Some With Lampwork, Some Without Lampwork

For most of my jewelry career with Scott I had usually had a decent mix of some jewelry made with his beads and some without. Once we opened our studio/gallery a couple of years ago, I trended towards making almost all of my jewelry with at least one lampwork bead on it. It seemed to make a more cohesive line in our store. However, now that we moved into the larger space a few months ago, I've been starting to go back to making some without lampwork as well. By the time Christmas rolls around, I plan to have a full display of Semi-precious stone and Freshwater Pearl necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. I also want to make a "Guy" jewelry display (necklaces). I also dream of more keychains (older style for those who know), wine charms, and other gift items. Looking forward to it.

My New Identity

So, until recently, I had been using the same Facebook page for our entire business.....Scott's lampwork beads, his lampworking tools, and my jewelry. I now intend to market these separately....Scott's Beads and Tools on one FB page and Blog, and my jewelry on my own FB page and Blog. Our newsletters however will continue to showcase all areas at once. I will be sending a newsletter later today and we're having a bead/jewelry sale and introducing some new tools!! Stay tuned.

Bearfoot Art Facebook Page
Mo's Jewelry Facebook Page
Blogging Bearfoot
Bearfoot YouTube Channel

Our Home Page on our website has quick links to all of these along with Twitter.

Life Lessons From A Dear Friend

Last night I attended a memorial service for a dear friend of our family, Cal MacDonald. His service was at the Seattle Museum of Flight. He was a docent there for many years. He had also been a pilot for Northwest Airlines for many years before that. This was the second funeral/memorial I have ever been to, but I know as I grow older that number will be increasing. It was torturously wonderful. Heartwrenchingly beautiful. Videos, pictures, many words from friends and family. I walk away a better person. The shock and awe of seeing something like this sure puts you in perspective quickly. A strong message to live in the moment.
This photo shows what was behind the podium. It was an amazing setting. I guess I just want to pass along one of the beautiful messages that was passed along. It was something that Cal would say to his son when he'd say "oh man, I have to get out of bed.." Cal would say back to him, "Chris, you get to get out of bed." This persective can and should be applied to daily life on a regular basis. I know I will apply it to mine.

I'm Going To Date Myself

I'm not talking "taking myself out to dinner", I am talking "woah, I'm going to sound old". I don't think of myself as old, I haven't quite hit the big 4 oh, but regardless, in the sense of technology, it makes me feel kind of old. Not in a bad way, in fact I feel rather lucky to be of the generation that grew up without all of these gadgets, but get to enjoy them now. Children of today will not know a life without these things and I will. I just find that interesting to ponder.

Thinking back to my first experiences with computers it makes me chuckle. Basic was just that, basic. Even up until I was in college, still the basics. Internet was not common and I don't think I had even heard of it at that time. I was still looking in card catalogs in the library!!! Computerized card catalogs did help a bit though. If only the internet was available to us at the time, my research papers would have been so much easier. Oh, the distractions that go with it, but I won't go there.

And now look at me. On the computer for a crazy amount of my day. It's my hub. My base of operations. I can tell you one thing for sure. Scott and I would not have been able to make it as artists without computers and the internet. We maybe could have, but likely wouldn't have chosen to. Shows are exhausting and unpredictable. I love the fact that we have the opportunity to market our goods world-wide and build a customer base from all walks of life. Social Media enthralls me with its possibilities. Target marketing at its best. What I mean by that is the ability to share information about your art and your business with people who have chosen to receive the information. You are sharing with people who give a darn. That is what I like. Whether they buy or not, to have people interested enough to follow what is going on, well, it makes me feel good.

In those early days I was so bored in computer class and thought it would never benefit me, but wow, who would have thought!!! I never would have dreamed!!!

From Home Biz to Retail Gallery Storefront

Since 1998 until a couple of years ago, my husband and I ran our business from our home. We concentrated on doing shows and selling our work from our website and on eBay. Our house has a great location near an incredible Northwest beach and a gorgeous view of the water, but in exchange for that......it's teeny....728 sq foot teeny....and yes, we had also been fitting our business in there as well. That worked fine until the kiddos came along. The two boys are now 3 and almost 6. Getting the business out of the house was a must. So, we went to our artsy downtown La Conner looking for a shipping office and place of operations.

For not much more, a great retail space was available that looked perfect for us. A year and half goes by and it turned out that we were feeling too crammed in there. We moved to the front of the building that we were in to a bigger spot and it is PERFECT for us. Each need now has a place of its own, not having to double or triple its use. For example, Scott's beadmaking desk is for that alone, his tool making station is for tool making, our photo station does not have to be taken down and set up each time, we have a shipping table for that alone, and so on. But the one thing that I am the most excited about is my beading station. I'm in heaven. My beads are no longer in little boxes, I have everything at a glance. A true artist's pallette. It has made creating so much more fun and I design best when I can see colors together in a way I might not have otherwise. We are on 1st Street in downtown La Conner, WA if you want to visit. We are called Bearfoot Art Glass Studio. Hope to see ya sometime!

New Lampwork Necklace Design!

I'm excited about a new, yet simple, design that I suddenly created a few days ago. I'm about to make one with black and white beads as well. I love the way it lays and shows the beads on the side.

I am looking forward to updating my blog daily and building it to be functional, interesting, and informative. I need to train my brain to think in blog. It was strange one day when I realized my idle thoughts were composing Facebook entries. As I went about the house doing chores, etc. I suddenly would put together a one liner of what I was doing. My brain was getting trained in a new way of thinking. Now for the blog training.

A Blog Declaration

So, I've not been active on our blogs for a while and I think I know why. I did not have a clear direction for the blogs. I have this blog and our other one is Blogging Bearfoot that focuses more on my husband's lampwork beads and tools. With the two kiddos and running our business, I haven't been making jewelry as often as I used to. At first I was going to have this blog be a showcase for my new jewelry, but I think what I would really like is to have this blog be a place where I can write and post whatever I feel like at the time. A graceful combination of random insights and experiences along with what I've been up to in the jewelry department. I also have a lot to share about online marketing and selling your work online.

I will go forth whether anyone chooses to read or not. I want to get in the habit of blogging and I will make peace with the possibility that I may just be talking to myself. Nothing new there, I'm pretty good at talking to myself. However, I also know that I will feel very encouraged if I see the occasional comment posted.

Over the next few days, I'll be making a few changes to this page.

Well, here goes!