And this is why I will only buy Italian

made mandrels from now on. Because American made mandrels are made of styrofoam it seems.

A Confession

I have ugly ears. It's true. And nothing makes their ugliness more apparent than taking close up photos of them. But what am I to do? Customers want to see what earrings look like on! They can't judge how large something is when it stands alone. So I am forced to use my own ears as models as I don't have a cute teenage daughter to use instead.


It pains me! How I would love to have petite shell-like ears. Sweet little ears, with perfectly curved earlobes. But no! I have those monstrosities. And the worst part? I never realized it till just now when I uploaded this photo onto my computer. If I hadn't taken this photo, I could have gone my whole life being satisfied with my ears (which I never thought about much before), but now I have a new thing to be shy about. Fantastic!

I'm Starting to Lose it

So the German is in Oregon right now, rock climbing. I stayed home because I have too much work to do. So what did I do?! I stayed up till 5am reading a trashy novel (the 4th novel in the Twilight series, to be specific. I know. I'm not a teenage girl, and I usually read Nobel prize authors, I really don't read naughtly teenage romances on a daily basis. I swear!), totally sabotaging my plans for a big work day yesterday. I was so tired, I felt hungover. So I got nothing done until around 9pm when I started on this one order that was supposed to done already, and that the people who ordered it were supposed to pick up the very next day. So I worked until midnight and finally finished it:



And then I went to bed.


Somewhere in the middle of the early early morning I had a dream. In this dream I had woken in the morning and went to my studio to do the final cleaning and packing of the rings. To my horror (and I can't even explain how horrified I was) the setting around the stone crumbled like oily clay. I peeled the setting off and panicked. Then I woke up.

What does it mean!?

I think it means I've been sleeping weird hours the last couple of days and drinking too much coffee. Plus I skipped yoga all week.

Redundancy is Key

I am losing my mind...

...with frustration.

I can't find this little wooden stick with a lump of crystalline wax on the end. I use it to move stones around with I am stone setting. Right now I want to get an eternity band finished. Small stones, 1.7mm. And I can't move them with my fingers, and I don't want to drop any into my catch tray (which is filled with scrap and dust and other detritus that makes it impossible to find any small stone that falls into it.) I was working on it yesterday before I quit work and now I can't find that dang tool. It's driving me insane because I have a heavy workload at the moment and I want to get this thing done. ARghh!!!!!!! And since my work is pretty stone dependent there is nothing I can do right now! Why, oh why don't I have another one of those sticks??!?! No wax either. This is killing me. I've torn my studio apart looking for it, but no dice.

Crisis. A total standstill in the studio at the moment.

Antique Inspiration

Is it okay to pilfer designs from the past? There is nothing new under the sun, so I'm convinced that no matter what I do I'll end up stealing from someone.

This is my newest ring. A couple from New York was looking for a ring that looked like the engagement ring of some starlet, and this is what came from my bench. I like it!

"what be the total cost if this set was made in gold?"

I'm thinking of answering in this way:


Good afternoon,

My name is Justine Collins, I am the owner of singleB. Thanks for your interest in my designs. I've noticed that you've sent several very brief requests for price quotes without ever acknowledging my replies. Normally, when people ask for a quote, they include a civil greeting along with their name and details like ring sizes and what karat of gold they are interested in. Without those things (and the history of asking for quotes without any sort of reply), your demand makes me think that you are not serious about this and that you are wasting my time.

So, I wish a cheerful good afternoon to you. If you would like to do business with me (and fortunately, I'm in a position where I don't need your business and can tell you to take a hike with a smile on my face) you can send me an actual email (perhaps not from your phone?) and treat me like a human being. I don't need your business, and you should remember how to ask for things with a modicum of politeness. Pretend that you are in an actual jewelry shop talking to the person who might make your rings. Would you approach a total stranger with "what be the total cost if this set was made in gold?". I don't think so. And it would be "what WOULD be the total cost if this set WERE made in gold?".

Cheers!
Justine



I probably won't though. I think I'll just reply with the cost (plus my extra fee for jerks) and no other text. I tried to be polite on the last few emails from this person and still nothing. Am I overreacting? Being too sensitive?