My Photo/Pricing Process

Since this is what I am consumed with at the moment, I thought I'd share it with you. I'm pretty much trying to get my inventory and paperwork under control and get organized. I'm quite far from having it done, but I'm taking my baby steps! Eventually I'd like to get all my stock put in to one of the Jewelry Designer programs, but I think I'll tackle that after I get my finished pieces priced and online. Now, join me in my fun-filled process!

This first photo is simply my "to shoot and price" pile and my done pile. I keep all my finished pieces in anti-tarnish zip bags to , well... keep them from tarnishing! Also is a closeup of the type of container I use to hold lots of my goodies in. They're called Lock & Lock storage containers. They have a rubber ring around the edge that keeps them airtight and they close on all 4 sides. Very cool! I LOVE them.


Next, you'll see some photos of my inventory of beads. This is one area in life where I'm pretty darn organized. One of the few places unfortunately, but I have hope. The first photo shows the small 4x6 notebook that I started using some years ago. As you'll see by the following photo, that one got a bit too big for it's binding. All the photos in my bead books are taken by laying items on my scanner.



Next is my larger size 8 1/2 x 11 book and some details about how I keep track of the cost of the beads.


So here's a real view of what I'm looking at when I'm working on pricing. Quite a handful! That's why I'm thinking about finally getting it down on my computer, though the books sure are pretty to look at:)

During the process of pricing, I plug information into Eni Oken's Pricing Calculator , which is an excellent tool if I do say so myself. It works with excel and costs $5 from Eni.


Now, the fun part (said with great sarcasm)... photography. Here's a photo of my set-up. I think I use more lights than people recommend, but there you have it. After shooting, I fix and crop in either Picasa or Photoshop Elements. I often think it is a shame shooting in this little white box, when all that glorious sunshine is out there, but I want a controlled environment in all seasons, so I'm sticking to the box for now. I do love those outdoor photos though.


After the photographing and pricing I will list on Etsy. Then there is just one more step when an item sells, or I give or donate away. Yet again, more pretty books. For the most part, the photos in this books are scanned images. They are not portfolio quality, but rather a record for myself of what I've made and the costs involved. Here's a link to the nifty presentation book that I use. It's made by Itoya.

So now you know what I'm up to these days. It's going to take me awhile, but I am rather enjoying the process!

Interviewed for the "Jewelry Report"

This is Jewelry Report's banner background. Isn't it just gorgeous? I couldn't capture the words on the banner , so you'll just have to go see for yourself!

So I'm finally getting back to the computer today and I see that an interview on me has been published on JewelryReport.com (thank so much Angela!) If you haven't been to this blog Please go check it out. There is so much great information there. I've read all the artist interviews which I always find fascinating, as well as found a number of good marketing tips and other great information . There's just lots of good stuff there. After you've checked out that awesome blog, feel free to read my interview. Here's a direct link to the interview: Shay's Interview. I don't know what to say about it because it is about me! LOL

After that, I have a request. If you've been interviewed and would like to have a link to it on my blog, send me the link and I'll do a future blog post sharing others' interviews. For that matter, if you haven't been interviewed, send me a link to any one page online that shares some information about you -- photos, work.. whatever. I suspect it could take me awhile to get the blog post done so don't hold your breath unless you want to scare all of your loved ones and look really silly.
Ohh.. that sounds fun! (not the you-looking-silly part, but the blog post)

In other news,
Life is slowly coming back to order now that my vacation is over. Bills, emails, cleaning... you know what I mean. How life can go into such chaos over a few weeks is insane. If I have to be honest though, which I do, my house was in chaos before the visit. It's something of a rather ongoing quest to make it more minimized and organized. The funny thing is that I think of myself as a minimalist, with absolutely NO evidence to prove it is so. What kind of delusion is that! ... A fun one at least:)

So.. how are you all doing today? I feel like it's been years since I've touched base! What a silly online world this is.

More on the project piece

Well, here is the latest on the project piece. I'm feeling pretty happy with it so far. I think the body of the pendant is now done, but you never know:) Now to work on the chain part of it. You can see where I've put my peridot clusters. It looks a bit top-heavy at the moment, but my intention is to really bulk up the chain with more gorgeous gems and it will all balance out. We shall see eh?

I'm still enjoying a visit with my mom, but she has to leave in a couple of days. :( I'll be off to San Francisco Wed and Thursday for the trip to the airport. The good news of that trip is that we'll all get a chance to go to the California Academy of Sciences which is a building in Golden Gate Park that contains a planetarium, rain forest, aquarium, natural history museum, and a green "living" roof. I can't wait!

Thanks to Kathleen Krucoff for my 2nd Lemonade Award:)

Thank you so much Kathleen! You are too sweet and an awesome artist as well! It really touches me that you find me an inspiration and worthy of the award. For now, just a quick thank you. In about a week I'll be able to sit down and pass it on. For any of you who haven't seen Kathleen's glass work, check her out at her blog or her website. Fun!

I've finally got my hands on "The Project"!

Yes, I both found it and am working on it. This makes for a very happy Shay!

It's a little slow getting back into the flow of things, but I'm enjoying every bit of it. For those of you who are new to my blog, I'm referring to a piece that I started and blogged about on 2/15/09 and 2/16/09 .It's a bit of a personal challenge piece, although as I'm sitting here typing, I realized I've messed up one of my goals (smacks head in a "Duh" moment.) I had planned to oxidize it, and just realized that when I picked it up today and got back to work, I've been using the tarnish-resistant Argentium sterling silver instead of the regular sterling. LOL... So, I am officially letting go of that one due to a lapse in brain functioning! That happens amazingly too often, but what can you do.

The photo to the upper right is a close up of these gorgeous peridot gems that I got in Tucson 2 years ago. My only time to Tucson and what an experience! These dangle at the bottom front of the pendant, which you'll see in one of the photos below. They show the current front and back of the piece. It includes peridot, citrine, ruby, garnet and amethyst.

I hope you are all doing great! I'm really busy right now, but can't wait to get back in the swing of things here online. There is so much I want to do!! For example, I want to do giveaways, read all of everyone's blogs, do more photography montages, get my Etsy thing going, and have great conversations with you wonderful people. That's not too much to ask is it? ;)