Displaying jewellery

Despite telling myself I’m not going to spend any more money on my jewellery project I’ve found myself unable to resist. Bought some supplies from etsy.com yesterday for future jewellery pieces, and today decided I needed some jewellery display racks as I’ve got nowhere to put everything I make. Will need them anyway if I’m to sell at craft markets, which I’ll probably do when the weather gets a lot warmer.

Although I need proper, stackable storeage boxes for the bulk of the stock, I found some fun display racks on ebay.co.uk at reasonable prices, and best of all they were in antique copper style (and copper is my niche metal).
I’m sure the ebay seller won’t mind my using his photos on my blog as I’ve bought these items and am promoting his shop as well (called The Bigger Shop, which sells all kinds of things apart from jewellery display racks and mannequins).

I just thought this revolving earrings display rack was lovely, and a bargain at £5.95 plus postage.




As well as a few other items, I just had to get one of those jewellery busts to display necklaces and earrings together, made from resin and quite heavy (£9.90 plus £4.90 postage).



I’m having so much fun with all this, and even though I keep reading on forums about jewellery sellers giving up because the market is saturated and they aren’t selling anything, it hasn’t dampened my enthusiasm one bit. To me it’s a hobby that could possibly turn into another income stream, and I need a creative outlet anyway, which I’m enjoying with jewellery making, along with the therapy it gives me of working with my hands late at night with wire and chain.

World of Handmade - 1000markets.com

Thought I would do a monthly write-up of handmade jewellery items I’ve found on the web by other sellers that I like. It also gives me the opportunity to learn about different materials and beads that I’ve never heard of before, as well as stumbling upon interesting new selling websites for handmade goods. I have yet to do a thorough exploration of Etsy’s jewellery-makers, which is the only selling venue I have listed on so far. I hope to feature different sellers each month of handmade jewellery, whether on Etsy or elsewhere. There is also a new UK site like Etsy called Folksy, and no doubt I shall eventually register on there too. And now I have discovered yet another online selling venue for handmade goods, still US based and in dollars, called 1000markets.com.

This is the blurb that describes 1000markets:

Our merchants are small, independent, artisan businesses built by people who love their craft. They make and sell unique products, based on their own vision, personality and story. Working together, these artisans create marketplace

communities - gathering places where merchants can

exchange ideas, and customers can browse and talk. Our markets are large and small, broad and narrow. Some have themes, like food, crafts, or art. Others cultivate a sense of place around a region. And some exist simply because the people in them share friendship or common values. Each market fosters its own one-of-a-kind community, always unique and interesting.

To buy products or contact any of the sellers you have to register on 1000markets.com with a username and password. If you choose to purchase products on the site, you must have an Amazon.com account. When you're ready to checkout, you’ll be asked to enter your Amazon.com email address and password. Then you’ll be able to easily and quickly access your account information from Amazon.com and return to 1000 Markets to complete your purchase.

I have just found out that 1000 Markets, being new, is currently only available for US buyers and sellers, but will no doubt expand internationally later on.
Jewelry Artisans' Marketplace is a good place to start browsing the jewellery shops, although there are plenty more markets featuring jewellery on 1000markets.com. Not easy picking a couple of examples of the month from so many interesting jewellery pieces, but this bracelet really fascinated me.

Dragonfly Sterling Silver Cuff Bangle Bracelet $196.00 USD

From the shop Musthaves, the seller says : This one is not for someone that likes dainty pieces of jewelry. This cuff bracelet makes a statement and is sure to get noticed! I made this bracelet with different gauges of sterling silver wire, one heart charm, one dragonfly charm, cubic zirzonia briolettes and some Austria crystals for sparkle. I have oxidized, hardened and polished the sterling silver in this bracelet.

Musthaves also has a shop of the same name on Etsy.

From the lower price bracket, I liked these furnace glass earrings by Charmed I’m Sure.

Strawberry Mint Furnace Glass Earrings $13.00 USD

Handcrafted earrings of David Christensen’s furnace glass chubs of crystal clear glass with green and white stripes, and wide bands of pink, combined with tiny corrugated Bali spacers, green Czech fire-polish beads, and 5mm rose Swarovski crystals. They dangle slightly more than 1.25 inches (3.18cm) from 20 gauge hand-formed sterling silver ear wires.

Taking photos of jewellery using props

Just re-took a few pics of jewellery I’d previously taken photos of with the blank white background, only this time on a cream cloth in my ‘lightbox’ with props. I have to say that I understand now how it works in adding interest and atmosphere, and even makes the jewellery easier to see when it is placed against or near other items, rather than floating in a stark void.

Not sure whether I’d take all my jewellery pics this way, but it has been fun so far with the few I’ve taken, so will continue experimenting for future photos. My ‘lightbox’ is actually a cardboard box without the roof. The box was too small to keep the roof, but I still had the sides, and just placed an old cream throw inside. The lightbox was still the main source of light plus I had a side lamp. Although some shadows are still there they are softer than the ones that appeared when the jewellery was on paper with just one direct light. I quite like some muted shadow, as long as it doesn't get in the way of the jewellery. I didn’t even clean the props first as I was just quickly experimenting.

Taking photos of jewellery

Today I thought I’d spend some time browsing the Etsy community forums, firstly to ask for a critique of my shop before I list any more items, and secondly to familiarise myself with the Etsy website and maybe pick up some useful tips.

Well, it seems as though I may need to re-take some of my photos as three people told me that they were too bright and the background too white and stark. So I’m now in the process of making myself a light box and will try out different backgrounds and textiles instead of using white paper, and try to make my pics more atmospheric and the light more diffuse. With London still being overcast I don’t expect to be able to take any decent daylight photos for a while.



I’m still a bit confused over what I'm supposed to be aiming for, although dark shadows need to be eliminated and I can now see so many of them in a lot of my pics. The ones I took of the Queen of Diamonds red glass jewellery set seemed to work better for me holding them up to the light attached to white paper. Admittedly the light was quite powerful - it’s actually my S.A.D. lightbox at 10,000 lux strength. I felt quite pleased that I’d found another use for it in photography, rather than just trying to chase away the winter blues. The light is also a nice white light and I prefer it to ordinary tungsten lightbulbs which gives everything a gloomy hue, making the photos come out too dark. I don’t believe in touching up the photos except to brighten them, but I’ve obviously gone overboard with that.



So tomorrow I’ll experiment and post some alternative pics here once I’ve sorted out the lightbox and tried other backgrounds, with some props. I feel I need to get this right before I do any more listing, and hopefully get some more feedback first - so do feel free to give your comments on which photos work best for you, and any other suggestions you may have.

Featured in Etsy Treasury already

Was listing a few more jewellery items on Etsy for the second time the other night, bringing my inventory up to around 7 (I’m sure I’ll get faster at listing with practice), so was pleasantly surprised yesterday morning when I read my emails to find one from an Etsy member who informed me that one of my items had been chosen to be featured in her Treasury! I took this as a good omen for my new venture , but being a newbie I needed to find out what exactly a Treasury was. This is what it says about it on Etsy:


Have you ever wanted to pick the Etsy.com home page items? Do you have the desire to choose and feature only 12 items from the list of thousands currently available for sale on Etsy? The following is some info to help you on your way...if you're diligent and lucky enough to snag a spot on the Treasury (it's in high demand!).

The Treasury is a member-curated gallery of short-lived lists of 12 hand-picked items each (plus four alternates). It functions as a high-demand (and pretty!) promotional tool that many devoted Etsians fight to get. Members can feature their favorite items, items selected on a theme, or just however they like. The Treasury is not intended for self-promotion, but instead to acknowledge and share the many cool things for sale on Etsy.


So, my shop is cool already! :-)
I feel quite honoured to have been included in someone’s Treasury on only day 2 of listing some items for sale, and I’m sure my Karnak earrings are now destined for fame and fortune !! (especially if this Treasury is ever picked for the Etsy home page). I've since reduced the price of all my Venetian glass earrings from $20 to $17.00 (£11.95) as a special introductory offer until the end of March.

Karnak earrings
Cobalt blue Venetian glass bead filled with silver, topped with real gold filled yellow glass foil bead, with a clear AB crystal bead on top for extra sparkle. Tiny copper coated smooth crystal bead at base. Supplied with silver ear wires.

The blue is quite vivid (I've not touched the colour in the photo) and they have an inner glow due to the real silver inside the bead.

Artefact Creations - my Etsy shop

Artefact Creations started off as an idea to make jewellery pieces based on museum exhibits, amongst other things. I may still get around to going to the British Museum for some inspiration, but meanwhile I'm having enough fun just using my imagination or letting the beads themselves suggest combinations of form, texture and colour.

Having looked on the internet and seen other websites attempt similar things, I decided I didn't want to create exact looking replicas but to use ancient jewellery as a starting point for my ideas. I also knew that I didn't want to use any modern materials like acrylics or plastics, and neither did I want any of my beads on stretchy elastic or any modern thread. For me, even the parts I couldn't see were still important.

I prefer to work with mainly with copper and brass wire or chain. My beads are either threaded directly on to the wire itself or linked by a handmade chain. Sometimes I use ready-made chain just for the extension chain, if I use one.
It takes some restraint on my part not to hammer and harden the links until daytime, as I'm sure my neighbours would not appreciate that at two or three in the morning.

As I have described in my etsy shop, I see my jewellery as being a blend of both ancient and contemporary style. I like unfussy designs that are bold and interesting enough to make a statement, as well as being intensely colourful. One of the reasons I love Venetian glass beads is that they are very colourful and have an inner radiance that glows when the light shines on them, due to the 24k gold (or sometimes silver) that they are filled with.

I have to search in different places to get the colours I want, eg. my local bead shop does not do a very good red Venetian glass bead but they do a very good gold - still, the treasure hunt is all part of the fun! I also like using a mix of swarovski crystal beads and semi-precious or glass beads, so there is some variation and contrast of shape, texture and sparkle.

Looking around my local department store recently in the costume jewellery section, I was amazed at some of the high prices charged for designs made from very inferior looking metals and cheap materials. I think quality is as important as design and I may get around to copying that necklace I saw priced at £65, which could have been made out of tin in Taiwan, and can't wait to see how it will look using better quality materials.

About The Night Beader

My favourite time for making jewellery is late into the night, when all is calm and quiet, apart from talk radio which I have on low volume in the background. That’s why I called this blog The Night Beader, as apart from a play on words (I used to do all my reading then) I seem to spend more of my time beading than reading these days..........or rather nights, sometimes until dawn.

It was a hobby I had dabbled in many years ago and neglected. I’d even taken classes in soldering and gem setting in the past, but it wasn’t until I had a sudden desire recently to start making bead and wire jewellery that I realised I had at last found my niche. What had once been a past interest had now transformed and was becoming a passion.

As a beader I am fortunate in that I live in London and can visit at least three bead shops, which are within walking distance of each other. I also buy some of my bead supplies online and try to source as much as possible within the UK.



Walking into one of my favourite London bead shops for the first time was like entering an Aladdin's cave. It was there that I first fell in love with Venetian glass beads. I love my visits to bead shops, I'm like a child in a sweet shop filling up all those little bags full of goodies.

For the past two weeks I've been feeling deprived of my late night hobby, as I have to get up at dawn to be ready for the workmen to arrive at 8.00am, who are renovating my kitchen. Meanwhile, I am starting my blog and have opened an online shop on etsy.com called Artefact Creations, where some of my beaded jewellery is listed. Fortunately I have enough completed jewellery to keep me busy listing in my etsy shop for the time being, and am already getting some design ideas for the next batch, which I'm looking forward to making when the workmen have finally gone.