BALC – The Big Reveal

 

I am so excited for the final blog hop for our Build a Line Challenge class!  All of the themes are intriguing and creative.  I may be up all night reading the posts.

I have learned (and re-learned) so much on this journey.  Brenda has done an amazing job with the modules.  She challenged us to turn on our thinking caps (mine retired nearly 20 years ago) and to up our game creatively.  The wealth of information shared by other class members is invaluable.

I have been making jewelry for nearly 15 years and, because of this class, I am now thinking of Lynn Leigh Designs as a real business.  Brenda’s modules on branding, social media, customer base, production, scheduling, and business planning made me realize how casual I have been about my business.  I was following the “make it and they will buy it” business model.

 

My five-year plan is under construction.  I have set a business goal for 2016 to establish Lynn Leigh Designs on the internet, with the launch of my website this spring, my Etsy shop, an Instagram account, and a Pinterest page.   I will continue to do craft fairs, but will limit my participation to juried shows where I compete with other artisans and crafters.

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One of my short-term goals included purchasing a new logo.  The amazing Lynda O’Mara took my color palette and designed a beautiful logo. She is also designing my website.  I highly recommend Lynda.  Her website is Lomara Designs.

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Pretty in Pink!

 

My theme for the BALC.  I love pink. I love romantic. I love flowers.  I love feminine. I thought my theme would give me a good base for exploring pink but soon realized that it was probably too broad a theme.  After all, I could have done pink elephants and stayed with my theme.  So, I narrowed my theme to focus on pink flowers. Did I say I love flowers? Unfortunately I am allergic to most flowers.  With jewelry I can have all the pink flowers I want with no sneezes or tears involved.

The Pyramid of Sales

This graphic, originally done by Christine Cravens and updated by Brenda, is one of the most useful tools I have seen for helping develop a line of jewelry.  I printed it and taped to my wall over my desk.  I used the lower three tiers to decide on pieces for my line.

Playing with Ideas

I love the porcelain roses from B’Sue and decided to use them as the feature element in my line. I painted a bunch of components pink, ivory, and green and put them out to play with.  Took lots of photos.  Here are a few.

The “Statement”

Came up with a basic idea for the statement necklace and played with the main components.  My wonderful husband led me through riveting.  Lots of components from B’Sue Boutiques and some from my stash.

 

Riveting done! Playing with embellishments.

Ta-Da – Pretty in Pink!

I finished the necklace with vintage chain and a pretty hummingbird toggle clasp.

The “Sweet Spot”

The main portion of the Pyramid of Sales is the “Sweet Spot.” I created several pieces that fall in this level.

I have really fallen in love with making assemblage cuffs.  This green cuff continues the color theme and the floral theme.

This pendant & earring set continues the pink rose theme and the green background.  I may change the pendant to a brooch/pendant.

This set continues the rose theme with a back piece that is painted pink.  The pearls in the earrings coordinate with the vintage chain.

This necklace also features the porcelain flowers on an antiqued pink base.

The “Base”

The “Base” level of the pyramid focuses on lower priced items.  I have found that earrings, simple bracelets, and pendants can bring the biggest profit margin.

Brooches are really popular now.  The brooch in the large photo is finished.  The others are works in progress.  I think most of them will be convertible to pendants. And I will make earrings to go with each one.

This collage shows the earrings I made to go with the other pieces in the line. The white earrings with the rose cluster and the green leaf earrings both compliment the statement necklace.

This bracelet was an afterthought. It features one of Paula Gaskill’s pretty Polymer clay roses. I changed the color with acrylic paint to more closely match the beads on the vintage chain.

 

The work isn’t finished until the back is finished!

When I was a decorative painter I learned how important it was to finish the back of your pieces.  Crafters were sometimes surprised when I picked up a piece and immediately turned it over.  The same is true for jewelry.  I still haven’t figured out a way to sign my pieces.  I just can’t get the hang of the engraver. That is my next challenge because I know it is important to always sign your work.

Are you done?

I need coffee!

 

I truly hope you enjoyed seeing my collection.  I have plans for other lines.  One will be a rodeo theme, including boot bangles and hat bands for the cowgirls.  Another will be based on cameos.  Another based on lockets.  I can literally picture my booth setup with these lines.  I will include some of my basic jewelry (strung) and woven jewelry in each line.  I can easily convert a simple strung bracelet to a rodeo theme by adding some charms.  And I can use some woven jewelry as color ideas for assemblage jewelry in each line.  I will continue to make One-of-a-Kind jewelry using vintage pieces for my “Yesterday’s Treasures” line.

Curtain Calls!

Standing Ovations!

Brenda Sue Lansdowne deserves a standing ovation and a huge bouquet of flowers for all of her hard work as our teacher and mentor.  Miss Brenda, I am so happy to have found you and look forward to many years of being your friend.  I hope to meet you in person some day.

There are so many talented women in this class.  The intelligent and thought-provoking comments added to the richness of the class.  I am indebted to all of you for sharing your talents and creativity. I am really excited to see the creations of my fellow classmates.

Dang. This feels like saying goodbye on the last day of senior year!  But we are all still together in the Creative Group.  I am so happy to know all of you.

Hugs from my little corner of the world. Please note that I have cleaned it up since this photo was taken.

You can find some of my jewelry in my Etsy shop – Lynn Leigh Designs and my Facebook page – Lynn Leigh Designs.  And very soon on my website – LynnLeighDesigns.com (the old version is still up for now).

A little pink bird told me that if you follow the links below you will see some amazing and wondrous things.

1. Brenda Sue Lansdowne  Jewelry Making Outside the Box

http://www.bsueboutiques.typepad.com/

2. Diana Buynak  –  Butterfly Emporium Ceramic Studio

http://butterflyemporium.indiemade.com/blog

3. Irene Hoffman  – Heartsdezirebyirene

http://heartsdezirebyirene.wordpress.com

4.  Clare Wells Nemeth  – Creative Magick

http://www.craftingmagick.blogspot.com

5.  Mary Reckmeyer –  Afrayedknot

http://www.afrayedknot.net

6.  Marcia Tuzzolino  – Aurora Designs

http://auroradesignsjewelryblog.me

7.  Elizabeth Wilks – Wearable Art by Lizzie

http://wearableartbylizzie.blogspot.com

8.  Jeanette Rose Belmont – One Canvas at a time

http://www.onecanvasatatime.com

9.  Lyn Joy Reeve – A Journey from Jewels to Jubilation

http://lnreeve00.blogspot.com/

10.  Beth Trubman – The Journey of Jewelry

http://thejourneyofjewelry.blogspot.com

11.  Carole Carlson – Beadsophisticate

http://beadsophisticate.wordpress.com/

12.  Jann Tague – Clever Designs by Jann

http://janntague.wordpress.com

13.  Shari Gardner – SLG Jewelry Designs

http://slgdesigns.wordpress.com/

14.  Susan Bolton – Fern’s Place

http://www.fernsplace.org

15.  Chris Kemp – NoodlePie Bracelets

http://noodlepiebracelets.com/

16.  Susan Bowerman – Woodside WireWorks

http://www.woodsidewireworks.com/

17.  Pamela Anger – Novegatti Designs

http://novegattidesigns.blogspot.com/

18.  Joan Donovan – Hailey’s Cottage

http://haileyscottage.com/

19.  Alison Huie – Ally’s Baubles

http://www.allysbaubles.blogspot.com/

20.  Sharon Palac – Sharon’s Jewelry Garden

http://www.sharonsjewelrygarden.blogspot.com/

21.  Erica Olmos – Beeb’s Closet

https://beebscloset.wordpress.com/

22.  Erin Whitacre – Shattered Time Jewelry

https://shatteredtimejewelry.wordpress.com/

23.  Fran Sitton – Sitton Up Front

https://sittonupfront.wordpress.com/

24.  Ginger Hammond – Lynn Leigh Designs – YOU ARE HERE!

https://lynnleighdesigns.wordpress.com/

25.  Paula Gaskill – Lovely LaylaBug Jewels

http://www.lovelylaylabugjewels.com/Blog.php 

26.  Mary Katherine – The Rose Sword

http://theroseswordmdeis.blogspot.com/ 

27.  Renee Webb Allen – Small Stuff Design

http://smallstuffdesign.com

28.  Valerie Tilghman- ArtJewelsandGifts

http://artjewelzdimensions.blogspot.com/

29.  Chris Cravens Vintage Cravens

http://christinecravens.blogspot.com/

30.  Leslie Carver

http://www.adorndivinedesigns.blogspot.com/

31.  Donna Parry, JewelryDonna

http://jewelrydonna.typepad.com/

32.  Gina-Marie Hammer – Tangles, Twists and Treasures
http://tanglestwistsandtreasures.com/blog/

33.  Kelly Wymer  Winged Wisdom Enchantments

https://wingedwisdomenchantments.wordpress.com/