Bead For Life - Custom Made Bead Order Received!

Hand Rolled, Custom, Unique Beads

I was so excited to go to my mailbox and find the custom, hand made beads I had ordered from the Bead For Life website. If you aren't familiar with Bead for Life, please look at my older posts and watch the video or check out their website.  Bead for Life is an organization that gives women in Uganda the ability to learn a trade and earn money to sustain their families and in some cases, start their own businesses. 

I wanted to follow up with my first post and say that I am extremely satisfied with the beads that I received.  The shipping was quick and there were also tags included to send with my own custom made jewelry using the beads I bought from Bead for Life.  I took some pictures and wanted to include them with this post and I will be making jewelry soon with these great beads!!  I chose the multi-colored and the natural colored loose beads, but you can pick from many different styles and colors already made by the talented Ugandan women of  Bead for Life.  I hope you let me know if you have looked at the site and would love to hear your comments!!  Please check back for my custom made creations featuring Bead for Life beads and like always, thanks for reading!!

Beads come with tags for your own custom made creations

 Earth Tone Beads from Bead For Life

Getting Kids Involved in Custom Jewelry Making

Chloe holding her custom made
earrings!!

Getting your kids involved in custom jewelry making is easier than you may think.  Of course, your kids have got to be old enough to know not to put beads in their mouths, however, that should go without saying!  Custom jewelry can really be made by anyone from 4 to 94.  It just takes a little patience and guidance and your kids can produce pretty, unique, custom made jewelry.  Some easy starter jewelry projects for kids are bracelets or basic necklaces, ones that don't require a lot of effort or skill.  You want to keep it fun and simple, because all of you that have kids or grand kids know easily they can become bored and lose interest.

I usually pick some beads that I am not very attached to, because some may get lost or dumped by accident.  I have three kids that love to custom make their own jewelry, Jade, 9, Cody and Chloe, 4 (twins).  I get them a small bowl and place a variety of beads in to start them out with.  I then attach a clasp at one end of the wire and let their imagination and creativity take over!!  The results have been varied, but very unique and creative custom made jewelry.  They wear it for awhile, but then ask if they can take it apart and make it differently, so it works out very well for all involved!!  I've included a picture of my little beaders making their own custom made jewelry!!

Jade with a pair of custom made
earrings that she did all by herself!

Chloe and Jade picking through
my bead organizers for their custom
made jewelry.

Custom Hand Made Jewelry That Makes A Difference

www.beadforlife.org

 Custom hand made jewelry is making a difference for quite a few in Uganda.  Bead for Life is an organization that enables Ugandan women that have been affected by poverty, starvation, AIDS and civil wars to create an income and sustain their families and homes.  I was so touched by this video, so I really hope you take the time to watch it.

I also have placed an order for beads from Bead For Life, so I will be featuring unique, custom made designs of my own made with these great beads!!!  Stop back soon for an update!!  Pictures by  Charles Steinberg.

One of the creators of the beautiful

necklaces for Bead for Life.

Custom made necklaces hand made

by women workers for Bead for Life

BeadforLife Overview (2011) from BeadforLife on Vimeo.

Beads For Life helps women to

become self-sufficient providers.

Taking Quality Photos of Your Custom Made Jewelry

Detail of Jonquil Swarovski Crystal
Necklace - $30

Taking quality photos of your custom made jewelry can prove to be trying at times, especially if you don't have the right kind of camera.  The best details of beads and jewelry are captured in photos by high resolution settings, however, you may find that your pictures of your custom made jewelry load slower than they would if they were a lower resolution.

You may have to give up some picture quality to make the overall custom jewelry webpage load faster and smoother, because as anyone knows that surfs the internet "window shopping", you only have a few minutes before they switch to a different site.

Make sure that you take pictures on a neutral background and don't use anything in the background that has a pattern that will distract from your custom made jewelry.  You want your custom made jewelry to be the star of the photo, so make sure that it is not too dark or too over exposed either.  Just move around your space until you find a good mix of light and dark.

Avoid shadows also, which will give you uneven results, making your jewelry not as easily seen.  The best way to assure that you get good photos, of course, is to have a quality camera.  If you don't own one, then borrow one from someone that does have one.  It is key to have good pictures of your jewelry for internet exposure.  If I can help at all please contact me...my info is on the contact page.

Coral and Lampwork Glass
 Bead Necklace - $25 

Aqua Glass & Seahorse Custom
 Necklace - $30

Using Flea Markets and Events to Sell Your Custom Made Jewelry

   

A picture of the booth with my
jewelry set up at the Rodeo.

My custom made jewelry 

booth set up...check out
the car in the background.

My little candy grabbers.
(L-R Cody, Jade & Chloe)
 at the Bonifay Rodeo
Oct. 2010

You can use flea markets and other events to sell your custom made jewelry.  Like so many other artisans that are trying to make some money from their crafts, I have found that it is hard to find a venue to sell my custom made jewelry through, especially since I live in a rural area outside of a small town.

There is not a lot of room for exposure in a remote area, so you have to think about branching out in any available outlets.  If you have been in that area for awhile, then you probably already know of flea markets, thrift stores, and even some small locally owned businesses that may possibly market your custom made jewelry or other crafts.

 I talked to a kind local business owner and he let me set up a booth during the 2010 Bonifay Rodeo weekend and had mild success, but it was still good to get out there and have people stop by and look at my jewelry and get some good feedback.

If  you aren't from that area or are looking to go to a more populated area to try to sell, then talking to some locals, in a grocery store or gas station and asking them where things are is a great way to get information.  Usually, if you pipe up and ask a question in general to a room full of people you will get a lot of feedback...sometimes the information is not quite what you wanted to know, but that's the way it goes! Also, the other option is via the internet.  There are plenty of options that the internet has to offer, but also a lot of scams, so just be cautious!  If I can help at all with anything, just let me know!  My info is on my contact page!

We were giving a puppy away
and my son, Cody
was lending a hand!! 

Making Your Own Pendants For Your Custom Made Necklace

Coral & Lampwork Glass Necklace - $30

Silver Leaf & Clear Glass Crackle Bead

Necklace - $25

Swarovski Starfish Necklace - $30

Custom made necklaces may require that you make your own pendant to match. Sometimes, you will be in the unique position that you have all the other components of your custom made necklace complete, except for one small problem.

 You don't have a pendant that you want to use with it or you can't find a pendant that fits what you have in mind. One easy way to get around this problem is to make your own pendants. You can make a pendant from any kind of assembly of beads and the only limit is your imagination.

I have included some pictures of necklaces that I have made the pendant out of several smaller beads that are included in the main design of the necklace. As you can see, you can be simplistic, as in the case of the ruby and Swarovski crystal necklace or you can be more detailed as see in the Swarovski crystal starfish pendant that I created.

 If you would like to purchase any of these necklaces or you have an idea of your own that you want me to recreate, please let me know!

Ruby & Swarovski Crystal

Necklace - $30

Custom Jewelry Trends: Cabochons

Opal & Blue Glass Necklace - $25

Cabochons are still making a climb in the custom jewelry world. Unlike their faceted cousins, cabochons are usually made from an opaque precious or semi-precious stone that is ground down so that it has a flat side and polished and rounded on the other and then it is usually affixed to a backing piece, so that it becomes a pendant or they can be attached to a piece of custom jewelry directly, like a bracelet or the like.

I have put up a few pictures of custom made necklaces that I have made that feature cabochons as the star of the piece, the pendant. As you can see, they are different in the fact that they do not sparkle like a clear, faceted stone, but depending on what they are made of, they can have natural sparkle on their own.

 The purple and silver necklace has a cabochon pendant made of purple sun sitara, which is a stone I truly love, while the yellow and silver necklace has a cabochon of yellow adventurine. The other custom made necklace that I have featured here is a man made opal cabochon pendant.

Purple Sun Sitara & .925 Sterling

Silver Necklace - $30

I have got quite a few cabochons in my jewelry making case, so I am getting ideas of some other nice necklaces I can make. If you'd like to have one made especially for you, please let me know!

Yellow Adventurine & .925 Sterling

Silver Necklace - $35

Choosing a Jewelry Tag for Custom Made Jewelry

Tags for my Custom Made Jewelry

If you are custom making jewelry and you have decided that you are at the point where you are going to enter into the world of marketing it to sell to the public, you need to think about a lot of different things and custom jewelry tags are just one of them. I have found a site that I have gotten my jewelry tags from in the past.

The site is Dolphin Bead Designs and their pricing is quite fair. The have a lot of different choices and styles and a multitude of fonts and bells and whistles. They also feature a really neat interface on their site that you can design your own tags, pick a logo, choose colors and styles of both the tag and font, and a lot of other cool little features. Check out their site and let me know what you think!! You can find them at www.dolphinbead.com/

Different Types of Clasps for Your Custom Hand Made Jewelry

Silver Heart & Crystal Slide Clasp

There are quite a few different clasps that are out there for custom jewelry making these days, ranging from the basic lobster clasp or round clasp, which are spring loaded and are widely used on most commercial jewelry to more artistic clasps that add to the beauty of the custom jewelry design. The pictures below are examples of the clasps that I have used for my custom made jewelry.

Clasps of all types and sizes can be found online or in craft stores. I have bought a lot of my jewelry making supplies from eBay, but you have to be careful what you get and who you get it from. I have found that while the overseas market may be able to sell the beads and other items for less, they aren't usually that high quality and you have to wait for a long time to receive your items, just use caution.

Silver Heart Toggle Clasp

Gold & Crystal Flower Slide Clasp 

Silver Filigree Toggle Clasp

Custom Jewelry Projects for Friends and Relatives

Custom Bracelet and Earrings to
Match Blue Glass Necklace

Custom Made Blue Glass Necklace

Turquoise & Silver Custom Made

Earrings

Some of the best custom made jewelry that I have produced has been for friends.  When I first started custom making jewelry, which has been about 2 years now, I had a neighbor that I had met when I first moved to Florida. She and her family kind of took us in and I became very close to her and if I needed to talk or needed her to help, she has done her best to be there. Her birthday was coming around and I decided to make her a special custom made jewelry set for her present from me. Her favorite color is blue, so of course, that's what color I decided to make her jewelry set.

As you can see, I made the set from blue and white glass beads. Once she received the necklace, bracelet and earrings, she had shown them to her step-daughter and she said she really liked my work. She then commissioned me to make another custom jewelry set for her step-daughter with the request that she loves turquoise. I have included some of the pictures from the turquoise set as well.

The main point to this story, is that revenue can come from a number of different sources, sometimes unexpectedly, so if you are trying to sell your jewelry, try to network with friends and family. Get them to wear your jewelry to different functions, events, etc. You may be surprised with the feedback!

 Also, as always, if you have a request for anything custom made, or you see something that I have already made that you like, contact me and let me know, I'd be happy to work with you! Good luck!

Custom Made Turquoise & Silver

Necklace, Earrings and Bracelet

Choosing Jewelry Wire That Works With Your Budget and Custom Jewelry Projects

Example of Silver Wire for Custom
Made Jewelry

Choosing the right jewelry wire for your custom made jewelry is crucial.  When I first started out making jewelry, I had no frame of reference in regard to all the different wire that is out in the custom made jewelry market today. When I started trying to choose which one that I wanted, it was look up what I could find on the internet and hope that what I was getting was the right thing. I just wanted to do a post that maybe would help anyone that is going through the same thing I was.

The basic rule of thumb when looking for .925 sterling silver wire is that the gauges range from 4 to 26 and can be either round, square or half round. I have included this chart that I found on Land of Odds:

GAUGE	THICKNESS	ROUND	SQUARE	HALF ROUND
4
6
8
9
10
12
14
16
18
20
22
24
26
28
30

                             Silver Chart for Custom Made Jewelry

I have used all the jewelry wire mentioned above, however, I usually use round wire and try to stay around the 20 or 21 gauge wire, which is pretty versatile for custom made jewelry. Let me know if you would like anything custom made, wire wrapped or crafted especially for you.