Posts Tagged ‘arts and crafts’

Custom Jewelry Repair Tips

Making jewelry is a creative hobby and it can be very rewarding, but it can also drain your creativity if you’re making a lot of unique jewelry designs and then spending lots of energy putting together the supplies for each piece repeatedly. One unique way to alleviate that jewelry making burn out while still using your jewelry design talents is to begin to repair jewelry on the side! Many of beaded jewelry makers work around the clock putting together unique jewelry pieces and buying jewelry supplies for that next necklace or eye-catching design.

Repairing someone else’s jewelry uses your jewelry design talents and will often present some unique challenges. Instead of making a bracelet from scratch, you generally need to take an existing jewelry pattern and find beads to replace missing or broken jewelry pieces that either look similar to the rest of the jewelry piece or at least compliment it. Fixing jewelry requires a different approach to purchasing jewelry supplies because you’ll need to have a wide variety of connectors, pendants and stringing materials available. You’ll also want think about using a professional jewelry supply management software package to track what jewelry supplies you have on hand, what you’ll need to order soon and where you can get them for the lowest price. Here are some useful tips and tricks to remember when you start fixing jewelry for clients:

Matching jewelry supplies to older jewelry is often very difficult. You have a much better chance of locating replacement jewelry supplies or pieces that are similar, though sometimes matching the color of certain gemstones can be very challenging.

As a custom jewelry maker you may also want to make suggestions on other parts of a jewelry pieces to fix even though it may not be broken yet. If you see worn connectors or cracked beads it’s a good idea to tell your customer so that she isn’t surprised when something else breaks.

Many times you’ll be fixing a piece of jewelry that holds a sentimental meaning or is particularly liked by your customer. You are providing a service of not just fixing a piece of jewelry, but often you’re helping restore a memory or feeling! Remember to price your services in line with the going rates.

And really, don’t forget to have fun with it! Both fixing handcrafted jewelry and making your own jewelry are enjoyable ways to make some extra cash, but it’s up to you to find the proper balance to keep you smiling and making money at the same time. You can generally charge just as much to repair a piece of jewelry as you would to create it. But because are often working with existing jewelry supplies fixing a piece of jewelry can be much more profitable.

Making handmade jewelry is a great way to make some extra income on the side. Many retired people have started second careers with their own jewelry and some have experienced great financial success!

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3 Ways To Sell More Crafts And Get More Buyers

With the slow economy these days, many people think it isn’t a good time to sell crafts but nothing could be more incorrect. Many craft shows are experiencing record sales because more people are looking for high-quality local items for gifts and for themselves without spending a lot of money at a big corporate retail store. Making your own handcrafted arts and crafts is a good way to make some extra money on the side or replace some of the income from a hard-to-find job. There are lots of great craft items you can make and sell including metal sculptures, knitted items, beaded jewelry and any sort of personalized towels. If you are thinking about starting your own arts and crafts business or you’ve been selling at craft shows for years, then here are some clever ways to increase your customers and make more profit:

Track Your Past Customers: Offering to notify your customers of upcoming craft shows and sales can be a great way to begin getting repeat buyers of your crafts. For example, if you make bead jewelry then you might want to record your mailing addresses in your bead inventory program and send out quarterly updates or email promotions. A lot of people see selling craft items as a 1 time deal, but if a person bought something from you one time, then they may buy from you the next time as well!

Have A Website: You can advertise your online store at your sales table during craft shows and later pick up customers from people who were at the fair. There are a lot of choices available to craft sellers who want to start an online store from auction sites to custom-made website creators. It’s a fact, the internet is here to stay and many people are very comfortable with buying things online.

Try Different Booth Designs: If you are able to arrange your tables so that people have to walk into your area then do so, because that will help you to easily engage people and discover what they are looking for. Just as a retail store’s design needs to be bright and welcoming so does the craft booth you sell your items at. When there are hundreds of people walking past your booth every hour, you will want to catch their attention with something bold and exciting.

If you’re committed to making more money from your sales, then don’t be afraid to try new things and branch out with new methods of selling your wares. It only takes a bit of effort and time to greatly increase your craft sales.

Want another great way to increase your craft sales? Remember that setting the right price is key! If you make and sell bead jewelry you can use a good jewelry inventory program to help you set the perfect price that will sell a lot of pieces and still make plenty of money!

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Charm Jewelry – A Reminder Of Someone Or Something Special

Charm bracelets are one part of looking good that never goes out of style. Charm jewelry for fun and fashion is easy to obtain, make or otherwise show off. It can look fine on just about any person, regardless of age or sex, too. It can also come in different sizes, shapes and styles.

While you can buy charms anywhere, making your own can be fun and easy. One method for making charms is a process called “lost wax casting.” In it, a wax or plastic mold – called a pattern – is utilized to fashion the charm or piece of jewelry. Using various processes, a fine collection of charm jewelry can then be produced.

Ways of making this kind of accessory abound. Most are pretty cheap and easy to do, too. You can take different beads, chains and assorted items and use them to make distinctive pieces as you like. Also, in the craft industry, there are different wholesale outlets that offer individual pieces or whole kits with all of the items you’d need to create charm jewelry. Don’t forget to get an instruction book which shows you how to make such articles.

You can also take an existing bracelet and create something more stylish or funky by adding individual charms to it. Most of the time, it only involves the use of a couple of pairs of pliers and a few charms. It’s done by creating ab opening in a small loop, or ring. You do this with the two pliers. After that, you add the charm to that loop or ring. Once that’s done, thread the ring through a link in the bracelet and then close it back up. It’s all as simple as that!

There are almost as many different methods for creating charm jewelry as there are pieces of jewelry available. Also, you can take just about any item and make a decorative piece out of it. Buttons are a good example. Assemble the best-looking or most visually interesting of them, first of all. After that, it’s only a matter of finding some clasps and taking some wire, wire cutters and pliers to fasten them to a bracelet.

In this Internet age, there are hundreds of different instructional guides and manuals when it comes to creating charm jewelry. To make more involved or elaborate pieces, first experiment and practice assembling simpler items. Above everything else, though, you should have a desire to learn.

You shouldn’t hesitate to experiment, though. Pretty soon, you may find yourself able to make some fine charm jewelry in no time at all. Just remember to allow your creative side to emerge and have a bit of fun with it!

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Pendant Jewelry – Add Some Pendant Jewelry To Your Jewelry Box

I fell in love with pendants when I was a little girl. My grandmother had a true amber pendant. When I was three or four she held it up to my eye and turned me by the chin until I was looking at the sun. The curve of the amber acted like binoculars looked through from the small end and it was as if the amber held the sun itself inside it.

When I married, my grandmother gave me a large part of her collection. To it I have added my own pieces, and in time I will pass the collection on to my daughter. I wonder if she will delight in pendant jewelry, which was my grandmother’s favorite as it is mine. Pendants are not particularly fashionable right now, I know, but their beauty is classic and will never truly go out of sytle

Between what was left to me by my grandmother and what I have acquired myself, I now have several dozen pendant necklaces. I love estate sales and sometimes you just have to go for something while you have the chance. Pendant jewelry collecting is becoming more and more popular. I have no doubt a lot of the attraction is piqued by stars on the red carpet – inquiries about my collection always increase in the month after the Oscars.

It was inevitable that I would one day find a piece of pendant jewelry to die for! I happened upon a rudy drop pendant in an antique shop that captivated me. The asking price nearly choked me, but I had to own it. I had no resources to buy this exquisite pendant, so the time came for me to part with other items in my growing collection. Using the internet , I sold a very nice earring and matching pendant jewelry set plus two other pieces in a matter of two days. Happily, I got more money than was needed to make my purchase.

The internet has proven to be a boon to collectors of every ilk. My own pendant jewelry collection has grown considerably courtesy of various online auction sites. In addition, the internet has allowed many craftsmen and artists to offer their unique creations to the whole world. I love being able to buy one-of-a-kind pendant jewelry from a favorite artist halfway across the globe!

Recently I attended an estate sale while vacationing in Europe. The area’s population includes family lines that have been in the region since time immemorial – a perfect hunting ground for antique jewelry. For less than $100, I picked up a chandelier pendant that I have since resold for three times what I paid.

Over the years, I’ve made a few bloopers, but the funny thing is, there is someone else who thinks otherwise and has gladly relieved me of my “mistakes”. Of course, I don’t always make a killing on these, but it’s been educational as to what types of jewelry are sought after. For me and thousands of others, collecting and wearing pendant jewelry is its own reward.

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A Guide to Troll Beads and Bracelets

If you need to find silver troll bracelet, it’s not impossible if you look on the web! Continue reading to discover how you can do it!

One type of bracelet that’s become popular the past few years is the Troll bracelet. The troll bracelet allows people to have an almost unlimited combination of colors and designs. For people who like to express their creativity and for people who like to design their own bracelets, Troll bead bracelets are the perfect fix.

Troll bracelets are created from troll beads. You can get a variety of different troll beads, manufactured out of different materials. For example, you can get gold, silver, stone, Murano glass, and plastic troll beads. The sheer variety of bead materials mean that you can have unique looking bracelets.

Not are there only different materials that troll bead bracelets are created out of, but you can get special themed beads too. There are many different themes to choose from. For example, you might want to use Troll beads to create a charm bracelet. You would simply buy troll beads that have a charm them, then use those beads to create a new bracelet design.

This sheer variation of different troll beads that you can select allow people to create completely different troll bead bracelet designs. No two bracelets will ever be alike.

What’s good about troll bead bracelets is that you don’t have to break the bank to buy one. You can spend as much or as little as you want. If you want an elegant troll beat bracelets that’s expensive, you can create your bracelet out of gold troll beads. If you don’t have money, then you can use plastic or glass beads.

Troll bead bracelets are quite flexible because you can snap off the beads from the bracelet without have to untie the actual bracelet string. Most troll beads and be easily snapped on or off allowing you to customize your design on the fly.

The best place to buy your troll bead bracelet is online. There are plenty of online retailers that offer huge selections of troll bead bracelets.

You’ll be able to get troll bracelets by looking around on the web. You just need to explore all the possibilities on-line to see what you can find. If you are also wanting to get puppia soft dog harness, do not give up because you can also attain these on the web!

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