Just celebrating my 200th sale on Etsy. Such a great way to get your business out there! Thank you to Mary Anne for helping me reach that milestone.
New Year’s Day. Time for new beginnings and fresh starts. I do feel like I try to live every day being aware and being a generally good and healthy person, but with the new year it’s just a chance to make it official. So I have a couple of ideas.
I have been an avid walker/hiker for the past 6 or 7 years. I have some great walking partners that challenge me physically and we listen to each others life stories and that’s an activity to which I am fully committed. I have also recently discovered +3 Network which is super awesome and I know some of the super awesome people that work there. Basically you log in your workouts and a sponsoring company donates $ to charity for each work out you do and that is awesome right there but it also allows you to keep track of your activities which is also motivating to me. So I just got started in November and have already raised $24 so I’m pretty excited about that and my goal for this year is to walk 50 miles per month so we will see what that raises!
For another of my New Years resolutions I was thinking that I would like to try to do something all year long like try something new every day or say yes to everything or only buy things made in the US. But I finally decided that I don’t see myself doing just one thing for 365 days – maybe I have a short attention span. But I do like the Idea of committing to something for a period of time so I have decided that I am going to do a series of 30 day challenges and for the month of January I am going to commit to counting my blessings every day – 30 days of gratitude I think is the perfect way to start off 2013.
I wish each and every one of you a multitude of blessings and I hope you find the resolutions that speak to you for the new year.
Red Hot Glass!
This is a glassblower working in a much larger scale than would be done for beads; however for blown glass beads the process would be the same – just in miniature.
Perfect for Valentines Day – or any day for that matter because who doesn’t love a big fabulous glass heart!
I just saw my necklace featured in the latest Giftware News Magazine From the Heart Section. It is always a thrill to see your work displayed in print and I am honored to be included with such a lovely selection of gifts.
I have been working with wholesale clients since I did my first show in San Francisco in 2004. Because my jewelry features the highest quality glass beads handmade in Venice and Murano, I have been featured in some wonderful museums including The Field Museum, The National Gallery of Art and The Frye Museum. I also have several boutiques and gift shops that I have worked with for a number of years including Delaney Street Mercantile in Lake Geneva, WI.
My jewelry is not trendy, it is classic and elegant just like Italy. Yet I always carry the latest in bead designs and colors from the most skilled Venetian bead makers. All of my jewelry pieces are handmade in my California studio in the Santa Cruz Mountains. All Pendants come on slip knotted leather cords and on display cards which tell the story of Venetian glass bead making. Perfect for gift giving. Please check out my Etsy shop to see a sampling of my current offerings.
If you are interested in consideration as a retailer for Dolce Beada, please feel free to contact me at angelakeller(at)dolcebeada.com, I would love to talk with you about the possibilities.
Ciao,
Angela
Dolce Beada outdoor booth photo
‘Tis the season!
I know many of you may be doing your first ever Art or Craft show and I just thought I would share a few tips and thoughts I have for you. (it’s the mother in me!)
BE Confident! You know your product and you believe in it – share that with your customers. One of the first few shows I did, a customer muttered under her breath that my prices are high and you can buy these beads at Michael’s and do this yourself. This was an ah-hah moment. I realized that my customers were not familiar with Venetian glass beads and therefore did not see the value in them. I learned that I needed to educate my customers on what sets Venetian glass apart and now I hear, “oh, these are very reasonably priced.”
BE Flexible! Things happen at shows – sometimes your set up is not exactly what you had envisioned. Sometimes you forget something. Maybe the weather is not cooperating. I try to have a couple of different options for my setup. I also highly recommend velcro, fishing line and duct tape. These things have saved me on many occasions. Also – don’t be afraid to ask your neighbors if you can borrow something – we’ve all had days where we forgot a mirror. It’s okay to ask. And that brings me to my last point…
BE Happy! Even if you are not having the best day – pretend to be happy. The attitude and energy of the show are set by those in attendance. If you have your arms crossed or you’re bored and you don’t engage your customers, they pick up on that. If you complain to your neighbor about your bad sales – it brings their attitude down. So stay positive and always HAVE FUN!
Best of Luck!
Okay, I think I have found my new hobby – not that I have time for a hobby ;-). This pair of earrings was project #2 in my bead embroidery exploration. This technique is so much fun! It is very free form and you just kind of go where it takes you.
I started with a Venetian bead cabachon that I glued down to the backing and then did a peyote stitch around it to “secure” it. From that point it just becomes a matter of choosing various size beads and finding a pattern that is pleasing to the eye. I love the varying texture that comes from the different beads. A fish hook style earwire is attached to the back and then covered in ultrasuede making the whole backing very neat.
I think I enjoy this technique so much because it is basically hand sewing beads and reminds me of quilting. My first job was in a small quilting shop and all of my great grandmothers were prolific quilters. This pair of earrings probably took me about 6-7 hours! I completed them in a couple of very late nights while my husband was out of town.
Stay tuned for my next endeavor!
It’s done! and I just had to tell it’s story. I actually completed it and wore it to our local school fundraising gala on October 1. I was quite glamorous.
I have been wanting to try some bead embroidery since I saw a purse done by Sherry Serafini in a magazine several years ago. The one with the skulls – but they are all so amazing. Check out her handbag page and be prepared to ooh and ahhh.
The opportunity to try some bead embroidery presented itself when I came across the large Venetian disc which had a chip in the edge.:-( Because of the chip in the glass I could not use it in my usual pendants but I had hung onto it because I hate to waste ANYTHING. With bead embroidery you glue the cabachon or bead onto a backing and then bead around it so the chip would be completely covered. Perfect solution!
So my plan was to make a bracelet but as always happens when you start on these things, they begin to take on a life of their own. I found a peyote stitch pattern from a necklace entitled Pearly Mosaic by Lisa Kan which I modified for the circular links surrounding silver foil venetian glass beads. I did not want to take these all the way to the back of the necklace so I made up a chain pattern again by modifying the original Lisa Kan necklace.
work in progress
I began this project in June (and we were in Alaska for the entire month of July) and I worked on it sporadically partly because I was trying to decide how to proceed, partly because it was all new techniques for me so there was a learning curve. Even though I kept the bead embroidery portion pretty simple it was a great project to get started on. I have already completed my 2nd bead embroidery project which I will post soon.
Dolce Beada, my sweet life in beads 