Here's a collection of wonderful tips for making your new jewelry lines bright and irresistible this coming year:

Wow Them with More Colour!

In this article Christine Gierer of How to Make Jewelry shares creative ways to make your jewelry more colorful. These ideas are especially useful if you're looking for ways to cut back on your use of precious metals that have been getting increasingly expensive.

California's Lead Jewelry Law that I referred to in an earlier post has raised more questions than it has answered for jewelry artists.

One of the most confusing questions is how this law affects the use of Swarovski crystals in jewelry that's sold in California, or to California residents.

Swarovski crystals are currently "lead crystal" that allegedly test at 21% lead.

Mary Alexander of Dreamweaver Designs, Inc. wrote to the Swarovski company about the lead content in their crystals.

Mary was very kind in sending me the full text of the Swarovski company's reply, which is useful information for anyone who uses Swarovski crystals in jewelry for sale online from anywhere in the country, or via a retail store in the state of California.

Here is the reply she received from a Swarovski representative:

Read more

Just wanted to share an excellent article I read about the current do-it-yourself (DIY) / craft movement.

It discusses the Handmade Pledge, Etsy, the Craft Congress, creative entrepreneurism, indie-preneurism, and much more.

I highly recommend that you grab a mug of your favorite hot drink, prop your feet up, and read this article, Handmade 2.0, which appeared last weekend in the New York Times.

As a creative spirit, you're an important part of this movement in your own way.

Kerri Meier of The Nature-All Well sent in an outstanding idea for displaying earrings:

CD Rack Earring Display

The "display" in her photo cost her just $1, and it adds a nice vertical element to her jewelry booth.

Kerri says it does a nice job of displaying other types of jewelry too.

I've found that Christmas and New Year's parties can be great venues for making casual jewelry sales.

Of course, you don't make a sales presentation or do anything obvious!

Simply wear some of your most eye-catching or unique pieces, and be ready with a short, interesting blurb you can say about your jewelry business when people compliment your jewelry.

I'm always amazed at how many people are willing to buy something from me right there on the spot at a social event.

To be prepared to make these impulse sales, see Read more

Have you considered selling your handmade jewelry on Etsy, but had concerns about sellers' fees?

Check out this quick article by Beth Millner, an Etsy seller and outstanding jewelry blogger, who breaks down the exact costs:

Etsy: Guide to Fees

If you've experimented with selling your work on eBay and found that their fees quickly ate up your profits, you'll be pleasantly surprised with the fairness of Etsy's fee structure for sellers.

For selling jewelry online, you'll need three things:

• a website or blog
• a storefront or shopping cart
• an online payment processor.

To accomplish this, you have four options: Read more

Pricing jewelry is an internal struggle for many artists.  But Carolina Gonzalez of SupraMonster offers this new perspective:

Pricing, Art, and Karma:  She Works Hard for Her Money.

Carolina is one of my favorite jewelry business writers.  Her articles nearly always touch on the spiritual or Universal threads that affect creative businesspeople.

In this new article she transforms the old perspective of pricing and guilt into a new one of pricing and art - and shows how love, dreams, and Karma overcome all.

Jeff Miller of Jeffrey Design always used black table covers and black velvet jewelry displays - until his wife Alicia taught him a thing or two about jewelry display colors.

Find out how she livened up his booth in his article, Jewelry Display Colors.

After Kathy Reading of Catju Designs spent a lot of time, money, and effort organizing a jewelry open house and "one stop holiday extravaganza" - what do you think happened?

Find out in her article, Lessons Learned:  Organizing Your Own Jewelry Open House.