[Jewelry making - Article 00260] - [Orchid] Highend beaded creations

[Tina]

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Hello there,

    I could do with some good advice. 

    For years now I have been making highly intricate jewellery using
    silver chain/ Pearls/Gemstones and Austrian Crystal and boy! has it
    been a battle making a living in this country. Just recently while
    face to face with the owner of a very salubrious high end store in
    Bruges, Belgium the penny dropped and I learned the error of my
    ways... I had been making beautifully detailed designs that really
    appealed to individuals who moved in higher circles but I was making
    them with inexpensive materials to appeal to the pockets of hard
    earning ordinary folk (like myself) but the fact was they didn't have
    the taste for what I was doing. Had I got that backwards or what? 

    Forgive me if I sound snobbish, I am not trying to.. I speak from my
    experiences here in Ireland. In general Irish people do not like big
    statement pieces, they like simple ones that do not draw too much
    attention to them. Generally its the high profile professionals and
    showbiz types that favour my kind of work and the awful thing is
    these people all too often buy outside of the country. 

    It has been a very interesting lesson to learn... Instead of
    catering to the corner of the market that found my work appealing I
    was catering to the corner of the market that really didn't. and its
    taken me all this time to figure that one out.. well at least I now
    know, and realise its time to take my creative endeavours elsewhere
    in Europe. I need to be where people appreciate the elaborate red
    carpet pieces that I love to make. Its going to be pretty exciting
    travelling around Europe finding just the right venues and the right
    people to work with, but at least everything is so close here so its
    not that difficult to do. 

    Nannyways I'm going a little off track here..."sorry" The lady I
    approached in Belgium loved my work and asked me to make all that I
    showed her in Gold, which is absolutely fabulous !!!! I have never
    worked with Gold and now realise that Silver has really let my work
    down. It tarnishes too fast and its really hard to clean when your
    using thousands of beads at one time. I have used Argentium too, but
    its darker in colour and its kind of cold looking. I now realise that
    I should have been using Gold all along, it suits my work sooo much
    better. It will be v-expensive to get going with but with a few
    sacrifices I will get there. Take a peak at what I do if your
    curious, here's my site www.tinaashmore.com. 

    As mentioned above I have not worked with Gold before so I could
    really do with some advice from those of you who do. 

    I will be using Gold Chain and findings, should I use 24 ct all the
    way? headpins and all? What is acceptable? I will certainly use 24 ct
    for the chain but the other itzee bitzee pieces I'm not to sure
    about. Also, while I have your attention does anyone know where I
    might find high quality faceted semi precious beads? A UK source
    would be great but anywhere else will be just fine too! I would
    really appreciate any replies, "thank you" in advance for your help. 

Best wishes to all of you from Ireland
Tina
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