Top Ten Tips For Finding A Great Bead Jewelry Supply Website

By Eri Attebery

Boy do I spend a lot of time shopping for and buying beads on the internet. My husband would say way TOO much time! Compared to shopping at my local craft stores, I just love the unbelievable variety of beads available on the internet.

If you're patient, you can search various online bead jewelry supply stores and find some amazing prices on beads as well. This is particularly important if you are buying beads and beading supplies on a wholesale bead supply basis to make jewelry that you plan to sell.

I've been buying beads online for so long now that I decided to put together a list of things that I think make a great bead jewelry supply website. No site on the web is perfect on every aspect, but many of the places I shop on the web do very well in many of these categories.

I put the list in prioritized order of what's most important to me, but you may have different preferences so please rearrange the list to fit your own priorities as you see fit.

Here goes:

1. Secure Payment Page

I'm sure you hear horror stories on the news all the time about people having their financial information stolen when they purchased from not very reputable online stores.

Make sure you only purchase from a store that has a secure checkout. That means the site uses encrypted servers. How do you know if it is an encrypted server or not? You can identify this when you go to the payment page the browser should have an https:// and not just http://

2. Great Value

Of course, you want to get the lowest prices you can get for what you buy. But make sure that you buy quality as well. That means you should look for the best value (the combination of quality and price), not just the best price.

3. Low or Free Shipping Costs

You've probably had the experience of shopping on a website and thinking you found a great deal, then you get to the payment page and get surprised by a large shipping fee. Suddenly, that great deal turns out to be not quite as great as you thought.

Make sure that the bead supply website you're using doesn't use low prices to bring you in and then make up for it by tacking on high shipping charges. Look for sites that offer very low, or even better, Free shipping.

4. Large Selection of Products

When you go grocery shopping, wouldn't you rather get everything at one place rather than having to go to many different places?

In the same way, when you are shopping online it's nice to have a bead supply store that has a very large selection of products so that you can do "one stop shopping" and save a lot of time.

5. Products Always in Stock

It can be very frustrating to find what you think is a good bead supply website, you place an order, use your beads, then go back to the website to order more, and find out that they are out of stock.

If you sell jewelry then a wholesale bead jewelry supplier that doesn't keep a stable level of stock can really put you in a bind. Find a supplier that maintains a high level of stock, particularly for items that you use often.

6. Good Customer Care

Even the best suppliers will occasionally make mistakes and ship you the wrong thing, the wrong quantity, or a product will be damaged.

When this happens, you want a supplier who will quickly resolve the problem for you in the way that you choose to communicate with them.
Email, phone, quick response

7. Shopping Cart that Stores your Information

If you frequent a bead supply website often, you don't want to have to re-enter all your shipping details each time you purchase something at the site.

Advanced shopping carts will store this information for you which makes it much easier, and much quicker to check out once you have all the items you need.

8. Volume Discounts Offered

The more you buy from a retailer, the more discount that store should be willing to offer you on your purchases. Smart retailers know that you will buy more if they offer you a discount for doing so, or give you free shipping or some kind of incentive.

Also, if you are making jewelry to sell to others and buying large amounts of beading supplies, getting discounts on volume purchases means more profit for you when you sell your jewelry.

9. No Minimum Order Required

While it's true that it cost companies money to process orders, it seems to me very self-serving and short-sighted when a company charges a fee if you don't purchase a minimum $ amount when you order. It sure doesn't make you feel like a valued customer.

Fortunately, there are some bead supply sites that don't have any minimum order requirements. That can be a big help during times when you only need a couple of small parts.

10. A Strong Privacy Policy

No one likes spam. Many companies will sell their customer's information to email list marketers, and that's when you will start receiving unsolicited emails for things you don't care about.

Make sure the store has a policy of keeping your information to themselves with a commitment to not give it to any third parties without your express consent.

Are there more things to consider?
Actually, I have an additional 15 or so things that I look for, which I'll offer in another article, but the ones listed above are the big hitters. Use these tips when evaluating bead suppliers and you'll end up dealing with the best.

Eri Attebery operates http://www.JewelryMakingProfessor.com a site
dedicated to offering products that teach how to make jewelry,
and http://www.JewelryMakingInformation.com a site offering jewelry making
tips, video tutorials, product reviews and resources for both
jewelry making beginners and pros.

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Where You Can Find Jewelry Making Patterns

Jewelry making is by far one of the most popular and well known hobbies in the world today, and if you are interested in jewelry making then you should know that there are many different things that you are going to have to take into consideration here.

When you want to begin something like jewelry making, one of the first things that you are going to have to get is jewelry making patterns.

With jewelry making patterns you are going to be able to find different types of jewelry that you can make, and because you have actual jewelry making patterns, you will be able to follow the patterns step by step, making the entire process much easier on you.

More About Jewelry Making Patterns

If you are interested in getting jewelry making patterns then you should know that there are many different places that you can go to in order to get them. One of the first places that you should check out is your local arts and crafts store, where you should be able to find a great selection of jewelry patterns.

However there are many other places that you can go to as well, and for instance, you can go on the Internet, and his is a really great idea because the speed and efficiency of the Internet allows you to be able to quickly and easily find exactly what it is that you are looking for.

Your options are really endless here, and so regardless of what type of jewelry making patterns you are interested in, you are surely going to be able to find something that works perfectly.

Browse through as many different jewelry supply stores as you can, so that you can have the most options, and thus end up being the most satisfied in the end. Just make sure that you set out a budget for yourself beforehand so that you can calculate out how many patterns you can purchase and thus you will not end up going overboard and spending more than you should.

Taking your time is incredibly important here, and so you want to make sure that you do this so that you pick out patterns that you are going to be able to complete without trouble and that you are going to have fun while you are making the jewelry as well.

About the Author

Article written by Ann Marier.

Create Your Own Metal Castings

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Colin_Croucher]Colin Croucher

Have you ever thought about creating your own metal objects by employing the art of metal casting. It is not as difficult to do as you may think.

Right now, there are people all over the globe, learning &
practising the hobby foundry skills required for "Back Yard Metal
Casting". The renaissance has started; do you want to
be a part of it?

The ebooks we have written are recognized as excellent resource
information ebooks for the home foundry metalworker. They have
been written and compiled from real life hobby foundry practice,
and written in a way that you'll truly understand what we are
talking about.

A gentleman called Jim from Utah USA, recently sent us an
email to tell us how much he enjoyed the ebooks.

"Colin, he wrote, Thanks for taking the time to put this collection of very useful foundry information together. I'm sure it will be invaluable in my quest to do some home foundry work. I do Jeep restoration as a Hobby. Some of the models just don't have parts available any more. That is the root of my interest. I have a small machine shop and enjoy doing the work myself.
Regards, James H Simpson (Jim) U.T USA."

Like many people, Jim is very aware of the possibilities and money saving benefits when you are able to produce your own castings.
Even people who race Radio Controlled cars need to build special
replacement parts for small cars, and in doing so greatly
reduce parts replacement costs.

The hobby shop retailers know very well that you'll be back for
spares, and that is the way that they make constant profits from
RC enthusiasts. There's nothing wrong with that, But you can
"beat the system" by making some of the expensive parts your
self.

The costs to build a small furnace are not that great... it is possible to build a furnace from scrap steel found around the home workshop. The largest building expense of the furnace construction will be the refractory or furnace lining.

But there are ways and means to reduce this cost considerably.

It is a known fact that it is possible to save quite a large amount of money by casting and machining products produced in your own workshop, compared to what it would have cost to get special one off items produced at a commercial foundry.

Initially you will spend some money, but in the long term you will recoup the initial cost with the savings you'll get by making and finishing your own special cast parts.

Metal casting completes the picture for metal workers, it provides the means to take an idea, and develop it through to product completion, right in your own workshop. How rewarding would that be for you?

And as Noel from Australia commented recently.

"G'day Col,

All's well with the e-books, but slowly, slowly, just reading and getting ready to build the foundry and start melting. I had fun melting a bit in my forge, just to see if it got hot enough, but I will start the real foundry soon. I love the e-book package, and I feel it gives me enough knowledge to start having fun... safely. Regards, Noel Watson.Australia".

Whether your aim is to cast antique reproductions, vintage, veteran car or motorcycle parts, art castings, your own special projects, or even if you just want to cast for the fun of it.

All you really need, is the basic desire to learn, and the commitment to slowly build your mini foundry to where you want
it to be.

Your metal casting journey can be an exciting adventure, starting
with simple projects, then slowly graduating to more advanced techniques and projects. The ebooks show you in detail "how to construct" all of the equipment & tools required to do metal casting in the home foundry.

If you are handy with general metal workshop tools, then you are more than capable of building the tools & equipment from the detailed instructions. This info will "never be found" at the local bookstore.

A visit to our web site will make you more informed to the endless possibilities you could experience with metal casting.

Metal Casting article Written By:

Col Croucher. Expert Author.

The Home Foundry Publications. http://www.myhomefoundry.com

Australia.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Colin_Croucher http://EzineArticles.com/?Create-Your-Own-Metal-Castings&id=82069

Make Your Own Dog Jewelry

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Anne_Clarke]Anne Clarke

We live in a country where it is normal to treat our dogs as a members of the family – giving them Christmas presents (and receiving some from them, as well), taking them everywhere with us, dressing them up, giving them gourmet food, etc. As Americans, we just love our dogs! And why shouldn’t we?

One fun way to show our love for dogs is with dog jewelry. It is possible to find many different types of dog jewelry, but why not make your own? Making dog jewelry is a fun craft for kids or a great art project for adults. Make dog jewelry that resembles your own pet, or make jewelry to give away as gifts!

Here are a few ideas for how to make your own dog jewelry:

· Shrinky-Dink. If you have never used shrinky dink, it is about time you did! Be sure to follow the directions on the packaging… basically, though, you can color on the shrinky dink sheets (about the size of a standard piece of paper) – cut out a dog shape, color it in, poke a hole in it, then stick it in the oven (again, be sure to follow the directions on the packaging!) In the oven, your shrinky dink will shrink, leaving you with beautiful and detailed charms. You can add these charms to a charm bracelet, turn them into earrings, or make it into a necklace (to make these things, be sure that you poke a hole through it before you cook it!)

· Bottle Cap Dog Earrings. Take some favorite photos of your dog and cut out pieces that will fit in the underside of a bottle cap. Adhere the photo with Mod Podge (glue-like substance), then coat over the photo a few times with more Mod Podge. You can hot glue onto the back of these some earring studs.

· Doggie Bolo Tie. Pick up a bolo tie clasp (you can likely get one at a local craft store or bead store – if not, try to contact a Western wear store). Find a round and smooth piece of wood (it will be easier to find one at your local craft store). Use a wood burning kit to create a beautiful dog or doggie bone, or paint and then seal a dog on it. Glue the clasp onto the back. You can use a leather cord as your bolo cord.

· Bead Dog. You will need to head to a bead shop for this one. Pick up some wire (preferably sterling silver, at least 22 gauge), and also find a variety of rounded beads. Choose a large, rounded bead to be the body. Weave 3 pieces of wire through the hole – keep them long for now. The three wire ends at the front will be the two front legs and the head, the wire ends at the back will be the hind legs and the tail. For the tail, use lots of little beads, then twist the wire into a ball at the end to keep them on. The little beads allow your dog’s tail to bend however you want it. Use at least two medium size beads for the legs. For the head, use small beads for the neck, and a medium one for the head. You can paint eyes and a mouth on the head.

These are only a few ideas of what you can do to make your own dog jewelry. Be creative. Look around your house and see what you can use. Most of all, have fun!

Anne Clarke writes numerous articles for websites on gardening, parenting, fashion, and home decor. Her background includes teaching and gardening. For more of her articles on dog jewerly, please visit [http://www.topdogjewelry.com]Top Dog Jewelry.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anne_Clarke http://EzineArticles.com/?Make-Your-Own-Dog-
Jewelry&id=203010

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Secrets to Starting Your Own Home Based Jewelry Business

Secrets to Starting Your Own Home Based Jewelry Business
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Lenna_Green]Lenna Green

If you're good at making jewelry then starting your own home based jewelry buiness could be a gold mine for you. If you're anything like me, once you make your mind up to "have a go" it's easy to rush in amidst the excitement of it all. But this approach can bring you unstuck if you're not careful. Start by taking a pen and paper and decide on the look and feel of your buisness. Think about all areas of the business from your work space through to how you are going to sell your designs.

Take Time To Plan Your Jewelry Making Business

Craft businesses can be easily operated from home – especially jewelry making businesses. Your supplies, components, and tools are small and will be easy to store and transport. Your work area and materials aren’t hazardous and probably won’t pose any major storage problems. Although if you have small children you will need to come up with some storage solutions for your smaller materilas. Most people can easily run their business from one room in their home – I know people who don’t even devote an entire room to their business.

The Transistion from Hobbiest to Professional

If you’ve been making jewelry as a hobby, starting to make jewelry for profit won’t take much more room. The transition from hobbyist to professional requires little or no adjustment in the way you manufacture your products. You may already have sufficient work space in the form of a shop or workroom. Because you will be increasing production volume, you will probably have to find or create adequate storage space, and you’ll want an office of some sort for attending to all the details of running a business. Otherwise, you probably already have most of the tools and other items you need.

Musting up the Confidence

What you may not have is confidence. Confidence is every bit as important as skill. You must have confidence in your craft, in yourself, and in your ability to run a business and sell your products. My goal is to help you develop that confidence by helping you understand how to successfully run your own business.

Don't Undersell Yourself or Your Work

I know a lot of designers who are guilty of this one. Infact I have been guilty of downplaying my work and designs. It’s important to never think of your products as homemade, but rather as meticulously handcrafted to exacting standards. Handcrafted products are in great demand, because they provide customers with a quality you don’t often find: they’re handmade, they’re unique, and they can be individualized. Handcrafted jewelry often sells for a premium, because customers are willing to pay for something unique and special.

Should You Start Your Own Home Based Jewelry Business?

No one but you can determine whether or not you should start your own jewelry business, but certain indicators can lead you toward the right choice. Of course, if you have little or no skill, poor coordination, and no interest in getting better- find another business. If you don’t enjoy making jewelry, there’s no reason to start a business. If, on the other hand, you’re a competent artisan — even a good one — but have no patience for or interest in managing a business, then you’d better work for someone else and treat jewelry making as a hobby.

Even if the idea of being self-employed as a home-based craftsperson appeals to you, and you either have or are willing to get the necessary skills and knowledge, you still need to understand your strengths and weaknesses. This is part of the planning stage of your business. It’s a process that’s never too early to start and one you should continue throughout the life of your home based jewelry business.

For more information and resources for starting your own jewelry making business please go to [http://www.lennag.com/jewelrymaking.htm]http://www.lennag.com/jewelrymaking.htm.

This articles may be reproduced in any online medium provided the resource box is included with an active link.

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Precious Metal Clay

Create Your Own Jewelry with Precious Metal Clays
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Chris_Ralph]Chris Ralph

Precious metal clays are a brand new method and technique for making jewelry art of all types. The difference is that most popular jewelry craft methods were first invented centuries ago. Lost wax casting was practiced near the dawn of recorded civilization. Precious metal clays, however, are a new and high tech method of creating your own jewelry.

It sounds truly hard to believe. It really does sound like alchemy: How can clay become pure silver or gold metal? Well, precious metal clays consist of microscopic particles of silver or gold suspended in a soft and pliable organic binder. These materials can be handled in formed and work with simple hand tools like normal clay products. You once they have dried, and then fired in a kiln, the organic binder disappears as it is burned away, and the microscopic metal particles views into pure silver or gold. These new products allow the jewelry artist to create unique jewelry with ease, eliminating the need for difficult metalworking processes including melting, casting, soldering, hammering and cutting. Once fired, they can be filed, soldered, cut or polished just as with any other metal jewelry product.

Precious metal clays were first developed in Japan by Mitsubishi materials Corporation. However it was not until 1996 that PMC products were introduced into the United States. Art Clay, a similar product, was developed in the United States and is also used in jewelry making applications. The temperatures required for firing these materials and converting them to metal varies depending upon the particular product being used, but is normally in the range of 1200 to 1800°F, a mild red heat. Generally kiln, similar to the types used for lost wax casting burnout is used for firing the precious metal clay.

Another important thing to note about precious metal clay products is that when they are fired they shrink. The amount of shrinkage varies depending on the product that is normally in the 10 to 30% range. This can make a huge difference when one is crafting jewelry items such as rings, as that level of shrinkage would cause a ring not to fit the wearer. This amount of shrinkage is normally specified on the package and needs to be taken into account in any jewelry project.

Precious metal clay products are not inexpensive, especially the gold containing products. Their prices are notably higher than the value of the precious metals which they contain. The silver products are most commonly used by jewelry artists, because silver is a comparatively inexpensive precious metal. Both precious metal clay, and all the products that are used to produce precious metal clay crafts and jewelry are available through mail-order supply houses over the Internet. The larger supply houses include a variety of jewelry supplies, gemstones and other items that you might need to create your own jewelry art, including a full variety of the different precious metal clay products themselves.

Because clay products easily take impressions from other objects, it is very common that precious metal clay jewelry will display imprints of a variety of items. Some stamps with special imprints of flowers or other designs are made exactly for this purpose and can be used on precious metal clay just the way they would be used on metals to stamp an imprint. Additionally, because of the nature of hand making a clay product, precious metal clay jewelry often has a roughhewn, almost primitive type of appearance. This is not actually necessary or required, but is fairly common in a lot of pieces made using precious metal clay. This does seem rather odd; especially since precious metal clays are a very high-tech in modern product.

Common precious metal clay products include rings beads pendant items and other special pieces such as Christmas ornaments. It is comparatively easy to add gemstones to precious metal clay jewelry art. For gemstones that can withstand the heat of the clay firing, the stone can simply be set into the wet clay and left in place when the piece is fired. Other more delicate stones may require different techniques. One technique is to simply leave a place on the project for the stone and after firing to solder a pre-made setting onto the piece, and then set the stone into the pre-made setting once everything has cooled. This is the best method for setting stones that are sensitive to heat such as Opal or turquoise.

Much more detailed information about how you can easily make your own jewelry can be viewed at: http://nevada-outback-gems.com/Make_jewelry/making_jewelry.htm

The author has an entire gem information encyclopedia on his website, be sure to check out the site at: http://nevada-outback-gems.com/Encyclopedia_pages/Gemstone_Encyclopedia.htm

Information on actually digging for your own gems can be viewed at: [http://nevada-outback-gems.com/Rockhound/Rockhound%20_Corner.htm ]Dig Your Own Gemstones

Chris Ralph writes on small scale mining and prospecting for the ICMJ Mining Journal. He has a degree in Mining Engineering from the Mackay School of Mines in Reno, and has worked for precious metal mining companies conducting both surface and underground operations. After working in the mining industry, he has continued his interest in mining as an individual prospector.

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Turquoise - The People's Stone

Bracelet by HonuEarthCreations
Turquoise - The People's Stone
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Alan_Beggerow]Alan Beggerow

Turquoise is a stone familiar and valued since 3000 B.C.E. Ancient Egyptians, Persians, and Pre-Columbian Native Americans used it to make jewelry, mosaics, and carved it into many different shapes. The stone was unknown in Europe until the 14th century, when it was introduced by Turkish merchants. It is thought that the name of the stone was derived from the French word turc, which means Turk in English. This lead to the idea that the stone itself was mined by the Turks in their homeland. This is not true. The Turks were only merchants that dealt in the stone.

Rich deposits of turquoise mined in ancient times were located in Persia (modern day Iran), and some of the highest quality turquoise is still being mined there today. The stone is also found in Northern Africa, Australia, Siberia, and the American South West.

The Sacred Stone

Turquoise has been a sacred stone for many cultures. The Aztecs combined it with gold in ceremonial items. Some cultures believed that if a horse rider wore the stone it would protect them from falling off. It is a stone credited with bringing happiness and protection from accidents of all kinds, and with many other attributes. The stone is also thought to be one of the stones that make up the breastplate worn by Aaron in the book of Exodus of the bible. This breastplate had twelve gemstones on it, each one engraved with the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Some scholars believe that turquoise was one of these stones.

The sacredness of turquoise for Native Americans goes back before recorded time. It was carved into the shape of birds and animals. Some tribes put these carved items into tombs to help guard the dead and attract good spirits. The Shaman used turquoise for healing. Warriors attached the stone to the ends of their bows, for it was thought to ensure accurate arrow shots.

Although robin egg blue is the most familiar and most highly valued color for the stone, it can be sky blue, various shades of blue-green, to greenish gray. It is not always a solid color, and can have gradations of color within individual stones. Some stones have veins of other material running through them.

A very high quality turquoise can be expensive, but there are many beautiful stones available at a reasonable price. While this stone has been used and appreciated by royalty and the rich through the ages, it has also been available and appreciated by people in more common circumstances. And it remains the same to this day. A stone for all who appreciate its beauty, and its afford-ability. It is indeed The People's Stone. http://www.cathleensbargainbasement.com/index.php?pr=Amber_Jewelry http://www.cathleensbargainbasement.com http://www.ghostwriterboo.blogspot.com

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