I got so excited last week at a delivery of beautiful beads I received, (I'm aware this would excite some more than others, also I don't get out much nowadays) gorgeous pastel colours that I could do 1001 things with, I couldn't wait to get started.
I had some jewellery hoops that I hadn't used yet so I road tested the beads on these, gawgus earrings! So summery and cool, chill Ibiza vibes style. Then I played about a bit more with some bracelet ideas and came up with a gorgeous design with silver seed beads in-between the rainbow beads, including a heart charm with a twist. Perfect! Now it was time to test the quality.
Side note here before I continue; everything I make and sell gets tested. I wouldn't sell anything that I knew was going to break or not with stand the test of the time. Everything I sell is great value for money, sometimes people comment telling me they would pay more and maybe I am being too generous but hey that's me! One thing I want though is repeat customers, one of my business dreams is that when it is someone's birthday coming up, or maybe their friends feeling down, anything really; any time, any occasion my customers come to me to see if I have what they would like to gift. I won't achieve this by selling rubbish quality products.
I love buying gifts, I read reviews, I look at their sites, I see how things are packaged if I can and sometimes I have fallen short by thinking "ooooooo this looks pretty" and then the quality hasn't matched up to what I had expected, needless to say that I haven't returned to those businesses to purchase again!
So back to my beautiful beads. The test: a bottomless brunch! Off I went with a few of my friends, as we sat down and thought about what cocktails we were going to have (this took 0.5 seconds for one of my friends, you know the score you have two hours and have to fit in as many as possible) I took off my bracelet and passed it round. I asked them all what they thought, I'm happy to say they all loved it and one of my friends wanted to pre-order!
Fast forward to 9:30pm, I return home, possibly 10-15 cocktails deep (but for some reason pretty sober) happy and buzzing after a fab afternoon with some of my mates and ask Dan (my husband) if he likes the bracelet I made. When I look down to take it off all the beads are the same washed out colour, there is no rainbow anymore it's more like a grey cloud! "Well that's shit I say, but at least I know". I was just glad that I hadn't made 100 of these bracelets, that I hadn't advertised them or even worse sold them. Ok, so I know we have to be careful with our jewellery and it had probably endured some spillages of 'Tropic like it's hot' and 'rude boy revival' but I was wearing one of my other bracelets that was still fine and I wouldn't expect this to happen. If my customers are anything like me; two kids, domestic goddess, cocktail drinking mummy then they are going to have the same problem! So the beads will be scrapped, and it's back to the drawing board, I'll give them to my youngest to make bracelets with so not all is lost.
The moral of the story here is that if you shop with Rainbow Bear you can be assured your product will have been made with love and tried and tested (sadly not always the bottomless brunch test though!)
So here's a cheeky wish for your week ahead:
Our products are value for money but also very good quality,
This week's bracelet was tested with a Long Island iced tea!
It didn't stand the test if time so its been put down to waste,
I could not sell it, however pretty it first looked my reputation would be disgraced!
So its back to the drawing board for the summer bling,
Maybe this one I'll test with a Singapore sling!
Have a fabulous week!
Before The Reggae Rum Punch
After