Merry-Go-Round - Customer Service

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Do look up the answers from the rest of this band of crafters (links to your left).

If they haven't all posted yet, remember we all live in different time zones and check again later...

This month:

Customer Service

Customer service is about law, of course, but, to me, it is also about the choice you make when selling handmade, about what someone buying handmade from the the maker has a right to expect.

If you enjoy it that people appreciate your handmade work, you have to keep up the personal side of the relationship. It's not a question of what the law says. It's a question of what you get into whan you decide you are an independent artist / designer / crafter...

The most enjoyable, satisfactory sales I have made online were custom-made. It feels so great having someone trust you with their special wish. It makes me feel "important" in a way no serious job does.

To be quite blunt, in my experience, custom is absolutely not profitable (because profit lies in series). But it still is what I have enjoyed most as a crafter.

The other important aspect of cutomer services is returns.

That is never pleasant, but it is crucial to trust-building.

I am lucky that I have only had a couple in the past few years, and, if I remember well, only one was about an online sale, surprisingly enough. But what strikes me is how incredibly grateful customers for whom I have mended a piece have been. In most cases there was a flaw and of course I was bound by law to mend their purchases (or give a refund, never their choice in my experience), but that didn't seem to be how they took it. They seemed surprised and pleased.

I have also been very lucky so far, I know from the forums on various sites, that I have never had to deal with someone patently dishonest.

Obviously, they are around, as are the dishonest sellers, but I still believe they are a small minority and the vast majority are lovely people who do us the great honour of appreciating our efforts and giving us good money for them, and so they deserve our best efforts throughout.

Nouvelles / News

Pour commencer, sachez que les boutiques DaWanda et Etsy fermeront le 15 décembre, jusqu'à une date qui demeure à déterminer et qui sera fonction de mon changement d'approche et de statut.

Depuis quelque temps, il est clair que le statut d'entreprise ne me convient absolument pas, ni financièrement, ni moralement. Je vais donc prendre le temps nécessaire pour revoir ma situation et adopter le statut légal qui convient.

En attendant, les coordonnées présentes sur mes cartes de visites restent valides et je reste disponible pour le service après-vente nécessaire..

Par ailleurs, Le Bar du Vent sera présent au Marché de Noël organisé par Chai, rue du Mirail à Bordeaux, à partir du 17 décembre. : )

In order to think over and operate a change of legal status, aiming at adopting one better fitted to how I like to craft and how much time I can afford to allow for it, I will close my Etsy and DaWanda shops on December 15, until further notice...

Merry-Go-Round - Fairs and Shows

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This month:

Fairs and shows— do you do them? If you don't, why not?

Well, this is a topic that I find very interesting, because I haven't been able to take part in any so far— due to having a rather engrossing and time-consuming full-time "day-job".

All I know, so far, is that everyone says it's the best way to reach your custom, because most people aren't into virtual reality when it comes to shopping for jewellery and other trinkets. But it involves a lot of work and organizing, as well as time...

Very curious to read what other merry goers have to say about their experience!

Merry-Go-Round - Tutorial

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This month:

A simple tutorial

A few photos to show you how, with just a piece of wire and a piece of salvaged thread or fabric, you can create a colourful butterfly or dragonfly, using the technique of macrame knotting.

Here are a few pieces of salvaged ribbon or thread among which I take my pick.
And here is the kind of brass wire (controlled closely as you can see) you can find in any hardware store. I also use copper. Silver or aluminium would do just as well.
I cut a pice (22 cm / 8.5 in. in this case).
I bend it like this:
then I make a plain knot at what will be the tail end of my butterfly and start the macrame as you can see. One way:
the other way:
until I have enough to create the abdomen.

Then I loosen one of the knots to create the small pair of wings:
Then I knot one more tight knot:
And then another loose knot, for the larger pair of wings, followed by a couple of tight knots for the head:
A little whirl at both ends of the wire, for the antennae:

Pretty psychedelic, isn't it? I think it would do a nice brooch...

With a longer piece of blue cord and copper wire, I created this necklace with what looks more like a dragonfly:

There are as many variations as the kinds of thread or ribbon you can use...

Belated Merry-Go-Round: On Holidays from your Art?

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This month:

Do you take a holiday from art / craft?

Oh Wow!

More like on holidays from my brain it seems... This was due last Friday. I did remember, and mull it over— until I completely forgot to write my post up!

My answer would be: No.

Obviously, my routine is gone down the drain and I tend to forget what day of the week or month this is when I don't have to "go to work", and t

he summer holidays in particular are a time of renewal and exploration, but I never really completely stop making and planning, just as I never stop reading all sorts of stuff, all year round.

Last week-end, I took a workshop on digital photography and ghow to make the best of my camera. The man who gave it was this very unpleasant, supercilious kind of "pro" (there— I had to say it— he really was a prat) and his "workshop" was shockingly poor value for money, but it did make me explore the possibilities of my camera for 4 hours and discover a couple of useful things, both for artistic purposes (considering transforming and maybe even selling my photos more within the next year) and utilitarian ones (as in taking better photos of my jewellery).

I've also started knitting arm-warmers from some lovely yarn I just bought. A good opportunity to hae a go at a pattern I hoarded ages ago— and to realize how very bad I am at knitting with double-pointed needles... not sure you'll be seing photos of that any time soon...

I also made the two necklaces in my Wednesday posts (and they're now on sale in my DaWanda shop, where they are getting precious little attention— the weather must have been nice somewhere...).

The fact other people are on holidays and not shopping on the net so much means that I spend more time preparing for my next move than actually making or even doing anything much. But then, and we've discussed this already in former Merry post, I've always worked like that— mulling for a while and working in a spree, and then mulling for a while, and so on and so forth

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Merry-Go-Round - Visual Inspiration 2 - Sand in my shoes...

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Do look up the answers from the rest of this band of crafters (links to your left).

If they haven't all posted yet, remember we all live in different time zones and check again later...

This month:

Create something inspired by the photo published by another merry-goer.

A lucky accident has me working on Samantha's unorthodox post last month— holiday photos.

Sand, beach fun, more sand.

I cannot imagine anything more fitting for me, generally, and this year in particular, when I particularly long to enjoy the beaches of the Atlantic and a bit of farniente this summer.

So, here goes!

I'm calling it Remembrances of Beaches Past.

;)

Merry-Go-Round - Visual Inspiration

Jump on our merry go round and join a group of artists/crafts-women from around the world as they link hands and tell you a little bit about their lives in craft.

Do look up the answers from the rest of this band of crafters (links to your left).

If they haven't all posted yet, remember we all live in different time zones and check again later...

This month:

A photo that inspires you.

This photo inspires me in that it is the positive I get out of a not so pleasant time.

As you can see, it tells of movement, speed, travel.

It was taken from a train, on one of the several trips I've had to take over the past four weeks. Because of a mix of professional and personal obligations, this has been a very busy month, both at home and elsewhere. And not in a creative way, I'm afraid.

Actually, I'm on my way again this afternoon, and then again on Tuesday (flying off to Edinburgh for a few days) for the only one among those trips that I have looked forward to a little bit, if only because I chose to go, as opposed to being made to... There'll be one more train trip, And then I really look forward to a quiet, creative summer, mostly at home...

The reason why I like this photo, is that I can sit back and look at the movement and all that green. A bit like when I'm on the train. I find it soothing. I enjoy being in transit. It's all the bother before and after that I mind...

I'll try to take a photo from the plane too!

PS: I also have True Blood, 3 rd season, and Mad Men, 4th season, to go home to! Just so you know how much I long for some quiet here...

Merry-Go-Round - Time— to manage or not to manage

Jump on our merry go round and join a group of artists/crafts-women from around the world as they link hands and tell you a little bit about their lives in craft.

Do look up the answers from the rest of this band of crafters (links to your left).

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This month:

Time management— how do you juggle your time— how do you wish you could juggle your time?

"Juggle" is about right...

At the moment, for instance, I'm having to deal with an overload of work in my day job and that has to take priority. Whenever that happens, I don't have any time for creation and I just deal with orders, if any...

Sometimes, after a long day of working for my day-job, I will have an outburst of creativity and suddenly put together one or several items in one evening. But I prefer to be able to take a whole day when I work on something, often working on several things in parallel, exploring techniques and allowing projects to "mull" some...

Over the past few years, I have dedicated all or nearly all my leisure time to Le Bar du Vent, researching or actually designing / crafting. That is how I juggle my time and my double life— one day at a time.

New / Nouveautés

Need feedback! Positive, constructive feedback.

Besoin de retours, avis... et autres encouragements.

Moss terrarium necklaces— I'm only getting started— I just love the colours.

Not posting them abroad, so far— I'm not sure it would be legal. I suppose I might consider Europe, though.

Colliers terrarium de mousse ; ce n'est qu'un début. J'aime ces couleurs !

Je ne les envoie qu'en France, pour l'instant : je crains que ce ne soit pas légal de les envoyer à l'étranger. Mais peut-être que l'Europe serait autorisée...

And now for something completely different, though with lovely colour too—

Rien à voir, mais là aussi j'aime la couleur.

An original, indispensable little something that will add flare to your table, whatever the occasion. Solid copper.

Une accessoire original et indispensable, en cuivre, pour ajouter ce petit je-ne-sais-quoi à votre table, quelle que soit l'occasion.

Merry-Go-Round - Take Care!

Jump on our merry go round and join a group of artists/crafts-women from around the world as they link hands and tell you a little bit about their lives in craft.

Do look up the answers from the rest of this band of crafters (links to your left).

If they haven't posted yet, remember we all live in different time zones and check again later...

This month's theme:

How to take care of your art— information for buyers.

Because of the variety of crafts I dabble in, there cannot be one answer to this, except to point out that anything extreme (temperature, activity, fingering... or even cleansing!) is going to be potentially damaging.

So, first things first.

When you buy jewellery from me, you're going to be aware of the materials used, because I always give as much information as I can in my listings.

If you buy pearls— since I tend to use silver or vermeil with them, but not glue— a little soft soap and warm water once in a while, followed by thorough rinsing and immediately by light-handed dry padding with cotton cloth, is going to revive your pearls for as long as you love them.

My more whimsical jewellery often involves the use of glue. This entails that though you should be able to rinse it (it will survive rain too!), soaking is an absolute No No. My motto for cocktail rings: "No shock, shower, no dish washing!"

Anything that involves several elements shall definitely come apart if you try it...

The good news is that most of my pieces can also be mended.

As for textiles, I like my own possessions to be washable, so most of what I make can be washed. But any handmade accessory, especially embroidered and embellished ones, will have to be hand-washed, just to be on the safe side. I use nearly no synthetics, so, yes, the fabric will age, as we do. Careful storing and moth-repellents work well...

Merry-Go-Round - Comfort Zone(s)

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Do look up the answers from the rest of this band of crafters (links to your left).

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This month's theme:

Get out of your comfort zone and try something new.

"Comfort zone"? What's that?!!

I don't think I have that in stock.

First things first— I should apologize for taking my seat on the merry-go-round a bit late this month.

Excuses: yesterday evening, I had planned to finish knitting a cashmere jacket. I am not a terribly competent knitter*, but I have knitted, on and off, for over twenty years. For some reason, I knit a lot during heat waves. Don't ask... I don't know.

So anyway, being only moderately competent, I make mistakes. Bad ones. Yesterday, as I was finally trying to sew the pieces together, I realized I had made one of those bad mistakes. "Bad" means I have to unmake. I had to. Quite a bit. So I unravelled the whole collar and the top of both front pieces [yes— I had bound off on the wrong side].

And I re-made them. Well, I had to go to bed before I had quite knitted the collar again; So I had to do that today.

But this morning I had to do some paperwork and this afternoon I was going to the bookbinder.

To learn bookbinding.

I started taking lessons from a professional bookbinder a month ago. It's something I have long wanted to do and now that I don't take upholstery classes** anymore, I have decided I could make time for bookbinding.

Yes, I am supposed to make jewellery and I do have plans to explore silversmithing and artclay again, but I am an uncurable Jane of all trades. Mistress of none, but never bored...

I swing from one craft to another.

Mixing and matching materials and crafts.

Exploring life and the world as I go.

That sounds good, doesn't it? But really it's pathological— I cannot stand the idea of living just one life....

Plus, just you wait until you see the wonderful notebooks and accessories I am going to turn all this discomfort into! Not sure you're going to have to wait, but I know that in the meantime I won't be bored.

* Rather better than at crochetting, but I am working on that.

** Still have to finish covering a chair for my mother

Promotion— You scratch my back...

~☀~~☀~

Trouvez et "Aimez" Le Bar du Vent sur Facebook et je vous offre les frais d'envoi sur votre commande suivante, partout dans le monde. Offre cumulable avec les soldes et autres promotions.

~☀~~☀~

Find and "Like" Le Bar du Vent on Facebook and you get free shipping on your next order— worldwide!— even during the sales.

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Boutiques : Etsy, DaWanda & A Little Market

Nouvelles Nouveautés Exclusives sur A Little Market !

Parce que tant qu'à faire de la bijouterie fantaisie, autant être un peu fantaisiste, non ?

Nouveautés Exclusives sur A Little Market

Pour célébrer l'ouverture de ma toute nouvelle boutique sur ALM : tout nouveau, tout frais.




En exclusivité sur A Little Market

Merry-Go-Round - Flying colours

Jump on our merry go round and join a group of artists/crafts-women from around the world as they link hands and tell you a little bit about their lives in craft.

Do look up the answers from the rest of this band of crafters (links to your left).

If they haven't posted yet, remember we all live in different time zones and check again later...

This month's theme:

What is your favourite colour and how does it come into your work?

This is both easy and difficult to answer, I find.

My favourite colour is red. Mostly. And then there's black. Together and separately, they make up my comfort zone.

I look at red and black and I see beauty.

When I reupholster chairs I like, they turn bright red.

When I make a Jag ring for myself, it's deep red (maroon).

When I knit a cashmere jacket— for myself, you bet!— it's deep red again ("merlot", yummy!).

When I want to pick a shirt to wear, long- or-short-sleeved, black and red are the two colours most represented in my "wardrobe".

They are my feel-good colours on any day.

When it comes to creating jewellery, strangely enough, it doesn't really show. If you go through my shop on DaWanda or Etsy, it won't be obvious, I don't think. The necklace in the photo is a rare example. And I recently gave it to someone who had the good taste to like it...

But then I guess that comes from the fact that jewellery, like accessories are small "islands" of colour and texture that you add to your "mainland". They come to complement and compliment your main colours. Well, mine anyway.

So I realize, now you make me think of it, that I have been working with colours I wouldn't have "given the time of day" before. Also colours that I can appreciate and enjoy mixing and playing with, once it is not all about me and my complexion.

I recently made several all-black pieces, but that was because I really needed to take a day-trip to my comfort zone...

My other colour, the colour I just need around me, is green, and you'll definitely find much more of this one in my shop. And in my photos!

Blue is for my dreams...

I've also noticed that when I look at a red bead (plenty of these), a black gem, or a green leaf, or the very green eyes indeed of my cat, with their black eye-liner, I lose all critical sense: I see beauty and I'm dazzled. Probably why I use so little of my many red beads. Mmm. Shame that. I'll have to take another look... ;-)

SUPER SOLDES D'EQUINOXE - MABON SALE!!!

Sur DaWanda, Le Bar du Vent est en soldes pour fêter l'Equinoxe et les Moissons, du 21 au 24 Septembre.
On DaWanda, Le Bar du vent celebrates Mabon, the second harvest, the equinoxe— with a great sale, from 21st to 24th September.
Enjoy!

Celebrate the Fleur de Lis and donate

I'd like to show off a few photos of my first Fleur de Lis items, all created with Louisiana in mind, celebrated the old tie with this "cousin", and trying to help.

I've already made a donation because I wished to help in any small way to clean up and save as many as possible of the unsuspecting creatures that have been victims, as usual, of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but there is only so much I can do on my own...

Now, when I posted a question about this on the oh-so-friendly Etsy forum, I got a biting remark about the first victims which happened to be the human fatalities and casualties at the site. So I guess I had better point out right away that however saddening the loss of these lives, I still find the the loss of innocent animal lives (and the wrecking of quite a few human lives too) even more saddening and quite maddening. Not that I'm happy about the plants destroyed either...

I should also add that I'm fully aware that Louisiana is not the only state suffering from the consequences of the spill— I just had to pick.

Anyway. I have begun listing a few original Fleur de Lis items and whenever I sell one— nudge, nudge—, I will donate half the price to the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation (here, scroll down to the very bottom). To help clean up the mess and save lives and keep people busy in a good way.

I began with the two "Carnet de Bal" notebooks, and then went on to create two different pairs of earrings. Everything handmade by me. Everything listed in my Etsy shop.

So— thanks in advance— nudge, nudge...