New Year, Big Changes!

Things are changing my new line will be in the stores in about 2 weeks.

Be sure to check back for new images of the new line.

Its the last time you will be able to get my “Fringe” line in some things there are only one or two things left and once there gone they gone. And they are all 30% Off too!!

All my work is ether at Fresh Collective, Kensington Market, 274 Augusta Ave, Toronto, Ontario, 416-966-0123 or Fresh Collective, Roncesvalles Village, 401 Roncesvalles Ave, Toronto, Ontario, 647-352-7123.

I’m a the Kensington store every Tuesday and the Roncesvalles store every Friday so if you can come by and say hi and see the beautiful things my fellow designers and I create.

We love seeing you.

Getting Back on Track

This week I got ready to start back to getting my work/business back on track from the surgery.

On Wednesday evening I attended Fresh University our monthly meeting/workshop that all the designers and members of Fresh Collective attend. This is one of the major perk of being a member. Just being in the room with these people is inspiring! It’s great to know you are not alone and all these wonderful and creative individuals are working with you and are there to support you as you are there to support them. There was the final coordination of the upcoming photo shoot for the fall/winter look book. I couldn’t be apart of that of it for this time because of my surgery but I am planing to be a part of the 2012 Spring look book.

Then we talked about our customers and how we can give them the best experience when they are in our stores. And that got me to thinking how can I get people who buy my work get the joy I have in creating each piece. Well heres an idea! I thought I would document my creative process. What goes into a piece, how do I decide what I going to place a bead/button, choose a color or texture just how do I get where I end up. So my next post will be pics and some explanation of what I am doing and where I think I will end up.

This is going to be fun!!!

Where did you go?

I know I was going to try and blog here at least once a week but then I found out late April that the surgery I have been waiting a year or more for was on. I got 2 weeks notice. So I have been out of commission for a while. I didn’t want to write because what could I say “today I feel like crap” not very interesting. And I didn’t want it to look like I was looking for sympathy I don’t like to feel like a victim. Through all that I have been through since I have been kid with the EDS and then the cancer that’s the last thing I want to be when people think of me. Poor, poor, Jennifer (makes my skin crawl)

So I am feeling better and it’s on to making my business successful and deal with what is coming up on the horizon. So that’s where I went and I will be blogging again now I have something to say.

Bad things happen, sometimes

Missing Gold Oval Ring

I know I talked about bad things that could happen to me and my business but I didn’t think it could or would happen so fast. Two of my pieces were stolen on two different occasions in the past few weeks DAMN! But the one good thing is they where both one of a kind pieces and I have good photos of them both, they can be identified. So if you see them please tell me. And I am looking on the bright side “hey people like my work”" so much that they steal it but hey it’s something right!

Missing Necklace

Sound bite

Here is my sound bite but it could be many things to brand my business. Feed back is welcome.

Blackjam: Objects of Designed Happenstance is a line of distinctive handcrafted designer jewelry; one-of-a-kind pieces designed to set the wearer apart from the crowd. We specialize in great colour combinations and the highest quality in workmanship using the techniques of bead weaving and embroidery to create show-stopping rings, necklaces and bracelets.

We utilize vintage beads and buttons and parts of reclaimed jewelery, all collected over years, and we search high and low for the best new materials we can find. Every single piece is a labour intensive one off, created with love and containing a little part of us. We hope the person wearing our pieces feels that through the work. Creating such beautiful and intricate one of a kind art pieces is part of the fun and challenge of creation for us, and that’s the specialness we pass along to the wearer.

Convergence

On top of doing the 52 Weeks of Blogging Your Passion by Tara Gentile program, I am rereading (on my 3rd time, I have some of it memorized) “The E Myth by Micheal Gerber” as part of what we are learning at Fresh University. I just took a branding workshop with Helen Kontozopoulos at Creative at Work. And my home work for Fresh University is to write a sound bite and do a 5 min presentation about my jewelry line. So it looks like everything is coming together at once. Strange but good too. This is really helping me focus on who I am what my business is and where I am going. It’s very scary too.

So lets start with my mission statement for the blog.

Designed Happenstance is the blog of Jennifer Morris(Me) I am the owner and designer/maker of Blackjam. It will follow me on the journey of self discovery, creativity and seeing just how does one make a living doing what you love. I also will show case other designers and artist that inspire me and some are also on the journey of being creative while also making a living. I am sure that there will be bumps in the road and paths I shouldn’t have gone down but this is a journey where I have no idea where it goes or when it ends, but that fun in my book.

So that’s a start! Next on to my sound bite! Stay tuned

Oh ya I have changed the about page there is now more information about me.

Will a Kick in the Butt Help?

I keep on telling myself everyday get off your butt stop making jewelry and go write in your blog so you can get people to see and buy your stuff (or that what I hear). But then I just can’t think of anything that interesting to say, I feel that I can’t put my ideas in words or I put it off thinking I will get to it and I never do.

So I am taking the bull by the horns. I just bought the e book  52 Weeks of Blogging Your Passion by Tara Gentile. I now have a game plan so there are no excuses and feel free to metaphorically kick my butt if I am slacking off you have my permission. Stay tuned for future blog posts

 

52 Weeks of Blogging Your Passion by Tara Gentile

Keeping Blackjam

After long thought I have decided to keep the name Blackjam but I am losing the Design part.

Here is my new logo

The New Blackjam Logo

New Name, New Logo

I am still working on the final name for my company. I am fazing out Blackjam Design and be coming Objects of Designed Happenstance or Designed Happenstance or just Happenstance. I’m still not sure. I have some logo ideas but I don’t know which will work too. So I thought I would put them up and let people tell me which one works the best for them. Two heads are better than one right?

Logo Idea 1

Logo Idea 2

Logo Idea 3

Logo Idea 4

Logo Idea 5

Logo Idea 6

Happy New Year/New Things!

Sherone's Brooch

The First Brooch in my new line. The focal is a broken pendent that I recycled to a cabochon.

Happy New Year!! This year will be one of big changes for me and my business. I am starting a new line of bead embroidery. Now I am doing brooches but I will be doing cuffs very soon. I am waiting on the backing to get here. I use to  EZ Felt that I could get at my local Micheal’s but they have stopped selling it. I am very disappointed I love it because it so much cheaper than Lacy’s Stiff Stuff and it comes in COLOURS!!! So I wrote Micheal’s I got a form letter (no surprise). I contacted Micheal’s old supplier Darice and got “too bad, so sad” not a very helpful answer. I contacted the manufacture CEP all I got was “sorry where is Canada again? That is way too far for us to get anything there without paying major bucks”. So I ended up getting backing at Sova Enterprises for not too much but I will have to see whats it’s like when it gets here. Anyway I still have leftover  EZ Felt from my old brooch line so I can use that till I run out for my brooches but I will have to wait for the stuff from Sova comes for the cuffs. I am also using aluminum blanks instead of brass from Beadwork Supplies they are great! Stay tuned for more work soon!

Mom's Gift

Made from a vintage enamel metal button you can see the red felt through the cutouts in the button. There are green Swarovski crystals around the button.