A bit of a conundrum

So I made this lovely necklace today. It's bright and cheery. great summer colors.
My issue is with pricing. I used real turquoise in making this so it makes the necklace a little on the expensive side. I don't usually have a problem with charging more for more expensive supplies, but this time I don't know. When I plug in my normal pricing formula it makes this necklace $42. but to me it seems a little plain to pay that price for it, plus I have a lot more interesting pieces in my shop that cost a lot less. So now I'm thinking maybe I'll take it apart and start over, something I've never had to do before.
Any thoughts?

The Making of a Banner

an ongoing saga.

I have been wanting to make a new banner for a long time since my original is the first one I made when I first set up shop. My photo taking skills weren't as good as they are now(not that they're so great now.) and I didn't have a clue about photo editing. So today I made my first attempt.
I posted it in the etsy forums for some feedback and came back with It is a great concept but the finished product misses the mark. And I completely agree. It is hard to step back from your work with an objective eye. This is something that because I spelled it have absolutely no trouble reading, but others found it difficult to make out what it said and found the picture to be blurry.
You can see how it looks as a banner at my etsy shop.
but as always the etsy forums are full of ideas suggestions and advice. so I plan to keep at it for as long as I can, all this computer photo pixel sizes editing cropping is really a pain for me because I don't really know what I'm doing just trying this and that.

One suggestion I got was to use a different background so I tried that first. I laid out a large piece of fabric that I had leftover from re upholstering my chairs on my dining room table and set the jewelry out in the shapes of the letters.

Then I just started taking photos, Did some editing and this is what I came up with.



I think it's better but still not quite where I want it to be.

Another Option

This is the black/black option. It would add $3.00 to the price of the set.

Special Request

Hi Kris, This blog post is for you. I haven't been blogging at all as I find it to be very time consuming and difficult to keep up with. Life keeps me pretty busy and I'd rather spend the little extra time I have creating new pieces.
With that said I decided the best way for me to answer your questions and concerns about the pieces you are interested in would be to post a blog and then send you a link to it so that is what this is all about.One of your concerns was not having a model of the necklaces so you could visualize the length. here are two photos that I hope will put it in better perspective for you.


this photo is a bit blurry but you get a good idea of how it hangs on the body.


here is the same photo I sent you last night, I just posted it again so you could refer to it all in one place.
Another concern was a black mark on the center blue ring. If you look in the photo above the mark is actually on the back side of the necklace. I can assure you that the mark is a natural occurrence in the fresh water shell and if you look closely at the beads you will see other discolorations, striping, and swirling. However none are as prominent as this particular mark so I would be able to change that bead for you. I would have to take the necklace apart and replace the bead, use new wiring and end pieces. It would add up to two days to your delivery time and add $1.00 to the cost of the set to cover the costs of the new wiring and end pieces.

Another concern was the color of the green beads. They are in fact the same lime green beads in the other necklace that you liked. The photos for the listing were taken in unnatural light and probably altered the color slightly or perhaps your computer monitor colors alter slightly from mine whatever the case they are the same beads. here is a photo to help compare the two.


as you can see especially in the second photo they are the same. If you are still not happy with the color combination I have put together some alternatives however they will all effect the price of the set and most will effect the dimensions as well. I have photographed all of the options alongside the original so you can compare them that way.

The first option is a lemon yellow ceramic bead, this option keeps the piece bright and cheery. it will add some length to the necklace as you can see the ceramic beads are slightly larger than the green glass. It will also add $5.50 to the set making the total $25.50 + shipping.


The next option I put together is an ivory bone spacer bead, this option gives the piece a more modern feel, it will make the piece much shorter and I may have to add more of the other beads to make it long enough to wear. Without adding the other beads this change will add $2.25 to the set making it $22.25 + shipping.


The next option is a brown stone bead, it gives the piece a more earthy feel the length will only vary slightly from the original probably an unnoticeable amount. This option will add $3.00 to the set making it $23.00 + shipping.

The next option is a silver tone round bead giving the piece a more classic appeal. This option will likely not alter the dimensions of the set as the beads are the same size as the lime green beads. The silver toned beads will add $3.50 to the price making it $23.50 + shipping.


The last option I have put together for you is a clear glass bead with a pink swirl it looks really nice with the other beads but these beads are significantly more expensive than the other options and would add $20.00 to the existing price making it $40.00 + shipping.


Generally I try to mix my beads so that more expensive beads are paired with less expensive ones to avoid these kinds of high costs. Of all the options I have provided I think I like the Lemon Yellow Ceramic beads the best it's bright cheeriness is the same funky effect I was going for with the lime green beads.
I think I have addressed all of your concerns here if you have any more questions please contact me through my etsy shop. as you can see I am not very active on this site.

Thanks again for your interest,
Robyn