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Ponoko-made jewelry by Carmen West Creative
It's a simple, stop-motion video of a jewelry collection but the result couldn't be more delightful.
Lockets and brass necklaces scoot across the screen soon followed by synchronized dancing studs. Feather hairpieces float their way down screen and vintage cameos close out the adorable 3 minute video set to the happy beat of "Go Do" by Jónsi of Sigur Rós.
The video promotes the winter collection from Carmen West Creative. Trained in fashion design and a self-taught graphic designer, Carmen started her eponymous line from her home in Langley, BC Canada in the spring of 2010.
The company emerged naturally from her lifestyle of perpetual crafting. "I have been creating clothing, jewelry and other accessories, just for fun, for as long as I can remember," she says. In addition to collecting and piecing together vintage and antique components, Carmen also creates original jewelry designs with Ponoko.
"I found Ponoko while researching machines that could cut charms out of metal. It's the perfect option for a small-scale designer who didn't want to invest thousands of dollars into a technology that may not even pan out in the end," she explains. But the materials available for our lasercutting service weren't what she was looking for; Carmen "desperately wanted to use brass."
After an email to the service team, she became one of the first to test out our beta photochemical machining service. "PCM allowed me to bring my 2 dimensional brass designs to life exactly as I had hoped for," Carmen says.
Her new brass designs can be found in the Carmen West Creative Etsy shop and include charming pendants like a gramophone and a narwhal, banner necklaces with sayings like "more ideas than time", diamond shaped stud earrings, and larger statement pieces such as the ornate deer necklace as featured in our Holiday Gift Guide.
When asked if she has any advice for others who would like to try out the photochemical machining process (which you can do by emailing service-at-ponoko) Carmen remarks that she was surprised how well it worked on the first try: "Setting up the files was straightforward and the end result was pretty, sturdy, intricate charms." But she does have one word of warning: "The only minor drawback was that the edges were a little sharp. I even drew blood when I pricked myself on my narwhal's horn."
With her new designs in stock and her awesome promo video, I assumed much of her selling success was online. To my surprise I learn that less than 20% of Carmen's sales come through her Etsy shop and that over 80% sales are made at craft fairs. "That could just be that I find artisan/craft fairs more fun so I put more effort in that area," she says. "I'm not a huge fan of updating my shop inventory. I prefer spending the day chatting with my lovely customers."
Whether online or the artisan market, I think Carmen West Creative will have a wonderful holiday sales season!
Posted in Jewellery, Maker Stories by Kristen Turner | 2 Comments
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