Bead on a Wire Blog

After the open house with my mother and her business partner in November, I had several special orders. One was for a bracelet and earrings for this woman who adores my mother (and her style) and requested almost exact duplicates of a bracelet and pair of earrings I had made for my mom. I made them similar without being exactly alike and sent them off.

I didn’t hear anything, but assumed all was good since people are more inclined to get in touch when things aren’t right. I was kind of hoping/expecting to see her at the open house next weekend so that I could get some feedback.

And then I got an email from her this week. She loves the pieces I made for her before and now she wants almost the same thing, but in gold and featuring her Red Hat Society colors of red and purple.  We went back and forth about exactly what she wants and the price for her set. I sent her the invoice for it this morning and have placed the order for the supplies that I need, which is a lot since I don’t work in gold normally (however, I think I will have to make more gold items with the leftover findings).

I’m hoping the supplies arrive early enough next week that I can try to put her pieces together to take to her at the open house on Saturday. I’d love to be able to present her with her finished pieces, but I don’t think it will happen and she doesn’t need them immediately anyway.

February has been a good month for custom orders.

My mother babysits my son on Wednesdays. So this morning when I dropped him off, I got a nice bonus - more vintage jewelry goodness. She had gone through her jewelry cabinet to pull out old pieces that she knew none of us would really want to keep or wear. There is a treasure trove of lovely stuff in a box in my car, waiting to be cleaned and poured over for recycling possibilities.

Of the stuff she has already given to me (listed in my Vintage and Recycled shop section), two pieces sold within hours of being listed - a cameo brooch/pendant and matching bracelet.

So far, I find that I prefer to keep most pieces as they are - as I research, I realize that they are more valuable intact, which is kind of cool. Other pieces, that are not hallmarked or the background isn’t really clear, I will probably take them apart to make new things.

There are quite a few things from 1950s Japan. There’s a bracelet from 1944 Australia that my mother thinks my great-grandfather bought for my great-grandmother when he was stationed there during WWII. And there are fun things from the 1970s - most of those may be what are taken apart eventually.

Fun, fun stuff and possibilities.

The bridal set is complete and I’m just waiting for final approval from the bride before shipping it out. I’m happy with how it turned out. Pictures really can’t convey how creamy the pearls are or how sparkly the crystals shine. I really hope she likes it.

My pedestal is dusty. I need to lint roll it before the open house in a couple of weeks.

Taking the clip-on earring component from an old pair of earrings that were my grandmother’s, I came up with a lovely new pair of earrings.

I cut the clip from the silver piece and filed the rough edge left to smooth and rounded to avoid injuring the earring wearer. Then I wire-wrapped a freshwater pearl and attached the silver piece to the pearl. Simple French hooks in Sterling silver finish off the new earrings. I love the filigree detail in the flowers. So delicate and pretty. It made sense to add a pearl accent.

The original earrings were from 1950s Japan, where my grandparents (and mother) lived after World War II. My grandfather was a career Army officer. I’ve also got some cool Delft and silver jewelry from 1940-50s Holland (most likely) still to work on.

I have recently come into some really lovely vintage pieces of jewelry that I am going to sell. I have looked at all of their components to see if they were things I could take apart to make new pieces with, but I love them all as they are. So they shall remain as they are and after I get them cleaned and polished, I’ll list them in my shop.

There are some pieces that I’ll take a apart for the raw materials - mostly broken pearl necklaces. Now I just need inspiration on what to do with them. With the removal of my cell charm/zipper pull section, I’ve added a Vintage and Recycled section for just this purpose.

I don’t plan to make cell charms and zipper pulls any longer, so I’ve just marked them all to half price. Feel free to buy, buy, buy. I want them gone, gone, gone.

Oh, and I have a request from one of my small group friends to make some earrings to match a bracelet she has that used to be her grandmother’s. I’m having a hard time finding pearls to match the ones in the bracelet - they’re a copper-y, bronze-y brown color. I’ve bought copper Swarovski pearls and they’re too light and too pink, but very pretty. I’ve bought chocolate brown Swarovski pearls and they are too dark (but they are close). Looking at the bronze colored pearls online, they don’t look like the right color either and I’m reluctant to spend the $$. Plus I work with silver, so to use these beads I’ll have to buy some copper or brass findings. I’m not sure I’m ready to bring a new look to my shop by introducing the new metal color. Oh, and I need small bits of gold fill chain to make an extender for a necklace she needs lengthened. Challenges!

If this pans out, I’ll be very excited.

I got an inquiry overnight about the possiblity of doing a bridal set - necklace and bracelet to match a pair of earrings already listed in my shop. The turn around will be fast - the bride is getting married on March 1. Nothing like waiting until the last minute, right?

Anyway, I had a couple of questions and answered hers and now I’m waiting to hear back for further word either way. I’d love to do the set for her, even with the short notice.

[UPDATE 2/20]: Just sent the invoice! Woo! I’m making a necklace, bracelet, and earrings for this bride. I ordered the supplies and now I wait, impatiently, for the beads so that I can get to work.

I was ready for a new look. Your thoughts?

I’ve been invited to participate in the Uncle Sam’s Niece/Tea For All Reasons spring open house in early March. I’m excited about it since I did so well at their fall open house in November. If my sales are even half of what I did back then, I’ll consider it a huge success.

Knowing that most of the ladies who will be shopping are tea enthusiasts, I am making tea themed items, including the earrings and bracelet that I listed in my Etsy shop. I’ll be working on making more beaded tea infusers, too, since my inventory is low.

I also have a pair of the earrings with white Swarovski pearls that I still need to photograph and list.

If you’re in Northern Virginia and would like information about the open house, please contact me. The dates are March 7-8, (Friday and Saturday) each day from 10am-3pm. Of course, you can always shop online at both shops linked above. Unfortunately, the proprietress of Uncle Sam’s Niece doesn’t have a website yet, but she has lovely things to offer.

Updated to reflect modified numbers - I found more receipts for purchases, which affected my numbers, of course. 

I just finished calculating my 2007 profit/loss for doing our income taxes and I was pleasantly surprised that I actually managed to make a profit for the year. I started officially selling in April when I listed by first items in my Etsy shop.

My profit margin for May was -130% despite a few sales. I bought a lot of supplies.

June was worse with a -168% -244% profit margin. I did have a few sales, but my purchases were triple that amount of revenue. I knew I was building a business and would have a few months where my spending was more than my income. But to see it on paper gave me the shudders.

July was my first truly profitable month with a 52% 44% profit margin. I spent half of what I made.

August saw a bit of a set back with a -120% -169% profit margin, but I had committed to a craft show for late September, so I was in buy mode again.

September turned the corner for me with strong sales both at Etsy and at the show. My profit margin was 54% 53%.

October was a little slower with a 37% 35% profit margin, but I was still in the black.

November was my best month of pure sales because of a two day open house that I participated in (thanks Mom!) mid-month. My profit margin was 50% 48%, but I bought a lot of supplies post-show for the custom orders I got at the show. And I was gearing up for my own open house in December and the expected holiday rush.

December was excellent with a 61% profit margin, helped by my good 4 hour open house and strong Etsy sales. Also, the tea infusers I have on consignment sold well - half of the inventory I sent were sold in December. I spent quite a bit on advertising in late November and December, which did bring in a few extra sales to my Etsy shop.

My bank account is pretty low today, which you wouldn’t expect, given the profit I made over the year. Where did that money go? We paid cash for all of our Christmas presents for 2007 because of my fledgling business.

Awesome and an answer to prayer and so exciting as I think about the possibilities for 2008.

Now, to the taxes…