Today, I am featuring Jamie from Jamie Rae Designs.
Jamie came to create quality, artisan pieces sort of by accident. At one time, she wanted a leaf pendant and just couldn't find a pendant that she really liked or could afford, so decided to make one for herself. This was the beginning of a new interest for Jamie and she quickly became among the throngs of us bitten by the bead bug. She has been creating pieces ever since. This may someday lead to another interest of hers: clothing design. Jamie has always adored needle felted animals and would one day like to include a full clothing line with her jewelry. Being talented on a sewing machine, she presently can sew clothing only with patterns. She plans to one day learn how to design her own patterns to sew with. 
Jamie currently studies business management in college, selling her creations to help her along and studies the art of classic ballet. Jamie's life is busy, there is no mistaking that! So, how do artisans like Jamie do it? Well, I talked with Jamie and this is what she had to say.
Having a busy schedule, Jamie finds her inspiration in new pieces simply by visiting her local favorite jewelry store, Light Years Jewelry. After viewing many of the pieces there for sale, her creative mind starts ticking and before she knows it, creative ideas of her own start coming to her. She jots some ideas down on a scrap of paper or simply holds them for reserve in her head to work out the designs later. She feels she hasn't really seen her work evolve much at this point as she is so new to Etsy, however, she has noticed that the quality of her pieces have been consistently improving as she looks for new and better ways to create. currently, Jamie sells exclusively online and to friends and family, but she is exploring the world of consignment to sell in tourist areas of her town.
On a business angle, she sees her biggest obstacle in advertising and marketing. Due to time constraints in her schedule, it appears she finds difficulty devoting the amount of time she would like to in marketing. She relies heavily on the Etsy forums, Facebook and Twitter and finds that these are her most productive forms of marketing. She also relists when she can and tries to leave links everywhere. As for creating, she does most of her studio work in the evening with the television on in the background. Hmmm, maybe we should be looking at her pieces to see if we can see snippets of The Office or The Closure in them! She photographs only outside as she feels the natural light gives a rich look to her pieces. Jamie attributes her most memorable moment in her business as her first sale: a custom order. She was so excited to get the order, let alone a custom order!I asked Jamie what advice she could offer to a new business owner and this is what she had to say:
"I would want them to be prepared to face many challenges and be ready to devote at least triple the amount of time and even money that they originally intended to invest. I really just started my small business to help pay for my college education and wasn't expecting the jewelry market to be so flooded, so i am just waiting on the day that I can look at my books and see I am making a profit. You really can't expect to just put yourself out on the web and the customers [to] come pouring in and then BAM, you are making a profit! I wish it was so, I really do!"
