EMC Team Challenge: Mixed Media

The EMC Team participated in another team challenge. This Team Challenge theme was mixed media. Team members had to incorporate, stone, paper, resin, polymer, glass and other objects with metal clay. Below are the entries received from various EMC Team members.

Joy Funnell of Joyful Jewelry submitted this pendant and earring set named Modern Legions. The fine silver and gold clay set, incorporates handmade lampwork glass headpins. The copper and glass headpins were created by Laura Sparling.

Joy Funnel Modern Legions Pendant and Earring Set: Silver/Gold Clay with glass headpins

Glenda Skarie of Be Adori submitted her Taino earrings and pendant set. The Taino set is Goldie bronze clay and magnesite beads. The Goldie bronze clay is inscribed with symbols that are inspired by the rock carvings left behind by the Taino Indians from the Greater Antilles.

Glenda Skarie Taino Pendant & Earring Set: Goldie Bronze and Magnesite Beads

Zoe Nelson of Zoe Nelson Artwear submitted the lovely pendant shown below. The fine silver clay and dichroic glass pendant is called Karin. The piece is named Karin after the cousin who simply had to have the necklace around Ms. Nelson's neck.

Zoe Nelson Karin Pendant: Dichronic Glass and Fine Silver

Catherine Witherell of Happy Day Art submitted the beautiful pendant seen below. This pendant in comprised of fine silver clay, sterling silver, beach glass, turquoise, gaspeite stones, jade, peridot, leather and a transparent gift card that has the appearance of stain glass.

 Catherine Witherell: Mixed Media Pendant: Silver Clay, Sterling Silver, Leather, Stone, Glass and Gift Card

The 3 connecting rings, 2 spiral beads, 2 circular beads and the bead cap on the beach glass dangle were all composed of metal clay. The frame that holds the transparent gift card, the chain, the jump rings and the rivets are all composed of sterling silver. The transparent gift card is an excellent, unique and creative touch. Talk about the gift that keeps giving.



Bev Gallerani of Mango Tango Designs submitted the pendant below titled Slow Growth. The pendant is composed of fine silver, sterling silver, chalcedony briolette, paper, watch parts and UV resin. The steam punk pendant features a elegant fine silver clay impression with a steam punk focal point comprised of watch parts, paper and resin.

Bev Gallerani: Slow Growth Pendant: Fine Silver Clay, Sterling Silver, paper, watch parts, uv resin

Thank you to all of the EMC Team members that participated in the EMC Team Challenge! I was inspired by all of the pieces that were submitted for this Challenge.

What's new in our shops

Hello everyone, another post to showcase what is new in our members shops this month, please check out the awesome shops below to see more work from these artists.

Liz Hall

Kristi Bowman

Barbe Beaty

Bev Gallerani

Anna Silvonen

Catherine Witherell

Liad

Lynn Cobb

Karen west

Zoe Nelson

Meena Devrani

That's all for this post I hope you all find something new to love!

"What's on your workbench?"

Hello! In this post we have some members of the Etsymetal clay team showing us what they are currently working on.

Lori Magno- Moda di Magno

"I'm making 200 good luck charms for a friend's wedding in September. Hadar's bronze clay with a hand carved mold and each piece hand stamped with their initials (and all made with love and best wishes.)"

Evelyn Pelati Jewelry

"On my bench today is a test strip for Fast Fire BRONZClay. I'm going to try firing it in Magic Carbon. I'll take measurements of it before and after firing so I can start to get an idea of what happens with the shrinkage. After it's fired, I'll try bending it and hammering it. If it's o.k, I'm going to start making some pieces in bronze. All new for me!"

Anna Mazon- Drakonaria

Check out this amazing piece from Anna, it is a custom order. This is just before firing and we are all eagerly awaiting the final result, we can't wait! :)

Joy Funnell

Joy is busy enamelling at the moment - lots of tiny rainbow seashells for a sculpture piece!

Lorena Angulo- Pueblo folk art

"I am working with Sterling PMC in this piece. I hand sculpted and carved this folk bird and I want to make a brooch, maybe a brooch/pendant with it. I love working with Sterling PMC!"

Milica Bubanja

This ring is an custom order.

"It is a metal clay carved ring with two lampwork beads (made by me!). I drilled two holes and I'm trying to get right size. Next step is firing the metal clay ring."

Catherine Witherell - HappyDayArt!

Last but not least is a great studio pic from Catherine.

"I've been working in a bright corner of my living room for about 2 years and my family teases me about it all the time.  But it's cold downstairs and there is almost no empty surface down there so well, yeah, here I am.  I clean up a little when I quit working each day but I do a better cleaning of the space just before I begin working on a new project.  It helps clear my mind too."

That's all for this post, I hope you have enjoyed seeing what members have been working on.

Lou Hunter

EMC Charity Charm Bracelet!

Awhile ago the EMC Team had a charm exchange. All of the participants made extra charms with the hopes of donating a complete charm bracelet to a worthy cause. After some discussion the team decided to donate the latest charm bracelet to the Red Cross through Ebay Giving Works. 100 % of the sale of the Charm bracelet will go to the Red Cross. Please view the ebay listing here. The Charm Bracelet auction will end on May 12th! Please spread the word on this lovely bracelet it is for a good cause!

Description of Bracelet

This charm bracelet is composed of a sterling silver 7.5 inch cable chain with 21 handcrafted fine silver, copper and bronze charms. The charms range in size from 1/2 inch to 1 inch. These handcrafted charms were made by members of the Etsy MetalClay Team. The Etsy MetalClay team is a global group of jewelry artists and designers using silver, gold, copper and bronze metal clays to create their work. We strive to make innovative, unique, and boundary pushing designs -embracing both modern technology and old world traditions.The Etsy MetalClay Team would like to donate 100% of the sale of this charm bracelet to the Red Cross in a effort to help the people of Japan.

The Art of the Craft Show Part 2

Karen West of Eggtooth Originals was kind enough to put together a guide on having great Craft Fair Experience. In the second part of her guide Karen goes over the art of the booth set up and selling insights. Thank you Karen for putting together all of these helpful tips.

Booth set-up

Booth spaces are typically 10’ x 10”, but be prepared to get an application that specifies 8’ x 8’, 6’ x 6’, 10’ x 15’…you get the picture. Every show is different. For outdoor shows, especially multi-day shows, your first concern should be protecting your product and being prepared for inclement weather. Most vendors go with a canopy-type set up for outdoors. There are “easy-up” style canopies (E-Z Up, and Canopy King for example) that work just like the name suggests. You will usually sacrifice sturdiness for a canopy that is easy to put up, but starting out with a less expensive canopy is a good way to go until you are sure you enjoy the vendor experience. If you decide you want to make outdoor events a regular part of your art business, invest in a canopy like those made by Flourish Trimline. If the show is indoors, you will want to pay special attention to lighting. Choices for booth design are endless in style and creativity. Tables (with adjustable legs!) are a common starting place for jewelers, but don’t limit yourself. Be creative and always design your booth with the customer in mind. A good way to start the process is to go to a show and tour different booths with your particular product in mind. See what works and what doesn’t.


How much product to bring

You really won’t figure this out until you get a couple of shows under your belt. Expected attendance will help you gauge how much to bring. (If the application does not tell you that, ask the promoter.) When displaying your art, you want each piece to be appreciated for its uniqueness and so, it’s not good to overwhelm your booth with product; but on the other hand, you don’t want customers to think it’s all been picked through and you are low on stock. Basically, you want your display space to be full but not crowded.

The day of the show

Start the day well-rested because doing a show is a lot of work! Plan ahead carefully so that you don’t have to stay up late the night before a show. If you don’t have a specified load-in time, arrive early to give yourself plenty of time to set-up. This is particularly important when the venue is open to “early bird” customers.

Running your booth

Should you bring help? It depends. It’s great if you can get someone to help you with load-in and getting your booth furnishings in place. After that, though, your “help” might get in the way unless they know your product really well and they know how to work with customers. That said shows are a lot of work – the days are often long, and if you are not generally an extrovert, you will be tired at the end of the day.

Make sure you leave space for processing sales, wrapping product and business logistics. Ideally, this is in the form of a separate table or stand that is hidden or does not distract from your booth presentation.

Sad, but true, theft does occur. You will need to guard against it and keep it in mind when you set up your booth. It is particularly true for small items like jewelry. Keep the most expensive items close to where you plan to stand, or better yet, in a display cabinet. A booth design that makes people come into your booth is better than a design where your product is set up along the perimeter of your booth space.

Selling your art, dealing with customers, dealing with difficult customers….these are all things that will come with time and experience. The important thing is to be genuine and honest and tell people what makes your art special. Share your excitement!

Credit cards

If you decide to make art and craft shows a regular part of your business you should seriously consider getting set up to take credit cards. One option is to set up a Merchant Account with your bank. Once approved, you will get instruction about how to process credit cards. It costs you money to accept them – not just in the fees associated with having a merchant account, but you will also pay a small fee (2% to 5%) for each transaction. Still, you will generally sell more if you accept credit cards. You can keep your fees down by politely asking your customer if they have a regular credit card vs. a card with mileage plus or other such bells and whistles.

Last word

Shows can be a lot of fun. They can be exciting and rewarding. They offer you an opportunity to meet other amazing artists, dedicated customers, and new friends. You learn a great deal about how your art comes across to others in ways that you can’t learn from running a website alone. Yes…there are going to be disappointing shows, especially during the current economic climate. But you just may discover that art and craft shows become an essential and enjoyable part of your business.

A few resources

Book: Art Festival Guide – The Artist’s Guide to Selling in Art Festivals by Maria Arango of 1000 Wooducts
This book walks you through all of the steps in wonderful detail from a very experienced vendor.

CD: Booth Design and Merchandising for Craft and Trade Shows by Bruce Baker

CD: Dynamic Sales and Customer Service Techniques by Bruce Baker

You will find yourself listening to these CDs over and over again!

Welcome Ann of Drakonaria Jewelry to the Etsy Metalclay Team

We have a new member to the Etsy Metalclay team this month. Ann Mozon is the artisan behind Drakonaria - Artistic Jewelry. Ann is a metal clay artist who inspired by the beauty of nature and fine literature. She expands the Etsy Metalclay international resume by coming to us by Cracow, Poland. Ann designs contain delicate, intricate detail. I particularly love Ann's Sindarin jewelry line. Sinadrin is the name of the elves language found in J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings series. Her Aderthad Pendant listed below means unification in the grey elves' language. Ann has a website that is currently in her native polish but she is in the process of translating it to English. Can't wait to see it Ann. Welcome to the team, I hope you find our little group a friendly and helpful one.

Ann's Aderthad Pendant