You don’t have to be an expert jeweler to make jewelry. Many folks enjoy handcrafting jewelry for themselves, friends and family, or even to sell. Take a quick look at Etsy and you can see just how popular crafting jeweler for profit might be.

For those of you already doing this, or are considering making jewelry for profit, I’d like to share a few ideas with you that you may find useful.



Unique is not enough

Let’s face it… all handcrafted jewelry is unique in its own way. The skill of the crafter, the mediums used, the techniques and “style” of the individual makes each and every piece a unique creation. In an ever widening market you need to look beyond this simple fact and create something that’s not just unique but that people can relate to on individual or personal level.

Emotional Appeal

Create pieces that will invoke an emotional response. The easiest means of doing this is through the use of color. Choose your colors carefully for what you are making. Consider what color(s) best describe what you are making. Most flowers for example, do not naturally occur in blue. While a blue daisy might be appealing to some (like me!) the majority of people aren’t going looking for one.

Appeal to the Senses

Look beyond the sense if sight when you are designing a piece. Yes, your jewelry needs to be visually appealing but don’t stop there. Consider all the senses… sight, smell, touch, sound, and yes… even taste. Ever see a “ring pop”? Let’s also not forget the 6th sense either.

Give it a purpose

Look beyond simply being beautiful. Make your jewelry to serve a purpose. There’s a reason some diamond rings are called “engagement” rings and others are called “wedding bands” or promise rings. A beaded necklace may be simply beautiful, but a beaded necklace that can also be used as a chain for sunglasses or eyeglasses has a purpose beyond simply being beautiful.

Create Collections

Follow the lead of many of the top jewelry designers and create entire collections. Multiple items of the same theme that can be used and/or worn separately or together AND display them that way. Pieces that serve multiple purposes as well. Clips that can not only be worn in the hair but that can be used to shorten a necklace, create a drop, or even be used as a lapel pin with other items within the collection.

The Medium: Regional, Local, Personal Appeal

Consider your medium. Using sand from a particular beach in a resin casting, bits of wood from an old steamer trunk, even the copper wire from an old jumper cable. Think about the medium you are using and the “audience” you wish to appeal to. Imagine making wire sculptures of antique cars out the copper wire from an old jumper cable. You just created an additional appeal with your medium.

Target the Niche

Find a particular niche and go after it! Birthstone jewelry is a classic example of this and which each of the things I listed above can make a big difference. Create a special shape, object or something different, each month with a dedicated color and emotional attachment, can appeal to more senses than sight, serves a purpose, easy to create collections, many “baby” related things to use as a medium, and definitely targets a niche.

Happy crafting!

Dave

The guys over at JR Dunn are offering up this cool Deco Watch from Michele in their Father’s Day blogger contest. All you need to do write a blog post about how great your dad is, how easy is that?? From the press release, “Mashups of video, images, and other media are encouraged as creativity always wins points with one of the most creative jewelry retailers in the world, JR Dunn.”

And for those of you that don’t win, you get $25 off any purchase over $250 just for entering. You were going to write something nice about your dad anyway, so why not let the world know how great he is? Besides, you can always keep the uni-sex for yourself and just send him a card or bake him some cookies, he’ll never know, and he’s a great dad, so he won’t mind even if he does find out!

Submit your entries, with a link to your post, through Twitter to @jrdunn or you can email the link to dsnyder@jrdunn.com. Deadline for submissions is June 11th with the winner picked on June 13th so get to writing!!

I stumbled across a new website a few days ago that I thought was simply bloody brilliant. Ex-Boyfriend Jewelry

Based on a simple premise, when you dump your boyfriend, of even worse, he dumps you, you might as well cash in on all that jewelry he gave you (unless him not giving you jewelry is why you set him on the curb to begin with).

The site is just getting started, but basically it’s like eBay without all the bidding. You can sign up for an account, list your jewelry for sale, and get rid of it. Or, you can buy jewelry from someone else. Hopefully without the drama that is causing it to be sold to begin with.

My favorite part is all the great stories that go with these pieces. Hey Mom and Dad, remember that time I got married really young? Sorry about that. I can’t pay you back for the wedding, but I’ll split whatever I get for these with you. Deal? or I’m pretty sure that my soon-to-be (but not soon enough) ex was either sleeping with a jewelry saleswoman (among others) or trading legal advice for watches. Come on, just reading the descriptions is worth the click.

Give them a look, you might find something cool.

Also, apologies for taking so much time off from the blog, I appreciate all of you that have stayed with us through our down time.

I’ve been wanting leverback earrings for awhile now, and with the recent surge in metal prices, I had to look for other ways to get my earrings.

I was doing an eBay search one night and came upon a store, DIY Jewelry Parts, that sells — the name says it all– do-it-yourself jewelry parts. I started browsing and found snap tite leverback components in 14K yellow gold. I also found 6mm bezel dangle settings for round stones, perfect for the pair of 6mm garnets I had been saving. So I bought the leverback parts and the bezel settings.

The parts came in the mail a few days later and I got to work.

The snap tite settings were a cinch to use. You just lay your stones facedown on a flat surface (I laid my stones on some cotton padding for extra protection) and position the prongs over them. Gently push down til you hear the soft click. That’s it! Snap tite settings make it easy for you to make earrings, pendants and rings yourself by snapping gemstones into them.

The bezel settings were a bit more complicated. The bezels had four small tabs in the back to hold the stones in. The stones were placed into the setting from the back and I used my needle nose pliers to gently fold the tabs in to hold the stone. Since the bezel settings were dangles, I attached them to a pair of 14K gold-filled leverback earwires I had lying around, and I had dangly leverback earrings!

You can get these DIY jewelry parts from eBay vendor DIY-jewelry-parts, Fire Mountain Gems, or Jewelry Television.

Making jewelry will be a cinch when you use memory wire. What is it? Memory wire is a thin, rigid, tempered stainless steel wire that comes in a coil and is used as a beading medium. It resists corrosion AND tarnish, and the magical part is it’ll snap right back to its original form once expanded and released (hence the name; it remembers its shape).

They come in 3 kinds, allowing you to make necklaces, bracelets and rings that are one-size-fits-all. If you are planning on working with memory wire, you should probably invest in a pair of memory wire shears. They are designed to give your wire a smooth cut. Never ever use regular wire cutters to cut memory wire; I’ve had to learn the hard way that the wire will only be slightly dented and the blades on the wire cutters will be chipped.

You could use your round-nose pliers to bend the ends into loops, but it could be a bit difficult. Often times the wire will slip from your pliers and you’ll end up flinging beads all over the room, as well as a few curses. Another solution is using memory wire end caps to finish off your jewelry. They are tiny metal balls with a hole in one side. Put a dab of super glue or epoxy into the hole and insert your wire after you’re finished adding the beads or making your jewelry. Let dry for an hour and you’re all done!

You can get memory wire at great sites like Fire Mountain Gems.

Looking for that perfect Valentine’s Day gift? Have an extra $350,000 for it? This new brooch from the designers at Chopard may be just the ticket.

The brooch is created in Titanium and features stones from diamonds, spinel and a pink conch pearl at the heart of the flower. This will definitely make someone very happy.

Thanks to Luxist for spotting this one.

I’ve always been a fan of large and different, and I think that this awesome black gold cuff from Yossi Harari fits that category very well. Actually made from 75% silver and 25% gold and then oxidized, it will certainly be a unique piece of jewelry that you won’t see just anywhere. And at just over $1,000 it won’t break the bank.

Anther great cuff is this stunner from Chevron Royale. The stardust bracelet is made from stainless steel mesh, silver and diamonds (.78ct tw). The whole thing is just cool. At $3,500 it might not be for every day wear and tear in the garden, but it will certainly get some attention when out for a night on the town.

Ben Nighthorse Campbell has been a lifelong creator of great jewelry his most recent creation, The Creation Pendant, continues his award winning ways with a beautiful two sided silver and turquoise pendant.

The front of the pendant features heavenly bodies and the back features petroglyphs and the overall shape is inspired by a 14th century talisman for good luck. You can get yours from the National Museum of the American Indian for $550 with all proceeds going directly to support the museum.

Thanks to the guy over at Luxist for the heads up.

I spotted this cool idea over at MSN a while back. Why not display your jewelry as art instead of keeping it locked up in a small box on your dresser?

This particular version is a few manzanita branches in a simple vase and then the tree is decorated with your fine jewelry. You get an interesting display that keeps your jewelry from getting all tangled up, and it’s asy to see what you have to choose from when getting ready for you power day. And think of the possibilities when asking fro “decorations” for your tree!

Never Forget is a fabulous project to pay tribute to our fallen soldiers of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Project Never Forget is offering every family who has lost a soldier in the war one personalized 3-D photo charm. You can submit your request to Project Never Forget by going to their website and filling out the forms. Priority is given to wives and mothers of the fallen soldiers, but additional charms are available.