Tuesday 8 May 2012

Just five things.

My boyfriend has set me the challenge of selling five things before he gets back from England. Just five things. Any five things. If I can sell five things by the 15th of May, I'll be such a happy bunny for managing it!



The sterling silver pendants vary in price but are all currently less than £50 each.
The translucent plastic pendants also vary in price but are all less than £10 each.


If you want to help me, you can do any of three simple things:

  1. Show the shop to everyone and their mums if you think they'd like the look of these. 
  2. Buy something you like from here: www.shapeways.com/shops/chargyse
  3. Get someone else to buy you one ...or five.

Even if you only get one thing, that's 20% of my happibunnyness meter filled up - all thanks to you!


Here are five things, just five things, that I can share with you for free:

  • Thing #1: Pair up to take advantage of the prices. If you and a friend want the same or matching pendant designs, go for the earring pendants instead of the singular pendant. It works out as cheaper, and WAY cheaper in the case of silver. It's like two for one!


  • Thing #2: Gather your friends to lower shipping costs. There is only one shipping cost per order as it all comes in one box, so if you and a few friends get together and place everything you want in one order, you can split the shipping cost between you.


  • Thing #3: Consider which pendants will work together to make a really cool combo. I'm currently wearing one silver pendant and one translucent plastic pendant that hang on top of each other on one chain. With the nine designs being currently available in two materials, there are 324 possible pairs.
    Add a third pendant to the mix and the number jumps up to 5832 different combos!
    Add to that the endless varieties of chain or cord you use to hang you pendant on, and you'll end up with a pretty unique piece of neck-wear.

    No need to stop at necklaces either - combine with macrame to make a cute bracelet, or go somewhere completely different with it. You ever heard of Paco Rabanne


  • Thing #4: Paint your plastic, polish your silver. The people who 3d print the pieces before they are sent to you have a forum where people can share post-production techniques. Some of these techniques include painting and polishing. Have a look for inspiration and tips for what to use and how to do it: Post Production Techniques @ Shapeways.com


  • Thing #5: Feel free to sell your combinations on. I know there are a lot of handmade jewellery makers out there, and I'd be so excited to find out my pendants were helping them make their beautiful works. You want to sell or give away some jewellery you made using one of my pendants in the design? Go for it. I'd be delighted to hear that you did.



Monday 7 May 2012

3D printing jewellery with Shapeways: Two months in.

It's been two months since I started playing around with Autodesk 123D and Shapeways, so here's the second report of what I've managed over the past month.

CharGyse 3D Printed Designs - Find these and more at www.shapeways.com/shops/chargyse

My first shipment of items arrived from Shapeways about a week later than it would normally take (production of sterling silver pieces was behind schedule on their end). I've been waiting to post this update so that I could include the photos of them.

Photos of the earrings and pendants
These are the photos I took only minutes after unpacking them from the box. I have updated the shop images with close ups, so you can follow this link to the [SHOP] if you want to see the close ups of them all.

Earring pendants in Sterling Silver

Earring pendants in "Frosted Ultra Detail"

You can find these earring pendants in the Earrings section of the shop.

Necklace pendants in Sterling Silver

Necklace pendants in "Frosted Ultra Detail"

You can find these necklace pendants in the Pendants section of the shop.

Bangles to go with each set
I got the bangles done on time, doing two different designs; the second more dainty than the first.

The "SevenBangle" style - one bangle, but with seven pretty sides to it

The "DiAngled" bangle - shaped like two bands attached to each other at an angle

You can find these in the Bangles section of the shop.

Blender renders for a quick preview of the pieces
I did a little searching around and found a video tutorial on how to make a golden material in Blender. They've disabled embedding by request, but the link is here: Realistic Gold Material Tutorial Blender 2.62 (Cycles) 

I followed the video but changed the colour I used so that it would look less like gold and more like a silver material. Here are some quick screenshots I took of some stuff:


Oh yeah - I also modelled a little something up for the Shapeways "Flextest" challenge

After the first shipment arrived though, I realised that I would need to change the Blender material textures. I remember seeing a "Brushed Steel" texture tutorial somewhere, which could be handy in achieving the layered look of the silver pieces - if I can find it again.


COMING SOON:-

Beads
I have managed to get the beads modelled up - but I've yet to upload them to the Shapeways site.


Rings
I haven't managed to do the rings yet, but I have decided how I'm going to do them. The ring band will be based on the DiAngled bangle style (the dainty, minimalist, second style above).

A new collection of designs - in "Stainless Steel"
Looks like the series based on Fibonacci numbers is going to go on hold for a while. Instead, I will be working on "Stainless Steel" versions of everything I have done so far, which should work out cheaper than Sterling Silver. Good for those who want a metal pendant, but at lower prices.

Marketing and Selling Stuff
Now that these are things that exist, I have to get them noticed out in the wider world with marketing materials and stuff.