Interview with Jennifer Yi-Ping Tang...

...of Majenta Designs

Boston Handmade: Tell us a little bit about yourself
MaJenta Designs: My name is Jennifer, and I was born and raised in Western Mass but since graduating undergrad I have been living in the Boston area. I am currently a graduate student at Northeastern University studying Counseling Psychology with a focus on helping underserved populations and emphasis on multicultural prospective. However, I always had a passion for arts & crafts too, and so I recently started up my jewelry business to fulfill that other passion as well as any profits helps towards paying off a lifetime of loans! ;)

Boston Handmade: What first made you want to become an artist?
MaJenta Designs: I have always loved arts & crafts ever since I was little and probably making Christmas ornaments in elementary school or some time as early as that. However, I never thought about getting into the business as I never thought I'd be able to figure out all the details of what it takes to sell things at the professional level. I'd have to give props to Etsy for that, I have learned so much valuable information about how to run a business from Etsy, and I think that being a part of a group like Boston Handmade and having a support network to turn to for advice and help is definitely invaluable as well.

Boston Handmade: What are your favorite materials?
MaJenta Designs: I love working with chiyogami, which is traditional handmade Japanese paper (literally meaning thousand generation paper), because the patterns are so intricate and gorgeous, and I love making jewelry and housewares with it encased in glass as the glass really helps to illuminate the paper designs and give it an added depth.



Boston Handmade: What inspires you?
MaJenta Designs: I love making pieces that have a symbolic meaning to it, as I think it makes the piece more significant, especially if someone buys it to give as a gift, it adds a special message behind the piece. For example, plum blossoms are symbolic in Asian cultures for perseverance and new beginnings as they are usually the first signs of spring that burst forth after the bitterness of winter.

Boston Handmade: What do you love most about what you make?
MaJenta Designs: I love that the chiyogami paper is so versatile so I can make so many different creations with them. I know my Etsy shop is dominated by my pendant necklaces and magnets, but these papers have been great at making decorative nightlights, photo albums and journals, and I actually just bought a button/badge maker, so it'll soon be great to make these into collectible pins and cute pocket mirrors too!

Boston Handmade: Any tips on selling handmade stuff?
MaJenta Designs: you have to be persistent, I've seen many great artists quit after a few weeks, but success doesn't come just by opening a shop. You have to keep promoting yourself, keep your items fresh, have great and friendly customer service, and keep creating new items all the time. I also found that it really helps if you develop your own niche and your have a theme throughout your shop, as your store seems more uniform and professional if you have a consistent theme.

Boston Handmade: What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy?
MaJenta Designs: This advice overlaps a bit with my previous response with being persistent and not giving up, as there are literally hundreds of thousands of sellers on Etsy so you need to make yourself stand out. I also think you need to have a thorough shop policies section and some interesting info about yourself in your bio. I also think it's a great idea to start off as a buyer, as not only does that help build your feedback but also can be good karma hopefully too. With detailed info about yourself and your policies in your shop and some positive feedback about you already in place, it helps customers see you as a professional business, and can feel more comfortable when buying from you.

Boston Handmade: What else do you like to do when you're not studying or crafting?
MaJenta Designs: I love to travel and explore new countries and learn about new cultures. So far I've been to about 20 countries across Asia, Europe, Australia, and North America, but my goal is to hit up every continent in my lifetime! I love doing outdoors activities and having unique experiences there, such as scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, riding in elephant in Thailand, or biking around Dingle in Ireland.

Boston Handmad: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
MaJenta Designs: I'll hopefully be done with all my schooling by then! Ideally I'd love to have a job as a part-time professor teaching psychology, have a small private practice of my own, and hopefully own a house where I can have my own crafting studio! One of my goals for my business is for it to grow, I want to be able to do more craft shows as well as have my items carried in a few boutiques, that would be ideal!

We Remember

What was there is now gone.
Who was there now lives in our memories.
Today we remember.

photograph, Remembrance Wall, by Nature Manipulated of Etsy.com

New Work...

...Kerry Hawkins Photography and Arian
article by Betsy of Stonehouse Studio

Kerry Hawkins continues exploring organic subject matter - she has a farm share, so she has a never ending source of inspiration. Here she captures the fragile, translucent layers of the garlic cloves using a macro lens.
New Boston Handmade member Arian's whimsical and adorable "Flower Girl" reminds us of the curiosity and wonder of carefree childhood summers. It is a print of her original hand drawn, digitally colored illustration, printed on 8"x10" heavy velvet fine art paper with archival ink and is available for $18+shipping in her Etsy shop.

Channeling Souls

by Katy of MuchachaK

Masks are one of my favorite expressions of human creativity. As an undergrad theater student I had the chance to work closely with masks. It was a project that students tended to either love, or hate, and I loved it. Each student was assigned a mask to work with, for a 2-3 week period, during which we had to really bond with the mask. We also had some hard rules for dealing with the mask one on one. The most important rule was to never do anything to a mask that you would not do to your own face. We were also warned specifically not to stick anything in the eyes, or other holes in the mask's face. Again...would you do that to yourself? Because of these rules, it was made clear that we were to respect the mask as an individual. And individuals have their own wishes and whims and personalities.

Masks offer a chance for transformation that is difficult to find in other, non-chemical ways. When you think of the ways, in our culture, that we use masks, that becomes very apparent. Halloween is one example...wild kids of all sizes enjoy the freedom of obscuring their own faces behind that of a character. Robbers erase their identity in order to achieve their goals. A masquerade party seems a little extra magical because nobody is what they seem. And indigenous cultures all over the world have used masks to express values, and connect with the spirit world, invoking spirits (and all that can mean) by wearing their faces.

When we used the masks in class, we began to see our classmates behave and sometimes speak in ways that we never saw them reveal in other contexts. And we felt our own bodies compelled to move in ways the masks "told" us to move.

At the American Museum of Natural History recently, in NYC, one of my favorite exhibits was the Northwest Coast Indians exhibit. I couldn't help but wonder how such artifacts same to rest in a museum, rather than in the hands of the people that created them. But regardless, it was a treat to see them, and in particular the masks of each of the coastal cultures featured. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest so it was also beautiful reminder of home, and of images that are very familiar if you are from that place.

The masks featured served a variety of purposes. And each one was crafted by human hands. It was moving to see them far outlive the hands that made them...and to see that even now, over a hundred years after they were created, they are still happy, and scary, and funny, and terrifying, and full of personality.

(The above photo is of Kwakiutl masks, of the Vancouver Island area, at the American Museum of Natural History)

Monday Mosaic - Favorite Things

Rodgers and Hammerstein had an interesting list of favorite things to share in The Sound Of Music: "Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, Brown paper packages tied up with strings, These are a few of my favorite things..." just to name a few. And here at Boston Handmade we have our own favorite things as seen above shared by our members:
Christine Marie Art
Lucie Wicker Photography
Sea Glass Things
Elizabeth Brennick Designs
Mimi K
Majenta Designs
K Hawkins Photography
Glamourpuss Creations
Yarn Obsession
Reclaimed To You
Stonehouse Studio
Fraske Designs
muchacha K Handmade
Cozy Cottage Creations
and there's even some kitten whiskers and a kettle thrown in there! What are your favorite things?

Pincushion

by, Twigs and Heather

Oh, the pleasure and the pain...

This is another piece from my pincushion series.

The first one I have made with 6 pins and it's a big one.

The heart with pins is over 1 inch wide and is 1/2 inch thick to fit all those lovely (ouch) pins.

The pincushions are one of my favorite pieces to make and they are a reflection of the craziness of life and love for me (KAC).

I'm pretty happy with the photos too. Usually I swear a lot and may even start to cry trying to take a decent shot.

This one is going to be hard to keep out of my private collection!

You can see more of our pincushion collection at www.twigsandheather.com.

Another Etsy Resource

by Lucie of Lucie Wicker Photography

I recently participated in my first "community chat" in the Etsy Virtual Labs. It started out as an excuse to kill some time on a quiet Friday in the office plus I figured I could probably pick up a few tips. The topic was "Time Management and Organization for the Holidays" and it was run by etsy's Beth Ferreira. It was set up as a webcast with Beth on a webcam and the participants typing in their questions/comments. She had also prepared handy slides for us to follow. In her presentation she addressed the specific challenges of getting organized (time-consuming tasks, email/phone distractions, etc) and how to tackle these things head on. She also emphasized the importance of setting goals for your business, making lists (and actually sticking to them) and batch processes. Probably the most valuable piece of advice to took from it was the concept of creating a calendar- blocking off specific time to create, time to ship, time to do bookkeeping, etc. instead of sporadically doing things throughout the day.

To see a calendar of future Etsy events click here

Also if you are interested here are the slides

Enjoy!

Lush Beads Goes Where The Artists Are

By Liz Stewart of Lush Beads

Whew! It's been a whirlwind summer for me and my business. I decided to relocate to the Western Avenue Studios in Lowell. I officially opened here in the middle of August, and I could not be happier with my decision. There is so much creative energy in this building!! I really needed this boost. It's much easier to get out of a creative rut when you have other artists around to talk with and discuss ideas. And with over 100 artists working in this building, I have a lot of folks with whom I can talk!
My shop hasn't changed much - I still sell beading supplies, teach classes, do jewelry repairs, and make my own finished work. Being here allows me to participate in any established events hosted here. Our first one will be "First Saturdays", which happens on the first Saturday of every month. Think of it as a mini Open Studios event - artists open their doors to the public, so it allows visitors to see the artists at work and purchase original artwork. My first "First Saturdays" will be Saturday, September 6th, and to celebrate I am hosting a book signing by author (and friend) Karen Morris. She recently released The Beading Answer Book, and it is a great little book chock full of information and reference material. She'll be signing from 3-5PM. I'll also have refreshments and some raffles.