Filed under: Events, Uncategorized
Well, it finally happened! John D’Agostino and Mariealena Calabrese (that’s me) were married on August 1, 2009 on the beach in Ocean City, NJ. It was an amazing day in so many ways. All of the effort and planning that had me pulling my hair out for the past five months had finally come to fruition and I was able to enjoy it!
John and I have 2 children; Isabella Rose (will be 3 yrs old on August 15), and John Peter, IV (who is 7 1/2 months old). Although they were not physically supposed to be in the wedding Isabella of course made herself part of the ceremony…
There are so many pictures that were taken. I placed camera on each table for the guests to take candid shots, and I had two of the best professional photographers to capture the most important moments of our day. Tim Dinofa, of Dinofa Photography was the lead photographer. He is one of the most talented photographers that I have seen in a long time. You can visit his site and read his blog to see everything he has to offer, and view his talent for yourself. Some of our pictures will be posted there soon! Usually his 2nd shooter is his wife, Lauren, but they are getting ready to have their 3rd child so for this event he was able to bring out someone else all the way from Orange County, CA. Christoper Becker and his talents are well known in the photography world and we were ecstatic to have him be a part of our wedding. “Becker”, as he is affectionately referred to by most, also has a blog and some of our pictures will be posted there as well. You can view Becker’s Blog here.
I made all of the jewelry for the wedding. I want to wait until I see Tim and Becker’s professional photos of my pieces before I post them, because my pictures never do the jewelry justice. In fact, it isn’t even close most times. But, that’s why I am a professional poker player who happens to make jewelry! For now, I want to thank my sisters for being beautiful Bridesmaids, my Niece for being the most beautiful Jr. Bridesmaid ever, the Groomsmen and Best Man, and of course my Niece Gabrielle for doing our lovely reading. We have another shoot scheduled with Tim as part of our “Engagement” package, and hopefully we can do that soon.
We are postponing the Honeymoon until later in the year, which is a better time to go to our selected destination, Italy. For now it’s back to making jewelry for me! Maybe on Tim’s downtime (yeah right….like he has ANY of that) I can get him to take pics of my jewelry!
Tags: beach weddings, crystal wedding jewelry, Destination Weddings, John D'Agostino, Mariealena Calabrese, Ocean City NJ, poker players, wedding jewelry
Permalink Comments (2) Mariealena Aug 3, 2009
Filed under: Events, Glass Beads, Handmade Jewelry, Uncategorized
I recently came across an article written by Teri of S&T Creations. Teri asks “Are you really adding in ALL of your costs?” The article in it’s entirety can be viewed by clicking here. Below is a copy of Teri’s article as well as my response. Any thoughts that you have are encouraged to be posted, especially from those artist that do a lot of shows. Please leave your comments on my blog.
Preface: While Teri clearly realizes how expensive it is to actually have a beading business, like so many others in the industry I am not sure that she has completely crossed over from having a “Hobby” to having a full fledged business. As with any business you will incur start up costs such as tools, storage materials, equipment, advertising etc.. It is my feeling that these things should be written off as business expenses when filing your business taxes. Teri is trying to find a way to compensate for these expenses, and rightfully so, but she is thinking of passing along those expenses to her customers rather than writing them off as I believe she should be doing.
Teri Writes:
“I still struggle with pricing my work, something that I think many designers, particularly new ones, have a tendency to do. Until we gain confidence and truly appreciate the value of our work, we can miss some things in our calculations. So, I tried to write a list—WOW, was I surprised. Here are some things you may not consider when you are putting a price tag on a piece of jewelry.
TIME (not the time it took you to actual design and lay out, make and finish the piece but the following)
a. Time in research, writing and entering your blog articles
b. Time preparing your set, taking, editing and uploading pictures of your item
c. Time writing your listing, the description, creating tags, shipping plan
d. Time prepping an item to ship: gather package, wrapping, thank you note, any gift or coupon, postage and return address/mailing address
e. Driving to and from post office to drop off, pick up packages
f. Time maintaining your inventory, if you enter that in a software program, manually in a ledger, if you create labels, etc.
g. Time searching, buying and paying online for your components & supplies
h. Time driving to and from and while you are at bead stores and shows
i. Time filing sales tax, keeping receipts and preparing all that for taxes each year
j. Time preparing and submitting booth entry or jury entry for a show
EXPENSES
a. Domain costs for your webpage, possibly a web hosting cost, maybe you use a web developer too
b. Camera for photos, lights and possibly a light box
c. Storage of your components: cases, files, shelving, boxes, binders, plastic tubs
d. Books, dvds, tutorials, subscriptions to magazines, any websites you subscribe to
e. Equipment and tools you’ve purchased (and what you store them in), your beadboards, props for your photos
f. Your calendar, scheduler
g. Cost of the designs you made for YOU—you are an advertising billboard of your own work
h. Cost of items you do make for gifts
i. Broken beads
j. Your computer, printer, paper, ink, and software
k. Cost of internet connectivity
l. In home office cost: space, utilities, filing cabinets, closets, telephone
m. Business cards, signs, posters
n. Booth costs: table clothes, skirts, displays, price tags, bags
1.Your costs for the show—food, drinks, lodging, travel
o. Mileage to everywhere mentioned above
p. Booth and Show entry fees, jury fees, fees to enter bead shows
q. Cost of all classes you’ve taken
r. Any consignment costs, or hostess arrangements you may also have for shows
“Other, Miscellaneous Things”
a. Those “orphan” beads left over from a design but not enough to make another
b. Beads you purchased, then later realized you didn’t like them and don’t use
c. The small “leftovers” from your supplies—that extra 6 inches of cord, wire, beadalon, tigertail, etc that you can’t do anything with except throw away
d. The items already in your home and garage that also support your business, maybe you use your microwave, or your stove, or tools from the toolbox, toothpicks, clothespins, needles or pins, scissors, twist ties, sealable bags, notepads, fingernail polish, sandpaper or emery boards
e. Cost of any repairs you were asked to make, or adjustments to length, change out clasp or switch from pierced to clip-ons, etc
f. Any thefts you might have had at a show (hopefully not, but things do happen)
g. Any items that become broken when packing and setting up/tearing down from a show
Even with this list, I didn’t count for personal “costs” such as time away from home because you have a show to do, or just how tiring packing, setting up, tearing down and putting away everything can be from doing a show, and those very intangible items that we all make choices about when we book an event.
I hope you found some new things to consider. Feel free to comment on anything else I’ve forgotten!! Teri”
My Response:
This is a very well thought out article, however I think you must consider are that you cannot pass along all of your expenses to your customer. Some of these things are the natural part of having a business such as your web site, storage compartments, tools, software, etc. The reward for having these necessary items is the eventual sale of your product.
Let’s just say that you were to pass along these charges. Over what period of time are you factoring in those charges, or for how long? A storage compartment (plastic) can cost $1.00. Over how many pieces of jewelry (or other items) are you factoring in that $1.00? When the $1.00 has been compensated for, do you then lower your price?
In my humble opinion, these are business expenses and should be written off as such when you do your taxes, not passed along to your customers.
One of the first things I did when starting this business was to look on the Internet for the average hourly rate for the profession of a jeweler in my state. Then I factored in my experience and education and selected the rate that I thought was fair for myself and my customers. Over the past 3 years I have given myself a raise 
Therefore, the “cost of the classes you’ve taken” as you mentioned, should already be factored into your established hourly labor rate.
I have a program that allows me to keep inventory, calculates the cost of each bead, design a piece, and then it automatically calculates a proper selling price for that piece (wholesale, direct, and retail). I simply set the parameters for my markup in each category (which in my case is relatively low compared to the market), and my hourly labor rate and the program does the rest.
I see the blog writing and article writing as necessary self promotion and I don’t factor charges into my designs for that, because if I were to do “professional” advertising or hire someone to write would cost a lot of money.
Many people also use free web pages available to promote their business such as Myspace, Facebook, and other free blog pages. This eliminates hosting fees. And, while the competition on Etsy is vast, it is definitely the cheapest place to sell your items for those without a shopping cart integrated into their site.
If you truly want to make it a business then you should incorporate, which is also pretty inexpensive. If you do a lot of shows where you feel that theft is a problem you should consider insurance that would cover your losses, and perhaps breakage, etc. I have never done this myself because I don’t do shows at this time, but I imagine that this is possible. Some locations may even offer insurance (and if they don’t perhaps they should start!)
You wrote: “e. Driving to and from post office to drop off, pick up packages”
Did you know that in most areas, if not all, that USPS will pick up items from your home for free? Their packaging is also free and can be ordered over the Internet and will be delivered to your home or business. (This obviously eliminates your driving time to and from the PO, your mileage, and the use of gas)
“b. Beads you purchased, then later realized you didn’t like them and don’t use”
You cannot charge customers for this. This is was your judgment. I suggest gathering all of your miscellaneous things that you don’t want, putting them in a nice container with partitions, and selling it as a starter package (older tools, extra beads and findings, extra cord or wire). You might not recover all of your costs, but it is better than leaving them to rot.
This is EXACTLY how I started my “hobby”. I purchased someone’s leftovers on Ebay just to see if I would actually like beading and 3 years later I have a beautiful website and really enjoy my small business.
Also, if you don’t already, try purchasing from a reputable place like Firemountain Gems, who has a “No Questions Asked” return policy on their items. If you buy something and don’t like it, return it. It’s that simple.
“Cost of Internet connectivity”
This is something else that you shouldn’t charge for, as you would probably have Internet connectivity without your business. However, even if the Internet was strictly being used for your business, all of these things (like the use of your microwave, electric, or certain areas of your home) can be written off as business expenses when you file your taxes. If you dedicate let’s say 15% of your home to your business, as long as you can prove this you should write it off. If you are not familiar with how to do this then you can consult an accountant (and probably find FREE information on the Internet).
Therefore, there is no need to pass these charges along to your customers because they are business write offs.
Thank you, and I hope that I have also given you some insight! Best wishes always…
Tags: business expenses, handcrafted jewelry, Handmade Beaded Jewelry, jewelry shows, pricing your jewelry
Permalink Comments (3) Mariealena Jan 15, 2009
Filed under: Events, Handmade Jewelry
Hi Everyone…
Let me start by saying that I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! We spent ours in our “new”, 2nd home in Connecticut and we ate with my fiancee’s family. It was very nice although I didn’t eat very much. We are having our 2nd child on December 10th and he is giving me some serious heartburn! Oh well, it’ll all be worth it in the end, which is unbelievably only 9 days away.
Now for the introduction of my newest section of the store, Gift Cards! If you aren’t sure what to get that special someone, but you know you want it handmade you can now conveniently purchase gift cards from Isabella’s Beads. Click on the Gift Card and select your desired increment from the drop down menu and click “Add to Cart”. It’s that easy! Add multiple cards for various gifts. Our gift cards can be used to purchase any items in the store. There are no restrictions.
Please don’t forget to check out the Holiday Items section of Isabella’s Beads for new themed jewelry and holiday gift presentation items such as our Wine gift bags which are available in 5 vibrant colors for only $2.50 each!
In my last blog I mentioned the addition of the Guest Jewelers Section. That section is now complete and all of the items have been added for December’s featured artists. Janice Kuhm, Rachael Swiss, and Sophia Waddell are the first artists to be featured for this month. The response has been overwhelming and I have several new artists already lined up for January. I think that this is going to be a wonderful experience for all who are involved.
If you are an artist of handmade jewelry or ANY handmade items, and you would like to be featured in my Blog, monthly Newsletter, and in the Guest Jewelers Section of my store please E-mail me and I’ll tell you how you can get started immediately! Keep in mind that only registered users of Isabella’s Beads will receive our exclusive Newsletters, so if you would like to be on that list please Register Here for free to become a member.
Money Making Opportunities:
If you are interested in selling some of my items on your own site, and you would like to be a wholesale customer with Isabella’s Beads please Register Here. Certain restrictions apply.
If you are interested in earning money as an Affiliate of Isabella’s Beads you can register for an Affiliate Account here. It is helpful to have a web site of course, but it is definitely not necessary, as each affiliate has their own unique bonus code.
Each of these opportunities is absolutely FREE and takes only a few minutes of your time. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me! Have a good week 
Tags: Affiliate programs, decorative liquor bags, Featured Artists, handcrafted jewelry, Handmade Beaded Jewelry, Handmade Jewelry, Holiday jewelry, themed jewelry, Wholesale jewelry, wine bags
Permalink Comments (0) Mariealena Dec 1, 2008
