Wearable Art & Craft Show 4/17/10

Packing up the car for the Wearable Art & Craft Show that takes place tomorrow. Not only is show 5 mins away from my house it also supports a great cause. Come check it out!

My first survey....

So yesterday I came across a marketing blog that talked about different ways to find your target market and to find out what your customers want. One of the ideas was to come up with a survey of questions which you could ask people to fill out so you can learn more about your work, what customers liked and didn't like, etc. So I did just that. I came up with a few questions that would help me which way i should take my next line of jewelry. Should it be shiny or oxidized? Should I use stones and if so what colors? And other questions like that. So far I have received answers from 9 people and still have 6 more days to go before the survey closes and I can tally up the results. If you would like to take the survey you can find it here.

My favorite pair of new earrings...

Just wanted to share one of my most recent creations with you that once again was created from some pieces headed for the scrap pile and turned out to be one of my new favorite designs!

Fabulous Finds....

I just found my jewelry listed as a fabulous find! (Although I am a day late) Thanks Ollie McKay's Chic Boutique! ...check it out here: Ollie McKay's Chic Boutique Blog: Fabulous Finds on Tuesday!

Happy accidents

Not too long ago I sat down at my bench and spent time working on some pieces for my Heart Collection. When using the hydraulic press to "puff" the sterling sheet I "pressed" too hard and put a nice big tear the silver. "OK that sucks. This better not be one of those days where everything I make turns to crap" I thought to myself because I have had days like that in the past. So I looked at the piece again and thought "Maybe I can still use this. What's the worst that can happen? It's already headed for the scrap pile so I can't really do any more damage." So I continued on. I cut, filed, "puffed" some copper pieces for the back sides of the pendants, etc, etc. Then it came time to solder all the pieces together. The first few went together perfectly. But the fourth one had solder run the wrong way. "Not that bad I can fix that" I thought to myself. Now it was time to solder the torn heart. I set it all up, turned on the torch and began to heat the piece. Before I knew it the solder flowed and so did the silver. I accidentally melted some of the silver around where the tear was. "Just great" I said out loud. Threw the piece in the water to cool it off before I put it in the scrap bucket and went back to the other pieces. When I finished with the "perfect hearts" I went back to the one I was now going to be scrap. I pulled out of the water and took another look at it. This might not be as bad as it looks. I cleaned it and finished it like I did the other pieces and in the end it became one of my favorite pieces that I ended up keeping it for myself and wear all the time! Gotta love happy accidents!

What to do Part 2....

Well, since my first "What to do" post I've decided that I should take some of those pieces apart and make something else with them which turned out to be a great idea! 3 one of a kind necklaces became 3 new one of a kind rings and I am VERY happy with the way they turned out! Let me know what you think of these new pieces....

michele grady designs

Just added "share/save" buttons to all the items on my website so anyone can do just that if they find the need to :) I figured I would post about my favorite bracelet to test out the new buttons and see if they really work so here goes! michele grady designs