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Posted ( ) in Silver on November-15-2009
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Sterling silver is commonly used to make silver pendants and other jewelry – both fashion and fine. In fact, this metal is so versatile that it is even used to make men’s jewelry such as tie pins, cuff links, and bracelets. Overall, the range of jewelry designs that use silver as the settings is quite astounding. Silver has long been considered the metal to use to express your personal sense of identity and style, and is very often an easy and inexpensive way to add pizzazz to your attire. Over the past several decades, the demand for and the popularity of silver jewelry has been on a steady rise. It’s relatively low cost compared to other precious metals such as gold and platinum, and the warm and sober luster of this metal are the prime reasons why it is considered to be the most popular metal in fashion jewelry. While gold continues to rank as the number one metal in fine jewelry, many find the yellow color of gold to be a bit ostentatious, and therefore prefer silver settings. Silver jewelry today has come a long way since the first attempts at jewelry when the metal was extracted from the ore, melted into nuggets, and then strung together to form necklaces and bracelets. Today, there are several variations of the metal that can be used to make jewelry. Most people love the clean polished surface of silver, and this is the most popular finish for jewelry. The more exotic oxidized look with areas of preferential blackening is created by treating the surface with chemicals. If you are not comfortable with the high gloss finish, matte finish jewelry is also available on the market today.
Silver is a reactive metal in that it tends to reach with substances present in the atmosphere. When this happens, the surface of the metal becomes dull and acquires a yellowish color. With time, the color changes to shades of gray and then becomes almost black. Atmospheric moisture, hydrogen sulfide and other chemicals tend to tarnish silver. The best way to clean silver jewelry is to use a soft jewelry horse hair brush dipped in a mild soap. Once cleaned, you can use a high quality polishing spray and a soft cloth to bring back the luster of the exposed metal. If your silver jewelry includes gemstones or pearls or other delicate materials, make sure that the spray you choose is compatible with these materials too. Never use paper towels or toilet paper to wipe jewelry. Although these products may seem soft to the human touch, they typically contain wood fibers that can scratch and dull the surface of silver.
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Posted ( ) in Pearl on November-10-2009
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One interesting myth related to cobra-pearls is that these cobras employ the light of the pearl that they carry in their hoods to hunt at night, as a means of brightening their pathway–this would certainly indicate a property of the pearl itself or in accord with the argument above that a symbiotic relationship is being alluded to here between the cobra and the spirit-elemental of the pearl that the snake hosts. In cases where a pearl is said to have glowing properties it is difficult to validate and affirm its authenticity or to determine whether some form of a gimmick is employed to working its magic because owners of such pearls invariably refuse testers closer inspection. In regards to fakes, we know that there are synthetic “stones” selling in Indonesia with an electronic component, the Light-Emitting Diode embedded within them; this is coupled to a tiny battery and a switch that closes the circuit and gives off light whenever the stones are immersed in water or when pressure is applied to them–this novelty item could probably be found in various countries as well–this stone is often appropriated for deception. What confuses the glowing-pearl issue of the above is that in ancient Vedic literature such as the Garuda Purana, the nature of the pearls that are said to be “brilliant” are described in terms that are open to interpretation and debate.
But to return to the subject of shamanic pearl-retrieval, there are times when the ritual fails for one reason or another or it may require extra effort to be channeled into it in which situation more ritual-sessions are repeated for consecutive days and this entails the shaman spending more days/nights in the mosquito-infested region. At times such prolonged struggles also fail and the shaman has to return empty-handed for his efforts. Generally speaking, the more difficult it is for the shaman to retrieve a pearl, the greater is its inherent powers/magickal virtues. It is a rare occurrence, but shamans do occasionally pay for their lives during psychic-struggles.
Shamans are often called to attention of unusual phenomena occurring in villages such as strange hauntings, poltergeists, possessions, etc.–subsequent psychic detection by these shamans may reveal that the haunting entities are guardians of magickal pearls who often desire for these to be given to certain individuals–rituals are then conducted to facilitate the transfer of these treasures. In other cases, haunting spirits are not predisposed of giving away pearls in their possessions but haunt as a result of the desecration or disturbances of their territory by humans. When shamans detect that these nature-spirits are protectors of pearls and wishes to acquire them, a psychic “battle” would ensue with the shaman engaging in an inner-struggle for victory over the spirit beings.
Haunting spirits such as the above are often the “siluman” class-types–the sort of jinns (genies) that manifest themselves as etheric creatures and sometimes even as physical animals that can be killed as ordinary beings. Beasts such as tigers, crocodiles and wild-boars menacing villages and killing humans are often regarded as siluman–they carry certain traits or have features that indicate that they are no ordinary animals–there is always something strange about them. To protect the community, the elders of a troubled village would typically decide to set a trap for the beast somewhere in their compound or to hunt them down. During the actual confrontation, these creatures often display extraordinary qualities of invulnerability, strength, fearlessness, and stamina; ordinary blades and weapons have almost no effect upon them–when they are finally vanquished with the assistance of shamans who casts an appropriate spell, they are found to contain pearls or stones in their bodies and these are discovered to possess the same properties displayed by their dead hosts. Normally the tribal chieftain or an elder would claim these pearls as their own. Not only pearls but every part of these unusual beasts such as their claws, fangs, teeth, horns, skin, etc., are likewise regarded as having magickal properties.
The power of invulnerability against the blade is often displayed by domestic life-stock as well, most of the time fowls–roosters, in particular; and even after the prayers conducted by the butcher which results in a successful slaughter, the decapitated chicken would still have the strength and the nerve-energy within it to run amuck albeit headless for several minutes. These roosters when later dressed and cut-open often reveal bezoar stones in their organs–Albertus Magnus and other naturalists of past centuries refer to these stones as Alectoria. At times, silumans are benevolent and they would mysteriously appear in a village as an animal, most of the time as large snakes; they find themselves an agreeable person to reach out to and who eventually adopts them as pets. After being with their new keeper and family for several months or years, these benign creatures would suddenly vanish as mysteriously as they came but not before leaving behind a pearl or two. Sometimes the keeper would notice a bulge on their pet’s serpentine-head developing; this would grow and develop into a snake-crown and is the object given to their keeper during the creature’s departure.
One interesting manner in which Nature offer pearls to individuals is through dreams. Villagers living adjacent to forests and jungles often have lucid-dreams in which a mysterious personage would visit them–most of the time such encounters is of an elderly person that would make contact and explain to the dreamer that a gift is being offered and that it may be found at a certain place; the nature of the gift is not always described, though, neither is the site where it is located in which case the dreamer would simply wake up before sunrise and resume his or her normal daily-routine until later in the day the gift is found unexpectedly. If the site is indicated in the dream, the dreamer in his waking-state would investigate and conduct a search which almost always yields the expected results. Sometimes dreams such as these precedes the mysterious arrival of a creature wishing to be adopted as a pet as described above.
Pawangs that sojourn in the wilds are close to Nature and are observant of the creatures that live in their natural habitat. The behavioral patterns of these animals, their place in the food-chain, their defence mechanisms, etc. are all duly noted by the studious pawangs–the latter are the non-academic “natural” naturalists who also observe the occult side of the flora and fauna in a given region. As these pawangs specialize in animal and plant pearl-acquisition it is understandable that they would mentally record the characteristics of animals and plant-life harboring pearls. From the reports that we have gathered creatures with pearls in them often have the following characteristics and traits: an advanced age, invulnerability, unusual gait/movements, immunity to venomous bites, human behaviour, etc. Serpents that often have stones within them, for instance, are observed to swim and undulate their bodies not horizontally but vertically–we can theorize that such a movement is caused by the excess weight dragging their bodies downwards and the effort of the creatures to keeping themselves afloat. In regards to tree-pearls, it is noted that trees with crystallized sap or petrified pieces are often the type that have holes in their trunk where rot has set in and where these pearls are found.
As mentioned before animals are not hunted for pearls; nonetheless, these stones on occasion do show-up in the carcasses of wild-animals slaughtered by villagers for food; pearls are thus acquired incidentally in such situations. Shamans do not employ the methods of hunting or killing animals as not only is this a fruitless effort and a waste of time but it also severs their attunement with Nature and the values and goals that they hold dearly. There is one rumour circulating that animals are triggered to developing stones by the Dayaks of Kalimantan (Borneo). The author of the online article “Bizarre Tales About Bezoar Stones” (webguru.com) states that,
“The Dayaks of Borneo have a method for producing bezoars which they call guligas. This is to shoot an animal with an unpoisoned arrow. When the wound heals, there is often a hardening of the skin, which finally results in the formation of a guliga. In some of these concretions the point of the arrow still remains. The guligas of natural formation are frequently found between the flesh and the skin of apes and porcupines.”
However, the author does not mention how injured animals are supposed to have survived such shots–do the Dayaks help them to recover? Arrow-shot wounds are often fatal–especially to small animals–there would not be any opportunity for injured creatures to recover and have their wounds healed–this rumour, based on the accounts of travellers of past centuries has yet to be verified; nevertheless, contemporary unwritten information regarding the retrieval of bezoar stones, mustika, or guligas do not mention Dayaks forming pearls in such a manner. After all, there are no stories of humans forming pearls after being shot by arrows and recovering thereafter–it might be redundant to say that shamans of our acquaintances and associates do not kill or acquire pearls in such a manner.
Some mustika-pearls have the power to assist their keeper to acquire other pearls that are equally exquisite and rare–this may result in varied ways. The keeper may easily find suppliers or sources for these pearls or they would approach him without much effort on his part of seeking them out. The magickal-pearl owned would also enrich the keeper building up his finances so that other pearls may be secured if desired. Another method which is not too common is for the pearl(s) to be appropriated in magickal rites especially designed for the manifestation of mustika-pearls–most of the pawangs that conduct pearl-retrieval operations have their own special pearl to facilitate such work. By possessing a good quality magickal pearl, especially a serpentine/dragon pearl it is said that the keeper would eventually find the acquisition of other pearls and gem stones much easier. The Garuda Purana states thusly,
“Only meritorious persons will have access to the cobra-pearl. Then they can get other gems of great brilliance, wealth, kingdom and grow brilliant.”
Certain spirit-communications convey the idea that mustika-pearls when placed in certain geometric-formations send out signals in the etheric realms which attract the attention of the guardian-spirits of pearls making it possible for further gifting to take place–we will not elaborate on this principle or methodology here, suffice to say that it is a tried and tested method.
We have already described how ordinary individuals are gifted mustika-pearls through lucid-dreams. Another possible manner whereby these pearls are entrusted to fortunate individuals is within the frame-work of paranormal incidents that would leave the individuals concerned dazed and amazed. Such phenomena would normally transpire amidst natural surroundings, such as in forests, sacred grounds, power-spots, etc. The external character of these incidents may vary and have outward differences but they are essentially similar in specifics in which the recipient of the pearl is approached by a mysterious person who offers a gift or points to where it may be found. While still reflecting about the matter and perhaps gazing elsewhere for a second or two, the recipient would turn once again to the stranger who is found to be no longer there nor anywhere else. The recipient would find in place of where the person was standing or in the vicinity mustika-pearls or some other object as indicated by the bestower.
It is well-known that in the ocean lives a creature called the oyster that produces pearls of various shades of color and sizes. It is not recognized, however, that the sea offer more jewels than just oyster-pearls. There are other pearls formed by the interacting forces of the elements or sea-creatures and they can be just as exquisite and unusual as the pearls produced by the mollusk. For a lack of a better word, we refer to them collectively as “sea-pearls”–they are any natural jewel found in the sea and can be of any size, shape and color. Sea-pearls are mostly in a spherical-form and may have any sort of texture. Their mineral composition are not quite known to us as there are many types to consider, though the common ones are composed of silica or of a glass-material. How such sea-pearls are developed in the sea is a mystery, though the fulgurite (Lat. Fulgur–”thunderbolt”) formed out of an environmental event may probably offer us a clue as to their origin. The fulgurite, also called “petrified lightning” is a fused-quartz (Si02, melting-point 2950°F) formed as a result of a lightning-strike upon sand or rock. As a thunder-bolt hits the ground, it melts and fuses the material that it comes into contact with and normally form a root-like structure buried beneath the surface; this glass-like object is formed as the lightning traces its path in the ground and it can have a length of several feet and several centimeters in diameter. They are normally hollow and have rough outer surfaces; their inner surfaces, though, are glassy and smooth; fine globules may be found within fulgurites and the color of these objects vary in color with a greenish, grayish, whitish, blackish, or brownish tinge–they might come in other colors too depending on the composition of the material where they are formed. Sea-pearls may be fragments of these fulgurites re-shaped and re-formed by the forces of the sea.
Sea-pearls, generically, belong to the class of Lechatelierite, or naturally-fused silica; one other possibility as to their origin is that they are the matter ejected out of underwater volcanic craters; they may be crater glass (Impactite)–created out of meteorite impact events in which case they are related to tektites; these pearls are not shards or fragments of colored-bottles fallen into the sea as believed by some theorists as the form in which they appear make it quite improbable. Underwater volcanic craters are found in the seas of the Indonesian archipelago and it is not illogical to assume that the pearls may have their origin within the fiery-furnace existing deep within their bowels. These colored sea-pearls are occasionally found lying on the ocean-bed by divers and by those whose living depend very much on the sea; shamans acquire them through their unique methods along the lines that we have explained previously. After spending hundreds and thousands of years in the sea in a natural environment, sea-pearls absorb a good deal of occult energies and elemental-beings are attracted to them.
Pawangs have an uncanny knowledge related to mustika-pearls of plant-life such as those found in coconuts and in bamboos; not only do they detect the stones metaphysically, they are also familiar with the physical characteristics that indicate whether or not a coconut or a segment of a bamboo-trunk has a pearl–generally speaking, the knowledge that they possess afford them to detect the presence of pearls in almost every-type of flora. Most coconuts that have pearls within them are the “one-eyed” and “blind” coconuts–knowledgeable pawangs prior to removing the husk of a coconut can state with certainty whether it is one-eyed or the regular three-eyed types. With such specialized knowledge it is a simple matter for pawangs to extract and collect coconut or bamboo pearls without the unnecessary work of opening thousands of coconuts just for their acquisition. Coconut plantation-workers and those involved with the processing of coconuts would have lots of the pearls in their possession as a result of handling them by the hundreds and thousands on a daily basis. Probably none would admit of having them though, to avoid confiscation by their superiors or employers.
We would like to conclude this article by saying that the methods of pearl-acquisition explained herein only represent the “tip of an ice-berg”–that there are probably more ways that mustika-pearls are acquired that we have inadvertently overlooked or that we may be ignorant of. Nature cannot be constrained in any way–if she decides to offer a gift to someone she will find a way to do it–no one can prevent the giving from taking place nor should anyone try to do so as this could have catastrophic consequences. Forcing Nature to part with something which is not meant to be also has its negative effects. It is fortunate to possess a magickal mustika-pearl as one then has an object that connects oneself to Nature and her hidden spiritual forces–this has inestimable value that cannot be described with words.
Copyright © 2006 Luxamore
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Posted ( ) in Pearl on November-10-2009
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While in WWII my father sent home a necklace. On the box it says “Handmade black pearl necklace, purchased while he was in Italy.” It is black with ginger beads between pearls shapes. It looks more like mother of pearl to me, but the black incline throws me off. The pearls could be open, but to be certainly you actually indigence to get a professional evaluation each by an estate jewelry evaluater or gemologist.
Another way to tell if they are open is to rub a pearl against your teeth. If it is even, it is not open. Pearls will forever have a force that you can’t perceive visually. The ginger beads could be coral. If they are open black pearls, their treasure would depend on mass, worth and incline. Something only somebody with a “hands-on” examination could govern.
I’m departure to advertise an antique tress of pearls and a budding buyer asked to know how the pearls were “billboarded”. normally in old stuff and even some new, billboarded plainly means some means of identification of the maker or debillboarder. On antique fluteware for example, a billboardature feature may be pushed or cut into the flute. Some antique costume jewelry is “billboarded” with a makers feature and that does augment the treasure if the maker is among the common ones at the time.
For pearls, a “billboard” is grim. The only place for a billboardature or makers feature is usually on the popper zone. This will be each on the popper or the “tongue” that goes into the bigger popper body. Clasps can be tainted when pearls are restrung and a billboarded popper can forever be deduce as to the very “maker” of the pearls. If these are open or refined pearls, the treasure is probable more in the pearls than in the “billboardature”.
If these are costume pearls, the treasure is partly in the billboardature and then in the state of the tress. The state of the pearls is more imprtant than the state of the control hurt for stringing.Stringing can be and should be done evenly for pearls hurt regularly.
I have not seen pearls “billboarded” very regularly and as I said, that can be deduce as to accuracy. Look for some feature on the popper parts to see if any names or “tradefeatures” are stamped there. That will be the only billboardature you will have.
Could be the budding buyer is looking for a particular make of costume pearl or then again might be asking and not actually aware what the buyer is asking for! The best thing is for the buyer to look at the pearls and to urge you a worth. If not blissful with the worth, just waste it. Some buyers are in the topic to readvertise the stuff and only urge worths way below featureet treasures.
It is feasible to take the tress to a trained jeweler for an appraisal. If the pearls are costume, the jeweler should be able to tell right away and urge against a round appraisal. If they are very pearls, the jeweler can evaluate the tress pedestald on the pearls, not on the antique treasure. That is at slightest a first place.
I cannot see your pearl ornament but believe the pearls emit in some flowery pattern, perhaps on individual “stems” or as part of “plants.” If this is the encloseer, you have some hole between the pearls which will make vacuuming easier. If the pearls are starkly grouped cover greatly of the gold, vacuuming will be more dull and grim.
I will get into point vacuuming in a instant: First, deem attention and vacuuming of pearls in common. In a nutarmor, vacuuming the ornament manually will come down to baking beverage, a good jewelry polishing cloth and a mild detergent. You may opt for a jeweler to do the vacuuming. I will get into the points later.
“Pearls.” Composition of a pearl and why attention must be exercised in vacuuming and abrasion. Pearls form artlessly in both original and brine mollusks. The most well-known pearls are brine pearls shaped inside numerous forms of pearl oysters. While “oriental” or wholly relaxed pearls were the jewelry in ages gone, pearl rural has led to a supply of refined pearls which would be imfeasible from liberated ranging oysters and the pains of pearl divers.
Only venture will pass a liberated swimming oyster to products a pearl and only fortunate environment will control to a relaxed pearl being well-shaped, even surfaced and stunning. In pearl farms, many states are controlled to help incertainly a good crop but nowadays pollution in the waters are negative the tumor and supply of fine refined pearls.
The pearl forms around some variety of overseas point inside the oyster armor. In refined pearls, the point is a bead of mother of pearl (pearl armor) sited into the oyster by pearl farmers. since the point as an irritation, the oyster covers the point with layer and layer of a data called nacre. This is essentially the same data making the shiny and shiny lining of the armor.
Pearl nacre is made of aragonite, a variety of calcium carbonate. A organize of “pearl glue” holds together microscopic plates of aragonite. As long as the oyster is stark, the nacre forms and becomes thick over the middle, developing the patina and shine we concede as a pearl.
Why all of that information? There is one object: aragonite or calcium carbonate. This is the substance of the pearl, the nacre. This data is squashy compared to earth shaped jewelrytones. This data is certainly hurt by acids, certain chemicals and abrasive substances. The common vacuuming methods hurt for limestone jewelrytones cannot be stablely hurt to vacuum the marked metal and pearls at the same time. Where a plain gold article may be sited into a mild acid to delete dirty and glossed to repair shine, that same mild acid will carve the pearl and can actually liquefy it.
“What to prevent when vacuuming pearl jewelry?” As important as how to vacuum the jewelry is aware what “NOT” to use as a vacuumser. Commercial jewelry vacuuming liquids are too stark for pearls. Most of these vacuumers enclose ammonia and ammonia can wound the pearl, dipping the patina. Jewelry vacuumers are cute greatly ineffective in removing dirty and are debillboarded to liberated up and delete dirt and grunge more than delete dirty.
preclude any vacuumser with ammonia, chlorine or abrasives added. preclude jewelry or silver polishing cloths with a red rouge layer. The rouge is a polishing compound but the red data(iron oxide) can certainly get blocked in unseen recesses of a pearl and make the pearl horrid.
“What to use to vacuum pearls and delete dirty from metal?” Oh my, now we get into essential jostle lubricate! At home vacuuming in the safest form is done by pleasing a wet gonee of baking beverage and gently rasping the metal. If the dirty is not plain, the mild abrasive scenery of the damp beverage will delete it. Rub with your fingers on the metal only, with a squashy brush or instigate such as a wet toothpick or line ear scrub for hard to catch zones. To repair shine to the metal, survey-up with a fine worth jewelry polishing cloth metal.
I urge one of the chemically treated cloths such as “Sunshine Cloth” from a jewelry parts and tools supplier. Other like cloths are untaken at jewelry food. Frankly, many jewelry store employees don’t know greatly about the vacuuming stores that advertise. So be certainly not to get the kind with a red rouge layer, even if urgeed. ability food and jewelry food regularly use RioGrande as a supplier and should be able to get a “Sunshine Cloth” for you. Like other like cloths, light action rapidly deletes dirty. With light dirty, you may use the cloth solitary and skip the baking beverage. These cloths are hurt “as is” and are plainly discarded when hurt up.
To survey-up this vacuuming with a smart bath in a mild dish detergent is a good idea. This will delete any deposit. minimally take a mild emulsion of dish detergent like Joy (consider, no ammonia!),rub gently with the fingers, bath in welcoming water and pat dry. That is it.
“defense of the pearls.” While vacuuming the ornament, gently grasp each pearl and see if it turns on the mounting stem or inside the site. If on a stem of metal, the pearl should be deleted and re-sheltered with a obvious two part epoxy glue. This is probable a job for the jeweler to do. If weak in a tear or spine variety site, a jeweler can rapidly and gently stiffen the sites.
“Cleaning by a jewelry.” You may conclude to let a jeweler vacuum the ornament and stable any weak pearls. If pearls are deleted and re-sheltered, while the pearls are deleted the ornament may be apparatus polished to an almost like new state with no terror of wound to the pearls. If vacuumed with the pearls intact, the jeweler will use fine gyratory brushes to manila away the dirty. Then, all is vacuumed in a mild detergent emulsion usually with an ultrasonic vacuumer.
Before you do any of the equipment that I have just suggeted to you, you should go see a jewelry and ask him some of the questions that I have just mentioned. That way you get all of your pedestal sheltered and you will not dirty the pearls.
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Despite what all the so-called internet gurus say, internet marketing is not as easy as collecting money while you sleep, not for us anyway. No, we did not wake up today to huge piles of money being deposited into our bank accounts. Not yesterday, not today and probably not tomorrow! The only ones making money on the internet seem to be people telling you how easy it is to make a million dollars online.
Getting to #1 in the search engines is the realistic goal. It can be frustrating, very frustrating. It’s like a rollercoaster, one day PR goes up and you hit page 2, then the next day your site vanishes without a trace. Change what you can and hope for a little miracle. Most importantly be patient, everything will come in time. Our goal is still there and we continue to work on it hoping that someday all our hard work will pay off, big time!
Until then we’ll continue to do what we have always done, sell handmade jewelry and unique gift ideas. I guess what I’m trying to say is don’t quit your day job quite yet. A lot of people get fed up with their life and want to start something new. One of the easiest looking things to do seems to be working at home on an internet business. Looks can be deceiving and frustrating, very frustrating. The list of things to do never stops with an online business and it takes a long time to establish that internet empire. If we didn’t have an existing business we would have been broke a while ago.
Perseverance is a virtue and today I’m feeling virtuous (that doesn’t happen all that often!). I’m not ready to jump at that dangling carrot, I’m going to stick with it and keep doing whatever needs to be done to get quality customers to our site. If we made a successful business offline, we are sure to be able to make a successful business online.
We initially went online so we didn’t have to print an 80 page catalog, the expense was killing us as we are constantly adding new products and handmade jewelry lines and revising items to make them sell faster. The website is so easy to keep up to date. We have saved a lot of money, quite a few trees and made it easier for our customers to order. Our website has done its job.
Our main source of targeted customers comes from Wholesale Jewelry and Gift Shows, but more and more we are getting inquiries from around the world because of our website. It takes a lot of time and SEO work to get the targeted traffic so don’t waste your efforts on the wrong keywords and phrases. Do your homework and you’ll get lasting results!
The effort you put into your website shows to your customers and the search engines as well. Approach it like a “real world” business and you will do well.
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How do find your inspiration for your handmade jewelry, writing your blog or just plain living? Every one finds inspiration in their own place. We look to nature and the beauty that surrounds us every single day for our handmade jewelry designs. The colors of the sea, the greens of the leaves blowing in the wind, everything around us provides us with inspiration. We have even made earring designs inspired by buildings and architecture. There is no lack of inspiration if you just look around with an open mind. We can all be looking at the same scene but what makes an artist is that we will all see different things and create unique pieces of handcrafted artisan jewelry. I believe this is the most exciting part of the handmade jewelry process. An open mind and observation are the key not only to making jewelry but also living life to its fullest whatever you do for a living.
But what do you do when your pool of creativity seems to have dried up? Creativity is not something that can be pushed or you just get the same old things and it feels like your going in the same circle. It’s time to take a break from your every day life; go for a walk, visit somewhere new, get away from things that cause you stress and do something fun. You’ll be refreshed, inspired and feel a new enthusium for your work. Who knows, you might even have missed it!
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Posted ( ) in Silver on November-6-2009
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Over the past several years we have seen a big demand for quality wholesale sterling silver jewelry products and an increasing interest in other folks like us, of starting a part time or full time business to help them spend more time with their families and intending to have a big profit while selling our products in Cheap Silver Jewellery.This has motivated us to change our business model so we now serve hundreds of wholesale customers world-wide. Mostly, our role is to provide outsanding quality products that are affordable to our customers and the end-consumer. However we also provide some technical support and advice to our regular customers to help them get established.cheapsilverjewellery.com an e-commerce company – produces Sterling Silver Jewelry. This new business unit under the name indian jewelry silver wholesale manufacture Silver Rings, Silver Earrings, Silver Pendants, Silver Necklaces and Bracelets. Wholesale Silver Jewelry is our specialty. A minimum Silver content of 92.5% guaranteed in all of our cast Silver Jewelry products legally defines them as Sterling Silver Jewelry and assures our customers of the best quality indian jewelry silver wholesale.An online boutique featuring a unique collection of “one of a kind” traditional silver jewelry and indian jewelry silver wholesale. Indian silver shop features one of a kind creation of traditional silver pendants, necklaces, bracelets etc
Known for its elegance and style, fine silver pendants spines can be complemented beautifully by semiprecious stones in fine jewelry designs When matched with chains, these pendants make stunning jewelry sets. The types of silver used to make spines include pure silver, sterling silver and German silver..
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Sometimes the road to success leads to wonderful places! Sometimes the road is bumpy and sometimes filled with potholes! We have taken the road less traveled…there are times we know why it’s less traveled. We hope you enjoy our stories about our Handmade Jewelry Business!
You’ve got great ideas; unique products and a lot of energy…So off you go to the local craft shows! Everyone loves your handmade jewelry so you come up with more great ideas, fun and fashionable works of art! You move on to juried craft shows in your area and then bigger shows, bigger sales. Life is great! You are doing something you love and everyone loves your work!
Sales are coming in and you can hardly keep up with your orders. You have to find ways to save time…you never have enough time before the next show. Eureka, you’ve found the answer and now it’s easier to keep up with orders, sales and traveling to all the best shows. But you’re starting to get tired of running here and there, setting up, tearing down… and the sun… and the rain…and the wind…
Below are some pointers that we learned the hard way along the way in our Handmade Jewelry Business. Some of the advice might seem simple but most mistakes are simple as well!
Outdoor craft shows and festivals are wonderful and fun to do and a great opportunity to showcase your handcrafted artisan jewelry, when the weather is nice that is. Unfortunately the weather doesn’t always co-operate with the show schedule. Always remember the Boy Scout motto: BE PREPARED! These are just a few suggestions to keep everything going well:
1. Always have materials available to weigh down your canopy. We always had weights like paint cans filled with concrete, cinder blocks, empty jugs to fill with water for extra protection from the wind lifting your tent to OZ. Sometimes you will have to hang on as well! This is especially important if you are in Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Art Festival; the canopy was being lifted right into the air! What goes up must be held down!
2. Always carry hammer, nails, wire, small pieces of wood, string, rope and the like. We liked to make sure all our display boards were securely hammered to the tables so they wouldn’t tip over on a customer’s head when the wind blew.
3. Make sure to have all extra stock in watertight containers, especially for jewelry that is on cards or can be damaged by water. If the cards get wet or dirty it can really be a mess. You will appreciate this more when you are up to your knees in water, mud and sawdust!
4. Try if possible to put earrings on display boards or frames. This makes it much easier and quicker to pack up just in case of a storm or tornado.
These are just a few suggestions to those starting out on the craft show circuit. It may not sound like a lot of fun but I sure miss those “good old days”! It was a wonderful way to spend the summer and make some money besides!
Next step on the road to success- Wholesale Handmade Jewelry! Not as many shows and bigger sales. You focus on your craft and can actually enjoy a long weekend!
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Posted ( ) in Silver on November-2-2009
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Silver is a popular metal for fashion and fine jewelry today. Its color and luster allows it to fit in well with a wardrobe of fine jewelry. At the same time it appears to be less pretentious that bright yellow gold. So it would come as no surprise if you find yourself searching for that special piece of silver jewelry either for yourself or for someone you love. Whether you are looking for a single large silver pendant or the entire set of jewelry, the internet is your best place to start. A simple search will identify a myriad of online stores that specialize in timeless and beautiful silver jewelry. Many artists and designers who make the jewelry are available to discuss their creations and can even help you choose the best piece of silver jewelry for your taste and occasion. In many cases, they will even be willing to customize a piece for you. Customizing silver is a reasonable approach since most silver jewelry is handmade in the first place. The variety of jewelry that you can find online far exceeds any jewelry stone in your neighborhood. That is not to say that local jewelry shops do not have a place in this business. The biggest advantage of buying locally is that you can visit the store, physically see and touch the piece you intend to purchase, and have it sized to suit your needs before you leave the store. This is hard but not impossible to do when you purchase jewelry online.
When buying silver jewelry, you will often hear the term “sterling” or “sterling silver”. What does the word “sterling” mean? Once silver is extracted from the ground, it is put through a series of chemical and physical processes to extract the metal. The extracted metal is put through a purification process to obtain pure silver. While pure silver is quite lustrous and beautiful, it is too soft to be used in jewelry. It also tends to tarnish very rapidly when exposed to the atmosphere. So silver is mixed with other metals to improve its properties. The primary metal used in this process is copper. Sterling silver is a form of silver than contains at least ninety two point five percent silver. The remaining is made up of copper. Sterling silver is harder and more durable than pure silver. It is also easier to work with compared to pure silver. Today, sterling silver is the standard for silver settings in jewelry pieces.
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