HUZZAH! That's me shouting with glee. I was having this weird problem see... A number of my resin pieces were coming out soft. By soft I mean SQUISHY soft. Totally not like resin should be at all. Resin is supposed to cure as hard as any other hard plastic. There's not supposed to be any squish to properly measured and mixed resin. I was measuring my resin properly! I was mixing it for the full four minutes, pouring from the first cup to the second in between. I was doing everything right and still some pieces were coming out soft. It didn't make any sense and I was getting really frustrated! Eventually most of my mixing cups broke so I bought a new batch of mixing cups.
The new cups came and after looking at them for two seconds I realized that the measuring markers were different on these cups. The line marking 1oz was in a different spot (higher up on the cup) on these cups than my old ones. To be honest with you Dianne, I was surprised. I had no notion that the reason my resin was coming out squishy might be because the cups THEMSELVES were wrong! Seriously, who buys a measuring cup with the thought or care that the actual measurements might be wrong?! I'm still kind of astounded. With the wrong measurements how could I ever mix resin properly? And it's not like just one cup was off. All of my cups were wrong. The only reason I ever got resin that wasn't totally sticky is because sometimes I accidentally over poured the amount of part A and didn't compensate properly for part B. Good thing I made that "mistake" otherwise every piece I ever made would have been totally squishtastic!
There weren't just any measuring cups either. They're meant specifically for resin casting. Everyone who has ever worked with resin even once knows that the measurements have to be as close to 1:1 as humanly possible. Defective cups make it a lot harder! Those cups are gone now though, so no more concerns about that. A whole batch of cups that were pretty much useless. Wow. I'm glad they started to break!
The new pieces I cast using the new mixing cups aren't even 72 hours old and they're rock hard. I'm really pleased about that. It's also really good to know that I wasn't fucking up somehow. I was actually kind of embarrassed about the whole thing. I thought I was screwing up somehow, that people would think I was an amateur. I'm really glad to know that it wasn't me, that it was something totally beyond my control that I had no hand it whatsoever. Good things to know! Now I can get back to casting without worry...
At least until I have to pack everything up and go to Utah. I have no idea how I'm gonna cast stuff in 107º heat. Resin needs to be at about 75º to work and we don't actually have any a/c in the middle of the freaking DESERT. Yeah, my mother is insane. No, I'm not looking forward to sweating my tits off and being thirsty 24/7 but I go anyway. Anyone have a blindfold and a cigarette?
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
PLANS
Things are coming together finally. It looks like a sure thing that Jon and I are moving to Boston some time either during or before August. I would like to move at the beginning of August so that there's lots of time to get settled before his classes start. That doesn't mean we're actually going to do that though.
I'm leaving for Utah sometime in the second week of June. I'm gonna hang out there rent free for a couple months, hopefully get a job and save up. Maybe I can get a little job experience before Boston. I'm 24 and I've never had a job before. I guess in some ways that makes me very privileged but in a lot of ways it puts me at a huge disadvantage. Everywhere that's hiring wants experience and I have absolutely none. I'm sure that most of the jobs that want experience aren't really all that hard. I'm really very smart so I can't imagine that I would struggle at something like data entry, but they want experience anyway.
What I really want to do is make resin stuff and live off that, but my internet sales suck and I have no idea how to boost them. Don't get me wrong, I've sold lots of necklaces but it's all been through school. Friends and classmates were my biggest buyers. I got a lot of interest just wearing my stuff around campus. People would come up to me and ask questions, stuff like that. Now that I have business cards I can hand them out to people but school's over, so that's a bust. Anybody know a good way to self promote? I have this blog, I have Facebook and a link to my shop on there. Same with Myspace. I have a Flickr too, and DeviantArt. I never expected sales to just come rolling in with no effort on my part but I'm kinda shy on the internet because I tend to make an ass of myself.... Not really sure what to do.
I need to make some money and getting a real job seems like it's going to be more and more impossible. The job market doesn't seem to be improving. I'm just a little freaked out and worried about this is all. I'm worried that Jon and I are gonna move in together and I won't be able to find a job anywhere. I'm worried that Jon's gonna be spending all his time going to school and working and supporting me because I can't find any place willing to hire an artist with no job experience in any field. I know how to cast things, I know how to make up to a two part mold, and I know how to sew but not well enough to do it as a job. XP
Maybe everything will be fine....
I'm leaving for Utah sometime in the second week of June. I'm gonna hang out there rent free for a couple months, hopefully get a job and save up. Maybe I can get a little job experience before Boston. I'm 24 and I've never had a job before. I guess in some ways that makes me very privileged but in a lot of ways it puts me at a huge disadvantage. Everywhere that's hiring wants experience and I have absolutely none. I'm sure that most of the jobs that want experience aren't really all that hard. I'm really very smart so I can't imagine that I would struggle at something like data entry, but they want experience anyway.
What I really want to do is make resin stuff and live off that, but my internet sales suck and I have no idea how to boost them. Don't get me wrong, I've sold lots of necklaces but it's all been through school. Friends and classmates were my biggest buyers. I got a lot of interest just wearing my stuff around campus. People would come up to me and ask questions, stuff like that. Now that I have business cards I can hand them out to people but school's over, so that's a bust. Anybody know a good way to self promote? I have this blog, I have Facebook and a link to my shop on there. Same with Myspace. I have a Flickr too, and DeviantArt. I never expected sales to just come rolling in with no effort on my part but I'm kinda shy on the internet because I tend to make an ass of myself.... Not really sure what to do.
I need to make some money and getting a real job seems like it's going to be more and more impossible. The job market doesn't seem to be improving. I'm just a little freaked out and worried about this is all. I'm worried that Jon and I are gonna move in together and I won't be able to find a job anywhere. I'm worried that Jon's gonna be spending all his time going to school and working and supporting me because I can't find any place willing to hire an artist with no job experience in any field. I know how to cast things, I know how to make up to a two part mold, and I know how to sew but not well enough to do it as a job. XP
Maybe everything will be fine....
Saturday, May 16, 2009
SCHOOL'S OUT FOREVER
YEAH! I made it to the end and graduated! I have a BFA now. It's pretty sweet.
My family was here for a week and that was pretty awesome. It was so great to see my mom and little brother especially. I'm closest to them in the family. We spent time at the beach, we went out to dinner, we cooked dinner at the house. Jon got to meet everyone and that was really awesome. They all seemed to really like him and he was charming and funny. It felt so good to have someone I'm proud to introduce to my family. I never have to make apologies for Jon. He's awesome.
It's been a full week since the graduation ceremony... I've been using my time wisely. Playing FFIX, then I'll move on to Wild Arms 3, FFX, FFXII, or Chrono Cross. I love RPGs. I love stories and puzzles and intrigue and misteries to solve and little widgets to find and sidequests. I just love it. I've got a bunch of DS games like the new Zelda and all the Phoenix Wright games currently out. I've got some of the old FF games on DS too. How exciting!
What I really need to do is start casting resin every day but I need to get more resin first. Maybe I can ask Jon to take me to Michael's this afternoon when he gets back from work. What I really want is a gallon kit so that I don't have to worry about this shit for a while but oh well. It'll have to wait. I'm really hoping that having more time to dedicate to my resin stuff it'll take off and start selling more, at least online. Most of my sales have been to friends and classmates, but school is over so that well has dried up. People go nuts over some of my necklaces and stuff... but none of them have an Etsy account. Some of them have never even heard of Etsy. I need to either find a bigger, even more popular place to sell my stuff or I need to find a way to advertise better. I've never been very good with the social networking stuff because I'm always afraid to a) seem like an asshole for plugging my own stuff b) make an idiot out of myself somehow. I guess it's time to get over that. I don't really know the best way to advertise on a forum or something like that though. People on the internet, and in general I suppose, don't like to share their "secrets" because they're afraid of being out sold or they're just an asshat. People in the States don't like to share their money making/customer grabbing ideas or strategies because we're all a bunch of jerks.
In the mean time I will be making more stuff. I want to do some pieces that are just stripes of glitter, maybe with some candy stripes too. I have ideas... But right now I'm gonna get back to FFIX. It might not be the best game ever but at least it's fun and a great way to lose track of time.
My family was here for a week and that was pretty awesome. It was so great to see my mom and little brother especially. I'm closest to them in the family. We spent time at the beach, we went out to dinner, we cooked dinner at the house. Jon got to meet everyone and that was really awesome. They all seemed to really like him and he was charming and funny. It felt so good to have someone I'm proud to introduce to my family. I never have to make apologies for Jon. He's awesome.
It's been a full week since the graduation ceremony... I've been using my time wisely. Playing FFIX, then I'll move on to Wild Arms 3, FFX, FFXII, or Chrono Cross. I love RPGs. I love stories and puzzles and intrigue and misteries to solve and little widgets to find and sidequests. I just love it. I've got a bunch of DS games like the new Zelda and all the Phoenix Wright games currently out. I've got some of the old FF games on DS too. How exciting!
What I really need to do is start casting resin every day but I need to get more resin first. Maybe I can ask Jon to take me to Michael's this afternoon when he gets back from work. What I really want is a gallon kit so that I don't have to worry about this shit for a while but oh well. It'll have to wait. I'm really hoping that having more time to dedicate to my resin stuff it'll take off and start selling more, at least online. Most of my sales have been to friends and classmates, but school is over so that well has dried up. People go nuts over some of my necklaces and stuff... but none of them have an Etsy account. Some of them have never even heard of Etsy. I need to either find a bigger, even more popular place to sell my stuff or I need to find a way to advertise better. I've never been very good with the social networking stuff because I'm always afraid to a) seem like an asshole for plugging my own stuff b) make an idiot out of myself somehow. I guess it's time to get over that. I don't really know the best way to advertise on a forum or something like that though. People on the internet, and in general I suppose, don't like to share their "secrets" because they're afraid of being out sold or they're just an asshat. People in the States don't like to share their money making/customer grabbing ideas or strategies because we're all a bunch of jerks.
In the mean time I will be making more stuff. I want to do some pieces that are just stripes of glitter, maybe with some candy stripes too. I have ideas... But right now I'm gonna get back to FFIX. It might not be the best game ever but at least it's fun and a great way to lose track of time.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
ALMOST
Just one week left until school is over for good! I'm glad to finally be done with most of my work. I finished all my liberal arts work today and it's the best to be done. Now I just need to deal with installing my big lint piece for the senior show on May 1st. Also I have to write a page for Bradley but that'll take 30 minutes tops.
The only reason I'm feeling anxious is because I can't get into the space we're having our show and start working. I have to wait. I only have to wait until tomorrow afternoon but I had to wait all weekend is the point. It's kind of nice to be forced to slow down and relax because there's nothing to be done about it. I just need to keep making lint all week and steadily install my piece so that I'm ready to go by Friday for my final crit. At first my crit was going to be on Tuesday! Luckily it was moved back because some things got messed up and moved around. Yay for me!
I have this nagging feeling like I have something more to do, but I think that's because for the last month I've been crazy busy and my brain hasn't caught up with the notion that there ISN'T anything left to do. So catch up with reality brain! I need to get some sleep.
The only reason I'm feeling anxious is because I can't get into the space we're having our show and start working. I have to wait. I only have to wait until tomorrow afternoon but I had to wait all weekend is the point. It's kind of nice to be forced to slow down and relax because there's nothing to be done about it. I just need to keep making lint all week and steadily install my piece so that I'm ready to go by Friday for my final crit. At first my crit was going to be on Tuesday! Luckily it was moved back because some things got messed up and moved around. Yay for me!
I have this nagging feeling like I have something more to do, but I think that's because for the last month I've been crazy busy and my brain hasn't caught up with the notion that there ISN'T anything left to do. So catch up with reality brain! I need to get some sleep.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
SCHOOL IS A KILLER
AAAAAHHH!!! I have 3 weeks of college left and I'm excite but also freaking out because I have all this obnoxious work to do and only a little bit of it is actually FOR my major. All the other work is for stupid liberal arts classes where the teachers don't seem to understand that no one cares. Granted I would probably enjoy these two classes if they weren't at 8:30AM, but they ARE. So it doesn't really matter what they're about. I knew I wasn't going to learn a thing from them when I signed up, but they were the only classes that met the requirements and fit into my schedule. Ringling is retarded like that.
In a lot of ways I wish I had gone to a bigger school. Not a university, but a bigger school with more reverence for Fine Arts and their contribution to world culture. I wish I had gone to a school with enough enrolment to warrant a few different sections of each class. Most of the classes I'm taking are only one section, so that means you can either fit that one section into your schedule or you can't. If that one section doesn't work for you then you don't get to take that class. A lot of the interesting classes, like Dangerous Ideas and Ethics for Artists are held during my classes for my major. All in all Ringling College of Art and Design is never inflexible when it comes to scheduling. All classes (accept one or two of the freshmen level English classes) are 2 hours 45 minutes long, most of them are one section (I don't remember the last time there was more than one section to chose from), and most of the one section classes seem to only be held at 8:30 in the morning! I have no idea who decided this was a good idea, but I would like to personally punch them in the nose.
This Week in Resin:
In other news, I've been pouring more resin stuff! I've started on a whole bunch of littler hearts that will have stickers and insults embedded. I think the right price for them is $10-12, maybe $13-14 if they have a whole bunch of sweetness in them. I've been doing my Etsy research and I have to say I'm really disappointed in a lot of the other sellers of resin cuteness. They price their pieces WAY too high. They do this because epoxy and polyester resin are pretty mysterious and unknown. People just don't know that liquid plastic exists and they certainly don't know how much it actually costs. Let me demystify this for EVERYONE. 8 oz of resin at Michael's costs $11. That's it. I've found a gallon kit for epoxy resin for $50 online. There is NO REASON for a necklace that has maybe 60¢ worth of stickers, 50-60¢ worth of glitter and $1.30 worth of resin to cost $22 just because it's in a cute heart shape. That's ridiculous to me.
The only reason resin jewelry is expensive is because of the time that goes into making it. While creating each piece doesn't take THAT long, there's a lot of waiting that has to be done. Making a heart pendant that's just solid glitter takes at least a day and a half, maybe more. First the resin must be mixed then poured. You let that gel, and that can take all day or all night if you poured later in the day. Then you have add the eye-pin to the back of glitter resin and pour a layer of clear resin to hold the pin in place. That has to cure for several hours (depending on the temperature wherever you're pouring.) Once that's done you can pop the piece out of the mold, trim the excess off the edges and hang it from a chain. While you're doing all of this you can't really make more pieces because all your mold cavities are filled with half finished and curing pieces. That's the ONLY reason resin is expensive.
It upsets me a little to see all of these high priced resin pieces on Etsy and the Internet in general. I can really understand someone not wanting to pay $20 for a plastic pendant. I can even understand someone not wanting to spend $18 on my pieces. I started them all at $18 because I wanted to be competitive but still look serious. If i price everything at $12 I thought people might worry that there was something wrong with me or the pieces. If nothing else sells at that price I'll think seriously about bringing it down. I want to have jewelry in everyone's price range. I think anybody who likes what I'm doing is a potential customer and shouldn't I want to please them? Shouldn't I want them to feel like they're not throwing their money away?
The more I learn about resin casting the more I think most people's prices are pretty outrageous.
Anyway I'm going to be posting some more pictures to my DeviantART and I'm going to be posting a new listing to my Etsy Store sometime tonight (if I can get some homework done before it's time for yoga class that is!)
Wish me luck getting everything done!
In a lot of ways I wish I had gone to a bigger school. Not a university, but a bigger school with more reverence for Fine Arts and their contribution to world culture. I wish I had gone to a school with enough enrolment to warrant a few different sections of each class. Most of the classes I'm taking are only one section, so that means you can either fit that one section into your schedule or you can't. If that one section doesn't work for you then you don't get to take that class. A lot of the interesting classes, like Dangerous Ideas and Ethics for Artists are held during my classes for my major. All in all Ringling College of Art and Design is never inflexible when it comes to scheduling. All classes (accept one or two of the freshmen level English classes) are 2 hours 45 minutes long, most of them are one section (I don't remember the last time there was more than one section to chose from), and most of the one section classes seem to only be held at 8:30 in the morning! I have no idea who decided this was a good idea, but I would like to personally punch them in the nose.
This Week in Resin:
In other news, I've been pouring more resin stuff! I've started on a whole bunch of littler hearts that will have stickers and insults embedded. I think the right price for them is $10-12, maybe $13-14 if they have a whole bunch of sweetness in them. I've been doing my Etsy research and I have to say I'm really disappointed in a lot of the other sellers of resin cuteness. They price their pieces WAY too high. They do this because epoxy and polyester resin are pretty mysterious and unknown. People just don't know that liquid plastic exists and they certainly don't know how much it actually costs. Let me demystify this for EVERYONE. 8 oz of resin at Michael's costs $11. That's it. I've found a gallon kit for epoxy resin for $50 online. There is NO REASON for a necklace that has maybe 60¢ worth of stickers, 50-60¢ worth of glitter and $1.30 worth of resin to cost $22 just because it's in a cute heart shape. That's ridiculous to me.
The only reason resin jewelry is expensive is because of the time that goes into making it. While creating each piece doesn't take THAT long, there's a lot of waiting that has to be done. Making a heart pendant that's just solid glitter takes at least a day and a half, maybe more. First the resin must be mixed then poured. You let that gel, and that can take all day or all night if you poured later in the day. Then you have add the eye-pin to the back of glitter resin and pour a layer of clear resin to hold the pin in place. That has to cure for several hours (depending on the temperature wherever you're pouring.) Once that's done you can pop the piece out of the mold, trim the excess off the edges and hang it from a chain. While you're doing all of this you can't really make more pieces because all your mold cavities are filled with half finished and curing pieces. That's the ONLY reason resin is expensive.
It upsets me a little to see all of these high priced resin pieces on Etsy and the Internet in general. I can really understand someone not wanting to pay $20 for a plastic pendant. I can even understand someone not wanting to spend $18 on my pieces. I started them all at $18 because I wanted to be competitive but still look serious. If i price everything at $12 I thought people might worry that there was something wrong with me or the pieces. If nothing else sells at that price I'll think seriously about bringing it down. I want to have jewelry in everyone's price range. I think anybody who likes what I'm doing is a potential customer and shouldn't I want to please them? Shouldn't I want them to feel like they're not throwing their money away?
The more I learn about resin casting the more I think most people's prices are pretty outrageous.
Anyway I'm going to be posting some more pictures to my DeviantART and I'm going to be posting a new listing to my Etsy Store sometime tonight (if I can get some homework done before it's time for yoga class that is!)
Wish me luck getting everything done!
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