Jewelry Classroom

Very simple, very beautiful and very unique

Have you every wonder what to do with old zips that you can find all over your house? Here are some jewelry making ideas.

Easy to make and won’t cost you more than a Starbucks coffee from the shop around the corner. Enjoy!

Here are some awesome Jewelry Making Ideas from handmade4you. Recommend this website for jewelry making inspirations.

If you are looking for an inspirations her you go. 2 wonderful and easy to make necklaces. Enjoy and let me know how it goes!

I bet this idea crossed  your mind thousands time. How to make money from your jewelry making.  Put it in the shop, sell it online or set up a business. So far the last option sounds the best to me, I bet you feel the same. So if you are not running your jewelry business yet don’t worry. Here are few trick and tips on how to sell your jewelry successfully while having a lot of fun! I tested it and it works perfectly for me. Enjoy!

Starting a Jewelry Making Business? Home Parties Are a Great Way to Sell Your Work

Home parties have been used successfully to sell everything from cookware to naughty nighties; most of these small businesses are part of a large, organized national franchise, but the home party concept is also a perfect way for local crafters to market their wares.

If you’d like to try home parties, you need a plan. First, take a look at your inventory of jewelry; do you have enough pieces, in a large enough variety, to hold a party? Think about having coordinating pieces – necklace or pendant, earrings, rings, and bracelets, in five or six different designs. Have enough pieces of each so that you can sell the items individually or in sets.

Once you’ve decided what you want to sell and how many items you to need to have for sale, set a time-line for yourself, based on how long it will take you to craft the items, and then schedule your first party. If you have a friend, family member, or coworker willing to host a party for you, that’s great. Otherwise, put up flayers, along with copies of your business card, and send a press release to your local paper.

Fill your hostess in on how you plan to run the party, and make sure she lets her guests know that you plan to have the items for sale at the party. You may want to discuss her responsibilities; most home parties have light refreshments, and she’ll need enough seating for all her guests, plus a clear tabletop for you to use as a display area.

During the party, make sure your jewelry is displayed attractively, and have inexpensive but attractive door prizes so that guests have an opportunity to win a small handcrafted item. It might be enough for you to display your work, but think about working up a presentation for each collection, and show it around to guests. Another good idea is to display a portfolio of high quality, color photos of more complex, expensive gifts for special ordering. And don’t forget to collect the names of guests who are interested in hosting a jewelry party of their own!

You’ll want to reward your hostess for having the party, so be sure you have a thank-you gift. You may want to allow the hostess to choose her favorite piece from your jewelry collection, or you may design a graduated gift selection, with the hostess gift based on the amount of money you make at the party.

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Have you ever wonder what kind of power the orange color has?

Orange is a power color. It is one of the healing colors. It is said to increase the craving for food. It also stimulates enthusiasm and creativity. Orange means vitality with endurance. People who like orange are usually thoughtful and sincere.

Orange Energy

While red is associated with fiery heat, orange is associated with the benign warmth of the sun. A dynamic color to be sure, orange offers a more thoughtful control than explosive red. Curiosity is a driving characteristic of orange, and with it comes exploration of new things.

Put some orange in your life when you want:

• to spice things up when you feel time is dragging
• to become more involved in something
• to increase creativity
• relief from things becoming too serious

Here you have some wire jewelry making inspirations. Enjoy! hugs, Justyna

Orange Bracelet

Orange Earrings

Orange Necklace

I bet you are not only Jewelry Maker but also Jewelry Making Teacher and the most important think for you is to make your students happy and satisfy with your classes.

So if you are looking for out of the box ideas and tips on how to delight your students and made them come back to your classes here’s an article from Michelle Buettner where she shares her jewelry making classes discoveries. Enjoy!

One important asset that allows you to stand out from another instructor who may be teaching a similar jewelry class, is your ability to give your students “more”. Just like going the extra mile and providing exceptional customer service when you sell your wares online, at trade shows, craft fairs and other events, as an instructor (which is nice way to add extra income to your jewelry business) you should strive to provide extra ‘services’ for your students to help them succeed in your class and beyond.

A few years back I signed up to take a jewelry class during an annual bead show. I was so excited I could hardly contain myself. As I entered the room, I was greeted by the instructor and then promptly told that “You will need to pay an extra $10.00 because the price of the kits increased after everyone prepaid and registered and I need to have the exact cash as I don’t have change.” Okay,…not exactly what I had expected, but I wasn’t going to let that turn my experience into a negative one – after all, it was only $10.00!

As I sat in another class with a completely different instructor that same year, I was eager to learn all this instructor had to offer because I had signed up for the “advanced class” that was “guaranteed to push your skills over the top” and I was ready to soak it all up! However, I experienced a complete block when she instructed us to be “free and just create anything your heart tells you”. Are you’re kidding me?” I thought. I can ‘just create’ in the comfort of my own studio! But here, now,…to just create,…oh, the pressure was on!

Then, in yet another class, I was asked by the woman sitting beside me if I knew how to do a certain wire wrapping technique because “The instructor wasn’t very clear and she didn’t give us any printed instructions for the piece of jewelry she’s passing around and she’s busy with other students right now.” So, I assisted as best I could and together my new friend and I made what faintly resembled our instructor’s creation.

As an instructor myself, I look back on my experiences and believe these were some of the best classes I’ve ever taken. Not because of any particular technique I learned, (I did learn some new techniques by the way!) but because they helped me immensely in discovering ways to make my own jewelry classes better. They showed me how to build classes that provide my students with the tools they need to succeed during class (and after class, too) and to create classes and seminars that my students will want to recommend to their friends!

Here’s a list of basics I inject into each of my classes, followed by a few “extras” I provide for my students that you can also use to help create classes where your students feel they have been given ‘more’.

First – The Basics:

• Start class on time. Introduce yourself and tell your students a bit about who you are, how/why you do what you do and what they are going to learn from you today. Keep this short – about a minute or two at most.
• Ask your students to introduce themselves and share a bit of information about themselves and what they are hoping to gain from taking this class. (keep this relatively short as you want to get into the ‘meat and potatoes’ of the class as soon as possible)
• Provide a business card with all your contact information, your website, (if you have one) blog, facebook, twitter or any other social networking sites you have, along with your instructor bio. It’s extremely polite and professional to let students know who they are taking a class from even if it may have listed tons of information about you on the registration form/website.
• Print out step by step instructions (handouts) of your class, complete with illustrations or photos, if possible. (black and white photos are better than not having any photos or illustrations at all)
• If you have kits/supplies the students will have to purchase when signing up for your class, make certain you have done your homework to the best of your ability and marked them accordingly. Prices on supplies do change at times, (and drastically sometimes, too) but it is good customer service to stick with the prices you quoted and not charge more at the door should prices have changed.

*** I know these above mentioned basics sound like a given, but trust me, I’ve walked away from classes where all I have are my own little chicken scratched notes and my ‘creation’. ***

Some Extras:

These are extra items that add a bit more to the class and demonstrate your professionalism, allowing your students to see your interest in teaching a truly fantastic class where they walk away feeling the money they spent was well worth it!

• Email (or call) your students one week prior to class and remind them of any supplies and/or tools they will need and let them know to email you with questions prior to class should they have any.
• Print out a “Welcome” sheet. This is something I have waiting for my students at their seats when they arrive. It greets them, asks them to turn off their phones, explains where the restrooms are, tells them where they can get snacks/beverages (if available) and lets them know to ask as many questions as they need to and to relax and have fun! It also contains a simple ‘class schedule’ that is complete with bullets on what I’m teaching and when breaks will be taken, etc. (This is especially helpful if it’s an all-day workshop)
• Print out a list of various websites, stores/shops, and magazines where students can find additional supplies and tools, books and jewelry making information, and even some jewelry blogs or jewelry information sites that you enjoy that your students might also find useful and go over these w/your students at the end of class.
• Provide a “Newsletter Sign-Up Sheet” so your students can be kept abreast of all your latest jewelry classes, jewelry sales, contests, shows and/or events. Make sure to let them know they do not have to sign up for your newsletters and that they can unsubscribe at anytime if they do choose to sign up.
• Let your students know they can call or email you to ask questions after they return home should they run into any situations making the project in the future – or if they don’t happen to finish it during class time.
• Provide an “Instructor Evaluation Form” at the end of class. Ask your students if they would kindly fill out the evaluation form to help assist you in providing even better classes and instruction!

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Wire wrapping is very versatile and can help you create fabulous wire wrapped jewelry. Wire wrapping jewelry is a hand fabricated method of jewelry design and creation.

It involves the use of tools to bind and twist wires together. Some of the tools used include pliers, pin vise, Swiss pattern file, wire cutters, ring mandrel, and a scale. Have a loon on some inspirations below. Enjoy!

I know how it is, I was there too many times to forget how does feel. You bought all beads you need a week ago, you have all necessary tools, you are 100 % ready to make some jewelry. You stare at the beads for 5min nothing comes to your mind, another 10 minutes and still no idea what to make.

So if you are looking for an inspirations, new designs and ideas you are in the right place. Have a look at the pictures below and I;m sure you will find something that will spark a new design for a stunning earrings or necklace Enjoy your jewelry making! Hugs! Justyna

Wire Jewelry Making Tips & Tricks to Avoid Marking the Wire

Making a loop with Fine Step Jaw Pliers or Round-Flat Pliers is a four step process. These four steps are described below.

Step 1: Grip the wire firmly with the pliers in your dominant hand. Position the wire in the jaws of the pliers so that only a very small amount of wire sticks out on the opposite side of the pliers. Orient the wire so that it is perpendicular to the jaws of the pliers.

Allowing too little wire to stick out will result in the wire slipping and marking the wire. Allowing too much wire to stick out will result in loops that aren’t round. This will require a little practice to get it exactly right.

Step 2: While maintaining a firm grip on the pliers with your dominant hand, use the thumb on your non-dominant hand to push the wire up an over the round jaw of the pliers as shown at right.

Step 3: Relax your grip on the pliers and reposition the wire as shown at right. It is hard to see in this picture, but the loop is open by about 1/16″. We need to reposition the wire to allow us to close this small opening.

Step 4: While gripping the pliers firmly in your dominant hand, use the thumb from your non-dominant hand to push the wire to close the small 1/16″ gap. Now remove your completed loop from the pliers.

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