Meet the SRAJD - Self Representing Artists in Jewelry Design an organization I recently joined. The SRAJD is an international organization of jewelry designers who handcraft and sell their own jewelry. When you purchase from an SRAJD member, you are buying directly from and supporting the artist. It is the mission of the SRAJD organization to raise awareness of the benefits of buying directly from the artist. We also work as a community to help, nurture, instruct, and encourage one another. • Handmade jewelry is higher quality than mass produced jewelry. • Much of it is one-of-a-kind (OOAK) and no two pieces are the same. • Much mass produced jewelry is made overseas where people are poorly paid. • Handmade jewelry is designed and crafted by an artist one piece at a time with much attention to detail and design. • Because the artist is selling directly to the customer he or she wants their pieces to stand the test of time. Repeat customers and positive recommendations are vital to the success of their business. • These artists stand behind their work and offer a guarantee that is hard to find from a department store or even a jewelry store. • When you buy handcrafted jewelry you support a small business. We all know small businesses struggle to compete with larger chain stores. The days of the family owned business are sadly becoming a thing of the past. I like the idea of promoting any type of individuality. Handmade jewelry is an expression of individuality. When you buy from a member of the SRAJD you will be taking the road less traveled. What you are wearing will be noticed. Handmade jewelry artists make jewelry because they love the process. There are very few who make a living doing it. If you counted the hours involved in choosing the beads or stones, purchasing the parts, cataloging the parts, designing the piece, crafting the piece, photographing the piece, uploading it to a website, doing the required bookkeeping as well as
packaging and shipping the product the hourly rate of return would be astonishingly low. Below are just a few handcrafted jewelry pieces by members of SRAJD. Individually, these artists can be found easily on the Internet by searching sites that are established for the purpose of promoting handmade items, i.e. Etsy, Artfire, IndieMade by simply searching with the word SRAJD. Links to their jewelry can also be found on the SRAJD website http://www.srajd.com Many of these artists have their own personal websites. They may not have an actual brick & mortar store, but they are our virtual connections to independent artisans and craftspeople selling their products with pride. Why not support a small business this holiday season?