Jewelry Connections, Timeless Treasures

I looked at the box he’d just handed me.  It was a shoe box, just an ordinary shoe box.  Actually it was an old shoebox, and the treasures it held, were totally new to me.  As I looked at it’s contents, it struck me that these were the only mementos  I would ever have of the woman I had never met. It was the possessions and timeless treasures, of the woman who lovingly stroked her abdomen while she was pregnant with me.  How proud she was  so long ago, knowing that soon she would become a mother.  Something  that she had waited her whole life  to experience, and that experience only lasted a week, before being taken away. In the box were  those treasures, just a small but significant representation of the stories of her life, stories I would never hear. Each piece I looked at, provided an opportunity to imagine, how it may have been in the life of my mother.

The box was filled with jewelry, overflowing with beads, many had broken free from their design, and were scattered throughout the box.  I feasted my eyes on the colors, shapes, textures, and designs I saw in this box. I imagined the places they would have been obtained, and the fun my mother must have had as she built her own jewelry box of treasures. I saw a glimpse of her past, one I couldn’t totally understand, yet somehow felt connected to.

As I told this story to my new friends, they, not I, came to understand why I had begun to create jewelry many years ago.  How had I missed that connection? Didn’t I realize the relationship with my need to create? How is it I was unaware of my heart trying to connect me to the only thing I really knew about my mother, her jewelry.

I thought for a moment, and realized, that that is what we all want and need, connection. And those places deep inside us, know that, understand that, and seek it out.  Maybe I’m not the only one who could be so clueless about my heart seeking what my mind didn’t even realize I needed. And then I thought, maybe I just need to slow down and connect with my heart to see what good it’s up to, because I could have enjoyed that gift of connection sooner.  Now I can clearly see why my heart and mind sought to create designs with beads that are not just beautiful jewelry creations, but beautiful connections.  In my mind’s eye I can see clearly the potential connection between mother with daughter, daughter with grandmother, and so on.  And, perhaps those jewelry creations may be the curiosity of a granddaughter or daughter who never had a chance to meet the jewelry’s original owner, and they could only imagine the life they lead through their jewelry they hold in their hands.

Remember when everything you saw was beautiful?

As we journey in life we start off being amazed at absolutely everything we see. One of the local advertisements on TV in our area, is about “Coit Carpet Cleaning”, and they feature a little boy, probably 3, looking at his house after everything has been cleaned, and the company asks him what he thinks.  “It’s beautiful, its soooo beautiful, it’s beeeeuuutiful.”  It kind of tugged at my heart remembering those moments where everything looked absolutely beautiful. And I reflected, why can’t that happen right now, because everything can be seen as beautiful.  That is my inspiration to make jewelry, to help you see and feel the beauty that surrounds you, and breathe it into your heart.

I created this bracelet in the dead of winter, wanting spring to be here.  It has wonderful lampwork beads created by CC Designs on ebay, and features a yummy floral print on Bali silver beads, and of course…Swarovski crystals.

It is for sale in my Ruby Lane Store, and can be found at the following link:

http://www.rubylane.com/shops/mariskasdesignsjewelry/item/B1709b

Drink in the beauty all around you, fill your heart full with it!

Until next time,

Drink in Spring

Mariska

Grandma’s Jewelry Box: The Beginning of a Jewelry Addiction

Perhaps you had this  same experience below? I’d love to know if you did.

You went to Grandma’s house, she took you to her room where she kept her jewelry box, and high heel shoes (ok I’m dating myself), just waiting to be worn.

And what fun it was.

Twenty necklaces, 3 pairs of earrings, 10 bracelets later-all at the same time, you came to life and thought you were a Princess.  You put your tiny feet into big shoes, added a touch (so you thought) of bright red lipstick, oh don’t forget the blush, and a dab of powder…and weren’t you beautiful?

Those moments of sheer delight created a bond, favorite memories at Grandma’s house.  Linked to those loving memories was the jewelry.

Granted, you no longer wear all contents of your jewelry box at one time, but don’t you have that “Princess fairy tale” spinning in the background of your mind  as you choose your jewelry?

I’ve long discarded the high heels for comfortable shoes, but from ankles up, it’s open season for jewelry!

As I craft each jewelry design, I think of my grandmother, and those wonderful memories, and how I felt wearing her jewelry.

Purple Princess Vintage Button Necklace

The photo is of a necklace a customer purchased, and the Vintage Button reminds me of my Grandmother and those “Princess” moments.

Changing Gears, Blog revamped!

Have you ever started a journey with one path in mind, and then realized you were on the wrong road???

Well that happened to me.  I started this blog believing that I wanted to focus on Jewelry making, and the truth is, that isn’t really what I want for this blog.

Many of my customers have asked me to post about why I make my jewelry, and about my history of Jewelry creation.

So, that’s what I will focus on.  We all bring our unique talents, and intentions for those of us who love to create art.  When we all infuse what is uniquely us

Tensha Bead Earrings

in our artistic creations, it’s like peeking into our souls.  Sometimes beautiful, and sometimes dark.

I hand wrapped these beads on Sterling silver wire.  What I love about these beads are the beautiful foil wrapped decorations on the bead.

Jewelry: Making and Selling on eBay Part 1

The Global Overview-

EBay holds fond memories for me as a Jewelry Designer.  I bought a vast quantity of items for jewelry making  from a variety of sellers on  eBay.  It only made sense to me back then, that in addition to buying my components on eBay, I could  sell lots of jewelry on eBay.  That was true early on, and all was well with my eBay experience selling jewelry. As time went on, and my expertise in jewelry making improved, I found myself creating even more beautiful jewelry using the more expensive jewelry components that were selling on eBay.  Not only did I find Swarovski crystals, I found “Vintage” Swarovski Crystals (I know there wasn’t a “Swarovski” crystal in those days).  In addition, I developed a taste for  Sterling silver beads, Hill tribe Silver beads, gemstones, glass beads, and on and on…

And then, my love affair with Lampwork glass beads began, and everything I made had to have a Lampwork glass bead in them.  Who would have known that they even existed?  My customers to this day love them in the jewelry designs they purchase from me,  but they have no idea what they really are, or how they are made.   That’s a huge subject, and a whole other post or two.

It was a great time in our country, we were patriotic and we were industrious, and  all sorts of talent emerged on eBay that you could purchase and use in jewelry making and designing.   What was really exciting for me, is that it was a global venture, I could buy beads from Hong Kong, Bali, Germany…and so on, and we were all connected by eBay, it was soooo amazing.  Of course, as you consume more goods, the price of those goods also increases.  Yet, you could still make a little money when all was said and done.

In the last 2-3 years, much changed on eBay.  You saw the major chain stores also selling on eBay, and it quickly became a place to look for the cheapest prices, or the most expensive prices for the rare items, like concert tickets.  With the state of our economy in the U.S. it seems to have changed the look inside of  eBay.  Many of the suppliers I once purchased from, are no longer there, or thier prices are much more expensive.  Many of the fellow Jewelry Makers have moved on to other venues.  The ones who remain on eBay, are the ones who have a solid customer base, and are known for their excellent workmanship.   Prior to writing this post I checked out the current inventory on eBay for “handcrafted artisan jewelry”.   If you make cheap jewelry, and want to sell it for under $25.00, and really more like under $15.00 you may be successful!

You too can do the same sort of research if you are interested in selling your jewelry designs on eBay. What I did, is I looked under “handcrafted artisan jewelry”, then sorted the items by “highest price” first, and then about 8 pages into that, I began to see the real handcrafted items, not cheap jewelry, but true artisan designed jewelry.  When you do finally come across an artisan jewelry  designer, click on their feedback number, this will give you the number feedback they’ve gotten, it usually correlates with the sales (but not necessarily).  Look at the prices the items sold for, look at the total number of feedback received in a 6 month period of time, view pictures of the items sold.  That will give you an idea if  jewelry is selling on eBay, and the prices they are selling for.  However, there is much more to it than that!

Till next time,

Mariska

Ebay: Buying and Selling Handmade Jewelry and its Components

When I made the decision to sell my handmade jewelry, my first thought was to sell online via ebay.  It only made sense to me.  I had found a wealth of jewelry making items on ebay.  In addition I was very pleased with the fact that I could swoop up deals for the various jewelry components I needed.  As time went on, suddenly there seemed to be a glut of new people buying and selling on ebay, and many of the jewelry findings I needed,  soon rapidly climbed in price.

Business was not my first occupation,  however it didn’t take long to figure the simple  addition and subtraction.  If the price for the individual jewelry components increased, so does  the final cost of the  jewelry design.  What may have started out as a good profit margin for selling jewelry, became narrower,  unless your customer knew the value of the components used.  Complicate this whole process, with the ebay testosterone experience (no offense gents, us women have testosterone too).  C’mon now, you know exactly what I’m talking about if you’ve tried to buy anything on an ebay auction.  I bought some of the MOST UNUSUAL  beads and findings, without really thinking the whole process through. it all started out when I was snooping around on ebay and found the perfect bead….(testosterone rising)…. I placed my bid,  saw that I was “high bidder”, oh happy day!

But then, literally within seconds, someone topped my bid (testosterone really peaking)… Not wanting to be outdone, I placed an even higher bid, and sure enough I soon found myself outbid again! (Testosterone overload kicks in), this is the point you will do, and pay, whatever it takes to win that bid! Winning is now what it’s all about, you barely remember the bead….  In fact, this is how bad it actually got for my testosterone experience…I  actually purchased a timer that allowed me to set up the whole bid process, and then click on the final bid entry, 2 seconds before the item would end, I outbeat ebays own custom bidding system!  Great idea!!!! It worked!!

And then my Paypal account shrank at a very rapid rate.

That whole testosterone experience dimmed as I received some of my products, and realized I had really overpaid for those items!  What’s even more troublesome is that I began to believe that what I purchased, must’ve been photo’d under a microscope.  I certainly couldn’t see the details on the product, that I saw in the sellers store photo, they looked so big in the picture, or at least normal size, whatever that is????  This is not at all to diminish the awesome talent of the ebay glass artists who create handmade Lampwork glass beads, love those artisans!

example of small bead I bought

Next post I’ll talk about my results on ebay for selling.

You'd love it, if you could see it!

The Local Jewelry Making Supply Bead Stores

I knew I had the jewelry making “bug” when I entered the store.  Two hours later I emerged with Swarovski crystals, Czech beads, Porcelain beads, and many other jewelry making materials…

I started off making jewelry on elastic bead stringing material.   While some of those jewelry pieces are still intact from those days, I soon realized if I wanted anything I created of value to last in my jewellery making designs;  I needed a different stringing material.

Many of the products I chose in those early days, included metals that were essentially base metals.  Having allergies to anything other than Sterling silver and Gold, I determined that I should change to higher quality materials.  I had obtained my resale license, which allowed me to purchase supplies without paying taxes, nonetheless, it all my became very expensive.

The quandary I felt, (kind of like choosing green products that are more expensive)  is that my local jewelry supply store needed to make a profit too,  and I wanted to support them, however that cut into my profits as well.  Since it really wasn’t all about selling jewelry, I finally came to the compromise.  I found on-line wholesalers, that the bulk of my jewelry making supplies were purchased, and I visited my local jewelry making bead supply store on a less frequent basis.  Then the price of gas made that visit, even less frequent!

One great thing about going to your local jewelry making supply store, is that you can see colors, sizes, of the beads you are interested in, and also see how they really look in different lighting.

When I found the numerous beading supplies I use  at “Michael’s”, I believe the stock market price soared!  Truly, it’s like a kid in a candy store, you can get one in every color and size!

I must admit, I do miss my local Jewelry Making supply store, there’s something so impersonal about buying on the Internet.  There was one benefit…I imagined that I was traveling to Bali to buy my Balinese Sterling silver beads, even tho’ the only evidence was on the postage, stamped on the bag of Bali Silver beads in my mailbox.

Till next time,

Bali bead

Mariska

Chronicles of a Handmade Jewelry Maker & Designer’s Business

I think I can still remember the initial excitement and joy of making a beautiful piece of jewelry, that lead to the plan….
” I think I’ll start my own Handmade Jewelry Business”
…oh those simple days when I really still had a life!
In life, we all have to go through our processes, don’t we?
Yes, we hear the advice, the horror stories of starting a business, and in between those moments, we bask in the visions of someone famous wearing your own jewelry creation….right?
And if those visions, outweigh the horror stories….we continue on a monumental endeavor to create a business, one that soon defines who you really are, and what you are really made of.
For me, that was April 2nd, 2004, and life as I knew it, mad a radical left turn.
Am I happy, oh you betcha!
Has it been easy…NOT!
I hope to chronicle my very long process, in the hopes you can see where I dallied, procrastinated, didn’t have the right tools…and learn from my mistakes, as well as share in my victories.
I’d love to year your own stories as well.
Till next time,
Mariska

PS, see below for my first Jewelry Design, what you may or may not see, in my infancy I photo’d the jewelry on the back of a piece of piano sheet music!?! Definitely not recommended! Thank God for photo editing software.

Hooked on Jewelry Designing!

Celebrating Life & Jewelry

Today I went to my aunt’s funeral, as always these moments are bittersweet.  It is wonderful to see such a crowd of loved ones, who all shared in the same love, and memories of that one, who touched so very many lives.

It is not uncommon to remember your loved one, and the jewelry they once wore. At times, those treasured pieces bring you 1 step closer to that remembrance of your loved one, knowing they  once wore it while, you both spent time together.

I remember when my grandmother passed, my first thought, beyond my love for her, was of her jewelry box, and her high heel shoes, and the moments of joy they both brought.

I never knew my biological mother, who died from childbirth. All I knew of her fit into a shoe box:  her wallet, and all her jewelry, and that was all I had of my mother.  It was a different experience, than the one I had of my grandmother’s jewelry.  I created in my mind, a picture of who my mother was, based on her jewelry.  Somehow it did not link me to my mother, the same way my grandmother’s belongings had.  I’m not trying to say  the experience of seeing my mother’s jewelry was without emotion, but somehow, memories, and those objects that link us to those memories are the sweet savor, and celebration, of  having once lived, and loved together.

So, I celebrate my love and memories of you dear, sweet Gloria, and I know your children and grandchildren will be reminded of you,

Flowers for Gloria Necklace

in the many treasures you’ve left behind.

Here’s to your favorite colors, especially purple!

Mariska

Jewelry Blog Launched!

Welcome! This blog is all things: Jewelry!  I’m creating this blog  to provide information on making jewelry,  finding jewelry supplies,  and sharing my latest Handmade Artisan Jewelry Designs.  I’d love to have your feedback, and for you to share your finds.

Speaking of Jewelry, here’s my latest, dedicated to my aunt Gloria who recently graduated to Heaven.

FLOWERS FOR GLORIA Necklace:

Flowers for Gloria Necklace

Mariska