Meet me in August at these locations

August brings some really exciting events. First off is a very meaningful one for animals in need of adoption and the kind people who take care of them in the interim. 

Event: Fundraiser for Forgotten Friends of Long Island

Date: August 18, 2012 (rain date: Aug 19)
Time: 10am - 5pm
Location: Organic Farm - Garden of Eve
4558 Sound Ave, Riverhead, New York 11901
(At the intersection of Sound Ave and Rt 83/Northville Tpk)

Forgotten Friends of Long Island was established in the spring of 2008 as a rescue organization that would help the neediest animals in our municipal shelters. Their mission statement was to reflect the belief that all lives should never be forgotten. The folks at the organization decided to rescue the animal that was continuously overlooked by others or the one in need of medical care. They constantly host adoption events. Check out their website here.

Garden of Eve kindly offers their space for this coming fundraiser. For more info regarding the organic produce, click here.

For this special event, proceeds of all vendors' sales will help support the organization and their efforts. Bunnies Can Dream and Harlequin&Lionhead will be donating 20% of all sales. I will also have (very) limited quantity of these lovely animal silhouette pendants available at my booth.

These little pendants are all about 3/4 of an inch tall or less, made in brass with satin polish, hung on a delicate plated ball chain of 16 inches long. Do you see your favorite animals here?

My other portfolio

It has been awhile since I post something here. I have been very busy with Harlequin&Lionhead this year, I don't think I have given enough love for Bunnies Can Dream recently. But then again, I am a busy bun dreaming big dreams. I thought I'll share a little milestone here with you.

I have recently put together a set of samples of Harlequin&Lionhead to be circulated with a company. Here are some shots of it and a quick note on how you can do it for your own line easily, if you have not already.

Case

If you are in New York, visit Midtown Display on 30th Street between Broadway and 5th Ave. They sell some nice portfolio cases for jewelers there. I bought the bigger ones. One for each of my collections.

The problem is that there is no card slot on the front. So I just print a tag containing my brand, my website, email and phone number, and use a super wide packing tape trimmed nicely to seal it on top and stick it to the cover. It is good to have all your info there because if a buyer or a shop owner lost your card, they can simply find your info on your portfolio. And if (touch wood) you lost your portfolio in a public area, some nice person can also call you to return it. 

And then of course, I put down the name of the collection and mark it as "Samples" on the front.

Inside the portfolio there are space on the left for chain necklaces with straps to keep everything in place. My pendants are pretty big so I use u-pins to keep them tightly stuck so it doesn't swing around scratching each other. On the right there are 2 rows for studs, and 4 ring pillow straps which I love because my rings are too big for usual slots. At the bottom there are also spaces for chain bracelets. But for my rose bangles, I simple use the faux leather clasps for chains on the left, snap them off and hook around the elastics on the bottom right through the bangles. It keeps the big bangles tight in place. (see top image)

Reference tags

What is key is that you have a little label for each piece. I included my line sheet with the samples but you can never assume the buyer will have your line sheet handy when reviewing your samples. What if they pass the portfolio to someone else in the office? Or worse still, what if one of your pieces is separated from the portfolio on someone's desk? How do you expect them to remember this is yours (of course they should if you have an unique style, but they could be reviewing a ton of stuff everyday). 

Even if they do have everything in one place, help them refer the piece easily to the line sheet by quoting the sku number and item name. I also included a small note if one of the variations I listed in the line sheet is not among the samples I sent them. So they will not be confused - "where is that 2-tone plated version in black and rose gold? I only see one color here...oh wait, ok it is not available right now. Got it."

And as I said, include your contact on the tag. How do you get these tags done cheaply and quickly? Print everything at home! 

I got nice textured paper from Paper Presentation on 18th Street between 5th and 6th Ave. I type everything out (or rather, copied from my line sheet) onto a word doc, set the column wide to 1.5 inch and do 2-3 columns on one sheet. Print it out from my inkjet printer. Putting the other side of the text on the tag is easy. Get a inkjet printable label sheet instead of trying to line things up on word. 

Cut everything up quickly with a paper cutting board (you can get it cheaply there or at any art supplies store), use a small size paper hole puncher (which I also use for earring cards) and...Voila! Done in no time. Loop through about 6-in long string per tag, and tie a knot.  The tags can go around any jewelry easily.

Line Sheet

I put everything in a nice folder. Card, line sheet and bio. Get the folder from Paper Presentation as well. Many colors to choose from. I use the same textured paper from Paper Presentation I used for the tags for the cover as well, to give it a bit of charm and consistency. And the same paper is used for the business card. I print everything in small amount on my inkjet. Of course, you can always print business cards easily with Vista Print or Moo. But I like mine with embossing. Get embossing powder in different color or even metallic from Paper Presentation or Michael's cheaply and get a heat gun while you are there. You'll never run out of the powder and the heat gun is great for plastic shrink wrapping and many other craft purposes. 

Keep your line sheet simple - pictures on white or black or gray background, no texture. 1-2 images max. per design. Put all color variations on one shot if possible. 1-2 lines of product spec (no fancy write up, just dimension, materials...etc), and wholesale price point (no sales tax needed for wholesale!) If you have specific terms and conditions, include it. And remember to include an order form with fields for the customer's contact info and tax ID! 

Make sure you create simple enough SKU numbers. Never too ridiculously long, or you and your customers will have a hard time referring to it.

Hold it all together in one place

Last but not least, if you are leaving it with a company, make sure to find a good bag for your portfolio and line sheet to sit together.

I have not printed my own bags, so I got a white shopping bag, and print out labels of my brand, with my contact info, and stick the labels on both sides of the bag. And I stapled a card on the bag with the buyer's name and contact, and my info on the bag. So if any chance the whole thing got circulated around their office, it will go back to my contact person.

One set done. A couple sets to go and I am ready to venture out and talk to more people. Sell sell sell!!!

"Whirls" Collection

"Whirls" Collection
The “Whirls” Collection is launched in Bunnies Can Dream as a crossover line to Debbie’s other jewelry brand, Harlequin&Lionhead. The polymer clay version is featured at Bunnies Can Dream, while the metal version will be available at Harlequin&Lionhead on Nov 1.

The “Whirls” Collection showcases clusters of organic shapes that are perceived differently by different people. It could be interpreted as feathers, flowers, leaves or even coral pieces. It is edgy but with a subtle sensitivity. Each piece is handmade by Debbie in New York and not produced in mould, so they are one-of-a-kind with its own personality.

The clay pieces are made of polymer clay, heated to harden, and treated with layers of gloss and matt protective finishing to create different textures and increase durability.

Check out the details of each piece at Bunnies Can Dream on Etsy here.

Polymer Clay experiment

If you have read my earlier post about my new polymer clay project, you will know that I started working on this interesting material to create a new line for the shop featuring feather looking pendants. Well, I have decided not only it will be feathers, it will be flowers too.

Last time I worked with Sculpey III, which apparently is not the best medium for me to work with this specific technique. In addition to the green color, the whole thing looked a little like grass. So this time, I have switched to Fimo Soft and I went with white. I was able to create more delicate looking feathers despite the thickness of each piece actually went up in double, and they attach to each other a little better as well. The white color with gloss varnishing makes the piece looks like porcelain.

So I used my old pieces to test coloring options. I can always mix clays to create the right color or even swirls of colors. But I though I'll see how the technique of applying gold foil and paint looks like.

The above shown are all made of the green Sculpey III clay, starting from R to L, original, gold foil and gold paint. None of them really worked. I also tried using sponge to apply the gold color and it just looks a little too "painted" like. I think the best way is probably to use colored clay, or to mix color paint in a white or light color clay.

After the white line I'll try the black color clay - it's X'mas after all, Angles won't mind white or black.  Maybe come spring, I can introduce a pastel color line of flowers. We'll see.

To look at more of the white clay experiment and different shapes to come in the shop, click HERE to my other blog. The white clay versions will be at my Bunnies Can Dream shop, and the metal versions in ring form will be at Harlequin&Lionhead shop.

New Experiment - Polymer Clay

Very unlike me, I'm uploading a B/W picture because the polymer clay I have at home is only green. And the color distorted the shape into a totally different view. Here in grey you can see what I want to achieve. I want to create a feather cluster piece with a heavy texture that is not feather-light.

Earlier in Manhattan at the Met museum, there was an Alexander McQueen show which you are probably aware of. His show is called Savage Beauty and you can get the collection of pieces shown in a book with the same title. One of the show pieces is called the Horn of Plenty, which is made of black duck feather.

I was very inspired at the show and I have been thinking of ways to execute a ring in metal that would look like feathers forming a shape, without being the traditional wing-shaped rings that you can easily find in the market, looking like a biker ring. Not that I have any issue with biker rings. I love them but it is just not the right type of rings for Harlequin&Lionhead, nor Bunnies Can Dream.

As I am venturing with sheet wax trying to recreate the look in metal for Harlequin&Lionhead, I discovered a different way of doing it for Bunnies Can Dream. And that's why I have made the strange feather looking piece at the top. It's is bits of polymer clay pieced together and because of the material, is obviously quite fragile and won't be fit to wear as a ring. I don't believe in jewelry that you cannot wear everyday. Unless, it is just an art piece for runway show.

So I think I may make it into a necklace instead so it will not easily bump into things and get damaged. I am imagining a white and a black version. What do you think?

And if this first attempt turns out great, I may just do a series featuring more Mcqueen inspired items. Like a piece that celebrate this dress, Voss. It is made of razor-clam shells.

Never say enough to bibs!

Macrame Hoop Bib Necklace series just got 2 new additions. The above is a color combination made specifically for the coming fall. It is an umbrae of salmon, pumkin, mustard and shell, dressed in copper tone hardware. Not only is it durable (clon threads are water and tear proof), they goes with so many beautiful colors for this coming season.

The one below is called Sunshine. Obviously because of the sunny colors of teal, mandarin and gold. And slightly different from the other bib necklace, this one features wooden wedges adding a 3D spotlight to your neckline. Add a pop of colors in your darkening wardrobe of the fall/winter.

For more of my jewelry, visit my store Bunnies Can Dream at http://nikisha.etsy.com/

Harlequin&Lionhead - New collection update

Sneak preview is available now! Click on the picture to find it out more ;)

Meteor - Newest Earrings and Necklace Collection

Meteor - Newest Earrings and Necklace Collection, a set on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
This series is called the "Meteor". It is actually a Swarovski crystal cube and a tail of sequins, each piece of sequins is separated by a silver colored bead. There are earrings and necklaces in 4 colors.

The earrings are made with sterling silver hooks so they are hypoallergenic. The crystal square cube is about 1/4 inch tall, the sequin portion is about 3/4 inch long, followed by a tail of sterling silver snake chain in about 1 inch long. So the whole earrings hangs about 2.625 inches long.

The necklaces are made with silver plated nylon coated steel wires. It's durable and flexible, and it looks elegant and contemporary. The section of crystals and sequins is about 1.5 inches long. The necklace measures 18 inches long and ends with a pair of snap clasps.

The 4 colors are light teal, dark teal, dark purple and light pink. You can mix up the colors or wear them as a set.

For details, please visit nikisha.etsy.com