Holiday Bootcamp Aftermath

After a long break for the holidays (I'm so sorry about that!  No, really I am.) I am back.  I sort of got caught up in the whole Christmas spirit and the delight that I was actually able to BUY gifts for everyone this year, rather than making them all like I've done in years passed.  Holiday bootcamp made the difference. 

Now before you protest and say something silly like 'but Agent Ren, your creations are fabulous!  Why would you have reservations about giving them as gifts?'.  The reason is simple.  Making things is what I do all the time.  That kind of takes away from the wow factor when you present someone with a piece of handmade jewelry and they already know that handmade is your thing.  The gift becomes something akin to 'the dreaded knitted sweater from grandma'. 
It's not valuable anymore.  Even if you put hours and hours into making it, it's just another lump of beads that you're forcing them to take.  Why hurt your fingers, spend scarce cash and time to just get one of those tight, uncomfortable 'I don't really want this' smiles?  I didn't break my fingers or my bank account trying to make something special this year.  I didn't agonize about not having time to make things or scraping together enough cash to get nice precious metal findings to make each item extra cool.  I hunted bargains like my life depended on it, squirreled away coupons like I was hiding seeds for winter, tracked every dollar spent with a methodical accuracy that a serial killer would envy, and had everything assembled and half-wrapped in my closet a month before Christmas. 
What's this got to do with Holiday Bootcamp?  Plenty.  I'll tell you the truth.  For all the Holiday bootcamp prep I did for a big holiday sale, I didn't sell that much, barely two c-notes worth.  I spent carefully and some would say abundantly to feed my high rate of production.  I was like a machine, grinding through eyepins, beads and time like a wood chipper and wearing out the blades on my tools twice as fast. 

I was hoping for a big breakthrough as far as sales and ended up only barely covering costs of materials.  What I did sell was stuff that people custom ordered, brooches mostly and other things that I never make en masse.  Despite this, I learned a great deal.  Here are the things that Bootcamp taught me.

1.  Run, Rest, Run:
Run, Rest, Run is the philosophy that when you do something, you go at it full tilt.  You don't burn yourself out, though, because then it'd be Run, Die and end there.  The idea is that you work like a Juggernaut until you get tired, and when you rest, you meditate ways to make your next full-tilt stint go better.  This way, when you start up, you're never starting from zero.  You're starting up from 5 because you're rested AND focused.

2.  There is always a better bargain
The problem with people is that they have a tendency to go with what they know and take the best of they see right in front of them.  You have to teach yourself not to be like any animal and make the logical choice in front of you.  You have to teach yourself to go onward.  I ran into this time and again with tried and true connectors that I have scores of.  After a while seeing the same exact elements in piece after piece makes those elements rather 'meh'.  So, I'd half-finish a set and move on to the next while I waited to find something better to finish the first.  It turned out to be a good plan.

3.  Substitutions shouldn't diminish quality
To go with the previous comment, when you're selecting new options, don't just grab any old cheapo substitute that kinda fits the description!  Go on and pay some money for the good stuff.  It's often worth it.  Otherwise, you'll be stuck with a bunch of brass fan charms thinner than tissue paper and twice as pliable... Like me. 

I don't know what I'm going to do with these things, but I haven't the heart to throw them away.

4.  Buy in bulk
If you can, buy in bulk.  Always.  I guarantee you that there will come a time when you're making something and you'll wish for some beads or findings that you've already used up.  Maybe they'll be for another necklace.  Maybe they'll be for decorating a trinket box.

5.  Keep your tools in good shape
After a lot of heavy use, it becomes obvious when your nipping pliers get dull. Things just don't cut.  They just bend and you end up with a nasty looking chewed up piece of wire, bit of a finding or something equally horrible and bad for design.

6.  If you're tired, stop working
You can't 'keep working through the pain'.  You'll end up messing up and leaving your genetic material on the thing you're working on in a way you didn't want to.

7.  No one has any originality any more.
You won't find any clients in this unstable economy that possess a lot of originality.  There is no one who will come to you with a commission knowing exactly what they want.  It's frustrating, but it's up to you to guess what they want and what they need.  You have to be ready to address the want FIRST and then, when it leads them to disaster, address the need.  Hundreds of people may look at your displays and decide that your stuff's 'not for them'.  BUT, the moment they see an item they snubbed looking great on someone else, they will want that exact item, believing that it will look the same on them.  I've no idea what dictates that logic, actually. 
However, I did have a young woman with a very short, thick neck who wanted a 3-inch wide choker made 'just like the one you wore to the Emily Autumn concert, the one posted on your deviantart', despite my attempts to lead her to a thinner 1 and a half inch wide choker band.  This same young woman was distraught when the choker folded in and got lost under her chin.  I was unsurprised, and therefore had a solution on hand.

8.  Don't waste time
This ties in to #2.  In waiting for proper items to pop up to finish a piece you've already started, don't just sit on your hands waiting for magic.  Get inspired and keep working.

9.  Double Check your work
With a a magnifying glass and tweezers.  Maybe an physicist too.

10.  Everything is Material
I used a quarter to balance out a brooch this passed weekend.  It was cheaper than buying a cabochon frame, just as effective, and twice as eye popping.  What'd you do with your quarters?  Huh?  You put them in the soda machine didn't you?

The result of applying these learnings to Christmas shopping were readily noticeable.  I didn't go into debt trying to get something I felt was 'worthy of giving'.  I also was able to get a better quality of whatever it was I gave by clipping coupons and working hard.  I played the 'How long can you keep 20 dollars' game like a pro.  Instead of squeezing those 20 dollars till they screamed, died and came back as moaning zombies, I put them to work and made them grow with careful and wise spending.  What's more, I got more laughs, screams and wails at the gifts I gave.  I even gave small gifts to clients.  Squeals of "OMFG!  THIS IS AWESOME!" rang from as far as California.  I made girls feel pretty, made moms jealous of their daughters, made muscle guys break their diets, and got to laugh at my dad because he mistakenly ate soaps that looked and smelled like oreos.  Apparently, they tasted like oreos until they started to foam up in his mouth.  Love you Dad

Holiday Bootcamp Week 5

I am reporting on the successes of Operation: Holiday Bootcamp.  After a few weeks of fairly diligent work and adherence to the goals of this project, I have fallen off the wagon.  I repeat.  I have fallen off the wagon.  Last week, I couldn't focus on anything other than piecework and am positively swimming in wire-wrapped bead links, nicely composed pendants, and organized projects from the week before.  Most of the stuff only needs to have a clasp added before it's finished.  This is all really unsettling.
I'm sorry to say this, but it seems my jewelry Muse has taken a hiatus and is sitting pretty in a pile of unfinished components, smirking smugly at me as I try to conjure up the desire to create.  I'm completely failing to finish anything.  It all seems so lackluster to me.  My Muse has fallen to sloth!  Sloth is the enemy and must be vanquished to maintain a good Protestant work ethic! 
Alas, while the muse of Jewelry is laying around, turning herself into a bloated walrus as she wallows in the supplies she holds so dear, my drawing Muse has stopped being so lazy and decided to allow me to churn out some rather dynamic sketches as well as some potential logo ideas.  Here's something I worked on last weekend.

I feel like the background is missing some depth... I'm still new to doing backgrounds, so I'm not entirely sure how to go about fixing it.  Any suggestions?

Holiday Boot-camp- Week 3

So, this is week…3, or something, of my holiday boot-camp extravaganza and already I’ve shown myself to be a pitiful soldier.  My deadlines are becoming optional instead of mandatory.  I’ve even started posting my blog later and later in the week.  But don’t worry.  The boot-camp has punitive torture for that, like the ‘empty wallet with nothing to show for it’ torture and the ‘Jabba, the Hutt sized piles of supplies strategically placed to trip and injure you’ torture.  Believe you, me, these are tortures you never get used to.  I mean, every almost-blind person needs to have a certain chaotic order in their sleeping space so that they can navigate it in the dark, right?  Right?  Helloooooooo… Well, I suppose you’re all busy with your boot-camp duties too.  At least, I hope that’s the reason why I haven’t gotten any comments. 

Anyway, I’m not going to go into agonizing detail about the horrible setbacks.  But, for the sake of sating your curiosity, let’s just say that my haphazard plans and schedules bit me in the butt.  Tests, fashion shows, bumming around on the interwebs instead of watching a butt-load of Attenborough dvds for my ANTH class, and not enough sleep… they were all contributors.

 (Ain’t that a nifty graphic?  Made it in that, there, new version of paint.)

Production Goals:  Each week, I am required to make at least 5 pairs of earrings, 3 bracelets, 3 Joolry Necklaces and 2 ‘Premium’ Necklaces.  If the preceding number of each item cannot be attained or maintained, I am required to spend an approximate time equivalent of 10 hours and 45 minutes (per week, ya’ll) devoted exclusively to the creation of pieces to fill the inventory by and for the holiday buying season.  In the event of a test or a paper (5 pages or more) the production rate will be halved to accommodate necessary study times. 

Planning Goals:  Each week, I will devote, at least, 2 hours to planning designs for production during the following week.  Planning the design not only involves making the design itself, but also determining what materials will be needed, procuring those materials, and determining if the item is something that can be duplicated with relative ease.  The degree to which an item can be duplicated determines its premium, so this is all very important.   As planning may occur anywhere at anytime, I am required to make a note of these plans in a specific notebook before my noodle-strainer of a memory loses the idea.  Once the item is complete, I am required validate its quality and take pictures of it (if it meets my standards).  Once the product has been named, photographed and priced, it is to be catalogued on deviantart and in the portfolio. 

Maintenance Goals:  I am required to conduct maintenance on both my supply inventory and product inventory.  This includes taking stock of supply levels (Monthly) and keeping weekly updates to the product inventory.  I am required to properly polish products upon their completion and package them in a resealable plastic baggy to prevent tarnishing before placing them in the inventory box.  I will develop labels for each item to enable me to tell at a glance what is in which baggy and also keep things organized.  In the near future, I would like to have a better organizing system, but for now, just improve on the one I’ve got.

Supply Goals:  In addition to cataloguing my supplies, I will also keep a tight hold on my purse strings.  It is important that I cease the financially detrimental habit of impulse buying and ‘collecting’ supplies.  Supplies are meant to be used, consumed, or, if they don’t meet my standards, disposed of.  In addition to this, I will acquire and maintain ‘staple supplies’ and keep in my largest supply box and finding bags.  Staple supplies will include beads catalogued by shape and color, chains, and findings.  More distinctive beads and findings will be kept in smaller cases.  Damaged or unusable beads and findings will be thrown away as soon as they are located, no saving.

Pricing Goals (met):  I will develop and use a standardized pricing model for my products.  This model must be able to cover the cost of materials and pay me for my time.  I will not jeopardize my own financial future by being nice and only pricing things at material cost.  This is a hobby, yes, but it also opens options to grow and expand financially in the near future.  I will treat it like a job.   In accordance with this model, I will go back and reconfigure the prices for old items in the inventory to fit this pricing structure- OR begin to recycle them as ‘free gifts’ for people who have spent $200 or more.  I will make my pricing structure public knowledge in an effort to rid myself of guilt when people complain about something being ‘oh so expensive!’.

Normal Wholesale Price Model for Jewelry:  (Materials Costs + Labor Costs + Over Head Costs + Profit mark-up) x 2

My temporary pricing model: Materials Cost + $10.50/work hour + Overhead Costs + 20% profit mark-up

Profits will be used to build the business (getting a tax ID, getting a license, creating checking and savings accounts), hopefully getting to a level where hiring additional help is possible.

Blogging Goals (met):  I will update my blog each week with at least one typed page in the following format: Arial, 12pt font, single spacing.  I will include pictures for emphasis and ‘spice’. 

Holiday Bootcamp

A couple of weeks ago, I got a secret message from Etsy.com, a call to arms, the draft letter for Holiday Bootcamp! 

At first, I tried to 'dodge the draft', ignoring the summons to 'battle' because I had other commitments that are more important: school, work, church... Adding to the list would just be too much!  I couldn't sign up for 'Holiday Bootcamp'.  I barely have enough time for all my other hobbies like..reading non-school books, watching the webisodes of my favorite animes and documentaries and horror movies, reading manga and writing stories!  Holiday Bootcamp would just be too much!  It would kill me!  Oh my aching schedule! 

But then one day I got up the courage- or curiosity- to just...click it.  Just once.  Let me tell you something... it blew my addled little mind!  Everything is intricately structured, there are lists and schedules and all kinds of hints and tips laid out like a Christmas feast for anyone brave enough to take advantage them.  The clever snakes toyed with my curiosity!  They knew that I wasn't like Eve, stupid enough to go after a plain apple.  Oh... but they bated the trap well.  They dipped my apple in caramel, chocolate and peanuts.  It went downhill from there.

I suddenly found myself inspired, almost to a point of madness. Tons of sellers on Etsy are having little 'Pre-holiday' sales, tossing out glittering treats of jewels and precious metals, candies and fairytale lures for a fraction of the normal price.  And with a mind structured like a bluejay, I cried "SHINIES!!!!" and plunged right into this hellish cycle of plotting, creating and feeling utterly bereft when the materials all run out.  It leaves me feeling validated and...fulfilled, the rush of creating something sparkling and new from something old or broken has had me humming and singing made-up songs for the last week or so.  And now, now I can't go back to 'civilian life'!  Not EVER! 

And I can do this Holiday Bootcamp thing!  I can... I've seen myself do it.  Just yesterday, I created 19 pairs of earrings, 6 leather/velvet/button hairclips, and 6 rings and planned out 5 fancy-style bead-woven and filigree slider bracelets... in less than 2 hours.  It feels good, but it's not enough.  It will never be enough!  I must have MORE! 
And so, I challenge you, the readers to join Holiday Bootcamp with me!

1. Take the pledge:  Number 0: The Pledge
2. Construct your Mission statement
3. Join the Bootcamp on Facebook
4. Find a Bootcamp Buddy
5. Read the Articles:  Number 1: Success tips, Number 2: Merchandising, Number 3: Pricing, Number 4: The Art of Bundling, Number 5: Discounting
6. List and Examine Your Most Popular Items- For yourself
7. Brainstorm Something New
8. Construct a schedule and attack plan
9. Get your rear in gear!

More updates later.  Until then, stay frosty men!  And check for updates:   My Deviantart.