The last 6 months, since I stoppped working the markets, have given me a new perspective on my work. First off, I can't describe how much I am enjoying never having to get up at 5am! I am naturally a night owl. 5am is a little too close to the time I prefer to go to sleep for me to ever be happy with that kind of schedule. I am also enjoying actually being able to do weekend things with my friends and family, most of whom have 'normal' jobs and can't socialise during the week when the markets aren't on. I've been devoting the time that was previously used on Market oriented tasks to building up my online selling, and the effort is paying off to the point where, factoring in market fees, lunch costs, damaged and stolen stock and other expenses, I'm actually starting to make more profit than I would if I'd kept going.
The upshot of this is, I've decided to give up the idea of a regualar market stall, I might do the occasional local fete, but for the most part I'm totally over it, and I think for the Fetes I'd rather let TheBusyBadger and EnchantedFire take the stage, which means I have a great deal of Sterling Silver/Stone stock I no longer need.
The strange thing about my 'market' jewellery is that it's not the kind of jewellery I ever really intended to make. It's mostly wire wrapped stone bead jewellery which I started making AT the markets simply as something to do while waiting for a sale. (I'm not the sort of person who can sit around doing nothing). Once I finished a piece I'd put it on the table to sell and start a new piece, and somewhere along the way they kind of took over the stall. I'm not saying I don't like them, I wouldn't have made them if I didn't like them, but I always intended to focus on sculptural lost wax pieces like my DragonChain and over the last few years I've been increasingly bewildered at the way beads have managed to take over my life without permission... That is all going to change now. I am in the process of photographing all my beaded-ware and putting it up for sale on Etsy, and I'm not going to make any more. (Well, maybe some, just to use up all the beads I've got in my huge little stash
, but not untill I sell some of the existing stock!) Most ot the items I'm not bothering to submit here, they're nice jewellery but not particularly 'Arty', but I have been/will be submitting the occasional piece. Mostly ones that I think are extra-nice or that I photographed particularly well such as
and
and
so if any of you are looking for good quality handmade Sterling Silver and Gemstone Jewellery at a very reasonable price head on over to PhoenixDesign after all, Christmas is now only four months away!and now, heres a Feature of some of a the Deviations that have caught my Eye recently...
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