hats off.

As I'm the only one working for Scarlet & Madrone, I find I wear a lot of different hats in this operation.  Please excuse the overused cliche; I'm sure all my professors from the Creative Writing program at SFSU are groaning at the sight of it, but it's the best I can come up with right now.  And as I continue to work on my business I'm finding there are a lot of things I don't like doing.  Like writing copy, for instance.  Or pricing items.  Or making spreadsheets.  And there's some things that I just can't do alone - a lifestyle shoot, for instance.  And trust me, I've tried.  I've tried holding the camera out at arm's length, I've tried using the mirrors in the bathroom to see what the frame looks like, and I've even tried setting up the tripod, attempting to set up lighting, putting the timer on the camera, and running to the spot that I think will put me in the right position for the frame.  Oh, and did I mention that I also become very awkward when placed in front of a camera?  Yeah, I'm sure you can imagine how well that worked out.  Thankfully I have some very talented friends who also have their own set of very talented friends.

With the help of my friend James and his buddy Ray, I was able to pull together the first lifestyle shoot for Scarlet & Madrone.  It started out a bit rocky - shooting outdoors wasn't an option as it was overcast and raining.  James was nervous his work wouldn't be good enough and I felt awkward being in front of the camera.  And trying to art direct while modeling is, well, pretty much impossible.  "Just don't get my face in the shot," was the extent of my "art directing" as I sat stiff and awkward, waiting for the shutter to click.

Ray arrived shortly thereafter with a crap load of equipment and brought some sunshine with him.  We moved outdoors and having another set of eyes was beneficial.  "Check this one out," James would say, showing the image to Ray.  "Ooh, that's some dramatic lighting," he'd respond.  "How's my hair?" I'd yell at Ray before James clicked the shutter.  "Why don't you try this?  Or how 'bout this?" he'd yell back at me.  Then there was the "smile, don't smile, smile, don't smile" directing that was an epic fail on my part.  Try it.  I dare you.  Then tell me you managed to get through it without laughing.  Oh really?  Yeah right.  Liar. 

The shoot lasted roughly four hours and we got a lot of great shots out of it.  I've also learned that I really don't like modeling.  It's enough to feel uncomfortable in front of the camera but add in standing around in 40-50 degree weather in a tank top?  No thank you.  So I'm taking off another hat and recruiting a friend to model for the next shoot while I focus on art direction.  Now, if only I can find a copywriter...

my other hobby.

Sometimes photographing jewelry can be boring.  Sometimes you need props.  And sometimes I have nothing better to do with my time than to decoupage a styrofoam mannequin while taking hundreds of pictures of the process.  And then I can make little movies like this one for your viewing pleasure!

adventures in car buying.

So this post has pretty much nothing to do with jewelry.  But it has everything to do with what has consumed my life for the entire month of June and most of July – buying a car.  If you follow my life at all then you know that I left San Francisco at the end of May and landed on the other side of the bridge in Berkeley without a car.  My brother was kind enough to let me use his car while I stayed with him and I had a lot of fun driving it.  I learned that there’s a stretch of 880 that smells like freshly baked bread all the time since the driver’s side window doesn’t roll up and another window in the back is punched out.  I made a game out of avoiding potholes as one of the wheels is bent but he couldn’t remember which one, just that it was on the right side.  I never worried about walking around the car to load groceries in the backseat because the passenger side door didn’t open.  I took my time pulling the gear shifter into drive since the knob had a tendency to come off in your hand if much force was used and I made sure to make my way over to the right lane any time I encountered a slight incline as the car quickly lost power trying to climb over anything larger than a speed bump.  Oh, and then there was the day I flipped on the windshield wipers and one of the blades flew off.  Yep, it was a pretty sweet ride.  But with plans to relocate to LA, I needed my own vehicle.  And after losing my job and coming to terms with moving back to Sacramento, I needed a car.  Like, quick. 

Have you ever gone through the car buying experience before?  Because I never have.  Who knew that looking for cars was like having a full time job?  Mornings were spent combing through ads on craigslist.org, autotrader.com, and cars.com, creating a list of potential cars within my budget (a measly $5000), and researching said cars via kbb.com and Edmunds.com to find retail value on vehicles in good condition vs. excellent condition vs. private party vs. dealer.  I’m tired just thinking about it.

And then the exciting part – test drives and discovering how chauvinistic car culture still is.  There were the greasy looking dudes in gold chains at the mom n’ pop lots who informed me with great earnest that “these cars have their own market value” and refused to negotiate price.  Riiight, but who really pays sticker price and I’m not in the habit of paying more than what something’s worth.  Are you?  Then there was the guy at Carmax who laughed at me and asked if my budget was in American dollars.  Hey, eff you, buddy.  And I will never be returning to a Carmax.  Ever.  Again.  And then there was the kid who tried to negotiate a date into the selling price.  Quick tip on that one – if you’re going to try to ask someone out who’s interested in buying your car, wait until the sale is over or lower your price to what they’re willing to pay.  Just sayin’. 

One morning, I stumbled across an ad for a Volkswagen Golf at a Nissan dealership in Dublin, so I hopped into Trevor’s Honda and drove out there.  After the test drive (and the hour wait beforehand for it to finish inspection), I was pretty much sold on the car.  A couple days later, my mom and I head out to the dealership and after another quick test drive, we went inside to talk numbers.  Here is where we encounter Chris – the epitome of a car salesman without looking the part.  He sat us in his office, brought us some water, and then promptly disappeared.  I sat patiently waiting; my mom fidgeted in her seat, constantly craning her neck to find Chris, getting more and more volatile as time passed.  Chris came in a few times to check on us, “Just a few more minutes.  Be right back,” he’d say and then leave.  “What the fuck are we waiting for?” my mom said.  “He’s just playing games with us.  He’s trying to gain all the power.  We shouldn’t have taken the water.  We should have asked why he was offering it to us, should’ve said, ‘Why? Are we going to be here long?’  Oh, I’m so pissed.”  And after 20 minutes of this, Chris finally comes back in his office.  He sits down at the desk and asks a couple questions, entering the data into the computer.  “Okay,” he says, “the final number is going to be - ”  

“Wait a minute,” my mom interjects.  “Aren’t we even going to negotiate price?"  Uh-oh, this isn’t good.  This is about to get ugly.  Have you ever seen that one movie with that one scene where the character goes ballistic and flips over a table or some other piece of furniture and then continues to destroy everything within sight?  Yeah?  Well, it wasn’t quite that bad but there was a lot of “this is bullshit” and “that’s not true” and “she can’t afford that” and my mom was up and out of the office, out of the dealership, and nearly to the car by the time I could get out of my chair.  Chris stood behind the desk, looking a bit stunned.  It all happened so quickly, a matter of moments and there is never enough time to diffuse the bomb before it explodes.  I look over at him as I’m walking out of the office, unsure of the proper goodbye in this situation so I just say, “Thanks for the help, enjoy your day,” and run after my mom.

I drove back to my brother’s that night, feeling a little discouraged.  Nothing is going my way – dealerships hire dickheads, private parties try to scam dates, cars that are reasonably priced are snapped up in an instant, and I can’t apply for a loan due to my unemployed status.  The whole researching cars and looking for a fair price has become a chore, no longer fun and exciting, just time consuming and frustrating.  As a last ditch effort, I took another quick look on craigslist before bed and there it is – the perfect ad.  An ‘01 Golf with 125k miles, automatic, in silver with black interior.  Everything else – the sunroof, heated seats, 6 disc cd changer – are just icing on the cake at this point.  I immediately reply to the ad and the next morning, I have a response.  I drive out to Petaluma, test drive the car and couldn’t be happier.  Besides running smoothly and feeling immediately at home in it, the car is cosmetically clean – no visible dents or scratches, no stains or rips to the interior.  And it’s within my budget - $4200.  This.  Is.  My.  Car.   

The rest is pretty boring – the next morning I make a three hour trek via BART, Muni, and Golden Gate Transit out to Petaluma.  We chat briefly and whatdayaknow?  She also designs jewelry!  She can be found here and is a member of the Petaluma Craft Mafia.

And hey, look at that…I did manage to incorporate jewelry into this post after all!

***Just something I realized after posting this - after all my dealings with car sellers, the one that had the fairest price, was the most upfront, had the most well maintained vehicle, and ultimately the one I purchased the car from was a woman.  Food for thought, you know?***

 

A(Nother) New Year.

Yes.  I know.  It's been awhile.  Maybe I should send flowers.  Or chocolates.  Maybe a card.  At the very least, an explanation.  And I could tell you all about how December is the worst month.  Ever.  And all the numerous reasons why I shut down physically, emotionally, and creatively during this time.  I could tell you all about how it starts early because my real job is in retail and how totally numb I am to the holiday spirit by the end of November.  I could tell you about what I do - processing and packing and shipping boxes and the gift certificates.  The handwritten, hand addressed, put in the mail non-stop flow of gift certificates, all day, everyday.  The invariable "Happy Holidays," "Merry Christmas" and "Happy New Year" or the "with all my love," "hugs and kisses, "xoxo," "see you next year" wears on one's soul after awhile.  Let's get creative people.  Really.

I could also tell you about my disillusionment - how one time Christmas meant something more than buy! buy! buy! and get! get! get! and stuff! stuff! stuff!  and how it used to be a time about peace and family and good will towards men, not consumerism.

I could also tell you about my grandfather's death and how the anniversary is 11 days before Christmas; the day before my grandmother's birthday.  I could also tell you about how it makes me think of my grandma and her own mortality.  That train of thought leads me to think about my family and how her death will effect an already tenuous and deeply fractured family structure.  I mean, I could tell you all about these things but if I really wanted to bore you with the mundane details of my life, I'd have a LiveJournal account.  But I don't.  So I won't.  But if reading semi-autobiographical fiction is your thing, be on the lookout for my side project, Defining Irony, in the not so near future.

But what does any of this have to do with jewelry?  Nothing, really.  There hasn't been much time (or energy) to create.  But there have been requests.  Requests for custom designs.  Fun.  I hear those words and immediately think of this. 
Custom designs are tricky - it starts out all fun and games then someone inevitably loses an eye.  Or something like that.  The buyer gives a brief and rather vague description of what they want and usually ends the conversation with "but do whatever you like - I trust your aesthetic and dig your style."  Cool.  So I come home and start planning and sketching and designing and I'm totally into it and I love it and I'm so proud and I can't wait to show it to them.  And then...

And then the piece is presented with a flourish, "ta-da!"  So proud, so excited, and it's so...quiet.  Like crickets quiet.  And the chatter starts: "yeah, but I was thinking more like..." or "that's nice, but could we maybe try..." or "oh, i didn't think it would look like that."  So much for my style and aesthetic, right?  But seriously, it's hard not to feel insulted in some way - maybe it's more hurt from an over-inflated ego being crushed.  All that talk about how awesome my work is that someone wants me to make something special just.  for.  them and then bam!  What I did is suddenly not good enough.  But this is really just a worse case scenario.  Thankfully, I haven't actually encountered it.  Yet.  But I still feel it's best for all parties concerned if their eyes light up and they squeal with delight over something I've already made.  But occasionally, I can be persuaded to make something custom.  For the right person.  Or the right price.

And in other news, the light box has been finished. What does this mean for Scarlet & Madrone?  More consistent photos, better quality photos (hopefully), and more listings of beautiful designs for sale here.

Well, hello again.

originally posted 17 November 2010:


Between birthdays and memorial services, there hasn’t been much time to sit down and write about my adventures in jewelry.  But fear not – I’m back and I’ve got plenty of things to tell you.

First off, the etsy shop is finally open.  It’s still pretty bare bones as I’ve been slacking on taking pictures but it’s there and waiting for you to start shopping.  And I’m also learning about writing copy.  This is about as easy as writing a bio or an artist statement or a cover letter.  If you’ve had to do any of these things, then you know what I’m talking about.  Maybe it would be best to enlist someone else for this job…or have a couple drinks beforehand.  Anyway, as well as the Scarlet & Madrone shop open on etsy, it’s also now possible to buy items directly off the Scarlet & Madrone facebook page.  Stoked on that.

Even though it’s been a hectic few weeks, there are some new editions coming soon to the Learning Curve collection.  Lots of copper happening here – bright and shiny copper, antiqued copper, copper chain, copper wire, copper hammered links, copper pearls (well, technically bronze, but close enough).

It’s not the first time I’ve used copper.  I love the way antiqued copper looks paired with ivories, pinks, and other colors often paired with gold.  It lends a vintage appeal to modern items, such as cameos.  I heart cameos – they’re kind of goth-y, kind of vintage-y, and romantic in a Victorian-esque sort of way.  I've designed a couple cameo necklaces so far, but expect to see more in the next collection.

These are one of the newest projects done in copper.  Like it?  So did someone else.  These lovely drops sold within 24 hours of listing.  And they look absolutely gorgeous on their new owner.  But if you MUST have these, contact me and I’ll create another pair just for you.  Expect to see another pair of earrings made of copper in the collection and a couple of necklaces too.

Copper isn't the only thing I've been working with.  Brass will also be included in the collection.  I'm enticed by romance as lockets and keys seem to be a recurring theme for me in this metal, as well as a bohemian vibe evident in the use of large stones like agate and jasper.  I'm excited about it - I have a few ideas and some rough sketches worked out.  Now it’s time to sit down and work.

As long as someone will let me.

Decisions. Decisions.

originally posted 22 October 2010:

Just finished a 12 hour day, the dishes are piling up by the sink, and Dexter is sitting next to his favorite toy, staring me down with big pathetic eyes and pupils so wide, they almost look human.  And all I’ve been thinking about today is this bracelet I want to make.  What is a girl to do?

  

Who am I kidding?  Like there’s even a decision to be made.  We know who always wins out.

Ugh.

originally posted 19 October 2010:

It seemed like a lot of fun.  Design some jewelry and maybe sell some of it and take some pictures and have an excuse to write a little something – all things I like to do.  Score!  Then I started thinking about some of the other details – how am I going to package it?  Do I go eco-friendly or cheap?  Do I get padded envelopes or the set price boxes from the post office?  If I choose small jewelry boxes and padded envelopes, should I stamp the top with something?  Like a pretty little design.  Or a customized stamp with the Scarlet & Madrone logo.  I could get a customized stamp!  Or maybe get boxes pre-stamped with the logo.  Oh!  And can I get an embosser?  Yes.  I want an embosser.  And yes, I’m getting carried away with all the small details and forgetting the larger infrastructure of creating a…well, I’m not really sure what it is yet, but there are other, larger issues at hand before the nitty gritty.  Like setting up a shop to sell some items.  Or maybe even a price list. Or getting a resale license or a business license or something to make this a little more legit.
None of that stuff sounds like any fun.

Start.Up

originally posted 18 October 2010:

“So now what?”
Everyone wants to know what your plans are after college.  But what do you tell them when you don’t have a clue?  Grad school is a good one, or taking more classes at the community college also works well.  I guess everyone just wants to know that you have a plan.  I’ve never been very good at planning.  Instead I decided to adopt a cat.

I brought him home from our local SPCA and stalked him around our studio apartment with the camera.  We had a lot of fun; him wearing ties and onesies, hiding in laundry baskets and purses, and me snapping pictures.  In fact, Dexter the Inspector Fang has his own album on Facebook.  But after awhile, people start asking again: “So now what?”  I guess they don’t see much of a future in photographing your pet.  Plus, I’m kind of starting to look like the crazy cat lady.  I guess another hobby was in order.

I used to write.  A lot.  And then I stopped.  But then I started up again and felt so satisfied and inspired that I even bothered to go to school for it.  And then, in my final semester, I took a class that killed any desire I had to continue to write.  One day I'll come back to it, I always do, but in the meantime, I need a creative outlet.

I'm not sure how it all started, really.  I worked with a girl who made jewelry and sold it off her body during her shifts.  There was a popular necklace in the jewelry case at work that used the same knotting technique I used to make hemp jewelry in high school.  While visiting my grandma up north, she wore a necklace I made for her in middle school.  She mindlessly played with the pendant, telling me about the compliments she still receives when she wears it.  Soon enough, I was looking up local bead shops in SF.

At first, I designed for myself.  I'd see things I liked and decide to make it at home.  Soon, I was trading jewelry for services at work.  After a client stated she would be willing to buy the necklace I was wearing, I figured why not?  Over the summer I worked on designs, learning new techniques and using materials I’d never used before.  This first collection is filled with one of a kind, limited edition items.  I’m excited to see what happens with it.  I’m excited to see what happens after it.  I’m just excited to see it.