• Do you edit or participate in other jewelry related sites besides About.com?
I have to admit that I’ve gotten bitten by the weblog bug! Besides the blog on the homepage of my About.com site, which I use to announce updates to the site or related jewelry news information, I have also started writing a few others that cover different aspects of jewelry:
Over at b5media.com I write the Jewelry and Beading Blog. This is primarily aimed at jewelry makers, but it’s got a little different flavor. It’s a little more personal, not has heavy with the instructional. For example, I might talk about how I just got an article rejected from a magazine and then talk about how I cope with rejection in general, or I might show some jewelry I just wore that day.
At Creative-Weblogging, I write The Jewelry Weblog. This blog has a wider audience. It’s for anyone who loves jewelry, whether you make it or buy it or are just into fashion. I try to keep up on the jewelry fashion trends and any jewelry-related news over there.
I also just started a new blog about working from home at home.wurk.net/ (which is part of Wurk.net). I don’t talk about jewelry there, but I do talk about working from home, and in a way, that’s related since many jewelry makers who run businesses operate out of their homes.
Other than my blogs, there’s my own web site – a kind of resume/portfolio on-line: www.tammypowley.com/
• In addition to writing content for jewelry related websites, you’ve also written several books including Making Designer Bead and Wire Jewelry; Making Designer Seed Bead, Stone, and Crystal Jewelry; Making Designer Gemstone and Pearl Jewelry and co-author on The Art of Making Jewelry. Was it very difficult to get your books published?
The answer is yes and no. The first book, Making Designer Gemstone and Pearl Jewelry, was a blessing that kind of fell into my lap. Someone gave my name to an editor at Rockport who emailed me to see if I was interested. They already had the book concept and needed a writer/designer to make it happen. I had to convince them that I was the right person for the job by writing up a bio/resume and showing them some of my jewelry.
The second book and third book in that series (the bead & wire and then the seed bead book) required a little more work on my part because I had to come up with the book concepts myself and write proposals for each. Of course, I was a known entity to the publisher then, and my first book sold very well (and still is from what I hear), but still, the proposal writing process is brutal. It requires a lot of time, especially with jewelry since you also have to design and make most of the jewelry in order to show it in the proposal, and you just don’t know if it will be accepted or not.
• I know you also teach bead classes from time to time… do you feel that taking classes is a worthwhile way for folks to expand on their jewelry making craft?
I love taking classes, and for me, I learn much better “hands-on,” so yes, I think jewelry classes are probably the best way for most people to learn. Nothing beats having someone right there to ask a question of or to demonstrate a technique right in front of you over and over again if necessary until you get it.
• Like any other type of fashion, jewelry seems to be subject to market trends and whims. Today’s hot is tomorrow’s not… do you think we as jewelry makers need to pay attention to any of that?
You know, I do pay attention just because I really love jewelry, and I want to know what’s popular. But, that doesn’t mean it’s something I will always wear or make myself, and I don’t think anyone who is serious about jewelry making as an art form should let themselves be influenced too much. Make what you like. Be true to yourself and your instincts. If your design happens to also be a trend, then great, but don’t make something just because you think it will sell. Believe me – I’ve tried it and if you don’t like a style, then it won’t sell for you too well, and heck, it’s just not fun.
