Saturday 17 July 2010

End of an era!

As some of you may be aware I've decided to finish making lampwork beads.  It's been so sweet of everyone to email me so I thought I'd better do a post to let you know my reasons.

To be honest over the last few months I feel that I've lost some of the enjoyment I used to get from making beads.  I don't always have the desire to create and at times it's become a bit of a chore.  It was different when I first started back in 2004 as it was all new and any money I made from selling beads was a bonus.  However over the last couple of years that I've been relying on bead sales for my income it's taken some of the fun out of it and at times it's been quite stressful.

The recent economical situation hasn't helped and sales have obviously suffered.  I appreciate that it's a knock on effect - if my customers are finding it harder to sell jewellery then of course they won't be needing to buy as many beads.

I also have the additional problem that I get a lot of pain in my neck and shoulders which results in nasty headaches lasting a couple of days at a time.  The position that I have to hold my arms at when making beads seems to aggravate this.

It has been a hard decision to make and to be honest I'm still not 100% sure that I want to leave it all behind.  I know what I'm like - I do tend to flit in and out of things so I couldn't say for definite that I wouldn't ever want to make beads again.

So what will I be doing with my time?  Well I have plans to take my jewellery to the next level and I need a little capital to do this.  I know the jewellery market is hugely competitive but I'm going to give it a good shot - I like a challenge!!

I'd like to thank you all for your custom over the years and I hope that you have continued success in your jewellery making.  You never know I may be back in a few months!

Rachel xx