Radio Campaign with Kingdom FM

Claire — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 09:46:00 +0000

You may have seen a few posts on Facebook about our radio advertisement, well here it is in full. Thanks for listening

Bead Workshop and Kingdom FM

New Products Roundup

BeadWorkshop — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 10:34:40 +0000

We’ve got loads of pretty new things at the Bead Workshop and here’s just a quick glimpse of some of the new loveliness

The beads that got us hooked.

BeadWorkshop — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:34:51 +0000

A question that keeps popping up is “what got you started in jewellery making”?

Well, it was the beads pictured below – I was browsing in a bric a brac/antiques shop in Edinburgh and I came across them in a basket. I absolutely fell in love with them (I still do) and even though I had no idea what to do with them I had to buy them

They cost me £8 which given that they turned out to be vintage and pretty much unique was a bit of a steal! I’ve had them 7 years and they’ve been strung, taken to bits and restrung several times.

I’ve also found that almost every beader I’ve spoken to has beads in their stash which were too pretty to leave in the shop and they had to buy them even though they quite often don’t get used (although they do get taken out and admired frequently).

Tell us about the beads that got you started in the comments

Beads That Make Us Go Ooooh

Quick Guide to Flat Nose and Chain Nose Pliers

BeadWorkshop — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:40:56 +0000

Make sure you purchase a pair that have smooth faces. Those available from most hardware shops have serrated faces which will mark your Jewellery.

Chain nose or snipe nose pliers are pointed flat nose pliers. Use for gripping and tucking in wire ends. Chain nosed Pliers are ideal for flattening crimps and getting into tight corners to close crimps or bend wire.

Make sure your pliers are not too large – but strong enough to be able to bend and flatten wire without bending the pliers (as will happen with cheap tools)

Flat Nose pliers have broad flat jaws. Use for holding material and creating angular bends.

Tweet or Facebook for 10% Off.

BeadWorkshop — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 09:40:52 +0000

We’d be really grateful if you could use the Tweet or Facebook buttons on our website to tell the world about your favourite products of ours.

All you need to do is tweet/facebook your chosen product and then leave a comment below (remember to leave your email address) . We’ll catch up with them all on Monday morning and email all the participants their 10% discount code. The code will be valid from the 10th – 31st October.

Quick Guide to Side and Flush Cutters

BeadWorkshop — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 11:10:57 +0000

Quick warning here; Cutting metal wire often results in small, high velocity, sharp ended bits of wire flying anywhere! For safety’s sake you should wear glasses when cutting wire – you have been warned!

As a secondary piece of information – and a very useful tip – buy a proper Bead Mat. Not only do they stop your beads from rolling around, when you are cutting wire, make sure the end to be cut is facing into – or touching – the Bead mat. This helps catch the cut wire without it flying over the room. (Having used one for the first time at our Bead Workshops, virtually everyone buys a Bead Mat before they leave!)

Two types of Cutter are available; Flush cutting and Side Cutters. Flush cutters tend to be more expensive and we find them better for cutting head and eyepins. Ideal for cutting right up close to a finding – but beware, their life may be limited if you use them a lot to cut 20 gauge wire (typically used in Findings) – the edges can dull. They are great for cutting Beading wire close up to an edge.

Side cutters are better for cutting beading wire and as the name suggests, they cut the wire at an angle.

New Polymer Clay Beads

BeadWorkshop — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 12:34:18 +0000

We’ve been using our new range of Polymer Clay Beads to add a much needed hint of summer to our jewellery projects. We’re hoping for an Indian Summer to make up for our lack of sunshine in Scotland this year (Hope springs eternal!)

A Quick Guide to Round Nose Pliers

BeadWorkshop — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 12:33:36 +0000

Round Nosed pliers come in different sized cones. The closer to the fulcrum point, the larger the diameter. Pliers made by Beading Manufacturers (i.e. Beadsmith, Beadalon) tend to be designed for Jewellery making and are recommended.

Note that some pliers touch all of the way along the cones – these are best for very thin wire. Others have a slight gap that gets larger towards the fulcrum point. I would recommend the latter – so long as when you close the jaws, you can still firmly grip your wire all the way along the cones. We’ve seen many cheap pairs that are only any use at the tips – a waste of money.

A special word on two different types of Round Nosed Pliers. Beadsmith and Beadalon both make pliers that on one jaw have 3 different diameters. The second jaw on the Beadsmith pair is flat, on the Beadalon pair is concave. These pliers are great for making consistent sized wire loops. Both are good, but if you struggle to bend wire with your fingers, due to their concave Jaw, the Beadalon ‘Wire Looping’ pliers will make making loops easier.

How to price your handmade jewellery when selling

BeadWorkshop — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 11:05:36 +0000

Warning! This is a long post so grab a cuppa and settle in.

For anyone that makes jewellery to sell, pricing your designs can be tricky, especially if you want to design a one of a kind piece. It’s absolutely essential though if you want to turn your hobby into a viable business. Once you understand the costs involved and what you can expect to achieve from your work, creating a formula to price your designs is relatively simple.

We’ve created a hit list that should keep you on the right track.

Record exactly what you spent to create each design.

You will really need to price each item used in your designs. For example, if you pay £1.00 for 100 beads, and you used 20 beads in your project, you would divide £1.00 by 100 (£0.01 per bead) and multiply by 20, and so on until you have the total cost of each design. The more meticulous you are about calculating expenses, the better your pricing will be. Even the packing materials you use for the design (organza bags etc) and the shipping costs of the supplies should be accounted for. Keep receipts, this will also come in handy during tax time, if you want to deduct business expenses.

Calculate the price.

Using a formula will give you a starting point, and you can tweak the price with the steps that follow.

Take the total cost of your supplies, multiply it times 2.5 (some people multiply by 3) and there’s your retail price. A spreadsheet is perfect for this step. Simply set up a table of products used your cost, and then a formula to calculate the pricing using the 2.5 or other multiple.

Adjust the price for the cost of your time.

You really, really need to get paid for your time, so decide how much you want to make per hour, and make sure that your labour is accounted for in the price.

Let’s say, for example, the cost of supplies for your design is £5 and you calculate £12.50 as your retail price (using the 2.5 guideline). If you want to pay yourself £6 per hour and you spent 2 hours on this design, then you really need to be charging at least £17 for the piece (£5 supplies, £12 labour).

Just because you enjoy doing the work doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get paid for it! Make sure you’re getting at least minimum wage.

Market research.

Now that you have an idea of what you need to charge for a design, it’s time to take your fledgling jewellery piece to the market and see if it can be profitable. In the main, it’s a good idea to start off with the highest price you think you’ll get for it, because you can always bring the price down.

Has anyone ever offered to buy any of your jewellery? This is a fantastic indication that there’s a market for it. If people fight over a necklace you made, that’s also a great sign that there’s a market for it. Friends, family and co workers can be great sounding boards for prices. Ask them for a rough idea of what they would pay for it.

Have you already sold some of your jewellery? This is important in that it gives you information on how much you can sell a design for. You may hear that they would pay £XX for a design, but an actual sale is real, tangible evidence.

Re-evaluate the design.

If you encountered feedback in the previous step which indicates that the price you arrived at isn’t going to work then you’ll have to do some thinking about this particular design.

Have a look at the materials you used. Did you use sterling findings and semi-precious beads, or less expensive beads? Higher quality materials will always demand a higher price in the market. You may want to consider mixing jewellery made with high quality materials and less expensive ones. This lets you attract business from both the high end buyer, and the more budget minded ones.

Don’t sell yourself short just to break in to the market. This will only get people used to cheap prices and it’ll be difficult to raise them later on, endangering your chances of ever making your business profitable. It’s better to redesign or reject pieces that don’t cover their costs – sometimes you’ve got to be a little bit ruthless!

As someone who’s sold on the internet for 7 years now I can say that people are often suspicious of products sold at unusually low prices and the old adage of “you get what you pay for” is alive and well. If your pieces aren’t selling well, try raising your prices. It might go against your gut instinct but trust me; you may well be surprised at the results!

Beads n Blether Evening

BeadWorkshop — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 08:51:02 +0000

We had our first beads and blether evening last night and it was great fun!

There was beading, drinking of tea and coffee and eating cakes (natch) Although I completely forgot to take any photo’s as I was too busy admiring everyone’s makes!

Our next beady evening is on Thursday 29th September and we’ll hopefully have some new bead kits for everyone to have a play with. So why not pop along and have a play?