View Full Version : My Little Side Venture!
Over the past few years, I have been back at my jewelry work bench now and then creating pieces for eventual sale. Lately I have really been getting into it and have come up with an line of work that is keeping me interested. I am a collector of whatever animal bones I find on my walks in the woods and have a large stash of deer bones laying around looking interesting. A couple of months ago I decided to start slicing them apart with my jeweler's saw and create little rings out of bone, which I then shape by a dremel-type tool, sand and buff them. They really are quite beautiful! I then pair them up with various stones, turquoise and carnelian being some of my favorites and turn them into necklaces and earrings.
So the whole thing has taken off for me as far as production is concerned, so when I went to New Mexico for vacation back in June I took my box of finished goodies with me because I wanted to buy stone beads and such for the next batch.
On my last full day of vacationing before I had to start heading back east, I spent the day in a little town on the "Turquoise Trail" named Madrid. It is a funky little artist-type town built from the remnants of a mining town on the highway between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. It gets lots and lots of tourist traffic because of all the neat little shops and galleries. To make a long story short, I got my jewelry into the Weasel & Fitz Gallery, which are "purveyors of curious thangs (their own words). It is a perfect fit for me because they specialize in art made from recycled and upcycled stuff!
I have already sold some items; within two weeks of getting home I got a commission check for two items, and apparently, some other items have sold as well after that!
So all of this is very motivating for me and I have been very busy making more items, and trying to get the marketing, business and promotional aspect of it. There is a little gift shop here in Ann Arbor that will most likely be carrying my work as well.
I have created a Face Book page for my studio, so if you are curious about my work, please go to Taliswoman at SiouxStudioto see albums of my jewelry. If you like what you see, or simply want to support an artist just starting out, please "like" my page and hopefully the ripple effect of getting my name and my work known will somehow result in more sales in the future.
I am happy that I finally am able to get serious about being an artist after a life time of distractions that have prevented me from doing so until now! I know right now it's not much money or anything, but I gain a lot of personal pleasure from the process of creating and sharing what I create.;)
That's Taliswoman at SiouxStudio
very cool OP!
I love to hear people talk about their creative work and what interests them, and am glad you found a seller and a market as well.
That is really wonderful work. I make jewelry that is similar in concept and I like the stuff I make, but it could never be worth what your jewelry is. So inspiring, and I love the way you are using the bones. Makes me want to walk in the woods.
Just 'liked' your FB page! Sooo, one of the items I am using a lot of is a beaded glasses holder a friend gave me. Long string of beads with elastic at each end, which holds the temples of my glasses, allowing me to take them off & hang them around my neck, so I don't lose them. Sparkly & pretty, in a hippie type of way!
I would consider purchasing such an item from you... :)
Congrats!
We use to sell in Albuquerque at Weems and in Santa Fe at Purple Sage and I always loved going on the TT every time we went out that way to do an art show.
I don't like doing commission - too difficult to keep up with.
I've been playing with breaking vases my husband made and re-firing those pieces and turning them in to jewelry. One store I sell to, I just sent my fifth order to so it's nice to see my work being well received. It's also fun being able to put a $600 order into a small 6x6 box....so much easier to pack than the vases and bowls! Never thought I'd get back in the jewelry business, in the early 90's I was a glass bead artist.
Fantastic, Sioux! You too, Float On! That's so inspiring! I know Madrid...it is indeed a funky little town and I'm sure your fame and sales will grow!
Sioux etsy is a very cool place online where you can set up a virtual shop to sell your jewelry. Check it out! I don't do facebook can you post one photo for us? I'm glad you are expressing yourself creatively. It certainly feeds the soul!
Thanks for checking my page out everybody! I find the easy part of all this is sitting there making it, and the super-time-consuming part is everything else. I always get stuck on the promotion part and getting the work out there so people can see it. And finding my niche too, has been interesting but I think I am on the right track. So far I am doing the commission thing with this shop, which isn't ideal but I need to start selling to make back some of the costs of materials. A lot of the stuff I already had anyway (I used to run a bead store for nine years) and some of my raw materials are being taken from necklaces and bracelets that I made in the past and wore a lot but don't anymore (I can't load up on the jewelry at Whole Foods, so I find I am just not wearing much these days). The most expensive part of this endeavor is buying the chain and findings - I'm too small potatoes at this point (and still testing the waters with doing all this) to warrant getting a no-tax license so I can buy supplies wholesale.
So right now I am going through the learning process and taking it farther than I ever have before. I have decided that for now I need to quit buying supplies and work on stuff I already have until I see some more sales. I am on the fence about doing shows but have started designing a booth/table display idea because I got a stack of fantastic black wooden trays for a deep discount at Joanne Fabrics because each one was slightly damaged in some way (something easy to fix). I can see how the booth and displays will look in my mind and will slowly work on that as I have time.
I have to credit working at Whole Foods for giving me the impetus to even do this - I have such a nutty schedule (now that I am on the 6am shift usually) that I simply cannot go out and hang with my musician friends at the bar until all hours, not that I really wanted to do that anymore anyway. I'm really don't go out much anymore and that has freed up A LOT of time for me to focus and do this. It has been so wonderful to allow myself the luxury of creating; it reminds me of my art school days! I still play lots of guitar and write songs; my buddy and I are finally in the middle of recording a bunch of stuff we've been meaning to do for the last two years and that sure feels good to get that project started! I don't miss being out in the scene hanging out anymore; nothing ever really changes out there anyway and I save money by not drinking beer every other night, and save my health by not smoking (going on five months now)! I go to bed early, eat pretty good, exercise (moderately these days due to my knee issues).
@ Redfox - good idea about the eye glass holders! I am well-versed about those things from my bead store days but hadn't thought of adding them into the line. That can certainly be done pretty easily!
@ Merski - I have thought of doing Etsy but just haven't gotten around to it. I've heard good and not-so-good things about it. At any rate, I need to keep working and build up my stock. One thing I need to do is find a way to reduce the amount of time it takes to shape those little rings. I have a friend who has a table saw, so I am wondering if I could at least start slicing the bone in bulk batches quickly instead of hand-sawing each one, which only takes a few minutes each but doing a big batch all at once would save oodles of time.
@ Jilly - I'd love to see your work too!
@ Selah - I could see myself living and working there some day :)
@ Float On - congrats on the success of your work! It really is a good feeling to have people wanting to buy a piece of your creative energy!
Well, I think I will work in my little studio later today. I called in sick last night for this morning because I felt so rotten yesterday (congestion, fatigue, headache, this thing going on with impending menopause). I slept pretty good and feel a little better. Weird, I know, but I always feel a little bit guilty for calling in sick but every one else around there in my department does it all the time but me (I haven't called in sick since last October). I need to chill out and take it easy today because I have a gig on Saturday (the only one of the summer and it figures I get sick three days before...).
I cannot imagine that Minnesota is much different from other states in getting a no-tax license. Mine costs only $10.00 per two years. I was already paying taxes on my art income, so it was not a problem to continue doing so after I got my license. The best part is that you get to buy wholesale, and most companies do not have insanely high minimum purchasing levels, so you can get only what you need without having to maintain a large inventory of materials.
Plus, you do not have to pay any tax on that stuff. Even smaller places, like Michael's and Hobby Lobby and other crafting stores allow you to sign-up as a business customer and whilst they do not offer discounts, you do not have to pay tax on your purchases there.
And, your potatoes are not small. :)
We went through Madrid on our last NM trip. Reminds me of a southern "northern exposure" kind of place. Happy selling!
Tussiemussies
8-2-13, 2:42pm
Hi Sioux,
Sounds like you lead such an exciting life! I too went to school for art and have had played the guitar when younger, but these days taking care of our home, which I just have to have a home, has taken up a lot of time. So I feel glad for you doing something meaningful for you. I can understand how pent up a person's energy can get when they are not doing their creative work!
Another success today! I just sold six necklaces wholesale to my friend who has the coolest gift boutique in Ann Arbor - it's called Heavenly Metal. You guys would love this store, I'm sure! Her sense of color, style, display skills and ability to pick really cool and unusual gifts, handmade jewelry and apparel are unmatched by anyone I know. Check out her website and Facebook page- it's www.heavenlymetal.com She also has a Facebook page called Heavenly Metal.
So I think I have made back my initial investment of materials and then some finally!
I have been a busy bee, I am about to ship out more jewelry to the gallery in New Mexico. I think my designs are getting better and better as I go along. But I think I am going to take a break from making jewelry this week and work on some of my art guitars - go to Taliswoman at SiouxStudio (on Facebook) to see what I have been up to!
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