I have been working on a new jewelry related project during my summer vacation, and until I got to a certain point of completion, I didn’t feel comfortable discussing it here. However, I have made some major progress and see my vision coming clearer ever day, so I finally decided to spill the beans, at least some of them.

Drum roll please…Tammy Powley (aka the Crafty Princess) will soon be offering jewelry kits for sale. This is a project that I have been dreaming about for way too long and decided to just buckle down and do it this summer.

Of course, it has been way more work than I expected. For example, my husband is helping me with the photographs since it is basically impossible to take photos of your hands making jewelry since, well, you need your hands to operate the camera. On our first photo shoot, he asked me how many photos I thought we would need to take. This shoot was for two of the kits, so I said well, maybe two dozen pictures or a tad more than that. How many did we end up taking? More like 100 pictures!

When I get further along, I will reveal more details about the designs I’ve created for the kits, but for now, I can say that I’m just starting with a small number to test the waters. My vision for the kits I think are a little different than what I’ve seen available so far. In fact, I’ve been pretty surprised at what I’ve seen as far as kits in general. My goals when putting together the designs for each kit include the following (in no particular order of importance):

• Use quality materials, some of which are not available at the average craft shop
• Develop a “class in a kit” approach where each kit covers specific skills
• Provide step-by-step instructions tailored for each specific kit
• Incorporate high-resolution photographs for each tutorial that accompanies each kit
• Generally create kits that are appealing to beginners but also appeal to intermediate level jewelry makers
• Offer convenience to buyers, no going to the craft store, bead shop, or ordering a huge list of supplies on-line.

I’m really hoping I get these all together and ready to announce properly, yes, with lots of fan fair, press releases, and Hollywood parties (okay, maybe not a party but you get the picture) by the time I start back to school, which is (yikes!) only a few weeks away. So stay tuned!