Blog Moved

My blog has moved. Come visit my new blog at:

http://beadedbaubles.wordpress.com

Blizzard!

It is cold and yucky and starting to snow. I thought Spring was here! The weatherman says we are in for a blizzard that will rage from 1 PM today through 7PM tomorrow night. 

Weather like this can be very depressing or occasionally inspiring. Who hasn't looked out at softly falling snow and enjoyed the beauty of the snowflakes? 

On one one such day during the winter months I designed the bead weaving pattern called snowflakes. Here is a bracelet made in the snowflake pattern. I chose the red color to cheer up the dark dreary days of winter as well as to contrast with the white snowflakes. 

Do colors influence your mood?

How Much to Charge?

Making jewelry is fun but selling it is a different kettle of fish all together. Figuring out a system of pricing is tricky. How much is too much? What is a fair wage for your time? How do you figure in overhead, packaging, tools, etc. There are many formulas that jewelry designers use. 

There is a very nice price calculator developed by Eni Oken for Microsoft Exel users. You can purchase it here: http://www.enioken.com/jewelry/pricecalc.html

One factor to consider is your market. If you live in a major city you have many more options than you do if you live in a rural area as I do. In a city, selling a necklace for $200-$300 might be very reasonable but in the rural areas $50-$60 is about as much as people are willing to spend.

My formula is 2.5 x materials plus labor. You determine how much your time is worth and add that, per hour, to the materials cost. Some artists just multiply materials by 3, 4, or 5 times and figure the labor will be covered. Whatever formula you use, be consistent so that your prices won't fluctuate wildly. 

I must admit that I still struggle with pricing. It is my least favorite part of selling jewelry.