Favorite Customers, longtime Cubs fans Bob and Diane and the Baseball Necklace

Favorite Customers, longtime Cubs fans Bob and daughter Diane wearing her Tribute to Baseball Necklace in 4th of July colors

Over the years I've been blessed with some very special customers. Legendary Cubs #1 and #2 Fans Bob and his lovely daughter Diane are two of my very favorites. I first "met" Diane when she sent me an email asking questions about my making a customized baseball necklace for her in Cub's 4th of July team colors with a specific "fake" autograph on the miniature bat that comes with the necklace. She went on to tell me a bit of the story behind her desire for the necklace. She said that her dad, who has recently celebrated his 80th birthday, had "brainwashed" her as toddler and they have shared a passion for major league baseball (specifically for the Cubs) for her entire lifetime. I think their story is so special I wanted to share it with my readers. I'm so honored that my necklace is a small part of their ongoing celebration together of the Cubs and of Life.

She wanted the "fake" signature on the bat to read "Phil Cavarretta", his favorite player growing up. She wrote,
"I was initially going to get Ron Santo’s name, but then remembered my dad telling a story about writing Phil Cavarretta’s name on his ball glove as a child and trying to convince his friends he had gotten his autograph.......but he had spelled Cavarretta's name wrong!"

Diane and husband Steve at a Cub's game. Diane says, "Steve, who is a saint, and very tolerant of me and my love for the Cubs."

Diane and her dad frequently watch the Cubs games together on TV. She attends many games in person and they have made plans to attend a game this fall together with his 80 year old lifelong buddy, Dale.

This fabulous life sized, wooden, painted replica of Bob as a Cub's fan was created and given to him as a gift by Bob's very good friend and talented colleague, art teacher Pete, on the occasion of Bob's retirement. Bob and his family call it "Bob Crow" and it was used for years in Bob's garden to scare away the birds. Now it's a treasured family heirloom. 

The photo below shows Diane and Cub's owner, Tom Ricketts, during a game. As she was leaving the game and was on the phone talking to her dad she saw Tom again and he didn’t miss a beat when she asked, “would you mind saying hi to my 80 year old dad” He reached for her phone (Cubs phone cover OF COURSE) : ) and said “sure, what is his name” and proceeded to talk to her Dad for over 5 minutes. What a guy! What a team! What super fans!

Diane and friend Carol in Wrigleyville after a cold April game.

(edited: Necklace no longer available) Our "handmade from scratch" Patriotic 4th of July colored baseball necklace is available with beads in most colors as well as matching spiral baseball earrings at MelodyODesigns

The value of Listening to Customers (and the customized softball jewelry market)

Listening to Customers can sure be well worth the time and effort! Earlier this year I designed a collection of baseball jewelry and softball jewelry with the "hook" that they could be special ordered with most colors of beads on the beaded chain and a fake scribbled player's "signature" to make them unique.

As I mentioned in a previous post on the softball jewelry, it was originally a softball mom who saw my baseball necklace and asked me if I could make a softball necklace version (i.e., 25% larger with Dayglo yellow softballs) who was responsible for inspiring me to design the softball collection.

Recently a prospective customer contacted me looking for an "economy version" of the softball necklace, something that would be affordable for the tweens/teens on their teams. That's how the new softball pendant necklace version came about. Then a prospective customer got in touch with me wanting to know if the softball pendant necklace could have his daughter's name written on it instead of the fake brand name I had used on the bat. I said, "sure, GREAT IDEA, thanks!" The very next day another prospective customer from a different selling venue contacted me wanting to know if a team name could be written on the bat instead.

Light bulb moments! People seem to like customized items with names, especially when they are to be given as gifts........and I think particularly if a child/teen is involved. There appears to be a market and it's not that hard to do with my trusty Sakura MicroPerm pen. No brainer, so I edited the softball listings at my shops to reflect the customized personal name or team name option for the bat.

I'm so grateful for the creativity and imagination that my customers share with me. THANKS!

Softball bats under construction

Varnished Softball bats on drying rack

The items in the baseball and softball jewelry collections are all available for sale at MelodyODesigns at Etsy

Softball Necklace and Earrings and spotting a Niche Market

Neon Dayglow Yellow abounds in this new Softball necklace handmade from Polymer Clay

Last spring I wrote a blog post about some baseball jewelry I had designed in honor of Major League Baseball, including a necklace with a beaded chain that could be custom ordered in the team colors of most teams.

I was wearing my baseball necklace and earrings while shopping recently and struck up a conversation with a woman whose daughter was an avid softball player. The daughter wanted a softball necklace for her birthday and her mom told me that she was having such a difficult time trying to find one to purchase. Admittedly we live in an area without easy access to metropolitan-type shopping, but I thought if she was having trouble locating a softball necklace perhaps that might be a niche market worth exploring. (Softballs are 25% larger than baseballs and are a bright neon yellow color called dayglow or DayGlow or DayGlo).

As I was analyzing my data from a search ad I had placed at Etsy I realized something that was quite enlightening. There were almost 50% more searches for SOFTBALL jewelry/earrings/necklaces than there were for BASEBALL jewelry/earring/necklaces. I think that's probably because there are more females playing softball than baseball.

So those two events were my impetus for breaking out the neon yellow polymer clay and setting out to make softball jewelry. I've been baseball fan for most of my life, but knew very little about softball equipment and had to do quite a bit of research. Bryant Riggs, Technical Sales Manager at Fujifilm/Sericol and a member of the Softball group at LinkedIn was so helpful with his guidance into softball bats and balls and pointed me in the right direction for the online resources I needed. Kathi Briefer-Gose, a former avid softball player and artist member of Polymer Clay Central discussion group, enlightened me on softball, bats and the proper size proportions between the bat, ball and glove. Thanks go out to both for their valuable help!

Softball is no longer played with a wooden bat (who knew?). Aluminum bats can be used, but it seems like the majority of players prefer the relatively new composite bats. These are brightly colored and many have graphics on them that remind me of those on skateboards and surfboards.

One of the major bat manufacturers is the "Easton" company. I wanted to pattern my on a real bat, but I was concerned about copyright issues, so I decided to go with the made up brand name of "Weston" for my bat.

EDITED 7/24/13: The bat is now available with an custom option where a person's name or team name can be written on the bat instead of a brand name. Click to read a post about that option as well as the unveiling of a new economical Softball Pendant Necklace.

I tried to limit the labor intensive aspect of having to make the 10mm balls myself by searching for a source of commercially available well made yellow softballs with diminutive red stitching lines. Alas, non were appropriate. So, I ended up handmaking the balls and then meticulously hand painting the red seams on with Sakura's red Pigma Micron pen using a magnifier. Alas, these colored pens are not color fast on polymer clay unless one takes precautions. I heat cured the painted ball for 15 minutes at 200F. Then I used a very thin coat of Matte Varathane varnish, dabbing it on with a makeup sponge rather than dragging the sponge across the surface, Normally I would water down the Varathane a little, but had to use it straight for this application.

Some of the raw materials, tools and supplies used in making the softball jewelry

My entire baseball and Softball Jewelry Collection is available for sale at MelodyODesigns at Etsy

To access my other blog posts about making my baseball jewelry please click on the links below:

Arizona Diamondbacks Baseball Necklace and earrings

Baseball Necklace featured in “Polymer CAFÉ “ magazine

Diamondbacks Baseball Necklace and Microperm pens for writing on / signing Polymer Clay

My husband and I are staunch Arizona Diamondbacks baseball fans. Last February, in honor of the opening of Major League Baseball, I had designed a baseball necklace out of polymer clay for me to wear to show my true colors, complete with fake pretend "autographed" bat, glove and dangling baseballs. The team colors for the Diamondbacks are Sedona red, sand and black. Sedona red is the color of the red rock of Sedona and alas, neither it nor sand are colors that are commonly available in beads. I was unable to locate any appropriate beads and didn't relish the labor intensive work of making my own, so I didn't make a "tribute to the Diamondbacks" necklace.

However, I kept looking online and one day I found Trash City, a wonderful wholesale bead company in Phoenix who had limestone beads that had been commercially dyed in colors similar to the Diamondbacks' team colors....... courtesy of Trash City owners, Chris and Jim McLennan who are avid  Diamondbacks fan. Eureka!

One of the technically challenging aspects of creating the bat was that I wanted to make a teeny realistic bat logo as well as making a signed pretend faux autograph on the tiny 2 3/4 inch bat.

I needed a black pen to write on the bat; something permanent on polymer clay and capable of writing tiny legible letters. I ended up using a black Microperm by Sakura (01 thinner, 03 thicker, 05 thickest sizes) from Markers Supply. I've been using the thickest tipped version (05) of this pen to sign the back of some of my pieces for several years. It has held up well over time and I've been very pleased with the choice. I highly recommend it for signing cured polymer clay pieces. There have been a few time when I've made an oops on the signature and immediately tried to remove the ink with alcohol. It's so permanent that, though the alcohol did cause the ink to fade a little, I ended up having to sand it off and start over. That's PERMANENT!

FYI I have found that the somewhat similar Pigma Micron COLORED pens by Sakura do not hold up nearly as well unless heat cured and gently sealed.

To read a blog post on making my neon yellow softball jewelry

Dangling Baseball Pierced Earrings are available at MelodyODesigns at Etsy

Baseball Necklace made from Polymer Clay in "PolymerCAFE" magazine

Baseball necklace complete with tiny handmade bat, glove, and dangling baseballs complete with red stitching.

I originally designed this baseball, bat and glove necklace to wear to a baseball game when the symphony orchestra I played in was invited to perform at a game (complete with Fireworks and the "1812 Overture"). The team colors were red, white and blue, so I made this necklace to jazz up my regular boring black and white summer concert attire. The team colors were red, white and blue, so I made the necklace to jazz up my regular boring black and white summer concert attire (and managed to sneak it by the management dress code enforcer!!!). 

The baseball equipment is all made from  polymer clay. The mitt was adapted from a Sculpey “My Sports” mold. I sculpted the ball and bat (complete with stitching) and then made molds. The ball stitching was carefully antiqued in red acrylic paint. The cured bat and mitt were antiqued with burnt umber acrylic paint. Thin coiled wire was used to give a sense of movement to the baseballs as they dangle freely. It's such a fun necklace to wear and I especially enjoy the movement of the dangling baseballs.

I plan on offering copies of the necklace for sale by February 25, 2013, just a tad late for the first day of spring training, but perfect for opening day of the MLB baseball season. I have the supplies on hand so that customers can special order the bead chain in the colors of their favorite team. Please visit my shop at MelodyODesigns at  Etsy

"PolymerCAFE" magazine chose this necklace as the 4th place winner in its Red, White, and Blue Challenge in the May 2010 issue (Vol.8 No.4)

Please click on the link to access more recent blog posts on my baseball and softball jewelry:

Baseball necklace and earrings in honor of the opening of MLB spring 2013

Softball Necklace and earrings and spotting a niche market

Arizona Diamondbacks Baseball Necklace and earrings