Acquisitions Budgets Here and There

So we had a guest speaker at the Library All Staff Meeting today. The Provost arrived with a power point presentation about the state of the university budget. It’s not a pretty picture. But the plan is to try to increase income by doing things to attract out of state students who pay more in tuition. Last year they offered merit scholarships to 250 students and 20 matriculated. This year they plan to offer scholarships to 1700 students in the hopes of attracting 200-300. And the plan is to add another 300 students each year. But as he explained, if these students stay for 4 years we hope to come out ahead even after the cost of the scholarships, additional housing, creating more classrooms, etc.

So although my little jewelry business has been running in the red for 3 years now, I continue to invest in it. I've tried the $30 tables at church bazaars. I've used draped sheets over an inexpensive folding table. I've tried selling online on Etsy and now 1000 Markets. But after being accepted into a couple of higher end shows, I learned that my customers are at the juried art shows.

I barely took in $1000 in my first year. But the following January I used that money to buy a tent, fabric for swag curtains, and large framed photos of my jewelry. I bought matching hanging mirrors and 4 height adjustable tables, and I sewed custom fitted table covers. And on the first warm day in March we set up the tent complete with jewelry displays on our back deck (the backyard was still too wet) and took pictures. You see, the high end juried shows not only want pictures of your designs, they want to see how you display them.Since that first year I've used only Jansjems' income to pay expenses. I hope someday to recoup my initial investment, but not paying anything out of pocket anymore is huge.

So what am I buying with my acquisitions budget this year? I'll be taking some classes to learn more advanced techniques with silver clay. And, of course, I'll have to buy a kiln.

Jansjems January Jobs

It's cold, business is slow, and there are no craft shows. So I...

--Finalize my spreadsheets and compile my receipts for the accountant

--Apply to craft shows with early application deadlines

--Clean and organize my inventory; replace damaged tags.

--And make Valentine's Day jewelry!!

Silver Clay & the Search for a Kiln

Yesterday I got a big shipment of silver clay from Val Lewis--157 grams--and I can't wait to start creating. I think about design ideas all day long. I'm hoping to take a class in the next couple of months. But in the meantime, Val has sent me a link to the Metal Clay Academy with instructions and video tutorials that may allow me to do more advanced work on my own.

I really love silver clay. I made a few pieces last year when I had access to my instructor's kiln. I put a few of them up on Etsy and 1000 Markets but most of them sold at craft shows. So I'm encouraged to make more. Here are a few on my Flickr page.

So now I'm shopping for a kiln. I've bid on a couple of used ones on Ebay, but was outbid by $100 or more each time. I guess I'm not being realistic about what I'll have to pay.

The Paragon kilns look great and are the ones recommended by others who work with metal clays. Then there's Skut which is really pricey and a couple of glass people have recommended Evenheat. It's a big, expensive decision so I want to get a good one. But I don't want to break the bank.

So the search continues.

It's 2010

Happy 2010!!!

Well, it's been a long time since I posted. The holidays have come and gone. My last show of the year was a very successful trunk show at Elizabeth Alison's Salon in Greenfield. I just opened up my cases, spread the trays around and displayed a few pieces. Betty brought wine ( a great idea), crackers and cheese and people just snacked and shopped. It was very relaxed and a good way to end the year.

Despite my husband thinking I spend too much time on Jansjems, making jewelry, and posting online, I really haven't been doing much since Thanksgiving. But I have plans for the new year to increase the amount of steampunk, learn some advanced techniques with silver clay, and to buy a kiln. I've already applied to 6 craft shows and am waiting for applications to be available for another 8 or 10.

I'm attempting to make room for my new pieces by having a sale on remaining pieces from last year. Jan's Jemuary Sale is up and running and my Etsy shop has become a BOGO site.

In my other life...phase 2 of the library's main floor renovation is pretty much complete. The spot my Beatles poster & I have had for the last 10-12 years is now empty and sad.

The construction guys have moved in even more "stuff". And as we all cleaned out our files and desks of items no longer necessary, the recycle bins filled daily and the pile of useless accessories grew in the middle of the room.




I downsized a lot having found procedures and paperwork going back to 1982 and 2 ordering systems ago.
My new space is a much smaller "box" but has plenty of room for what I have left. I have a view to the courtyard and for the first time in 37 years I know what the weather is without asking Bill, the mailman, or checking www.weather.com.

2 Worlds Merge on Tuesday

Unless someone else brings it up, I don't talk about jewelry much at work. There' s plenty going on in the library to talk about. But once a year the library has a craft show. It's pretty small with only 6 or 8 crafts people. But we have some talented people and most of us do quite well.

So Tuesday my 2 identities spend the day together.

Construction Chaos in the Acquisitions Dept.

Back on the library front, things are less busy. The budget still hasn't been distributed to the selectors so they're ordering very little. And of course paper is fast becoming passe as students opt for online journals and professors ask for streaming video.

One of the fortunate things about working in a research library is that we are all forced to keep up with technology. Every few years we get a new ordering system that's even more complicated and less intuitive than the last. Classes are necessary to keep up with each new version. When the library loads new versions of Microsoft Office, we all have to take a workshop to learn how to get around in it. And for a long time now we've been ordering materials online from Amazon & Half.com, or some other online dealer. So websites are no mystery and we all have Paypal accounts. And that 10 week online course called "23 Things" was incredibly useful. It's what I will miss most about working here. I fear I'll cease to keep up with the new technologies and become an anachronism.

So while I'm not as technologically savvy as your average 25 year old, I am ahead of the curve in the 60 year old category. I've been taking 3 hour evening classes once a week since September sponsored by the local Community Development Corp. They're free and geared toward small business owners. Marketing is the big topic of many of the classes and today everyone markets online through social networks. Many of the older folks in the class are truly lost when the conversation moves toward blogs, RSS feeds, and Twitter. I've expressed my dislike of Twitter here already but I can't deny the impact it has on my shop statistics.

But I digress. My office is scheduled to move to its new location in January. And while we slowly clean house and get ready to pack up, the construction crew is slowly moving its stuff into our space, complete with snow fencing. They're working on expanding the Learning Commons, a necessity for today's college and university libraries. The library is now a destination. And while I understand the need for this renovation, I find it disrespectful to leave staff in an area of drilling, hammering, hard hatted construction workers yelling to each other and walking through the department, and now a pile of sheetrock and mechanized staging. Maybe I'm just getting old and cranky, but they were able to find alternate space for everyone else. Why couldn't they have relocated us as well?

Oh well, we'll be moving soon to a space overlooking the courtyard. It can't come fast enough.

Busy Fall at Jansjems

It's a busy time of year for Jansjems. Fall craft shows are always the most profitable so I try to get into at least 2 per month. I'm noticing that people are finally spending on themselves, buying a necklace they like or earrings that catch their eye. They're not just buying gifts. I still have 3 craft fairs to go before I can pack up the displays and tables for the year. I'm continuing to organize, plan my displays for the next show, clean jewelry, replace bent tags, etc.

And while I'm preparing for current shows I'm also beginning to look at craft fairs for next year. Some, even those for May through September, have due dates in January . And the application process is sometimes like applying to colleges. They want a bio, an essay about what motivates you, statements about the artistic process, etc. But pictures are the most important part of the application. And I'm still trying to take better pictures. It seems that if I get the lighting right, the composition is bad or vise versa.

I also need some new items to photograph. And since I've decided to try again to get into 2 big shows I didn't make the cut on last year, I really need to stand out. As there are just too many gemstone bead jewelers out there, I'm going to try to get accepted on the steampunk line.

With steampunk selling faster than I can make it, I needed to replenish my stock of "found objects". Since it's getting too cold for tag sales, Ebay is the best source. Thanks to my friend Betty and the sniping website she directed me to, I'm set for awhile. My first big snipe was bought about 2 pounds of broken pocket watches. What a stash!

People are always looking for something different and so are the craft show organizers. So I'm starting to work on 2010 designs and some of those watch parts now look like the brooch and necklace below. Now if I can just make my photographs pop.