I’ve been spending a lot of time with my new daughter (and not much time making jewelry lately), but have discovered Twitter! I made my own Twitter account a little while ago and I’m hoping to send more messages or “tweets” as I get more time. For those of you who haven’t played with Twitter, it’s a sort of “micro-blogging” site and service that allows you to send out short text messages and links to websites as long as your message or “tweet” is under 140 characters.

So if you want to pick up some jewelry making tips and tricks you might choose to use your smart phone or computer to follow my Twitter account: OnMakingJewlery. Everything on Twitter is free, so give it a try!

Each time I send out a message about bead and jewelry making you’ll see it on your phone or computer. I’ll try to follow you as well as long as you don’t send too many updates. I’m going to try to start sending out at least a few good tips or links to jewelry making and beading sites and articles a week. Some jewelry twitter accounts send out 10, 20 or more a day and that’s just too much for me to ever get around to reading.

And, hey, if you have a beading or jewelry Twitter account, leave a comment below!

One way you can try to increase your jewelry sales and raise awareness and money for a good cause at the same time is to donate a portion of your jewelry profits to charity!

Writing a check once a quarter is a great way to donate some of your jewelry profits to your favorite charity!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, so you’ll be seeing a lot of pink products and pink ribbons all over the place for the next few weeks. And, naturally, you’ll also be seeing a lot of online crafters, artisans and jewelry makers going out of their way to market jewelry and beads especially towards Breast Cancer Awareness by offering to donate a portion of the proceeds from their craft or jewelry sales to breast cancer research or some other cancer foundation or organization.

Tying together jewelry pieces with supporting a charity is actually a pretty good way to increase your jewelry sales because people like to feel as though they are putting their money to a good cause. It’s a win-win situation for everyone involved:

• Your favorite charity is getting a donation!
• Your customers get a good feeling (and some great jewelry!) knowing that they are helping to support a worthy cause.
• You (or your business) may be able to deduct your donation amount from your taxable income at the end of the year!

I don’t know about you, but I have to admit that I’ve purchased jewelry pieces and home made crafts that I might not normally have purchased if it wasn’t for the fact that a portion of the sale went to a local charity. But if you’re going to donate some of your jewelry profits to a charity in order to increase your jewelry sales, here are some things you should know and think about:

Be Honest and Clear About Donation Amounts: There are several different ways you can donate a portion of your jewelry sales to a charity. You can either donate a portion of the price of your jewelry piece to charity or you can donate a set amount for each piece. Donating 10% of each jewelry sale to a charity is a good approach, but that means the donation amount will be different for each piece of jewelry you sell and will change if you have sales or flexible pricing. For easier tracking you may want to use the same amount based on the type of piece. So maybe you’ll simply donate $5.00 for each necklace you sell, $3.00 for each bracelet and $2.00 for each set of earrings.

When you’re promoting your charitable contribution policy, make sure that people understand that you are a business that is not directly associated with the organization you’re offering to support. If you have a personal story about why you’ve chosen a particular charity, then don’t be shy about it. Pricing your jewelry is up to you, but you’ll obviously want to set your amounts so that you’re not losing money on jewelry sales!

Some of the many colors for various charitable causes…

Choose Your Charity Carefully: There are lots of charities to choose from but you’ll probably want to support either a more well-known charity or perhaps a local or regional charity. While many jewelry makers tend to support a single charity, some others donate to several different charities, causes or organizations. You’ll also want to keep in mind that not every organization is a registered charity, which means that if you’re looking for a tax deduction you’ll want to be sure the organization is a valid 501(c)(3) organization which has a tax-exempt status.

If you’re hoping that donating money to charity will also increase your sales and appeal to the widest audience, then you probably want to avoid controverial charities, religious or political organizations. Most people will generally support “universal good” charities which aim to cure certain diseases or health problems, help children or promote non-violent causes.

That being said, you’re almost always better off choosing a specific charity rather than just a mentioning general cause. It is more assuring to customers if you say “Every necklace sale will include a $5 donation to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation to fight breast cancer” instead of “I’ll give $5 to breast cancer awareness for each necklace sale.” By naming a legitimate and well known charity you’ll also be helping your customers associate the good feelings they have from that organization to your jewelry and products.

Tie Specific Jewelry Pieces and Products With Specific Causes: Sure, a lot of Breast Cancer Awareness jewelry is pink and has a ribbon theme, but there are lots of other colors that are associated with other causes. There is a general list of awareness colors over at Wikipedia you can check out if you want to support multiple causes. Remember that donating money is important, but so is raising awareness about certain causes, so if you link your jewelry piece to a specific cause then it could serve as reminder of the cause or as a conversation piece years after you sold the piece to a customer. I once met a woman who mostly sold beaded silverware with a portion of her proceeds going towards research into eating disorders.

Keep Good Records: If you really want to help yourself and your cause then you’ll want to be sure that you keep very accurate records about what you sold and how much of that money should go towards a specific charity. Using a spreadsheet is a good idea, but that’s where only supporting one charity and using set amounts (instead of a percentage) really helps make your accounting much easier to figure out.

Establish A Giving Plan: If you sell a lot of jewelry where a portion of the proceeds go to charity then you’re going to want to establish, and possibly even advertise, how often you plan to donate. You probably don’t want to make 100 little donations in a single year for each piece of jewelry you sell. I would suggest a monthly or even quarterly schedule of donating. Just set aside the amount of money from each sale you make and once every three months you can mail in a check or donate the appropriate amount online. You may not want to wait an entire year because that could be a lot of money and it could be tempting to use for other things. You’ll also want to be sure to be honest and open about your giving because many charities publish donor lists which could allow your customers to see if you’ve really donated any money to a specific cause or not.

Offering to give a portion of your jewelry sales to a charity is a great way to raise awareness to a certain cause and to help sell some jewelry while donating money to an organization that probably needs it.

Have you ever had any success stories (or found any pitfalls) in donating a portion of your jewelry or small business profits to a charitable organization? I’d love to hear about them!

Regular readers of this blog know that I’m a big fan of using recycled materials and left over jewelry pieces to make new and exciting pieces of jewelry. I even have an entire category on my blog covering people and companies that make jewelry out of left over pieces and odds and ends. That’s why I was pretty excited when I saw the TODAY show’s style expert, Bobbie Thomas, featured a whole bunch of cool necklaces, bracelets and rings all made with hardware store supplies such as washers, nuts, bolts, hose clamps and other pieces you can pick up your local Lowe’s or Home Depot.

The definitive book about making jewelry out of hardware: Making Designer Jewelry from Hardware, Gems, and Beads

You can watch the TODAY show segment here to get a good overview of what is possible with a little imagination and a few pieces of cheap hardware. While I’m not sure that all the jewelry pieces Bobbie Thomas spoke about are really finished products (simply hanging washers on chains or wearing hose clamps seems like cheating!) the short video segment does show some of what’s possible when you combine hardware pieces with more traditional jewelry making materials such as chains, ribbons, clasps, gemstones, beads and other things you’d find in a typical jewelry supply store. And just because you use hardware pieces in your creations doesn’t mean you’re only making jewelry for men. A lot of the nicer jewelry that’s inspired by hardware designs and materials can also be worn by women.

I’ve written about other people making jewelry out of hardware before and I’ve experimented with it a little bit myself. While some experience with making metal jewelry is useful (soldering in particular) but it isn’t essential. In fact, many of the skills you use to make steampunk jewelry can be used to make hardware (or industrial) jewelry. I’m going to offer some tips and tricks for making jewelry out of hardware and show some examples of designer jewelry made from washers and nuts and the like.

Using Washers For Jewelry

Perhaps the most obvious piece of hardware to use for jewelry is the common washer. A washer is a metal or plastic ring that has a hole through the middle of it. There are thousands of different washers that come in various sizes and with different sized holes through the middle of them. Washers are not “threaded” which means they can’t be turned and screwed onto a bolt or another piece of hardware.

Washers can easily be used to make single pendants or can be attached together with metal wire or Beadalon, ribbon or even leather to create necklaces and bracelets. The hole through the middle of washers allow them to easily be mounted on traditional jewelry hardware like earring studs or hooks and even attached to rings.

For the purposes of making jewelry metal (usually stainless steel or aluminum) washers are probably the most popular and easiest to use. Yes, you can just run a lanyard through metal washers right out of the box and call it a necklace, but to add some visual interest to your jewelry you’ll want to decorate them a little bit before you use them in your jewelry. Some options: you can cover your washers with decorative paper, you can use a metal grinder to mark interesting scratches and patterns into your metal washers, or you can paint, stain or finish your washers with something colorful. Of course, depending upon how wide your washer is, you may also be able to use metal stamps or other tools to mark your washers with some really interesting designs. If you begin working with metal washers you’ll soon discover that different metals are able to be polished to different degrees of luster.

Jewelry Made Out of Nuts and Bolts

Just to be clear on some terminology, hardware bolts are the long skinny metal pieces that are threaded and hardware nuts are the pieces that twist and screw onto bolts. Obviously, nuts and bolts can be used together in all sorts of hardware configurations, though if you do rely on threaded hardware you may want to secure the nut to the bolt with a tiny bit of solder or even superglue if there’s any chance of the nut loosening and allowing the jewelry piece to fall apart.

Nuts are often hexagonal in shape or have some sort sort of flat edge while washers are often completely circular. This means that by mixing nuts and bolts you can get some interesting visual effects. Obviously, nuts can also be used just like washers and can be used for pendants or have stringing material run through them.

Hooks, Clasps, And Other Hardware Jewelry Making Materials

Let’s face it, there are millions of different hooks, connectors, screws, clasps and other types of hardware supplies in your typical home improvement store, and many of those little hardware pieces could be used for making some incredibly beautiful industrial jewelry. Besides just visiting the screw and washer aisle of your hardware store you’ll want to also check out the plumbing section, the electical area and even some of the door hardware and nail shelves.

Safety and Cautions

One thing I’ve noticed about a lot of jewelry made from hardware is that much of it doesn’t look very comfortable to wear. I think it’s important for jewelry to look good, but it’s also important for it to be safe to wear. If you’re using metal hardware pieces in your jewelry then you’ll probably want to make sure there are no sharp edges or pointed corners that can scape or poke you or others near you. Before using a piece of hardware you may also want to be sure that you know what type of metal it’s made out of and whether or not it is safe for skin contact. Some people may have allergic reactions to different types of metal while some hardware pieces are dipped or coated in chemicals that may not necessarily be safe for resting against the skin.

Designers of Jewelry Made Out of Hardware

Still not convinced that jewelry made out of hardware can actually be pretty or look like “real” jewelry? Then check out some of these professional jewelry designers who are making jewelry out of washers, nuts, chains and other common hardware pieces:

FoundryM – Though the website is a little difficult to navigate at first, FoundryM has some great pieces that use some less commonly seen hardware pieces (at least in jewelry)! Their pieces tend to combine traditional jewelry materials such as Swarovski crystals and jewelry beads with more unique materials such as chains made out nails and those hose clamps you see in the plumbing aisle.

Giles and Brother – A true name brand in the fashion jewelry world, the jewelry from Giles and Brother doesn’t always use traditional hardware pieces that you would normally find at the local Home Depot. Instead their pieces tend to mix hardware themes or use modified screws, hooks and other pieces in clever ways when they make their jewelry.

iWEAR…do you? – If you’re looking for some classy jewelry that’s fun and formal and still made out of hardware, look no further than iWEAR…do you? and their unique way of combining nuts, bolts and washers with rhinestones! There’s plenty of sparkle and great use of metal textures and colors here, so if you like industrial and modern looking jewelry and yet you still want a little “bling” then this is the jewelry you want!

Jewelry Hardware Tutorials

There’s one great book for making jewelry out of hardware that’s appropriately called Making Designer Jewelry from Hardware, Gems, and Beads. There are also lots of tutorials on the web about how to make jewelry out of hardware, and you may actually learn more simply by experimenting on your own, but here are a two quick and free jewelry making tutorials to get you started:

With a little imagination and even less money you can make some very unique jewelry out of hardware!

I have to admit: I haven’t had the time (or the energy) to make much jewelry lately. We have a new addition in our house (a little girl) and my time was already stretched thin with a four-year-old, a full-time job, a husband and house that’s constantly in need of some sort of repair or update.

Before becoming a mother I would spend a lot of nights just relaxing and putting together jewelry pieces or stringing beads for hours and hours on end, sometimes while watching TV or while listening to music. These days I don’t have the luxury of having hours of free time (and if I did I’d probably want to spend those hours sleeping! LOL!) Yet, despite all the demands on my time and attention, I still find that I’m able to make jewelry and enjoy my hobby as long as I keep a few things in mind and don’t expect to be able to “work” at my jewelry like I used to. Here are some of the things I’ve learned and methods I use to make jewelry with a busy schedule:

Break Your Jewelry Making Into Smaller Steps: The one thing I’ve learned over the past several years is that I need to make the most out of the few free minutes I get here and there. And since long stretches of free time are premium, I’ve learned to break my jewelry making into smaller steps that can usually be accomplished in a small block of time like 20 – 30 minutes. So, I usually have about five or six steps in any piece of jewelry I’m making. They are: Sketch/Design, Choose Supplies and Beads, String, Adjust and then Finalize. I first sketch out what I want to do or design a piece in my head to some extent. Then I spend some time going through my supplies to make sure I have all the beads, wires, clasps and other accessories I’ll need to make the piece I want to make. After that I usually use a beadboard and string everything together. I adjust for size or if the design doesn’t look right and finally I attach clasps and clean up the ends, making sure everything falls and wears the way it should! It isn’t easy to get used to this if you’re used to designing things in a little more “free form” style. I started making jewelry this way almost by accident when I had my first baby and I only an hour or so between wakings to work around the house, clean everything, take a shower and make some jewelry for an upcoming show!

Not all jewelry can necessarily be made this way. If you’re making your own lampwork beads or making jewelry with metal clay then there are definitely some steps you can’t squeeze into 20 minute openings. I’m also very lucky to have a husband who is willing to take the kids and give me some free time when I really need it!

Maintain A Jewelry Making Schedule: Making jewelry is a fun hobby for me and it helps bring in some money, but I try not to let it over take my life! Since I make my jewelry at home, there’s always that danger of mixing up the whole home and business and environments to the point where you begin seeing “home” time as time you “have” to work. It’s taken some practice, but I’ve learned that I don’t necessarily need to make jewelry every day to still be good at it. I try to make some time most days of the week for working on various jewelry and creative projects, but I don’t beat myself up if I miss a day or two due to someone being sick or a school trip or anything along those lines.

Prioritize Projects: I used to go to a lot of different small craft shows and local bazaars and try to sell my jewelry. Now that I don’t have every weekend free to spend the day at a show, I tend to pick one or two larger craft shows each year and just plan to attend them. I am also a bit more realistic when I get a special order for custom jewelry. I’ve learned that being honest with people is the best way to do this. I simply explain that I’m a busy mother of two and may not be able to get an order done for a month or more. Most people are completely understanding and even applaud me for being truthful!

Use Good Jewelry Making Tools: Sure, anyone who makes jewelry should invest the money in a good set of jewelry making tools at some point, but there are some little tricks I use to help me manage making my jewelry in those little blocks of time. First, I like to have multiple projects going at one time, so I have a few different specialized beadboards that I sit on a shelf in my closet. That way I can have three different bracelets and maybe some necklaces in various stages of design. If I find that I need more beads or supplies for one piece I can quickly switch to another piece as time allows. I also have several boxes of Bead Stoppers available at all times because my daughter seems to have the amazing ability to start crying right as I begin stringing a jewelry piece.

The real key to making jewelry when you’re a busy mother/wife/employee is to be flexible and open to new ideas and new ways of doing things. With two young kids in the house and a million other things going on, I’m definitely making less jewelry now than I used to, but with a little determination I’ve been able to keep enjoying my hobby while continuing to make beautiful jewelry (just not as much of it as I used to! LOL!)

If you’re a beaded jewelry maker who likes to maximize your sales throughout different seasons, then you should learn to adjust your jewelry styles and looks to meet upcoming fashion and jewelry trends. While no one can guarantee what will be the “hot” new jewelry trend in the coming years, there are some definite designs, colors and overall themes in the fashion and jewelry world that are becoming more popular every day!

Here’s a great example of a pendant that tells a story and has a theme..

In general, the economic downturn has affected the fashion and jewelry industry by trimming back some of the frills and over-the-top gaudiness and colors of the past and this upcoming fall and winter’s trends seem to be moving back into a more subdued mode than you generally see during the spring and summer months. Here are some of the fashion and jewelry trends you can expect to see in the 2010/2011 season:

Themes, Stories and Words: Having a story to tell is a big part of the fashion and jewelry business at the moment. One way to accomplish this is to tie different pieces together with an overriding theme so that they aren’t necessarily matching, but more like complimenting each other. If you’re making a coordinated jewelry set of earrings, a necklace and a bracelet then you’ll want to use a similar beads and colors in each piece, but maybe not use the same materials for all three. Many jewelry pieces are even being coordinated with clothing in order to tell a story or convey some sort of hidden or double meaning in some cases. Granted, it isn’t always easy to make bead jewelry with a story involved, though I have seen more and more jewelry makers including a little “story” card with their jewelry. The story card can be as simple as explaining the inspiration for the piece and how it was made or it can include a fictional account of the jewelry piece or just include a poem or short story that vaguely references the jewelry.

Examples of jewelry based around poems and stories can be found in at the CND Jewelry Tales blog and even Rose Klampman’s Bead and Wire Wrap Poetry. One obvious way to tell a story or tie in a theme is with charms and other “trinket” type jewelry pieces and accessories which are still popular.

Generally, you’ll want to stay away from themes that could be construed as being gaudy or overblown. Some other themes that are big this year are animals, “period” and historical replicated jewelry pieces from the 1930′s and 1940′s and jewelry that tells a tale of survival, strength or hope. nimals are big, as are “period” piece reproductions from the 1930′s and 1940′s. For some examples of how stories and words are being used you can look no further than Amazon.com’s story pendants.

Natural Materials and Metals: Long gone are the days of making jewelry only out of gold and silver. These days the value of gold is so high that many traditional and handcrafted jewelry makers are completely avoiding it. Gold is almost exclusively reserved for upscale audiences and jewelry pieces because of the rising price. That leaves room for a lot of other metals to be used for jewelry, including silver, copper, bronze and steel. More and more metal jewelry is foregoing the polished metal look and instead moving towards the hammered, aged, scuffed and generally worn look. Men are still buying and, more importantly, wearing jewelry themselves and they tend to gravitate towards the less flashy and more inexpensive metals with a masculine feel.

Natural materials such as stone, wood, and colorful but not precious gems and stones are still highly desireable and sell well. A lot of fashion and jewelry designers are dialing down in brightness and loudness due to the economic hard times that many people are going through. Bright plastics, artificially colored stones and shiny or glitzy materials are not even being worn by wealthy people or most celebrities these days.

Recycled and Local Materials: Call it Frugal Chic, but fashion and jewelry have been taking a cue from the “local foods” movement and many jewelry makers and designers are looking to make beautiful pieces of jewelry with materials and supplies that are made and sourced locally instead of buying beads from someone halfway across the world. Show respect for limited resources is a hot topic and will be for quite some time. Along those same lines, more and more people are buying and wearing jewelry and other fashion accessories made out of recycled or repurposed materials. I’ve featured lots of examples of recycled jewelry in the past. Of course, you can even combine the metal and recycled feel if you’re been making steampunk jewelry for your customers.

Jewelry Trends That Are Over: Asian and Indian influences were seen in the past, but not so much now. Though jewelry made from charity beads are still popular, you will generally see less world culture influence in handmade jewelry. Jewelry that’s over-the-top glitzy or too bold to be practical is also not as popular as it once was.

Trends aside, almost any sort of affordable handcrafted or handmade jewelry is still selling well. If you have a jewelry business of your own, then you know the importance of being able to sell jewelry in a down economy. Pawn shops and gold buyers have been reporting that record numbers of people are getting ride of their gold and gemstone jewelry, pocketing the cash and then using some of that money to buy smaller and less expensive pieces. Many people are, essentially, downsizing their formal gold and diamond jewelry collections of the past for more personal and more practical beaded and handmade jewelry.

Now I have a quick question for all you jewelry makers out there: Do any of you regularly change your style or make different jewelry based on national or local trends? Or do you simply stick to your own unique style and make jewelry that pleases your tastes first?