Thursday, May 14, 2009

So you think you want to start a jewelry making business…

I have compiled some start-up advice for you. These suggestions are completely based on my own experience, and I hope that they are relevant to your business goals….

1. Medium – You have probably decided in what medium you want to work. If this medium is at low price range, then go for it and try your hand at it. You can switch to more expensive materials later on when you feel more confident. I personally started with sterling silver wire at a very early stage of my designs, and I think it was a really big mistake.
Copper is much cheaper and can be found at any hardware store. It is an excellent medium to practise wire wrapping techniques and as finished products, copper jewelry pieces are very beautiful and interesting.

2. Tools – Good tools are essential and, although they might be very pricey, they will pay for themselves later on. Don’t buy a set of tools even if the price point looks good to you. You don’t know at the beginning if you will use them all. Buy them as you go.

3. Your Company Name – Before you register your name, Google that name to check if it has been taken and is being used by other people or companies. I still like my company name - Ingo - which contains the two first letters of my first and last names. However, I think that adding the word 'Jewelry' was a mistake. First of all, this word has two different spellings and it might create difficulties when people look me up. Secondly, when I decided to have my own jewelry tags, I had to fit the whole ‘Ingo Jewelry’ name on it and this made my tag hard to read…

4. Improving Your Skills – You might consider taking extra classes or courses. Well, it’s always a good idea to increase your knowledge. I personally like to learn from books. Books are always a good source of information that resides just within your reach… I have taken two classes and found them close to useless. My goal was to learn about tools and techniques. Instead I was making pieces following the instructor’s taste and directions. They were all so primitive and poorly designed. So before registering for any class or course, make sure that you understand the course description. Buying a specific tutorial from an artist can be another good approach.

5. Organizing a Studio – I have read and heard that many artists work in their dinning room, kitchen or bedroom. Certainly not everyone can afford to have a special designate place. However, when you have at least small hidden corner of your house where you can easily leave your creative mess while you go back to your normal routine, you will be surprisingly more productive and even more motivated. When I have even 15 min time break, I go to my studio. Well, it’s not enough time to start a new project, but you can spend this time on fast cleaning or making some sketches too… There is always a pile of things which can be done in any given period of time.

9 comments:

Heather said...

Very useful ideas. I also like learning from books. Having a space where I can put things down and leave them is a major help. I'm so glad to not be working at the kitchen table anymore, but to have my own work space, at least until we have company. Probably not as glad as my husband, though.

nunzia said...

Hello,I'm Nunzia, I am Italian and I create jewelry. I have appreciated this post a lot and I would like to translate it and write it on my blog. Could you be give me the authorization??? My blog is http://legioiediperla.blogspot.com Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for this great info! Wondering though - what books in particular did you find the most useful?

Ingo Jewelry said...

I bought actually only one book in very beginning and it took off from that. Also, a few wire wrapping artists inspired me as well.
It's all about practicing.
Here is the link to this book.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ingojewelry/3574168846/
Oh, and I bought another one for PMC, but don't have picture of it.

Unknown said...

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Anonymous said...

Great advice and if you are lucky enough to have a studio or your own space, it can make all the difference in the world.

michele said...

Love it! Great ideas. Thank you.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out my blog recently, I wanted to let all my followers know that I’m embarking on a new challenge and hope you’ll join in.

Extremely Crafty is calling all crafters to unite against childhood cancer as part of our Craft Against Cancer challenge for the Royal Marsden Cancer Campaign.

Help by doing what you love – crafting and we would love to tell the world about your efforts. We’ll post on our Fundraiser page your photo and link back to your blog or website.

Read more at http://www.extremelycrafty.co.uk/Craft4cancer.html

Best wishes! Michele x

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing, great info!

prashant said...

Thanks so much for this great info!

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