Tucson…Here we come!

Yep, that’s right.  I am finally getting Greg out of the house and we are headed off to Best Bead in Tucson, AZ.  We have  booth 31 in Tent A.  If you are coming down to the shows be sure to stop by and say hi. The show runs from Feb 3rd through the 7th.  We are so looking forward to seeing everyone.  Woot!

All online business stuff will resume in Feb 10th.  However, due to our trusty assistant shipping will continue as normal.

Harry Potter?

I missed the release of the newest Harry Potter DVD. In fact I walked right by it in Walmart last week and my hubby said, “Hey, don’t you want that?”  And what did I say? Nothing.  I just kept walking.  At the time I just kept  thinking, huh? Which one is it? So when hubby reminded me it was The Half-Blood Prince, I even had a hard time remembering how the movie went.

That is just…sad.

I have read all the books numerous times.  Huge fan.  HUGE!

But the later movies, not so much.  We saw it in the movie theater and it’s all coming back to me now. I think I almost fell asleep during the first hour.  Is the movie that bad? Or is it just me?  Maybe I’ve read the books so many times the movie does nothing but bore me.  The books don’t though, I could read them all (and probably will, lets face it), a hundred more times .  I think it’s the movie.

I bet I still buy it for the collection one of these days in a moment of weakness. I wonder if I’ll ever watch it again.

On that note, I am being taken to see New Moon on Thursday.  I didn’t even know it was still in theaters.  While I wasn’t going to go see it, I’m sure I’ll find something (like a shirtless were-wolf) to entertain me for the few hours I am out with my girlfriends. Since Twilight definitely hasn’t made it into the DVD collection, I think we can rest assured I won’t feel obligated to buy New Moon. Unless the shirtless scenes are too good to pass up. (Oh now I feel dirty…Taylor Lautner was born the year I graduated high school. Wish I hadn’t looked)

It never fails…

When I take a week off, all sales stop.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not whining or even complaining.  I’m just stating things as they are.  Business actually held strong the week through Christmas and right up to New years.  We were even on vacation from Christmas to New Years.  But all our new auctions and new listings just aren’t new anymore and all those relists just don’t seem to be cutting it.

I know, I know.  You don’t have to tell me it’s right after the holidays and people are broke and just getting back in the swing of things.  I know all this.  We’ve been at this full time for five years.  The thing is, it doesn’t matter when we take vacation.  Every time, the week we get back, things are deader than my poorly executed garden. Just another reinforcement in my beliefs that to make it selling glass beads and marbles, you have to keep putting out new stuff.  New listings, new shiny objects for people to browse.  That’s what keeps the green rolling in.

Happy New Year!

This is what’s going on in my world today:

It’s cold here in Louisiana–shush all you people in the snow. I moved here for warm temps, not forty-degree freezing arctic B.S. Okay, maybe not freezing, but when one is used to seventy degree weather, forty is just not okay.  Even my dog is cold.  I didn’t position him that way.  Hubby called me into the living room after finding the little one wrapped up.  Yep, it’s that cold.

The holiday’s were great.  We spent them in California, with family, where we encountered some twenty degree weather.  Seriously.  Okay, so northern California near Sacramento, but still…  Anyway, it was really great to just hang out with everyone.  I was pleasantly surprised to come home and find a bunch of orders. And even more surprised that I whipped them all out in a few days.  So that leaves me all caught up and ready to get busy on stock for the Tucson Best Bead show for early February.  Woot! I’m excited.

Stop by if you can.  I’ll have Greg with me for once.

Lampworking in these tough economic times

Over the last few months I have read more and more posts by my lampworking collegues, informing us they are closing shop, taking a hiatus, or *gasp* headed out to find the JOB. It makes me sad. Yep, times are tough. It isn’t like it was two or three years ago when all you had to do was list it and buyers will come.  Everyone has needed to take a good long hard look at their marketing plan and really evaluate where they are at.  I have, multiple times in the last few years.

A few weeks ago I read a blog post by a literary agent.  He basically said eighty percent of the problem was just showing up. For writers if you just show up and write everyday, strive to learn everyday, and keep going no matter what, you are eighty percent there.  I have completed my manuscript and am just testing the waters on finding an agent, so my opinion on this pertaining to writers is juvenile at best.  However, when it comes to lampworking as a business, I am going to agree one thousand percent.

In order to succeed it is my firm belief you have to keep moving forward everyday, no matter what. But, just listing beads on ebay or etsy whenever you feel like it isn’t going to cut it.  To really make this a business you need to show up everyday with something to sell. At least this has been what has worked for me. I show up every single day with something.  It may not be a new design, it may not be the fanciest design, and it may not be the most innovative, but gosh darn it, I list new stuff six days a week (unless I am backlogged with orders like I am now).

Just like in publishing, this is a business.  You have to make something people want to buy. If I write a novel I have feed my soul and have accomplished something very few people have.  Many people talk about writing a novel, but out of all those people, very few actually complete one. It’s an accomplishment and one I should feel proud of.  But if it’s on a subject no one wants to read, then it isn’t good business. Many of my colleagues make gorgeous, technically challenging beads, but if they can’t find a market for it, it isn’t good business. Good for the creative soul yes, good for the pocket book, not so much.

I do know what I am talking about here. Greg, my hubby and business partner, makes pretty much what he wants to make when he wants to make it.  It isn’t the best business practice. Sometimes his marbles remain unsold for weeks, even months. But it is what he loves, so he shows up every day and makes something new. (Well six days a week.) He is eighty percent there.  He shows up. And yes he has success. Some months his marbles sell fabulously and others, well…lets just say we have a lot of marbles rolling around. As a compromise, I do a lot of production, made to order stuff, and custom orders. To be honest this is what keeps us going and in business. I don’t mind. It makes me feel good when people like my stuff enough to buy it. Plus, you know, I like to keep the mortgage paid.

Still, we each keep trying new stuff and adding new designs to our repertoire. It really is true that if something isn’t selling, its time to move on to something else.  Even if what you sold before was hugely popular. Here is what I do in that situation. I move on to a new design, but I keep the old design as an option for a made to order item.  It works! I promise. We also try different venues.  Currently I have four. The more exposure the better. But they all take effort. Make no mistake. This is a six or seven day a week job.

My advice to you, my fellow lampworkers:

Figure out what it is you make that sells well and focus on it.

Do market research and find out what is simular to that and the price points they seem to be moving out. Figure out if you can compete.

Keep designers in mind. I’ve learned my designers like to know they can come back and reorder beads that sold well for them.  Reliablity is huge. Think about your own favorite vendors. Don’t you always go there first? Make it easy on them.

Try new things and keep trying new things until it sticks.

One of a kind is fabulous, but if you have ten people bidding on a set of beads, isn’t it better to sell ten sets for a decent price than just one for a great price? Remake what you can sell. Don’t get caught up in OOAK. They are beads people, not the Mona Lisa.

So if you made it this far my advice is geared toward the lampworker in it as a business.  If you are just making beads for artist expression and joy of it and happy to wait for the sale on etsy whenever it may be, then carry on.

**Full disclosure, I have been making my sole living as a lampworker for five years.  I do not consider myself to be an “artist”. I’d say crafts person and I am just fine with that. Greg, he’s the artist around here.

Happy Holidays!

I know, I have been a terrible blogger lately.  Please don’t hate me.  Seriously, I have been one busy girl these last six months. First, let me start by thanking all of you, my loyal customers, since part of the reason I have been silent is all the time I have spent making beads.  Business is still strong enough to keep us going and more times than not I have custom orders to fill.  In these economic times, Greg and I both feel very lucky and blessed to have such wonderful and caring clients.

I bet you didn’t know that come December 29th it will be our five year anniversary of making beads and marbles full time.  That’s right, in the last five years we haven’t worked for anyone but ourselves.  And you of course. So Thank You! The time has flown by and we were just remarking today about how our time spent at our last jobs, which was roughly about five years also, seemed like an enternity while we were there. Neither of us could imagine going back.  So here’s to the next five years.  Catch ya online (or if you are in Tuscon this February at Best Bead stop by and say hi.  We’d love to meet you).

SALE!

Happy Week before Thanksgiving Week!  Greg and I have been busy doing shows and we are done for the year, so it seems like a good time to run a sale.

I am running at 20% off all items on etsy, artfire, and the website.  Just write in my message to seller section “Thanksgiving Sale” and I’ll either send a revised invoice or refund the difference from your paypal payment.

www.cdlampwork.etsy.com

www.cdlampwork.artfire.com/

www.chase-designs.com/

And marbles are included too:

www.chasedesigns.etsy.com/

Last day of the sale is Sunday the 22nd.  Happy shopping!

Deanna

Can’t you take a hint?

A  little video of the fur kids.  One wants to play the other…not so much.

“Get away from me kid, you bother me.”

“But I luuuv you.”

Newest 9.99 offerings on ebay.

Today is the last day of my 9.99 ebay auctions.  I have run them for a full week and there are great deals to be had.  Don’t miss out.  Here are the lastest ones.

Today’s 9.99 offering

Yum! Steel blue and orange creamsicle blossoms on ebay: