Jewelry Making

We’d posted about selling jewelry on Etsy nearly two years ago when it first launched, and they are doing quite well over there with tons of crafters selling wares on the site. You can find a lot of great jewelry designs there just by surfing around - the latest one we came across was Elizabeth Scott’s jewelry.

From her studio in New York, she handmakes a variety of light and airy forms out of different types of metals. Sometimes the metal is combined with other items like pearls, but more often than not the focal point is the actual shaped metal object. The metal is often oxidized and polished, and a number of her pieces are also made using Precious Metal Clay forms. She makes a good variety of necklaces, rings, earrings and bracelets.

Here’s an example of one of the beautiful designs she can make. This is a Filigree Vine Necklace made out of sterling silver. The pendant looks like a wire vine inside of a teardrop shaped enclosure. It’s attached to simple cable chain. Very elegant and simple, like the best jewelry designs.

Visit: ES Designs

I can’t remember if I’ve already posted about the 2007 Bead Arts Award which is sponsored by Lapidary Journal. In any case, their deadline is coming up on April 1 of this year. The basic entry fee for this one is $25 and it’s open to anyone who makes beaded jewelry or art.

There are 3 divisions with a first and second place winner in each: the first is the general bead category, with subdivision for clay, glass and other mixed media beads. The second is bead jewelry with subcategories of bracelets, earrings, necklaces and “other”. The third is a “beaded object” category which can be either a functional or non-functional item (but it just can’t be jewelry). You actually enter by sending in photos of the item instead of the actual beaded piece which is sort of nice because I wouldn’t want to trust sending it to them by mail.

So if you’re looking to enter a bead contest, get started by visiting the Bead Arts Award Contest for more information.

Another jewelry site that I came across recently through indieshopping is Stones on String. Melissa specializes in making handcrafted one-of-a-kind jewelry such as necklaces, bracelets, earrings, anklets and even men’s jewelry.

I like her focus on “natural” looking pieces. While she does make good use of crystals such as Swarovskis as accents, the focus of many of her pieces are earth-toned gemstones and silver single-word “message” beads. A lot of her jewelry is also complemented by leather cord which extends the rustic yet beautiful nature of the designs.

Here’s a little bit about Melissa’s design philosophy from her website:

My style has evolved and I create the type of jewelry that I myself am drawn to. Earthy, natural pieces designed with gemstones and crystals, sterling and gold. Jewelry that is stylish to wear, yet also feeds the soul with beauty as well.

Continue reading “Stones on String” …

Just a quick note that if you want to get involved in the Happily Handmade Giveaway as a sponsor, you only have two more days to apply. And then after that you’ve got until Feb 7 to get your sponsor donations in.

What is HHG? It’s a promotional event for indie craft, jewelry, and clothes designers to help get the word out about their wares. The promos, which come from the indieshops in question, are boxed up into prize packages that go to the winners of the drawings. These drawings can only be entered through special pages created by each indie shop. This helps encourage traffic and awareness of the indie businesses.

So their Winter 2007 event is coming up pretty soon like I said. After the sponsor deadlines, people can enter the drawings from February 12 through March 31, and then the winners are announced on April 2.

I know there are several other giveaways like this, but if you’re looking for further exposure for the jewelry you make, then this might be a good and cost-effective way to get some eyes to your website.

Visit: Happily Handmade Giveaway for more info.

Wrote up a short article today which deals with a jewelry making tip for those times when you just HAVE to make duplicates of a particular item. I know that many out there are going for the “all-unique” jewelry making aesthetic - but you’d be surprised how many times you’re going to have to settle down and crank out a few pieces that are similar or the same. It’s certainly happened to us more than once!

Tip For Mass Producing Your Jewelry

Hello and Happy New Year! Whew, it’s been very slow getting back into jewelry making after the longish holiday. We’re still getting cleaned up and organized after the great Felt Club XL show. But I realized our Gemstone Shape poll has been up for ages - nearly 5 months!

Anyhow, this is how the results shaped up. I expected Teardrop / Briolette to win handily since these are great stone shapes for necklace pendants. It held 198 votes, so a good chunk of people do like these shapes.

I was a bit surprised that the “odd shapes” category did so well with 160 votes. One of the bad things with these polls is that I can only allow 4 choices, at least as long as the poll remains at the top of the page - there’s just no more room! Anyhow, so we had to lump all the other shapes together, which is perhaps the reason that it had so many votes. I know that roughly shaped and odd- shaped stones are extremely popular with many jewelry makers who want to have a unique product.

Bringing up the rear were circular / disc / oval shapes, with 97 votes and square / rectangle with 70 votes. We’re actually a big fan of rectagular shaped gemstones and glass and try to use them in designs whenever we get a chance.

Okay-dok. I’m a bit out of ideas for new polls, so I just made one up about what kind of Jewelry Pliers you use the most for making jewelry. I suspect it would be helpful to have pics, but once again, there’s no room. So if you’re wondering what the different pliers are, just search for them online…

Cherry Quartz is a very popular manufactured type of glass that we’ve been using in our designs for a few years now. It is characterized by clear to light pink transparent glass with lots of red swirled inclusions inside of it. (Sorry about the picture, which looks more opaque than transparent). It is manufactured in many different shapes including all manner of standard spheres, ovals, nuggets, drops and briolettes.

Unlike pressed glass, these pieces are not made in molds which is the reason they look so much like actual gemstones. Instead, the glass is actually cut and faceted and polished like normal precious stones. And because the manufacturing process involves swirling different color combinations within the glass first and allowing it to cool, each piece is different. This seems to be what attracts so many jewelry makers - the fact that it’s synthetic but it retains individual characteristics.

Continue reading “Cherry Quartz Beads” …

Thank you to everyone who came to visit us at the Felt Club this past weekend. We had a great time and sold quite a few pieces… earrings seemed to be a bigger seller this year.

A few questions from the Bloglander Jewelry Making Mailbag that I hadn’t gotten to yet:

Jennifer writes: “I am just beginning in the whole jewelry making/beading process. I am interested in finding out the best way to produce bracelets using jewelry wire, esp. when it comes to attaching the clasps so it doesn’t look so … amateur. Thanks.”

Bloglander Jewelry Making says: Well, I know that it will take some time to get the technique down. I’m assuming you’re talking about using crimp beads or something similar to tie off the end of a bracelet. You might find this article about creating folded crimp beads helpful. You will need a special bead crimping tool, available at joann.com or other craft stores.

Some people also like to add something called “French Wire” (sometimes known as “bullion” or “gimp”) to cover up the bare jewelry cable/wire that shows where it connects to the clasp. It’s basically very thin silver wire that comes spooled like a slinky, and you insert the beading cable through the middle of it. See this About.com tutorial for an example of what it looks like.

Continue reading “Mailbag: Bracelets and Clasps” …

Boy, I had meant to post this show much earlier but just forgot about it. The reason - we are actually participating in this for Bellaceti so nearly every waking hour has been devoted to increasing inventory for the show!

This is Felt Club (a play upon the popular “Fight Club” movie) and is a new monthly indie mini-craft fair of 20-25 revolving diy artisans making handmade goods, jewelry, paper products and clothing. It usually takes place at The Echo, but the upcoming one is going to be a larger show of 70 crafters and is taking place at the Ukranain Culture Center on Melrose Ave in L.A.

If you happen to be in the Los Angeles area, stop by and say hi… we’ll be there from 12-7pm under our Bellaceti store name. More information at:

www.feltclub.com/

FELT CLUB: XL Holiday Edition
Saturday, DECEMBER 9, 12pm-7pm
@ THE UKRAINIAN CULTURAL CENTER
4315 Melrose Ave. @ Heliotro

Just a quick note that Master Wire Sculptor, Inc. (Preston Reuther’s famous rags-to-riches wire sculpting company) is holding a Bead and Wire Bracelet Contest. The entry deadline is the end of the year, which is coming up rather quickly. They also are going to announce the winners on January 14, 2007 which is rather quick too!

They’ve been holding various contests like these since about 2000. Up for grabs for this one is over $1000 in wire jewelry supplies along with various certificates and awards. The best thing about it, in my opinion, is that there is no fee to enter. That’s right, it’s free - something you can’t say about a lot of the jewelry making competitions.

More info can be found on their contest page at:

wire-sculpture.com/braceletcontest06/