Friday, April 23, 2010
God's been teaching me...............
That I don't have to be afraid,and I don't have to be in control.I can be vulnerable,and I am free.He's just been breathing new life into me,having me dream again,reviving old ideas that I haven't been able to been able to bring forth,giving me perseverance,and so forth.He's up to something,I can tell.And it's good.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Packaging My Jewelry
Lately I have been thinking about packaging my jewelry.I didn't have to think much about it when selling in person,whoever was buying it would usually just put the jewelry they bought on,or I would put it in a little plastic bag.
So I had made a little gold organza bag I was going to use for a purchase,and thought it looked really nice,and wanted to have gift bags for everything I sell.Or almost everything.Some people don't care how it's packaged,as long as it's packed securely.(When I change it in my shop to things being sent in a gift box or bag,I will give them an option of not having one if they don't need it).
I found an old curtain made out of this ivory netting that I'm making gift bags out of,along with some unusual shiny flower patterned pink material I've for almost 7 or 8 years,cut up for something so I can hardly use it for anything,and some tulle.I'm using different colored ribbons and lace for the ties.Tulle gift bags look really amazing!Oh!and I want to make some lace gift bags as well,that would be a really beautiful way to package my jewelry.I know of some inexpensive,yet pretty lace I can use for that,I'll just have to buy it.And I'm hand-sewing each bag,which is a bit time-consuming,but enables me to practice my sewing,and be outside in the fresh air.So I'm being useful,not just sitting there ;),which is very easy to do in the country outside when it's spring.I want to make 50 of my own little bags(some bigger than others),maybe 100.Then I want to buy some gift bags from etsy,and Fire Mountains Gems.
(Unfortunately I can't post pictures of the bags right now,my camera lens broke.Which reminds me,if there's anyone out there who has a good camera,I'm looking to trade for one for some of my jewelry.)
I found these pretty little blue boxes on etsy when I used the search terms"handmade wired jewelry".I found a pretty pearl and quartz necklace,and at the bottom of the description was a link for jewelry boxes.
100 Pack of 2.5X1.5X1 Inch Size Teal Cotton Filled Jewelry Retail Merchandise Boxes
I think these would look absolutely amazing with strips of white tulle tied around them a into a bow on top,don't you?I love aqua/teal/turquoise colors,it's sorta my signature color.Reminds me a little bit of Tiffany's signature blue box.
In fact,I've been thinking about whether I should have a logo(never really thought about that till recently,either,but I thought it might be nice to have one),and I designed one that has a bit of that color with it,using leaves.I wanted my logo to have leaves in it,since whenever I made my cards,I would draw a border of leaves around the text.I make all of my business cards by hard,by the way.
So what do you think of this one?Do you like to see logos on pictures?
And so,how do you like your jewelry to be packaged?If it come with fancy wrappings,are you more likely to buy it?If you're a jewelry maker,I'd also like to hear how you package the jewelry you make.
Jenny.
So I had made a little gold organza bag I was going to use for a purchase,and thought it looked really nice,and wanted to have gift bags for everything I sell.Or almost everything.Some people don't care how it's packaged,as long as it's packed securely.(When I change it in my shop to things being sent in a gift box or bag,I will give them an option of not having one if they don't need it).
I found an old curtain made out of this ivory netting that I'm making gift bags out of,along with some unusual shiny flower patterned pink material I've for almost 7 or 8 years,cut up for something so I can hardly use it for anything,and some tulle.I'm using different colored ribbons and lace for the ties.Tulle gift bags look really amazing!Oh!and I want to make some lace gift bags as well,that would be a really beautiful way to package my jewelry.I know of some inexpensive,yet pretty lace I can use for that,I'll just have to buy it.And I'm hand-sewing each bag,which is a bit time-consuming,but enables me to practice my sewing,and be outside in the fresh air.So I'm being useful,not just sitting there ;),which is very easy to do in the country outside when it's spring.I want to make 50 of my own little bags(some bigger than others),maybe 100.Then I want to buy some gift bags from etsy,and Fire Mountains Gems.
(Unfortunately I can't post pictures of the bags right now,my camera lens broke.Which reminds me,if there's anyone out there who has a good camera,I'm looking to trade for one for some of my jewelry.)
I found these pretty little blue boxes on etsy when I used the search terms"handmade wired jewelry".I found a pretty pearl and quartz necklace,and at the bottom of the description was a link for jewelry boxes.
100 Pack of 2.5X1.5X1 Inch Size Teal Cotton Filled Jewelry Retail Merchandise Boxes
I think these would look absolutely amazing with strips of white tulle tied around them a into a bow on top,don't you?I love aqua/teal/turquoise colors,it's sorta my signature color.Reminds me a little bit of Tiffany's signature blue box.
In fact,I've been thinking about whether I should have a logo(never really thought about that till recently,either,but I thought it might be nice to have one),and I designed one that has a bit of that color with it,using leaves.I wanted my logo to have leaves in it,since whenever I made my cards,I would draw a border of leaves around the text.I make all of my business cards by hard,by the way.
So what do you think of this one?Do you like to see logos on pictures?
And so,how do you like your jewelry to be packaged?If it come with fancy wrappings,are you more likely to buy it?If you're a jewelry maker,I'd also like to hear how you package the jewelry you make.
Jenny.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
A Duh Moment-Tulle Earrings!
Late one night I was going through some different fabrics to make gifts bags with,and I had some tulle.I was thinking about making some bags with the tulle,but them started cutting some up to see if I could make a tulle flower.Then I bunched the pieces up(it looked kinda like a feather that way),held it up to my hair to see if I wanted to sew it on a hairpin.Just so randomly,I held it up to one of my ears to see what that looked like,and found that I liked that!And I thought it would be so cool to make tulle earrings!
I did a quick Google search,and found that there were some tulle earrings,but not in the style I wanted to make them,or at least that I'm aware of.
So here is my first pair of tulle earrings.
They're very nice and lightweight and blow in the wind.
Here is some tulle I plan on making earrings with:sparkley purple,blue,pink,white,cream,tan,yellow............
You can kinda see in the plastic bag two pairs I have made.
I was thinking of calling them different names,like Cinderella earrings for the light blue,since that's what inspired me to make it in that color.But the earrings also remind me of butterfly wings.
Still trying to figure out pricing for them,so if you have any ideas,let me know.......They take 20-45 minutes to cut out and sew,depending on size.
I plan on putting many pairs of these earrings in my etsy shop.
I did a quick Google search,and found that there were some tulle earrings,but not in the style I wanted to make them,or at least that I'm aware of.
So here is my first pair of tulle earrings.
They're very nice and lightweight and blow in the wind.
Here is some tulle I plan on making earrings with:sparkley purple,blue,pink,white,cream,tan,yellow............
You can kinda see in the plastic bag two pairs I have made.
I was thinking of calling them different names,like Cinderella earrings for the light blue,since that's what inspired me to make it in that color.But the earrings also remind me of butterfly wings.
Still trying to figure out pricing for them,so if you have any ideas,let me know.......They take 20-45 minutes to cut out and sew,depending on size.
I plan on putting many pairs of these earrings in my etsy shop.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
My Hair Comb Has Been Featured On A Blog!
Wow,it was so awesome to come home,and get the email from Jenn that she featured this hair comb on her blog .You can see it and all the other lovely wedding items on her blog:
amodern-housewife.blogspot.com
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Pricing Your Work
Have you ever priced your work according to a pricing formula?I haven't really until lately.There are a lot of pricing equations out there,including not having one!
Here's one from the book "How to Open and Operate a Home-Bases Craft Business"
"Pricing Equation
Here's the simple pricing equation: Materials+Overhead+Labor+Profit=Price
It's easy to arrive at a price for any item,providing you have kept good records.Let's assume you're making a product that takes two hours to per unit and that labors cost are $10 an hour.We'll further assume that your material costs and any directly related services amount to $8.50 per unit.With that small amount of information,and using the second variation of the one-third formula for calculating overhead,make the following list and calculations to determine the price to charge for each unit:
*Labor = $10/hour
*Time per unit = 2 hours = $20.00
*Material per unit = $8.50
*Overhead = $20 x 33.3% = $6.66
*Cost of manufacture = $35.16
*Profit= $35.16 x 100% = $70.32
*Price per unit = $72.32(wholesale)
If you're selling this product wholesale for $70,the retailer will mark up 100 percent and charge his customers $139.95.This equation works as well for a $10 item as for a $1,000 item."
I believe this is the way most stores price their items,though one of my friend's store was 25% consignment,but I'm not sure what their mark-up was for the rest.I think it was the same.
Here's my price for a pair of regular Branch earrings made with colored wire and seed beads using this formula~
*Labor= $20/hour
*Time per unit= 45 minutes= $15
*Material per unit= $1.50
*Overhead= $15 x 33.3% =$4.99
*Cost of manufacture= $21.29
*Profit= $21.29 x 100% =$42.98
*Price per unit= $42.98(wholesale)
Final retail price =$85.96!!
They're on etsy for $30 per pair of earrings.I don't even think I could charge $42.98,the "wholesale" price for them.
My mom had told me "Materials x 2 + Labor x 2" to get your retail price.Let's try
that equation:
*Materials = $1.50 x 2 = $3.00
*Labor = $15
*Wholesale = $18
Retail = $36
A little better.Closer to what I'm selling them for,anyways.It look like some folks could use that equation.
I'm working on trying to figure out my own way to price so that I will make enough while my customers can still buy and I can at least put them in a store with a 35% mark-up,or at retail price.
$20 an hour is what I need to make,but some items I only pay myself $8 an hour because it took 8 hours to make,and maybe I used more expensive materials in it.I usually try to balance more expensive materials with a simpler design,so that my labor cost is down.So if my labor cost is down,my material cost will be up,and visa-versa.
This whole thing about pricing started up(again),when I was trying to figure out what my prices would be for Branch earrings with 14kt gold-filled or sterling silver wire and earwires with freshwater seed pearls would be.I currently charge $33 for the craft wire and pearl Branch earrings.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=31112606
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36910804
So what do you use to price your work?Any tips,ideas,thoughts?
Here's one from the book "How to Open and Operate a Home-Bases Craft Business"
"Pricing Equation
Here's the simple pricing equation: Materials+Overhead+Labor+Profit=Price
It's easy to arrive at a price for any item,providing you have kept good records.Let's assume you're making a product that takes two hours to per unit and that labors cost are $10 an hour.We'll further assume that your material costs and any directly related services amount to $8.50 per unit.With that small amount of information,and using the second variation of the one-third formula for calculating overhead,make the following list and calculations to determine the price to charge for each unit:
*Labor = $10/hour
*Time per unit = 2 hours = $20.00
*Material per unit = $8.50
*Overhead = $20 x 33.3% = $6.66
*Cost of manufacture = $35.16
*Profit= $35.16 x 100% = $70.32
*Price per unit = $72.32(wholesale)
If you're selling this product wholesale for $70,the retailer will mark up 100 percent and charge his customers $139.95.This equation works as well for a $10 item as for a $1,000 item."
I believe this is the way most stores price their items,though one of my friend's store was 25% consignment,but I'm not sure what their mark-up was for the rest.I think it was the same.
Here's my price for a pair of regular Branch earrings made with colored wire and seed beads using this formula~
*Labor= $20/hour
*Time per unit= 45 minutes= $15
*Material per unit= $1.50
*Overhead= $15 x 33.3% =$4.99
*Cost of manufacture= $21.29
*Profit= $21.29 x 100% =$42.98
*Price per unit= $42.98(wholesale)
Final retail price =$85.96!!
They're on etsy for $30 per pair of earrings.I don't even think I could charge $42.98,the "wholesale" price for them.
My mom had told me "Materials x 2 + Labor x 2" to get your retail price.Let's try
that equation:
*Materials = $1.50 x 2 = $3.00
*Labor = $15
*Wholesale = $18
Retail = $36
A little better.Closer to what I'm selling them for,anyways.It look like some folks could use that equation.
I'm working on trying to figure out my own way to price so that I will make enough while my customers can still buy and I can at least put them in a store with a 35% mark-up,or at retail price.
$20 an hour is what I need to make,but some items I only pay myself $8 an hour because it took 8 hours to make,and maybe I used more expensive materials in it.I usually try to balance more expensive materials with a simpler design,so that my labor cost is down.So if my labor cost is down,my material cost will be up,and visa-versa.
This whole thing about pricing started up(again),when I was trying to figure out what my prices would be for Branch earrings with 14kt gold-filled or sterling silver wire and earwires with freshwater seed pearls would be.I currently charge $33 for the craft wire and pearl Branch earrings.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=31112606
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36910804
So what do you use to price your work?Any tips,ideas,thoughts?
Saturday, March 20, 2010
iBethel.TV // Bethel Church // Sunday Morning Worship : Feb 28 '10
This is great.Listen to it if you want some fresh hope in your life:)
iBethel.TV // Bethel Church // Sunday Morning Worship : Feb 28 '10
iBethel.TV // Bethel Church // Sunday Morning Worship : Feb 28 '10
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