Before leaving this computer for at least a week, I thought I'd share a few more images of my production details. I'm a firm believer in the quote from Mies van der Rohe, "God is in the details." I take great pride in all the details of my work ... that includes every aspect from the pieces themselves to the packaging. And like I was saying before, I do everything. So from where we left off ...
The soldered components spent several hours in abrasive media to get to this lovely light patina ... a few completed pieces - stitched silk, fusion on silk cord and chain and a few waiting to be strung on cord.
Today, the smaller order is ready to ship ...
More of those details I like to see to ... I make all my own clasps and ear wires. It would probably be a lot easier and cheaper to purchase ready made, but that's not what I'm about. I'm especially fond of my forged hook ... kind of a signature element for me.
Then there's all my product packaging. I came up with this new look maybe a month ago with my first ever purchased headline font - very clean but still organic ... earring cards, 'care and feeding cards', sales staff info, little labels for the zip-loc bags. I print everything here as needed. My envelopes, shipping labels and business cards all tie in. I change everything frequently, so it really doesn't make sense to print up gazillions - I will no doubt change my mind the next week.
Then everything gets zipped up. When I first dove into wholesaling with the big boys (SFMOMA, Real Mother Goose, Ansel Adams Gallery), I came up with a yummy packaging concept. I used to wrap each piece in a slice of onion skin paper, kind of a Japanese folded paper thing. It all looked so very precious - kind of like how loose gemstones are wrapped. I got a very polite email from the buyer at SFMOMA requesting zip-loc bags - better visuals for checking things in and storing back stock. It hadn't really occurred to me because that was my first time with accounts ordering so many of one thing ... you know like six or eight of something. Sadly, sometimes practicality wins out over aesthetics.
The last little detail is wrapping everything in midnight blue tissue paper, which also ties in with the chocolate brown pillow boxes I use for retail sales.
So that order is off to the Pacific NW. My worktable is clean and the other order is put away until I get back home. We leave Monday for St. Augustine - hoping that sub-tropical depression has moved through by the time we get there. We'll be in St. Augustine through Thursday, then head over to Tallahassee to see my sister and then back home on Saturday. I'm hoping my house sitter likes greens, cause I got a little carried away at our new neighborhood farmer's market on Thursday ... I just couldn't help myself - it was all so beautiful!
So ciao for now!
Looking forward to starting our business conversation back up when I return!
l i g a - kvk
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