Pinterest Style/ Inspiration Boards for Jewelry Designers with Kylie Parry

Pinterest style/ inspiration boards can be a really useful tool for creative businesses.

For artists, Pinterest is the ultimate virtual way to collect and organize inspiration and creative motivation. Style boards help  tell a story- your story- your artwork's story (and the story you are trying to sell). Boards can be curated based upon themes, seasons, colors, etc. I tend to create beads and jewelry in themed collections. My inspiration boards reflect that. The multi-media aspect of creating style boards is so true to life. As artists, we draw inspiration from so many sources: places, experiences, clothes, paintings, photography...Pinterest boards help capture that complexity.

ahhh...glorious spring. My 2014 Spring Inspiration board. 

 Kaushambi Shah's pastel and eclectic Vintage Inspired Spring Garden Tea Party board. 

Pinterest style boards are also practical. They assist in organizing favorite supplies, tutorials and information in a visual and easy way.

In a single glance, visitors get a 'feel' for the artist's work- which I love. Peek into the brain of an artist.

When Heather starts pinning beautiful floral prints and photos, we anticipate new feminine and flowery beads. Heather's Inspired by Spring board.

Boards are a way to keep inspired, keep motivated and share in the inspiration of others by following their boards.

Catina Jane Gray Studio

Pinterest is also a business tool. In creative businesses, making connections and fostering relationships is key.

Having style boards, creates opportunities to connect with like-minds.
{Someone searching for a vacation spot in Fiji may happen upon a photo on my 'take me to the sea' board. While perusing my board, they might spot a whale bracelet they can't live without, or a starfish necklace they love, or... you get the picture.}

The possible connections are vast.

Pinning a variety of things is important for drawing more (and new) people in and keeping them interested. Sharing resources, where you found a cool supply, cross promoting other jewelry/ bead makers and pinning other relevant things, gives people (and potential customers) a reason to keep following along. I like following other style boards to stay current on trends, this season's colors and the styles that are 'hot' (since I am not. read: new baby (i.e. I don't get out much)).

Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp's 'on trend' Gypsy board.

The changes beyond our control to sites like Etsy and Facebook, that make it increasingly difficult for our artwork to be found, make resources like Pinterest a valuable (and fun!) way to diversify and promote our creative businesses.

AND this blog post has just justified all those hours you've spent pinning. You are welcome :)

Have a great week!

Kylie

p.s. feel free to follow my boards and the Art Bead Scene boards!

(We are re-publishing this post due to a scheduling error. I think it's fab enough it deserves repeating. Share your favorite jewelry mood board in the comments!)

Bead Style Magazine

Take a look at BeadStyle Magazine Newsletter today:

Yea! They are featuring some beads and pendants I made. Toot, toot goes my horn! Sign in and you can see even more examples. Thank you Ornamentea for facilitating this connection!

I Love Tools, Digital Picture Frame

For Christmas my husband gave me a digital picture frame. Not only will this be wonderful to have displayed in our home but his suggestion was to use it at trunk shows also. Genius! I had not even thought of that, but once the idea was planted I knew I wanted to share it with our Art Bead Scene readers.

My plan is to use a separate memory card that I can load my bead pictures onto - keeping just family pictures stored on the actual device. Then when I do a trunk show I can just pop that card in - ready to go instantly. I'm thinking this will be an effective marketing tool for a variety of reasons. First, having a great deal of printed pictures displayed starts to get visually cluttered and distracting. Second, the lighted digital display can show off important small details without having to worry about room lighting or glare. Third, the time difference it will take to set up that one frame vs. about 30 pictures is huge and time is always an issue with me. Finally, just the novelty of it will get people to stop and look.

I think that I'll have photo album of some sort nearby so people can then go directly to the picture they'd like to see. I can pause my digital photo frame, but I don't think I'd want just anyone playing around with the buttons. I'll still display a few prominent pictures around the area, but not so many smaller / easy to overlook ones.

What beady gifts would you like to share with us? Leave a comment - Thanks!

New Earth & Wood Toggle sets by Elaine Ray

Glass Bead SRA Movement

ABS recently caught up with Melinda Melanson who hosts the web site for glass lampwork Self-Representing Artists. What's that? Read on...

What is your name and what are your web sites? Personal and SRA.

Melinda Melanson
http://www.cauldroncreations.com/
http://www.self-representing-artists.com/

Tell us about you, outside of SRA. How did you become a glass beadmaker? How long have you been making beads?

I'm 42 yrs old with a retired Air Force Hubby and an 18 yr old daughter. We love animals and have a bunch. Dogs, cats, birds, snakes, lizards, tortoise, and a frog. I've always been drawn to beads and glass work. As a child I remember finding beads in the road or school play area and gathering them up to make my own jewelry. Way back then, I strung them on fishing line. I am always looking for something new to try, and in the early 90's, I bought a booklet and some beads and started making seed bead earrings. From there, my collection of beads has grown to take over my house. I don't do a lot of stringing work. I prefer bead weaving, loom work, bead embroidery. I started making Art dolls and was getting frustrated in not being able to find just the right beads for my dolls. Around 1999 I saw a bead making kit in a book club and figured I could make simple beads to adorn my dolls. Well, I had no idea there was a market for the beads I was making, they kept piling up and after a quick search on eBay, I decided to sell them there. I didn't start to sell them until 2001, but I was making them in late 1999.

Where do you sell your beads? Do you sell finished pieces?

Most of my work is sold on eBay and my website. I occasionally sell finished items, but mostly they are donated to a worthy cause. Some of my work has been in beading magazines and websites.

How did the Self-Representing Artist (SRA) site come about?

Basically, a bunch of [glass] bead artists were discussing how we could let our buyers know that they are looking at work that is made by the artist and not mass produced. Before a couple years ago, this was easy, there were very few mass produced lampwork style beads and it was easy to distinguish between SRA and mass produced. But then the overseas mass producing factories started to produce the same designs and styles that we were making. We decided a badge or logo would help us stand out from the mass produced beads.

How does it work?
Very easy to join. Send in some basic info. Once we verify that the applicant is a SRA, the member will get a membership number and a copy of the logo to use. I retain the rights to decline or pull anyone's membership at any time. The logo is used by strict permission only.

How many SRA’s do you have listed?
I've lost count after 1000, I think we are about 1500 strong now.

What are the requirements to be an SRA? Is it just for glass? Are there other organizations of this kind?
Our group is very easy to join. We only require the members to sell their own or immediate family members glass work where they display the logo. We do not require the member desist from selling other work. But they may not display the logo on this other work. Because our basic mission is to help buyers find genuine glass work, this group is for glass only. There are groups out there that represent the self representing jewelry designer.

Are you affiliated, endorsed or recommended by any other organizations? (ISGB? Local guilds? Etc).
I'm not sure if we've gotten any official recommendations from other groups yet. I believe The Angry Mandrel is linking to our site now. I know word is spreading like wildfire and the group receives new applications almost daily.

Is there anything you’d like to say to art bead makers and designers that use art beads?
To the bead artists out there, stand up and proclaim you are a self-representing artists. Make it easier for new customers to find your work. Be proud to be an SRA. Educate your customers about the differences between SRA work and mass produced work.

And to the designers......A HUGE thank you for supporting the SRA's. I believe the quality in the glass work made by SRA's is greatly superior to the mass produced items. And by supporting the SRA, you are directly supporting the artists and not a bunch of middle men/importers.

Is there any advice you can give for other art bead makers in other mediums that might want to follow your lead in the SRA movement?
Stand up and be proud of being a SRA in whatever medium you work in. Search for groups in your medium that can help you find your customers. If there isn't a group, think about starting one. Help others along their path.

(All beads in this article are by Melinda Melanson. Click images for a larger view).

Lori Greenberg is a glass beadmaker who blogs from her studio in Cave Creek, Arizona.

Toot Your Own Horn

First off let me say a big Thank You to Virginia Miska for her great post on June 11th announcing both mine and Melanie Brooks Lukacs' contributions to this summer's edition of Stringing Magazine. Needless to say I have been thrilled over and over again as I went through this process of submitting to a magazine. I'll talk you through my steps and try to pass on some self-promotion/marketing tips along the way.

The true beginnings came when I first got to know Heather of Humble Beads and Melanie of Earthenwood Studio through the formation of this blog. I spent a great deal of time pouring over their "press" pages, both with inspiration and jealousy in my eyes, thinking to myself - just how do they do that? Over time I got to know how they do that - lots of organization and hard work. As I have said before - you gotta be out there selling yourself - as beautiful as your work is, it isn't going to sell itself....

Porcelain charms by Earthenwood Studio on page 12

Then earlier this year Cynthia Deis, owner of Ornamentea said to me in passing - "You know the deadline for the summer issue of Stringing is coming up and you should submit something." So I go home, find the contributor guidelines on the web and get to it. Several weeks later I get a letter from the staff at Stringing and Yeah! I'm gonna be in the Summer issue.

Secret detail of Lady of the Sea by Cynthia Deis on page 74 - there are two more stringing holes in the arch!

This was all new to me and the people that I had contact with there were great! They talked me through what I didn't understand and best of all, as seen on the Cascading Tangle, they slightly altered my instructions making them much easier for others to follow.

Cascading Tangle by Elaine Ray on page 22.

3 earrings by Elaine on pages:
35 and 37.

So now the ball is back in my court - it is my job to use this press to my full advantage. I blog about it on

Elaine Ray Rambles About Beads, get someone to blog about it on Art Bead Scene, and see if the people I know that are in the magazine blogged about it then leave a comment. So really what I guess I'm trying to do is find that balance between tooting my own horn so softly that no one hears me and tooting my own horn so loudly that I seem obnoxious and over eager. Any suggestions?

Here are some other people I know of in this magazine - so now I'm just name dropping.....

Jean Yates who is a regular
with entries into our
monthly challenge.






Jennifer Heynen of Jangles, known to us through Beads of Clay.






I'm afraid I may have missed some one so let me know so I can toot their horn!

- Elaine Ray

Enhance your Web Presence, Take a Class

Today, as I pondered what you might be interested in I remembered Eclectic Academy. While Eclectic Academy might not be a juicy, colorful jewelry and bead site you might still be interested in it for the sales and marketing end of your jewelry and bead obsession.


Eclectic Academy is site that provides online classes for only $20 per 6 week course. I have taken three Photoshop classes and highly recommend them. Their classes include but are not limited to basic art classes, selling on eBay, basic computer maintenance, writing effective newsletters, web site development for most of the known html programs all the way up to database management.

Check them out. You might find something that you've always wanted to learn but didn't have the time to pursue at the local community college. Let us know what you think!

Lori Greenberg is a glass beadmaker who blogs from her studio in Cave Creek, Arizona.

Bead Scoop: Beads of Clay at the Bead & Button Show

Members of the online group Beads of Clay have teamed up to promote ceramic beads at the upcoming Bead & Button show! Stop by any of the booths listed below and pick up a free treasure map postcard of participating booths. If you are interested in fired clay, this is a great way to see the wonderful variety and artistic vision presented by these bead artists.

June 7th - 10th Bead & Button Show

Midwest Express Center , Milwaukee , WI

Bag Lady Beads...Booth 1238
Clay River Designs...Booth 747

Creative Impressions in Clay...Booth 411

Earthenwood Studio...Booth 1227
Embroidered Soul...Booth 930

Joan Miller Porcelain...Booth 15
Jangles...Booth 1140

Marsha Neal Studio...Booth 249

Slendid Loon Studio...Booth 128

Self Promotion, Artist Profile on Bead Arts blog

OK - now it is time for me to "put my money (in my case, time) where my mouth is." Previously I wrote about self promotion telling all of you to get out there and strut your stuff, speak up - let the world know how wonderful your art is... Stand up, point, reach, instruct and demonstrate. So now I need to follow through and do this myself - so here I stand up and point you in the direction of Cyndi Lavin's blog: Bead Arts where on May 24th, she has posted an Artist Profile about...... me!

As I state in the interview, Cyndi's questions helped me do some brain organizing as I thought through and typed out the answers. As you read my profile - think through the questions as if you were writing your own profile and see if it leads you to new pathways or just even encourages you down your current path.

Once you have done that - bop over and take a look at Cyndi's web site with its opening line:

For outstanding women who don't mind standing out

There you will "feed your visual sensory system" just what it needs.

Thanks again Cyndi for making me look so good!

- Elaine

The Bead Biz: Self Promotion

Without a marketing squad, an ad counsel or a bunch of dancing fruit to do it for us, we all need to sell ourselves. It is difficult for many bead makers and designers alike to find a way to strut our stuff, bring attention to ourselves, show off, and generally just say to the world: Look at this: I made it and when you wear it you will look Absolutely Fabulous.

How do you personally promote your beads / jewelry? In this blog, I am going to focus on what Heather Powers introduced to me as "conversational selling". I'm not sure if that is an industry term or if she made it up, but it fits the bill perfectly for what I want to talk about. People have said: “I’d rather let a friend do the selling, I don’t want to appear cocky, my beads will sell themselves, it is so awkward….” Yes, I agree, those are all legitimate statements and all have merit, but in the end, you are the one with ultimate responsibility to sell your little beauties. You control their destiny. I have debated how to best teach this area of self promotion and have decided to go with a “given scenario” approach.

Scenario #1: You are walking down the mall and someone notices and compliments the necklace you are wearing. Which is your typical response? “Oh, I made it several years ago, not one of my best, but thanks for noticing.”

Or, “Thanks! I made it several years ago and it still compliments everything I wear. Who knew I’d get so much mileage out of this one piece. I bet it would even go with that shirt you are wearing.” Pull a business card out of your pocket, hand it over and say “I have several pieces in my line that may interest you. Take a look around my site. If you’d like to place an order, just give me a call! If not, just enjoy the pictures and my card will make a happy book mark!”

When you answer in a manner similar to the first answer above the other person hears: handmade, old, outdated and not so good. The person in the second answer hears: handmade, looks great, timeless, would look as good on me as her and now I even know where to get one for myself. Even if you feel that piece is not “your best”, that person likes it – support his/her good taste!

Gestures count. Touch the necklace and show it off even more. Look the person in the eye, let them know your necklace is as confident as you are.

Scenario #2: You are at a show and people are milling around, but not actively buying.

Is your response to hang back, stay out of the way, and hope, hope, hope they will decide to buy? Or do you stand up straight, talk, point, show sets, make eye contact, demonstrate, suggest uses, hand them a piece to fondle… Some people just may need some hints on how to use your pieces. Let them know how you and others are doing just that: “That pendant was used at a bridal shower as a prize. My friend was wearing a pair of earrings made out of those when she attended her job interview. These beads particularly compliment that color you are wearing. These make a great earring and necklace set. Those always attract attention when I’m wearing them. That pendant is my best seller…..” By the end of the day you should be dead tired!

Don’t get discouraged when people stop by, talk and don’t buy. Remember, everyone is on a budget, but they will remember their conversation with you along with your suggestions and will have your card to use in the future when the time is right. Or maybe they will suggest you to a friend, or a bead shop….

Scenario #3:

A potential buyer stops by your table and seems to really like a piece and sends you a curve ball. “I really love this and would like to buy it, but wow, that is a lot of money.” Is your reply, “I know, but I can’t produce it any cheaper. Maybe you can save up for later. Here is my card.” Or: “You got that right! Being someone who makes handmade crafts myself I can completely relate. The reason for the cost is this particular process requires X number of steps to get that beautiful color mix - This glaze contains X which is twice as expensive as Y, but as you can see is about 5 times as beautiful.” Help your buyer justify the cost: “It is one of those pieces that you will get your investment out of by wearing it for years and years, by selling it to that special customer who you know will appreciate the extra craftsmanship, by giving it to your special sister friend who is always there for you no matter what…”

Let them know what they are getting for their money – and it can’t be just your time. Just because you took 5 hours making it, doesn’t make it more attractive to them. In all reality – who cares if it is handmade if it is no better or different than the off the rack beads? So you need to tell them what is better about your pieces – point out details that are impossible with mass production, show the steps needed, stress the individuality the person wearing it will feel, note that no two are alike but all beautiful, give your pieces a story, give them a personality, help the buyer establish a relationship with your pieces, not just with you.

Hope this is helpful – I’d love to get some comments / suggestions. Post a comment and I’ll get back to you. If you have additional ideas or can tell me of a time you stood up and made the sale – post it! We all love a happy ending! As I wrap this up I want to point out that when you get out there and self yourself and your beads, you are really selling all of us. We all need to support and sell the idea of fine, hand crafted art beads and the fantastic final pieces of jewelry they end up in. Lets spread the word and get it out there – We have beads and baby your gonna love ‘em!

-Elaine Ray