Jan 25 2012

Where Do Seed Beads Originate From?

Seed beads have been around for nearly 500 years. They are the most changeable beads ever created, and are used for jewelry, bead bracelets, clothing, purses, sculpture, textile and a lot more. Seed beads were first created in Italy for use in beaded purses, but were mostly used as trade beads, especially by the French fur merchants who used them to trade seed beads for pelts. They are very popular because of their sizes, finishes, price and shapes. They have found their way into various cultures and traditional costumes.

Highly treasured among bead weavers, they are used to make amazing jewelry and bead embroidered collars and bead bracelets. These alluring beads are made of glass. The Italians started to make seed beads in the 15th century, but seed beads can be found in graves in Egypt, and also in Nigeria and Spain, dating back 4,000 years.

The mass production of seed beadsstarted in Italy. Murano in Italy was a main producer in the 19th century, but no longer make seed beads today. Italy still manufactures them in Venice but in a smaller amounts. Their beads are cut by hand, and the lengths of the beads aren’t even.

The Italians did not only produce the traditional round small bead, the Rocaille, but began producing bugle beads in the end of the 15th century in Venice. It took Bohemia a couple of hundred years before they followed their competitors and began producing bugle beads first in the 18th century.

You view them in all cultures, in ancient graves and in museums, in traditional costumes, high fashion clothing and a lot more. They have been found in decorations and for trading for hundreds of years. Today they are used in all different kinds of beading techniques, and are the main bead type in bead weaving, bead embroidery and loom work.

Jan 08 2012

How To Start Your Own Jewelry Business

One of the easiest home based businesses to start on your own is a jewelry making business. Making jewelry can be a fun hobby that can really make some money if you get good at it and begin selling on your own. As a home-based business it’s perfect for stay-at-home moms or people who have a jam packed work week because you can spend as little as five minutes to five hours working on your handmade jewelry from one day to the next. You literally make your own schedule! Even if you don’t want to start your own home based business, making custom jewelry is still a relaxing way to spend an afternoon and at the end of the day you’ll have a wonderful bracelet to wear or give away as a gift!

If you want to start your own beaded jewelry business you’ll need to consider some general steps for moving forward. You’ll need to have tenacity, some creative ideas and you can’t be afraid to pick up new skills! Here’s what you’ll have to do to make money by making handmade jewelry:

The first thing you’ll want to do is to begin looking at different types of jewelry designs and jewelry making methods. You’ll want to keep an eye on jewelry ads in magazines and on television, fashion and jewelry trends in your local stores and even watch what type of jewelry celebrities are wearing. You will even want to look up some tutorials aimed at jewelry making for beginners. You’ll soon understand that almost everyone is wearing some sort of beaded jewelry and that many different jewelry pieces are made with similar skills and pieces.

Next, you’ll want to teach yourself some basic jewelry making techniques. You can learn basic jewelry making skills by reading books, visiting jewelry making websites, attending classes at the local university or just asking other jewelry makers for some help. You may also want to pick up some cheap jewelry making materials to practice. Once you’ve established your jewelry making business you may want to look into saving money by learning how to buy wholesale craft supplies from a reputable vendor or online store. You can make the entire process a more fun event by going to classes with a good friend or two!

After you’ve made some of your own jewelry and you’re feeling pretty confident about your talents it might be time to consider selling some of your custom jewelry at a craft bazaar or on eBay. You can advertise your jewelry slowly by word-of-mouth through various family members or you can try to make a lot of sales quickly by advertising your services in the local paper or some other means. If you don’t want to sell your jewelry directly, you can approach boutique owners and ask if they’d like to sell your custom jewelry for a percentage of the selling price.

Designing your own handcrafted jewelry can open new financial doors for you and your family. Even if you’re going to make jewelry for gifts, you’ll still have the skills you need to make money on the side by offering to fix jewelry for family members instead of paying someone to fix broken jewelry items. By making and selling your own handcrafted jewelry you can meet lots of new people, make some money and have fun all at the same time!

Feb 15 2011

Wearing Silver.Ag Charm Bracelet

Many forms of jewellery tend to come into fashion and go out of fashion just as quickly. However, the charm bracelet is a specific type of jewellery that has been around for a great deal of time and is sure to continue to do so. These types of bracelets are popular amongst all types of genders and ages, and ethnic backgrounds from all over the world, and as such they are very unlikely to suddenly drop off the radar.

When fashion is constantly evolving, charm bracelets have managed to maintain their spot and status within the fashion industry all over the world. One of the main reasons for this is simply due to the fact that these types of bracelets can be readily customised and personalised to make your own specific desires.

Such is the popularity and prominence of these types of bracelets that they have been taken up by well-known jewellery designers around the world who have added them to their stock. As a result of this, celebrities have begun to wear them as well, and the public have followed suit. This has only served to extend the popularity of these charm bracelets.

They are available in semi-different types of designs and styles that it is impossible for you to find something that is on suitable for your needs. Just a little bit of searching around should lead you to a bracelet that you fall in love with.

And, of course, if you cannot find anything that is suitable to you, it is very easy to simply customise a bracelet that you have purchased, or create an entirely unique one yourself. By doing this you can put your own individual stamp on it and design a bracelet that is one of the kind.

Whatever path you choose to take, and whether you would like to make your own bracelet or buy one from a shop or online, you will never really have to spend a great deal of money doing so. All in all, therefore, they are certainly a very cost-effective jewellery to accessorise with as well.