Selling handmade jewelry: weird tales from the craft fair

It's September, start of Fall Craft Fair Season... which means it's time for another edition of "Weird Tales From The Craft Fair."

My latest event took place on Sunday. It was my neighborhood's local Community Arts Day and I was happy to participate. Vendors are juried for this event and though this was my third time selling at it, I was rejected for its second year. I no longer just assume I'm going go get in and was thrilled to be chosen. Here are some shots of my table. No, I do not know who Jeff is...

I was worried about being put on a side street rather than on the main road. Even worse, my table was put right under a shop awning and birds pooped on the table (thankfully NOT on the jewelry!!!). My friend Lani was with me, though, and she stayed calm -- and insisted that a bird pooping means good luck.

I'm not sure if it really does bring luck, but we actually got a lot of traffic and Lani was the best sales partner I could've asked for. She has retail experience and is a natural "people person." I always chat with people who approach the booth, but she managed to close a few of the trickier sales. For instance, one woman liked a pair of silver wire wrapped spiral earrings, but thought they were too long. Without missing a beat, Lani said, "Oh, she'll shorten them right now. Give her five minutes." I did... and the woman ended up buying the earrings and a matching bracelet.

There was also a woman who couldn't decide between two pendants. I thought she was just going to give up, but Lani talked her into settling on one ... and she purchased that and matching earrings. Thanks to Lani, I made more at this fair than I ever had.

I have to give myself some credit, though, because I worked my butt off preparing for this event. I spent many late nights finishing glass pieces and came up with new ideas for designs. A few people purchased my wire work, but most of my sales were the dichroic glass.

As always, I met some interesting people throughout the day. The first person to purchase something from my table was a politician, our neighborhood's councilwoman! She was really nice and bought a glass Star Of David pendant. Soon after, I was approached by a woman who was wearing a beautiful wooden necklace. When I asked her about it, she explained that it wasn't made of wood, but was constructed of polymer clay designed to look like wood. She took my card and later e-mailed me to send me some links about working with clay. This might be something my senior students enjoy doing, so I'd like to look into it.

I did see some familiar faces, too. My husband, Jon, stopped by to help me set up and take down the table. I was also visited by good friends Judith, David and Leah. Our favorite "visitor," though was the black and white cat who appeared in a window of the apartment across the street. He sat for almost an hour watching us from his perch. Lani named him "Belvedere." Obviously, we don't know his real name or even his gender, but we enjoyed his company!

I didn't take too many breaks, but during lunch, I took a quick look around at the other booths. A few vendors returned from previous years, including a young woman who paints striking abstract portraits. Last year, she only sold large paintings and a few other vendors suggested she sell smaller, less expensive pieces. She followed the advice and ended up doing well this year.

One of the first-time vendors, who had a booth near me, makes tinfoil sculptures. His stuff is amazing! His most popular item was his foil roses. Leah and David purchased a tinfoil dinosaur for their 4-year-old son.

Overall, it was a great day, but there's no time to relax. Tomorrow, I have another fair AND a gig at the Atria. In the morning, I'm selling more of my glass pieces and in the afternoon, Judith and I are performing a bossa nova program. We're playing pieces such as "Girl From Ipanema" and "Agua de Beber." As a flutist, I love Brazilian jazz, so I'm looking forward to this.

Meantime, the holiday season is quickly approaching, which means much more jewelry-making for me! Check out the rest of my collections at Naomi's Designs, MayaGirl Creations and Glass By Naomi.

New handmade wire wrapped necklaces and earrings -- and an exciting update!

I have several new items to share, but first some very exciting news: my jewelry is now being sold in Threading-N-More salon!

I've been getting my eyebrows done here for years and have always admired the colorful jewelry on display. Finally, I got up the nerve to ask the owner if she'd consider buying some of my pieces. She agreed to take a look -- and ended up purchasing 36. Woot!

Now I just have to hope that my jewelry actually sells for her. If all goes well, this will be an ongoing gig. She has three salons so my work would be featured at all. If customers don't like my work, well, she gave me a chance, which is so, so appreciated. I've been trying to get my stuff into stores for a long time and haven't had success. I'm thrilled to have this opportunity.

One person who DOES like my work is the owner's young daughter. As I took out my necklaces, the little girl promptly put each on, so she was wearing all of them at once. She then stacked all of my bracelets onto her arm. Later, a few of the necklaces got tangled, so she helped me pull them apart. As she did so, she said, "I feel like I'm fishing." Then each time she successfully untangled a necklace, she'd announce, "I caught another fish!" It was very cute.

The owner purchased several of my fused glass pieces, as well as a couple of my enamel necklaces. But she and her daughter really liked the wire wrapped jewelry I made with briolettes. I designed these pieces specifically for our meeting:

These briolettes were a gift from a frequent customer of mine who's also requested a bulk order. I've been working with this woman for months and she's become a friend. When she heard I might be getting this salon gig, she sent me several bags of briolettes as a "Good luck" gift -- and they worked! So my work on one large order led to another. This customer prefers I don't mention her by name, but I can't even begin to express how grateful I am to her. Every artist hopes they'll meet someone who believes in them and gives them their "big break." She's that person for me.

OK, enough mushiness! Let's talk jewelry. I wanted to make pieces that highlight the briolettes so I chose colors and accents that matched. I've always liked the combination of pink, silver and black so when I saw the large black briolette, I went right for the silver wire and fuchsia crystals. Meanwhile, I wanted to do something to show off the colors of those rainbow briolettes, so chandelier earrings seemed like the best bet. This was the most convenient way to feature all of them.

I have large red briolettes and originally designed earrings where they hung from a big spiral. However, these earrings are too heavy for the average person, so I made a modified version using smaller stones and a thinner gauge wire. These are perfect! I also made a version with silver wire and purple briolettes, which I forgot to photograph. The salon owner loved these, so if they sell, I can make them in a variety of colors and wires.

In other news, I was again accepted into the local art fair, which is September 25. I'm especially excited about this year's event because I plan to exhibit my fused glass pieces. I sold them at the little fair I did at the home a few months ago, but this will be my official "debut." I'm already working on some new jewelry sets and will continue to make new pieces up until the day of the fair. I'm also excited because my friend Lani will be visiting that weekend and will help me work the booth. Lani is an absolutely fantastic saleswoman, with a background in retail and telemarketing, so I'm putting her to work! I'm hoping my glass will set itself, but if anyone can close a deal, it's her.

Sorry for the lack of posts, but as you can see, I've been busy! I'll have more pieces to share and will keep you updated on my latest goings-on. You can check out the rest of my handmade wire wrapped, glass and enamel jewelry at Naomi's Designs, MayaGirl Creations and Glass By Naomi.

Fused dichroic glass jewelry making techniques

Many friends and family members have asked how I've learned to fuse glass. Well, I did take a class at the beginning of the year and I also watch a lot of videos. My favorites are by Tanya Veit, an artist who works for AAE Glass. Her videos are comprehensive and I've learned so much from her. There are several on YouTube; you can also download some on the AAE site.

I'm also learning different techniques just from practicing. The great thing about having my own kiln is I can make as much glass as I want. So while there have been failures, I've also picked up some new skills along the way.

Lately, I've been working on layering. Ideally, you'd have a full-sized kiln for fusing glass -- one where you can make dozens of pieces at once and fire them over gradually increasing temperatures over the course of a few hours. Frankly, those tools are expensive and I don't really have room for one in my apartment, so I'm depending on my microwave. It limits me because I can't do multiple firings like you can with a larger, more professional kiln, but I can still do plenty with it -- and I've been experimenting with various techniques and textures.

In the above photo, I show how those techniques can create very different types of glass. In the upper left-hand corner is a piece that's been overfired. To be honest, I did not mean to overfire it, but I left it in for a bit too long. The dichroic glass is deeply embedded into the clear base and rounded out; there are few distinct lines between designs. Also, the colors have dulled.

On the other hand, the piece next to it, in the upper right-hand corner, has been underfired. While the dichroic glass has been fully fused onto the base, it still has a textured, 3D effect. The glass edges are well-defined and the colors pop. I personally love underfiring because the pieces are so vibrant.

That blue piece in the lower left-hand corner has been fired for just the right amount of time (this is a lot like Golidilocks, LOL). I did this by using only two layers, as I did in the pieces above. It's simply blue glass fired onto clear. That top layer is "uncapped," resulting in glass with a shiny, metallic finish.

The other blue piece in the lower right-hand corner, was made with three layers: clear, blue and green tie-dyed dichoic, clear. This glass was "capped," resulting in a thicker, rounder design where the dichro looks as if it's floating.

When it comes to techniques and layering glass, there are literally millions of things you can try! Veit demonstrated pendants made with five or six layers; she likes to use transparent glass so she can create interesting colored background and add depth to her designs. I've been trying to do more of this. I successfully fired a four-layer pendant the other day, but the colors were too dark and it came out looking a little murky. Still, it didn't fall apart or melt, so I at least know it can be done. I'm going to continue to practice and see what I come up with -- and if I make some beautiful creations along the way, even better.

Check out the rest of my handmade jewelry at Naomi's Designs, MayaGirl Creations and Glass By Naomi.

Silver wire wrapped and fused dichroic glass jewelry set with Swarovski crystals: glass necklace, pendant, earrings and bracelet

Summer is usually quiet for my jewelry business, with August being especially dead. This year has been crazy, though -- not that I'm complaining! I had my class yesterday, plus I've had a bunch of large orders. Also, August 22 marks the deadline for submitting work to my town's annual art festival.

I was accepted into the festival last year and in 2013, but I was rejected in 2014. There are many talented artists in Queens, so I can't just assume I'll make it in. That was what killed me two years ago: my hubris. I didn't submit my best photos and a blurry picture kept me out of the event. Many more people now know of the fair so there's a lot of competition. I need to step up my game.

A few weeks ago, I completed a custom order for a woman who contacted me on Etsy. She had me make her an abstract fused glass jewelry set containing a wire wrapped necklace, earrings and a bracelet:

I loved designing these pieces, but it was a lot of work -- and a bit stressful at times because the customer had specific colors and patterns she liked. We were both really pleased with the end result, though, and I decided to create a similar glass jewelry set:

I had a lot more freedom when it came to making this and based my patterns around this gorgeous butterfly glass. This was an impulse purchase I made when I was ordering red dichro for the other set. I saw the butterflies and just had to have them! Now I'm trying to get my money's worth and use this glass as much as I can.

I also really like that gold-fuchsia glass that looks pink from certain angles and yellow from others. It's an unusual color, but is so pretty.

The first set's pendant is on a black cord, but I wanted something with a bit more "oomph" for the festival. I added rainbow colored Swarovski crystal bicones to the chain for an extra burst of colors. The crystals repeat in the bracelet chain. I was going to make the earrings with posts, but ended up turning them into dangle earrings with yet more crystals.

I get to submit three photos for the festival, though last year I submitted four since one enamel piece had a different pattern on each side. I'm definitely including this set, which will also be a show piece if I get in. I'm thinking of including a photo of the first set, as well as a picture of a wire wrapped item. We're not required to share photos of pieces that will actually be in the fair; they just have to represent our product.

I'm really hoping to make it into the fair this year. I sold many items in the last two and I'm especially excited to show off my glass. Also, I've become very involved in the community over the last year by working in the two nearby senior homes, and I enjoy being a part of the local art scene. I've met some wonderful artists and musicians and like being involved. Perhaps if I'm rejected, I can volunteer and help out at the festival in another way.

Whatever happens, I'm proud of what I've accomplished as a burgeoning glass artist. I still have a lot to learn, but I'm happy with what I'm creating along the way.

Check out my handmade wire wrapped, fused dichroic glass and enamel jewellery at Naomi's Designs, Glass By Naomi and MayaGirl Creations.

Adventures in teaching jewelry making: making handmade beaded earrings and rings!

Yesterday was my second jewelry-making class for seniors. I think it went very well!

Last month, the four ladies who I worked with requested that I show them how to make rings and earrings. So I bought some French hook and clip-on earring backs and figured I'd teach them how to make a few different kinds. When I showed up to class, though, there were now 10 women waiting for me. Gulp... I mean great!

I wasn't expecting to have such a large turnout and I had to hustle. I passed around my giant bag of beads and let the students choose which ones they wanted for their project, while I quickly cut wire to make earrings. I'd learned the last time that most of the seniors lack the hand strength to cut and manipulate wire, so I have to help them with a few steps. Because there were so many people there, I had to literally run around to get to everyone. I actually worked up a sweat!

It was all good, though, because the ladies came away with some beautiful pieces:

A few of the ladies really "get" jewelry making and didn't need my help that often. Honestly, the beads I brought aren't that pretty; I'd ordered a 1000-piece bargain bag of plastic bits. But a couple of women managed to find the prettiest beads and put together some amazing color combinations.

Others needed more help. Since I'm working with seniors, their levels of functionality vary, and some need more assistance. I'm happy to work with them, though. The rec director told me afterward how their last jewelry teacher would get angry and impatient with the students. You HAVE to be patient when dealing with seniors, who might have memory or cognitive issues. I keep telling the ladies that the goal isn't perfection; it's to learn something and to have fun making things by hand. As I explained to one of the women, I'd have nothing to teach if they were already experts.

The hour flew by and I loved listening to the ladies chat while they worked. Part of forming a group like this is to foster friendships and I hope that if they don't enjoy making jewelry, they're at least enjoying the companionship. One woman was funny and kept joking around as we made the rings. She'd hold up her ring and announce, "Look, I'm engaged! Let's get married!" I told her that my husband would have something to say about that. She answered, "Well, if a guy really gives you a ring like this, then he's cheap." This lady is a riot! When I said I've taught children, but this was my class for adults, she said, "We're like children." I disagreed, noting that if they were kids, they'd be throwing the beads or sticking the beads up their noses. (Side note: I actually did stick a bead up my nose as a kid and had to be taken to the hospital).

Much as the women love beading, I'd like to make different jewelry projects that are a little out of the box. For next time, I'm planning to have them make scratch-art pendants. I now know to come prepared with ready-made materials, so I'll work on some pendant bases beforehand. Basically, I'll cover a sheet of oak tag with colored crayons and then add a layer of black. I'll then cut the oak tag into small shapes -- hearts, squares, etc. -- and punch a hole in the top of each one. In class, the ladies can use a bit of wire to scratch out a design and we'll then turn their creations into pendants. This is something I did as a kid, but it's so much fun! The rec director loves the idea, but agrees that most of the women won't have the strength to scribble down the thick layer of black crayon.

I think as time goes on, I'll even have them do some art projects other than jewelry. They haven't had an art instructor at the home for a while and many miss making things. It's a fun way to pass the time and it keeps them mentally and physically engaged. I've always loved making crafts, so I'll do some research and see what types of easy projects we can make. Right now, we're meeting every month, but the rec director is thinking of having me come every two weeks.

I really hope my students are getting something out of my classes. I'm certainly learning a lot from them!

You can see my work at Naomi's Designs, MayaGirl Creations and Glass By Naomi.

Adventures in fusing glass: making fused dichroic glass earrings with three layers

My second jewelry making class is scheduled for this upcoming Tuesday and I'm really looking forward to it! In this session, I'll be teaching the ladies how to make wire wrapped, beaded earrings and rings. Most of my students don't have pierced ears, so I purchased clip-on backs. I've never used those before, so we'll play around with them together.

Meanwhile, I've been working on some earrings of my own. Lately, I've been experimenting with different glass firing techniques, including underfiring the glass and using multiple layers. I've finally figured out how to make triple layer pieces.

I've been trying to do three-layered glass for a while, with mixed -- mostly poor -- results. The top layer of glass would move and break during firing, or the bottom layer would melt incorrectly. This was actually how I destroyed my first kiln; by attempting to fire three layers. The glass turned into a goopy, burned mess, stuck to the sides of the kiln and wrecked it.

I've since learned from that mistake and now stop the firing process midway to make sure the glass hasn't moved out of place. This way, I can guarantee the glass hasn't melted and stuck to the sides. Still, I haven't had too much success with doing three layers... until recently.

The trick is to make sure all of the pieces are even and that the top layer isn't hanging over the edges. You also need to make sure the dichros are flat. Dichroic glass comes in all sorts of forms -- thick, thin, textured, smooth... and when you place a strip of textured next to a strip of smooth, the surface isn't even. Therefore, when you try to place another layer over it, the glass will move. That said, I've found that tripling works best with small pieces and when I use only one type of glass at a time.

I've practiced this technique by making earrings, which feature dichroic glass sandwiched between two layers of clear. So far, I've managed to have a few successes:

I absolutely love that yellow-pink glass. It's fuchsia in certain lights and gold in others. And with the glass on top, it looks almost green from some angles. I'm not thrilled with the pink crinkle glass, though. It looks really pretty when it's fired as the top layer, but when it's under the clear, it has a weird distorted appearance. Still, the technique worked and I'll just have to try it with different colors to see how they fare.

In other news, I'm in talks with my local salon about them possibly selling my jewelry. I showed some pieces to the owner and she's very interested. Hopefully, we'll set up a meeting for next weeks and she'll buy some of my merchandise. I haven't had any luck with getting my stuff into stores, so I'm trying not to get my hopes up... but at least she's showed some interest. That's better than an outright "No," right?

I'll keep you up-to-date on my latest jewelry happenings. You can check out my work at Naomi's Designs, MayaGirl Creations and Glass By Naomi.

Adventures in jewelry making: silver wire wrapped fused dichroic glass jewelry set with necklace, bracelet and earrings

A few weeks ago, I got an interesting proposition from a potential customer. She asked if I'd be able to make her a custom, one-of-a-kind dichroic glass jewelry set featuring a necklace, earrings and bracelet. We discussed some ideas and I took on the challenge.

Making this set was a big deal for me, not only because this was a large order -- believe me, that's always nice! -- but because it was a chance for me to truly put my growing glass-fusing skills to the test. This woman was also the first stranger to order glass from me. I've already sold many dichroic items online, but they've all been to people I know. While I so appreciate my Facebook friends and acquaintances for supporting me, I'm happy to see my work making more of its way into the world.

This customer turned out to be a designer's dream. She communicated easily, was really nice... and had definite ideas for what kind of pieces she wanted. She went so far as to send me a colored sketch for the pendant. Now all I had to do was make this set come to life. Here is the finished result:

We began by discussing which colors she likes. She had some unusual ideas for combos: reds and purples, mixed with some patterns. She also liked this fuchsia and gold glass I have. The color is interesting, but a little odd: in some light, the glass looks neon pink, but in others, it appears to be yellow. I wasn't sure how well these colors would match up, but this woman had great ideas!

I first started on the bracelet, which was the easiest piece to make. Also, the links served as test strips so I could make sure the colors would fire properly. I made about 20 different color links and showed her the ones I thought she'd most like. She approved and the rest will be used to make other bracelets and necklace chains.

This customer really wanted red glass included in her design. I didn't have any on hand; plus, red is notoriously difficult to fire. When enameling, red tends to turn orange-y or brown, especially if you fire it for too long. However, I found two potential reds I could use: Candy Apple and Black Cherry. I hoped one would work.

Candy Apple was a dud. It's bright red before firing, but once it's put in the kiln, the glass turns orange. I tried to underfire it, but it still wasn't a pretty red. Happily, the Black Cherry worked and produced a nice, rich color. Even better, my customer loved it.

Altogether, she wanted six colors included in the piece, but also requested to keep the earrings small, at 12 mm each. I didn't want to cram six colors into such a tiny space, so I suggested that we do something funky and use three colors in each earring. They'd be mismatched, but they'd fit into the set as a whole. I came up with a design that would feature each color and prominently showed off the red she liked so much.

Now came the most difficult part: making the pendant. She'd come up with an abstract design, with the glass cut at specific angles and each color in a definite place. I made a few more test strips, making sure I knew exactly how long to fire the piece so the colors would stand out. I then set to work cutting and filing the glass. I was really pleased with the end result and said a little prayer before setting it into the kiln. I just hoped the glass wouldn't break or move during the firing process, or that the colors would end up being wrong. I was so relived when the pendant turned out just the way it was supposed to.

The customer had found me because she liked the way I wire wrapped my glass jewelry. She wanted a wrap on the pendant, so I came up with a very simple design that would frame, but not obscure the necklace. I used pink Swarovski crystals so they'd show up against the red and bring out the pink in the gold-fuchsia glass.

Now I'm just hoping that the set reaches her in the mail and she likes it in person! It took me a couple of weeks to finish this project, but the labor was worth it. I've learned so much just by making this one set. I'm now a lot more skilled at cutting glass into definite shapes and at firing the glass into definite colors. It means so much to me that this woman not only appreciated my work, but had enough faith in me as a designer to create a complex and original piece.

We just received applications for the annual art fair held in my town. Assuming I'm accepted once again, I'm excited to put my glass on display and to continue to get my name out there. I also got some good news from the rec director at the senior home: she says the women enjoyed my class and has invited me back for a second session. So far, this is turning out to be a good year for me on the jewelry front. I'll keep working as hard as I can to make the rest of 2016 a success.

Check out the rest of my handmade wire wrapped, fused glass and enamel jewelry at Naomi's Designs, MayaGirl Creations and Glass By Naomi.