, spacers, colorful rondels, and seed beads of all sizes. Often these trim beads can be acquired at great bargain prices at bead shows, usually by digging into big plastic bins or at the ends of the tables where they are piled high in a motley bunch.

If you’re looking for a particular type of bead, crystals for example, look around and do a little comparison price observation before buying many strands. Check the quality as well; this is a big plus for shows—where you can handle the beads and see if there are scratches or chips; see if any finishes (such as AB, aurora borealis) are applied evenly and if the faceting is regular.

This may be unfair, but I usually avoid the stone strands that are tied together with bright thin cotton thread because these sometimes are a sign of beads that have been drilled by hand from two sides instead of straight through. They will string on thin wire or cord, but they may not all work on headpins. The drilling done in Hong Kong has been more reliable, in my experience, than that from India.

At shows the pricing arrangements can vary quite a bit: some vendors tag each item, but others have to be asked the price for each one (I hate that). Sometimes the items are tagged but there is a “X% off” sign on the table. Most beads are sold in strands (the standard is 16 inches long), but some more expensive items are sold individually, such as pendants, carved beads, antique items, etc. Many vendors allow a price break for multiple strands. So if you already have picked out 10 and the price for a dozen is good, that’s a great excuse to choose two more strands! It’s usually worthwhile to ask for a discount if you have chosen a lot of beads; not everyone is willing to bargain, but many are!

As always when getting beads from any source, keep your eyes open for beads that match or complement other beads in your collection. Often I find that new beads allow me to use older beads in a new way. You may find shapes that are different from those you already have. It’s a good chance to get small stone rounds to match the larger shaped stone beads you bought previously. Of course, stone types vary a lot, but if you have a good idea for color and pattern, you can usually find something appropriate.

You might even make a list (or just a mental one maybe) of what you’re looking for in terms of filling in gaps in your collection or just beads you want for a particular design project you have in mind. But shows will change and they will surprise you! Some of the same vendors return every year, but not all, and new ones appear. Some shows on a given year seem to have a lot of bone or pearls or crystals, but not at other times. New kinds of beads and bead-related items keep appearing at shows, so keep your eyes open!

Buying beads from recycled jewelry:

Sometimes good beads and interesting design elements can be retrieved from finished jewelry that is for sale at garage and estate sales, flea markets, thrift stores, or antique shops. A piece may have only a few beads in it that you’d want to re-use, but if the price is low enough, it may be worth it to buy the piece and take it apart. Check carefully for signs of wear and damage, however.

There’s an easy way to tell whether a string of rounds is made of plastic or glass—check the weight! Glass is always heavier. Recycled ethnic jewelry can be a good source for small wood trim or beads made from natural materials such as coconut, tree seeds, or betelnut. Crystal necklaces that are quite old may provide beads with vintage types of faceting that are not available in new beads. Watch for interesting imported beads from past periods, such as the glass beads from occupied Japan with the colorful patterning or vintage Czech or German glass in pastel opaque colors.

If you enjoyed this article, please leave a comment and tell me where you like buying beads. And pass on any tips you may have! Also, please check out my Etsy shop at http://www.beadedjewelrybysusan.etsy.com to see what I actually do with some of the many beads I buy!

~Susan Campanini

Here’s the dreamed of scenario for any Etsy seller: log on and open your e-mail and lo and behold, there is an Etsy Transaction notification! So. . . What happens next?

Well, it may be a little different depending on the seller, the product, and so on. So I’ll have to shift now to my own limited experience with sales on Beaded Jewelry by Susan. First, I have to tell my husband David:

“David, guess what?”
“What?”
“We just got an Etsy sale!!!”
“That’s great!. Are you going to feed the cats now?”
“Soon.”

Okay, the next step is to see if there is a PayPal payment notification e-mail. If not, I frown and worry a bit and then send off an e-mail (and a convo, just to be sure) to the buyer with instructions about how to re-access the Purchases page and click on the Button for PayPal payment to go through. I also send a “convo” as we call it on Etsy, using their Conversation messenging system. (For additional tips about convos, please see this Handmade Spark post from Febuary.)

Sometimes it seems that buyers do not understand that the checkout for Etsy is a two-stage process: they need to click on the PayPal button. For my shop, I only accept PayPal. I do just two local shows per year and my online sales don’t happen very often [yet, she said—full of hope], so I don’t accept credit cards directly because the companies charge fees every month. However, customers can pay for any of my jewelry using PayPal or the credit cards that PayPal accepts.

Etsy buyers do not have to be PayPal members in order to make a purchase. PayPal does not require them to set up an account to purchase from my Etsy store. They can simply make the payment using their own credit card, and PayPal acts as a go-between.

If there is notification, I smile and send an e-mail and a convo to the buyer. So what’s in the e-mail? First of all, I always include a thank you for purchasing the jewelry (name the item) at my shop (name my shop) and express the wish that the buyer will enjoy wearing it as much as I enjoyed designing it.

Then I tell the person when I will be shipping the item. I usually also ask if he or she would leave feedback on the shop site after receiving the package. I always include the URLs for my shop and my blog.

Next I print out the Etsy transaction e-mail and check to see if the address is the same on the PayPal e-mail. If the addresses don’t match up, I e-mail the buyer again to verify where to ship). Printing out the transaction page gives me a paper copy to use for addressing the mailing package, a place to write a few personal words of thanks, and a copy of the shipping address to enclose inside the mailer in case of postal damage.

I go to my Etsy shop and click on “Sold,” and then I add a quick feedback note of thanks to the buyer, maybe including an “Appreciation Photo” of some more jewelry the buyer might like or maybe a picture of me. If I have time, I might do a quick Twitter note exclaiming about having a sale!

Next I head for my inventory of jewelry and hunt down the lucky item for the lucky buyer and prepare it for mailing, including a business card of course, and lots of bubble wrap. I remember to put a return address label on the mailer and to include the e-mail printout inside with the shipping address. All of my jewelry is shipped without cost to the buyer. I do that partly because I don’t like to pay for shipping when I shop online. But of course that is a personal choice of each seller.

Then we make a trip (sometimes, I admit, a little later in the day when we’re going out anyway to grocery shop or something like that) to the local post office, just a handful of blocks north in downtown Urbana, where David reminds the postal clerk not to put the package through the machine and mash it!

I follow-up with an e-mail letting the buyer know that I have mailed the package. And finally: I can walk around all day (at least) with that warm glow of knowing that something I’ve created has been shared, is probably going to be enjoyed, and has even been paid for! Yeah!

~Susan Campanini

The answer to this question might well be of interest to Etsy sellers whose craft is designing with beaded materials, to Etsy buyers who wonder what’s involved in the creation of the jewelry they purchase, or to other crafters who design with various components in other media.

Some years ago at a local craft fair, while his wife looked over my beaded jewelry displays, the husband asked me if I made the beads myself. I explained that I did not—because I was mainly interested in collecting beads in a wide range of materials and types and then combining them in designs of my own creation. That was the “fun part” for me. He replied in a dismissive tone, “So, you just assemble them then.”

Well, in a way, he was right, although his phrase sounds kind of harsh. Of course, an architect and the builders “just assemble” beautiful houses, public buildings, and other structures from materials such as wood and metal. I guess it’s always a challenge to appreciate what goes into doing something you’ve never tried yourself. Many times, I’ve heard people at fairs say, “Those are really pretty. Of course, if I had time, I could just make them myself.”

I’ve been collecting beads and designing jewelry for two decades. During that time, the craft has exploded in terms of interest and in terms of availability of materials, books, and classes. There are so many beaders now! And it does look easy. In fact, the fundamentals of stringing, wire bending, and so on are fairly easy to understand; they do take some practice, however.

But not all beaded jewelry is equally appealing. Why is that? Partly, I suppose, it’s a matter of taste and personal preference. But I’ve seen photos of projects in magazines and bead company catalogues that looked weird, awkward, impractical for everyday wear, or just too “handmade.” I happen to think that design has something to do with it.

There are some basic design elements that apply in many crafted creations, such as color, shape, size and scale, material, pattern, texture, function, and style. I’d like to describe and illustrate their role in designing attractive, eye-catching beaded jewelry.

Designing necklaces and, to some extent, bracelets can involve a wider set of considerations than designing earrings, partly because of the possibility of multiple strands, pendant centers, variety of clasps, and so on. I hope to talk about this interesting and complex kind of design in a later article. But let’s start with something that really does seem to be simple: designing beaded earrings.

The easiest place to start is with beads that are strung on a metal headpin. You begin by selecting the beads you’re going to use and adding them to the headpin. The process ends with a loop formed at the top and attachment to an earwire. (Never make the loop before you set up both earrings and have a good long look at your design!) For earrings, the design is limited somewhat by the number of beads and by the length and weight of the earring that hangs from a human ear.

To achieve balance in the design, it’s best to select a single focal bead that serves as the main element around which the earring design is built. Depending on that focal bead, you can decide what elements of trim or accent to add to enhance it in some way. It may also determine the color, size, and material of the other beads that you choose to include. Color is, of course, an important element in design.

Using a secondary bead that fails to either match or contrast with the dominant color (if there is one) in the focal bead produces earrings with the same effect as wearing a red plaid blouse with a pink flowered skirt. In fact, one skill that good designers develop over time is the ability to recognize color compatibility in beads (not to mention the ability to locate said beads in their storage boxes!). I very much enjoy this aspect of design and have even offered a “color match challenge” on my Etsy site for those who wish to send in a photo of an outfit that needs earrings to go with it.

What if the bead is more than one color? Sometimes a multicolored focal bead can present a good opportunity to use seed beads, spacers, or small rondels in various of the central bead’s colors to pull the elements of the earring together, to give the design coherence. Often, a perfect color match—say a sparkling crystal in exactly the same shade of blue as a lovely lampwork glass focal bead—is just what the design requires. But a contrast may also be useful, for example, framing a highly patterned stone bead with small jet glass rounds to set it off without detracting from the focus on its intricate pattern. With a really striking central bead of any type (or a truly unusual color), you may want to trim with something clear or neutral for the same reasons.

The role of metal beads, spacers, tiny rounds, and other accents can be an important part of the design and is affected by color as well. For a gold foil bead, for example, you don’t want to use silverplated spacers. Consider balance: enough metal to set off the focal bead, but not so much as to detract from it. Of course, your focal bead may well be metal, such as an intricately decorated silver ball in the Balinese style, so the secondary bead(s) may be the only color in the earrings.

Texture is another design feature. Some beads have smooth surfaces, but there may also be texture in the sense of marbling, patterning, threads of matrix, etc. as in some stones. Or there may be texture because of colors or shapes that have been embedded in lampwork glass, for instance, or in polymer clay beads. Of course, beads may also have a texture that you can actually feel on the surface, such as raised wire cloisonne; carved bone, wood, or stone; burnt wood or horn; soldered silver; raised glass dots; faceting in crystal and stone; or you can visually appreciate a surface enhanced by reflective effects with silver or gold foil, pearlized coatings, or AB (aurora borealis) finishes. And some beads have very colorful patterns on the bead’s surface that function as texture. The point is to enhance rather than detract from this texture, to use secondary beads and trim that are compatible with the texture of the focal bead.

When it comes to the type of materials to combine in an earring design, I personally like to feel free to explore a wide range. Sure, you can top a poppy jasper oval with a spacer and a small poppy jasper round. No problem, and very classic in design. But maybe you’d want to try some hematite in the mix as well. You can mix them up—to a certain degree.

You might use crystal with stone, pearls with glass, tiny wood rounds with slender stone tubes. But you probably wouldn’t want to use a patterned stone and a floral cloisonne bead together (back to the plaid blouse and the floral skirt). Also, some ethnic beads are naturally irregular and sort of funky in a way that precise machine-cut crystal or exactly cylindrical delica glass seed beads just aren’t.

The mix of materials also takes into account the weight of the final earring. With a big heavy stone, the trim just can’t weigh a ton. Everything you add increases the length, too, so that’s part of the design decision. The scale of the earring as a whole is important too. If the scale of the earring is meant to be dainty and delicate, don’t overpower your intricate filigree silver round with a 12-mm stone topping.

Mixing beads of different sizes can be quite interesting in a design. I like to use the thinner (.025 inch) headpins so that size 11 and 10 seed beads will fit on the wire. They can be great for picking up colors, separating other trim beads, and providing a finished look to the ends. Watch out to keep things in balance and, again, consider length and weight when using especially large beads of heavy materials. Cloisonne and silver and gold enamel beads, wood, horn, and polymer clay are all relatively lightweight. Stone, glass, and porcelain are heavier. But the size of the bead helps determine the weight. A very slender oval of stone may be lighter in weight than a large glass round, for example.

Mixing shapes is another feature of design that can make a big difference. Yes, you can do a design with three rounds, hanging hinged below one another, dangling from the earwire loop on different lengths of headpin, or separated by spacers. But sometimes you need to contrast shapes. In addition to rounds of all sizes, you can choose beads that are flattened (rondels), drops, squares, ovals, hexagons, octagons, rectangles, tubes, cylinders, bicones, diamonds, triangles, donuts, or irregular chips or nuggets.

The shape of the focal bead may also affect the kind of technique you use for completing the design. Framing is an important and useful technique for many designs in beaded earrings. It involves repeating the same series of trim beads at both ends of the focal bead. As it turns out, focal beads that are flat on the bottom (such as rectangles, squares, etc.) look much more “balanced” when they are framed. On the other hand, framing isn’t usually as attractive with drop-shaped focal beads; in that case, top trim is the direction to go.

Hinging, attaching another bead on its own headpin by joining the two loops, is a technique that sometimes depends on shape as well. If the dangle that is intended to move gracefully with motions of the head is too heavy, the effect is spoiled. Whether the larger of two elements is below or above the hinge changes the design, too, and both are possible, but usually the elements are of contrasting shapes (e.g., a round glass pearl dangling below a smaller bicone crystal or a silver arrow that is light and slender dangling below a turquoise oval).

Function is a design consideration as well. Even though earrings are jewelry and therefore ornamental in a tradition going back to Stone Age tribes, they are used in a wide range of particular contexts in modern times. Earrings are worn on an everyday basis, and you may want to design some that are perfect for wearing with jeans and a T-shirt but others that draw attention to that elegant dress at a special party. You may be designing earrings for a girl’s first party, her mom’s presentation at the office, her grandma’s favorite family getogether, a bride’s wedding, or as a gift for an unknown someone. So think about the function and the context in making decisions about the materials, weight, length, style, and overall effect of the earrings.

What are your thoughts on the role of design in creating beaded jewelry? What’s design got to do with it anyway!

To see lots more earring designs, check out my Etsy shop at http://www.beadedjewelrybysusan.etsy.com.

Many countries make and export beads these days, and it isn’t always easy to tell the provenance of a common type of bead such as a colorful pressed glass round. But there are beads with distinctive themes or styles that suggest a culture or aesthetic that is interestingly ethnic. This article illustrates some beads of different kinds that all have an Asian look.

Cloisonne beads have a very distinctive Asian look, so let’s start there. Cloisonne is an ancient technique for decorating metal, including beads. How are cloisonne beads made?  Basically, wires are attached to a metal bead in order define compartments or cloisons (a French word). Then colored enamel powder made into a paste is painted into the partitions and the metal bead is fired in a kiln. The result is bright, glossy, permanent color and intricate detailed designs.

Sometimes the wires are flat on the surface of the metal bead, but in other styles the wires are raised. The metal beads themselves are lightweight and come in many sizes and shapes. Here are some vintage cloisonne beads in a shape that is rarely seen anymore.

Traditional cloisonne beads are usually made with gold-colored wires and include small and large rounds, ovals, diamond shapes, and so on. Here’s an assortment from my collection.

In addition to the term “cloisonne,” these kinds of light and colorful beads are sometimes called “Chinese enamel.” The gold-trimmed enamel beads are very colorful and have wonderful patterns.

Chinese enamel beads are also available in a silver finish, which is especially nice with shades of blue enamel.

Animal shapes are also popular in cloisonne because of the possibility of detailed design for the wings of butterflies, stripes on fish, and so on.

Enamel is also sometimes used as a decoration on beads of another material such as stone or dyed bone.

Another very ancient art associated with the Far East is the making of porcelain for jewelry, vases, and dinnerware. Porcelain is a ceramic material, usually including kaolin clay, that is heated at very high temperatures. As with cloisonne, striking designs and beautiful colors are possible. Many porcelain beads have a floral theme.

Blue and white porcelain, also called “blue and white wares,” is decorated under the glaze with a blue pigment, cobalt oxide. This style of porcelain has been made since the ninth century and is still popular with beads as well as many other beautiful objects.

Geometric designs are also common on porcelain beads. Here’s a sampling:

Many beads with an Asian flair have intricate carvings of symbols, characters, or scenes from the culture of the Far East. Lacquered wood is often used for this purpose. The red wood is sometimes called “cinnabar,” but true cinnabar, a mercury ore, is toxic and is no longer used for bead making. Bone is also carved gracefully, and so is stone of various types, such as pale green and dark brown serpentine.

Some beads bear actual words in Chinese characters or various well-known symbols for longevity or the union of male and female, Ying and Yang. Both porcelain and enamel beads carry these themes.

Metal coins and charms may also have an Eastern look and can be used in jewelry alone or in combination with beads.

Here are some examples of how Asian-style beads can be used in a variety of classic and lovely earring designs. For more examples, please visit my Etsy shop site at http://www.beadedjewelrybysusan.etsy.com.

What are your favorite kinds of Asian-style beads? If you enjoy my articles, please leave a comment. I love reading them!

There’s an old saying: “If what you’re doing works, keep doing it!”. But what if it doesn’t work or, at least, doesn’t seem to be working as well as you’d hoped? Quite a few of us with Etsy shops haven’t realized our goals yet, shall we say … What to do? Maybe it’s time to experiment, to try something a little different and see what happens. That’s what the business management guys call “thinking out of the box.” Can it be applied to Etsy?

Out of the Box #1: I knew I was having trouble drawing people to my Etsy shop. I knew also that my product, my beaded jewelry, wasn’t the problem. My earrings and necklaces are made of astonishingly beautiful beads of all kinds that I’ve amassed over twenty years of collecting (see my earlier Spark posts).

I have a good design eye and can put beads together into a pleasing piece of jewelry in a wide range of styles and materials. My prices are affordable and fair; the shipping is free.

My jewelry sells great at face-to-face art fairs and craft shows. I often get heartwarming remarks from repeat customers: “These turned out to be my favorite earrings; I wear them all the time” or “I wore those dressy crystal earrings I got from you to a dinner party over the holidays and got so many compliments.” As you yourselves know, that kind of comment can make your day … or your week.

The policy section seemed okay, the profile, the banner, etc. I had lots of items available (around three hundred). So … what was missing to catch people’s attention? Well, my photos were okay but nothing special, nothing different to catch the eye. They showed the jewelry, but were they interesting? Maybe not.

Also, I kept having too little time to re-take the photos or crop them. Too little time to tweet when I did a new listing.

So one day my friend Eleanore Brown of Etsy shop Ebrown2503, maker of fabulous fiber beads, e-mailed to say she had an idea.

We met for lunch to talk it over. It was a bit out of the box … of course. Collaboration?! Can you do that on Etsy? Well, why not? She was going to be spending a lot of time tending the flower garden she shares with her uncle. She likes taking photos and tweeting.

We decided to give the collaboration idea a try. So now the jewelry is being rephotographed as it comes up for renewal (and new pieces too, of course) by Eleanore in her garden, with charming blooms offering up their interesting and eye-catching backgrounds to the gleaming beads.

Out of the Box #2: I think that talking with Etsy friends is a great way to brainstorm, even when you’re not really trying to. Again, Eleanore and I were chatting about this and that – how much she enjoys making fiber beads, how much I love designing beaded jewelry, what is involved in the creative process, and so on. We were sitting in my bead studio at the time.

She complimented me at the amazing breadth of my bead collection. Then she asked about how I could do such great color matching in the earring designs.

Well, I wasn’t sure how exactly, but I told her I thought I had a good color memory – that I could look at a bead of a particular color and remember where I had another bead that matched.

Then I told Eleanore that, at craft shows, I had often noticed an interestingly colored outfit that someone was wearing as she came into my booth and would say, “Hey, I have a pair of earrings here that would go great with your outfit.” And it would prove true; I’d take them off the display stand and hold them up next to her and it would be a terrific match. Sometimes this even resulted in a sale!

Then there was the time that my friend Cindy had come to visit, wearing a lovely new tapestry jacket with an interesting and unusual color scheme. The dominant color was one that’s hard to define – some would call it burgundy, wine-red (like the “wine-red sea” refrain in Homer), pomegranate, perhaps; or maybe bing cherry; or just maroon, or even just dark red.

I remembered the color somehow, and later on, when I was sending her Christmas gift, I included a pair of earrings I’d made in exactly that color and in the style she preferred – medium length and weight, classic design, not too dressy for wearing everyday in the classroom (she’s an English teacher).

Eleanore looked a bit surprised and then started to grin. “You know,” she said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that kind of thing offered on an Etsy shop … or anywhere else for that matter.” I asked her what she meant and she suggested that I offer to color match outfits for people online from my Etsy shop. How would it work? They could send me a digital photo of the blouse, dress, jacket, or whatever by convo. They’d give me some indication of what style they liked — long, medium, or short; dainty or bold; classic or funky – and whether they preferred a particular material like stone, glass, crystal, or bone. Then I’d make a pair of earrings and send the photo back to them. I’ve just put a brief explanation “Take the Color Match Challenge” in my shop announcement.

Outcomes of thinking out of the box on Etsy:

What are the outcomes of thinking out of the box like this on Etsy? I have no idea. These two experiments are in the very beginning stages. I’d love to hear comments and suggestions from Spark readers and hope you’ll drop by my shop at http://www.beadedjewelrybysusan.etsy.com to see the new garden photos as they are listed!

Last weekend was the time for the annual University of Illinois Mom’s Day Craft Fair in the Illini Union on the campus at Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. Beaded Jewelry by Susan has been participating in this event for nearly twenty years. If you’ve read my prior Handmade Spark article called “The Big Transition,” you know that we’ve retired from doing outdoor craft fairs but plan to continue with the indoor shows on campus in the spring and late fall.

I want to do two things in this article: tell you about our experience at this year’s fair and offer some tips on doing craft shows for those of you who are considering entering one this year.

Of course, all arts and crafts fairs, indoors or outdoors, have different requirements and guidelines for application. For many, the forms need to be turned in quite a few months in advance. Be sure to keep a record of which fairs you’ve applied for, with all the pertinent information about dates, locations, fees, and deadlines. In some cases, photographs, slides, or online images are required as well as written descriptions of your work.

The U of I Mom’s Day show is a bit of an exception to the rule in that it isn’t a juried show in which a panel of individuals determine who can be in the show. It’s open to anyone on a first-come first-served basis. Unfortunately, this means that not all of the “vendors” are artists who handcraft their items. Many of us have complained about the unfair competition from “buy-sell” vendors who simple purchase handcrafted items (usually at low prices from foreign sources) for resale. But each show has its own rules, and this one is run by the business school students for experience and to fund student activities.

All shows do require a “booth fee,” the money you pay (usually some time in advance) for a space to sell your work. Often, the space is 10 feet by 10 feet (the size of most standard craft tent setups), but it may also be less. At the U of I show, for example, the spaces are 9 feet by 9 feet and crowded a bit closely right up against each other. The amount of booth fees varies widely by show and by region. A small town show may only charge fifty bucks, but a major art show in a big city can costs hundreds. Sometimes there is also a small fee for the application itself or to cover the costs of the jurying process.

The advantage of an indoor show is that you don’t have to set up a tent, stake it, zip it up at night for two- or three-day shows, or deal with blistering sun, blustering wind, drenching rain, scary lightning and thunder, or numbing cold. Of course, many shows are held in summer, and the weather may actually be delightful – sunny, breezy, clear days when everybody wants to come out and go to an art show and bring their kids and dogs and listen to music and eat hot dogs and so on.

For us, the indoor advantages are important at this stage in our lives because we can sell from rented tables using lightweight display equipment, so the whole experience is much easier physically. Our earring displays, for example, fit neatly into cardboard apple boxes.
Most shows allow for at least two hours of set-up time. This show began at 10 o’clock, so we were there at 8:00 to unload the vehicle. So, once we had brought in the apple boxes and the plastic totes with the rest of the equipment, it was time to go park the car. This is an especially difficult task on the U of I campus, where many spaces are rented and many meters have a two-hour limit. We parked a long ways away and so it took us a long time to make the trek back to the show.

I put Indian bedspreads on the rented tables and add a topping of black felt as a base.

On one table, I set up a line of rotating earring displays with a small card in front of each one with the price. I think you’ll find that no matter how many signs indicating price you have in your booth, many people will still ask how much the items cost.

On another table, I included some more earring displays, a T-bar with pendants, a tote that was designated “the bargain box” (some folks just love to dip into something like that to hunt for half-price items), and my equipment for doing sales.

I use a sheet (on a clipboard with a pen attached) for recording the total price of each sale so that I can pay the sales tax myself — for the whole show (once a year in January, but it varies by state) — rather than carrying coins and having the customers pay the tax. It’s a nice little perk to be able to say, “No, it’s xxx dollars even; I pay the tax.”

I also keep a pouch with change. For a modest show like this one, I started with ten ones, two fives, and eight tens. That works well for me because most of my show items are priced at ten dollars. If you can’t take credit cards at shows (I don’t because I only do a few shows and the credit card companies usually charge per month all year as well as per purchase), you can take checks (be sure the phone and address are on the check), cash, or direct the person to the nearest ATM machine. For checks, it’s handy to have a laminated card with your name on it to hand to the person writing the check (especially if your last name is hard to spell).

I’ve got a purple ceramic cat that my mom made many years ago who serves as my “show mascot” and stands next to my sales equipment. I also keep two mirrors and a funny sign (“Your husband called and said to buy anything you want.”).

I keep the gray plastic hanging cards from my earring displays, so at each purchase I transfer the earrings to a black cardboard card (cut from posterboard) that fits into the plastic bag with my business card in the back. I always thank the customer and say something like, “Enjoy your earrings,” when I hand them the finished package. For necklace sales, I keep a pair of sharp, short, needle-nosed scissors for cutting off the tag, and I have larger bags.

When I did the Holiday Bazaar Show in the Illini Union (same sponsoring group) last December, I spent a lot of time putting out about eighty necklaces – some on black velvet necks and some lying (artfully) on the black felt of the third table. I didn’t sell any necklaces at all, and, of course, it took quite a bit of time to put them out and then later to put each one back in its bag, roll it up, and place it in a tote.

For this show, I was so tired from walking back from the parking space that I just put out a dozen or so of the necklaces (displayed on necks). Of course, one lady wanted to see necklaces and so I wound up showing her most of them in an awkward manner. She ended up buying one that was already out on a neck!

Because we were using tables rather than panels with display boards hanging on them (as we used to do), we didn’t have anywhere to attach lights, so we depended on the lighting in the room. It turned out to be adequate, but lighting is something to consider, depending on your display and the type of handmade craft you are selling.

It was pretty crowded at times in the room, so I wasn’t able to get around much and take photos of other booths, but I did take a picture of the woodworking booth next to us and the handbags across from us.

Selling at shows is thirsty work, especially indoors where the room air may be dry. It’s always a good idea to bring a water bottle, even to indoor shows, and for outdoor shows I always used to bring a washcloth as well as sun protection cream and a wide-rimmed hat. The sponsoring group here gave us vouchers to soft drinks for sale down the hall from the show, and my husband went down to the basement snack bar to get sandwiches at lunchtime.

One of the things I really like about this particular show is that there are so many mothers and daughters who come to it together. It’s funny to see them interact, notice how their noses or eyes or hair are similar, and so on. I like chatting with customers and helping them find what they are looking for. There are a LOT of jewelry booths at this fair and frequently people have bought a pendant, ring, or bracelet elsewhere and want to find matching earrings.

Sometimes people are looking for gifts for others who aren’t there and we wind up discussing what kind of colors they wear or whether they like long or short dangling earrings. My very favorite is the return customer, and many of them say such nice things about the compliments they’ve received on what they bought from me last year.

We were pretty exhausted by the time we finished the show, packed the car, unloaded the car at home, and drove to the Mexican restaurant to celebrate, but it was a good show overall and we were glad to have done it again this year. I hope this glimpse of my show last weekend helps you prepare for shows this season. Please feel free to comment and leave questions for me!

Every year, the International Gem and Jewelry Show, Inc. holds expositions all around the country. For many years, we made an annual trip to the exposition center in Rosemont, near Chicago’s O’Hare airport, braving the “terrifying Tri-State” highway traffic, excitedly purchasing numerous strands of beads of all kinds, and driving the three or four hours back home late at night, happy but exhausted.

On two occasions, we went all the way to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, staying over at a downtown hotel, to attend the Bead and Button Show. It was more than a “business trip” for Beaded Jewelry by Susan. It was a fun vacation as well and a chance to visit the fantastic new wing of the art museum there, not to mention the Italian restaurants.

The big shows were terrific. There are tons of beads from all over the world, lots of special artisan glass at Bead and Button, and cut gems, giant geodes, and finished jewelry at the Rosemont show. But the energy required for getting there and seeing everything at a huge show has been in short supply the past few years for us older folks. And yet the lust for new beads continues unabated, and mail-order helps, but it’s not the same as seeing and handling the beads you choose up close. So we’ve found a smaller show in the southwestern part of Illinois in the St. Louis area. It’s a three and half hour drive, but it’s pleasant and fairly easy compared to big city traffic.

This past weekend, the Gateway Center at Collinsville, Illinois was host to the gem show, and we were lucky enough to get a chance to attend. Our good friend Bob, who is interested in historical architecture in the old river towns near the Mississippi, drove us down for the day. He dropped us off at the exposition center, went exploring, and then picked us up at the end of the show, in time for a tasty dinner before heading back home to Champaign-Urbana. The road trip to the bead show took the whole of a beautiful, sunny spring day, and a great time was had by all.

We started off about nine o’clock, which is early for retired folks like us. Bob came by in his little red Toyota (non-recalled), and we headed first to downtown Urbana to fuel up for the trip.

The human energy fueling was accomplished at the Courier Café, a local restaurant that took up quarters in the building that used to house the Courier, the morning newspaper, back when this town had two papers.

After a hearty breakfast for husband David, friend Bob, and myself, we were ready to leave town and head south and then west.

The day was bright and cheerful, not too warm and not too cool. We watched for hawks at the tops of branches along the interstate and sighted several. The soybean fields and cornfields (major landscape features in Illinois) weren’t planted yet, of course, but the grass at the side of the pavement was already greening up, and some trees were starting to show some buds with color.

We arrived by one o’clock or so at the Gateway Center, where the exposition was being held. Bob went off to check out some of the local interest south and west of Collinsville, returning for us at six o’clock.

We had free admissions tickets as a result of being on a mailing list from last year’s show, and we showed our resale tax number so that we could buy from the “trade room” as well as the other booths. You get your hand stamped so you can go in and out as much as you want.

We headed first for the trade room, where wholesale beads are offered, and found some great deals on strands of sparkling colored crystal rondels and bags of silver-plated copper accent beads that make for great trim.

There’s a sort of inner lobby where many of the bead sellers display their wares.

It’s interesting to see the different ways that beads are displayed in these booths.

Sometimes the strands are hanging on racks of various sorts, draped over wave-like supports, piled in a big mass on tables, or arranged in boxes.

Inside the large main room, the center area was mostly taken up with glass cases of conventional finished jewelry, with bead sellers around the periphery of the room.

Each year there seems to be a slightly different emphasis in terms of what is available. Last year, for example, there were many booths devoted entirely to pearls. This year, we saw pearls mainly at booths that also were selling stone beads.

Previously, I had found a lot of foil glass and lampwork beads, but this time the cloisonne was on close-out and represented a great opportunity.

Crystal is even more popular than before. In stone beads, I saw a lot more big, chunky, irregular nuggets and not as many small rounds or faceted stone as I had last year.

There weren’t as many vendors for ornate silver beads, almost no vermeil, and not so many findings.

Of course, I buy lots of beads by mail-order, taking advantage of good photos on websites and detailed descriptions.

But the great thing about buying beads at shows is that you can check the beads on a strand pretty carefully, if you are patient and take the time, to make sure that there aren’t any damaged or imperfect beads. And you can see the colors and feel the weights.

Plus it’s fun to look at beads you probably aren’t going to buy (too expensive, not the style you usually design with, too large for earrings, etc.).

We always bring along a water bottle, even though there are vending machines and a snack bar at the show. It’s thirsty work choosing beads! Another necessity is the large, sturdy, wheeled bead shopping bag.

David takes breaks often and “guards” the goodies in the bag while I hunt for more. Checking out all the bead booths, spending your hard-earned bucks, and finding luscious and unique new beads is fabulous fun. But it is exhausting after a number of hours, so it’s good to take rest periods.

There are usually couches in the lobby for that purpose, but they may not always be available. That’s why it’s great if you can go on the Friday, as we did, rather than the busier Saturday or Sunday.

Besides, the earlier you go, the less the bead choices are picked over :)

At the end of the show, a tasty meal at a nearby Mexican restaurant is our reward.

Those high-back chairs are really comfortable!

And a rich creamy flan is a nice ending to an enchilada extravaganza!

The trip back in the dark always seems a bit longer and quieter than the trip out — with all of its scenery, energy for conversation (we solved several major domestic and international problems), and anticipation of the bead finds ahead. But it was pleasant and easy enough, despite a lot of trucks on the road Friday night.

Even though it was late when we got back in town, after we had fed the six cats (who really complained about two feedings instead of three today!), we had to look over the new beads.

I was delighted to have found some really interesting glass beads that are opaque with multicolor patterned markings.
I didn’t buy much stone this time because I already have so many stone beads! But I couldn’t resist a few of the new agates.

I really did stock up on cloisonne, both the traditional gold raised and the Chinese silver enamel in a variety of shapes – even fans and butterflies.

Maybe the most unusual beads I found this time were something that only one vendor was selling: glass beads, with rose designs embedded in them, that had been faceted like crystal.

I had a wonderful time! I think my husband and friend enjoyed themselves as well, but, of course, they aren’t bead maniacs like me … I had to order a new plastic storage unit (see my earlier articles about organizing and storing a bead collection) for the new purchases. And it took some time to cut the beads off the strands (or put crystals in small plastic bags) and store the new beads in their compartments.

But now I’m really looking forward to designing new jewelry with these beads! Watch for it on my etsy shop at http://www.beadedjewelrybysusan.etsy.com.

Hope you enjoyed reading about the bead show road trip. If you’ve been to bead shows yourself, drop me a comment and share your experiences and suggestions! Thanks!

Amethyst and Pearl Earrings

My Etsy’s Worth

For those of you readers who have recently opened an Etsy shop, what has your shop meant to you so far? Excitement, adventure, income, fame, fortune … frustration, effort, disappointment, anxiety? Maybe all of the above!

I know from comments in the Etsy forums that some folks are worried about views: How many potential buyers have viewed items in my shop? How many times, when, etc.

Others worry about various aspects of their shop’s overall appearance and information. Are my photos good enough? Are my descriptions enticing? Are my shipping policies adequate? Is my personal profile interesting? Does my banner look good? Is my avatar attractive?

Others yet spend time and concern with statistics, using programs to determine when people visit their shop, from where, and how often.

Many of us put time and effort into promotional activities of various sorts: posting in Facebook Fan Pages, using Twitter to tweet about new Etsy listings, writing blogs or featuring other sellers in your blog or being featured, participating in forum discussions, making or being in treasuries, and submitting items to social networking sites.

Naturally, all of us pay attention to sales. In my case, I’ve been making jewelry for twenty years, selling at regional art fairs. Last spring, I made the “big transition” (see my prior Handmade Spark article for the details!) from shows to online. I set up my Etsy shop on April 30, 2009.

So far, I’ve had 17 sales. There are a LOT of beaded jewelry sellers on Etsy, and it isn’t enough to design and create the jewelry, list it on Etsy, and then wait for buyers to find my shop. So I keep on keeping on … I promote the shop as time allows. I add new items and renew others. I take new photos. As of today, I remain optimistic and have listed more than 300 unique items in my shop and made efforts to improve my photos, tags, descriptions, etc.

But here’s the scoop: even though I’d love to reach more buyers and spread the joy with my creations and add some income from the Etsy experiment, I figure that I’ve already gotten my Etsy’s worth! What do I mean? Well …

Computer Confidence: For one thing, I’ve gotten some computer confidence I didn’t have before I started on Etsy. Let’s face it: not everyone alive today was born with a computer in the household. When I was born in 1945, there was radio, but not yet television. Long ago I told me stepson that we didn’t have TV when I was his age, and he asked if we were too poor. I told him, “We weren’t rich, for sure, but it was really because it hadn’t been invented yet.” His eyes opened wide in amazement as he said, “No TV! What did you do with yourselves?”

On the other hand, I’m not a complete computer novice either: academic work on a educational system connected to a mainframe in the seventies, early PCs in the eighties, word processing on a Mac in the nineties, and an Internet browser in more recent times. And, for the past six years, I’ve done my freelance editing in Microsoft Word (on an eight-year-old Dell at home) and sent off my work using e-mail.

And yet … I was reluctant to set up an Etsy shop because I thought my computer skills weren’t good enough. For years, literally, friends had been encouraging me to make my jewelry available online through E-bay. I’d even had Etsy suggestions. I kept hoping to find somebody who wanted to run an online version of the business for me. No luck.

Finally, last spring I decided to bite the bullet, so to speak. Wow! What a surprise to find out what a straightforward and easy interface the Etsy folks had provided for creating and maintaining a shop! I just followed the instructions … But what other computer challenges were to come as a result?

Etsy ushered in my real introduction to digital photography. The year before I started the shop, my mom gave me my first digital camera so I could take snapshots of family stuff to send her on e-mail. That was the sum total of my experience with digital cameras at that time. Thanks to Etsy, I now know I need a new camera with a better macro for jewelry close-ups. I know how to load pictures onto my computer from the camera and how to upload them to Etsy. I started a flickr account with photos of my bead studio. I learned how to use piknik to crop and expand my earlier smaller photos. I now upload photos to my blog and for the articles I write for Handmade Spark (except this one … all text ).

Yes, I also needed to learn how to use blogger to write a blog. I needed a Google account. I set up a Facebook page for the first time ever and a Facebook Fan Page. I learned how to get the “My Etsy” tab on the Fan Page to work right and how to get my “Etsy Mini” on my blog page! I learned how to use WordPress (kind of) to write these articles. I set up a Twitter account and started tweeting regularly; I put items up on Kaboodle and IndieSpotting. I learned how to read the forums, write convos, use PayPal, pay my Etsy bill, renew items, rearrange my shop by color at one point (hah!), and leave feedback for buyers!

The Joy of Writing: Although I’ve always liked writing and done a lot of different kinds of writing in my life and in my long teaching/editing career, there was always a limit on the freedom of the experience in a way: grades or evaluations, deadlines, payments, expectations, pressures, etc. I started writing Susan’s Blog as a way to promote my Etsy shop. Soon I started adding posts about my six cats, my flower gardening, my favorite reads in literary fiction, my family activities, my thoughts about this and that. And I love it! It’s so free. I can write about what I like, when I like. If somebody enjoys what I’ve shared, that’s great. If not, it’s okay too. It’s like putting a message in a bottle and sending it out into the ocean at sunset!

When Tim Adam started Handmade Spark and put up the notice about writers, I was thrilled. It’s been such fun writing these articles and sharing my craft experiences with all of you. Now I have focused Susan’s Blog more on other topics, with just a short post to direct my readers there to Handmade Spark if they are interested in Etsy and craft-related matters. I love getting comments (even though I was surprised to have “sparked” some controversy with one of my articles) and knowing that others are interested and finding something useful in what I can share.

Friendship and Community: I had been doing e-mail correspondence with friends for a number of years before I started with Etsy. But I hadn’t really experienced the online community concept. That was so great. Reading the forums from time to time and occasionally participating brought me closer to a whole community of people who love making things with their imagination, their skills, and their artistic senses. I met so many kind and helpful Etsians! Several people asked me to answer some questions as part of a feature on their blogs, even though I was a total “newbie” and didn’t even have a blog myself at the time!

I also had a chance to connect with some artists in my own locality. And, best of all, I made a wonderful new friend. Eleanore Brown (Etsy shop: Ebrown2503) makes fabulous fiber beads and is a librarian at my home library. The story goes like this: she bought a pair of earrings from me at an outdoor craft show just after I’d started the Etsy shop. Checking out my books one Saturday, I recognized my work on her ears and happened to mention my brand-new Etsy shop and how lacking in confidence I was about the whole endeavor. Well, there I was, face-to-face with an experienced Etsian as well as a warm and generous person. Since then, Eleanore has become a friend and a terrific source of support.

The Delight of Transactions: I’ve always enjoyed selling my work face-to-face. At the craft shows, I liked kibbitzing with the customers, telling people the story behind a certain bead, explaining how my husband built the display boards, talking about my cats, etc. And I was especially tickled by customers returning in subsequent years, people choosing my jewelry to give as a gift, buyers recounting compliments they’d received, and other really nice and personal aspects of retailing.

My main goal hasn’t really been to make a lot of money—but to do what I enjoy, to share it with others, and to pay for new beads! It turns out that, even if the total number of sales has been limited so far, my Etsy shop sales transactions have been a delight in their own way as well. A few of the sales were to friends and former craft show customers I knew already. One sale was to an old acquaintance I’d lost touch with, who found my shop by accident. And a couple of sales have been to total strangers far from my home region.

We all know so well what a kick it is to check your e-mail and find an Etsy Transaction Notification message!

So, as you can see, I have certainly gotten my Etsy’s worth in this first, short year online. I hope you enjoyed my story and will take a moment to have a look at my shop (http://www.beadedjewelrybysusan.etsy.com) and let me know what you think. Thanks!

When I first started making beaded jewelry, it was just for family gifts. I didn’t really intend to run a business, but I found myself making earrings like crazy. Pretty soon, there just weren’t enough ears in my family! The only way to justify and pay for my bead addiction was to share the fun by selling my creations. So, for nearly two decades, we did just that–at regional arts and crafts shows, mainly held outdoors in the summer.

There’s quite a bit of equipment involved if you want to do outdoor shows without collapsing from heat stroke or drowning in a torrent of rain (which sometimes happens anyway). Little by little, we upgraded homemade shelter and displays with professional gear: a zip-up tent with vinyl sides and back flap; steel panels that displayed foamcore boards (covered with velcro cloth for attaching jewelry cards with velcro on the back), a heavy table with some large display cases, and so on. Of course, we also did a few indoor shows where we didn’t need to set up and take down the tent.

Outdoor shows are a lot of work, physical work in particular, and take a lot of time. Sometimes they don’t bring much financial return. But they are fun. We enjoyed doing them for the most part—traveling around a bit in east central Illinois, being outside in the summer weather, meeting other artists, chatting face-to-face with customers, and soaking up the general atmosphere: art, food, people in a good mood, out with their kids and their dogs.

But during the past year, outdoor shows got to be too difficult. A few times, we hired a “roadie” to set up and take down, but it wasn’t easy to find someone reliable. Our final outdoor show was in June 2009 in our hometown. The “helper” arrived late and immediately started complaining about the hard job, the hot weather, etc., and went home.

We finished set up ourselves. The tent zipper (on the last side) stuck just as the sky opened up and the rain came down in earnest. Huddled in the tent, we waited out the heavier rain, hail, crashing thunder and lightning, and then, terrifyingly, the sound of big branches breaking all around us (in the middle of a park with enormous trees).

The show sponsors, not realizing we were still in the tent, hadn’t come to tell told us the show was canceled! When the storm let up a little, we peeked out and saw everyone gone. Power lines and tree limbs were down all over town. A huge trunk had fallen near our tent, and there were big limbs near where our car was parked.

So, then and there, we decided to make the Big Transition: to doing primarily online sales after that experience. I had just opened my Etsy shop one month before. (http://www.beadedjewelrybysusan.etsy.com).

For the two local indoor shows in our town, we decided to adjust the displays, turning everything into for easy-to-carry equipment.

We moved the inventory off the velcro-covered boards that hung on the steel display panels. The boards were empty for the first time in many years!

We sold our tent and panels and bought small, lightweight revolving display stands to use on rented tables.

The necklaces are each tucked into a plastic bag and resting comfortably in a tote, ready to be laid out on the tables.

The earring inventory is huge, too much to put it out each time. Solution? Lightweight plastic displays stands, already filled with earrings, transported in apple boxes (that’s right, the guy at the produce department saved them special for us).

We needed eight display units to handle the earrings. (I told you before, it’s an addiction!) And it wasn’t easy assembling the units, which were made in a developing country by some company that most likely pays the employees almost nothing and gives them no tools. The holes in the lucite weren’t lined up right, so adjustment had to be made (by husband David and friend Bob, thanks, guys!).

And the bottom rows were shorter than the others. Okay, so that’s where we put short earrings, right? Well, it’s complicated. We purchased a big bag of new 2×2 inch grey cards for all these sweet little beauties to hang on, but in the new cards the holes were a quarter-inch lower than in the old cards. Time to switch a bunch of cards (sigh).

One of the chrome and plastic stands is devoted to earrings (on sterling silver and goldfilled earwires) designed using special handmade or vintage beads that are more costly and hard to find. The other displays each contain a unique mix of many styles of earrings (on surgical steel earwires).

Eventually, I hope to get everything photographed and listed on Etsy and to see sales moving along regularly (she said optimistically but not, hopefully, delusionally). So keeping the display units easily accessible makes it easier for me to find the pair in question when a sale comes through.

For VERY obvious reasons, our six cats are NOT allowed to go in the room with the display units—LOL! They like to help, of course, but that kind of help can be disastrous!
In a way, it’s been kind of sad making the Big Transition. We’ve enjoyed a lot of things about doing the outdoor shows. But things change, and it’s best to make the best of changes whenever you can. I’m looking forward to the next, physically easier, phase of online selling. It’s all about my passion: the beads and the designs I can make with them, creating something beautiful. It’s magic.

Oh Those Lovely Bones

There’s a novel by Alice Sebold called The Lovely Bones that has recently been made into a feature film. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but I do know just how lovely bone beads are.

Bone is one of the very earliest materials used by humans for ornament. Early peoples worked with stone tools to carve bone into small ornaments and beads. They believed that the spirit of animals continued to have an influence, so bone objects were used for ritual and magic.

The respect and reverence of the hunter for prey was lost with the founding of cities in the Roman era, so the magical aspect of the bones was diminished, but the ornamental function has continued in popularity to the present day.

Most modern bone beads, from cow, sheep, or camel bones, are made by hand in small factories and private homes in Indonesia, India, Africa, and China. After the bone has been thoroughly processed, it is cut in small workable pieces and then carved into shapes, often bearing traditional designs. These beads are still hand carved, so every one is unique. After carving, the beads can be stained or dyed. Although most bone beads are cream-colored, brown, or black, they can be found in every color of the rainbow.

Some beautiful bone beads from Africa are dyed using a process known as batik, similar to the process for creating lovely patterns on fabric. These beads come in various designs, such as star, zebra, striped, traditional, arrow, and many more.

As you can see from a glimpse at these storage boxes from my bead collection, even in this modest grouping, there is a huge variety of different sizes, shapes, and patterns in bone beads.

Here’s a bunch of simple bone spacers that have been dyed in a wide range of colors.

Lots of bone beads have fascinating markings. Let’s look first at a grouping of black beads with white markings.

Now consider the opposite: white bone beads with dark carved patterns.

Various shades of dark brown, brown, or tan are also popular with bone beads.

Carving can be extremely intricate and delicate, displaying floral or geometric patterns, for example.

Bone beads are great for all sorts of ethnic designs in necklaces and earrings. They work well with metal beads, such as brass and copper, and combine easily with beads of other natural materials, such as horn, coconut, wood, and clay.
Bone beads go well with neutral colors, but they are also effective with solid primary colors. Here’s an example of a necklace design using a batik bone pendant and beads with some bright red glass trade beads (called “white hearts” for the white core inside the red beads).

Here’s another necklace design with a bone pendant and bone beads, all in caramel brown and “bone” white shades.

For earrings designs, keep in mind that bone beads often have fairly large (and sometimes uneven) holes. So you may want to fill inside the hole so the bead isn’t loose on the headpin wire. I’ve found that Japanese delicas seed beads (11 size) are usually perfect for this purpose.

Here’s an example of an elegant bone bead with very simple carving, just diagonal lines, but which includes the element of interest via different colors for the lines. Bone bead earrings are suitable for dress-up and dress-down outfits. This pair would go equally well with a cream linen suit or a tee and jeans.

Consider mixing materials for fun and design interest. Here’s a pair of earrings with very elaborately carved bone ovals paired with tiny rounds of genuine carnelian stone.

You can mix and match shapes as well. Here a lovely bone round with carved melon lines is combined with cubes of opaque Czech glass.

Sometimes other kinds of materials are incorporated into the bone beads themselves, as in these dark brown bone beads with carved diagonal lines and end caps of Chinese silver enamel.

Bone beads are great for earring designs with long slender tube shapes or simple rounds that are easy-going, casual adornment that’s fun to wear.

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing some bone beads.

One word of warning, however, is in order: although I don’t detect any odor that distinguishes bone beads from the many glass and stone beads in my boxes, young Angus MacDuff notices the bone beads immediately!