Posts Tagged ‘bead jewelry’

Use Your Own Homemade Beads To Make Jewelry

Many people enjoy designing their own handcrafted jewelry these days because it’s a rewarding way to create something beautiful and useful at the same time. Most homemade jewelry is created with beads bought from an online beading store or craft store, but there are more people who are pushing the bounds of jewelry making by using cheaper materials to create some amazing jewelry.

Building jewelry out of materials that are not primarily designed for jewelry making can be physically and mentally challenging. The first step is often figuring out how you’re going to mount your items on a string or chain and the next challenge is working out how you’re going to make it both beautiful and wearable at the same time! After all, the best way to make your own beaded jewelry is to make your own handmade beads! Here are some unique things you can make jewelry from:

Make Jewelry Beads From Beans or Large Seeds: You can make all sorts of funky beads from dried beans and seeds. Think about coffee beans and other fairly large seeds or beads that could easily be threaded on a string. Then you will want to protect your beans with a spray on plastic to make sure they don’t fall apart.

Paper Bead Jewelry: This fun idea dates back from the Victorian times when making beads out of paper was a popular hobby. All you do is cut strips of paper and roll them around a small straw. You may want to seal these as well so they don’t fray and get damaged at the first hint of moisture. You can experiment with different types of paper, different colors and even different shaped strips of paper when making your beads.

If you run your own custom jewelry business, then you know how expensive beads can be. Making your own beads is a good way to save money on your costs while still producing amazing jewelry. Since you already know how to make your own handcrafted jewelry then you probably already possess the skills and even the tools to make plenty of cheap beads that can be turned into profitable jewelry!

There are lots of other ways to save money when you are making jewelry. Try these online bead coupons to get discounted beads and beading supplies all the time.

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Should You Create Your Own Jewelry Business?

Jewelry making is growing in popularity because the slowing economy has forced many women to look at inexpensive jewelry to buy while others are looking for ways of supplementing their income. If you’re thinking about creating you may be considering if you have “what it takes” to be a successful jewelry designer. While there is no mystical formula for being successful at making jewelry, there are some traits you should possess and be ready to nurture.

You Should Be Enamored With Jewelry: It’s difficult to get into making jewelry if you don’t enjoy shopping for jewelry of all types. It also helps to understand that there are many kinds of jewelry and not every jewelry piece will appeal to everyone. Sure, you may have a preference for making bead jewelry, but having an appreciate of other types of adornments will help broaden your horizons and creativity. Which leads to the next skill…

You Need Creativity: If you’re going to make handcrafted jewelry on your own then you’ll need to realize that you’re starting your own business and things won’t always be easy. You need to not only be able to come up with new jewelry ideas, but you also will need to think of marketing ideas, unique methods of marketing your jewelry and you may need to design your own website. If you’re having a difficult time coming up with new jewelry designs, you can get the creative juices flowing by looking over some of the many free jewelry making tutorials available online. Making your own jewelry requires a lot of creativity almost every day. That’s where the next trait comes in handy…

You Need To Be Persistent: Beginning your own jewelry business and creating your own jewelry isn’t always enjoyable and simple. You’ll probably begin slowly, picking up some of the basic skills at first and then expanding on to more challenging jewelry making methods. You’ll also have to pick up some entrepreneurial skills and training if you hope to succeed. Starting your home jewelry business can be challenging even if you have some basic business skills or have worked from home before. It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to make your own jewelry all the time without ever having to worry about selling, marketing or just plain old bookkeeping. There are many good jewelry business books available that can help get you started.

There are lots of normal people who have turned their part-time jewelry making hobby into a full-time business. Jewelry making is a wonderful way to pass the time and make some extra cash on the side. Making jewelry isn’t always without challenges but it can be a fulfilling way to increase your income and have fun at the same time!

Want to learn more about making your own jewelry? Visit our site to learn more about making jewelry and to pick up tips and tricks for beginning your own home based jewelry business.

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Unexpected Places to Find Discount Beads

I know people who make and sell a lot of their own jewelry but they are barely breaking even because they are spending a lot of money on materials and not pricing their jewelry correctly. To make beautiful bead jewelry you don’t have to spend a lot of money on your beads and beading supplies.

But you don’t have to just buy the clearance beads that are offered up at your local bead store. There are lots of unexpected places you can go to buy discount beads.

Discount and warehouse stores: Lots of larger stores are now stocking craft supplies, scrap booking materials and even bead jewelry making supplies. These stores sometimes have rotating product stocks and may not always have the beads or supplies you’re looking for, so if you find something you’d better buy it right then and there because there’s no guarantee you’ll see them again.

Large chain art stores: Art and Craft stores are finally learning that beaded jewelry is big business and now most have at least three aisles full of beads and beading supplies, often at very low prices. And if you’re just starting out with bead jewelry making, you can almost always find a friendly salesperson who can help you locate the beads you’re looking for.

Home Improvement stores: Yes, I know this sounds crazy, but if you’re looking to add some fun and unique pieces to your jewelry then you really have to think about going to a home improvement store and looking over their sections of fasteners, screws and even grommets. You just need to have some creativity to create some truly unique and amazingly affordable pieces of jewelry.

All these types of stores are great places for finding amazing deals on unique beads and jewelry supplies. These are not the sort of places you would visit if you were searching for a very specific type of bead or jewelry item, but I find that my imagination sometimes runs wild when I visit non-traditional stores while thinking about making jewelry.

So keep an eye out wherever you shop and always be ready to look for and buy some affordable beading supplies. Every time you shop you may be just moments away from finding some amazing deals on beads for making jewelry.

Want to make more money from your bead jewelry business?? Consider investing in some software to run your bead jewelry business to help track your bead inventory and price your jewelry correctly.

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What To Look For In Any Beaded Jewelry Program

If you have a handcrafted beaded jewelry business of any sort then you’ve probably learned that running a business is not always as easy as it could be. You probably have lots inventory, lots of customers, plenty of invoices to print and some difficult methods for keeping track of all your materials including your wires, clasps and even beads. You probably enjoy making beaded jewelry, but you’ve probably had a heck of a time figuring out how much to sell your jewelry for and what price level gives you a decent profit margin.

You can dedicate more time to selling beaded jewelry and less time to pushing paper and running numbers with a good bead jewelry software package. After all, you started this business not because you liked typing up invoices, but because you enjoy making and selling handmade jewelryThere are lots of different software packages to choose from, but whatever you choose you should make sure you have these three important features:

Pricing and Inventory Control: One of the most difficult parts of running a beaded jewelry business is keeping track of all the beads that you purchase over a period of time. Jewelry software helps you not only track your bead inventory but also helps to keep track of what materials were used in a particular piece and allows you set your jewelry prices accordingly.

Customer Tracking: This is amazingly important because if someone likes a piece of your custom-made jewelry enough to buy it then there’s a good chance that the person will want to buy something similar in the future. Being able to send out mailings or keep track of past clients in one place is essential to growing your bead jewelry business and pulling in repeat customers.

Reasonable Price: When you’re starting your beaded jewelry business you may not have a lot of money to spend initially, but you’d be surprised how quickly a good software package can pay for itself in saved time and professional results. Generally, you should expect to pay about $100 to $150 (but no more than that) for a decent bead software package.

Remember that the program you buy should help you run your business, increase your profit margin and ultimately give you more time to do what you love best: creating and selling wonderful handmade jewelry!

Ready to learn more? Check out some jewelry inventory software reviews and previews to see what sort of software is available!

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