Showing posts with label Home Jewelry Business Success Tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Home Jewelry Business Success Tips. Show all posts

Almost There,....

Happy Tuesday! Did you survive Cyber Monday?  I hope so!

I also hope you're ready for more fun and great deals this weekend as I host the Holiday Shop Hop 2011 this Saturday and Sunday, December 3rd and 4th, right here on my blog.



A big shout out to Rena Klingenberg for so graciously mentioning the Holiday Shop Hop in the "Neat Jewelry Website" section of her Jewelry Business Success Newsletter that's out today! Thanks so much Rena!!




There will be some great shops/blogs filled with handmade items and creative art for you to browse through at your leisure during the Holiday Shop Hop and up there on the top of my blog, where all the links are,...well, the Holiday Shop Hop button will have the list of all the shops/blogs that will be participating this weekend and it will have all those links for you to click away at from this weekend on through until at least January 15th, 2012.  This way everyone who's on Winter Break can enjoy shopping great handmade items even after the Gift Giving Holiday's are over! 

Now, on to some other things today.  I don't know if you know this about me but I LOVE making earrings.  Yes, I know you know that I love to make jewelry but Earrings are, by far, my FAVORITE to design and create!
Handcrafted Earrings by Michelle Buettner of MiShel Designs
"Snakeskin Components" by Kristi Bowman
Handcrafted earring wires by Shel of Shel's Jewelry Supplies

Anyhoo,....what I'm getting at is a few things. 1st, nothing destroys a great pair of handmade earrings (in my outspoken opinion, anyway!) than a pair of ugly, not-suited-for-the-earrings, pair of widely manufactured earring wires!  (Gosh, I cannot believe I actually said this out loud - I'm sure I'm gonna get eaten alive for this one!) 

Sleeping Beauty Nugget Earrings and Handcrafted Earring Wires
by Michelle Buettner of MiShel Deisgns


But anyway, my point is here is this,....I love to make handcrafted earring wires and several of my jewelry friends (and all of my clients) told me how much they LOVED my earring wires, so I started making them for other designers and opened another Etsy shop last year called Shel's Jewelry Supplies.  It's been going quite well, so much so that I actually blew out my poor elbow in February of this year and had to stop production for quite a while.

"Sexy Norm" Style Earring Wires in Sterling Silver
by Shel of Shel's Jewelry Supplies


Well, silly me, with the Holiday Shop Hop coming up, I've been less than productive in the 'supplies' category and have basicially, completely 'SOLD OUT' of my earring wires on my Etsy Site!  (Bad, bad Girl!)  So, I'm kicking myself in the booty and I'm gonna try to get a few things listed and back up.

"Elegant" Style Handcrafted Earring Wires in 14K Gold Filled
by Shel of Shel's Jewelry Supplies

BUT - in the meantime, here's the point I was trying to make in the beginning (yep, got a little side-tracked as usual!!)

There's the neatest blog out there that's dedicated to EarringsHow cool is this?!  I mean, really - I'm in heaven! 



The brainchild of Heather Powers . She, and some other very creative designers who are contributors, have this wonderful site with some awesome designs, so if you're as crazy about earrings as I am - you gotta go check this out.  It's called Earrings Everyday - Inspiration and Adoration (Yes, that's what I'm talking about!)  It's got tons of inspiration and places to get fabulous beads and fun items for your earrings too -  you'll definitely want to check this out!





Oh,...this is loaded with all kinds of wire findings you can make yourself and that will have your jewelry designs popping with personality (way more personality than mass produced findings if you ask me!) .

Anyway, one of the earring designs they have published in this book, on page 21 to be exact, is their pair of "flattened ear wires".  I Love Them!!

"Signature" Syle Earring Wires in Sterling Silver
by Shel of Shel's Jewelry Supplies

And, they're very similar to my "Signature" pair of earring wires that I've been making for over 15 years now (that my metalsmith teacher, Carol, told me were fabulous, by the way!) and so you just have to check out this book, if you haven't already done so, because the findings you will learn to create and be able to expand upon are wonderful!

It just gets your creative juices flowing and your mind racing!  Well, it did mine, anyway, and so I just had to share it with you!

So, as you're preparing your handcrafted items for sale this season (and any season for that matter) check out these two very lovely voices of inspiration and education!

And, don't forget to hop back on over here this weekend and check out all the really cool handmade shops that will be featured on the Holiday Shop Hop. There's handmade toys, soaps, candles, scarves and jewelry and jewelry related items, of course!  Yummy, Yummy!

Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and Living Creatively!
Cheers,

Friday's Fab Fav's!

T.G.I.F.!!   Time for my list of Friday's Fab Fav's!

Here's the scoop - these are blogs or sites I regularly follow and think have something special to offer. 

This week, unlike last week, they're all jewelry related in some fashion. (i.e. - they have some sort of jewelry related posts or pages on their blogs), but each have something other than just "pretty jewels" to offer. 

 
So, grab your drink of choice tonight and sit back, relax and allow yourself to be thoroughly engulfed!


You've all heard me whine about my jewelry photographs and how I'd like to improve them, so when I found out that
Kerry was making her "Snaptastic" photography class available as an eCourse,...I signed up! 
(You should seriously check this out!!)


Kerry's blog has great inspirational photos, links to her fabulous book, (Totally Twisted: innovative wirework and art glass  jewelry) and amazingly colorful glass beads she creates and sells, as well as informative posts and links for those in the jewelry and bead world.  

 

Next up this Friday is the creative
Lori Anderson with her blog, Pretty Things.
Lori's the mastermind and host behind the Bead Soup Blog Party I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in this past September (Cool experience!). 

Lori's one of those rare and amazing people who instantly put you at ease and make you feel you can accomplish anything. Down to earth and very real (and oh, so funny!!) Lori share's tutorials, wonderful sites to check out, where to catch all the latest 'goings on', great books (and some bizarre ones, too!) and a plethora of stunning jewelry designs,..just to name a few things! Seriously - you will not get bored with this site - check it out!

And last, but certainly not least this Friday is Rena Klingenberg and her website and newsletter:
Home Jewelry Business Success Tips

I'm not sure I can even put into words what all Rena's site encompasses or what it's meant to me.  

I was so excited to find Rena's website and to receive her newsletters many years ago,...2004 or 2005 I think it may have been. I'd already been designing jewelry (mostly earrings) since the late 1980's (yep, I'm old - 46 to be exact!) but stopped when my son was a toddler and had just started to revise my passion when I found her site. 



She's been a source of great business information over the years with everything from setting up booths at trade shows to expanding your business with various services to using social media to expand your business,....everything that you could want to know - she's touched on the topic - trust me on this one! Plus, there's a ton of people who regularly post to Rena's site with gorgeous inspirational jewelry photos, great business advise and all sorts of fun jewelry topics.  This is one you need to book mark and read regularly!

Althought I've only given you three again this week,
 trust me - you'll be filled to the brim! 
"But it's all good, Baby!!" 
(as the hubby always says!) 

I hope you have an excellent weekend! 
Go out and do something creative!

Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and Fabulous Friday Favorites over at Shel's!

Cheers,