Scenes from Kumihimo Class

I taught a Kumihimo Class this weekend... As usual, I forgot to take pics until there's only a few people left in class!

I always have my students learn the basic stitch on a large 2mm rattail or with curling ribbon. I encourage them to use 8 different colors so they can see just how random the Kumihimo is:

But one of my students wanted to mix the two. The curling ribbon is what created the nice ridges in this piece:

Then we move onto beaded kumihimo. Here's a finished bracelet;

This bracelet was made by a student who called herself "The Bling Queen." We're still working on the wire wrapped clasp here. I love how sparkly the metallic beads are!

Beaded Kumihimo Bracelets

I never can remember to take photos in class until most of the students are gone. As luck would have it, the last two in class made similar Kumihimo bracelets...but I do love the black and gray with gunmetal bead caps! Maybe I'll do better next time!

Kumihimo Class

I taught Kumihimo this week and finally realized I should be taking photos near the end of class. These are some of the rat tail samples I have the class practice on to learn the basic knot. The goal is not to make a pretty but to learn the knot and see how it lies. And to keep turning the loom in the same direction...

I took a few photos of the beaded versions but will get that up in another post. I'm still jamming on taxes!

Fusing Class Photos

I thought it would be fun to see some of my students work. People are always fascinated by the before and after shots of fused glass.

This is shelf one before fusing:

Shelf one after:

Shelf two  - note that some of my lampwork beads that broke are on here. Before:

 
Shelf two - check out how much that cross bead (upper right) melted! And note the color shift of the bottom left piece! After:

What a Week!

I've been kinda quiet here, thanks to a "what was I thinking?" issue with my teaching schedule. Yes, folks, the gal to travels and teaches for a large part of her living managed to book herself 3 classes in 6 days! O.M.G!!!!!! It's no wonder I'm running around like a drunk chicken!

There ARE new beads... just no time to list! 

Wanna take a ride on the magic carpet of my last week? Hold ON!

• Wednesday - Wire Wrap I class...  dashing out the door, check email. Spot an order from a customer who orders lots of fondant  every year. Fondant...hmmm. OMG! FONDANT... of the truck load of supplies needed for cookie class, I have forgotten about fondant! Call vendor and place an order on the way to class. Whew! Thank you Universe!
• Thursday - need to bake cookies for cookie class but enrollment keeps fluctuating. Distractions abound...phone calls from customers, emails about custom stamp plates, promoting a photo that's a finalist in a breast cancer awareness contest, monitor online contest promoting shelter adoptions. Decide to make use of ebay's last day of free listings instead of prepping for class. 71 items listed... Great.
• Friday - MUST BAKE COOKIES! Bake enough for class + demo + 2 extra sets in case of walkins. Clean up and realize that Monday's class is small enough, one more batch might buy some downtime on Sunday. Land a custom bead order from repeat customer. Do the happy dance. Pack cookie kits to sell, load up all the store items, vases, silk flowers, money box, ipad, and kitchen tools. Get ready for bed. Realize there are no Hershey's kisses to make rosebuds for the cookie bouquets. Go to the grocery store in a bathrobe.
• Saturday - Leave for class at 8:15 - Unload, set up store items, kitchen work area, flower arranging work area and painting area. Teach and sell. Clean up / load up and home. Beg the dog for a night off... No luck... maybe the hike will make the back pain stop screaming. No, it doesn't. Collapse in a puddle on the sofa. The phone rings. Can't move. It rings again and again. Look  at caller i.d. IT'S A CUSTOMER. At 9 pm on a Saturday. WTH? Check messages...nothing urgent. Reprogram call forwarding. 
• Sunday - Back pain dominates. Breakfast with the bestie who's been out of town. Major exciting household finds at the thrift shop afterwards! Lunch with the hiking buddy. Feeling guilty, make the beads for the custom order. Check emails and messages and find that the same customer has now called about her non urgent issues a total of 12 times in less than 24 hours, leaving an actual message 7 times. On a Sunday! Decide to put her on the back burner until Monday.
• Monday - Repack sold items in store kits. Call anxious customer. She adds LOTS of items to the order going out. Fell guilty for not responding on Sunday. Get angry for feeling guilty for wanting a little quiet time. Find out my photo won the contest! Pack orders, pick up assistant (the bestie), unload and realize 30 minutes before class on box of crucial items is missing - still in the driveway. So is the ipad... can't take credit cards. Race home - get to class 10 minutes late. UGH! Home by 10 - glad all classes went well! 
• Tuesday - Try to pack the anxious one's order, realize one item is out of stock. Call local-ish vendor to verify their stock. On the way out the door, the bestie calls - tickets to Dancing with the Stars TONIGHT! Spend an hour and a half running errands toward the vendor. Realize vendor doesn't have item you need and curse the whole drive home. Electrical contractor who has promised to show up for two weeks is at the shop... asking questions, needing input. Can't press rubber...he's in the way. No orders can ship and the studio call is now an hour earlier than expected! Race to get dressed in decent clothes and realize there was no lunch! Enjoy the show, dinner with friends. Home exhausted and ready for bed at 8pm.

 This is the photo of my sister that won the Archipelago Botanicals Contest! So excited... she will be getting all kinds of goodies from them!

Today, shipping MUST resume in the shop!  There's rubber to press... did I mention - I've manage to run out of rubber??? OY!

I hope to come up for air in a day or two... that is  after shipping 10 packages of dog prizes from the Creekhiker blog and dealing with those 71 listings on ebay! Er - Maybe it'll be another week....

Doing the Numbers on Credit Card Processing

My contract with the oh-so-crappy credit card processor, TransFirst is expired! All I can say is "YAY!"  I had originally thought I would return to Costco Merchant Processing. They were exactly what they promised: fees clearly stated up front and never came up with "charges-charges" like TransFirst did! There were months where half my earnings went to that shyster company!

But in doing the math, I realize my business is not what it was when I started. And, I have more and more in-person sales at shows and classes than I did in the beginning. Yet, I cannot afford to have two "gateways" or merchant accounts.

I signed up for square and then realized that Paypal HERE is just a few pennies cheaper (and in my world, pennies MATTER!). Plus, I'm familiar with Paypal. The money is there immediately. But still, that 3.5% for my mail orders seems high!

I can pay a cheaper amount by diverting my web customers to paypal directly... 2.9% + .30 transaction fee... which on a $30 sale saves me 3 cents! Hardly worth paying a web-developer for!

But the fact that Costco "seemed" so much cheaper kept bugging me. When that happens there's nothing to do but sit down and do the math!

For comparison:

Costco  1.99% on keyed in transactions + 25 cents per transaction. Costco also has a monthly fee of $20.
Paypal Here 3.5% / keyed transaction + 15 cents per. No monthly fee.

I started with what I wish I made: 4K a month. I guestimated 80 transactions.  Using those numbers, Costco would cost 119.60 vs. Paypal Here's 152.00. But... I don't make anywhere near that!

So I put in 1750 and 70 transactions. Here the prices were close: Costco came out to 72.33  vs. Paypal's 71.25

I upped it a bit to 2000 a month and 70 transactions... and Paypal edges ahead to 80.50 vs. Costco's 77.30.

Now I know that somewhere between 1750 and 2K a month, I need to get a cheaper processor. While it's nice to have goals, I haven't seen that kind of dough in five years.  Anyone wanna buy a swiper??? ;-)

Another Hectic Class Day!

Teaching on weekday has put yet another kink in my schedule... I just can't get used to this! I always forget I have to walk the dogs early in the morning... and by the time I remember, it's darn hot and miserable for all. And puts more kinks in my day. And now it's 5 and I need to leave for class and I need a shower(!!!) and I need to load the car and I haven't blogged.........

So.. There's even more kumihimo goodies on the glass bead site now... 8-D

Please check in tomorrow... I have something neat to show you!! I promise!! For reals...

Fresh Glass 7/21

Howdy! I got a little busy on a cleaning jag yesterday and started listing everything I could get my hands on! I placed items for sale on Craigslist (bulky crap I don't want to deal with shipping), ebay (smaller electronics and that wedding dress I bought for my niece at the studio sale!), Lampwork Etc (tools for PMC and some jewelry from television guests) and...new beads on my glass bead site! Busy!

Today, I was planning to dash downtown and get rid of all the copper cookie cutters that we no longer sell in the shop and maybe sell and old watch or two. I gave up wearing watches in 1994! I had a passive aggressive boss who asked for the time every five minutes (like her ever present computer didn't have a clock!). So, passive aggressive Holly stopped wearing her watch so the passive aggressive boss could bug someone else! LOL! I loved the freedom so much, I never went back!

With all that going on and kumihimo class tonight.... I'm gonna keep this short! Have a great Thursday!

Crochet Project

I never came back to show you my in class crochet project. I love this pattern because You just chain how ever many you want (I kept this one small - 32 - because of time limitations in class.) You single crochet down the chain and then along the backside of the the original chain and keep going, round and round. As I showed you in the first post, it just turns in on itself! Pretty cool, huh?

You can seam it up the sides or on the diagonal as I did. I like the diagonal because it makes it thicker where you grab the hot pot and it adds a little something to the plain potholder. It's made from cotton - best for the kitchen. You don't want potholders made from something that melts like rayon or poly!

Of course, I had to make something glassy to go with it: a cupcake button!

And naturally, I had to make a few more. In typical Holly fashion... they kept getting bigger! These should be up on the glass bead website later today.

Just a Howdydoo Today

My apologies for going all MIA on you last week. I started a job... and got laid off within hours. I've been wanting more work as a content manager and was so excited to be working freelance for a HUGE beauty company (and freaking out over roots that are so long, they could be called "tan lines!"). But their backend wasn't ready for the front end. (Think of it as Blogger having a massive brain fart when you just HAVE to get a post up!) So... I spent more time commuting on the 405 than working. But money is money!

By Thursday, I was in major freak mode over teaching kumihimo... I had forgotten to package student kits and...in my effort to always give my students maximum info (info overload???), I decided to preload a few looms to teach them different stitches. All in all, in spite of no a/c on a hot day, it was hands down the BEST CLASS EVER!

Teaching at a community college is much different than teaching in a store. A store attracts a certain clientele; a community college attracts...the community at large. There are often language barriers, skill barriers and... intelligence barriers that you don't always encounter on such a large scale in a store setting. But this class, ALL got the concept, hunkered down and did their work and were all excited over their "homework." It was most exciting to witness!

Anyway, it looks like my job may be restarting this week and my schedule will be nutty as the website I will be working on has a huge "premiere" scheduled.... But I didn't want to leave you without any eye candy  for another week! These are all recent additions to the glass bead site. I'm gonna rustle up some lunch and hit the torch for a few hours and enjoy our cooler weather!

Have a great Monday!

Filled with the Nervousness

I'm a bit nervous for my weekend. I'm teaching a class I've never taught before. Beginning crochet. It's fine....I've crocheted for decades having taught myself around age 11. But teaching it is another story.

My arm got twisted to do this... I seem to be the "go-to" teacher when someone quits at the school because I can do just about anything. But still, HOW do you teach someone to crochet AND have them finish a project in just three hours??? I'm more than a little worried!

Plus a new class has meant new lesson plans. I put a ton of effort into my lesson plans...photos and descriptions so that hopefully students can duplicate their efforts at home without me. But then, if they just wanted to read and follow instructions, they wouldn't be taking a class now would they?

That photo above is one of my class projects in the works. Of COURSE, I had to bling it out with some handmade glass buttons when I got done!

But I'll have to tell you more about it later. Today, I have to make more buttons to take to class and... I have some color tests to run for a new memorial bead.  Busy busy!

If you need something more substantial to read, you simply MUST check out my friend Jenny Cameron's article on Handmade Jewelry, Ridiculously Cheap! It's a must read for artisans everywhere and something I've long complained about here!  Jen just says it PERFECTLY!

Have a good weekend!!!

Avioding the Vendor Burn

I got a phone call the other day from vendor of mine. My order from CHA's January show was ready to ship! Five months late!  The whole experience has me so ticked off, I thought I would share a little of what I've learned.

The show Experience:
I went to CHA on the fly last January. I wasn't planning to go but, one of the film jobs I landed was shooting there and a fellow Fire Diva wanted me to take a social media class with her so, I found myself at the show anyway. I did a quick inventory of my shop and went to my two favorite jewelry vendors with a list of tools and accessories I would need for my upcoming classes. I also went with a new mission: Find new goodies to build NEW  classes around.

 

Koi pond - part of my half price sale on Artfire

As I was leaving the first vendor, order already having been placed, a demo artist I knew from my Carol Duvall days grabbed me in their booth and showed me their kumihimo braiding line. I had been looking for a way to teach bead crochet but couldn't quite work out some of the logistics of teaching in a college setting as opposed to a bead store. Kumihimo would allow them to finish in two classes and the stitch work is not difficult. So I walked back over and added to my order.

This vendor does NOT give customers copies of an order. Which is lesson #1: I know you may be tired and that your feet hurt, but take their order form and transpose EVERYTHING to your own notebook. Item numbers, colors, quantities and descriptions. I did not do this!

The next vendor where I order most of the cheaper tools that the college prefers I sell had a new copper findings line. As the cost of sterling is through the freaking roof, I looked for and found all the accessories to rework my current wire classes into copper or silver coated copper to keep costs down. I ordered tons of findings! This vendor did give me a copy of my order but it was all item numbers! NO descriptions. Gee, that's helpful...NOT! Furthermore, as many of the items were new, several had the same number. I'm the one who caught this as my sales rep was writing up my order! Those are the only items that had any kind of description beside the number.

Bail Making Pliers... My new favorite must have!

After the Show:
Vendor #1 sent me a partial order the next week. But I only received  some of the kumihimo products: a few disks, mismatched cording (instead of the color coordinated sets I wanted), no beads, no bobbins, no class books. I had to put the new class on hold and wait for the products I was so excited about to be available.

Vendor #2 phoned to say that "some" of my findings were in but it would be "a few weeks" before the rest were in stock and they gave me the option to refuse the order or take a partial order. As I needed the tools, I took the partial order. It arrived with a few necklace blanks and all tools. I hardly call that "some." Yet another project has to be postponed.

Lesson #2: Ask the vendor for an ETA. If they don't meet that date... shop elsewhere!

Wire Wrapped Cupcake - also 1/2 price on Artfire

Five months later...

I'm now trying to figure out what is missing from the first vendor's order as I do finally have kumihimo classes starting.

And Vendor #2 sent me a list of what is finally in stock and I'm going through their online catalog to match item numbers to photos and to see if I still have a need for it as some of my jewelry classes have been cut back.  If I had a list of what I really wanted from the CHA show to compare, things would be a bit easier.

Which leads to the most important lesson #3: When standing there at the show, ask the vendor, ARE THESE ITEMS IN STOCK NOW? Next year, I will be certain to say, "Don't even show me things that aren't available NOW! I don't want to see the line you plan to roll out in six months..."

Lessons learned... Move on!


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Planning Classes

All my lesson plans are due this week for summer sessions and since one of my old schools now requires a mountain of paperwork for classes I've been teaching for years (don't ya just LOVE new administrations??).... I'm gonna keep this short.

I've been asked to teach some new classes as well... Basic crochet...which I said yes to only to keep my good standing with the college. But I don't sell that stuff and don't want to set up vendor accounts with places like that... but I've been crocheting since I was 12... self taught. My first project was  a QUEEN sized blanket which I still have! Funny but I always start new things on a HUGE scale and work my way down.

In addition to all the paperwork, I have to calculate materials fees on several new classes and several old ones now that silver is what it is. And I'm going through a battery of computer tests to try and get temp work. I have to redo my resume and my job counselor says that with all my skills sets, he expects I will end up with 5 to 7 versions (!) of the resume I have now! OY! And Bessie the car is in the shop... AGAIN. All this = one stressed Holly.

But I do have one shiny bit of news... I'm Bead of the Day over on the Fire Divas blog...which means this Ice Cream Cone Glass Bead is 10% off until the new Bead of the Day is posted tomorrow!

Kimberly Affleck Has Invaded My Brain!

I just took a class with Kimberly Affleck at The Mandrel over the weekend. And my head is just spinning. I'm not good for much today!


Kimberly is a most excellent teacher! She shared every secret, every color combo. The strangest thing was... we all sort of think of her as "the seahorse lady." But, she is oh-so-much-more! We learned so much! I feel like my head is gonna explode!

And I have to share one thing about glass teachers in general... Glass classes cost a freaking fortune and you go there and you take frantic notes so you can remember what you learned because...so few teachers give you a hand out! I've been teaching since I was 17 and write VERY detailed instructions for my students complete with photos because I want them to be able to duplicate what we did in class. But that is not the norm. My community college and retail students alike all complain that so few teachers do hand outs.  Because I do it and all of the fabulous rubber stamp teachers I knew do it...I'm always shocked that  I'm spending so much for a class and yet there is no handout.

Large Lentel by Kimberly Affleck

Of all the glass classes I've taken, two have done handouts to take home and Ms. Affleck is EXCEPTIONAL! It was a full book with every demo and then some. Color combos, silver glass hints, tips on heat control and volume control... you name it! The book was in black and white but with it came a full color CD-ROM!

This freed me up in class to PAY ATTENTION. I got to be in the moment without worrying about every little detail! I think I took a whopping one page of notes on things that were asides... Not planned but extra demos!

I spent so much time ooh and ahhing over techniques, I was just dumbstruck with gratitude by the end of the class. I am truly grateful for the opportunity.

I hope you will take a moment and visit Kim's Etsy. And don't just linger over the amazing seahorses!!! Her focals are stunning!

I'm having oral surgery tomorrow morning. Things may be a bit quiet here this week depending on my recovery.

Still Creating...

...just NOT glass beads!

These are the cookies for last week's rubber stamped cookie class...cooling on my counter. I'm baking again this morning for this Saturday's class.

And since I'm having "torch withdrawals," I'm praying I get to fire up the old girl today!

My fan drive goes on... $25 gift cert drawing once I hit 200 fans! I'm so close!!!

And... don't forget, I give away a $50 gift cert every month to one of my faithful voters. These sites help other customers find me and it's helps with those search engine thingys too! ;-D

On Hiatus

I'm taking a break from the old bead bloggie for a week or so. My mom is visiting... a full day earlier than I thought and I'm in frantic-get-the-house-ready mode along with major-teaching-prep mode at the same time. And I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Thanks as always for stopping by and I'll see you on the flip side, if not sooner!

Holly

I'd Like to Thank the Academy...

Wouldn't you know it? I had good reason to address those "tan lines" in my hair! My buddy won an award!!! I'm so so so proud of him!!

I was simply giddy all night last night! I ate my rubber chicken and met a LOT of really talented writers. It was so nice to see so many honored. Action on Film is one cool Film Festival!

Did Ya'll Notice???

Did anyone notice that I closed yesterday's Wednesday blog with my usual THURSDAY greeting??? I was one crazy Daisy yesterday. And NO, I did NOT get all those errands run. I ran out of time. So guess what I'm up to today in addition to baking like a mad woman???

OK... How 'bout a Little Something Beady? 

I did get some new stuffs up on the glass beads website. I ADORE this new focal... it's soooo sparkly! You cannot believe how it catches the light!

The SALE is Ending....

The Christmas in July Sale is ending on 7/31. 10% off & FREE shipping Etsy / Artfire items. ON ETSY, you MUST convo me first! No convo, no discount!

And come Monday, I'll see you here on the bead blog!

Cookies and Film on the Brain

Much craziness today and nothing beady going on! I awoke in a panic at 4 a.m. - a complete girly panic. A dear friend of mine has a short screen play up for several awards at the Action on Film International Film Fest in Pasadena tonight.  And since he knew for some time that he has a family obligation that's way too fun to miss, he asked me to attend on his behalf. At the time I accepted, I thought it would be as simple as mingle, eat some rubber chicken and clap for the winners.

That is... until my friend emailed me last week with what he would like ME to say should he win. Still it didn't sink in. Last night, I looked up how many awards he was nominated for - four. Still it didn't sink in. Until four this morning. Suddenly, I had a "girl attack" - what would I wear?? And OMG! My hair is a mess!  I need to touch up my roots... OK... it's been so long it's more like 'tan lines!' OY.

To make matters worse, my cookie class this Saturday has grown by leaps and bounds... gotta love those late sign ups! Suddenly, I went from being well prepped on supplies to being out of everything!

So my day is  just crazy: hike, wash hair, dry hair, run to the shop,  mix cookie dough, pack orders, mix more dough (my mixer is humming as I type), keep drying hair.  Stash cookie dough in fridge, answer emails from clients and the college, order fondant, print check for fondant, dash home, dye hair, dash across the valley to pick up fondant, back to the silk flower /ribbon wholesaler for supplies, on to my ceramics vendor for vases, back to the shop to run all the vases through the dishwasher, home to find something to wear and off to the awards dinner. Oh. My. Shoot me now!

Don't forget.... there is another glass bead giveaway going on over at Creekhiker. 

I may be in a coma come Monday...otherwise, I'll see you here on the bead blog!

End of the Sale

Our first Team sale for the Fire Divas has wrapped up on Etsy.

I was so amazed to have my first ever sale with under 10 views!!!I can do remakes on these is anyone is interested.

And I have a 30% off sale going on til tomorrow on AF. I'll just call it my "bad mood" sale and leave it at that. See studio announcement and ArtFire blog for more details.

I'm busy prepping for my part two of my Wire Wrap Extravganza at Glendale College this weekend. I will be teaching Wire Wrapped Rings (3 of them!) and Advanced Wire Wrap where we learn to make all kinds of wire components and put them all together into a bracelet. Should be fun!

Hope you have a lovely weekend and I will see you back HERE on Monday.

Getting Ready for Classes

I've been very busy in the past week getting ready for my impending wire wrap classes at Glendale College. I'm so excited because this is the first time EVER I've been able to convince the college to offer all FOUR of my wire wrap classes in the SAME quarter and the response has been phenomenal!

This coming Saturday, I will offer Wire Wrap I followed by Cab Wrapping. Then on February 20th, I will offer Advanced Wire Wrapping followed by a fun, fast project: Wire Wrapped Rings! Whew! That's a lot of wire wrapping!

We will complete projects in each class. There are still a "few" openings in this weekends class with a slightly more spots in the February classes. If you are in the Glendale / greater Los Angeles area and want to jump-start your wire wrapping, I hope you will join us!

And if wire is not your thing? Come join me as we make rubber stamped cookie bouquets on February 6! It's going to be a fun quarter!

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