Well the topaz beats any wire wrap that I ever did but how was it intended to be worn? Shell cameos took a dive when molded plastic was started to be used. I had so much invested in 'rough' that I felt I had to get a high price. OF course there were mistakes made by me so I would turn over lessor work to be sold on consignment in a shop run by friends. ~gdBritesea said:
I'm thinking of dabbling in the farmers market next year.
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Britesea
Sustainability Master
The topaz is a pendant- I incorporated the bale into the entire design rather than it being a sort of "afterthought" as so many bales are.
I never found that shell cameos lost their appeal-- as long as I used good quality ones. (The ones in the bracelet were lower quality because this was a prototype)
I never found that shell cameos lost their appeal-- as long as I used good quality ones. (The ones in the bracelet were lower quality because this was a prototype)
If I had a $ got each time I had shown customers how to tell shell from molded plastic I would buy that topaz.I once visited a carving school in Naples Italy and the Master had 9 students copying his work they each were expected to produce 20 copies per hour and the ones that failed to produce were used to prepare blanks out of the raw shell. To this day if I see a cameo I am interested in buying ,i ask the seller if I can test it. IFthey say NO i walk away. If he says TES I don;t bother to test it because we both know he has the real thing. ~gdBritesea said:
Daffodils At The Sea
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Wow, I wasn't getting notified in my email of all this, that's a shame.
Ninny, I guess what I'm saying is that by the time anybody gets to the farmer's market 95% of the work is done. What it took to get something that ends up at the market is not what it's like to sell at the market. Selling is really a small, small part of what has to happen, yet selling takes a real social appeal to people so they won't feel like you are greedy for money, or weary and don't care about them. It's funny why people spend money one place and not somewhere else. There is a huge commitment of money, time, and the psychological determination to stick with it before you even get that far. I would not recommend it.
Most people are trying to eat more vegetables, but they really don't. They don't like them much better than they did before they were told they have to eat more vegetables, so there's a lot of talk and not a lot of action. Most people ask me, "Where's the fruit?" And even then they want things like papayas, bananas, vegetables out of season, things that just aren't grown locally.
As far as if I like it, it used to be special and fun 8 years ago when it was more unusual. People made an effort to come and participate. Now they pretty much take it for granted that the stuff will be somewhere, they don't have to be loyal to any one farmer on any one day at any one place. I've now got a pretty good clientele who come back repeatedly but that took years of working with them, waiting on them, anticipating what they wanted and having it ready for them when they arrived. The customer is *always* right!! But there's a lot of pressure from competition to get them away, and I know if other sources are easier or cheaper they won't come back. There are even commentaries on the local radio station where farmers are getting fed up with how things are going for all the reasons I've stated before.
I'm committed to the land, which I love very much (and that has a lot to do with it, I often feel the land is my partner), 90 fruit trees, 2000 feet of blackberry vines, 500 feet of grape vines, 300 feet of blueberries, 600 feet of strawberries, thousands of dollars in sheds, irrigation equipment, solar power with generator backup for refrigerators, water pumps, fencing, pickup trucks, and all the market canopies and containers, etc., so I don't feel like I have a choice. I probably ask myself once a month whether it's worth it, how else could I do this, what other options are there.
I come from a family of farmers, I prefer working with plants. I like to be outside, weather doesn't bother me that much, although it doesn't snow here, thank heaven. That would probably do me in. I like to cook, so I don't stop at just growing the food. I am used to a rural life with bugs, animals, rodents, mud and dirt everywhere, bites, and stings.
In fact, I just got bit by a garter snake over the weekend. He was up on the 4th shelf of some transplants I was watering, and when i reached back to pull a 6-pack forward I felt as if I'd been poked by a pine needle, and when I brought the 6-pack out where I could see it, there he was staring at me like I had violated every possible rule in his world. Didn't amount to anything, luckily, but there's always something like that happening.
Things look cute and tidy at the market. It's not a cute and tidy life getting them there.
Britesea, how pretty! Very nice pieces! You wrapped that wire and made those settings for the cameos? Beautiful!
Ninny, I guess what I'm saying is that by the time anybody gets to the farmer's market 95% of the work is done. What it took to get something that ends up at the market is not what it's like to sell at the market. Selling is really a small, small part of what has to happen, yet selling takes a real social appeal to people so they won't feel like you are greedy for money, or weary and don't care about them. It's funny why people spend money one place and not somewhere else. There is a huge commitment of money, time, and the psychological determination to stick with it before you even get that far. I would not recommend it.
Most people are trying to eat more vegetables, but they really don't. They don't like them much better than they did before they were told they have to eat more vegetables, so there's a lot of talk and not a lot of action. Most people ask me, "Where's the fruit?" And even then they want things like papayas, bananas, vegetables out of season, things that just aren't grown locally.
As far as if I like it, it used to be special and fun 8 years ago when it was more unusual. People made an effort to come and participate. Now they pretty much take it for granted that the stuff will be somewhere, they don't have to be loyal to any one farmer on any one day at any one place. I've now got a pretty good clientele who come back repeatedly but that took years of working with them, waiting on them, anticipating what they wanted and having it ready for them when they arrived. The customer is *always* right!! But there's a lot of pressure from competition to get them away, and I know if other sources are easier or cheaper they won't come back. There are even commentaries on the local radio station where farmers are getting fed up with how things are going for all the reasons I've stated before.
I'm committed to the land, which I love very much (and that has a lot to do with it, I often feel the land is my partner), 90 fruit trees, 2000 feet of blackberry vines, 500 feet of grape vines, 300 feet of blueberries, 600 feet of strawberries, thousands of dollars in sheds, irrigation equipment, solar power with generator backup for refrigerators, water pumps, fencing, pickup trucks, and all the market canopies and containers, etc., so I don't feel like I have a choice. I probably ask myself once a month whether it's worth it, how else could I do this, what other options are there.
I come from a family of farmers, I prefer working with plants. I like to be outside, weather doesn't bother me that much, although it doesn't snow here, thank heaven. That would probably do me in. I like to cook, so I don't stop at just growing the food. I am used to a rural life with bugs, animals, rodents, mud and dirt everywhere, bites, and stings.
In fact, I just got bit by a garter snake over the weekend. He was up on the 4th shelf of some transplants I was watering, and when i reached back to pull a 6-pack forward I felt as if I'd been poked by a pine needle, and when I brought the 6-pack out where I could see it, there he was staring at me like I had violated every possible rule in his world. Didn't amount to anything, luckily, but there's always something like that happening.
Things look cute and tidy at the market. It's not a cute and tidy life getting them there.
Britesea, how pretty! Very nice pieces! You wrapped that wire and made those settings for the cameos? Beautiful!
so lucky
Almost Self-Reliant
Great post, Daffodil. You appear to be the right mix of pragmatic and idealist to be able to make it work. Most of us are not brave enough to put all our eggs in a basket that we know we don't have ultimate control over. You have my admiration. 
Daffodils At The Sea
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so lucky, thanks, nice of you to say 
Britesea
Sustainability Master
Thank you Daffodil, I really loved working on the jewelry, and designing new pieces. Like you, there were days when I wondered WHY I was doing this, but then someone would fall in love with a ring or something and then everything was right again. I would still be doing it, but I just couldn't afford to keep trying when sales dropped through the floor. Part of the problem was where I live- I think there are more completely broke but absolutely amazing artists per capita in Oregon than any other state of the union 
but part of it was also that, like a lot of artists, I haven't got the sales ability of a turtle. When you throw in a lousy economy... well, that was the last straw.
You need to be a good salesperson to sell veggies and fruits too, because frankly, one cucumber looks very much like another; and neither one is gonna disappear in a puff of magical smoke, leaving a little pile of money behind.
but part of it was also that, like a lot of artists, I haven't got the sales ability of a turtle. When you throw in a lousy economy... well, that was the last straw.You need to be a good salesperson to sell veggies and fruits too, because frankly, one cucumber looks very much like another; and neither one is gonna disappear in a puff of magical smoke, leaving a little pile of money behind.
Denim Deb
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Darn and here I was hoping they would! 
baymule
Sustainability Master
Have you thought about a CSA? Then instead of being set up all day every weekend, competing with your fellow farmers, you would be custom growing for a select list of customers. Start small and let it grow. If you are not afraid to "cold call" which means walking into a business and asking if anyone would be interested in fresh vegetables, that might be a way to get your customer list started. Or you could advertise in the local paper, tell friends, tell your church. I always found standing in line at the grocery store, Wal Mart, Dr's office or anywhere you have to wait--provides you with a captive audience. They can't leave, so they have to listen to you rattle on and on about your farm and CSA.
