GS: It's been nearly a year...

It's been a crazy year since I last posted.  Nearly a year of working on our new house, which may not sound exciting... but let me tell you, it has been insane.  But even though I have so much work still to do on the house, I'm beginning to miss my time at the bench and making jewelry. 

So, I'm debating.  Debating on whether or not to open my shop again.  But I need to learn from my mistakes... all of the negatives that made me close my shop in the first place.  And with that, I'm fairly certain that I will not be taking on any custom work.  Between the flux in metal prices, people searching for a "good deal" (and comparing prices for a hand made custom piece with a mass manufactured piece from overseas), and trying to compete with this low ball pricing and losing money on most jobs.  And my work is really good, and my products and time are worth the money.  So, unless you have an incredibly high budget, don't ask for custom work.

I'm looking into designing a small/simple/clean line.  Everything is handmade (by me, in Boston), small pieces that can go from the office to the evening, made from only precious metals (no plating over brass and other base metals), and all for a reasonable price.  And everything will be made in limited editions, signed and numbered.  If I want to make jewelry as art, I might as well treat it like art.

So, after a year away from the bench, I'm a little out of the loop.  I have spent some time researching styles and what is available on the market at the moment.  And there are piles and bunches of jewelery out there.  But something caught my eye this morning.  Not because it is the absolute most creative design (though it is rather darling), but because the description is just hilarious.  

If you read the text, it explains that "true friends are like anchors... they give us something to hold onto, and help us stay afloat."  Ummm, I may be wrong, but anchors do not float.  They sink.  So, if follow this train of thought, if a friend is like an anchor they drag you down.  Really, they should have made a life preserver charm. 

Let's see if I can come up with something a little better than this.