Less is More

by MaryAnn Carroll

I stole that slogan from somewhere, but I am pretty sure it isn't owned by one particular person. Anyhow, it is something I have made myself remember for many years now. I tend to have a habit of overdoing sometimes. After years of practice I have gotten much better about recognizing when I am heading down a busy road the wrong way.... Put on the brakes, turn around and head back to some tranquil spot that existed before you took that path.

I have had such crazy stuff happen to me in life. Not unlike some others, but it often seems like I am in the minority with the things that other people fear will happen has happened. Sometimes people wonder how I can do it and how I haven't dropped dead yet. I guess the answer is acceptance of what I cannot control and also to simplify what I can. Seems deep, right.

Well, lucky for you I am not going to get too deep right now (that usually comes after a glass of wine or two). I will stay focused on what I do outside of the chaos. That is beadmaking and jewelry. I say try because I always seem to have roadblocks thrown in the way, but when I find myself truly back into it, it is so enjoyable.

Just recently, I have gently removed those roadblocks that were piling and quietly tip toed back down the road of tranquility. Maybe I will be able to hang out there for awhile if all goes well.

LESS IS MORE...

I decided to redo my website that has been hurting for a couple of years. In the past, I used GoDaddy. It was a great experience for me because it was not too easy to learn. I had to teach myself many things about codes, javascript, etc. It all seemed so darn overwhelming at the time.

This time around, I wanted to keep it simple. I don't know if it is as complicated as it was a few years back, but I needed a change. I decided to check out other website builder services. I looked up reviews knowing that those may not always be accurate, but went for web.com since it had a high ranking. I fiddled away and entire day with it to discover that the cheap price was going to be ridiculously I found web.com. Given the name, I rationalized that it would be easy. It was, but when I went to publish I learned that my $4.95 a month was going to become $24.95 a month. I chalked that one up to more experience.

I cannot remember why I tried wix.com, but I an assure you that I am so happy that I did. The website builder is incredibly user friendly, For $8.95 a month (paid in full), I got everything I needed and more. I think one of the biggest things that I like is that there are free apps. Etsy is one of those. Yay!! You can literally add your Etsy shop to make it look like part of the website. If you read this blog often, you might remember the post about returning to Etsy.

It might not be the prettiest way to sell online, but it sure as heck is convenient.

So, for those of you who are hoping to simplify your own life, but you would also like to promote your shops, etc. I am going to give a confident recommendation for wix.com.

My site still needs some work, but for what it is worth, here it is.

http://artisanbeadsplus.com

My link was done using the jewelry template. Also, you can fix the site to work with mobile phones. I haven't gotten that far yet, but that looks pretty simple too!

Good luck!

WORD OF CAUTION: Once you choose your template, you are "kind of" stuck with it.

Happiness is......

a returning customer.

by MaryAnn Carroll

Today I just want to share a little bit about what my friend and LMAJ associate, Karen McGovern, does with discs that I create specifically for her two or three times a year. What I love about working with Karen is that she gives me lots of freedom and doesn't put limits, directions, expectations, etc. on the custom order. I am not one for custom orders because I am a little obsessive and worry that things will not turn out okay. They tend to take me twice as long.  I prefer to create freely without the unpleased customer's fictitious voice echoing in my head, "that's not what I envisioned, wrong color,  I don't really like that... etc."

Karen simply let me know that she didn't need any reds or yellows. I forgot about the yellow part between the message I read upstairs in my house and the walk to the basement where my very messy studio is! Whoops! It's the old being in your 50's thing. You'll see a couple yellows below. I am not a fan of yellow, so it isn't something I tend to favor, unless it has earthy tones to it.

She did tell me the she gravitated toward the discs that are the light caribbean blue, so I decided to make lots for this order in various sizes. The discs range from eensy weensy (1/4") to large (1 3/8"). It is actually those two sizes that are the toughest to enamel. The larger take longer and many coats to achieve a rich color and with the smalls, you have to be careful to be fast, so that the copper doesn't melt in the flame. The color can disappear from that size in a couple of seconds as well as the disc itself!

Here is what I finished up last night.

What I find amazing is how Karen uses these in so many different ways. I think anyone that see her work would agree that she is incredibly talented.

And some of my favorites.....

Karen also offers a tutorial about one way to use discs.

You can find that HERE. You can also find more from Karen on Facebook. 

Facebook, what gives?

by MaryAnn Carroll

Well, I must confess, I have been hearing many complaints about Facebook over the past few months, but had no clue what people were talking about. It wasn't until I was replacing some items in a local gallery, Cinch Art Space, that the owner and I got into a discussion about it.

I decided since I really wanted our first show to be successful, I decided I was going to take some time out to learn about it and run a few trial ads.

I think my initial reaction to the change is that it is not a good thing. As I researched it more, I started to change that opinion. Yes, it is true, Facebook is going to profit from this, but why not? Any of us would want to do the same. They are a business also.

I haven't done much in terms of my business Artisan Beads Plus, but keep telling myself I am going to.  It's like starting a diet..... you know.... I'll start tomorrow!

I have, however, taken an interest in how Facebook can work for Potters for Pets, our upcoming art event to benefit the CNY SPCA. I am, by no means, an expert. Quite the opposite, as I am still in the learning phase.

I have been paying for some ads. I think I have spent about $30 over the course of two months while I experiment. I am hoping that what I learn while doing this will not only bring in more traffic to our actual event at the CNY SPCA, but will also carry over to our Love My Art Jewelry business page when we decide whether or not promoting the page is financially smart.

I have been obsessing about how our page is performing. The more I obsess, the more I learn. There are tutorials online with some short videos that I also found helpful.

Here is a good link to get started - https://www.facebook.com/business/learn

Below are examples of what I use to see how things are going. My current campaign is a post campaign (vs. a campaign to promote the page itself). I have done both page promotions and post promotions. Also, if you don't like how your campaign is going, you can stop it at any time. I have done that a few times.

This graph shows the average performance of people that posts have reached since the page was started on February 10, 2015. You can see those that were reached organically vs. paid.

This graph shows a comparison of likes, comments and shares over two months. From what I have researched, your main goal should be to increase engagement with your fans, the more they are engaged, the more your page might show up in their pages, etc. 

This shows the total reached for all activity over the past two months.

And, most recently, I started to compare how Potters for Pets performs against some other pages that are of interest to me and have some similarities to my page.

I hope this helps you give you an idea of Facebook can work for you.

MaryAnn

Creating a Custom Bead Tree

by MaryAnn Carroll

Some History:

It has been awhile since I used my little doll kiln to fire beads. I do fire in our large wood-fire kiln, but that is only when Bill has enough large pieces to fill it up. A few weeks ago I decided I would sit down and create lots of mid-fire (approximately 2200 degrees F) cone 6 beads and a bunch of cone 10 (can fire to approx. 2400 degrees) beads for the wood kiln so I would be better prepared.... I am the type that is often scrambling at the last minute!!

Here they are completely dry and getting bisque fired. I bisque fire to about 1850 degrees F and that preps them for the glaze that will be applied. There are a few other things in there that I am making for our upcoming show that we are organizing called Potters for Pets that will be at the CNY SPCA in Syracuse, NY.  We also have a Facebook page for this event. We are really hoping for a big turnout, since this is the first show that we have been in charge of. (A little promo here) If you are in the Central New York area, it would be great if you could share our event! It is a first annual, so we need all the help we can get!!

So, I typically leave my warped, very used bead trees in my kiln after use. This time I went to look and there were two of the four! I searched and searched..... no luck. Being that I have a husband who most of the time likes to please, he made me a couple more, but it will be weeks before they are ready to use.  My bead trees are made to get the most out of my kiln. The original group has gone through at least 40 firings and are badly warped. Even warped, I make them work.

Since I use a mid-fire clay, my bead trees are made from a higher fire clay (cone 10) which can go to up to about 2400 degrees F. You could make this out of the same cone that your clay is, but I don't know how well it will hold up. My original trees have been fired to cone 12 in the wood-fire kiln many times. They have taken a bit of a beating as you can see. That's okay.... it is just the beads that need to be pretty!

What we originally did is take the measurements of my little kiln. We then designed trees (this was a few years ago) that would work just right inside the kiln utilizing the most space.  The new ones are a tad bit narrower as it was always a tight squeeze getting all four trees in and there is nothing worse when you carefully set the last tree in a your hear, "ping!" A bead has left one the of trees!!!! Yup, that means that they ALL come back out to start all over. Needless to say, loading the kiln is not one of my favorite things.

With all of that said, I thought I would share how to custom make some of your own bead trees. I cannot compare these to what you can purchase online, but I can say that I can use the most space possible with my own design. You certainly need to start by taking your own kiln measurements and go from there. Also, take into consideration that as a rule the clay will shrink 15%.

The Tutorial:

Here is one of the new trees shortly after being built. This time Bill added some supports on the side to see if this will help slow down the warping. To create this, he use a slab of clay that was rolled out. He then scored and slipped the clay to connect the sides and the base.

Here is a link of a score and slip demonstration. 

After doing that we waited until it dried to a leather hard stage.

In the leather hard clay, I used a pencil tip to begin the spacing that I want. It is best to stagger them as you will see later. I start by measuring approximately 1 inch apart.

I did pull out the ruler after the first row. so that I could stagger more accurately to make the most holes that I could. That is another benefit to making your own. 

After the pencil measures, I started to puncture the holes with a toothpick (I use toothpicks for everything when it comes to clay!) Never just push it through. You need to use a rolling motion.

What I found, however, was that the clay was a little too hard and I was afraid that I wold break the tree. I grabbed what was closest to me. I get lazy sometimes and don't like to get up when I am in the middle of something! I then took a that little piece of nichrome wire in my reach (the same high fire wire that you will hang beads on when you fire them) and used that to puncture the rest of the holes.

As you can see, I did not put the hole all the way through. Instead I pushed it (turning the wire) until it just started to poke out the other side. You don't want to put too much pressure on the clay. If it broke, it would be a very sad day.

You then go to where it was punctured on the opposite side and push the wire through tuning while doing that. This process gets repeated multiple times. I think I did this at least three or four times. 

Once you are satisfied,, you can take one of your clay tools. I would tell you what this one is called, but at the moment I cannot remember. If you are over 50, you get it! You can pick a tool that you are most comfortable with. This happens to be my "go to" tool.

Then I wiggle the holes to make them bigger than the nichrome wire that will be used to hang the beads. The reason for this is that the clay will shrink 15% as stated earlier. I also do not like them to fit too tight. I like to balance the beads on the wire.

Here it is after an hour of work. It takes many times to get it just right. Leather hard clay is not something you want to be rough with. It will break. Now the only thing left is to let it dry slowly. It will be a couple of weeks before I can fire this tree for use with my beads. You do have to fire this before using. I would recommend at least a full firing to cone 6. Certainly, if you use lower fire clays such as earthenware, you would have to make some adjustments.

So, as those dry, I am going to use my old dependable warped trees to fire this batch of beads that I made. As you can see I have glazed beads balancing on the nichrome wire.

These are all fired now. It took two firings for all of them.

By custom making my bead trees, I am able to avoid using shelves like you see in this picture. This was a pain and takes up space that I cannot afford.

Here is on group fired. One took a hit by tipping into the kiln brick. I was able to use my dremel to sand that white off of it. It is the pendant on the top left. that is because I just balanced a broken tree between two kiln bricks. Not the the best move...... live and learn.

And..... guess what was found a day after making the new trees.  I am sure that I don't need to tell you that the answer is... the two missing bead trees!!!! Yup, Bill found them out by the wood-fire kiln. Isn't that always the way? The good news is that now I have some extras.

Enjoy your Friday.

How to make a copper bangle

by MaryAnn Carroll

Like many of you, I am a little crazy busy.  I have found some time to create some copper bangles, however, and consequently they became a little addicting AND a way to avoid everything else that I should have been doing to be a little more efficient. I thought that since I haven't posted in quite some time, I would start off by sharing a tutorial. Next week, I will have some of these to offer in a a giveaway, so stop back.

How to make a basic hammered copper bangle (picture tutorial)

If I were the super organized type, I would have a list of materials 

HERE....

but I am not, so I will do my best with letting you know what you need. Personally, I like to look at pictures, so that is what I am mostly providing.

Fire is you friend when it comes to making bangles and I like it hot!!!

Materials that you see here: 

Mapp Gas, copper solder, dremel, firing rack (not sure it that is the technical name) and 6 gauge copper wire (right from Lowes)

heavy duty wire cutters (Weiss)

 pickle (1 cup vinegar to 1 tbsp salt), a crock pot (one you will never use again in the kitchen, a ceramic bowl, water, baking soda for the water, plastic tongs,

I have been too cheap (and broke) to invest in a bracelet mandrel. An old baseball bat or, in this case, a maple leg from an old table works great!  They may not hold up as well, but, hell, I have four of them!!

This is fire brick (below). As you can see it has been used multiple times. I would recommend investing in some bricks, so that you don't burn the house down. 

That brings us to.....

STEP 1: Cut a piece of 6 gauge copper wire to approximately 8.5 inches (bigger or smaller depending on your hand size). I cut a little big just in case I make some mistakes and need to trim more than I planned for. Heat the copper to make it pliable. (you can use water for fast cooling if you choose to).

 

STEP 2: Using a chasing hammer (another material), hammer the wire until you get it flattened. I then use the flip side of the wire for the exterior of the bangle. This part takes some twisting and turning AND a little patience.

STEP 3: File, using you dremel until you get both ends of the wire to meet with as little space in between as possible.

STEP 4: Put the two ends together and place on your firing rack. Place the LONG piece of copper solder behind the connection. This part takes lots of practice and I could not take pictures while I was doing this since my right hand was being used to heat the front of the copper.

The joint isn't perfect, but with a little sanding and possibly a little more solder it will look fine.

STEP 5: Add to pickling solution (heat crock pot until hot.... I would give degrees here, but I have no clue what low is on the crock pot that I have.

 This is a picture AFTER it comes out of the pickling solution.

STEP 6: Using a wooden or rubber mallet, carefully hammer your bangle until you have reached complete roundness (or close to it)!!

There you have it!

 I also add patinas, sometimes textures and usually tumble them for extra strength and shine. Only two of these have patina added.

Stop back next Friday to enter to win a bangle or two!

MaryAnn