About Maggie & Maggie's Creations:
I have been creating art all of my life, and consider my talent a gift from God. There is not much in the way of artwork that I have not been able to accomplish, once I've put forth the effort. My friends lovingly refer to me as "Martha Villa" (a combination of Martha Stewart and Bob Villa) as I am always working on some project, whether it requires paint brush or power tools.
I am a fair freckled skinned red head who suffers from allergies, asthma, exzema,/dermatitis, psoriasis, etc.. I've learned alot about the impurities in our world, and how to avoid them. I've owned and operated a successful Non Toxic Cleaning Business for 13 years from age 23 to age 36. I gave up the business to go work in accounting, and still do so today. No, making jewelry is not my day job (yet). I simply discovered Niobium & Titanium was the only elements I could wear, and wanted to share that with everyone else who wants to wear jewelry again too. There are alot of us out there, and I am becoming very busy with my jewelry business.
Niobium & pure grades of Titanium cannot be soldered, and is very limited in obtainable manufactured parts. In fact, all of the Niobium, and most of the Titanium, I use starts as wire, sheet or tubing. But I was determined to do something with these elements to make beautiful jewelry that I could be proud to wear. I am pretty picky, so I thought if I could satisfy myself, I could satisfy others too. Which is why I started this online business.
My goal in my jewelry business is to create Non-Allergenic jewelry that is as beautiful as the Gold & Silver jewelry that is on the market, and something affordable for everyone. The key, I have found, is to use the embelishments (stones etc.) as the focal point of the jewelry instead of the metal itself, which is why I use the highest quality embelishments that I can get. My motto is: Saving 5 bucks by compromising quality and beauty is a waste of money. Always get the best you can afford and you will have a thing of beauty you can love.
Throughout my site, you will find items by other Niobium Wirewrap Artists. I provide online space on a consignment basis for them in order to get them exposure to those of us with traditional metal allergies. All of the products on my site, however, regardless of the artist, are governed by my company guarantee policies for you.
To date, I have helped hundreds of people to Wear Earrings Again, and I take great joy in that accomplishment.
How to contact me:
My studio is private and not open to the public, however the physical address, and phone number is given to customers once they make a purchase. I do prefer the following means of communication for 2 reason. 1. This is not my regular day job and I am not always available to take phone calls. And 2. Because of the time zones a good time to call for you, may not be a good time to call for me, and vice versa.
EMAIL - this is my preferred method of contact, as I check my email several times a day, (more often than my phone) when I can. I get to my msg. and respond, as soon as I am able and this method does not interupt your day or mine.
For hotmail, yahoo, gmail, and msn customers please add: maggie@wear-earrings-again.com to your address book. I reply to ALL of my emails, so if you did not receive an email from me within 24 hours, check your spam or suspect folders. Another email address that you may use if you need to is maggiescreations@comcast.net
LIVE CHAT at the top of each page, you can click on "live chat" and if I am online at that moment, I will be able to have a private instant message conversation with you. You do not need to sign into anything, and you remain anonymous.
INSTANT MESSAGING My AIM name is NiobiumMaggie - we can chat live anytime we are both online at the same time. Just put my name in your Buddy List, and I can do the same with you.
WEBLOG The address is www.wearearringsagain.wordpress.com. I also am actively involved in my Colleague's "Mr. Titanium" weblog at www.mrtitanium.info
although here are extended times, however, when I get too busy with jewelry making to spend time at the blogs.
I hope this makes you more comfortable about me. For more info, read my testimonials page, and you will get a better sense of who I am and how I work.
About Products & Prices:
In the beginning, there was me ... I made earrings just for myself.
The very first lesson I learned was that I had to buy the materials in bulk quanities. What this means is even though the particular pair of earrings I was working on, required, lets say, only 3 inches of wire, I had to buy 10 feet of the wire in order to obtain any at all. The same goes for all the embelishments I use, including stones.
The next thing I learned was that no supplier has everything I need to create my jewelry, so I purchase from an average of 6 different suppliers (now on a weekly basis), paying seperate shipping and handling charges to each one, to get these supplies to me, which in turn raises the price of each item.
The next issue was to have the right tools, lighting and equipment to do the job.
Once I had a room full of inventory from buying all those bulk quantities, I decided to make my earrings available to anyone, it became time to go into business. I needed liscensing, shipping supplies, computer and website, accounting software, a studio, printed materials, etc.. Also, someone had to spend the time to do the ordering, inventory, run to the post office, enter customer orders, advertise, update the website, etc. as well as actually make the jewelry itself. I eventually became so busy making the jewelry, I've had to hire someone to help with these other duties.
All of these things cost time and money, and of course are a usual part of business. Another usual part of business is to make sure that the items being sold can pay for the cost of the entire process so you can stay in business. :)
In addition, 99% of my earrings are hand made from wire and sheet metal. Many styles are of a complicated and time consuming process with some taking long hours, even days to complete.
I also provide on call services to my customers while they are trying to heal. My services do not stop once I ship my jewelry to you.
Still, I try to keep my prices as low as possible. I try to price my jewelry so that they refelct the least of what I am willing to make them for. Considering everything I have mentioned above, my profit is the only negotiable aspect of my pricing, which reflects the fact that discounts and trade/refund guarantees come out of my pocket .
We all want to make purchases as inexpensively as possible, but we all also want to be paid fairly for our work. :)
In Closing:
I love wearing earrings again, and I love helping others to do the same too. So for now, I am learning which items are just too expensive to make, and which are not. I will alter my products accordingly, and eventually end up with a business that works for all of us.
Thank you for reading!
-Maggie
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