The Beadmakers Liberation Front

Well, I guess it happens in every creative field. Sooner or later people
want to organixe to patrol everything. I never join in this and have
always been independent. Where I might agree with some of the goals of
such a thing, I don;t like losing even partial control of my creative
efforts, and what I have built. Some of this is because of the
entertainment business wars and some of it involved in crafts, such as
beading. I have very different ideas about marketing my things than
others. If anyone read my other answer,
you saw how people seek to control. And possibly, there is nothing to be
done about newbies and inferior quality, except to be obviously better
than they are and keep ahead. Educate your patrons and customer, and
hold your deepest secrets of how you operate close to the vest.
I am involved in communities, on the internet for entertainers. I share
alot of stuff, but not my central core. I am well known for helping
people, answering newbie questions, but I keep sacred that which makes
me different and the marketing strategies that have kept me ahead of the
pack for 24 years. I go to conventions for entertainers and I do not
divulge my most precious secrets. although, she said laffing, right
before competitions happen, I have been known to hand out some of my own
props and teach a simple routine to people who don't have anything
planned. I lovingly do this because I want to see people grow and learn.
I never think about the fact that they could win the judges and the
popular public votes. And this is because I am a stand out in my field.
I has never been my intent to do so, but maybe I am stacking the deck in
my own favor ? I love this stuff and desire to teach and want people to
love it as much as me. We have stopped
going to one local bead store, with any jewelry on. I usually tuck iu my
shirt, and take it ou when we leave. My stuff is different and
invariably we cause a fuss with other shoppers, and my intent is to buy
supplies, not to usurp their sales or sales strategy. I boldly pronounce
that their staff is not all that knowledgeable, their classes not the
best, and their products ready to sell and wear, are far below whatever
else is out there. They are not presented well and are overpriced
student work. I am not just comparing them to mine. Morethan once I have
felt sold down the river on some beads I bought. I patronize them
infrequently now, preferring to shop ebay and other places where things
might be better priced and i do shop the yearly bead and gem shows. I
will always buy from single sellers or artists I love and trust.
The public doesn;t know or care about warring between artists. They
don;t. All they care about is what they like. They are never going to
care about rules and regs, so your job is to educate and make them
understand, at least about you and what you do. And here'a the biggest
rule for that. Lovingly teach them about your own quality and NEVER
mention that there are people who are lower than you. Don;t complain
about or diss other artists. Don't ! You'll distance them so fast, and
they will never come back ! The best bead artists I know, never tell me
anything about the others. This is a very common mistake creative people
make. On this list or any other, it's okay to gripe and complain, but
not to clients. As far as they need to be concerned, you're #1, with a
bullet. Honesty and humility are the glue that sticks clients to you.
Along with a prettty fine product, you'll win. There
is no union or org. that I wouls accept to be telling me how to handle
my lbusines ....
Rainbow

On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 09:27:16 -0800 (PST),
(rainbow) wrote:

They are never going to
care about rules and regs, so your job is to educate and make them
understand, at least about you and what you do. And here'a the biggest
rule for that. Lovingly teach them about your own quality and NEVER
mention that there are people who are lower than you. Don;t complain
about or diss other artists. Don't ! You'll distance them so fast, and
they will never come back ! The best bead artists I know, never tell me
anything about the others. This is a very common mistake creative people
make. On this list or any other, it's okay to gripe and complain, but
not to clients. As far as they need to be concerned, you're #1, with a
bullet. Honesty and humility are the glue that sticks clients to you.
Along with a prettty fine product, you'll win. There
is no union or org. that I wouls accept to be telling me how to handle
my lbusines ....

Amen, Rainbow!

I'm finally at the last post of this thread and will be letting it all
sink in and taking from it what I need to promote my craft and in turn
promote the artists that I support and appreciate. Contrary to that
"broad brush" used to paint customers and potential customers/buyers
by some of the artists in that public forum.

I wonder how many other buyers had a bad taste in their mouth?

Anyway, I'm all for raising the bar on quality and self-worth and
educating. Viva Las Artistas!

--
Margie
http://snurl.com/2u8t
http://www.handcraftedjewelry.com/st...asp?userid=261

On Wed, 11 Feb 2004 14:10:16 GMT, Tinkster
wrote:

This is a really important point. The vast majority of my customers
buy my beads to collect and display, not to turn into jewelry. And not
to turn into jewelry to resell for a profit.

I didn't realize that I was a bead collector until quite recently when
I opened my artist bead container and lovingly fondled the beads, only
to close it up again while releasing a sigh of bliss and satisfaction.
Now I'll have to figure out how best to display all those wonderful
pieces of art glass.

With that said, I am also a jewelry maker. Creating a piece
incorporating an artist bead whether it's yours or another of my
favorite artist's is an act of inspiration, introspection and respect.
If I choose to sell my creation, it would be a disservice to myself
and to the artist to sell it for no profit IMO. Art takes many forms
and there's nothing disrespectful about making money from it.

--
Margie
http://snurl.com/2u8t
http://www.handcraftedjewelry.com/st...asp?userid=261

What I meant about the "not to turn into jewelry to resell for a
profit" comment was that a lot of my lampwork ends up in pieces made
as gifts.

So let me try again. LOL! Most of my beads end up as standalone
collectibles, quite a few end up in designs destined to be special
gifts and the smallest number are incorporated into jewelry designs
that are sold.

Sometimes I'm not very good at expressing myself. :-)

Tink

On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 12:47:15 -0600, Margie
wrote:

On Wed, 11 Feb 2004 14:10:16 GMT, Tinkster
wrote:

This is a really important point. The vast majority of my customers
buy my beads to collect and display, not to turn into jewelry. And not
to turn into jewelry to resell for a profit.

I didn't realize that I was a bead collector until quite recently when
I opened my artist bead container and lovingly fondled the beads, only
to close it up again while releasing a sigh of bliss and satisfaction.
Now I'll have to figure out how best to display all those wonderful
pieces of art glass.

With that said, I am also a jewelry maker. Creating a piece
incorporating an artist bead whether it's yours or another of my
favorite artist's is an act of inspiration, introspection and respect.
If I choose to sell my creation, it would be a disservice to myself
and to the artist to sell it for no profit IMO. Art takes many forms
and there's nothing disrespectful about making money from it.

On Tue, 10 Feb 2004 07:00:35 -0800 (PST),
(rainbow) wrote:

Having
recently sold much of my precious work at greatly rduced prices, I know
how it feels to get less than it's worth. The buyer delighted to get my
stuff for way less. ( Not you Margie ... you're an honorable person, and
a nice lady ! ). Of the two buyers, one of them will not even answer any
emails. I don't even know if she lke what she bought. To her it was
cheap stuff to stock her store with. The artistic value of it doesn't
matter at all.

Thank you, Rainbow! It does take one to know one. I'm happy to know
you and Sunny (give her a hug for me) two of my favorite talented and
generous of soul women. I wear a lot of your creations and I wear
them proud!

When I finally make my way to your part of the country, lets get some
Chinese food. :=)

--
Margie
http://snurl.com/2u8t
http://www.handcraftedjewelry.com/st...asp?userid=261

On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 18:57:28 GMT, Tinkster
wrote:

What I meant about the "not to turn into jewelry to resell for a
profit" comment was that a lot of my lampwork ends up in pieces made
as gifts.

So let me try again. LOL! Most of my beads end up as standalone
collectibles, quite a few end up in designs destined to be special
gifts and the smallest number are incorporated into jewelry designs
that are sold.

Sometimes I'm not very good at expressing myself. :-)

I think you are very good at expressing yourself and you should
continue to do so without worry of repercussions. Well in a perfect
world, ay? g Believe it or not I do understand where you're coming
from and appreciate that there's a part of your soul in the beads you
create, that is what art is all about, a vision! Think of it this
way, once the bead is sold to a designer, it takes on a new owner and
sometimes it whispers to that owner it's desire to have an additional
soul to have that vision expanded upon. Once it leaves the hands of
the designer it whispers to a person to buy it. It's not the end of
the vision it's an appreciation of it.

Does this make me a visionary? You and me both! :=)

--
Margie
http://snurl.com/2u8t
http://www.handcraftedjewelry.com/st...asp?userid=261

On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 18:57:28 +0000, Tinkster wrote:


Sometimes I'm not very good at expressing myself. :-)

Tink


Heh,heh.... You haven't got that on your own... I do that *all* the
time! LOL

Mavis

I didn't realize that I was a bead collector until quite recently when
I opened my artist bead container and lovingly fondled the beads, only
to close it up again while releasing a sigh of bliss and satisfaction.
Now I'll have to figure out how best to display all those wonderful
pieces of art glass.

How would YOU display them? How DO you display them?

I was thinking of putting some of my best ones in a small shadowbox type frame.
I think I'll mount them on peyote stitch of single-color, matte 11s covering
the entire back surface.
~~
Sooz
-------
"Those in the cheaper seats clap. The rest of you rattle your jewelry." John
Lennon (1940 - 1980) Royal Varieties Performance
~ Dr. Sooz's Bead Links
http://airandearth.netfirms.com/soozlinkslist.html

Kandice, I have just had a
look at your website and your jewellery and beads are absolutely
exquisite... I noticed on your auction page that these bracelets initially
started at $9.99 and are now well over $70 -- so it goes to show that the
$9.99 is an attraction that brings in the bids... and it works!

You should realize that Kandice is selling lampwork bead sets, not jewelry. If
she sold it as jewelry, I think it would probably go for a lot more.

~~
Sooz
-------
"Those in the cheaper seats clap. The rest of you rattle your jewelry." John
Lennon (1940 - 1980) Royal Varieties Performance
~ Dr. Sooz's Bead Links
http://airandearth.netfirms.com/soozlinkslist.html

Welcome, Sharon, to our little bead corner!
~~
Sooz
-------
"Those in the cheaper seats clap. The rest of you rattle your jewelry." John
Lennon (1940 - 1980) Royal Varieties Performance
~ Dr. Sooz's Bead Links
http://airandearth.netfirms.com/soozlinkslist.html