How To Make A Jewelry Sketch

I get a lot of requests for help from jewelry designers. I’m going to lay out a plan of attack to get the best possible results when seeking help in getting your product assembled and delivered. I’d like to lay out some steps to start sketching, which will lead to your tech pack and this will help both the established designer and newbie get their ideas understood and brought to life.

I have an idea....

Great! Now you need to get down on paper. Sketch it out, full size, since most jewelry pieces can fit on one sheet of 8 1/2” by 11” paper, a flat sketch. Draw it out and keep drawing it out until it shapes up to what you want. Just paper and pencil. It’s cheap, you can throw it out and start over. It’s the idea you want to get across, not the execution of the drawing. Keep it loose, let it flow, and watch it develop with each drawing. This is called the concept sketch. This is the time to explore ideas, question, suggest. It’s a good way to keep track of your original idea and how it has evolved. Using your family and friends as your focus group, see what they think of these drawings and ideas. Here’s an example of sketches:

Sketchbook

Jewelry Sketches

Jewelry Sketch Tutorial

 Everyone loves it!

Now you need to get the details down. Start taking measurements, detail with notes, add necessary components. How long are the bracelets, necklaces and earrings? Take  these drawings to a digital mock up or refine your line drawings with the final details: Measurements, materials used in the piece, the style numbers of the components, stringing materials used, prices, these are all known as the specs. Here's an example.

What’s it made of?

Research the materials needed to make the pieces and record them by style numbers, size and prices. Where are you going to source them from?  Organize all these specifics on the drawings with your measurements. These specifics will go into your tech pack.

Now you can move on to early prototypes where you work out your kinks, fix the problems and do any necessary changes. This part can get expensive, producing each generation of a prototype, but it’s best to work out the problems before you get to the final prototype. It’s very important to not cut costs here. Mistakes made in the multi-thousands of an order is VERY expensive to fix.

I found out about this program from a designer recently. https://craftybase.com/  

This along with these programs: 

http://www.beading-software.com

http://www.bejeweledsoftware.com 

will help out with organizing, keeping track of supplies, materials, inventory, labor, pricing, shipping, sales. Getting started in an organized manner will help you keep on track to create a thoughtful process in creating your jewelry business and thrive.

RePurposing Materials to Create New Designs

I made this bench just now. I had these two metal end tables I found in someone's trash pickup. Kind of retro, the sort with that mesh top and it matches the mesh side chairs you see in European cafes in city parks, like the Tuillieries in Paris. I thought they were cool when I got them but I just couldn't find a purpose for them after I came home. So they just sat there on the front porch, uninspired, poor things!

Yesterday I was under my back porch where we store things like weedwackers and firewood and came across a bench seat that I had salvaged from a whole teak bench that the back and arms rotted right off. Pulled it out and hosed it down. I thought I was going to do something else with it, make legs out of old 2 x 4s, logs, leftover pavers, not even thinking about those two lifeless end tables on the front porch. So this morning it came to me. It was just about the right size for those two end tables, will it just fit the tops of them so I can make the end tables the legs for this bench top?? Well whaddya know! It fit perfectly, like it was meant to be! I attached those tables to the bottom of the seat with cable ties. It worked like a dream. Even the stain on the bench works with it, no need to refinish, perfectly weathered. It has a mod look to it like it came from Bo Concepts or something. I threw on some seat pillows and a little astro turf pillow, flanked it with two ficus trees. Now it's a place for lemonade, neighbor watching, and observing my Michael's landscaping, which is going to be the perfect compliment to my little two seater bench. And it cost nothing, except a salvaged bench seat, trashed end tables and 6 cable ties and I already had the seat pillows. Please come on by for a lemonade!


The same thing can be applied to jewelry. How many of you have box loads of old designs, stuff that didn't sell? You make a new line every season, every year. What do you do with the old stuff? Necklaces, earrings, bracelets. How last season are they? Years worth? Are they selling? Are you giving them away as presents? If they are still laying about, think about dismantling them and repurposing the materials. How daunting, you spent so much time on that piece but think about the value of the materials that you can use again in a new design. You've moved on from that design perhaps and learned your lesson from working on that piece. You've learned better wire wrapping techniques, better knotting, better stone placement. If it isn't moving in your retail situations, it's stagnant, so why not refresh it? Clear the clutter so you'll clear your head for more ideas to flow. They may be your "children", but let them go and evolve into better designs. Designing is pulling from so many inspirations. Your archive of designs may spark something bigger and better.


Start small. One bracelet. Take it apart and sort the materials. If you aren't already saving your scraps, get started now. A container for silver and one for gold. There are companies that buy back your scrap. Now how was that? Can you do it again? Go for five pieces a day. This is a perfect project to do on those rainy days that you're at a show and there's not much traffic. Pack a little "deconstruct" box, add little baggies to collect the "new" supplies you're getting. Before you know it, you've replenished some findings, stones, cleared some space, saved some money. Recycle and repurpose. And get freshly inspired with all that new material before you.

Avoid Gettng Sideswiped by Staying on Course

I ride a motorcycle. Just a standard 750cc bike, that gets me from point A to point B and so far so good. It’s managed to give me scenic rides for 8 years. I took a ride yesterday and when you take a ride out there on the public roads, you are out there with everyone else, racing along. You need to make it to point B, intact. You are competing on the roadways with cars, SUVs, 18 wheelers. You are tiny compared to every other vehicle with you on the three lane highway. On the motorcycle, you have to be hypersensitive to everything around you. Not only are your eyes glued on the road in front of you, you have to scan the lanes for these drivers that aren’t seeing you at all because you’re so small compared to them. It’s like a chess game. It’s super concentration. You have to be 5 moves ahead of your opponent and be ready for any unexpected moves. Like the black, tinted windows, $10K rimmed blinged car that almost sideswiped me yesterday. Yes, I noticed that car. He saw me and thankfully swerved back into his lane. That was close. Now I had to keep an eye on him too and he was all over the place!

Running the jewelry business is the same thing. Concentrating on the road before you. Staying five moves ahead. Watching out for distractions. And if you work from a home studio, there’s plenty of distractions. So how do you stay sharp, get the work done and not let these diversions hinder you from getting to point B?

• Get yourself on a schedule. Set it up on your desktop or get a notebook to write one up. Put everything down you need to get done from what time you’re waking up to what time you’re finished. Schedule in breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The big CEOs of corporate America do this. You’re the CEO of your jewelry business. Pay attention to the schedule of what goes on between the meals. When you see it in writing, it gives it more purpose than trying to keep in your head. I will guarantee this, distractions will interfere with that list in your head.
• Schedule the e-mail check in. Make it for every three hours or after breakfast, after lunch, before the day’s end. Turn off that e-mail reminder on your computer. If there’s an e-mail that’s so urgent or an emergency and you aren’t answering it immediately, they will call you on the phone. They will.
• Turn off the cell phone. If you don't have a land line, then schedule the cell phone check with the e-mail check.
  
• Schedule your household duties, doctor’s appointments before and after your work day. Your workday may not be an 8 hour day. If it’s a 3 hour day, then stick to the work schedule for 3 hours. Maybe your work day is from 8am to 1pm. Then schedule it as such. Stick to it.

Get into scheduled work habits. It gets you into a rhythm, setting goals and meeting them. You start planning five moves ahead. Pay attention to what is stopping you from getting it done and find a way around the obstacle. The jewelry world is huge out there. We all want to get to point B, without getting sideswiped. Stay the course and stay on schedule.

Mother's Day Gift Ideas Part 2

I love Laurel Denise Jewelry. Tiny, romantic, handwritten notes of fancy on little pieces of glass, silver and now leather. How does she manage to write so small and perfectly?? It all came in a dream she says and this remarkably delicate collection began. Check out her mother tag, just in time for Mother's Day. She'll even do custom pieces for you should you have your own sweet sentiments to bestow upon your beloved.

laureldenise.com

Spring Fever

I've come down with a fever that has a serious side effect of procrastination. As the temperature rises outside, I feel flush from looking out of the window at the bright sunshine and newly leaved trees. It's made me ache to go outside and walk away from this pile of work on my desk. Get on my bike and feel that fresh warm air wash over me with Lady Gaga blasting in my helmet. What's the cure? Pull the blinds and move the studio to the windowless garage?

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in working inside and getting the work done that before you know it, there goes another gorgeous day without stepping out the front door. BUT I have to get this stuff done! And that's where one of my worse symptoms come into play, procrastination. I don't want to do anything. And that's a bad symptom that shouldn't be left to flare up into a full blown take down. When the fever hits, allow it to take it's course. Maybe take a half hour walk outside and enjoy the goodness of the day. Can you take some work and create out on the patio set? Heck! If you have a patio set, go have your lunch outside. I so often forget I have a backyard!

My cure all is to organize. I need my stuff put away and put out of sight. Today I actually organized bags of stones into those clear shoe boxes you get at The Container Store. Take all those stones out of the baggies and pile them in the boxes and on to the shelves. I have an area in my basement dedicated to all the shipping and jewelry supply storage. All neat and put away. It didn't take long to get that in order then came up for lunch, which I had outside on the patio set today. The cloudless sunny day cleared up my fever and refreshed, I was back to work in the studio for the afternoon.

Letting Go Part 2

How about letting go of clutter? Do you have a lot of half finished pieces and components lying about in the studio taking up space while you’re working on a last minute order that just got phoned in? Here’s a nifty idea: Find little storage baskets that nestle into each other. These I got at Walmart. They are made by Mainstay. They come in 4 x 6 (3 pack) and 6 x 9 sizes (2 pack) for a dollar! Then, to keep the precious cargo from sliding all over the place, I got a package of one of those non-slip rug pads. The thin ones, NOT the ones that are thick with the really big holes in them. They come in all sizes, so depending on how many baskets you need, buy accordingly.

• Use the bottom of basket to trace and cut out a little non-slip pad for the bottom of the basket so your components stay put.
• Do many pads because you can layer the pads in each basket with each layer holding the piece you’re working on.
  
• For example, I have to assemble 8 pieces of style #123. I get my basket, lay a pad, then put the components (beads, stones, clasps, name tag, ect) for one piece of style #123.
• Before I layer another pad over that, take a scrap piece of paper and write style #123, what order it’s pertaining to (the store’s name), and write “1 piece of 8”.
• Then layer another pad on top of that, adding that piece of scrap with the info on top of each piece/layer.

Depending on how big the pieces are, layer as much as you need and start another basket. It will end with all your pieces, the top layer having the paper stating style #123, “8 pieces of 8” and the store info. Then these baskets just pile on top of each other and put a copy of your store invoice /order sheet on top of that so that you know that those pile of baskets are filled with all the components of all the jewelry that is needed for store abc. They take up little space and when you need, grab baskets and work on it, peeling layer by layer.

Letting Go Part 1

Jewelry designers are a fierce bunch. Passionate, articulate, intense, talented beyond. I am amazed at the glittering, sparkly fantasies they create. And every single one of them comes up with the most amazing ideas and go for it. And if they’re lucky, they get to sell their jewelry for a living. But a lot of jewelry designers are still working full time and working under the Ott light in their studios till the wee hours because they just have to get this idea out, this idea that’s been in their head since lunchtime, since yesterday, since last week. The idea is born: a necklace, a bracelet, a pair of earrings.

They go and start selling their masterpieces. First at the local craft fairs, street fairs and festivals. They get interest, they get buzz, a blurb in Lucky magazine! They get into the New York Gift Fair! Whew! How will they ever keep up the pace??

At some point, you need to find some help. Find someone who knows where you’re coming from and can meet your needs. It’s very hard to let go. You don’t want anyone stealing your ideas, You don’t want anyone pilfering your designs. You don’t know if anyone could possibly be as good as you in making your creations. You have to find someone you can trust. Someone you can spill your secrets to and they’ll be able to run with it and make your jewelry design business shine under your direction. You are the boss, you are the one who dictates what you want and how you want to execute your work, your aesthetics, your vision. When you find that trusted team and delegate the production, you will just open up to new ideas, new designs, new growth. But how do you find someone you can trust?

Jewelry assembly is a tricky subject. Will my necklaces, bracelets, earrings not be mine if someone else is handcrafting them just like I would? Is it still mine, if not made by my own hand?

Let’s take an example of what hand made, HANDcrafted means in the word, haute couture. It is a protected name in France and what is decided by the Chambre syndicale de la haute couture, is that a dress is made from high quality, expensive fabric and sewn in extreme attention to detail by HAND by the most experienced and capable seamstresses. They use time consuming, exacting techniques that are executed by HAND. THEN the design house must follow these rules:

• Design made to order for private clients with one or more fittings
• Have a workshop (atelier) in Paris that employs at least 15 people
• Produce at least 35 outfits, twice a year for the French press that includes daywear and evening wear.

Does Karl Lagerfeld, Yves St Laurent, Pierre Balmain, Christian Lacroix, Balenciaga, Jean Paul Gaultier, John Galliano, Valentino, et al, hand make 35 dresses twice a year by themselves? No. AND they have AT LEAST 15 people working for THEM. They have the creme de la creme of seamstresses, embroiderers, milliners, pattern cutters all have had their hands on that one dress. Their most trusted team, people that have been with them for years, loyal employees that with the wave of the couturier’s hand, know exactly what he or she wants and away they go to hand sew, hand construct (produce) that collection. With the designer’s name on it.

Find that team for yourself. Find a loyal, trusted team, your own atelier that will work with you and give you the help you need. Start small and build the trust. Please read Letting Go Part 2 and I'll let you know how to let go of studio clutter!