Jewelry Making Headquarters Blog

EZ Bracelet Sizer

2005-09-06T13:14:00.000-07:00

Here's the problem: You make a bracelet that is 8" long, yet it will only fit arounda 7 1/4" wrist. This is because the diameter of the beads add to the diameter of the finished bracelet. We beaders know all about this problem. It's frustrating! -- EZ Bracelet by Gossamer Wings Beads

I admit it, I hate to make bracelets! Every bracelet that I have made, I have restrung because it was not the correct size. Now, someone has FINALLY come up with a product to help people like me! The EZ Bracelet. I had heard wonderful things about the EZ Bracelet so I thought that I would give it a try. It is a fantastic product!! I absolutely love it! I am not sure how I have made jewelry for so long without one. Why does the EZ bracelet work?

Also available: Necklace Sizer, Bead Ruler, Travel Sized EZ Bracelet

Do yourself a favor and visit www.ezbracelet.com to see how the EZ Bracelet can simplify your life. Sells for $9.95 with free shipping within the U.S.

Lisa
Jewelry Making HQ
www.jewelrymakinghq.com

Eni Oken's Jewelry Lessons CD Review

2005-09-04T14:41:00.000-07:00

No solder, no glue, no power tools! Learn how to make beautiful fashion jewelry in the same styles sold in high-end boutiques! No metalsmithing skills required! Use only simple tools and materials: pliers, wire and beads. Get professional results: learn how to create intricate work as seen in upscale designer jewelry. Are you ready to take your wire work to the next level? -- Eni Oken

Eni Oken has compiled all of the tutorials that she has available and created a wonderful CD full of inspiration and wire techniques all in one place. The CD contains 26 tutorials of different difficulty levels. You choose the ones that you want to try. I suggest that you start from the beginning and make your way through all of them. Even if you are an advanced wire jewelry artist, you will learn something new with these tutorials.

Eni Oken's CD will take your wire jewelry making to a new level with techniques that you wont find any place else. I would recommend adding this CD to your library now! Order your CD here.

225 pages with 800 illustrations!

Free Bonus: Jewelry Price Calculator for Excel

Visit Eni Oken's Website at http://www.enioken.com/index.shtml

Lisa
Jewelry Making HQ
www.jewelrymakinghq.com

Connie Fox - Design Fundamentals for Wire Jewelry

2005-09-02T15:10:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the fascinating world of jewelry design! More than any other aspect of jewelry making, I love the design process. Discovering a way to "make over" a piece of jewelry that has a design flaw is better than viewing a good movie and munching on popcorn. The principles laid out in this CD are what I call the "twelve basic elements of design". Exercises are included with each design principle. I recommend that you proceed through all of the exercises as you design and create one or more pieces of jewelry. Oh yes, and do have a jolly good time! --Connie Fox

I was not sure what to expect when I received Connie Fox's new design CD. I had already been told that it did not include any tutorials or patterns. So what would be on it? Something that you probably have never seen in a jewelry making book or CD. Connie teaches you how to DESIGN your wire jewelry. She takes you step by step through the process of design, from finding out what your "style" is, to balance and repetition.

Topics covered:
Your Style
Using a Journal
Design Theme
Shape and More
Materials
Texture
Color and Emotion
Color and Science
Pos and Neg Space
Balance
Repetition
Movement

I love the CD! Connie has created a CD full of inspiration and ideas. If you are looking for inspiration for a new piece, simply grab a cup of your favorite beverage and flip through Connie Fox's CD "Design Fundamentals for Wire Jewelry" Your imagination will soar!

Order Connie's CD here.

Visit Connie Fox's website at http://www.jatayu.com/

Lisa
Jewelry Making HQ
www.jewelrymakinghq.com

Book Review - Chainmaille

2005-08-18T13:25:00.000-07:00

Book Review - Chainmaille Jewelry Pattern E-Book - Culture Jewelry

I like to make a project from all of the books that I receive for review; this way I am able to give an honest opinion about the product from first hand experience. I hesitated to start any projects from Culture Jewelry because I thought that the projects were going to be really time consuming and difficult. Well, I could not have been more wrong!! Matthew Woodbury of Culture Jewelry has another jewelry designer addicted to chain maille! My only complaint was the fact that I ran out of jump rings and could not start another bracelet. -- Lisa

Chainmaille Jewelry Pattern E-Book by Culture Jewelry is an easy to follow, step by step book that teaches you how to create your own distinctive jewelry designs. Once you get the rhythm of each pattern, it becomes a relaxing project that you can do anywhere. The process takes little thought and effort, making it a great project to do while watching TV in the evenings, or visiting with your family and friends.

What makes this e-book stand out above the rest? The instructions to an indispensable tool that gives you two more hands to create your designs, the chainmaille jewelry assembly jig. Without it, I am not sure how designers can create chainmaille! The tool took me 10 minutes to assemble and was a time saver in creating my first bracelet.

Chainmaille Jewelry Pattern e-book covers:
Instructions to build a chainmalle jewelry assembly jig ***
Pliers -- choosing, preparing
Proper technique to close jump rings for a seamless ring
Jump ring sizing
Sources for jump rings and tools
Finishing bracelets and necklaces
Cleaning jewelry
Design
Patterns - 9 different patterns
Take a look at the table of contents: Table of Contents

Full Review

Lisa
Jewelry Making HQ
http://jewelrymakinghq.com
Forum
http://jewelrymakinghq.com/phpBB2/

MyCiCy - Targeted Exposure for Your Biz

2005-08-09T08:28:00.000-07:00

Are you looking for a lot of exposure for your website. Targeted exposure! MyCiCy can give it to you. It's an opportune time to set up your seasonal advertising campaign with the all new MyCiCy.com online magazine and newsletter! With sections dedicated to fashion, beauty, mamas and babies, food, wellness, and more, we cater to a greater audience than ever before. They offer excellent banner placement opportunities, monthly gift guide listings, exciting CiCy Girl Shop memberships, and a variety of affordable packages. To get started and create the publicity your company deserves, send an email to cicysuds@mycicy.com.

I have heard rave reviews about MyCiCy Fashion/Gift Guide Listing. rates

Looking for bargain advertising? Try their Freebies/Discounts Page --- $5 a week! Can you believe it? rates

Check out their reasonable advertising opportunities.

Lisa
Jewelry Making HQ
www.jewelrymakinghq.com

Jewelry Making HQ Feature Jewelry Artist - July and Aug

2005-08-09T08:22:00.000-07:00

Carol Weidman of Iceopals Jewelry is our featured artist for July and August - A lady of many talents and a great sense of humor. Stop on by to get to know one of your fellow jewelry artists and forum moderator, she is a lot of fun.

See the complete feature at
http://jewelrymakinghq.com/feature_jewelry_artist_iseopals.htm

Lisa
Jewelry Making HQ
www.jewelrymakinghq.com

Bead on a Wire Book by Sharilyn Miller Book Review

2005-08-04T11:21:00.000-07:00

When it comes to designing jewelry, the journey is the destination. So go for it: Be creative, be patient, take your time, take lots of notes while you work out new designs and embrace your mistakes. It's all part of the journey, and it starts right here. Sharilyn Miller -- Bead on a Wire

I have just found my new FAVORITE book! Bead on a Wire by Sharilyn Miller is a book that has to be left on your coffee table; you'll look through it over and over again. The jewelry is absolutely gorgeous as is the photography that was done by Sylvia Bissonnette. In the new book Sharilyn has covered a diverse selection of jewelry designs to help stimulate the imagination and take you to a new level. Gone are the lackluster and mundane pieces that are flooding the market today, you'll be destined to create extraordinary works of wearable art after following some of the simple, step by step instructions. Sharilyn encourages you to incorporate the techniques taught in her book along with your own creative style to transform your piece into something of beauty. She gives you the tools, the techniques and the suppliers to accomplish this. I would consider this book to be for the beginner to advances wire jewelry designer; it offers many tips and techniques for the novice, plus techniques and design ideas for the advanced.

Topics Covered in Bead on a Wire
Jewelry Tool Kit - Lists the essential tools and materials
Techniques - The fundamentals of making wire jewelry
Design Tips
Projects - 20 Unique jewelry projects
Resources - Suppliers, Publications
Artificially Aging Jewelry - Oxidizing
Metric Conversion Chart

To purchase:
To purchase Sharilyn's Book Bead on a Wire, just visit your favorite on-line or local book store. ISBN 1-58180-650-7

To get your signed copy of Bead on a Wire, e-mail Sharilyn directly.

Take a live workshop with Sharilyn Miller:
Workshops held at The Bead Station in Lake Forest, California(For information, call The Bead Station at (949) 859-2323; e-mail: beadstn@sbcglobal.net):
Workshop Schedule

Public Relations Sources

2005-06-17T12:49:00.000-07:00

So you make jewelry and so does the next gal. How do you get your jewelry "out there" and make yourself stand out above the next? You know that old saying, "It is not what you know, it is who you know" Want to send your jewelry to a celeb? Want to know that address of a leading magazine to send your press release? Want to know how to write a killer press release? Well, here are some really good PR sources for you to look through that will help you get that edge: http://www.publicityinsider.com/ - Publicity Insider
http://www.cornerbarpr.com/ - Corner Bar PR
http://contactanycelebrity.com?aid=1193- Contact Any Celebrity

Lisa Jay
Jewelry Making HQ
www.jewelrymakinghq.com

Jewelry Making HQ's New Featured Artist

2005-05-16T10:17:00.000-07:00

Our new featured artist this month is:
Leeann Hynes of Stir Studios. She is such an interesting person. Stop by the get to know one of your fellow jewelry artists.
http://jewelrymakinghq.com/feature_jewelry_artist_stir_studio.htm

Lisa
Jewelry Making HQ
http://jewelrymakinghq.com
Jewelry Making Forum
http://jewelrymakinghq.com/phpBB2/index.php

Jewelry Making Forum Now Open

2005-03-20T00:52:00.000-08:00

Last week we launched out jewelry making forum. Grab a cup of coffee and stop by for a visit http://jewelrymakinghq.com/phpBB2/

Lisa
Jewelry Making HQ
www.jewelrymakinghq.com
http://jewelrymakinghq.com/phpBB2/ - forum

New Jewelry Making Articles and Pages

2005-02-24T11:24:00.000-08:00

Working on Jewelry Making Website for 12 hours

2005-02-15T12:04:00.000-08:00

I have been up since 2:00 this morning working on my two websites. I think that I finally have all of my articles moved over to our new jewelry making website. Following are some of the articles that we added in the wee hours of the morning:

Syndicated Business Articles - This page will be updated automatically and magically with great up to date business information. Bookmark it and check back daily to see what new business article appears.

Jewelry Making Forums - We have listed the best forums that we have found.

Free Jewelry Making Catalogs - If you are ready for the jewelry business, you have to order these free catalogs.

That is it for today. Happy Beading!
Lisa
JewelryMakingHQ

Jewelry Making Headquarters has a new Website

2005-02-14T04:23:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

Last week we divided out website, Lantana Designwear, into two websites. Lantana Designwear will be dedicated to retail and wholesale jewelry sales, while the new site will be dedicated to helping the jewelry designers and crafters with their jewelry business. I felt that the two did not go well together so the split was needed.

The new website, JewelryMakingHQ www.jewelrymakinghq.com is still under construction and has a lot of work to be done on it. I am not happy with the look and feel, but will work on that after all of the articles have been transfered.

Following are the articles that have been moved over to our new site:

Make Money Online Selling Your Jewelry or Craft Business - Starting your online business from start to finish. Written by crafters for crafters.

Newsletter Marketing to Improve your Business - A newsletter is a MUST for any on line business. It is a way of keeping in contact with your potential customers and current customers. The newsletter helps you to become a well known and trusted business.

9 Ways to Make Money Online with your Jewelry and Craft Website - The title says it all. You don't have to limit your income just by selling your goods. Diversify!

Photography for Your Jewelry and Craft Website - We've covered all of the basics for taking fantastic photographs for your website.

State by State Business Start up Informational Web Sites - We've listed all 50 states and their websites that tell all of the information that you need to start your small business.

Do You Make Money with your Jewelry or Craft Website? - A question that I am asked quite often. Of course you CAN make money on the internet. You just have to work at it! Find out how.

On-line Craft Malls - We've listed a few of the on-line craft malls that are the best that we have found.

Resizing Photos for the Web - Great article Brian Appell of ArtsEfest.com that tells how to optimize your pictures for your website.

Website Marketing Strategies to Promote Your Website Offline - Don't miss this article by Bill Walters of Plum River Marketing. We work so hard on promoting our business on-line but forget the importance of off-line promotions.

10 Ways to Milk Another Hour or Two Out of Your Day - Time Management - There is never enough time in the day. Learn ways to do double duty and make the most of those few precious hours in your day.

Website Marketing Strategies for Your New Site - Now that you have established a web presence, marketing your website is the next major project. Marketing your website can be the most time consuming project associated with your website, so we thought we would share some very inexpensive (FREE) ways to do so.

Pricing Formulas For Your Jewelry - Just that, an easy to use formula for pricing your jewelry.

Wholesale - Pricing Formulas For Your Wholesale Jewelry - Now that you have decided to sell wholesale, here is a formula to help you price your wholesale jewelry.

Odds-N-Ends - We have created this page to share some of the unique items that we have found on the internet. It is still a work in progress so watch your step. Most are pretty useless, but they are fun none the less.

Please submit your articles to be included in the JewelryMakingHQ Newsletter - We are ALWAYS looking for well written articles to cover a wide range of topics: jewelry making, issues dealing with juggling family and work, WAHM - work at home moms, SAHM - Stay at home moms, work at home, product reviews..... the list is endless.

This should get you started! We will add new articles daily. So check back often.

Lisa
JewelryMakingHQ
www.jewelrymakinghq.com