Jewelry Making

Whee! This past Sunday we got to attend the annual Rings & Things Bead Show 2005. The one we went to was located at the Holiday Inn in Costa Mesa, CA. Each show is only 4 hours long. Ours started at 1pm and lasted until 5pm. We got their at around 2:30 but stayed until past closing!

So, you might be wondering, “What’s the big deal about going to a show when I can just order easily online or off their catalog?” Well, there are 2 things. The first is, that the prices of the items at the show have tags that show the RETAIL price. However, the sale for the show is 50% off the retail price and then an additional 15% off of that! So, even though I believe that their catalog prices are less than retail (by how much, I’m not sure). They are certainly not an additional 15% off of half price!

Secondly, it can make a huge difference to look at a stone in real life than in a catalog or on a website. The catalog picture on the website may cover up flaws, may be different in color, or it just might be something different than you pictured. There’s no way that can happen when you’re holding the stone in your hand. What you get is what you get!

Unfortunately, I forgot to bring our camera to take some pics of the actual show tables, so you will have to do with a picture of the stuff we ended up buying. Last year, we ended up with mostly “fall” colored stones and crystals in red, brown and yellow. This year we got a veritable rainbow of colors! Among the items we picked out were Amazonite, Amethyst, Cherry Quartz, Pearls, Crackle Glass, and various crystals.

In case you’ve never been to one of these things, the shows are held in a medium sized meeting room. They lay out the strands of stones, gems and crystals on many tables. I think there were about 30-40 large tables just filled with stuff. In back they also have a few tables with findings, jewelry tools, and large size pendants. They give you a large tray and then set you loose. It was pretty crazy at the beginning with tons of people all grabbing at stuff.

Continue reading “Rings and Things 2005 Beadshow” …

I’ve been wanting to write an article about making a “plain loop”. This is one of the basic techniques needed for many beading and jewelry projects and requires only a few tools. It does require practice to get your loops to look nice though, and I still often make the occasional wonky looking loop that needs to be fixed. Here’s a picture of what the article will step you through making:

I wrote a sort of long (and kind of boring looking back on it) article about the importance of including a good “title tag” in your website. But seriously, even though it’s obviously been beaten to death, I think it’s an important part of any jewelry website campaign.

I actually have a pretty good background in web work and coding. So I decided over the next couple of months I’m going to put up a few more articles about websites in relation to selling jewelry in addition to the normal DIY Jewelry articles that I’ve been slowly writing.

The results of the first poll for the Jewelry Making at Bloglander site are in:

This seems to be pretty much in line with what I thought the results would be. Note that the poll was for favorite type of jewelry to MAKE, and not what seems to sell more. I have a feeling that a lot of people have more fun making necklaces for some reason, but I know from experience that smaller items like bracelets and especially earrings can be hotter sellers just because by nature they are usually cheaper.

Continue reading “Poll - Types of Jewelry” …

Jewelry supplies at … Target?

On the About.com Jewelry making site I just read about the possiblity of getting some supplies for Jewelry Making in the “dollar” section at Target stores. I’ve seen this so called dollar section before, which is usually located in the front of the store near the checkouts or carts. But I’ve always avoided it because I didn’t think there could possibly be anything of value there. According to the article by Tammy Powley, the store near her had a whole bunch of really cheap tubes of beads and some related supplies. The supplies included those storage containers with dividers and bead trays as well as some pliers.

Continue reading “Bargain Beads At Target” …

I came across an article on Business Week Online about Sri Lanka looking to up its already significant exports of gems and jewelry by more than 20 percent in this year. From the article:

Last year, Sri Lanka exported US$301 million (euro234.81 million) worth of gems and jewelry, making the industry the country’s fourth largest export earner after garments, tea and tourism.

Continue reading “Sri Lanka Gem Export” …

I put up a short article on how to make wine charms that are simple yet can be used at just about any party. Here’s a picture of the completed winecharm on a glass.

Because I work with sterling silver wire all the time and am constantly battling the effects of oxidation, I was pretty interested in what’s known as “tarnish-free” silver. I hadn’t heard of it really until now. Apparently I’m way behind the times since this was discovered almost 5 years ago by a college student who figured out a way to introduce impurities into silver in order to make it resistant to tarnish.

Continue reading “Tarnish Free Silver?” …

Jennifer from Starving Artist Bazaar not only has one of the coolest logos I’ve seen for a craft site but also makes some really excellent DIY craft items. Her jewelry, in particular the earrings, seems to be very light, airy and dangly in construction. She also concentrates on hand knitted items like bags, chokers and cuffs, hats, scarves and even baby items. In addition she’s got some of her own prints and paintings for sale.

From her site:

I am a graphic designer living in Chicago(burbs) with a B.F.A. in design from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I also work in pottery, glass, painting and film. I’ve shown my work at film festivals and sold pieces at charity auctions. In 2003, I made some glass buttons and gave them to my friend Vahn. She suggested I sell my buttons at a craft fair with her. I did that and made some jewelry too. Now I’m addicted to making jewelry. No matter what medium, I’m always experimenting and my designs are constantly evolving. Anything can spark an idea for a design. A painting, a vase full of orchids, a pattern on a piece of cloth. Also, on my site are pieces by other talented artists. They share the same need to create beautiful and unique pieces.

Continue reading “Starving Artist Bazaar” …

I just got the new Joann mailer with its usual 40% and 50% off coupons inside. I know, Joann stores are not necessarily known for their abundant selection of jewelry supplies. The one near us is pretty poor in both quality and quantity. However, since the 40% coupon is usually good for only ONE thing that we like to do is just get ONE thing that we were planning on buying anyhow at the store at 40% off. A good example is jewelry pliers. A 40% discount on a pair of flatnose pliers is nothing to sneeze at, and if you’re picky you can get one whose tip isn’t misshapen. If you buy more stuff, your discount will tend to even out.

Continue reading “Joann Store Coupon” …