My Red/Orange/Yellow Swarovski Crystal Butterfly Pendant Necklace inspired today's blog.
You might have seen that yesterday I entered it as a new handmade jewelry piece that is coming soon. Why didn't I just enter it into my webstore inventory instead of featuring it as a product coming soon? Well, for a few reasons. One, it takes work and energy to take great pictures, upload them to the computer, properly format and crop the pictures, figure out a name to save the pictures as, upload them to my shopping cart, figure out the value and price of the piece of handmade jewelry, then write a detailed description including measurements and materials used.
Secondly, I tend to make several pieces of handmade jewelry over a week or two before I gather all my pieces, bring them to the office and start entering them into my webstore. So, imagine doing all the things necessary for one piece and multiplying that by 5 up to 15 times. Very time consuming!! Thirdly, I may want to feature upcoming items but am more in the mood to make jewelry than to be on the computer. So, I try and parcel my tasks based on my energy level and based on where I am in a current project. Plus, life of course. For example, my jaw!! Ugh. 
As of today, I have not had a chance to load all the information into my website to offer this butterfly necklace for sale. But I am very excited about this handmade jewelry piece (as well as a few others) so it seemed like a fun topic to talk about! When I first started designing jewelry, beads were the main focus. I didn't even use sterling silver. However, within a month into creating jewelry, I realized that sterling silver was the way to go because so many people have allergies or sensitive ears (just like me) and cannot wear the cheap base metal without getting infections in their ears.
It seemed silly to offer beautiful sterling silver earwires then finish the handmade jewelry pieces with cheap base metal. Although I have worn plenty of costume jewelry over my lifetime, I have come to realize that I prefer quality over quantity and as a consumer I am very willing to pay higher prices for jewelry of value. So, it only made sense, following this premise, that I should offer beautiful quality sterling silver handmade jewelry. It also makes it quite a bit easier describing the materials! I don't have to remember what is what - it is all sterling silver!
Lastly, there is no way I could possibly compete with the Walmart's and Targets of the world that offer mostly costume jewelry. They will always be able to undercut me in price, so I figured, why even try? I would rather make handmade jewelry pieces that are unique and can't be found in every store down the block. Admittedly, it takes time to get good at this, and even more time to become great at it. I am happy to evolve as a jewelry artist and look forward to challenging and pushing myself on every piece of handmade jewelry that I make!
As I said before, beads were my main focus when I started making jewelry, but as soon as I found out that Swarovski Crystals were available for purchase, I was all over that! I even have a Swarovski Chandelier in my home (This Austrian Crystal is the most precisely cut, meticulously faceted crystal - which shines like no other crystal)! It sparkles like crazy!
In the beginning, with the help of my friend KC (on vacation in Cabo, Mexico), I learned how to loop wire, string beads, etc. with stainless steel and other base metals. But, once I came home, got serious, and made the switch to sterling silver, the more I loved and appreciated this precious metal. The bright white silver, the sparkle, it was beautiful. My interest turned to doing more all sterling silver pieces of handmade jewelry. Plus, when I ask for my husband's opinion on a piece of handmade jewelry that I have made (like all the time!! Yes, sometimes he has had enough ... lol), he has always been drawn to the all sterling silver pieces. With that impetus, I even took a silversmithing course for eight weeks and came away with a new skill. Although I still do alot of wire-wrapping, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE soldering pieces. There are limitations with wire wrapping to some degree. When you can solder silver together though, you can do an infinite number of designs. Really, your imagination is the only limit!
Anyway, after over a year of making jewelry with only an idea in my head, I finally began doodling and drafting jewelry designs. I know this sounds crazy, considering I am an artist, but it is true! I think this is because I really am not much of a doodler or sketcher. I tend to draw randomly when I am in the mood and this has happened maybe a dozen times since I was in my late 20's. The only time I really draw is when I am actually working on a project. The reason I started drawing jewelry designs was because I would sometimes feel very creative but not actually be in the mood or have the energy to sit down and make a piece of jewelry. I had an epiphany, thinking hey ... why don't I just sketch ideas of mine ... and if I like them enough ... I will try and execute that design!! What finally occurred to me was that this would also save me time and $$$ because I had a clear, planned vision, meaning less mistakes and less poorly thought out creations. As Homer Simpson would say, Dah! 
However, I will say that one of the things I love most about creating jewelry is the experimentation, so I am sure I will continue to do more organic pieces, where I let the shape/design evolve as I go, without a planned vision for the final piece.
In my next blog, my intention is to actually go into detail describing how I made the Red/Orange/Yellow Butterfly Necklace. Later.
(this is what my face looks like) lol!
