AJE Earring Challenge Second Reveal

Continuing on with the one pair of earrings a week challenge from Art Jewelry Elements.  This time I really only did the one pair a week as I was completing the Lucite and Clay challenge from my previous post.

Here's what I have for you this week.  Hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them.  Be sure to go to the AJE site to see the other blogs or the AJE Pinterest board.

This pair is made from a pair of gear hoops by Karen Totten of Starry Road Studio.  Be sure to check her Etsy shop for lots of drool worthy ceramic pieces.  The center hoops are enameled copper by me and the ear wires are hand made by me as well.  Really need to get these listed on Etsy, but I'm having a hard time parting with them.

The second pair for this reveal is all component made by me other than the Swarovski bicones of course.  This week I learned to make hollow lampwork beads and this is one the pairs of them. Pairs of hollow beads are proving to be a little tricky for me in getting the size to match, this pair is pretty close. The nice thing about the hollow beads, besides the look of them, is they are quite a bit lighter so I can use larger beads for earrings.  On my monitor these are appearing almost the size they are in real life.

The Importance of FAB Packaging

As a former retail and wholesale sales person I am well aware of the importance of branding.  It's still a work in progress for me here at Northwoods Creative Studio, but as I move FORWARD in 2013 I will continue to work it out.  As I said I was in sales, I know just enough about marketing to be potentially dangerous, lol.

Anyway here are two people I have gotten packages from recently that really have it together.  I should have posted long ago about the first one as I was a winner of a giveaway on her blog  LibbyLeu and Glass too .  Libby Leuchtman is a great glassworker and here is what I received from her.

The pod I won came in a lovely little organza bag.  The pics you are seeing are her postcard that helps protect the piece.  Showcases her work before you ever open the package, great branding, no question who it's from.

THIS is what was in the package, wrapped in bubble wrap for protection then in this great dragonfly tissue was this FAB glass pod.  I've been drooling on it for months and still haven't decided onn a design to do it justice.

The second is my recent purchase from Starry Road Studio.  You may remember Karen Totten's work from the Hoops Challenge.  I ordered some more hoops to use from her Etsy shop and here is what I received.

This is what you are greeted by when you first open the envelope, a lovely thank you card and a nice little thank you gift.  My gift was another hoop (YAY) and a little leaf.  A lovely customer service gesture and it makes you feel truly appreciated by the artist.

When you open the lovely kraft paper gift box this is what you see, more great cohesive branding.  A smaller card and lovely bronzey tissue.

And when you lift the tissue you find your product carefully packaged and unharmed.  I like that they are bagged together so I won't loose one of the pair.  One of these just might be finding their way into one of my pairs of earring for the AJE Challenge.