Bisbee!? Isn’t that one of those…?

No, Bisbee is not a variety of Frisbee, although it does sound like it could be. Actually, Bisbee is a small, historic town located about 90 miles southeast of Tucson, Arizona. It has a lot in common with 1000 Markets because many of its shops and galleries are owned by artists and artisans and feature handcrafted items.

I had been there several years ago for a friend’s wedding but had had only a few minutes to check out some of the shops on Main Street before heading to the wedding. Yesterday my daughter and I spent a few hours there browsing the eclectic mix of shops and galleries. It was a mild day, just perfect for driving there and then strolling along the twisty, hilly commercial street where we found a mix of restaurants, pubs, art galleries, historical attractions, antiques stores, and specialty shops.
To reach Bisbee, we drove through Mule Pass Tunnel which cuts through the Mule Mountains and leads to the town itself. We took a somewhat roundabout route to Main Street, passing many small lodging houses and bed and breakfasts. Streets are somewhat narrow as they wind through the hilly terrain where many houses seem precariously perched on the on the hillsides.

Bisbee was founded in 1880 and became a booming mining community, “producing nearly three million ounces of gold and more than eight billion pounds of copper, not to mention the silver, lead and zinc that came from these rich Mule Mountains,” according to information available on the Visitor Center website. The commercial area was reconstructed after a devastating fire in 1908 and has been preserved to the present. When mining became unprofitable in the 1970’s and many longtime residents left, Bisbee reinvented itself as a retirement community and haven for artists and artisans. It retains its small-town, historical feel and is a popular destination for winter visitors to southern Arizona.
While in Bisbee I wanted to check out the shop of Kate Drew-Wilkinson, well-known bead maker, teacher of lampworking, and jewelry designer. Her Uptown Tribal shop also serves as her work studio, so passersby can watch her melting glass and making beads through a large window that overlooks her torch and work space. Unfortunately, she was not in the shop, but I did have a chance to view the beads and wire-wrap jewelry for which she is so well known.

It’s just as well that I didn’t get to meet and talk with Ms. Drew-Wilkinson—now I have a reason to visit Bisbee again!
(Photos: 1-a look down Main Street; 2-hillside with letter B; 3-side view of Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum with the Copper Queen Hotel in the background; 4-former JC Penney store now a large bookshop; 5-Lavender Pit, a former open pit copper mine.)

Juggling Life, Job, and Business

Sometimes I am so overwhelmed by all the items on my to-do list that I become mentally paralyzed and not able to accomplish even one thing. Or, I become super-energized, practically bouncing from one task to another, never quite finishing anything, as my brain sizzles and overheats.

Welcome to my world! Life, job, and business are almost more than I can handle some days. I promise myself that I will slow down my frantic race to “get everything done,” but I backslide almost instantly after making the promise. How can I juggle all these elements without having a breakdown? I’m not sure; hence this blog. Perhaps exploring this topic will give me some insights that I might otherwise have missed.

My life is not very complicated, but it does need some attention: trying to lose weight, eat right, exercise, get enough sleep (or at least some sleep), walk the dog, feed the pets, shop for groceries and other essentials, clean house (once in a while), do the laundry, take out the trash and recycling, maintain the car, spray the weeds, wash the dishes (once in a while), pay the bills, and so on. I don’t have a partner, most of the time my grown children live elsewhere, and there is no maid. So, it’s all up to me. (I haven’t been able to teach the guinea pig how to use the vacuum cleaner.) Luckily, my housekeeping standards are very low and I’m not a fussy eater.

My job as a school librarian is demanding, but it pays the bills and lets me buy beads and supplies to make jewelry. I get a great deal of satisfaction from working with elementary students but manage the library as well as teach. I am blessed to have a very capable assistant, but every day I look around and see what I did not accomplish. I never seem to finish one project before having to start a new one. There is enough variety to keep me from becoming bored, but on a bad day I am pulled in so many different directions that I feel I might “snap” like an over-extended rubber band. And that’s not even taking into account malfunctioning printers or computers!

My business—the jewelry-making aspect of it—feeds my need to be creative and to bring something bright, colorful, and beautiful into being. Unfortunately, other aspects consume so much time that I don’t always get a chance to create because I am sitting at the computer Twittering, blogging, editing photos, reading and posting in forums, and listing new items. With shops on two different sites, there is always something that needs doing. Online sales have been non-existent for me the past few months, so I don’t even have the satisfaction of selling something to balance all the hard work I have done. I know my hard work is an investment, but it’s hard to keep going without some payback.

So, why do I keep going, you might reasonably ask? I guess the main reason is that I am stubborn and deep down I believe that I can succeed in this artisan venture. I may have to regroup and rethink some of what I have been doing. I may have to work smarter and not harder. I may have to make more judicious choices of what to do and what to let slide. I may have to lower my standards a bit and stop expecting perfection. I may have to stop sweating the small stuff so much and refocus on the larger view. I may even have to give myself permission to not be super woman all the time.

I know I can be successful on my terms. I am not looking to create a mega-business. I want to create one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry which I sell to buyers who prefer handmade over mass-produced, and I would like to have income exceed expenses and even pay myself a wage. I am approaching retirement age, so eventually my job will not be an issue, but there will always be the details of life to deal with. My hope is to achieve some balance that allows me to juggle just a bit less frantically, so that the joys of working with my hands, creating beautiful jewelry far exceed the cares of daily existence. Oh, for that day to come soon!

Book Review: All Wired Up by Mark Lareau

My day job as a school librarian gives me the chance to get to know lots of books, most of them relevant to kindergartners through fifth graders. I also read voraciously in my free time, usually mysteries, sometimes other fiction. Once in a while, I read or consult nonfiction books and magazines that relate to jewelry making.

One book that I have used again and again is Mark Lareau’s All Wired Up: Wire Techniques for the Beadworker and Jewelry Maker, published by Interweave Press in 2000. It is a useful resource for the beginner just starting to work with wire, as well as someone ready to try out more advanced techniques. The diagrams are easy to follow and the instructions are detailed in a step-by-step fashion.

The contents include chapters on materials, tools, and basic wirework techniques, as well as some basic wirework projects. Findings, ear wires, clasps, and cages are also covered in chapters that show how to put the basic techniques to good use.If you are interested in wire wrapping beads and cabochons to use in your jewelry, this book contains detailed instructions for these elements as well.

Lareau concludes with a gallery of designs by twelve contemporary wire artists, including himself. These are meant as inspirational rather than instructive. He also lists several bead shops where tools and supplies can be purchased. An index makes this book even easier to use.

If you are interested in creating wire findings to use in your jewelry designs, this book is a great resource. It is still in print and still listed on Amazon as of this morning. Stretch yourself a little and try something new—who knows where it will take you?

This photo shows some of the wire findings I have made using Lareau’s instructions. I started off with craft wire, so that I could practice techniques relatively inexpensively. Once I felt more confident, I began using sterling silver wire.

Note: This review is written from the point of view of one who has found this bookt useful; I am not affiliated in any way with the author, publisher, or bookseller.

Earrings, Earrings, Earrings

Earrings are the reason I started making jewelry a few years ago. I wanted to handcraft a gift for a friend and earrings seemed do-able. I wasn’t fully happy with the results, although my friend praised my efforts. Somehow, those earrings spurred us to take a class at a local bead shop and then another and… you get the picture!

So, although I make earrings, bracelets, necklaces, key chains, and lanyards, making earrings is what I enjoy most and do best. A pair of earrings doesn’t require a huge investment of time or money, yet making them is satisfying in ways I can’t quite verbalize.

I love the variety of styles of earrings and how each pair conveys a special tone: jaunty, serious, flighty, business-like, festive, seductive, exotic, down to earth, and so on. I love the fact that a few beads and some wire are all that are necessary to create a great pair of earrings. They require thought and attention but not nearly as much as a necklace or a lanyard. I don’t have to worry about length or a clasp or whether I crimped perfectly.

Earrings are a great way to use up extra beads, try out new color combinations, mix seemingly disparate components, and experiment with innovative designs. Earrings are fun!

Where did the time go?

I remember a month or more ago starting my summer vacation and making promises to myself that I would post on this blog more often. It did not happen. I have managed to fill my time with other more important (and less important) activities and ignored my blog. I couldn't even remember my password to log in! Hopefully, I will remember the new one I just created.

So, now that I am feeling justifiably guilty, here I am ready to make up for lost time.

My latest designs incorporate my own lampwork beads. In the past I have created and sold a few items with beads that I made, but this is the first time I have crafted many items from my own beads. And, I have already sold one of them on Etsy! Yay! I enjoy creating these colorful, attractive necklaces with sterling or Bali silver and a variety of Czech fire polish or seed beads. They are simple but keep the focus on the lampwork focal. With a chain extender, they measure between 16 and 18 inches. Check out some of them in my Etsy mini.

10 New Items Listed and Etsy Showcase Coming Up

It seems I haven't posted in this blog for a couple of weeks. That's to be expected--I was dealing with the end of the school year at my day job. It takes a lot of time and energy to finish up a year and prepare for summer. I have spent days handling books, dusting shelves, and cleaning my office. And now I have to do the same at home!

Today I devoted the afternoon to listing 10 new items in preparation for the Etsy Showcase I am scheduled in tomorrow. Actually, it should be happening in a few more minutes, since it starts at midnight EDT. I had created all these new items in between filling last-minute orders for jewelry for people at work during the last 2 weeks. I am so glad I thought about getting them ready to highlight in the Showcase.

After the two previously mentioned sales, nothing much has happened. No new hearts, no new sales. I've been spending too much time in the Forums and not enough time on other matters. I vow to spend time in the next week or so getting my linking up this blog with other Etsy bloggers and promoting by networking.

It's really hard to continue to believe in my jewelry without the sales to back it up, but I do know how much I've sold in the past and I just need to be as patient as I can. My oldest listings expired today and that was a shock--that so much time has gone by.

Just to cheer myself up and show how great my designs are, I'll post a photo here of my newest necklace "Touch of Gold." Lovely goldstone stripes brighten each of the furnace glass chubs in this necklace and add a touch of sparkle. Matching earrings are also available.

Things Are Looking Up

I've had two good two days--yesterday and today. I made a sale yesterday and today a pair of my earrings is in another JET Treasury. I can see that joining that particular street team is making a difference in how much exposure my jewelry gets. Now I'm starting to think about re-doing some of my photos to make an even greater impact. That will be a lot of work, though.

I am still confused about the new postal rates, although I read the info on the post office web site, read the info on PayPal, and talked to someone at the main post office. I like to mail in bubble envelopes--the 5" x 8" ones. I'm still not sure whether they are considered first class parcels or large envelopes. Have you ever tried to measure the thickness of a bubble envelope containing a pair of lampwork bead earrings? It's not the easiest thing to do!

I wanted to try out PayPal to print the label, but I kept getting an error message that my envelope/parcel needed to be a minimum of 1 ounce and I had only .8 oz. I ended up at the post office and paid $1.13 for the first class postage and $.75 for the delivery confirmation. I hope I can get PayPal to work next time because it's only $.17 or $.18 cents for delivery confirmation. I'll look at a couple of sites I bookmarked and see if it becomes any clearer. I did raise my shipping and handling $.50, which should cover any increases.

I'm looking forward to the weekend so I can spend some time working on photos and new listings for my shop. Hope my good luck continues!