No Kidding- Seriously Add Yourself to Your Listings

Happy April Fool's Day. I know, not everyone celebrates it. So that's my public service for today. I'm reminding you to be on your toes.

And I thought I'd mention another selling tip.... adding a little of your personality to your listings.

I can only tell you what works for me, and what I like. But I love knowing a little bit about the person selling the item, especially if the item seems to have a little of the person in it.

Sounds more complicated than it is. Someone selling a tile pendant with a small square of wrapping paper decoupaged onto it is different than that same tile pendant with a small square of someone's original photography. The latter tells me a little of who that person/artist is. (and I do enjoy both items, but I'm trying to illustrate what I'm saying).

You can do this by mentioning that a certain component is a favorite color or shape, or your inspiration for that piece. It doesn't need to be private matters, or too much.

Perhaps you choose to include a photo of yourself at work in your studio, so they can imagine you making their piece that they want to buy.

And sometimes you're just a goofball and have "photobooth" on your Apple computer that takes pictures of you at your desk, but can add a funny background, or you just happen to have the fake mustache and eyeglasses set. (Aw come on, don't you keep one around? I can't be the only one.)

So maybe you nix the silly photos, because you create more serious art. But do consider including small "pieces" of you, so your customers feel like they know you. I have made wonderful connections and even some of my customers have turned into good friends. No fooling.

Glass Sculptural Interpretation of Magritte's Work and Combining Two Mandrels To Use As One

In an earlier blog, I showed you a chair that was influenced by artist Rene Magritte's "Son of Man" 1964 painting, pictured below.

Paul McCartney apparently is a big fan and a collector. I read that he named the record company "Apple" because of this painting. I do not know if that is true.

I love this painting also. It's a self portrait of Magritte. He wrote about it, and he speaks about what we see is really obscured by what we really are striving to see.

Something to think about.

This is a two piece sculptural soft glass bead. I wear it on a simple interchangeable pendant. Sometimes it's a pendant, but often it is worn as a stick pin instead. When it's a pin, then it can be worn firmly in place and anywhere I want.

The clothing bead was made on a 1/16th mandrel. You can't see his neck, but it's quite tiny and under the face bead. I have it so that if there is some vertical wiggle in the two beads, it still looks connected because the neck will show instead of a blank space.

The head was made off the end of a hollow mandrel. So it is wide at the bottom and then I put a dipped 1/16th mandrel through the hole of the mandrel. It sticks out a bit, so that the hole through his head is small and his head won't move around.

Actually I'm using two mandrels put together to get a wide bottom and and small hole at the top. I use other mandrels that are premade to do the same thing, but I needed a bottom hole a certain size and this fits the need.

Hope this gives you a little something to think about and puts you into the mad scientist frame of mind. There's nothing like finding ways to solve your design dilemmas and have them actually succeed. Have you done something a little bit differently that solved a problem for you?

I'm On "Watch Me Create"

Have you visited the blog, Watch Me Create?

It's the brain child of Lori Greenberg, which is a collaborative blog written by a variety of bead artists and jewelry makers who write about their creative processes.

I recently wrote a post about baking glass pie beads and how I came up with the changes in this slice of apple pie a la mode with caramel sauce. (mmm...)

I have to say, a major influence is one of my favorite current television shows, "Pushing Daisies". Their creativity and quick banter really hold my interest.

So what are your favorite pies and desserts? What would you like to see as beads? I love hearing your ideas.

Coaching Witch Is In the Kiln - Here's A Temporary Substitute

What is that saying about the "best laid plans"?

I finished my bobblehead witch body to show you, and there was a problem. I couldn't solve it by warming up the body and mending it in the flame. So I tried my favorite 2 part epoxy, Epoxy 330, (which I buy from RayDichroic on Etsy). That just didn't make it right either. So I said "adios" and tossed it in the you-know-what.

There's a new one in the kiln and I need awhile longer for the cycle to complete, before I can photo and post it later today.

I noticed quite a few people stopping by to look, so here's a temporary witch for you. She was in my Etsy shop, but has flown to a new home.

Look carefully at her broom handle and you'll see that I just popped one of my canes in her hands and added more of her "hand" glass to adhere it carefully. At this point, you want to be careful not to get it too warm because it will bend. You can see a slight bend in the handle on this one. BUT, you still need to be very careful about keeping it warm, because it's all out there by itself and will lose its heat very quickly.

Think about other ways that you can use pieces of interesting canes or twisties. What are they? Please post and let us know. One of the fun things about seeing my use of them, is for them to inspire you to use this technique in a different way.

So please stop by later today. I'll have Zelda ready and uploaded then. I just want her to be whole and ready for viewing. Meanwhile, feel free to visit my etsy shop and see my latest dessert- Apple Pie with a lattice crust, a la mode with caramel sauce over the top. http://www.StudioMarcy.etsy.com
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