I know I said before that I wasn't going to have any New Year's Resolutions, and I'm sticking by that. I did decide at the end of last year, though, that I needed something to challenge myself to be more creative; and I decided that the Bead Journal Project 2011 was just the thing.
I've just been going through some of the blogs of other participants, and I'm amazed by the variety of works I see there -- everything from bead embroidered journal pages, to pieces of jewelry, to spirit dolls, to ... well, visit the blog and check them out for yourself.
Since much of my time is spent beadweaving, it was only natural for me to choose to do something beadwoven for my journal project. And since I spent several hours last year sorting my beads (well, everything except my delicas, which require their own system) into bins by color, I've been inspired to create more freeform bracelets. I dug through my "red" container to locate all sorts of different beads in shades of garnet, maroon, burgundy, and RED to create this freeform cuff which is named January.
They are great fun to create. Freeing, really, because there's no design and no concept of how they're going to look when they're finished. I never have any idea of where they're going to go, and sometimes I don't even know how big they're going to be when they're finished. It's just a matter of adding some beads, holding the piece up to look at it, and then "listening" to the piece tell me which beads need to be added next.
This piece varies in width from just over an inch near the closure to two inches at the center. There are beads of all kinds in here - garnet rounds, delicas, metallic lined glass beads, painted glass beads, freshwater pearls, Czech glass beads in sizes ranging from tiny 15/0 to 5/0 triangle shaped beads. And it's all finished off with a peyote loop and a gorgeous garnet colored button with an intricate design that's visible when you hold the button in the light.
I'm quite happy with the way January turned out, but I have to tell you that I'm already dreading February... It's going to be lots of shades of purple, and I just HATE photographing purple!! Wish me luck. :-) And don't forget to check out the Bead Journal 2011 blog.
Some more pictures, some new listings, and a question. I'm going to start with the question, though.
How do you price your work?I'm not just being nosy or anything, but I'm curious. Do you really think about everything that goes into your creations? Or do you price your pieces at lower prices than you really should, in hopes of appealing to buyers? It's a pretty safe bet that everyone who's creating work to be sold is accounting for materials, and you're probably giving yourself at least some sort of hourly wage, but in looking at the prices being charged on Etsy, it appears that many of the sellers are shortchanging themselves... and in the process, they're devaluing the work of their fellow sellers.
I'm by no means an expert on pricing, but I have spent some time recently analyzing the pricing structure on my beadweaving in an attempt to place an appropriate value on my creations. A lot of thought went into developing a formula that would work. While many people use a formula as simple as cost-of-materials x 2.5 or 3, that type of formula doesn't work well for something like beadweaving, which requires relatively low material costs but a great deal of time.
So, what do you account for in your pricing?
1. Materials. You know what the beads, chain, wire, clasps, jumprings, etc., cost. Right? Did you remember to include the cost of the gas you used to drive to the store? Sales tax? Shipping costs?
2. Fees. There are lots of fees associated with selling, even on a site like Etsy where the fees are relatively low. There's that $.20 listing fee. The 3.5% transaction fee. PayPal fees, which vary based on the type of PayPal account you have and the type of account and/or location of the buyer. Think you have everything covered? What if your item doesn't sell the first time it's listed? Do you have some extra fees built in to cover renewals? (One of the best ways to "advertise" your work on Etsy is to list frequently. If you're not making all sorts of new creations every day, you should be renewing the ones you have in your shop so they get some extra attention. Every renewal puts your work on Etsy's front page, even if it's only for a few seconds, and you never know who might be looking.)
3. Time. This is where everyone seems to falter. You probably include at least some sort of hourly wage in your calculation, to cover the time it takes you to create your pieces. Do you include the time it takes you to design the pieces? How about the time it takes you to do the photography? Or to write up your listing? Do you blog about your creations? Post pictures to flickr, Talent Database, or other places to promote your work? How do you account for the time it takes you to do those things?
4. Packaging/shipping. You probably account for the cost of postage when you calculate the shipping cost for your listing. You might even account for the cost of packaging. Are you sure you have everything? Bubble mailers, boxes, bags, tissue, bubble wrap, ribbon, string, tape, mailing labels? Gas for the trip to the post office?
We all have different skills, we work at different rates, and we create different types of art. So it's unlikely that there's a formula out there that would work for everyone. Just be sure that when you're pricing your work, you're giving yourself credit as an ARTIST. Don't shortchange yourself. And don't devalue the work of others who may be creating in the same genre by offering your creations at prices that are too low.
*steps down from soapbox*
Okay, enough of that. Now for the pictures. These are my newest listings, for two very different bracelets.
First is an Oglala bracelet, Garnet and Mauve Ruffle. These are so much fun to make, and even though I'm not a "red" person, I love the colors in this piece.
The ruffles are made up of beautiful clear beads that are lined with a pale mauve color, and then there's a picot edging made from size 15 garnet colored glass beads. The larger beads are painted glass, and I added some little strands of the size 15 beads for some extra embellishment.
The second bracelet is very different from the Oglala. This one, Abstract in Bronze and Sand, is the same design as the Evolutionary cuff I created awhile back, but I used only two colors of beads this time.
The beads in this one are have a matte metallic finish (my personal favorite). The bronze beads, which have an iris finish, are absolutely gorgeous!
Hey, look at that! I managed to get some pictures taken today!!! Of course, there are a few other things which I should have gotten done that didn't quite make into my schedule... but then, that's always the way.
