Etsy Interview with Phil's Enamelling

Hi, I'm Phil, I'm 48 and live in the south of England. I'm the creator of Phil's Enamelling. I've had a variety of jobs over the years gardener, shop assistant, foundry worker, elephant keeper (yes honestly!), truck driver and I'm now a project manager in IT. I'm married to Jane, and we'll shortly celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary.

How and when did you start making jewellery and your other items?

I became disillusioned at the price of commercially available cufflinks, and though that I could make items of comparable quality at a fraction of the cost. This began with buttons but whilst trawling through craft sites I began to have an idea about enamelling. I purchased some liquid enamel, which I didn't get along at all well with, so thought I'd 'have a go' with the real stuff. I bought a starter pack of powdered enamel and as I already owned an industrial blowtorch I didn't bother with a kiln.

Initial attempts were not convincing. luckily I'd enrolled for a one day course at a studio. That was wholly kiln based, but I noticed they had a blowtorch in the workshop and asked about it. Good job I did, I learned I'd been attempting to complete the process in exactly the way it shouldn't be done! One quick tip, heat from underneath and not directly onto the powder, and I was away. The result is what you see before you. I love the fact that with torch enamelling you can see the whole process, it's not hidden in a kiln. Also the copper is annealed into fantastic color combinations on the back of the piece.

When and how did you originally find Etsy?

I learned about Etsy only a couple of months ago. My niece, Katy Barker, is an artist illustrator and designer, she mentioned it to me when I was moaning that craft fairs took up too much 'creating time', and other websites weren't delivering the goods.

What is unique about Etsy and what about the website do you like the most in regards to your shop?

It's designed entirely around goods which have been made personally. Elsewhere I found I was in competition with imports from the Far East and not only could I not compete on price, I wasn't reaching the right target audience. With Etsy I feel I'm now able to do both.

What inspires you the most in regards to your creations?

Color and texture, mainly color. I've never thought of myself as creative, never really done anything 'crafty'. I've been involved in theatrical lighting design for years, but that's the closest I've ever got. I suppose as that's deeply involved with color it's only natural to find this as my main inspiration. I love creating vibrantly colored pieces, then I remember that a range of people will wish for a range of varieties, so I'll concentrate on 'earth' colors for a while, and I find I enjoy the contrast. I do still prefer the wildly colored ones though.

What is your favourite piece you've created and why?

I recently attended a huge craft fair in Oxford, and I managed to book myself on one of the many workshops. I chose to make a pendant for my wife, deep green with a stamped leaf embossed on it in gold. With no prompting she took one look at it, fell in love with it and has worn it regularly ever since. I sometimes wonder if her praise is just her being nice to me, but with this piece I made something which immediately appealed to her. For that reason it has to be my favorite.

What do you want to accomplish with your online shop?

My main enjoyment is the creation of pieces. I do it as a hobby and I'm lucky to be able to indulge myself. I do however need to move pieces on, just to give me a reason to continue creating new ones. I don't see much point in keeping making pieces if no-one wants them. I love doing it so I hope Etsy will provide an outlet to enable me to continue.

Do you have any new creations in the works? If so, what can shoppers expect to see from you soon?

I have some ideas. I've recently been testing out a new technique on which I'm working, but it's more a refinement of the current process than anything particularly radical. I'm hoping to be able to produce some slightly larger pieces, maybe small dishes & bowls, still using the torch firing technique. I'm not even close to having put everything I have in stock into the shop, so my main aim at the moment is to get everything on the shelves. Once I've loaded all my enamel pieces, I'll need to start on the hundreds of pairs of cufflinks I have in stock.

I really need to brush up on my photography techniques, as I'm finding it distinctly difficult to take good quality close-up photo's of my pieces. I have contacts in the local camera club and I'm hoping I can interest a few of them in my 'project'. Until then I'll just have to continue as best I can and give the fullest description possible.

Where can readers find out about more information regarding your jewellery and other creations and possible special offers (including additional websites, blogs, facebook, etc)?

I'm new to 'net sales, having only attended craft and gift fairs in the past. Until such time as I have everything on the shelf with Etsy, I won't have time to consider any other outlets. Even once that's done, I'm not sure if I'll fully embrace blogs etc. I'd rather spend time in my studio actually creating things, and as it's a hobby, I have limited time available. I'm hoping that Etsy will prove to be a suitable and sufficient marketplace, to allow me this freedom. Any reader who wishes to may check out my Etsy shop, and should there be anything desired which isn't listed, anyone can contact me to discuss personalized pieces of work. I intend to place any new pieces I create, in the shop, within a couple of days of creation. As to special offers, I'm only trying to cover costs so I can continue production. That's the beauty of it being my hobby, but it does mean that pieces are very competitively priced. Second and subsequent pieces are P&P free, and if pieces are purchased as gifts, I'll package and send in suitable presentation gift boxes.