Handmade Jewelry Techniques

Jewelry shopping is very popular to those savvy customer that are addicted with the beauty and elegance of jewelry. But this kind of activity, especially for women are very expensive because many jewelry artisan sold there items at a high cost, that includes all their expenses. Lots of money will be saved if people would know how to make their own jewelry. Some would probably disregard this idea, as they would think that handmade jewelry is not as good as those jewelry sold at stores, made from well known artist. However, handmade jewelry are more likely appreciated if they are just made nice enough to be worn.

Notice that there are now lots of jewelry making tutorials that can teach you how to make your own jewelry. Not only that, they can also teach you on how you can obtain materials and tools needed to get started with jewelry making. The demand for jewelry continuously grow, and you may as well consider jewelry making tutorial for you to also learn how to make your own jewelry, this can also be a good chance for you of taking the lead to the newest trends in fashion jewelry.

As I've said earlier, commercial jewelry are sold at a high cost – mostly overpriced. Considering the value of the metals and stones needed are quite high, an amount of labor cost are being added also. Now, obtaining materials probably not a problem for you because you can always buy materials at a wholesale cost, but saving loads of money by creating your own jewelry eliminates the labor cost you are actually paying when you buy commercialize jewelry. And this might be a great opportunity for you to start your own handmade jewelry business.

Think about this, beautiful jewelries are made with jewelry makers, and jewelry makers learned jewelry making through tutorials. So the point is, you too can make your own beautiful jewelry creation if you will just consider taking jewelry making tutorial lesson. The only exception of jewelry makers from you is if they happened to take apprenticeship for this craft. But if you really desire to make this craft possible, for sure you will, it is just a matter of how much time and money you will invest to this venture.

There are many sources for jewelry making tutorial like tutorials in books, ebooks, Internet, and seminars. These sources of jewelry making tutorial can really give benefits to you, whether jewelry making is just your mere hobby or you are into jewelry making business.

A Handmade Jewelry Comes in Different Forms, it could be a precious stone , a mineral, or a metal. A jewelry is made for the purpose of beauty and luxury. History tells us that jewelry was once used by primitive men as a symbol of praise to their gods and as well as ornaments in the body. Jewelry derived from the Latin word jocale which mean plaything.

Jewelry has been used by early mankind, archeological findings and studies suggests that ornaments or jewelries was once used to strap in the clothings as a lock. But as mankind progresses, jewelry was used as a form of ornament, as well as a charms and other symbolic item in which they gave importance to drive away demons, sickness and as well attracting good life and luck. Early known jewelry are believed to be shells and other basic materials in which man could pick and stick it up in their clothing or body. Handmade Jewelry are a basic principle in which early man had developed and which later generations had followed with the help of machinery.

Handmade jewelries are nice, creative, and had no patterns or whatsoever to perfect. Its just a flow in which an artistic mind of a person flows in a continuous wave to create his or her own jewelry. As with the early ancestors, they dont use any machines to make a jewelry. Making Handmade Jewelry is Fun. Its relaxing and also a cheap gift for all occasions.

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Tips For Buying Handmade Jewelry

There is no doubt that handmade silver jewelry is one of the most wanted varieties these days. Because of this, there are more than enough handmade jewelry makers, but the need for it still increases. Along with the creation of newer designs come the creations of new establishments that cater to the needs of the people.

The market dictates that jewelry must be beautiful and should personify the look that its buyer wants, lest it will not be marketable. However, this is not limited to the kinds of jewelry that upper society deems. Handmade sliver cubic zirconia jewelry is also a good business, because it requires a small capital to begin operation. The products are sold for a small amount, but with the high demand for them, there is no doubt that they sell good.

Some silver jewelry maker advertises their handmade products online, because most transactions are done on the Internet nowadays. They find a more responsive market online and give them a chance to display the samples of their products for the buyers to choose from. The Internet is helpful to them, because it provides personal advertisements from cheaper resources. Since they have a limited budget, they cannot afford more sophisticated means of advertising their products, hence the use of the Internet.

Social networking sites like Multiply currently observe a large number of transactions that include shoes, clothes, accessories, and jewelry. Handmade cheap jewelry is common enough to be displayed in Multiply, and those who would want to buy can browse through the selection of designs for them to choose what fits them best. Some services also offer customized necklaces which have their names on it, while others can have pre ordered designs to choose from.

There are different kinds of necklaces and bracelets that have the name designed in handmade loops and rings. These are easily done by the hand provided a set of tools makes it easier to bend the wire. Silver is flexible enough to allow for such designs to be done on time. Simple training can be used to maneuver complicated designs that can double up the income they garner.

Crystal Jewelry makers can start their business with small scale designs and enough samples for a first batch. If it sells well, another batch can be created and the designs can include new ones for customers to have a wide selection. If the business is successful, the maker can start a store which can hold more pieces and can make transactions easier.

What is good with this kind of business is that even when there are not enough customers to buy every single piece, nothing will go to waste. The jewels can be redesigned to be sold again, or the maker can use them for personal purposes. These jewels can never go out of style, if the owner knows how to wear them.

The specifications and the price of the jewelry can be easily posted so that the transaction will be made possible. After an appropriate piece or set of china market jewelry has been chosen, they can set up a meeting where the transaction can be completed.

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Free Online Photo Storage - Great For Jewelry Makers

A friend of mine creates her own jewelry - lots of it. Mostly, she sells it, gives it away as gifts, or donates it. So a lot of her work is just gone. Needless to say, she's a candidate for free online photo storage.

She stopped over a while ago to pick up a necklace she had made for my mom. I wanted a matching bracelet for mom, and she said she needed the necklace to match.

"You know," she said to me as she tucked the necklace in her pocket, "I always forget what I've created. Folks comment on some of my work, and I have a difficult time remembering what I made."

That's when I told her about free online photo storage. I took her over to my PC, and called up my website for free online photo storage.

She was wowed. "I thought you had to pay to store your pictures." She said. I shook my head - and when I told her I hadn't paid a dime and always had free online photo storage, she asked me to email her the link to my favorite free online photo storage website.

Since then, she has really used free online photo storage. Now, instead of simply sending her finished work out the door, she photographs all her item. Then, once she has about 300 photos, she uploads them to her free online photo storage website. It has a whole folder uploading feature that lets you upload up to 300 photos all at once.

Her business has boomed since she started using free online photo storage. She's even more creative than before. Instead of thinking of new designs, she can kick back and look at what she's done in the past on her free online photo storage website.

To say thank you to me, she even made me a beautiful new bracelet. And I was able to show it to my aunt who lives 500 miles away as my friend loaded a picture of the bracelet her free online photo storage site. Now she's making another one for my sister!

In fact, my friend's success has inspired me to try some new things with free online photo storage. I have a big family, and I also like to create beautiful pieces of artwork. They are always asking to see what I've created, but it's hard since they mostly live out of town. And some of what I create is too big to put in the car and haul everywhere.

So, using free online photo storage, I can upload photos at home and then email pictures of my work to everyone. They get to see my artwork, and I get feedback what they think about it. Free online photo storage has helped me create even more beautiful pieces of art!

Free online photo storage comes in handy for so many uses! It's really a godsend for people who want to preserve their memories - even if it's just memories of jewelry!

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Winning Website Tips For Crafters, Jewelry Makers, Artists, And Artisans

What Makes a Website Good?

A good website needs 2 things:

* To be found by customers (traffic)
* To be interesting to a visitor - a real human being

Let's talk about the real human being first.

Remembering the Real Human Visitor

A crafts or jewelry website that sells needs some key elements- it needs to be inviting, and has to be about the customer (or the audience or reader if you like that better).

So what does an inviting website look like?

An inviting website talks directly to the needs of the customer rather than about you, the artist. Sad to say, nobody cares about you until you tell them what's in it for them. The key to selling is thinking like your customer. They are always thinking, "What's in it for me?".

Not in a bad way.

Everyone thinks like that. Don't you?

One of the greatest lessons I've ever learned is to talk to your customer as if they were standing right in front of you. Websites often aren't designed like that though.

Let's look at how many art, crafts, and jewelry websites are set up. They often talk about the designer front and centre, don't they? Who they are, where they live, how they would love to make you something, and how people tell them how great they're jewelry is.

But think about it. Do people care where you're from? Maybe, but if you think about why they care you'll see that even that is about them, not you.

Put yourself in the shoes of your visitor. What do you look for when you're shopping. Why do you care where they're from? You might want to know how far away it is from them because of shipping costs, because you like to shop local, or because there's some sort of prestige or "specialness" attached to buying from say, Paris.

Elements of an Inviting Website

Back to your arts and crafts or artisan jewelry website itself. So what makes people want to stick around a website? Other than the content I mean. Think about yourself. Do you tend to hang around sites that have a ton of stuff on them, or do you like sites that are more simple? Are there websites that make you feel overwhelmed and make you click that back button pronto?

The biggest problem I see with most sites is that there is just too much going on. The trick is to cull mercilessly.

Two of the most popular websites are The Google Site and the Apple Site. I think they're well-designed - they'd better be since they hire the top web designers in the world, right? So what do they have in common?

* Clean
* Simple colors and design
* Lots of white space
* Goal oriented/ purpose driven
* 1 focal point
* Easy to understand navigation

Here's a tip for analyzing your own website. Load it up and squint.

* How many focal points can you count?
* Does your eye automatically go to one place? Or does it bounce around all over the place?

And take a look too - if your eye does go to one place, is it the place you want it to?

Next, consider this: Is the purpose of your site obvious? Does it look like your purpose is to please the customer? Or is it all about you?

* How easy is it to get around?
* Do you have a search box?
* Is it obvious where to click first?
* Does it look like you're just out to "sell" them stuff, or does it look like you want to help them find what they need? Once again, it goes back to the customer.

Photography

On the web, great photographs are not just important, they are paramount! Handmade items, especially jewelry, are the type of thing you like to touch, feel, and maybe try on. You can't do that on a computer screen so you have to do the next best thing. Describe it thoroughly and enticingly, and half lots of great pictures. And lots of different views of the same piece.

To get some ideas on presentation, I like to look at what other people are doing. There are some great Etsy shops with beautiful pictures. Doing some research there will likely give you lots of ideas.

Good Copy

What's copy? Copy is just the words you use on your website. The best copywriters in the world get enormous sums of money because they get results. They know what people want.

Here are a few things people want:

* Not to be "sold" to
* Solutions to their problems
* Fast, easy, convenient
* To be priority number 1

I often see websites that say something like, "I'd love to make you a custom bracelet". But if you were shopping, do you care how someone would love to make you something? Or do you think, "Yeah, so what, everyone selling something would love to sell me something?"

So as a shopper what do you want? You want to know WHY you should buy from them. Marketers sometimes call this your USP or "Unique Selling Proposition"

As a shopper, you have a bunch of things that might be motivating you. You want to feel special. Some kind of "wow" factor that you can tell your friends about.

Often with jewelry this comes down to some story they can tell.

For example, if you make jewelry in your rustic barn studio using a cutting edge technique that few know how to do, that might be something that would make an interesting side story.

Another great way to get into the mind of your customer is to use the problem and solution strategy. Instead of "I'd love to design your bridal jewelry", maybe something like "Your special day is all about you, the bride. You want to look like the most beautiful woman in the room. Imagine yourself, walking down the aisle, flushed with excitement, your handcrafted custom designed swarovski crystal princess length necklace, tiny matching earrings and 3 strand bracelet are sparkling like diamonds, and all eyes are on you. Wouldn't you love your jewelry to sparkle like diamonds on your most special of days?"

Getting Traffic

Remember the other good website must-have? Traffic! People need to find you. How do you get traffic? Marketing!

There are lots of ways to market to bring traffic to your websites. Of course every creative type person hates marketing. We all just want to build it and have people come. Well, I'm not going to sugarcoat it - if you want traffic you have to work at it. So suck it up.

Here are some ways to bring targeted (i.e. people who are actually interested in your website, not just miscellaneous surfers) traffic to your site:

* Article marketing: write articles and submit them to article directories, magazines, and other websites
* Search engine marketing: make sure you are search engine friendly
* Pay per click marketing: Use a service like Google Adwords to get traffic
* Social media marketing: Use social sites like Twitter, Stumbleupon, Facebook, Youtube, I-Tunes, Hubpages, and hundreds of others to strategically spread word about yourself.
* Forum marketing: Participate in forums by offering USEFUL answers. Don't spam. Sometimes people will follow your "sig" back to your site.
* Newsletter marketing: Get your customers on a mailing list (make sure you ask first!) and send them interesting news and updates. Repeat customers should be your bread and butter.
* Other Marketing: business cards, ads if applicable, do craft shows, trade shows, put your website on all your packaging

I could go on and on - and I guess I have - sorry. Now get started on fixing your own websites. I want to see you shine!

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Links of London Jewelry - Reputed Jewelry Makers

Links of London Jewelry is known for its large collection of funky jewelry that has immense appeal with younger women. This is a company which is formed in 1990 and since two decades it has been constantly offering something new to their customers. These jewelries designed by them are reviewed to be unique and in a class of their own as far as their quality is concerned. They also have online stores where a huge collection of jewelries is displayed. This company pays a great deal of attention to online security, and once orders are placed, the products are shipped within a couple of weeks in most cases.

The Links of London Jewelry brand won the Best Jewelry Award in 2007. This award was a validation of the high quality and innovativeness that is present in the products of this brand. However, following an increased popularity of the brand, the company has upped its collection with several new products and has started giving away discounts to people who buy certain products from their online store. As new jewelry pieces are introduced, promotional offers are also on most of the time.

The jewelry items found at the Links of London stores range include a vast assortment of products such as bracelets, earrings, bangles, rings, chains, charms and necklaces. These products are featured on their online store and you can browse and buy products, inclusive of their discounted prices, directly through the website. They have also put in some effort to classify their products on the basis of the age groups they are meant for. Hence, you can find a special teenager collection and a classic collection on the Links of London Jewelry website.

The Links of London store has jewelry made using gold, sterling silver and platinum. There are also watches and other accessories collection available on the Links of London store. You will have no complaints regarding the service provided by the Links of London store. The customer is the king and here you will be treated like a real king. The prices of these jewelry are planned so as to be affordable to people belonging to all kinds of budget groups.

Once you like any piece of jewelry on the Links of London website, you can buy it within a few minutes. You can place your order online with your credit card or an online banking account. The shipping cost if any will be also mentioned clearly so that there is no misunderstanding. They have a 24/7 online support system to help people with any queries. You can ask your doubts or enquire about any piece of jewelry online. All your queries will be answered and solved without any delay.

On the website of Links of London Jewelry you will also get the contact numbers where you can call any time of the day and ask your questions regarding jewelry. The entire process of purchasing jewelry online has been made so simple on Links of London that you will want to visit this website for your jewelry purchasing needs.

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Learn How to Texture Your Precious Metal Clay for Jewelry Makers

One of the neatest things about precious metal clay (Pmc and ACS or Art Clay Silver) is you can add texture simply to your creations. Before Metal Clay came along, the only way you could texture metal as a jewellery maker was to etch with chemicals, stamp with metal stamps, or utilise a pricey rolling mill.

Metal Clay on the other hand is very similar to potter's clay or plasticine, so that you can produce one of a kind details, complex patterns, and shape and add texture to the metal while soft. Try doing that with metal sheet!

Be sure to keep in mind before you start though that metal clay has a tendency to be tacky and you want to use a release agent to anything it touches. I really like to utilise an extraordinarily thin coating of olive oil on my hands, work-area, and tools. Do not avoid this! You will be awfully sorry and have a mess to wash up. Be certain not to use too much oil though because this can also mean a big mess.

Here are some straightforward ways to add texture to metal clay while wet.

1. Rubber Stamps

Rubber Stamps are freely available and come in a bewildering selection of types these days. Art supply stores, scrapbooking stores, and also specialized rubber stamp suppliers abound.

2. Rubber and Silicone Texture Mats

Texture mats can be found in really amazing patterns, and because these types of mats are bendable, you can press them around curved forms.

3. Plastic Texture plates / Rubbing Plates

These are quite low-priced, and typically come with textures stamped on both sides of the sheet. Just press the clay onto the sheet or vice versa.

4. Push Molds

There are some lovely polymer clay push molds available, but as most are rigid, you will have problems getting your precious metal clay out of them. Be sure to use some olive oil or a product like Cool Slip to help the metal clay not stick to the mold. Permitting the precious metal clay to dehydrate and reduce in size a tad is going to help liberate uncooperative clay.

You'll be able to find flexible type push molds in candy and cake decorating supply merchants that are great tools as well.

5. Repurposed Materials

Found objects are the ultimate in inexpensive texturing gear! Coins, leaves, bark, driftwood, fabric, and textured wallpapers pieces will all work. Just remember to apply some olive oil or other release agent. Use your creativity and you will find a lot of other textured objects you may make use of.

Skewers or toothpicks may also be employed to make dots, and scrape lines into the clay. If you can find typewriter keys these may be employed to press letters and words into your clay. If you can't find old typewriter keys, inexpensive metal letter stamps are available.

6. DIY Texturing Tools

I really like to produce my own texturing gear from polymer clay. To make your own, just do what I am doing, and shape scrap polymer clay into a1 with a handle shaped bit that pokes from the back. Make a pattern on the lumpy part. This will be the part you press into the clay. I've made ones with crosshatch designs, blossoms, polka dots, and little leaves. After you create a tool, just cure your new texturing tool according to the polymer clay guidelines.

There are a lot of other ways to make your own texturing tools as well . Be certain to check out my other articles for additional recommendations.

As you can see, metal clay offers almost limitless possibilities for creating textured jewelry, charms, pendants, beads, and findings. What are you making today?

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Reminder to all Wire Jewelry Makers

We at Wire-Sculpture really care about the craft of wire jewelry making and those of you who work at it as a profession as well as those of you who just make jewelry for the love of it. We aren’t just a store or a jewelry supplies company; we are so much more. So, this post is to let you know all the ways we show that we care so that you know the path to our doorway is always open to you whenever you need anything.

First of all, we go out of our way to take care of you with extraordinary customer care. We actually have wire jewelry making experts on our staff so that any question you have can be answered in a timely manner. We also know in detail, the specifics of the supplies we sell. And, we know all about the tools and even create original instructional materials and patterns. And we publish our number so you can call us – 877-636-0608.

We also guarantee your satisfaction no matter what. We are wire jewelry artists ourselves and we understand what works and what doesn’t. We also offer a wide range of wire jewelry supplies and help you determine the best ones for you. And, if for some reason you buy something and it doesn’t meet your expectation you are invited to return it and have up to 30 days to do so. We want you to be satisfied with those of us that help you be successful in your business or hobby.

We also strongly believe in community, in sharing ideas, and in learning from others. That is why we offer blogs, a tip of the day, a newsletter, and an open phone line when you need something. No question is too small or insignificant to us. If we can help you learn faster, then you will enjoy the art of wire jewelry making even more!

Last but not least, we want to hear from you to tell us how we can help you. We make our best guess at what questions might be “out there” but it would help us immensely if you would give us some insider information about what questions you have about wire jewelry making. When we hear from you we will come up with a way to meet your needs as quickly and as efficiently as we can.

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