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Welcome!

"Once upon the last day of a golden summer. . . ." (quote from "Winnie the Pooh's Grand Adventure").

It's always hard to believe how quickly the summer break goes by.

We're on our last week of it here - the new school year starts on Monday.

One "back to school" opportunity for jewelry artists is school spirit jewelry.

Making and selling bracelets, necklaces, and earrings in the school colors of your local middle schools, high schools, and colleges can be very profitable in the Fall.

And don't forget jewelry for your schools' seniors who will be graduating in the Spring. Guys and gals entering their last year of high school or college will appreciate jewelry, keyrings, zipper-pulls, and cellphone charms with "11" or "2011" somewhere on them!

~ Rena

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In this Issue of
Jewelry Business Success News:

1. Quick Tip: Networking with Your Customers



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



3. Your Profitable Jewelry Business:
   Adoption Jewelry - a Lovely Niche Market



4. Neat Jewelry-Related Website:
   Steven Garrison's "Make Wooden Beads" Video

Quick Tip:
Networking with Your Customers

I have a jewelry artist friend whose primary customers are women - and here's how she generates the majority of her jewelry sales.

She joined a local businesswomen's networking group, which meets twice a month.

These ladies work together to grow their businesses and help each other make connections.

My friend gets lots of leads and new jewelry customers referred to her by this networking group.

And she also winds up with lots of jewelry sales and custom orders directly from her fellow businesswomen in the networking group!

Even better, most of these ladies are in contact with loads of people every day - often while wearing my friend's handmade jewelry.

So whenever these businesswomen receive a compliment on their jewelry, they hand out one of my friend's business cards, with a few sincere words of praise for her work.

This has proven to be an extremely valuable form of word-of-mouth marketing for my friend - and a fast way to grow her jewelry business!

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 Linking!

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

Thank you - every link helps! :o)

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

Jewelry Business Ideas:

1. Finding a New Creative Voice
   When health problems cut her career short, Amanda turned to jewelry-making as a creative outlet. Within a year, her jewelry business was off to a promising start.



2. Just Starting Out on the Internet - What's My Next Step?
   Exciting craft show results inspired Sharon to sell her jewelry online - but how should she proceed?



3. Taking Jewelry Orders at Shows
   Darcy's new jewelry line is available mainly by custom order. How will that work out for selling these pieces at shows?



4. Taking the Plunge and Changing Lifestyles!
   When Helen de Sarandy lost her job to the recession, she turned it into an opportunity to start a handmade jewelry business. Six months later, the orders are coming in.



5. How to Get in the Local Village Markets?
   Tim and Cath are living in Spain, and are finding all of the local village markets too full for more vendors. Please share your ideas for them.



6. Trying to Get Good Images of My Jewelry is Frustrating
   See the helpful tips that have been posted for Pam, who's been struggling to get better photos of her work.



7. Displays for a Jewelry Basket Party
   Please share your ideas for Deborah, who's looking for simple ways to display her work at "jewelry parties to go".



8. Do I Need Web Hosting for My Jewelry Website?
   Kim ponders whether web hosting is a necessary expense for getting her jewelry online.



9. Silver Lace Treasures
   When Barb created this unusual jewelry set, it sold almost instantly.

Jewelry Display and Packaging Ideas:

1. The Perfect Necklace Holder / Hanger
   See how Linda Harrison crafts these clever necklace tags / hangers - that can also hold a matching pair of earrings.



2. Redone Japan-Inspired Jewelry Booth Using Lamps
   Karen Kelsky shows her updated jewelry booth - where she had a great day at a local Japanese festival!



3. Head and Hand Jewelry Displays
   How to create Marcia's great-looking head and hand displays - using mostly items you have around the house.



4. Jewelry Hang Tags and Earring Cards
   I've updated this page with new images and helpful tips!

Jewelry Making Inspirations:

1. Challenges with a Copper Chain Bracelet
   How Janine Gerade overcame two obstacles in creating this lovely bracelet.



2. Redesigning One Necklace into Two - to Err is Human
   Dr. Gail Devoid shows how she turned an error into an unplanned second necklace - with beautiful results.



3. Wisset Wines Necklace
   Share your thoughts with Didy - should she take this necklace apart, or keep looking for a customer for it?



4. Something Old Necklace
   See how Lisa repurposed rummage-sale earrings into a charming necklace.



5. Ocean Splendor
   Don't miss this incredible pendant Rena Wells created by slicing a seashell and adding metalwork.



6. Twisted Earrings with Red Gems
   Kathleen Davis shares some of the red-hot earrings she's making for this Fall - and how she uses her customers' ideas in her designs.



7. 6 in 1 Link Gothic Choker
   See how Kris made this dramatic chainmaille choker - including hand winding and cutting all of the rings for it.



8. Out of Africa
   How Joan Williams combined two different types of components from Africa to create these wonderfully rustic earrings.

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. Sunburst Threader Earrings
   by Chelsea Abang.



2. Looking for a Sea Bracelet
   by Aili Horna-Butkevica.



3. Red Flower Earrings
   by Lorraine/Wired Orchid.



4. Blue Orchid Drop Necklace
   by Lorraine/Wired Orchid.



5. Glass Puffy Heart Pendant
   by Peggy Festerling - The Glass Chef.



6. Meet Marth-Ra
   by Delia Stone.



7. Flowers and Butterfly Necklace and Earrings
   by Carola G.



8. Silver Elegance Chainmaille and Bead Choker
   by Lisa.



9. Copper Crop Circles Necklace
   by Zoraida.



10. Flower Path Necklace Design
    by Teri Baskett.

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 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 easily 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:

Adoption Jewelry -
a Lovely Niche Market

by Rena Klingenberg

Several years ago I stumbled into the lovely niche market of adoption jewelry.

A new friend had invited me to the baby shower her co-workers were doing for her. She and her husband were adopting a little boy from Nepal.

For her shower gift, I gave her a necklace featuring a mother-and-child cameo I wire-wrapped.

When she opened it, her eyes filled with tears - and later she told me it was her favorite gift. Now, years later, she still wears it nearly every day.

Jewelry for Adoptive Parents-to-Be

This friend is very active in the international adoption community, and she has since ordered countless mother-and-child cameo necklaces from me, as gifts for other "ladies in waiting" (adoptive moms-to-be).

One of these ladies was facing an agonizing waiting period of several months, while her international adoption paperwork was processed very slowly.

As each day dragged by, she worried about the care her small Russian daughter-to-be was receiving in an overcrowded orphanage thousands of miles away, and ached to hug and hold her.

This mom-to-be told me that during those months she never took off the mother-and-child cameo necklace I made for her (which my friend gave her as a gift).

She said it was a talisman that kept her from losing hope. It was a way of feeling connected to the daughter she had met briefly only once - but already loved.

Adoption is a special type of parenthood.

Many couples have traveled a long, heartbreaking road of infertility before adopting - which makes becoming a parent all the more precious to them.

Jewelry that symbolizes this new chapter of their family's life is very meaningful.

Adoption Jewelry for the Child

Adoption jewelry can also be a bridge to the child's past.

For example, currently I'm safekeeping a tiny child's bracelet as part of a future jewelry project. The adoptive parents of this child are deciding what type of jewelry they'd like me to re-make the bracelet into.

The child was found as a baby, abandoned under a bridge in Nepal. She was wearing a tiny bracelet of turquoise and silver beads on a piece of cotton string.

The orphanage kept the bracelet safe for her, and gave it to her adoptive parents.

And now these parents would like to have the tiny bracelet turned into a piece of jewelry their daughter can wear as link to her past.

Adoption Jewelry Design Ideas:

There are endless design ideas for adoption jewelry.

You might include elements like birthstones, names, charms, or symbols of the place where the child was born.

Small photos of the child and new parents also make nice components for adoption jewelry.

And of course, the mother-and-child cameos I mentioned are available from many jewelry suppliers - in a variety of agate or less-expensive resin designs.

Or you might hand-stamp (or create with metal clay) tags or pendants with the name of the child's birth country, adoption date, a spiritual quote, or any other significant info.

Or how about a mixed-media collage pendant or bracelet, filled with a variety of things symbolizing the child and parents?

An adoptive dad might enjoy a necklace or leather bracelet with the child's name and / or adoption date hand-stamped on a dogtag or other metal piece.

Symbolizing the bond of a new family is a lovely use of your artistry!

And Here's a Related Jewelry Market:

I've also received jewelry orders from adoptive parents who want to give meaningful thank-you gifts to people who have been especially helpful in getting their adoption to go through.

Neat Jewelry-Related Website

This week's neat site is a page called Make Wooden Beads.

Woodworker Steven Garrison has a video and tutorial for making wooden beads using an electric drill and a benchtop belt or disc sander.

This would be a great way to create lovely beads out of the scraps leftover from woodworking projects - especially if you have bits of fine woods with interesting grains.

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