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Welcome!

With Mother's Day, graduation, weddings, etc. coming up - there are a lot of opportunities to show and sell your jewelry to interested people over the next few months.

In this issue you'll find wonderful, low-cost ways to jazz up your business with fresh new jewelry, displays, and marketing strategies.

Here's a sneak preview of what you'll find in this issue:

• Alicia's two excellent ways to create lovely, one-of-a-kind jewelry displays - for free.


• An easy, inexpensive way to make wonderfully unique jewelry by designing your own clay stamps - a great new tutorial from Virginia Vivier.


• A creative discussion on jewelry party game ideas, started by Doug Kelly.


• Janine Gerade's experience and tips on teaching a beginning polymer clay jewelry class.


• An easy, popular gift for jewelry artists to give for nearly any occasion.

Then in the Jewelry Gallery section below, you'll find inventive jewelry creations that celebrate springtime, heal broken hearts, and more.

In "Your Profitable Jewelry Business" near the end of this issue, I describe an easy, effective way to get more wire jewelry orders - by offering a particular custom jewelry item and putting out a sign.

And finally, today's "Neat Jewelry Related Site" shows how clever artists used junk like smashed lipstick lids and candy wrappers to create groovy new jewelry.

Enjoy the abundance of fun, low-cost ideas and inspirations in this issue - and share your creative ideas for making and selling jewelry!

~ Rena

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In this Issue of
Jewelry Business Success News:

1. Quick Tip: An Easy Gift for Jewelry Artists to Give



2. New Jewelry Business Ideas and Techniques:
   - 4 new jewelry business ideas
   - 2 new jewelry display / packaging ideas
   - 2 new jewelry making ideas
   - 10 new highlights from the handmade jewelry gallery



3. Your Profitable Jewelry Business:
   Get More Wire-Wrapping Orders



4. Neat Jewelry-Related Website:
   Recycled Jewelry Contest Winners

Quick Tip:
An Easy Gift for
Jewelry Artists to Give

Whenever there's a gift-giving occasion, we often rack our brains to come up with a gift idea that's meaningful, personal, and special.

Here's a gift I've given often to girls and women of all ages, that is always VERY well received:

A gift certificate for a jewelry-making session in my "studio".

Younger girls love the opportunity to come over, sit at your jewelry workspace, and create their own "princess bracelet" or "girl power necklace" (whichever goes better with their personal style).

Teenage girls really resonate with this chance to explore their self-expression and fashionality.

And women often like to make a jewelry set - usually either bracelet and earrings, or necklace and earrings.

Or sometimes they're thrilled to have you help them re-make a treasured piece of jewelry (such as Grandma's pearls) into something more modern and wearable.

After the jewelry-making session, be sure to include a lovely pouch or gift box for the newly-made piece of jewelry. (I think of it as the giftwrap for the present I just gave them!)

A jewelry-making gift certificate is always the right size and color - and it's often the gift the recipient enjoys and remembers most.

It's even a great gift idea if your child is invited to a girl's birthday party.

The youngest person I've ever had making jewelry in my "studio" was my niece, who was then 3 years old.

She sat on her mom's lap and worked very seriously and carefully on her princess bracelet - and for many years afterward she remembered that day and talked about making her princess bracelet!

And by the way - a lot of boys and men also really enjoy an opportunity to make jewelry!

(Surfer dude necklaces are an especially popular project for teens and young men - or "dragon bone" bead necklaces for younger boys.)

However, there are also many guys who definitely don't want to make jewelry no matter what.

So I would be sure you know your male gift recipient's jewelry preferences before giving him this gift!

Sell Your Jewelry Like Crazy
at Shows, Fairs, and Festivals
This Year

Discover hundreds of things you can do to sell more of your handmade jewelry at shows, in my book Ultimate Guide to Your Profitable Jewelry Booth.

Get this 176-page, step-by-step resource before your next show.

Thanks for Spreading the Word!

If you find my jewelry websites helpful, please help spread the word about them.

Near the bottom of every page on my sites is a box that says "Share This Page", which makes it easy for you to link to that page or share it around the Web.

Thank you - every link helps! :o)

New Jewelry Business
Ideas and Techniques
from My Websites and Blog:

Jewelry Business Ideas:

1. Jewelry Party Games
   Share your ideas and comments in Doug Kelly's creative discussion of jewelry party games.



2. Jewelry Business with a Broken Arm
   Ricki Ayer's fractured arm meant several depressing months of not being able to make jewelry. Here's how she turned her downtime into an opportunity to improve her jewelry business.



3. Teaching a Polymer Clay Class
   Janine Gerade shares her first experience with teaching a beginners' polymer clay workshop - and how she'll make her next class even better.



4. Starting a Jewelry Business
   Successful, creative jewelry artist Nina Cooper offers her tips and considerations for starting a jewelry business.

Jewelry Display and Packaging Ideas:

1. Give Old Jewelry Displays a Fresh New Look
   See how Alicia turned some old, scruffy jewelry displays into dramatically lovely "new" ones.



2. Retro Chic Jewelry Display Grouping
   Here Alicia shows how she created a stylish jewelry window display - on a budget of $0!

Jewelry Making Ideas:

1. Design and Use Your Own Clay Stamps
   Don't miss this excellent tutorial from Virginia Vivier! An easy, inexpensive way to make fantastic metal clay and polymer clay jewelry - using your own unique stamps.



2. The Oldest Beads
   Dita Basu shares her fascinating study of the oldest beads that have been discovered - and whether our ancestors were making jewelry before they even had language.

Highlights from the Handmade Jewelry Gallery:

See many more wonderful new jewelry designs in the Handcrafted Jewelry Designers' Gallery! There are too many to list here - so these are just a few of the most unique new submissions:

1. Braveheart Metal Clay Pendant
   by Lisa Holmes.



2. 325 Antique Green Stem Necklace
   by Vart Jewelry.



3. Mexican Siesta Ear Hoops
   by Tracy Carothers.



4. Copper Love Blues Necklace
   by Zoraida.



5. Sapphire Beach Ring
   by Terri Wlaschin.



6. Garden Party Glass Necklace
   by Peggy Festerling (The Glass Chef).



7. Peace Earrings
   by Joan Williams.



8. Unusually Uncommon - Mysterious in Black and Copper Jewelry Set
   by Launa Liva.



9. Moonstone and Gemstone Fringe Jewelry Set
   by Melanie Peckham.



10. Rare Earth Necklace
    by Tracy Carothers.

Share Your Jewelry Content
and Get Great Exposure

I invite you to share your jewelry photos, tips, stories, tutorials, etc. - right here on my network of jewelry websites.

It's a friendly, creative atmosphere of ideas and networking.

You'll also receive links to your jewelry business, and gain exposure in the handmade jewelry community - and beyond.

Jewelry artists often tell me that the exposure they've received on my websites has brought them valuable new connections, opportunities, and traffic!

So come on in and take advantage of all these great opportunities for sharing:

Share Your Jewelry Content

(And of course, you always keep the copyright to all of your own content that you share on my network of jewelry websites.)

Sell Your Jewelry at Trunk Shows,
Private Showings,
and as Business Gifts

Learn how to sell your handmade jewelry to this HUGE untapped market, in my book Secrets of a Handcrafted Jewelry Shopping Service.

Get this 115-page, easy-to-read guide now, and make this your best jewelry selling year ever.

Your Profitable Jewelry Business:

Get More
Wire-Wrapping Orders

by Rena Klingenberg

If you have a bit of wireworking skill, and you don't mind doing custom jewelry orders, you can have a fairly steady stream of work.

Here's How:

Wire is a fantastic material for making nearly any jewelry-sized object into a wearable pendant.

And many people have at least one sentimental treasure they'd like to have turned into a pendant they can wear (or can give to a loved one to wear).

From the time I first started wire-wrapping jewelry, my friends and customers have asked me to wire-wrap their special treasures.

Over the years they've brought me all sorts of significant objects - such as:

a seashell found on an anniversary trip;
a 1980's video arcade token;
a grandfather's World War I dogtag;
a stone received from a special friend years ago;
a piece of a broken china plate from Grandma's house
. . . just to name a few.

(Also, you may remember how my mailman recently asked me to wire-wrap an arrowhead for his grandson.)

It's truly an honor to provide the artistry that makes people's cherished treasures wearable.

And these custom pieces will be some of the most-appreciated pieces of jewelry you'll ever make.

This is a great jewelry niche where you can get lots of word-of-mouth referrals, as your customers excitedly show their new pendant treasures to their friends, family and co-workers!

Hot Tip for Getting Lots of Pendant Orders:

At your shows, jewelry parties, and anyplace where you have your jewelry on display, put out a sign in an 8" x 10" picture frame, saying:

"What Can I Wire-Wrap for You?

I Turn Your Cherished Treasures into Pendants."

(You may also want to have the above message printed on the front or back of your jewelry business cards.)

Asking a question, even in print ("what can I wire-wrap for you?") makes people automatically start thinking of an answer to it.

Next to this sign, you may want to also put some photos or samples of wire-wrapped treasures, or an electronic photo frame slideshow of them, to give people a jumpstart for answering your question!

Getting Ready for These Pendant Orders

Wire-wrap a few different objects of your own - such as a seashell, coin, raw crystal, key, button, etc. - to get an idea of how much wire you'll use to turn various items into pendants, and how much time each type of item takes.

This helps you come up with more accurate prices to charge.

You can also use these "demo" pieces as handy examples for people to get ideas of what they'd like to have wrapped by you.

Questions to Ask When People Bring You Their Treasures to Wire-Wrap:

• What type of wire do you prefer? (goldfill, sterling silver, Argentium silver, copper, brass, steel, or whatever wire types you normally work with)


• Which side of this object do you want to be the front of the pendant?


• Which side do you want to be the top?


• Do you want any additional embellishments (beads, charms, mini photos, tags with stamped words / dates, etc.) - or just your treasured object wire-wrapped by itself?


• Do you want a cord, chain, ribbon, etc. for wearing your pendant? (And if so, what length?)

The finished pendant will often hold a great deal of sentimental value for your customer. When you deliver their cherished treasure pendant, be prepared for some customers to have tears in their eyes.

Your work will be deeply appreciated and long remembered.

It will also be shown to a lot of people!

Neat Jewelry-Related Website

This week's neat site shows how some crafty jewelry artists turned trash into jewels.

Recycled Jewelry Contest Winners showcases the cleverly repurposed creations that won a contest held by the Recycling Office of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

See the beautiful new lives that were given to ordinary junk like a smashed lipstick lid, bottle caps, old newspapers, candy wrappers, a shard of headlight plastic, and more!

Sell Your Jewelry Online

Grow a solid base of online jewelry customers, using the step-by-step strategies you'll learn in my book Social Networking: Sell Your Jewelry Online the New Way.

Get this 192-page, step-by-step resource now, and start growing your customer base.

Network and Get Noticed
in the
Home Based Jeweler's Showcase

The Home Based Jeweler's Showcase blog is a free opportunity to promote your jewelry business and find other jewelry artists to network with.

It's published by Rita Juhlin of Private Stock Jewelry.

To add your jewelry business to the Showcase - please email Rita Juhlin, at HomeBasedJewelers @ gmail.com .

SURVEY:
How Can I Make This Newsletter
Better for You?

If you haven't yet responded to my quick survey, I welcome your input!

Please take the survey here to give me your suggestions and feedback so I can make this newsletter a better resource for you.

I grant as many wishes as possible! :o)

Thanks so much.

My Jewelry Business Websites
and RSS Feeds

This newsletter highlights some of the latest jewelry business tips and techniques from my websites:

Home Jewelry Business Success Tips

Jewelry Display Ideas

Making Jewelry Now

Jewelry Business Blog

Each of these sites also has its own RSS feed. Look for the orange RSS symbol on the left-hand column of each of these sites to get the feed.

Thanks so much for joining me
for this issue of
"Jewelry Business Success News"!

~ May your jewelry journey be fun and prosperous ~

Contact Rena