Book to Help Me

I just bought this book at Barnes & Noble with a gift card my best friend gave me for my birthday. I keep wanting to have my own little jewelry business for extra income while I am in the process of finishing college, but it's so hard. There's a lot I don't know about the business that has nothing to do with me having supplies to make items. That's only part of it. There's a lot more to it.

So I have seen this book mentioned before and figured might as well and buy it and see if it helps. I have seen a lot of good reviews on it and I hope it helps me out. I really want to keep making jewelry. I think once I get the business part of it figured out then I can work on improving my skills
Speaking of which I would love to find a place that does classes so I can work on making links and wrapping wire. I have seen tons of guides and videos, but they don't seem to help me any better. Maybe if I was in a class or working with someone who could do it I might be able to figure out what I am doing wrong. I think once I go that down I can make more items.

Cute Bracelets as gifts

I saw this idea over at Bead Education's blog. They are an amazing company that has metal stamping products as well as on-line classes, some of which are free!! I might look into this as something to sell when I get my supplies and inventory up to par.

It's the time of year when wishes come true. This is a quick and simple gift I made for my friends that I thought you might like. In the spirit of the season I present, "Three Wishes Bracelets" (along with a poem).

Three Wishes Bracelets

These bracelets are tagged one, two, and three.

Made especially for you, with love, by me.

Tie each bracelet securely around your wrist.

As each one is tied make a secret heartfelt wish.

Wear them always, by day and by night.

Remember those wishes with all of your might.

As the bracelets fall off when all worn through.

Each wish that you wished will surely come true.

To make your own Three Wishes Bracelets you'll need:

• Three Silver Filled Stylized Heart Tags or Tags of your choice

• Kismet Number Stamp Set or number stamps of your choice 

• Basic metal stamping tools

• 10" of embroidery floss in three different colors

Simply stamp each tag with a number, darken with a Sharpie Marker or Silver Blackand polish with a Pro Polish Pad.

String the tag on the length of floss and tie an overhand knot to keep it in place. Leave the ends untied so the recipient can tie them around her wrist. Repeat with each heart.

Write out the "Three Wishes" poem and place it along with the bracelets in a little gift bag. It's a sweet little gift that is perfect for the dreamers among your friends and family!

Craft Fair

Well it seems I have taken a very very long hiatus from crafts. It's not that I wanted to, but that I just have been so busy. I have been jealous of some of the amazing jewelry I have seen others make and wish I had the money/time to get back into the hobby.

I do have a local church craft fair coming up. I had made some hair bow organizer that are simple to make and I have one myself that has been a lifesaver with all my hair bows. I have about 15 made and as I was making them, I thought of a better craft that might sell better, but it's too late.

I have been toying with the idea of making rosaries. I have made some in the past, but since I am not good with making loops I have stuck with strung rosaries, which can look nice. It's not the same though as some of the other beautiful ones I have seen.

Maybe I can one day afford a class where someone can teach me how to do it and really let me made things I want to make. I would also love to get into metalsmithing, but that might be for a while.

Maybe I can get some stuff up on my store and start making things again.

Rosaries

Since I had my son I have had plenty of time to think about what I could do when I have free hands to make jewelry. I realized that I could make rosaries and then maybe other items. I've made several rosaries for family members and I am sure I could make more to sell and even do custom orders.

Below is some helpful tips from where I buy my rosary parts called Lewis & Company


The following are a few suggestions to assist our customers who might like to start a small business making and repairing rosaries.

1. Place a small ad in your church bulletin:
   
   Rosaries repaired
   Rosaries for special occasion gifts
   First Communion, Confirmation, Weddings, Anniversaries
   Call Your Name at Your Number
   
2. Have a business card made up (same wording as above) and pass them out to people you know at your church to get the word out that you are available to make and repair rosaries.
   
3. Speak to your pastor. He might make an announcement during mass about your rosary making. Something like, "ladies and gentlemen, this morning I would like to announce that Your Name is available in our parish to repair or make rosaries for special occasions. If your rosary needs work, please call Your Name at Your Number.
   
4. Contact the First Communion Advisor and the Confirmation Advisor at your local Catholic elementary school and tell them you can make rosaries for their students.
   
5. Be sure your church knows to let all people who are being married at your church that you can make rosaries for the bride and groom. Give them a supply of your business cards to hand out when the bride and groom register at the church.
   
6. Advertise that you can have the names and dates engraved on the crucifix to make the gift even more meaningful. We charge you 40 cents per letter; you could charge 80 cents.
   
   Recommended pricing is usually double what the rosary parts cost you. If the total of the parts cost $25.00, you should charge $50.00 for the completed rosary. We have all ranges of prices from base metal rosaries that you could make for $4 to $5 up to sterling rosaries with Austrian Crystal beads that could go up to $50 to $60.

New Jewelry

I have been working on a few pieces here and there while I try to clean up my bead collection. I have come up with some good stuff that I hope to list possibly once I have the time to get some good pictures of them.

Slowly I think I will have a good amount of beads to keep and I know I can use and some that I can get rid of. I think I will donate the unwanted ones to the Girl Scouts or some other organization that could use them. There is not enough of most of the beads for me to see listing each and every one of them to sell.

This is one I will keep. It's a resin pendant that has the last few lines of Robert Frost's The Road Less Traveled.

Help With Getting Ideas

One of my biggest flaws when it come to making jewelry and selling it is that I don't get the whole picture. I just buy what I like or looks great with hope that the inspiration will come later.

As my huge bead collection sits in a box waiting for some love, I just cannot seem to find an idea on what to do with it. I keep buying more and more things hoping that some lighting bolt of ideas will come to me. Sometimes it happens, but usually not. I think I have about 400 beads that I have no use for. Some I do like, but just see no way to use them.

One way I think I can change this is by going to the bead store knowing the full design of what I want to make. Even if I do not have the colors or full idea down if I walk around the store buying materials that I do not have, but need to complete an idea I may have a better chance of getting items done.

Another thing is I try to come up with an idea and then go to the store with the list of supplies I need. For example, I have been wanting to make bangles that are covered with decorative paper. I go to the store and if I find the bangles I need, I buy the glue and paper as well. Then I get to working.

I need to come up with more ways of helping me get my creative juices flowing, but also not buy too many items.

Scrapbooking

While doing some shopping/browsing today I decided that it would be fun and wise for me to start making a scrapbook for Joseph. I tried scrapbooking back in high school, but never really did anything about it. So now I think with a baby on the way I could do some cute and fun pages for him. I am not 100% sure what pages or ideas I will include in the book, but I am sure it will come to me.

I know I want pages for his birth, 1st bath, 1st tooth, anything else he does, holidays and so on. I might include the baby shower and a page about me to give it some depth.

I also was thinking that if I really get into this I could get into cardmaking and so on for a craft business. It's as big as jewelry making, but it could be something that I can see a finish project before I begin. It's a venture that is worth some time, effort and money in.

If anyone has tips on starting on paper crafts and scrapbooking feel free to drop me a line.