Here's a unique, free resource of useful information on various aspects of making jewelry:

Reviews & Guides by Charlene Anderson

As of this writing, Charlene provides 59 clear, concise online guides covering primarily jewelry-oriented topics - but also touching on related topics such as crafts and collectibles.

Thanks for providing these great information resources, Charlene!

Before moving ahead with her jewelry business, Shannon Orr of Charms wanted to test her market.

So she decided to invite people to a jewelry open house event, hosted at her home.

"However, this grand open house had to look grand without the expense," Shannon says, "a great opportunity to get creative!"

And getting creative is exactly what she did.

In Hosting a Jewelry Open House you can find out how Shannon stretched a shoestring budget to get elegantly set up with jewelry tags and earring cards, business cards, signs, price tags, displays, table coverings, catered food, and more.

Holly Edwards found a neat way to get design ideas for Cloisonne and other similar styles:

"When creating faux Cloisonne jewellery and in need of inspiration, I found that looking at stained glass designs is really helpful.

You can also look at simplistic line art, or find designs you can simplify (but only if they are royalty free!).

Essentially you are looking for line and color patterns…even stencil patterns will do!"

Dover Publications is one good source of copyright-free stained glass designs.

Scott from JC Jewelry shares this great bead storage tip:

Upon starting our own business with customized bead jewelry one thing began to make itself clear:  Bead storage is a major issue.

We looked at everything from tackle boxes to craft organizers - however, with the amount of inventory that we needed these items became expensive very quickly.

We had to come up with something cheap and effective for our beads, thus we came up with this idea: Photo tubes.

These are actually FREE, imagine that, if you just ask for them at your local photo shop.

They can hold up to around a 16" strand of 8mm beads.

If you go to a higher bead size, you can just place the beads in two tubes instead of one.

We have taken the idea even further and purchased a three-drawer storage unit at Wal-Mart and placed the tubes with the beads in it.

They fit perfectly and this keeps the tubes stable.

You can also use the lids if you choose although we do not.

Hope this helps another fellow designer as I know I hate reinventing the wheel.

A tip for storing larger mm beads, such as nuggets:  The plastic baby containers work magically, and you can see through them.

Scott also shares art/craft show photos and more at his JC Jewelry blog.

A major challenge in selling your jewelry online is building trust with potential customers, since they don't get to meet you face-to-face.

One way to build customers' confidence in you is to share true stories about your jewelry and your business.

I came across an excellent trust-building story at Fine Jewelry by JR Dunn Jewelers.

It expresses the company's trustworthiness and standards while establishing its history:

"The House of Gems was robbed during the first year (1969) and every piece of jewelry was taken, including customers' repairs. Ann Marie and Jim R. Dunn went from door to door informing clients and reassuring them that their prized possessions would be replaced. The Dunns paid for the stolen jewelry out of their own pockets to preserve their reputation for integrity and trust."

From this story, potential customers can be reassured that JR Dunn has been selling jewelry for at least 40 years.

But they also see the trustworthiness and high level of customer care they can expect from this business.

Think of stories you can share about your own jewelry or jewelry business - and put them on your jewelry blog, website, or other marketing literature!

"Many of my students who have jewelry businesses and were primarily beading have found that their metal clay pieces sell faster and better, and draw a lot of attention at shows and other venues," says Lis-el Crowley of Art & Soul Gallery / Studio.

If you've been tempted to try your hand at the fascinating jewelry medium of metal clay, see Lis'el's article Getting Started with Silver Clay before you shop for supplies.

She's a certified Art Clay Silver instructor who creates gorgeous fantasy pieces - have a peek at the jewelry in her Heart of the Fire Etsy shop.