One of my first Fused Glass Pieces

The first batch I did of fused glass pendants was in a workshop with my mentor. I made 4 pendants in about 2 hours and it was fired and I picked it up the next day. At that moment...I fell in love with it. I instantly loved fused glass!!! And I also fell in love most particularly with one of the pendants I made that day. It is one of my all time favorites and I almost decided to keep it for myself....but I said no...this is a business and I will make this available for somebody that connects with it. 

I have named it VENETIAN ROSE....the way the glass is arranged, it sort of reminds me of a rose... And I called it Venetian because it reminds me of the glass made in Italy...murano glass. Here it s my VENETIAN ROSE....

 

One of my most favorite dichroic patterned glass is the Florentine dichro. It has a gorgeous shimmery essence to it. The flowers are beautiful and when the light hits it, it just bursts with all sorts of sparkle. The best part of creating with this glass is mixing and matching with other transparent and solid glass.

This one is the simplest...florentine on a black backing. Black always brings out so much when using it with dichro..everything is so intense. 

I named this piece MIDNIGHT FLORENTINE. This one will be available very soon on my ZALORA shop page. Yup I became part of Zalora as a seller. But I am still waiting for my boutique page to go live. It should be any day now...

So, you can check out soon. This one is php1,480..including free shipping!!!

Computing Prices for Handmade Jewelry

Sometimes I like to look at pictures of handmade stuff online just to get the juices going and wait for inspiration to hit. At times though, I scratch my head wondering how people come up with their prices. Some charge sooo low that you barely even cover the cost of materials. What about the time you put into making stuff...how about the packaging....the internet costs that you use to post.

It makes me kind of feel frustrated because by charging so low, the market is ultimately ruined. How can you run a handmade business when you have to compete with those that cut their costs so low...not to mention the commercially made items that are waaay cheap. Well, for those mass produced items, there's actually a chance...some people prefer quality, uniqueness and individualization ....which is where my pieces can definitely be on top..

I used to come up with a price willy nilly...just how i feel it should cost. But being that with this new jewelry line, i need to crack down and cover costs of big investments, everything has now been seriously documented. All materials are listed out and i have come up with how much each piece actually cost to make...

This includes...
- all materials used to make the items...
which will depend also on the size of the piece

- electricity costs...
whether pieces are fired once twice or more, as well as cold working costs

- expenses...
these includes overall overhead like internet fees, travel expenses, different fees and marketing costs

- investment fees
these include expenses acquired when purchasing materials

- labor ...self explanatory

Then the formula..

Item cost = materials + expenses/investment + labor

and one comes up with their formula for profit which will include a wholesale price and the retail price.

So, that's what I have done and I am sticking to my pricing.

I am actually very proud of my work and can say that what I have is not just any product off the streets that anybody can make. You need to learn how to make these art jewelry pieces and that takes time,money and practice. The materials need to be sourced out so, that has to be considered too. Then of course, the process and accessibility of firing in the kiln.

So i have re-thought my prices carefully and have come up with my formula. I needed to do this because my site/ boutique on Zalora is about to be launched any day now.... Well i haven't talked about that lately but maybe in my next post...

For now here is an update of my latest kiln firing...

Individual pics to follow....

Cool and Calm

Don't you think that the color shades of blue has such a cool calming effect...it makes me think of the fresh breeze by the ocean...that's what I was thinking of when i made this bracelet set... I call it COOL WATERS.

I so love this color...and the stones are gorgeous too. Agates are a wonderful healing stone. The Aqua Agates stimulates creative expression which helps in communication. It also helps improve one's mood, helps inspire, increases hope and optimism

This one comes in a set which includes a beaded bracelet and a pair of dangling earrings. 

I have it available in my shop so if you want one, message me on my facebook page... and it is on FREE SHIPPING right now!!!

"COOL WATERS"
SKU - SET02-201510AQ0002

VIEW IN FACEBOOK SHOP

The Classic Styles Never Grow Old

I have been on a fused glass "kick" lately but once in a while I still like to create that classic beaded bracelet... I never get tired of making them and the simplicity of beads strung up into a pretty wearable piece never get old.

I have always loved the feel of stone...and I believe in the vibrations that they have and emit. For example...

This is a Lepidolite Memory wire bracelet strung up with german crystals. It has metaphysical properties that bring about a calming and balancing effect, dispels stress, negativity and depression. It is great for recalling dreams when placed nearby when you sleep. Best of all, it brings good luck, success in business in career.

So as you can guess, I made an extra one for me to wear everyday. And i must say, it has brought about good mood and good vibrations. I don't know if it something that I myself have brought about because i believe or is it really the properties of the stone...Never the less, I love how it looks worn so, I am keeping mine on for sure....

I have more available in my shop so if you want one, message me on my facebook page....here's what it looks like...  Oh and it is on FREE SHIPPING right now!!!

"OF THE EARTH"
SKU - BRL03-201510NC0003

VIEW IN FACEBOOK SHOP

Editing Dichroic Pendant Pics

So i haven't actually tested my new kiln here yet. I have been trying to set up the home studio first and get all things together. I just recently purchased a transformer to plug in the 110V kiln which I am officially going to introduce in one of my next posts...so no picture of "her" quite yet.

Tomorrow will be the first day that I will be creating "new" glass pendants....I plan on firing them sometime within the week...possibly wed or thursday. I will need to make around 12-15 pieces for a batch of firing. Of course since it is my first firing here, it will need to be somewhat of a test fire because I am not quite sure if the firing sched will be the same as I did in Colorado where I learned to use my kiln.

As for now, I still have a bunch of my finished pendants to post. So I have been trying to take pictures of them that I can post in my website and facebook pages. Although I do like how the photos came out, it still is missing something. I mean if you look at my pendants in real life, they seem to pop with color and glow and sparkle....how do i capture that digitally?

Well, maybe with practice.... what do you think of these so far...

I gave each of them a name since each one will be a one of a kind piece...



Here is...

"FINDING THE WAY"
includes your choice of gold plated chain or matted black satin cord

"SMOKESCREEN"

PHP1,205
(US$26)
includes your choice of silver plated chain or matted black satin cord

"LIQUID GOLD FUSE"

PHP1,480
(US$32)
includes your choice of gold plated chain or matted black satin cord

"EMOTIONS A GLOW"

PHP1,575
(US$34)

includes your choice of silver plated chain or matted black satin cord

Those are the few that I have edited so far. When you look at these pendants, there are particular ones that call out to you because of their colors or the way they light gives them a certain glow....and sometime it calls out to how you feel ...almost like bottled up emotions that you can see and wear and only you can understand....that's what I think about these pendants....

More to come in the next few days.....

Meanwhile....please visit my facebook page and you can see the pendants there too...here is the link...

https://www.facebook.com/myearthlyjewels?ref=hl

Have a great week!!!

New Jewelry Line

I haven't been around for a while but I am back now and I have something "BRAND NEW" ... I went on a trip to Colorado to visit my sister for a month. I had researched new crafts that I can learn before I went on my trip and found 'GLASS'. Now I am totally inspired and excited about this whole new craft that I have learned...

I won't quite get into it now but here is a sneak peak....

These are my newest dichroic pendants!!! The bails aren't actually permanently connected yet here in the picture but I was trying to match them. I am in love with the colors and the sparkle of each and every one of them. Each pendant is unique and will not be duplicated exactly as is.

So watch out for more about these beauties

Hello again blog world!!!!!

BACK FROM A LOOONG TIME AWAY

I have been gone from blog world for quite a long long loooong time.I don't even know if i still remember how to blog...haha.... I guess it's just like riding a bike.

Well, i am back and am committing to this relationship again. I miss this. And i miss my shop. I have quite neglected it for months and i have decided that that is waay too long. I'm coming back and with a vengenace may i add.... I am doing some major inventory and repricing! So that should make alll my customers quite happy!

So here is what I have planned....

1 -  Unpack, inventory and reprice.

We recently moved apartments. Actually we;ve been in our new place for approximately 2 months now and i have yet to unpack everything. Most particularly my craft store inventory. So first on the list is that. Actually i have started but it is slow going. Well slow is better than not at all right?

I have started on the kawaii cabochons that i have in stock. Limited stocks.... so far these are up in my fb page.

Well now are they so cute?  And take a look at these too....

I have more in the album and more of them to upload... i will definitely go through them one at a time.

2. Project Organize

Along with the unpacking and inventory, i am trying to get organized. I guess that goes with doing inventory. I need to set up a better system. I only have a very limited amount of space to arrange my stuff. But the good thing is there is an extra room in our new apartment and i can use it for all of my stocks. All i need now is to fix it all up to make everything nice ad neat. So far everything is all stacked and thrown about nilly willy. haha so no picture for that... But wait on the "AFTER" picture.

3. New things in the shop

I have noticed other local online shops popping up for a while now and because of this sales have been slacking. So the solution... finding new ad exciting items for the online shop. I am looking at different sources from different countries. Hopefully this will help to bring in more sales.

I have more plans but i'm taking it one day at a time.... so for now, i'm sticking to those steps.

More updates soooon....