pianomom
Registered: 09/06/07
Posts: 193
|
| | 02/06/08 at 08:52 AM | Reply with quote | #1 |
|
First question:
Do you have to make your own ear wires to be able to put "hand crafted" on your earring cards? (I've made some, but still have a lot of pre-made ones that I also want to use)
Second question: I've seen some earring cards in stores (where people were selling hand crafted earrings). Do you make your own earring cards & if so, what's the best way to do it? Do you just get thick cards and print them in your printer, etc.? Have them made? If you make your own, how do you get the holes/or slots in them where the earrings slide through to look professional? (ok, I guess that's more than one question, but all of these have to do with the cards  )
|
| Loading... | |
DianneKargBaron
Moderator
Registered: 12/07/04
Posts: 534
|
| | 02/06/08 at 12:40 PM | Reply with quote | #2 |
|
Answer to the first question: IMO, yes.
Answer to the second question: I have used earring cards that I printed on business card stationery on my own printer. I set the template up in MS Word. Very quick and easy. I've also printed cards that I cut by hand. That allowed thicker card stock, but took forever, so I abandoned that. I also know of people who get proper business printed on glossy card stock and use those. To hang earrings, just use a pin to punch a hole into the card. For some earrings that were more difficult to hang, I used a single hole punch. Use one card as the master, and then you can always get them in the same place.
HTH 
|
| Loading... | |
minigal
Registered: 03/20/07
Posts: 27
|
| | 02/06/08 at 01:15 PM | Reply with quote | #3 |
|
Question #1. My opinion, is yes.
Your others...
I've been making my own, as I haven't yet found any pre-made ones that appeal to me yet. IMO, those plastic ones that are flocked and are able to hang (and sometimes marked 'sterling silver'), are way too store-like for a hand crafted item.
In Open Office, I made a sheet (8 1/2 x 11) that has my name/logo on it evenly spaced out nine times. ( 3 rows of 3) I print that out and cut between them with a paper cutter. To get the holes lined up, I make a template with one card where the holes will be and place it over the other one. I use a thumb tack to make the holes, as they are a lot smaller than a hole punch, and the earrings don't have as much of a tendency to fall out.
|
| Loading... | |
pianomom
Registered: 09/06/07
Posts: 193
|
| | 02/06/08 at 01:19 PM | Reply with quote | #4 |
|
Yeah, that does help! (took me a min. to figure out the HTH. lol!)
Regarding first question, what do you put on the cards then if you make the earrings but don't make the ear wires? I mean, I can make the ear wires since they're not hard to make, but I'd also like to use up the premade ones I already have too. What other descriptions can you use besides handcrafted? I got to thinking that might help the jewelry to sell in the boutique that I have them in. Right now, they're just on plain gray cards. I've put the description on there as to whether they're 14k gf or Arg. SS, etc. But I thought the handcrafted label would be a good selling point.
|
| Loading... | |
pianomom
Registered: 09/06/07
Posts: 193
|
| | 02/06/08 at 01:21 PM | Reply with quote | #5 |
|
Minigal, guess we were posting at the same time! Do you still hang your cards? I have mine on one of those little earring stands. |
| Loading... | |
minigal
Registered: 03/20/07
Posts: 27
|
| | 02/06/08 at 01:29 PM | Reply with quote | #6 |
|
I hang a few loose on an iron ladder that I found at a garage sale, and it holds about six pairs. All of the others are on the cards, and I prop them up against either the busts or risers. Sometimes I lay them in between everything else. So far it seems to work. I did see that Rio has Tri fold cards to hang earrings. I may eventually invest in those.
Prior to the cards, my husband made me earring holders from that fancy metal stuff you can find at Lowe/Home Depot. He placed it in a picture frame. It was a nice idea, and worked fine, but I chose black metal, and my earrings just disappeared on them.
|
| Loading... | |
Gayle
Registered: 01/26/07
Posts: 212
|
| | 02/06/08 at 02:49 PM | Reply with quote | #7 |
|
You guys, WHY do you think you have to make your own ear wires to call it handcrafted?
|
| Loading... | |
gypse
Moderator
Registered: 12/05/04
Posts: 2,082
|
| | 02/06/08 at 04:22 PM | Reply with quote | #8 |
|
Boy, I think you could come at that first question from several different viewpoints - legal, ethical, marketing, juried shows, ??
Legal - can't just be your opinion, has to be able to be referenced to specific references in the law. The only one I am aware of (would be interesting to see what else people know of) is the US FTC "Guides for the Jewelry, Precious Metals, and Pewter Industries"
and the only reference I can think of there is this -
Quote: § 23.3 Misuse of the terms "hand-made," "hand-polished," etc.(a) It is unfair or deceptive to represent, directly or by implication, that any industry product is hand-made or hand-wrought unless the entire shaping and forming of such product from raw materials and its finishing and decoration were accomplished by hand labor and manually-controlled methods which permit the maker to control and vary the construction, shape, design, and finish of each part of each individual product. Note to paragraph (a): As used herein, "raw materials" include bulk sheet, strip, wire, and similar items that have not been cut, shaped, or formed into jewelry parts, semi-finished parts, or blanks.
(b) It is unfair or deceptive to represent, directly or by implication, that any industry product is hand-forged, hand-engraved, hand-finished, or hand-polished, or has been otherwise hand-processed, unless the operation described was accomplished by hand labor and manually-controlled methods which permit the maker to control and vary the type, amount, and effect of such operation on each part of each individual product.
Ethical - you obviously don't want to decieve people that care about the fine distinctions of the word hand-crafted or hand-made - but does everyone care? or care to the same extent?
Many, many people seem to think it is ok to use small incidental findings in a piece and still call it hand-crafted/hand-made. Whether it is a snap-set for an accent gem or an ear-wire, what's the difference. If the bulk of what you are buying is hand-crafted and the design was directly influenced during the making . . . if the earring is hand-crafted, but the thing it is hanging from isn't . . .
Marketing - Who is your main market and what do they consider hand-crafted? Are they purists, is it a high-price point art market, do you need to not only make earwires but make them distinctive? Are they just people that like unique jewelry and don't care what it is hanging on? Do they value comfort/security more than anything else and want levers/clips/etc?
I know the clip findings I use are $10 a pop - not what I would consider cheap - and the prevailing argument for using them for clip wearers is that they are comfortable - they can be worn all day without pinching . . .
but somehow these discussions are normally about hooks and ignore levers, posts, and clips.
Juried Shows - I've been rejected from some shows for using stone centerpieces - "not handcrafted by the artist" . . . other shows allow me in because I buy from independant lapidaries who did handcut/handpolish each stone. I've never been rejected due to my earwires though.
I do use "handcrafted" on my labels . . . but I pre-dominately sell pendants . . . I hadn't read the FTC guide for a while - guess I'll have to think about how that impacts the use of hand-crafted on earrings . . . although I don't think I would stop using it on those pendants I used snap-sets on . . . but the FTC guide does say "of each part of each individual product", so perhaps I shouldn't use the label on them - but I don't think my market cares if I use a snap-set. They are buying the "artistry of my wire work" - not trying to be snooty, but trying to capture the nature of the comments I get. Even people that want me to "keep it plain" turn around and tell me that they want the wire work in the bail topper. They are buying my items because of my wire work and that is totally formed and controlled by me, so does it lose the hand-crafted label because it has a snap-set or hangs from a purchased finding? (Can you equate ear-wires to chains??)
In reading similar threads in other craft venues, the overwhelming theme that decides if it is hand-crafted (vs hand-assembled) seems to be whether or not the artist has control of the shape/form/finishing. Since snap-sets don't really impact the flow of the piece, probably isn't an issue. If the earring hanging from the finding is hand-crafted and can be moved from finding to finding without issue (ie, you can change the finding to suit the client), should the earring itself be penalized?
No answers, only grey ramblings . . .
(And still have not figured out HTH) |
| Loading... | |
gypse
Moderator
Registered: 12/05/04
Posts: 2,082
|
| | 02/06/08 at 05:19 PM | Reply with quote | #9 |
|
BTW, I was thinking about border-wrapped cab earrings, sculpted earrings, formed wire earrings when I wrote the above . . .
The more you go towards "beaded earrings" - beads as the main focus, beads arranged on a headpin, etc, probably the less you are able to argue for hand-crafted/hand-made, unless you made the beads.
But the more I think about the legal implications of the FTC statement, the more I think I'll probably drop the handcrafted off my labels . . .
and where is the line on hand-crafted ear-wires?
I would think using the forming pliers you can buy would be off limits, as the artist doesn't control the form, etc
and I would think that jigs would be off limits also . . .
|
| Loading... | |
Gayle
Registered: 01/26/07
Posts: 212
|
| | 02/06/08 at 07:40 PM | Reply with quote | #10 |
|
Yikes, hey? At least they don't make us go out and mine the silver, melt it down, and draw our own wire.
Whatever, I use "hand-sculpted" and I can't imagine anyone cares that the three quarters of an inch of wire holding my art in their ear wasn't formed (painfully, I might add), by my own two wee hands.
|
| Loading... | |
pianomom
Registered: 09/06/07
Posts: 193
|
| | 02/07/08 at 06:58 AM | Reply with quote | #11 |
|
 I think I'm getting a headache!  Is there a legal difference in the labels of "hand-crafted" & "hand-sculptured"? If you make the ear wires but you add beads or swarovski crystals can you not then call them hand-crafted or hand-sculptered? What about the jump rings? Do I have to make every little dang thing? I'm thinking about making my own cards and want to put something on there so that people will know they're basically handmade & not just earrings made on an assembly line, so to speak. So, what's safe to put on there?
|
| Loading... | |
gypse
Moderator
Registered: 12/05/04
Posts: 2,082
|
| | 02/07/08 at 12:08 PM | Reply with quote | #12 |
|
I don't know.
The FTC seems most concerned with buyers not being deceived or misled about what they are purchasing. This is obviously a big issue with "gold" (solid karat gold) vs "gold filled" because there is such a big price discrepancy. If you've been on these boards, you've seen people come up that claim to be selling gold in their advertising copy/product descriptions. Some of them you even email and ask if they mean gold filled. They point blank say no, they mean solid gold. Well you know that at the price they are selling at that it is not solid gold. They are being blatantly deceptive and they deserve any legal action that comes against them.
I can't recall ever reading any kind of bruhaha about hand-made/hand-crafted labels. But I know at shows, vendors get upset with the buy/sell "hand-made" jewelry with the plain sterling silver bezels. Yes, it was made with hand labor - imported - low wage, production line environment - without any design input my the maker - so does it qualify for the label handmade? Doesn't sound like it.
Looking at the FTC statement again -
(a) It is unfair or deceptive to represent, directly or by implication, that any industry product is hand-made or hand-wrought unless the entire shaping and forming of such product from raw materials and its finishing and decoration were accomplished by hand labor and manually-controlled methods which permit the maker to control and vary the construction, shape, design, and finish of each part of each individual product.
Note to paragraph (a): As used herein, "raw materials" include bulk sheet, strip, wire, and similar items that have not been cut, shaped, or formed into jewelry parts, semi-finished parts, or blanks.
Purchased earwires, snap-sets, clasps, jump-rings, head-pins, charms, swarovski, czech glass, stone or glass beads all seem to come under "jewelry parts, semi-finished parts, or blanks." And the phrase "each part of each individual product" seems to mean that if you used any of these, you no longer qualify for the handmade label. I don't read anything in the statement that says all parts have to be made by the same artist - so freeform cabs cut by independent lapidaries with total discretion as to their shape and finish used in pieces by wire artists can probably keep the label. And so far all of the dichroic I've seen for sale have been individuals with control over the process, so probably they should still qualify also. I would argue though that the high-volume oval cabs imported from low wage production line environments probably fall under the "jewelry parts, semi-finished parts, or blanks" though, so I would think that would dis-qualify the label. Some faceted gems are definitely controlled by the cutter - others are just production line cutting. So, if I were arguing strictly technical, what is legally allowed, I would probably say border wrap/sculpted items with freeform cabs and no other additions/accents included in the sale, including chains or earwires, would be ok to have the handmade/handcrafted label. Any of those that pick up accents/beads/etc or that include a purchased chain/earwire probably fall out. So what do you do for the items you don't put hand-made/hand-crafted on the labels? A quick look out on the web, I see some people using "hand-assembled". I think a better solution would be to leave "handmade" off the label and use the "artist statement" to tell people about you and what you do. The artist statement can be displayed anywhere your jewelry is displayed. It can go into more detail than the word "hand-made"/"hand-crafted". And maybe this thread should move to "technicalities" at this point, for future reference. Interesting so far. |
| Loading... | |
pianomom
Registered: 09/06/07
Posts: 193
|
| | 02/07/08 at 02:34 PM | Reply with quote | #13 |
|
And here I thought it was a simple question in the beginning!  |
| Loading... | |
Sheilahobson
Registered: 08/27/05
Posts: 198
|
| | 02/07/08 at 03:38 PM | Reply with quote | #14 |
|
If you have high quality hand made, hand crafted or whatever you are calling your product, the buyer knows. They usually know what they are looking for and have bought quality pieces before.
If you are making your own cards and have your jewelery displayed as handcrafted and someone ends up cuffing you and hauling you into court, you can simply justify it by telling them you meant the card (LOL)
My logo is "art to wear" this, jewelry art or artist designed is on my cards. Unless you are copying another artist, this should suffice.
|
| Loading... | |
pianomom
Registered: 09/06/07
Posts: 193
|
| | 02/07/08 at 08:03 PM | Reply with quote | #15 |
|
Sheila, that's a good idea. The customers get the idea that it's handmade but should hopefully be ok legally. |
| Loading... | |
NancyF
Moderator
Registered: 02/23/05
Posts: 1,272
|
| | 02/08/08 at 08:03 AM | Reply with quote | #16 |
|
Oh my...this gives me lots to think about. I do make my own earwires 98% of the time. Even my jumprings sometimes...but shoot, I am NOT going to wrap a 4mm stone.  So...I suppose my wording will have to be revised here and there. DANG...
Great thread! 
|
| Loading... | |
minigal
Registered: 03/20/07
Posts: 27
|
| | 02/08/08 at 01:33 PM | Reply with quote | #17 |
|
Wow, this is a lot to think about. All very good points, though.
|
| Loading... | |
pianomom
Registered: 09/06/07
Posts: 193
|
| | 02/08/08 at 03:00 PM | Reply with quote | #18 |
|
Yeah! Maybe Sheila's idea is the best. Just put jewelry art by ..... or something like that on the cards. |
| Loading... | |
Laura
Registered: 02/17/07
Posts: 140
|
| | 04/06/08 at 08:51 AM | Reply with quote | #19 |
|
I have my earring/pendant cards watermarked with. Wearable Art Jewelry. |
| Loading... | |
pianomom
Registered: 09/06/07
Posts: 193
| |
CeeCee
Registered: 07/19/09
Posts: 1
|
| | 07/19/09 at 08:54 PM | Reply with quote | #21 |
|
Just a thought, and I don't know what the legalities are, but I have made pieces with hand-made lampwork beads. I always use the designer's name to acknowledge a. I didn't make the beads, and b. give the designer a little publicity. |
| Loading... | |
tooncesmom
Registered: 12/29/06
Posts: 127
|
| | 07/27/09 at 10:52 AM | Reply with quote | #22 |
|
I make my own cards and use "designs by suzanne".
|
| Loading... | |
pianomom
Registered: 09/06/07
Posts: 193
|
| | 07/27/09 at 11:30 AM | Reply with quote | #23 |
|
update: I've started making my own cards now and just put "Jewelry Designs by Glenda" on them. Seems to work fine. |
| Loading... | |
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/images/lf_en_7.gif)
