Miscellany

I am not known for brevity. I'm not much known, true, but if I was, it would not be for brevity. I hope that doesn't bother any of you too much, but I expect that anyone who follows my blog for long likes to read anyway.

Perhaps part of it is a lack of focus. When I finally hit on a topic for the day it seems entwined with 5 other things that I just have to say. If they're lumped together in my mind separating them for blogging seems tedious and it feels like an incomplete post.

At any rate, I played around with Blogger's new Following module last night, just letting it take me here and there and commenting where I saw and opportunity. I've got 3 Followers and 20 subscribers via Feedburner. That's very exciting for me! Thank you all.

While I was exploring I found a post that got me thinking about packaging. That resonated with a recent concern for me.

With the Bazaar earlier this month I spent time packaging my smaller items by attaching them to cards. I love the look and the convenience of having a space to jot a note before I pop it in an envelope with a business card and drop it in the mail.

In person, it works as a display and price tag and then when an item is purchased I can stick the whole thing in a baggie and there it is. The packaging is crafty and raw looking, but that's fine for me because my jewelry is like that too. I think it works.

With larger strung pieces I can just stick them in a baggie in person and for Etsy purchases pop in a card, a note and wrap it securely if needed. It's a little less branded, but it works well enough.

My beadwoven pieces are troubling me though. Some of them are very large and they aren't cheap. Some won't fit in a baggie or even a little jewelry box. In fact, I haven't found anything they will fit in. Safety isn't an issue so much as I can use enough bubblewrap to prevent breakage, but when you spend $300 on a bracelet, shouldn't it come nicely wrapped instead of being rolled in bubblewrap and tape? Even if I sell them at a show, what do I put them in? I'd like to be slightly branded here at least and it would be best if the result was pretty enough for gift-giving.

I looked for boxes but they were too small or too big or just plain ugly. I thought of pouches and envelopes too, but didn't find anything that really fit me. It all looked junky and cheap or more polished, and more costly, than I want.

So I thought I'd toss it out here and see if anyone has any suggestions. How do you package your larger items? Any recommendations from site you've looked at or packages you've gotten? Help?

While I've got you check out the artists in my latest Treasury!