Box of Mysterious Metal Goodness

Those that know me are well aware that I welcome donations of usable bits and pieces, especially metals, and especially things such as small cogs and gears - and that those who provide me with materials will at some point karmically receive a piece of Rebejoo shininess in return. So, when I was given a mysterious box (with a 'Do Not Open' label no less), what could I do but look inside?

Yeah, right

Ooh, look, a thing - let's get it out of the box.

Yup, definitely a thing - it's got a dial and a plunger bit and it's most certainly broken. I like it. What is it?

According to James who donated the spiffy item, it's a 'Z-axis setter' i.e. a gauge for setting up a lathe/mill and it had lost an argument with a large drillbit. From my POV, if it's got a dial, it'll have gears and the like, so time to break out the tools and dissect it...

The insides of the thing.

Well, that was fun - I now have some little brassy cogs, a spring, various tiny bits of indeterminate function, some dial-faces and some rather nicely machined bits of steel. Hmmm.... what to make with them? Well, I'm looking at working towards brooches etc with moving parts (i.e. cogs you can turn, that kind of thing) and eventually automata (yup, I'm feeling ambitious). However, before I do that, I did promise to make something for James - well actually his girlfriend Charlotte as he doesn't wear jewellery...

A pendant made out of some of my exisiting jewellery parts plus some bits of the thing.

It's quite dainty and shiny (I did enquire and chunky jewellery is a no-go) so hopefully it'll be luvved and worn. That did leave me with some other bits and a twitchy hammer-arm...

Steampunky pendant goodness!

Yup, back in the steampunk zone for this one - and the first step towards the moving jewellery I mentioned. Although you can't tell from the photo, the pendant has pivot-points hidden behind the cogs so it can be compressed or extended, while the springs bring it back to shape when released. Oh yes. I hope to work on more of these - this one is however staying with me and my steampunk outfit :) More soon...

A Touch of Rebejoo

There are lots of us making arts and crafts out there - and lots of opportunities to meet and chat about materials, techniques and creative ideas (at least that's how it feels to me), but less about the thornier topic of 'going pro' - making money from what we do. There are some excellent bits of advice if you look for them (like here) which I have found mooooost useful, along with hints and tips from fellow makers. So, with this in mind, I thought I'd share a few musings as I add 'selling via shops' to sales online and face-to-face (stalls etc).

Bishopstoke is a village-in-a-town and after having a stall at this excellent craft fair featuring local makers and organisers, it seemed right to try to sell through a local business. The question was 'where?' However, Rachel (one of the landladies in my local pub) had a fine suggestion - a nearby beauty salon had a large gift shop and might be interested in selling my shiny wares. As manicures, spa treatments and so on do not form a large part of my life, I hadn't even registered that the premises existed. So, newly informed, I took some items along to 'Touch' in Bishopstoke and after a natter or three with the owner, Abbie, I now have a small selection of Rebejoo goodies on sale.

Rebejoo shinies on sale in 'Touch'

So, why am I writing about this, apart from proclaiming 'yay!' at getting my first batch of pieces into a shop? Well, as this was being discussed, all sorts of little things popped up that I hadn't thought of before, mainly from Abbie who (unlike me) is a full-time retailer:

• How much do I want to earn from each piece? This isn't the same as the list price as the shop will obviously need some income too. So, there needs to be some careful admin - numbered items and a list to the shop-owner including my required earnings plus an 'RRP'. I'm perfectly happy with sale-or-return so no problem there.

• How should they be displayed? I really hadn't thought about this (despite having done so for my craft stall) and had to quickly come up with something - reworked tags (so the shop could add price labels to them, each numbered to keep track of sales), neater ear-ring cards, pendants all pre-strung, a new facebook album for items being sold elsewhere, and a sign explaining what I make, my locally handmade and recycled/reused ethos etc.

• How to compete against cheap mass-produced-and-imported tat from Primark etc. This can be difficult - Abbie is interested in encouraging more local makers and hand-made goods, but has trouble selling items that are seen as 'expensive'. So, pieces were selected that were a little bit different but still within her customers' stylistic comfort zone - though there has already been one enquiry about more 'gothy' items as gifts for teenagers, so this could change. Much is made of the fact that each piece is unique - a one-off, so no chance of bumping into anyone else wearing it! And lastly, for now, I selected from the more affordable end of my range - as the more expensive pieces are also the more unusual and elaborate, this was pretty straightforward.

Overall, nothing especially challenging, but lots of little things that needed to be considered, and a chunk of extra time to be put aside. However it is also another nugget of experience in going pro, and well worth it - it's currently a small selection in one shop but still most satisfying and a very pleasing starting point. Now, I do believe there's a tattoo & piercing shop in Eastleigh...

And here it is - 'Touch' Health & Beauty where my jewellery awaits...

Craft Fair Number One

Rebejoo may still be young, but Christmas is coming (it's December so I'm now ready to acknowledge it) and yesterday - after a bit of umming-and-ahing on my part - was my first ever craft fair as a seller. It was also the first organised by local maker 'Queenie', along with a 'pop-up pub' courtesy of the Hampshire-based Hog 'n' Hops (which includes a brewer from the rightly famous Flowerpots), making it the wonderfully tempting 'Christmas Craft & Ale Fair'. I really had to go - and it was all of about a minute's walk from my house - it doesn't get much more local than that...

It being new an' all, I really didn't have much of an idea bout how popular it would be - would people turn up? If so, would they buy things? Much excitement, some trepidation. However, it didn't take long for punters to start appearing - and buying - and I think this was in large part due to some seriously good advertising by Queenie and her many festive elves - banners around the area, posters in pubs and shops, well-designed (by Duncan Wilson) cards through doors rather than badly photocopied fliers, plus some major social networking effort. Also, it was great to see a fair populated by genuine local craftspeople - as well as jewellery, there was graphic design (cards and posters), fabrics and cakes, among other things, but no tat shipped around the world to be resold, and all the stallholders live nearby. Bishopstoke may have been engulfed by Eastleigh in many ways, but it's still got a lot of village in it.

My first craft fair stall, ready to go! Includes honey made by Paul who lives just round the corner and kindly lent me the table. All the honey went...

Once things got going, it was fascinating to see which items people liked - I've recently started making ear-rings and these were very popular. That wasn't too surprising - I think they are pretty (OK, I know, I'm biased) and they make small, affordable gifts - plus I can make them at the stall. What I found more surprising was the popularity of stick-pins - I'd been making them to see how they came out, and was pleased with them, but I hadn't thought many people still wore them. Apparently I was wrong! I did think the cloth gift-bags would be really popular - a few went, but not so many, though my dad has now got the checked one in the photo - as a replacement bag for Scrabble tiles.

Stick-pins on their stand (which used to be a VHS cassette reel)

The steampunk pendants and brooches got a lot of attention (and some are off to new homes), and although the style is not what everyone might want to wear, it's something I'm going to keep on making - when the right people come along, they do seem to love them, and they keep challenging my creativity and metal-working skills, which has got to be good.

So, a great day - not just in terms of selling my shiny wares (more than I bought from other stalls, hurrah), but also socially. I bumped into an old school friend I haven't seen in a decade who it turns out lives mere minutes away, met some excellent local crafters (lots of mutual facebook liking followed!) and had a great celebratory (beer, rum, hic) time at the pop-up pub that the fair was transformed into for the evening, complete with the band Scallywag who were splendidly entertaining and re-formed for the event from what I gather. It went well from Queenie's POV too, so I hope that it's just the first of many - I fully intend to be there...

More of the stall - I'm gonna need a bigger board...