Thursday, September 22, 2011

This one has a story...



It all began with a request to make the above earrings in a different size.



The buyer said she liked to wear "huge but light weight earrings", 
and could I make these in a 2.5" diameter?




So, I had some 24 gauge copper on hand, and made the first earring.
When I tried it on I quickly realized it was way too heavy to be worn as an earring.

I ended up making them in 26 gauge which worked out well, and got the earrings shipped off to the customer. 

I was however, left with the first piece I made. 

Now, I've never made earrings that were 2.5" wide.  I'm not sure I've even made a pendant 
that big before! But I thought this would make a gorgeous pendant.

But, it needed something really special to go along with it.
Something just as big and fabulous.

So I pulled out this strand of rough cut, BIG blue quartz beads that I've been hoarding for a year.

So.

Perfect.








The color of these beads is sort of an icy aqua color.  
So delicious.









And to give you a sense of the scale of this piece.

It is a rich and weighty necklace.  Not for one who doesn't want to be noticed, 
because this piece makes a statement.

********

And, on another note,  
I got my rolling mill home!!!!

I dragged a friend with me to pick it up. 
(What a trooper!)

It is currently resting on a table in my garage because it was so heavy all I could do was drag it onto a table from the bed of the truck.  

I can't wait for my husband to get it bolted down so I can give her a spin!!!!

And on one more note, I got a confirmation of sorts today about something I've long suspected.

How many of you have had people you know ask you for a quote to make something for them, and then when you give them the quote, you get the sense that they think it's way too expensive?

I'm not talking about Etsy buyers.  I feel that most people who buy from me on Etsy are quite savvy and now exactly what they are getting.  In fact I think they are probably some of the smartest buyers around considering most of us still don't charge what our work is really worth.  

I'm talking about "friends" or  friends of friends that heard you make jewelry.

It just really irks my gizzard.  I don't know if it's just ignorance.  Or if they really think that I'm trying to gouge people with my prices.  I mean seriously.  Have you seen the price of silver?  Is my time worth nothing?  Do you think I take time away from my kids trying to improve my skills so I can make you a necklace?  And that I should be happy to do it for next to nothing?   That the supplies and tools themselves aren't a fortune?  

I just have one question.  Do you expect to get paid when you do your job? 

Ok.

I just had to rant a little there.  

And now I will let it go, because it doesn't do any good to rant.  Maybe I'll be in a better frame of mind to want to educate people in a nice way sometime.  

But not right now.  

11 comments:

  1. Oh boy i know that rant WELL. I get it often from coworkers who don't even realize they are doing so : "How much are those earrings?" "They are $$" "oh wow, expensive"
    They don't realize the word "expensive" has a negative connotation attached to it to me. It would be different if they said "oh, out of my range, but I can see why, they are lovely" or something of the like, you know?

    The same goes for wanting custom work done. On etsy, my buyers ask knowing what I charge for things in my shop. Of course you will always get the person who feels that Etsy/Handmade=bargain, but that isn't specific to etsy. I quite often get ladies at work asking things like "oh could you make something like my friends Tiffany's necklace for me? You could do it alot cheaper than Tiffany's right???"
    Um No, no and NO.

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  2. Gorgeous piece! ....and go ahead and rant. I have customers frequently disappear after I tell them the price. A sterling cuff bracelet with turquoise for $165 is NOT unreasonable with silver at $40 an ounce? Ah well... it is bound to happen.

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  3. Gorgeous!! Big and bold just like I like it!

    Congrats on the rolling mill. I hope it works like a charm :)

    Yeah I cringe every time someone I know asks if I can make them something. They really don't understand that it's not just the silver (which is SO expensive right now) but also the time invested that we have to factor into the price...

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  4. That necklace is beautiful!
    I can also relate with what you said about pricing. If people only knew the time and cost of materials to make something yourself....

    One time a guy I know asked me to make him a custom belt with tooled flames across it. When I gave him a quote he looked at me like I was crazy. The sad thing is that I quoted him a price far less than what I would have with someone I didn't know. Oh well.

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  5. Congrats on the homecoming of your new toy! Yay- have fun playing with it. Love the new necklace too- isn't it nice when a sort of mistake can work so well with a different idea? Lovely. Ep...as for the other issue...i hear ya. I think that's the great debate of handmade prices vs. Walmart prices. People don't mind dropping serious dough on pandora crap...but seriously?

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  6. Thanks girls! It's so much easier to handle this type of junk when you know that you have a support system! Thanks for commiserating with me!

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  7. Amy, that necklace is awesome...I love the copper and blue together.

    As for price quotes...what is there about "handmade" that is supposed to equal "cheap"...I don't get it. I am sure it has happened to most of us so rant away.

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  8. I like what you did with it. I don't like huge jewelry myself but MIL does. You know, my friend announced to me that I was going to make the jewelry for her wedding, to which I replied "Oh no I'm not!". For one thing I made one bracelet so now I'm an expert? I don't think so. And for another she doesn't take care of anything and the one bracelet I made cost more than $30 to make and I'm not spending that kind of money to make jewelry for a wedding party only to have it thrown about like trash. She can buy wedding jewelry. Besides I bought her wedding rings and I think that is all the jewelry I should be required to supply.

    PD

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  9. Love the necklace Amy. It rocks!! Literally haha.

    I haven't had that much in the way of requests for custom items from family/friends since the price of silver has been so high. But I do understand what you mean. You fret over and over about the price (once you've decided upon it) and then it's even harder when you have to tell them what it is! I truly believe that people think handmade=dirt cheap. And I hate that. So much.

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  10. Thanks ladies. I'm still a little peeved on the whole subject. Actually I feel another rant coming on. So I'll just stop here. :-/

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