Often, as artists and creators, we find ourselves working in colors that are visually appealing to us. But not everyone sees through the same eyes. I read some recent chatter about folks who create primarily in certain colors. So I’ve put together some interesting facts and resources about choosing colors.
An excellent free resource is “ColourLovers” It is an interactive site that allows you to make your own color combinations and add it to a huge database of other users color combinations. You can see what color combinations other people find appealing. I guarantee that you will come across some combinations that you would never put together. They say that color reflects a “mood” or state of mind and that it can evoke certain feelings when viewed. Perhaps, as artists, we should consider that when creating.
Colors are associated with feelings and emotions. Below is a list gathered from several resources matching colors with emotions
blues - calming, restful
creams - calming, restful
yellows - happiness, creativity
oranges - excitement
reds - passion, excitement
greens - peacefulness, nature, imagination
purples - deeper shades associated with depression
black - anger, fear
browns/neutrals - sadness
pink - pale tones are calming, brighter tones more exciting
I wasn’t able to find research on it, but would be curious to know is “Are the artists color choices in creating, a reflection of their own state of mind when creating”
And now I would like for you to take an introspective moment and think about the colors you most use in your artwork and see if there is any correlation between those colors and your state of mind.
A little bit about Jim. He is a retired Paramedic (22 years in the business end of an ambulance) Trying to devote more time to his shop. Jim says "Before I retired I learned on every call as everyone was different and the same applies to my woodworking where I also learn a few lessons daily as every piece of wood is also different."
Nearly all of his material comes from trees that were removed for various reasons and very little is bought commercially. Between a chainsaw, saw mill and a band saw he produces the majority of his material.
Some of the items he creates are Pens, Barrets, Jewelry Boxes, Signs, towel holders, peppermills, tealights,
Perfume pens and Weaving tools.
Please watch the slide show of the amazing progression of my perfume pen.
A new Guild has formed on ArtFire. Still in it's infancy, JEWELRY CREATORS UNITE IN NUMBERS is growing at a fast pace. This guild uses the numbers of jewelry makers to help each other in promoting and improving, in hopes to increase sales amongst members.
The Guilds Mission is to use the sheer number of jewelry makers to help promote each other to increase sales amongst members. It is mandatory for each member to create a collection featuring guild members and a blog post with at least 5 links to members items, monthly. Our Guildmaster is Yini from Redrubyonfire.
JEWELRY CREATORS UNITE IN NUMBERS is an International Guild and Welcomes anyone willing to abide by the Guild guidelines. Check out this Collection curated by one of our members.
I try, as often as possible, to purchase handmade items. Being a handcrafter myself with Pink Sunset Jewelry Designs, I understand the reasons for buying handmade and the quality and love that goes into creating handmade items. Handmade items are usually born of a love and enjoyment for actually making the items. Selling them is a secondary outcome. I know in my case, I started amassing all this jewelry I was making. I mean, I couldn't wear it all. You feel that love when you buy handmade. Yes, times are hard and I'm sure we could all find things "cheaper" made in a third world sweatshop. Which brings me to another point. When I am in a commercial store, browsing at jewelry, I am saddened at the low prices, not for my fear of competition, but because I know the time and work that goes into making that jewelry. 99% of jewelry cannot be machine made. So someone had to put it together.
Buying handmade also promotes the "little guy" and the struggling Artist. There are so many talented Artisans. We want folks to enjoy our talents and crafts. I have a shop on Artfire. I chose it for it's committment to handmade and the true sense of community. You can purchase just about anything handmade there. From jewelry to home decor to fine art. From clothing to stationary to candy to bath. The items are endless.
Here's a collection of party items, all handmade. No need to shop at a commercial party supply store. You can get handcrafted customized party supplies on Artfire. Click on the View This Collection button to see more.
I buy alot of handmade items online. I have to admit that I have made some observations about how I percieve the product and it's crafter from the moment I open the wrapper. I have opened things that were wrapped in a piece of newspaper and thought wow, haphazard with not much care or attention to the product. Then I have opened packages with cute and cohesive packaging. Little boxes or organza bags decorated with a ribbon, handmade labels, thank you notes and business cards, invoices, etc. When I recieve the latter, it leaves me with the impression that the seller takes great time and care while processing their orders. I can infer from this that they do the same while crafting their product.
This got me to thinking about what first impression my items give the buyer when they recieve it.
Currently, I include:
*The product, usually in an organza bag or plain jewelry box *the invoice (I usually include a handwritten thank you) *a couple of business cards *a postcard with a discount code for the next purchase *a beaded jewelry care sheet
All of the above is wrapped in tissue then bubble wrap and either sent in a bubblewrap envelope or flat rate box, depending on what the customer chooses.
My goals for future orders are to make stickers to attach to the boxes, tags to hang from the organza bags and small notecards for the personal thank yous. I think I may add pillow boxes for my packaging.
I'm going to try to apply my brand to all of them.
How do you package and ship your items? What do you include?
One of the most versatile off-loom beadweaving stitches is the Peyote Stitch or Gourd Stitch. Many cultures around the world have used peyote stitch in their beadwork. Examples of peyote stitch have been found in artifacts from Ancient Egypt, and the stitch has also been used in historic and contemporary Native American beadwork. The name "peyote stitch" derives from the use of this stitch to decorate objects used in peyote ceremonies by members of the Native American Church. The name "gourd stitch" similarly derives from the use of the stitch in decorating gourd containers. There are many applications for using this off-loom weaving technique. You can see by the following photos how peyote stitch can be applied with very different results.
Tubular Peyote can be used to make bracelets and necklaces. In this "tube" of beads, I used 16 gauge wire as its base to give it a bangle shape.
Flat Peyote Stitch -Almost any image can be adapted using this variation you can print peyote stitch graph paper here
Peyote Stitch is geometrically friendly. This stitch can be used to make just about any shape. From circles to octogon and even three dimensional pieces like the ones below.
Peyote Stitch can also be used to create a "beaded bezel" for cabachons like this one that I did around a redline marble cabachon.
Some Peyote projects are very structured like this bottle. This is traditionally what peyote stictch was used for, to cover objects.
And lastly, this is my favorite form of peyote stitch. It is freeform peyote. Usually done with different color and size beads, there is no pattern, no structure. You just start beading and let your imagination run.
So, just how do you do the Peyote Stitch? Well here is a basic illustration for flat peyote
You can find many tutorials on YouTube regarding tubular peyote techniques.
When it comes to using social media marketing to build your business, the worst action is no action, and your biggest problem is being invisible, not being talked about negatively. As long as you're part of the conversation on the social Web, you can hear what's being said about you and massage negative perceptions about your business. But if no one is talking about you, you have no chance for growth. That means you need to get involved on the social Web as soon as possible, not only to capitalize on the opportunities that it presents to your business, but also to develop and protect your reputation.
It's a good idea to start with a plan that has goals and an organizing framework to keep you on track. If you start down a path on the social Web and hate what you're doing, you can change things around. Just as you change networking and conversational approaches in person, you can do so on the social Web. The only differences are that on the social Web, you're talking through your keyboard, and your potential audience is much, much larger.
Here are 10 steps to get you started. 1. Determine your goals.
What do you want to get out of your social Web participation? Why are you doing it? Are you trying to generate direct sales? Are you trying to offer a form of customer service? Do you want to build relationships with customers and boost loyalty? Your answers to these questions greatly affect the type of content you publish and the activities you participate in on the social Web. 2. Evaluate your resources.
Who is going to create your content? Who is going to maintain your social media accounts? Who is going to respond to questions and be the face of your business online? Do you have the technical ability in-house to join the online conversation? If not, are you willing to learn? Can you or someone who works with you write well? You need to be sure you have the necessary people in place to execute a social media marketing plan before you start. 3. Know your audience.
Where does your target audience spend time online? What kind of content and conversations do the audience members get most vocal about? What kind of information do they want from you? What do they dislike? Remember, you're not just pub¬lishing marketing messages on the social Web. You need to find out what your audience wants and needs, so you can provide the kind of content they find useful and interesting. However, you also need to be personable, so they actually want to interact with you. 4. Create amazing content.
Once you know where your audience spends time and what kind of content audience members want, take the time to give them more of that kind of content. Don't give up. You need to continually offer your audience amazing content, which also comes in the form of conversations, in order to build a loyal fol¬lowing of people who trust you as a source that can meet their needs and expectations. 5. Integrate your marketing efforts.
All of your efforts at social media marketing should feed off each other. Cross-promote your efforts both online and offline, and make sure your social media and traditional marketing efforts work together seamlessly. 6. Create a schedule.
Allocate specific times during your day to devote to social media marketing. For example, spend five minutes on Twitter before you check your e-mail each day and another five minutes before you leave work each day. When you create a schedule, it's easier to stick to it and make sure you don't skip your social media marketingactivities each day. 7. Adopt an 80-20 rule.
Always spend at least 80 percent of your time on social media activities that are not self-promotional and no more than 20 percent of your time on self-promotional activities. 8. Focus on quality, not quantity.
It can be easy to get caught up in the numbers, but don't become a slave to followers and subscribers. It's better to have 1,000 highly engaged, loyal followers than 10,000 followers who sign up to follow you but then never acknowledge you again. 9. Give up control.
You must let your audience take control of the online conversation and make it their own so they develop an emotional attachment to you, your brand, and your business.. Remember, on the social Web, apathy or invisibility is a bigger problem than negativity. 10. Keep learning.
You can never stop listening and learning. For success in social media marketing, you need to be flexible and accept that change is good. This article is an edited excerpt from 30-Minute Social Media Marketing by Susan Gunelius (McGraw-Hill, 2010).
