NODEFORM: Etsymetal Blog Carnival

What is a Blog Carnival?
It is EtsyMetal members who write an article on the same topic.
Our New Years Topic: Resolutions

Happy New Year! Frohes Neues Jahr!

Is that time of the year again that everyone makes a few resolutions for the new year and I am no exception.

First goal: I will learn 3d modeling for my jewelry line and create one ring per week.

“Old dogs can learn new tricks” and I really wanted to get into 3D modeling for some time. Well, I use CAD in my day job but it's mostly 2D and the shapes are simpler. The software I use at work does not work well for jewelry. So my goal is to learn form generation in Rhino3D. It's a software used to model simple or complex forms.

Playing around with different tools in Rhino to create a simple New Years ring.

To stay on target I joined Ring A Week ( RAW ) group on flickr. This is a challenge to create a ring a week. I did RAD (Ring A Day) last year but could not keep up with the photography portion and flaked out after some 30 or so rings. RAW will work better with my schedule. Just creating a ring a week in my usual wax working technique would not really be a challenge for me but doing so in CAD will definitely get me some gray hair. So I will have to finish a ring design every week in 3D and then have it printed on a 3D printer like Shapeways. There will be a 2 week time delay between the modeling and actually getting the printed design in my hands but I think I will just roll with it. I am really hoping to expand my ring designs and come up with some new shapes and maybe even rings for new collections.

Second goal: Find more revenue streams.

Selling on Etsy has been pretty good so far and it is constantly growing. But to kick my business into the next gear I will need to find more places to sell. Artful Home has been a good addition for the last 3 month. But I also need some local presence. I tried a couple retail and trade shows but it did not pay off. So I will have to start approaching galleries. Since I am really shy, this won't be easy to just go in and pitch my line. But I have nothing to loose and no excuse not to try.

Third Goal: Try more techniques and learn new skills.

I am in the process of setting up my own casting equipment. I am still working out some technical challenges but hope to be able to do a couple test castings in the next few weeks. If all goes well this should allow me to cast pieces that my local casting shop won't do, like casting with stones in place and burn out of organic materials and plastics like the 3D printed models from the RAW challenge. With silver metal price still climbing this also allows me to recycle some of my old metal and scraps. One way to a greener studio.

The biggest goal for this year: Escape Cubicle Nation.

By the end of 2011 I would like to quit my day job and do my own business full time. I know it's a pretty big goal and I might not get there. But one has to aim high to accomplish something. For the last few month I tried to do a 4 day work week only and I really enjoyed that. It gave me a little more time for my jewelry and made the work week fly by really fast. I'd like to continue that for the next few month and eventually even reduce it to a 3 day work week. I still work the other days in the studio but at least I have a few nights off to do fun things like meeting friends or just reading a book.

Other than those business goals I love to have more fun and take extra time to enjoy my personal life. I need to get out of the studio more on weekends and take the bike and the dogs to the beach. What sense does it make to live only 3 miles from the beach but never ever go there to enjoy the nice sea breeze. I also need to practice more yoga to keep those back pains at bay. And then there are still a few remodeling projects around the house that need to get done.

Please check out resolutions by other Etsymetal team members: