Production Costs Assignement : Petal Earrings

Production Costs : Petal Earrings

Petal Earrings by PennyBow

  What really inspired me in making those earrings, is, firstly, my need to show people around me that you can make beautiful things by what is considered garbage. Secondly, I noticed in the city I live in, that people are not yet into recycling, at least at a level that would be sufficient. So my idea was to shape plastic bottles into something beautiful, and I couldn't think anything more beautiful than flowers.

  When it comes to production costs, these are my calculations :

CLIP-ON PETAL EARRINGS #1

clip-on earrings                        0,33€
plastic bottle      (0,50€ : 20)    0,03€
pair of buttons                         1,00€
paint                 (7,00€ : 500)   0,01€

1 hour @ 5€                             5,00€
_______________________________

Total production cost                 6,37€
20% profit                               1,27€
_______________________________

Total cost plus profit                  7,64€

  Since this is a handmade object I wouldn't want to mass produce them, but I'm going to proceed as if I wanted to make 20 pairs of them as a limited edition item.

CLIP-ON PETAL EARRINGS #2

clip-on earrings  (0,33 x 20)       6,60€
plastic bottle                             0,50€
pair of buttons    (1,000 x 20)  20,00€
paint                 (0,01€ x 20)     0,20€

3 hours @ 15€                         15,00€
_______________________________

Total production cost                42,30€
20% profit                                8,46€
______________________________

Total cost plus profit (20items) 50,76€
Total cost plus profit (1 item)     2,54€

  Conclusion : It became really obvious to me that if I was making more earrings at the same time I would be able to sale them at a much lower price and still make a profit out of them.

How to make a Sketchbook with marker paper (or any other paper!)

Hi guys! Welcome back! I'm going to show you how easy it is to make your own sketchbook with marker paper or ANY other paper. There are a couple of reasons I choose to make them on my own. First of all, I haven't yet found one with a good quality marker paper. Secondly I can make them as big in size as I want, with as many pages as I need. And of course I can save a little bit of money, bacause sketchbooks are usually more expensive than getting a drawing pad. So let's start with what we are going to need.

* You can check out the video here *

Materials Used:

- Paper (I'm using Canson Marker Paper A3+ or 320x480)
- Decorative paper
- Stapler
- Ruler
- Glue
- X-acto knife
- Ribbons and pearls (optional)

Step 1
Let's get started by cutting away the excess of the paper and I'm going to meseaure the height of my pages. which is 24 cm. I'm marking the cover at 24 cm where I am going to cut it and also at 12cm which is right in the middle and it is where we are going to place the ribbon.

After I cut it,I have two pieces and I am going to use the smaller one to cover and secure the ribbons. I'm putting a small amount of glue roughly in the middle just to hold it in place, and then glue it in the middle of my cover. You don't have to be percise about it, just make sure you are covering the mark we made for the ribbon.

Step 2
Then I am folding my pages and the cover in half and I am going to align them as perfectly as possible. I'm using a couple of clips to hold them in place. Take your stapler an open it. Measure on your cover where you want it stapled. I am marking 5cm from the top and 5cm from the bottom. Now we need our towel.

I am going to put the skecthbook on the top of the towel, pages facing down and then i am putting my stapler right at the point I have marked and I'm applying pressure. Do the same thing from the other side. It might take you a little bit of effort to get it completely centered. I can now remove the clips and close the staples. Use your hands or even a pen, I'm using the back of my exacto knife. Just make sure the lid is on.

Step 3
We are almost done.  we need to cut the excess of our pages, so I'm placing my ruler right on the edge of the cover and cutting the pages with my knife. Take your time with it because It is not possible to cut all the pages in one time so do it as many times as you need to, just make sure that you are holding your ruler in place.

Step 4
Time to glue on the ribbons. I've cut the piece in half to use one as a bookmark and one as the closure. The last one i'm cutting in half again and then i'm putting a good amount of glue on my cover, placing the ribbon on my mark and pressing the papers together. Same thing on the other side only this time I'm also placing my bookmark. You can use a lighter to secure the ends so they won't fray and I'm also putting a pearl on my bookmark which is completely unnecessary but I really like the way it looks.

That's all! You can now go ahead and make yourselves the most unique and amazing sketchbooks, to carry around with you, so you won't miss another moment of inspiration! 

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Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils COLOR WHEEL + B O N U S !!!

If you love to draw as much as I do, chances are that, at least once in your lifetime, you came across a color wheel. You learn how to use it to make interesting colors and how to combine them, so you can achieve the best results for your artwork.

But what happens when you use color pencils and you have all these colors available to you? 

That's what I thought when I recently purchased my first Faber-Castell Polychromos set of 36. I looked at all these amazing colors and I felt a little overwhelmed. The first thing I did after that was to search online for a color wheel made with polychromos pencils and, to my surprise, I couldn't find one - maybe the first time the internet let me down! 

As a result, I decided to try and make one for myself and, of course, share it with you guys, in case you have been looking for one. 

Keep in mind, however, that it is made completely based on research and personal judgment. Everyone has a different perception over colors, so feel free to correct it and use it as a guide. This is also the main reason I used only the colors that were available to me at the moment and not the complete collection. That is 38 colors without greys, white and black. I wish that in the future I will be able to update with the full color range.

So here is your template guys! Feel free to download and print as many times as you wish and of course share it with your friends if you find it helpful!

Download Polychromos color wheel

B O N U S

I also found it helpful to make some color mixing charts. Could you imagine that with 42 colors 

( including 2 greys, black and white ) you have the total amount of 1764 different colors and hues? Isn't that mind-blowing? Because of that huge number I made 3 different charts : you will find COLD Vs COLD, WARM Vs WARM and finally WARM Vs COLD.

Warm VS Warm

Cold VS Cold
Warm VS Cold

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Simplest DIY Tassel Earrings tutorial you could find!

So with summer around the corner, I was in the search for new items to update my wardrobe. And one item that really caught my eye was a pair of tassels earrings.

Simple piece of jewelry, that can transform your outfit from day to night! Metallic, with feathers or fringe it doesn’t really matter! They are all beautiful! But did you know that in a few simple steps you can make one for yourself? And the best thing is that, it would be as unique as you are.

* You can also check the video here *

Let’s start with the list of materials you will need.

- 2 big buttons

- 2 tassels

- 2 bell end caps

- 2 headpins

- 2 clip on earrings

Take under consideration, that these items are the ones I used. You can always experiment with different materials and add your own aesthetic to the pieces that you make.

Step 1

Let’s start with the tassels. I bought those from the craft store.  Of course there are plenty tutorials online that will so you how you can make one for yourself, but I wanted to make my life, and yours, as easy as possible.

What I didn’t like though, was that jump ring. To remove it I took my pliers and rotated the jump ring, until I came across the opening. Then I put a little pressure to open it so I can remove it completely.

I put a drop of glue inside the bell end cap and put it on the tassel, applied a little bit of pressure and let it dry.

Step 2

While I was waiting for my tassel to dry, I took my button and on the back of it, there where two holes. I put a drop of glue inside one of the holes and then inserted a headpin. Once again, before I moved to the next step, I let the glue dry for a few minutes.

The reason I am doing this, is to secure the headpin that will hold the tassel in place, so it won’t move around as much when I am wearing my earrings.

Step 3

It’s time to unite the button with the tassel. At the end of the headpin I created a loop with my round nose pliers ( you can do it with other pliers too if you don’t have a round one ), passed the tassel through the loop and then pushed it close.

Step 4

Take your glue again and put a drop on the back of the button. Now glue on the clip-on earring and apply pressure for at least 30 seconds and the, for the last time, let everything set and dry ( for a couple of hours would be prefferable ).

Step 5

Get ready to dazzle everyone with your funky and unique accessory. And pleeeaaaase take a photo and tag me on instagram, it would be awesome to see what you have made!

* Come back soon for more *

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