Ethically sourcing craft supplies?

I am blissfully ignorant, but I'd be really interested if anyone has a website telling about sources!

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"Life is unfair. Kill yourself or get over it." - Black Box Recorder
I apologize.

Hmmm...that's crossed my mind from time to time but I've never really gotten around to researching that. Generally, though, I have this guy whose dad does wire wrappings and he makes me my own batch of split and jump rings from spare wire. I'm not sure where he gets his.

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It don't seem the same since cosmic light
Came into my life, I thought I was divine...

I think this is why I find the whole recycled crafting ideas so interesting. If you use what would otherwise be discarded as trash, you don't really think that much about where it came from as much as where it would go if you didn't use it.

the pretty new glass beads on your fave website

I think I know where those come from.

When it comes to glass beads, if you're shopping in a big box store like Michael's or Wal*Mart then they're probably mostly from China or Taiwan. You'll be lucky if those beads have been annealed let alone not made with child labor. Your best bet is to head on over to Etsy or one of the other crafty sale sites and buy directly from the artists who are making the beads. You'll be better assured that the beads are higher quality, have been annealed, and that you're supporting a fellow artist.

Most of the glass itself ( at least, most of the rods used for lampworking ) usually comes from Italy ( or thereabouts ) and as far as I know, are made by trained professionals who make a decent living. I'm not sure what the carbon footprint is for glass production on the scale that the Italians do it.

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Reusing other people's scraps has to be good, doesn't it? I guess it depends how far back along the supply chain you want to go

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I'm Against Gallery Ads.

This is a very good point. I guess that would mean recycled/re-used stuff scores more highly on the ethical scale than "new" supplies, simply because if you reuse old stuff you are cutting down on the amount of new stuff that has to be made

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I'm Against Gallery Ads.

You're right, of course. Artisan beads have more uniqueness and character than mass-produced ones. But the trouble is that you often need plain spacer/'filler' beads to show them off properly. There aren't a lot of artisans - or at least not that I'm aware of - making plain spacer/'filler' beads in large enough quantities to be useful to most beaders, so you end up resorting to some sort of mass-produced beads because you have no other choice. And even for a company like Swarovski, it's difficult to get precise info on how their workers - particularly in places like China - are treated.

So it's a good start, but it's only a tiny bit of the problem. Still, little by little, eh?

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I'm Against Gallery Ads.

Me too

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I'm Against Gallery Ads.

the more I learn about the bead scene, the more disturbed I get.

Seed beads, spacers and any other beads that are made by machines aside, I really have a hard time understanding how some of the glass beads can be sold at the price that they go for in the large chain stores. I remember looking at a string of flameworked beads that were priced at $4usd for the strand of 8 to 10 beads. Without even going into the quality, I really just don't get it. I've been told that as a general guideline, flameworked glass should be priced at $1 per minute of flame time it takes to make that piece. This covers your materials, gas, oxygen and the labor. When I think about it, if I went totally balls to the walls to try and crank out the same beads, I would be hard pressed to crank one out in under a minute. Then, my mind completely boggles at making a bead per minute for 8 hours a day for a total of 480 beads!

I agree that there aren't may artisans out there that would be willing to make these beads in quantity, but I will postulate that this is because they can't get a fair price for them. If you take the above example, charge $1 per bead (which I think is still a really good price for a quality annealed bead) and allow 2 minutes per bead (whether in being more leisurely at the torch or with breaks) at a typical 40 hours a week, that's around $62k a year. If you write off half of that for materials, gas and other costs, that's still $31k a year, which is a respectable income. the problem is that when you can get the $4 a strand beads at your local crafts store or even cheaper in bulk or at some bead shows, no one is going to commission a glass artist at the prices that he or she would charge.

For the simple beads, I would venture to say that there are tons of beginner flameworkers out there who would jump at the chance for a large quantity commission if the price were respectable. The beads are pretty simple, and a lot of them will be cranking these simple beads out anyway just for the practice. From what I've seen in the craft stores, I'm guessing that a lot of beginners can manage something equal or better than the ones in the stores. Heck, I even know skilled bead makers who crank out a mandrel or two of these simple beads as warm-ups every time they start working.

Sorry for the rant. The more I look into it, the more I see that the expectations in the bead scene are getting more and more unreasonable. It's sad that so many people come to expect what they see in the craft stores and use that to set their expectations for everything else.

_{Sorry in advance for the length of this post.
I felt compelled to respond in detail to your post as glass bead-making is one of my specialties.}


I really have a hard time understanding how some of the glass beads can be sold at the price that they go for in the large chain stores.

The cost of living in China is considerably lower than it is in the United States. Thus, factories in China pay their workers considerably less because their workers can live on considerably less. Those savings are passed on to the international consumer via low prices. The Chinese also employ unskilled laborers, don't pay benefits, cut corners, etc. which also lets them charge less for their product. Quality suffers for sure, but if quantity is more important then it's a moot point - and in the case of China and beads right now, it's all about quantity.



I've been told that as a general guideline, flameworked glass should be priced at $1 per minute of flame time it takes to make that piece.

You cannot go by that guideline. The varying prices of glass rods alone negate the ability to generalize. CiM colors can cost $40 a lb while Moretti can cost $10 a lb. There's too much variation to be able to say that $1 per minute is either adequate or excessive to cover your costs when your costs can vary so widely just in materials alone.



...there aren't many artisans out there that would be willing to make these beads in quantity ... I will postulate that this is because they can't get a fair price for them.

Actually, I believe you are incorrect with your postulation. In my experience, the problem isn't that consumers won't pay more for quality spacer beads (they most certainly will) - it's that most lampworkers aren't interested in making them.

Making spacers can be boring and mundane and most lampworkers prefer to be creative and engaged. Popping off a few hundred spacers is "work", whereas creating a few dozen focal beads is "fun". Thus, what I see a lot of (especially online) are millions of fun focal beads and few sets of spacer beads to go with them. Since sets of quality spacer beads are rare, consumers turn to Chinese-made poor-quality product not because they want to - but because they have to since there are few other options available.




Further Comment:

Sure customers can buy bulk beads made in China for $4.00.

The problem is that those beads are unlikely to be of high quality and are unlikely to have been annealed - which means that they will crack.

So what customers are getting for their $4.00 is poor quality unstable beads. That's fine if that's what the customer wants. However, like with most things, customers will pay more for higher quality and better safety/reliability.

And they will pay more provided they are informed consumers.

The object of the glass bead-making artist is to not only make a beautiful and safe product, but to also educate the consumer as to why their product is better than the mass-produced cheaper variations.

I sell thousands of glass beads - many of them single-colored spacers. I have informed my customers as to why I charge what I do for my product. Thus, they know what it is that they are exactly paying for and why what I provide is better than what they will ever find coming out of the factories in China.

Also, it helps to have a marketing strategy when it comes to selling beads. In each jewelry market there are niches, where an artist can make a decent profit by filling a consumer need. In my local area, I've discovered that certain types, colors, and shapes of beads are always in constant demand. If I make sets of those beads they will sell. Thus, when I do a show I always have some of those types of sets available for purchase. Thus, I ensure that I will always at least cover my costs, if not make a profit.

If you haven't seen it yet, I have a deviation up in my gallery that shows the types of beads that I sell at shows.

[link]

You'll notice, by clicking the above link, the large quantity of sets and spacer beads that I sell. Both of which are a rarity in my local area since so many lampworkers here (like almost everywhere) prefer to just make focals instead.

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