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1) Easy Ways to Remove Tarnish from Copper Jewelry

2) What's New at Home Jewelry Business Success Tips -

- 3 new jewelry business success interviews

- new guest articles

3) Featured Article: Designing Jewelry for the Teen Market

4) Neat Jewelry Related Website: Barbara Bosco's Butterfly Wing Jewelry

Easy Ways to Remove Tarnish
from Copper Jewelry

• Lemon Juice and Salt - Dip half of a lemon in salt and rub it on the copper. Wash and dry jewelry.

• Ketchup - Cover copper jewelry with ketchup in a bowl. When tarnish is gone (which may take only a few moments), wash and dry the jewelry.

• Vinegar and Salt - mix vinegar and salt in a bowl. Add the copper jewelry and soak till the tarnish is gone. May require a little scrubbing with an old toothbrush.

What's new at
Home Jewelry Business Success Tips

I'm pleased to bring you three very inspiring new jewelry business success stories. The owners of these three very different jewelry businesses have been incredibly generous in sharing their time and their experiences:

Jill Hofer of NiceGift.org
Jill Hofer explains how her NiceGift.org jewelry business generates donations of 10% for non-profit organizations, with products she designs for them that are related to their niche.

Heather Kraty of Island Cowgirl Jewelry
Heather Kraty shares the evolution of her Island Cowgirl jewelry business, from selling her line through shops and galleries across the U.S., to having her designs worn by celebrities and featured in magazines. Her web businesses are Island Cowgirl Jewelry and Memory Beads.

Aislyn and Gary (Urban Maille ChainWorks)
Aislyn tells how she and Gary turned their dream into a successful cottage industry - Urban Maille ChainWorks, a home-based business that supplies precious metal rings and kits for chain and chainmaille jewelry.

I hope you find as much pleasure and inspiration in these three beautiful jewelry journeys as I have.

I'm also excited to bring you some fantastic new guest author articles:

From returning guest author Angela Davis of Merry Jewelry, a trip down memory lane:

Antique Jewelry
Antique jewelry has a timeless charm that never goes out of fashion. Guest author Angela Davis tells how to find vintage jewelry to give or to keep - a lovely way to relive a bygone era.

From new guest author Janice Wee of Cheapest Sale Jewelry, a nostalgic look at her boarding-school jewelry business:

The Ice Cream Stick Earrings
Earrings made from found objects were one of author Janice Wee's top sellers in the costume jewelry business she operated as a boarding school student. Now, years later, she shares one of her "design secrets".

From new guest author Christine Haynes of Christine's Creations, the possibilities of designing jewelry with polymer clay:

Polymer Clay - the chameleon of jewelry art
Polymer clay is a fantastic artistic material. Guest author Christine Haynes shows how its versatility enables an artist to sculpt it, carve it, stamp it, texture it, sand it, buff it, paint it, and build with it to create intriguing jewelry and beads.

Our guest author articles are one of the best parts of Home Jewelry Business Success Tips! Why not add *your* voice to this body of jewelry business knowledge? Submit a jewelry business article and receive a free permanent link to your website. Our guest authors report a significant flow of traffic coming from their article links on Home Jewelry Business Success Tips.

Teenage jewelry is an important and lucrative market niche. Today’s 12- to 19-year-old crowd shops for fashions more than any other age group:

American teens spend $33 billion a year on fashion and beauty, with over 90% of them shopping for clothes and accessories at least once a month.

For many teenagers, fashion is an important part of establishing their identity. Jewelry, clothes, shoes, and hairstyles can set young adults apart or make them fit in. In this age group more than any other, what you wear symbolizes what you believe, who you are (or want to be), and what group you belong to. Teens also have fun experimenting with fashion and color as their own personal style evolves.

You may want to consider having a small section of your jewelry business cater to the teenage market. A considerable amount of jewelry is bought by and for teenagers - both girls and boys - for four main reasons:

1. This age group is always looking for something new; a typical teenage fashion trend lasts only six to twelve months. In my own experience, it's very rare for a teen to pass my booth at a show without stopping to look carefully at nearly everything in my display.

2. Jewelry is a popular gift for adults to give to teens. Especially around gift-giving occasions, I often have adult customers asking me, "Do you have any jewelry for teenagers?"

3. Many teens love to shop, and many also have a sizeable amount of spending money. Their income tends to be stable since it comes from multiple sources (parents, part-time jobs, babysitting, gifts) - and most of their income is disposable.

4. The teenage population is growing, and this demographic is expected to continue for several years. That means that spending among this group will most likely increase.

• The entertainment industry is the most significant influence on teen fashion and beauty trends. Watch what's being worn by young celebrities, pop stars, alternative bands, etc. Check in on MTV occasionally, and thumb through teen-oriented magazines.

• Ask a few teenagers you know for jewelry ideas and feedback. You may be surprised by their insights.

• Visit websites such as Girl Shop and Guy Shop to see what's currently hot there.

• Visit a Hot Topic store, if your local mall has one.

• Keep in mind that teenagers generally don't want to wear anything their parents would wear - so whether *you* would wear a particular piece of jewelry is not the best barometer of its marketability to teenagers.

• Spirituality is an important issue for teenagers. Young adults are exploring their beliefs and tend to like symbols of philosophies they want to be identified with. Spiritual jewelry tends to appeal to a significant portion of teens.

  Examples of spiritual elements that can be incorporated into teen jewelry include crystals and healing stones, crosses / fish / WWJD, star of David, and other symbols of major religions. And don't forget about the appeal of alternative religions, symbolized by elements such as Buddhas, chakra-rainbow jewelry, ankhs, Quan Yin, etc. You might want to choose just one or two religious directions to represent in your teen jewelry line.

• Stock some tempting impulse-purchase items. Teens have a low resistance to impulse buys, and a price point of $15 or less can make a tempting piece of jewelry irresistible.

• Body jewelry is hugely popular among teens. Remember it doesn't always have to be pierced styles - nonpierced body jewelry is widely worn among this deomgraphic. With summer approaching, teens will be susceptible to tempting displays of affordable ankle bracelets, toe rings, barefoot sandals, and other styles that can't be seen under winter clothes.

• Young ladies aren't the only ones who wear jewelry. Young men are wearing more of it now than ever before. In general, masculine teen jewelry has a rugged look, with materials such as leather, hemp, rubber, pewter or silver, and beads.

• The majority of teenagers shy away from jewelry styles that are too far over the top. Teen designs need to balance "cool" with "wearable".

Neat Jewelry Related Website

Our neat site this time is Barbara Bosco's Butterfly Wing Jewelry. No animals were harmed in the making of this jewelry line, which contains actual wings from "naturally expired" butterflies and moths. What an interesting way to permanently capture the beauty of butterflies. This site has a beautiful, clean layout that really lets the colorful butterflies fly off the page as a visual treat. It also does a good job of including some related pages, such as Fascinating Butterfly Facts.

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We have well over 160 articles now, plus lots more coming up - and sometimes knowing where to find specific information among so many articles can be tricky. But now you should be able to search easily and find what you're seeking.

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