A little shop on the highstreet

Happy new year! I have great hopes and expectations for this beautiful year..

The people closest to me know i have been busy setting up Twigs and Stones as a handmade jewellery brand to be sold in shops. I’ve learned a lot about how to approach shops with my products. I learned i need to define what my ideal shop would be -the kind that would most likely want to sell my products-, and that finding an ideal shop for my kind of product is not a walk in the park. Shop keepers source their products in different ways and making the decision to buy a product to sell in their shop depends on many factors. I learned that the best way to get my ideal shop to sell my products is for them to be very appealing, properly priced (to allow my business to be sustainable and for the shop to make profit on it), properly packaged and easily displayed. Sounds easier than it is.. All of these things i have been trying to get a hang of.

Then, life is full of other things, like sweet boys and play dates and coffee mornings with local mums.. And in this area of my life i met another lady and we got along really well. One day this friend of mine came back form a holiday with an idea that had put a spring on her step: To open a little shop on the high street. she told me about her idea over coffee at my place after dropping the children. She had a very big smile in her face while she told me about it. I gave her some pointers of what i had learned from my research into approaching shops. I told her about the hard work and long hours that are involved and how it entails much more than i had imagined.. Without realising we had started planning our joint venture into the brick and mortar retail industry!! For months we were looking at possible locations in our local high street and then, one day in September we found it, the perfect location. Suddenly it started feeling very real.. in no time we had keys to the shop to have contractors come in and give us quotes for the work needed, we set up a limited company, opened a bank account and started researching for stockists and working on the design and layout of the shop.

So here we are now.. a new year a new project.. Or actually, a super upgrade of my original project, as Caché -our little shop on the high street- is going to be a ladies fashion and accessories shop and it will be my base to sell Twigs and Stones. I couldn’t have dared to dream this big! Or maybe i did? I don’t know how things work but it feels like this was supposed to happen..

So here is the best excuse ever to have been out of touch for so long.. If you are reading this you are probably family or one of my first lovely followers.. either way i just really want to thank you: Thanks for reading, thanks for caring.. You mean a lot to me and i hope we keep in touch.. I’ll make sure to keep you posted on the developments of both Caché and Twigs and Stones.

love, Mireya

Happy endings, new beginings

I believe in happy endings.

My sister once said to me that there are no happy endings, just unfinished stories. I understand what she meant because i also realized life was not as in fairy-tales a long time ago. At one point you die, before that you probably will get sick and suffer pain and loose your self and be a burden on your loved ones. That is if you are lucky and have loved ones that care for you all the way to the end. In between you are probably going to suffer some of your loved ones dying before you, and maybe they’ll first get very sick and suffer. They might even had a chance to disappoint you and/or hurt their loved ones before that.

But the way i choose to see it now is this: your life is -hopefully- a very long collection of stories, with many endings and just as many -or even more- new beginnings. If you can manage the pain that comes with living and caring for living beings, and are successful in experiencing it without letting it taint everything when it seeps through to your other little stories, then you’ve got it. Life at it’s fullest.

In my collection of stories i had the most wonderful happy ending this Summer. It was the end of my life as a stay at home mum. I’m still going to be staying at home, but my boys are now old enough to not need my constant attention when they are home and i am much wiser -i hope- in recognising when i should be spending time on things of the house or on things of my business. We had the loveliest camping road trip to Scotland, even though we hit the tail of a hurricane and temperatures dropped to 4 degrees Centigrade at night, we had great fun as a family and my husband and i weren’t as tired at the end of each day. That’s how i knew we had reached the end of our story as the clueless first time parents to a couple of twin boys that were born a little over five years ago. We are still clueless but we are now beginning our story as parents of school aged twins that are finding their own voices and personalities, that are able to play together without needing a referee as much and that enjoy figuring out their Lego super hero comic books.

I am beginning my story as a creative entrepreneur, the designer/maker of Twigs and Stones. I have been working from home, trying to keep home and work separate since last year, when my boys started going to school, but i have found it very difficult to find time and energy to do it all. I found out my juggling skills needed to improve and i needed to burn the extra energy i was left with once my boys stopped needing me to spin around for them constantly. I also learned i need to stop worrying and over thinking things, -relax woman!- but how? I joined the gym (for the pool and sauna) and will try to make sure i’m tired when i go to bed at night, laugh more, eat less..

So what has been happening with Twigs and Stones?

I took some courses on how to get my product ready for shops and how to approach retailers, learned about website building, bought a lovely domain that i’m VERY excited about, have been toying with ideas for a Logo and sustainable packaging. I had some lovely people visiting over the summer, they helped me plan the most beautiful picnic birthday for my boys (my lucky boys had home made superhero birthday cakes and superhero masks to give away!!) and we had Twigs and Stone’s first creative board meeting 😉 Thank you so much I, J, R and J for coming over and being so helpful! I also received some advice and feedback on whether or not my products should be Hallmarked from my cousin S and her partner P who visited in June. Thank you S&P!

The results need to materialise shortly so please stay tuned!

I am going to be working on the transformation of this blog into a website and i don’t know if that means you’ll get loads of updates from me, if that happens i apologise in advance (i am starting a course on blogging and it may involve a lot of posting). Thank you, thank you for your support and for following and hope you still visit when the website is finished! I leave you with some nice pictures, from Scotland, with love.. xx M.

 

 

 

 

The importance of being pupa

The not so fancy word “pupa” stands for the transitional state of some insects between a larva and the less ugly winged adult. It looks upsetting, but i bet it feels more intense for the insect itself than for us watching this amazing example from the definition of pupa in Wiki (the longer i look at it the more it amazes me: was it always something different underneath, waiting for the skin to burst? or was it just fine being an ugly little insect until zoop! suddenly it burst and had wings!)

Pupa of a cicada, source: Wiki

This is most likely the last post in this blog under the “natural charms” name.

I have been very busy learning about starting up a business, discovering your brand’s voice, and what retailers want when you approach them to sell your stuff though their shop.. yes, very exiting indeed!

I’ll try to keep sharing the journey, but so much is happening and my main shortage is time, so it will come when it comes..

Mainly i learned this so far:

There is a lot to starting a business.. dah! but more interestingly, i learned there is a best order to do things, and i think i may have learned this just in time!

The greatest source of knowledge so far has been Claire Yuile in her What Retailers Want course.. It has been an eye opener and an inspiration, it has confirmed my hunch that retail is the best way to go for me. Thank you Claire! The bits i learned about finding my brands “voice” come mainly form Abby Kerr and the Voice bureau. The building of a website is underway and i found that Word Press offers a really good alternative, there are options to make your own customized website and great safe options to make it into your online shop.. will be playing with those soon.. first: buy a domain, then decide on a host (most likely Word press for me), in the meantime decipher my brand’s voice to be able to express that on my website. Then write an awesome About page, upload some amazing pics.. the sky is the limit!

So far this is pretty much how my to do list looks like:

• define a clear vision and a brand voice that resonates the principles that are core to my enterprise: work in progress
• good quality products: check (i think)
• good quality pictures of the products: semi check
• nail the estimation of my wholesale prices: need to measure my every move to find out who much time, money and material is being spend, in order to get real numbers that’d allow my business to thrive
• build a catalog of my products
• come up with a tag line: i need to be able to describe what i do in one sentence
• find/develop a clear “voice” to describe my product and my vision in order to reach my ideal costumers..
• of course that in turn means i also need to decipher who they are and where they hang out and shop..
• identify my ideal retailers
• buy a domain and decide on a website host
• build a website
• build an online shop

finally when all the boxes are ticked i’ll try to approach those shops, cross my fingers and hopefully we will be in business!! 

I’ll give you  shout whenever i feel at a stage that is worthwhile commenting upon, and i do hope you let me know what you think!

As always, thanks for reading 🙂

love, M.

Winds of change

Oh boy.. So much has been happening!

Some new pieces came to life to complete the Midsummer Nights Dream collection (pictures featuring next time), and i  got to work on Mimi and Aga, which are actually one of my first custom charms, made a couple o years ago for myself and my friend Aga. They are wishing chrams. We gave a good thought to what we wished to have in our life, which turns out more difficult than you’d think.. success? health? love? money? ok, but in my case also perseverance, and ease to communicate and connect with the right people to make my business happen, and patience and love, and self love, to be a happy mum, an understanding partner, a positive person, joyful AND on top of things.. That’s why the bracelets carry many different stones.. I absolutely love the result! oh the colour!, These pieces needed to be rethought because originally they where strung with thin steel beading wire to accommodate very tiny rubies, but these kept cutting through the strings. Now they are strung through solid sterling silver, i think this should do the trick .

Mimi. Sterling silver, freshwater pearls, ruby sparks, green aventurine, moonstone, blue kyanite, crystal quartz, fluorite, citrine, smoky quartz, yellow sapphire sparks and labradorite

Aga’s wishing bracelet. Sterling silver, black tourmaline, citrine, blue kyanite, ruby, green aventurine, rose quartz, amethyst, crystal quartz and apatite

Ok, so back to what has been happening business wise.. After a week or two of feeling stuck i finally did it, we are now officially called Twigs and Stones. I love what natural charms stands for, but somehow i felt it needed to change. I am happy, there is movement.. With the name decided a shop could finally be opened, i chose Folksy, which is a platform that allows people to find British based handmade items. I like that they have very clear guidelines as to what can be sold, and i liked so many things i found there!

So here’s a toast to the new name and my new little Folksy Shop: Twigs ‘n Stones handcrafted earrings and other natural charms

Welcome to the world Twigs ‘n Stones! I hope we have a great journey together, i promise to share all my lovin..

So, shop created, 5 items listed.. give me a brake, i have very little time to do this.. Maybe i should have called it “baby steps” instead. Facebook page updated, now it’s time to define new directions.. I’ve been researching for Christmas fairs to visit, it’s waaaay to late for booking now, and let’s face it, i don’t have time to make stock right now. So instead i’ll be focusing on “me” sorry “us”: what is my product, what do i want it to be.. why would you buy it, if you and i came across.. This blog will probably also need to change name or we may need to move, more about this.. well.. when I know more 😉

I’ve never considered myself a “girly” girl, one into fashion and trends, and i often wondered what made my friends choose for one product instead of the other.. why that brand?, why that colour?, why that material?.. That is also why me and fashion never really were put together in the same sentence, it was puzzling to me, so i just assumed i was not into those things.. I realise now, i was actually much more conscious of fashion than i thought! It’s what has driven me to actually begin this enterprise, the fact that i don’t like how disposable things are made in the fashion industry, how it doesn’t reflect the labour involved, it’s origin or the real cost of production.. Big bucks go to BIG people, and the people actually working the hardest, often being paid the least.

I was doing some reading on Folksy’s summer camp (it took place in August), I read about it back then and it sounded great (this mamma just didn’t have the spare time back then). So now, with more time, i went and read what it was about and how it went, it looks like it was a great success! it was a great event for new craft business, featuring lots of very interesting people and enterprises giving advise on making a small creative business thrive.. I had the best time reading all about it, but mainly, i think i just fell platonically and intellectually in love! I am experiencing the same signs as you do when you meet someone so exciting you want to become friends with immediately and it feels so awkward because you just met.. know the feeling? I couldn’t wait to shout about it! 

Her name is Clare Yuille and she owns a beautiful little shop near Glasgow and writes an awesome blog, called Indie Retail Academy.. I think i may have read the whole blog, couldn’t stop myself.. it felt as if it had been written thinking of me! She started an online class called What Retailers Want, which is on going i think, so i guess there is just lots of people going through what i’m going through! She writes in such a funny friendly way while going straight to the point.. I really think this is true love (haha.. yes i know how this sounds..) I definitely will take her next course if there is one, and i’ll be following her eagerly.. Maybe it’s a right place/right time sort of thing.. but i’m hooked and in love.. here is a bit i loved out of her post called how to work out what your art is for

When people buy your stuff they’re not really buying your stuff. 

They’re buying how it makes them feel.

Let’s say you make lockets.

You might reasonably suppose that your customers are people who want a locket, so you write something like “We have a wide range of handmade locket necklaces” on your website. 

But while your customer does want a locket, what she actually wants is to feel connected to someone she loves.

When she’s in a soul-crushingly boring meeting at work she wants to touch the chain and think “I’m here, but I’m really with you.” 

When she’s stuck in traffic she wants to open up the locket and discover the face inside all over again – so lovely that she can’t help smiling back.

When she’s waiting in the wings, fervently wishing that TED hadn’t asked her to give a talk about how she discovered perpetual motion, she wants to feel the pendant jumping with her heart beat and a familiar voice saying “Go on. You’ve got this.”

Yep, she wants a locket. But what she really wants is to feel connected to someone she loves.

That’s what your art is for.

Your work makes people feel something. It improves their lives. It solves a problem for them.

That problem may not be on the scale of curing cancer or saving the polar bears, but it’s still a problem.

There are a lot of those in the world. If you’re able to help someone cross even one off the list, we’re all better off.

So think about how your product makes your customers feel.

Think about how it helps them become the person they long to be.

Then write that stuff down on your website in a way that feels honest, whole-hearted and true-to-you.

Loved finding your Blog Clare! it really has given me a lot to think about and i feel lighter today, happy and positive.. yes busy, and still a bit scattered, but I’m not afraid anymore, I know what i’m doing has great potential and i know it’s ok for things to take a while.. I loved your post on procrastinating, my sister should definitely read it!

Thanks for popping by! xx

Where do you come from, where do you go

I’ve had some weeks to “develop” the concept of Natural Charms and it’s been much harder than i’d anticipated it would be. I set out a list of things to do: finish/send out outstanding orders, update blog and Fbook page, open a e-shop, research where i’d like to sell if i could do it through a shop..

I’m pleased with my first little collection -yes, I know I am biased- i like the combination and concept of Midsummer Night’s Dream. It features 5 different stones: golden yellow citrine, sensual red carnelean, fresh green kyanite, soft breezy aquamarine and beautiful and positive black tourmaline. The starting point was a pair of earrings developed as a wedding present, a request from my sister for a good friend of hers, she hoped i could also make a matching necklace for the groom to be. Loved every minute of working on Ari and Sasha. Fion came after, i love the result of mixing techniques and materials (there are a couple more pieces not yet finished).

Ari in sterling silver

Sasha in sterling silver and hemp

Fion in sterling silver and hemp

So everything on the creative department is swell, but I’ve been stuck with the rest as it requires me to be sure of the name of the brand. I like natural charms, it seamed to suit from day one, but i’ve had reservations for a while now. There is a lady trading under the same name in the UK, she started later but she was more active than me, and it is possible she didn’t know about us. I’m not sure this would stop me from using the name as i’m confident we started first, but it brought up second thoughts and since then every now and then i find myself toying with other names, so far, always coming back to the original..

Because i really am keen to find out if it’s actually possible to make a living out of this enterprise, i’d like to set up shop asap, and so the matter becomes more urgent: who am i as a brand, what drives me, where do i want to go.. (very big concepts!!)

I made lists of what i want the brand to be like (values), how i want the pieces to be (quality?) and what I like most about the enterprise.

So here it is, the first sketches of a new brand in the making:

What do I want the brand to be like? Ethical, sustainable, sincere, empowering, educative, aware

How do I want my pieces to be? Simple, natural, comfortable, practical, durable (not disposable)

What do I like the most about the enterprise? (as you can see, it’s actually the potential that excites me the most)

The stones, the amazing array of colours and textures, the time and processes they underwent in their formation, both naturally and through human intervention

Creative freedom, the universe of possibilities in design that come with working with stones, noble metals and natural fibers.. loving it

Flexibility, the freedom to work from home and be around when the boys finish school and pick up when they are sleeping, no long commute but mainly no time wasted in traffic. Allow me to elaborate: I live near London and peak time is just really really scary, I was always stressed coming back to pick up the children from nursery, and back then I could call if there was an accident or a train had been cancelled and there was always someone to stay with my boys if that happened. I heard they can call social services if you don’t collect your child on time from school, and we have no family here to go for an emergency pick up.

The potential for sustainability: there is surprising range of sustainable alternative products that is starting to be available: less harsh chemicals for working with metals and more sustainable materials are making their way into the market: recycled silver, Fairtrade gold 😀

The potential for creating an ethical brand: the potential of generating a fairer and more ethical production chain: make the chain shorter and the benefits better distributed amongst local populations where the materials are sourced

So.. what will it be.. should I stay as natural charms? or embrace the freedom that comes with being practically at starting point and make it something fresher, more modern or more playful.. I was thinking maybe twigs&stones(??) I know there is practically 3 people reading this, so to you three: what do you think?

Thanks for reading! love xx

M.

ps. of course I’ve been googling to find out if all the strange names ii kept coming up with already existed as a jewellery brand and found a beautiful song called twigs and stones.. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cr5ZaIrsCyA

Ready, set, go!

Today was the last day for my lovely twins to hang around in their pijamas/superhero suits during a school morning. From Monday on wards they’ll have to have finished their breakfast by 8:00 so they can get dressed in their little uniforms to leave for school by 8:40.. which means i’ll be home by 9 am most mornings. Home alone! for the whole morning! and from October until 3! This amount of time to admin on my own has been unheard of in my life for the last 4 years and 49 days..

I already mourn our time together, the three musketeers for hours on end, playing, reading, drawing, going for walks, watching movies and playing some more.. I will not miss the headaches of trying to do those things while at the same time having to come up with interesting ideas for healthy meals and making them come to life, getting the clothes in and out the washing machine before they get that weird smell of clean but not hung out on time, the endless washing of plastic cups and plates and cutlery, and the never ending piles of clothes to be folded and put away. These things still need to be done, but I can de-multitask my life and i’m thinking that will make a world of difference

It feels like a release not to have to watch that the right amount of carbohydrates are being served, next to the protein that makes you strong (veggies were never a problem), i’m very happy that my boy’s school has the option of getting freshly cooked, locally sourced warm home made food for them. I’m in, happy with that 🙂 I’ll start making lavishly selfish salads for lunch, with MY favourite veggies plus some anchovies, or sardines, or little prawns.. some sesame seeds!, or(and) soya sprouts.. the world is my oyster.

But also, I’ll have time to do THIS. Work on my baby project that is endlessly waiting to get off the ground.. So here is to finally properly starting to develop my natural charms, REALLY looking forward!!..

I have been working on a little project that has long been in my head and finally had an excuse to execute as my sister wanted to get a friend of hers a special pair of earnings as a wedding present and this friend just happens to be (i think) the kind of person that would appreciate what i had in mind. So a pair of earrings was made (Ari) while my first concept for a collection was developed.. huuge steps for me, I was really happy.. Started doing some soldering and exploring textures and other materials.. Then the school holidays started, my 15 hours of nursery a week finished,  the in-laws visited from Bolivia and Summer came (and went). Needless to say, my little pliers and my stones hung out to dry again.. I’m not complaining, we had a great summer; it’s more like apologizing, to my tools, to my sister’s friend, who still hasn’t heard of her earrings.. and to myself and my natural charms..

So updates on my first little collection: Midsummer night’s dream, is soon to follow, promise!

Also on my to do list for next week: get in touch with the clients (friends) that have showed interest in some pieces and have been horribly neglected by me.. I have been to the naughty step and promise not to do that any more..

Thanks to my lovely friends/readers, for giving this a peek and for hopefully keeping an eye on things to come.. I really appreciate the support and it makes a world of difference when you do give me any feedback..

Love and virtual hugs, xxx

Mireya Q.

Fair Jewellery Action

Fair Jewellery Action.

via Fair Jewellery Action.

Conflict Gold to Peace Gold – part 3

Conflict Gold to Peace Gold – part 3.

via Conflict Gold to Peace Gold – part 3.

Conflict Gold to Peace Gold – part 2

Conflict Gold to Peace Gold – part 2.

via Conflict Gold to Peace Gold – part 2.

Soaking up the London scene

I have been doing a lot of research into the current jewellery scene here in London, and on-line. I went to my first catwalk on the 5th of June, it was Graduate Fashion Week 2013 and I went with a designer friend, Vivian (mentioned here after as V), who is building her own design brand of patterned silk textiles inspired by the Andean culture and cosmo-vision. The Show was amazing, apparently it is the biggest catwalk displaying work from the years graduates in the UK and around the world. Here’s some of my best pictures of the show, we where lucky we got really good seats!

I did feel a bit like miss Bradshaw, and it was nice, but also strange because I have never been a girl much into fashion. My product choices have more to do with materials (natural always preferable), practicality (I like to be active and I have children, so it needs to stay in place and withstand more than only gravity), quality (I like things to last, I am loving the movement against products that are expressly made with an expiration date) and origin (ideally locally sourced or with a short production chain). But let’s face it, I am also a bit poor, so price a lot of times trumps origin. I’m not proud of that, its just a fact of life that I am working on changing soon :o)

I am thinking it will be important though to have a better understanding of the industry and the trends to be able to make pieces that are both conscious in the making but also current and contemporary. I would like people to choose them because they are beautiful and wearable as much as for the ethical values that they stand for, and I would like to spread the love of natural stones into younger generations.

Another exiting event was Jewellery Week 2013 which was last week in London. I managed to have a look at the Treasure exhibition, at the Somerset House, which was showcasing a few ethical jewellers.. Yaay there IS an ethical movement! I even found a designer who is already working the way I hope to be able to some day, the brand is JoKaminska and she sources her stones locally and has set up an educational program about art and recycling. Hearing her tell me about her project put such a big smile on my face..

Then afterwards I met up with V and her husband (who makes beautiful semi professional jewellery pictures by the way)..  to visit the Cockpits Arts Open Studios in Deptford, this is one of two blocks of studios that offer crafters, designers and artists a space to work along side other creative souls under the umbrella and guidance of an experienced team that are supposed to help you set up and start your business smoothly.. I know, I had the best time! It was really exciting to meet so many new people in different artisan/artistic trades.. I’m liking the scene so far..

Thanks for popping by, comments are much appreciated 🙂 xx