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bjbjv So, I make jewelry out of recycled books Yes & Yes Designs is paying my rent. I was
making other jewelry before and then buying these laser cut pieces that someone else was
designing, so I first got involved with Tech Shop because I wanted to make my own laser
cut pieces. I didn't want to be using anyone elses designs. Once I started to understand
the process of the laser cutter and see where there was maneuverability with materials I
started experimenting, and got really inspired by [inaudible 00:00:35]. I actually found
them at Bazaar Bazaar. They had a booth set up. This is like a craft fair in San Francisco,
and they had this booth set up and they actually brought a couple laser cutters and I'd already
been thinking Oh, well maybe I'll outsource laser cutting. I didn't even know there was
the possibility of me having access to a machine myself. Once I saw what they were capable
of I just knew it was meant to be. I had to do it. Not at all. Yeah, I had used Illustrator
a little bit, a tiny little bit. I hardly knew what I was doing. That's the program
that I use to build everything, but other than that, no idea. It was really easy. I
mean, you take a two hour class here. It's just a safety and basic news class for the
laser cutter, and then you're pretty much approved to get your hands dirty. It still
takes, you know, a little bit of time to figure out what settings you need to use and what
you need and want to be making. It was really easy. Within a month, you know, I started
off with just a month membership. Kind of like, Oh, I'll test drive it and use my time
to the fullest extent. So, I was in here three or four times a week. Yeah. Once I kind of
like got inspired by the laser and the possibilities, it was all downhill after that. You know,
I'm in deep. Right now, you know, I actually just finished a Kickstarter campaign so I'll
be getting my own laser cutter within the next couple of weeks. But, I have to say,
I never would have been, I never would have started doing what I'm doing now, if I didn't
have the Tech Shop just because I wouldn't have had access to laser cutters and the ability
to experiment, which is unbelievable. There's so many opportunities for outsourcing and
a lot of people, you see a lot of laser cut jewelry out there, or at least I do. And a
lot of it tends to look the same. I wanted to get away from that and have my product
be something totally different. I'm here three times a week which is the max. Then I can
usually get about maybe 200 pieces a week. I am starting to get in more and more stores
right now. So I'm at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and a few other stores. I'm
actually going to be doing a trade show in August, and at this trade show they expect
at least 15,000 buyers from stores across the country, so the more you can get your
hands dirty and experiment before you get it out on the market, the better. I think,
for me I had already been making jewelry so once I started this new twist in my business,
it blew my mind, and I kind of re-shifted my whole focus. I just wish I had been experimenting
more before. I feel like all of the mistakes I made was my first year of doing business,
you know? So it goes. [Content_Types].xml #!MB ;c=1 _rels/.rels theme/theme/themeManager.xml
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