Before you crimp a multi-strand bracelet, you must make sure that each strand is untwisted before it is attached. First lay all the strands out and make sure the beads are the same length. Proceed as follows for each strand:

1. Crimp the first end of the strand.
2. Lay the strand out after it is attached to the clasp to allow it to untwist.
3. Clip the remaining wire to 1″.
4. Crimp the second end to the clasp making sure to crimp in the same direction as the first crimp.

When these steps are followed for each strand, the result is a multi-strand bracelet that lays flat and does not twist.

Questions? Please feel free to comment below!

Swarovski beads are a beautiful option for creating birthstone jewelry. There is no other brand that comes anywhere near their sparkle and brilliance. They are lead crystal which means that they can’t be used for children’s jewelry, but frankly, the level of lead is so minute that it would be a non-issue if it were not a law.

This listing of Swarovski crystals to use for birthstones is current as of this publication date. Swarovski occasionally discontinues a color and replaces it with something different. If you are set on using a particular color, you can usually find it on eBay. I have been getting 1 particular shape/color that was discontinued several years ago with no significant markup. There are a few exceptions to the rule and I will list them below.

Here are my Swarovski color choices for birthstones:
January – Garnet; Siam
February – Amethyst
March – Auquamarine
April – Crystal
May – Emerald
June – Light Amethyst, Tanzanite, Pearl
July – Ruby, Siam
August – Peridot
September – Sapphire
October – Light Rose, Rose, White Opal
November – Topaz, Light Topaz
December – Blue Zircon, Indicolite

Just a note, many of the crystal colors come in AB, AB 2x or AB 3x. AB stands for aurora borealis. It is a special coating that makes them iridescent and change colors depending on the direction from which you view them.  It is more expensive, but it can really add dimension.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, Pantone is the is the world-renowned authority on color. They have released their Spring 2013 color palette and I think you are going to love it. I do! These are the colors you will be seeing on fashion runways, in catalogs and on jewelry displays. Why not make your designs in a complementary color palette?

Yes, it is true – you have been seeing whisperings on the website, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+…well you get the picture.  LOL

Before Christmas, I announced that 2012 would be our last year in business. After the announcement we had an outpouring of loyal customers disappointed in the prospect of us closing our doors. Not long after the announcement, I was approached by someone who wanted to start a business similar to Beaded Royalty. Would I give her some pointers? Well, I would do much better than that! She has taken over the reins and will provide the same beautiful designs and quality workmanship you have come to love at Beaded Royalty.

Why am I leaving such a great company? I found myself with my fingers in too many pies.  I taught myself website design and blogging as part of developing Beaded Royalty and no matter how much I love interacting with my customers on a daily basis when forced to choose, I love website design and blogging more.

I will be warrantying work completed prior to February 2013, so if you have a problem with something you purchased during my tenure, please don’t hesitate to contact me at alicia@beadedroyalty.com. Stay tuned for the new owner’s introduction!

This year, I undertook something entirely new for me.  I decided to setup a jewelry booth and participate in my son’s school bazaar.  I had participated in bazaars before but never really gave much thought to it, took samples for people to look at thinking they would order custom and walked away with no sales.

This year I decided to go all out.  The cost was astronomical compared to the amount of sales I made.

• The booth space was $100.
• It was $200 to make my booth beautiful (table cloths, accent scarves, jewelry displays, banner, etc).
• In order to actually be able to have things available for purchase, I had to spend about $700 on beads and supplies to make the things that people could easily pick up and purchase. The good news is that all of these things will sell over time…
• I spent 30 hours making the items that people could purchase (earrings, bracelets, etc).
• All of those things had to be tagged with prices and sizes.

The moral of the story is that if you don’t intend to display your products in a jewelry booth on a regular basis, it probably isn’t worth the time and expense. If you do intend to sell in a jewelry booth regularly, read on for tips and tricks.

Tip 1:
Buy Rena Klingenberg’s ebook Ultimate Guide to Your Profitable Jewelry Booth.  It is only $39 and well worth the money.  She goes over absolutely everything you need to know about selling in a jewelry booth.  It will save you from making all the common mistakes your first time.

Tip 2:
Buy polyester tablecloths that go to the floor.  They look SO much more professional.  I saw a ton of people who just had a regular table cloth or used plastic (ick!). I only paid ~$27 for the 2 tablecloths at CV Linens and they are great quality that will last forever. I was tempted to rent them from a party supply company, but it was literally the same price to rent for a day as it was to buy them outright!

Tip 3:
If you sell custom jewelry, have a digital photo frame that is rotating your product samples in a prominent place with your business cards nearby. I was just about to buy one when I learned my iPad could be used as a frame. : )

Tip 4:
Offer cheap items that people can quickly grab and buy.  Many people aren’t looking for fine jewelry at a jewelry booth. If someone is going to drop $150 on a bracelet, they want time to look at it, research it, etc.  It is generally not an impulse buy. The exception is, of course, the juried show where where everything is high quality and expensive.  I wish I had done up a few cheap kids bracelets.  The profit margin would have been high and they would have sold.

Tip #5:
Buy a professional banner.  Mine was only $31 and I designed it myself in photoshop.  I wouldn’t recommend doing it yourself if you don’t have the skills already, but it saved me  from paying a graphic artist.  It made all the difference in how professional my booth looked…

Tip #6:
Take your kiddo. : )  Joshua went with me and “helped” all day.  He was thrilled to be there.

In all, I call it a wash, but think twice before making the plunge.  I hope my experiences help you – it you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to comment below.

I have added 3 new earrings at Beaded Royalty. They are all $25 and are a long time in coming.

Square Bali Earrings match several bracelet designs and are a classic style that will go with everything.  They are my new go-to earrings.

Cube Swarovski Earrings are simply stunning.  I love these cube Swarovski crystals and what I can do with them!

Silver Beach Earrings allow the option of 7 different beach charms.

I have also added the option of clip-on earring backs for all earrings. I had a customer request that I change one of hear earrings (she orders more than 10!) to clip-ons for a friend who didn’t have pierced ears.  I wonder how many people have left over the years needing clip-on backs? If you have a jewelry business, keep them in stock.  It is worth your while!

The other day I researched how to photograph jewelry with a white background…all day long! I would like to sell on Amazon (white background required) and it would make the products on my sterling silver beaded jewelry website appear more professional. My jewelry is beaded and contains sterling silver, so it is not as simple as using the Magic Wand in Photoshop to zap the background. I had to combine several methods, and I hope my research will help someone else.

First, my equipment:

1. EZ Cube light tent from Tabletop Studio
2. 2 desk lamps with 5000K daylight balanced lightbulbs
3. Clear acrylic riser
4. Canon EOS Rebel XSi camera set on Manual (M) F8.0; 1/60; ISO 100
5. Tripod
6. Photoshop CS5

I realize my camera settings will not work for everyone, but I hope it gives you a starting point. When taking the photos, place a piece of white paper under the clear riser in the light tent.  It will give you a grey background, but if it is an even background, it will be easier to remove.

Once I have taken the images, I open them in Photoshop CS5. If you know your way around Photoshop, you can likely use any version based on my descriptions.

1. Crop image to final dimensions.  No use fiddling with areas you will crop out later.

2. You will be taking the background to white using levels. To give you a benchmark, round the corners on the image:

• Grab the rounded rectangle tool in “Paths” mode and enter a radius of 40 px.
• Go to the Layers panel and “Control” click (“Command” click on a Mac) the “Add layer mask” button (square with a circle inside) to remove the corners of the image.
• You may have to double click on the layer if it is locked to unlock it.

• Go to Layer > Flatten Image in your menu to replace the transparent boxes in the corners with white.

3. Change the background to white using Levels.

• Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels in your menu. Click OK.
• Go to the Adjustments panel and drag the white arrow to the left until the background is white like the corners of your image.

• It will be ugly – don’t panic, we will fix that in a minute.

4. Begin to correct the over lightening by going to Select > Color Range in your menu.

• Click the “Image” radio button
• Click in the background of the preview image.
• Adjust the “Fuzziness” slider so the background is still white, but more of the jewelry is black.

• Looking better!
• Click OK.

5. This step is the most time consuming (especially if you have a chain like this or a piece of jewelry that is extremely intricate). You are going to use a brush and select the remaining areas that were over lightened to let the color show through.

• Select the brush tool. In the options, choose a fuzzy round shape in the size that you need to brush in your piece, but not “go outside the lines”. Mode: Normal. Opacity: 100%. Flow: 100%.
• Make your foreground color black (#000000).
• Paint over your piece allowing the original colors to come through.

BEFORE:

AFTER: 

My next step is to see if using an illuminated flat panel for underlighting will preclude me from doing all these steps and give me a white background to start. I will update after I receive the panel and have a chance to try it.

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness month. I am fortunate that I do not know anyone who has ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer accounts for approximately 3% of all cancer deaths in women. 1 in 71 women will develop invasive ovarian cancer and 1 in 95 women will die from ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer is the growth of abnormal malignant cells that originate in the female ovaries.  So, this definitely sounds like something we should try to avoid. While ovarian cancer is largely genetic in nature, there are some things that will reduce your risk:

• Having a child (especially before age 30)
• Breastfeeding a child for at least 1 year
• Oral contraceptives
• Hysterectomy

To raise awareness about ovarian cancer, Beaded Royalty designed a bracelet, the Ovarian Cancer  Bracelet. Order yours today!

To learn more about ovarian cancer, visit: http://www.ovariancancer.org.

Google+ has been around for quite some time now. As with everything, there is never enough time in a day. I do all my own digital marketing and unfortunately this (along with many other things) fell to the bottom of my list. Today I am happy to announce that Beaded Royalty is on Google+. Visit our Google+ page below and tell us your favorite Beaded Royalty design:

AUGUST 2012

Where did the summer go?

Didn’t school just get out? What do you mean the summer is over? Ack! Back-to-school time is here – check out the discount code below good for 20% off during the next TWO days.

Since we are talking about back-to-school, and the 20% discount is so rare, you might want to plan ahead for Christmas and/or teacher birthdays by checking out our Teacher Bracelet. Just sayin’. : )

Upcoming HOLIDAYS and AWARENESS MONTHS

SEPTEMBER is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.
Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer in women. It is diagnosed in more than 25,000 women in the United States each year, and approximately 16,000 women die of the disease annually. The median age is 56, but it has been seen in women as young as 22. Wear an Ovarian Cancer Awareness Bracelet today.

GRANDPARENT’S DAY is Wednesday, September 12.

SEPTEMBER is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Cancer affects 14 of every 100,000 children in the United States each year. Among all age groups, the most common childhood cancers are leukemia, lymphoma, and brain cancer. A Childhood Cancer Bracelet will help raise awareness for this terrible disease.

BACK-TO-SCHOOL SALE

School is back in session.

I fully intended to get this newsletter out earlier in the month, but life happened, so there are only TWO days left to take advantage of a rare 20% off all designs on our website as a thank you for being loyal customers.

Use code UPD120830001647. Hurry, offer expires August 31, 2012.

CUSTOMER RAVES

I am so thrilled with my bracelet! Every time I look @ it I think how blessed I am with all 3 of my children! Thanks so much! And I will be ordering my mother one before Christmas.

I was looking for a special gift for a special friend who completed 6 weeks of radiation treatment. I wanted this gift to be there for her on her last day of treatment. I saw the cancer survivor bracelet and was sold that it was the right gift…once the bracelet arrived I was absolutely amazed at the quality and beauty of the bracelet. It is worth every cent I paid for it. Thank you for a fantastic product.

Do you love your bracelet? Please write and tell me about it. I love to let others know what they can expect if they order from Beaded Royalty. As a thank you, I will send you a coupon for $10 off your next order.

ABOUT Beaded Royalty

Beaded Royalty is in its 7th year providing heirloom quality sterling silver jewelry to customers all over the world. Last year, we relocated to Dallas, TX. We loved the dry heat and sunny days. Since we are now in the center of the country, packages get to most places in the US in 2 days via Priority Mail.

Blessings,

Alicia E. Staz