Two-Bead Stitch

Simple yet elegant component which can be used not just by avid beaders but also with wire work.

Mohs Scale of Hardness

To find the relative hardness of gemstones, jewelers reference this scale.

Serendipities in Jeweler’s Journey

Well, it’s been a WHILE since I decided to share my voyage of taking my hobby to a higher level. It is a very long odyssey. As a matter of fact it’s never ending trip but now I know that the very beginning is rough, murky and seemingly impenetrable. So, before I will jump in with posting of all my findings, tips, pointers and steers I will share the essence of my turning point. A point when I pushed myself over the edge of anxiety. Anxiety which made me believe that it’s not worthy to share my creations with the rest of the world.

See serendipity everywhere… One day I just simply went against my habitual doctrine and agreed to investigate for that moment an unlikely prospect of me turning into a business woman and artist all-in-one. My open-mindness turned a strange moment into a lucky break. Everything seemed all of a sudden so clear. It felt like a huge rock fell of my chest. All my fears, phobias, aversions, anxieties and hung-ups vanished. I plunged straight into my new adventure only with realizing that me being open to life’s forking paths let me see more possibilities which I would normally missed. And what a liberating feeling was to realize that if things don’t work out the way I hoped for, I could brush off disappointment and launch myself headlong toward the next fortunate circumstance. As a result of this I became happier and more likely to achieve my goal.

Prime yourself for chance… You can increase your opportunities for good luck by maintaining a large network of friends and acquaintances. Increasingly these days, the best opportunities float online, so make sure you’re connected. Exploring new territory naturally increases good fortune. [Definitely set your shop for handmade creations on http://www.etsy.com, advertise and spread the word on Facebook and Twitter, set your own website-even the simplest one helps people to always find you, leave your business cards in craft shops,…etc.]

Do something different! Breaking behavioral habits can lever changes in mental habits that have kept you from success so far. Try to keep your mood positive in order to catch more of the possibilities that whiz by every day. Anxiety in particular gives us tunnel vision; while we’re focusing on a potential danger, we end up missing a lot of extraneous but potentially beneficial information. [Try different fabricating technique for your jewelry. I went from beading, wire wrapping to hammering and soldering.]

Go ahead, slack off… Conscientiousness is no friend to serendipity. A ‘big five’ personality trait is strongly associated with achievement. Conscientiousness means you do what you are supposed to do, and you stick with it. By rigidly pouring all of your effort into one approach, you miss out on unexpected-but more direct-paths to success. Serendipity smiles upon people who have a more relaxed approach to life. Conscientious types aren’t so fortunate. Allow yourself to stray off from your old ways. You need to be loose to become aware of hidden opportunities. Catching lucky breaks gets harder with every year-not because our opportunities change, but because we do. As we get older we become a lot more crystallized in our thinking. We create these rigid rules and eliminate chances to change all the time. [Add new materials to your work like precious stones, metal clay, leather and steel.]

Say yes… Once primed to discover life’s opportunity, what do you do when a juicy one jumps into your path? If you are like most people, you’re immediately besieged by two competing emotions: intrigue and anxiety. You are curious about starting your own jewelry business, but you can think of a hundred reasons why you should stick with your current gig. Which impulse will you act upon? I say go for it! One thing you do not want, and that is being riddled with regrets about roads not taken.

For me good outcomes increase self-efficacy, and the belief that I am capable of accomplishing whatever I set out to do-fuel my appetite for future risk. I followed this available opportunity of making some extra cash with my hobby, and it has allowed me to live in a sort of never-ending fantasy world.

I too had trouble ignoring my chattering mind, which was telling me that I am not experienced enough to make my own jewelry, I never took any classes for metal fabricating, I know so little about precious stones, my work is not good enough to attract buyers. And our loved ones don’t always help matters. Remember that our minds don’t always tell us the truth. Listen to your intuition, but be prepared not to feel 100% certain. If you wait until all negative emotions disappear, you are never going to go anywhere. If you are truly unsure about a decision, try asking yourself, what is the worst that can happen? Or think about it like I did-which action you will regret more in the future? Sometimes there’s a short-term cost, in terms of your resources or time or stress. But thing about all the beautiful things you could create and make others happy by sharing them!

Embrace failure… I am waiting for the big break myself. I am all set as for having my shop on Etsy, I designed and launched my own website, I started this blog 🙂 , bought tools and other supplies worth of hundreds of dollars and made so far only few sales. But my spirit and my hopes are strong! I’m taking a real shot at trying to live as an artist. And whether or not this chance taken turns out well or badly, the benefit of seizing this and other serendipities are many. For one thing, it increases my day-to-day happiness by bringing variety to my life.

And there’s good news for the regretful. Even though some serendipitous opportunities slip away, there are always new ones coming along.

Watch out, world here I come!

So, I finally decided to turn my hobby and mental outlet of jewelry making into small business. What a bright idea! I set my virtual store, spent hours and hours on creating website, and here I come! But…..But now what?! Before I knew it I had learnt that it means very little to nothing.  Little I knew what’s coming.

Hours, days, weeks of researching, digging, rooting out stuff from across the internet. And piecing and connecting unconnectable, trying to figure out what steps I have to make to become humangously successful little business owner.

Well, here I am. On a journey of starting a weblog for multiple reasons.

First, informational (sharing news, information, photos, videos from my jeweler’s bench). Second, professional (enhancing my tiny business, as a career journal, to display my poor writing skills, and market my business). And last, and hopefully not least importantly, as a business (internet marketing, consulting, brand development).

This list is by no means comprehensive and will overlap between the categories.

The beauty of blogging is that I don’t really enjoy writing because I know I am not good at it (maybe because English is my second language???) but I am passionate about jewelry making and have some specialized knowledge I want to share with everybody who was, is or will be rocking the same boat. Boat of making your passion and hobby of making handcrafted jewelry to earning few extra bucks and still have fun!

This will be pretty much trip journal, about how I came a long way from a spool of rusty wire with crooked pliers to Fidana, my cute little jewelry business.

So, up until next time, sayōnara