The Design Gallery
Follow along with step-by-step beading projects and share your designs with beaders around the world—it’s quick & easy!
Chatter
on “Blue Velvet Wraps”:“Love thgese Lynda. Beautiful and rustic! Will give the tute a look!…” read »
on “Blue Velvet Wraps”:“I too am a huge fan of annealed steel wire for jewelry projects. After removing…” read »
on “Leather, Silver and a Rainy Day”:“Funny, Deb Harding, I borrowed the book from the library because of one of your posts…” read »
- on “To be,or not to be? Advice needed.”:
“I think them! Love the color combination. They would go with everything.…” read »
on “To be,or not to be? Advice needed.”:“Inspiring me about what to do with all my smaller chips, stones, etc! Extra nice design…” read »
- on “Bluebells”:
“Both the flowers and the earrings are beautiful! Great job capturing the feel of the real…” read »
on “Country Leaves”:“Those leaves are gorgeous...this bracelet is a perfect setting for.them.…” read »
- on “Leather, Silver and a Rainy Day”:
“I have that same book....its awesome isn't it? You did an excellant job on the leather…” read »
- on “Bluebells”:
“Fantastic job...you definitely captured the look of your flowers. I seriously want your flowers...lol.…” read »
on “Bluebells”:“Thank you ladies, so glad you like them
…” read »- on “Tourmaline Dream”:
“Thank you all ~ glad you like them !
…” read » 
on “Leather, Silver and a Rainy Day”:“You can't beat black with silver and pearls! Great designs!…” read »
on “Raspberry and Cream!”:“love how you're exploring so many beautiful variations with this technique, Julia....they all end up in…” read »
on “Tourmaline Dream”:“This a stunning piece, the heart pendant,WOW!!…” read »
- on “Grampa's old tree”:
“Gorgeous!!…” read »
- on “Leather, Silver and a Rainy Day”:
“It is 3 strands of sari silk. The silk is knotted on either side of…” read »
- on “Country Leaves”:
“I agree with Kate. Bright and cheerful! Love it, love it...want it.…” read »
- on “Leather, Silver and a Rainy Day”:
“What a nice, clean design. Both are winners. I have been working on jewelry…” read »
on “Leather, Silver and a Rainy Day”:“These would definitely cheer me up, love them both! I have some of this sari silk…” read »
on “Copper and 'a green thumb'”:“Fantastic, I really like it.…” read »
- on “Sonya or 'Earth' earrings”:
“very pretty !…” read »
on “Totally Teal”:“This is lovely work - you should be very proud. And that totally teal bracelet is…” read »
- on “Copper and 'a green thumb'”:
“This is wonderful - a really sweet design and I especially love the cute earrings to…” read »
- on “Leather, Silver and a Rainy Day”:
“Love them all!!…” read »
on “Sonya or 'Earth' earrings”:“Love it! still trying to figure out how you did this tricky wire work. …” read »
on “Country Leaves”:“Oh My Goodness!! This is so bright and cheerful! I usually associate maple leaves with Fall…” read »
- on “Cultus Lake Market”:
“Great looking jewelry - enjoyed looking!…” read »
- on “Tourmaline Dream”:
“Beautiful necklace and I love the design of your earrings!!…” read »
- on “Copper and 'a green thumb'”:
“Great design!…” read »
- on “Grampa's old tree”:
“Beautiful piece. I love the vintage look, and the cabochon is fabulous.…” read »
- on “Country Leaves”:
“This is a fun and easy bracelet. Lots of options to make matching earrings. …” read »
- on “Country Leaves”:
“I love copper and am crazy about these! Those Czech leaves are gorgeous.…” read »
on “Pearl with a touch of Silver”:“Beautiful classic look. Very nice work!!…” read »
- on “A Green Cuff”:
“Can you please tell me if the 14 gauge is Dead Soft? I just started…” read »
- on “A Green Cuff”:
“I really like your bracele, the design is great! Good work.…” read »
on “Grampa's old tree”:“Love the way your design makes the pendant pop. Gorgeous colors! Great design!…” read »
- on “Copper and 'a green thumb'”:
“Great design for your pendant. Beautiful!…” read »
- on “Bluebells”:
“You have captured the real thing in these earrings beautifully. Lovely work!…” read »
on “Bluebells”:“Beautiful work
))…” read »
Open House
About this design:
Well, I survived my Open House this weekend & I loved it! So conveinent, no overhead & sold quite a few pieces. Even had some interest in doing shows for customers in their home. A question for you all, any advice on setting up a website? Was looking at GoDaddy.com. Any tips would be appreciated.ty
Additional Images:
Read the comments (or add your own)
Add your thoughts!
On Apr 10, 2011 at 10:24 pm #
Purple Chick aka Violet says:Your set up looks great !!! Glad it went well and you had some sales !!
How did you do your home show? Who did you invite, friends, family, coworkers? I have been thinking about a home show, but need any advice…
As far as a website … I have one on etsy …. it is slow going … but I have started to pick up in the sales…. there is a link on my profile page, if you want to check mine out…. it’s easy to set up a site on etsy, and doesn’t cost too much…. I find my best sales are at the Art Shows….. buy want to try home shows too….
On Apr 10, 2011 at 10:49 pm #
OneOfAKindJewels4u says:I invited a wide variety of people. Used Facebook ALOT. You are able to creat events on there which alows your friends to rsvp on it. I also printed off flyers & took them aroun my neighborhood. I also work in a hospital, so that helped too but am going to advertise ALOT more there next time. I made the hours ALL day, 9am-9pm. It worked out really well. No overhead, and was able to do other things during “down time.”
As far as Etsy, I have been to their website & have been thinking about using it, I will check yours out when I am finished on here. ty for the advice and I say “go for the home show.”
On Apr 11, 2011 at 2:42 am #
MoonBell says:I am having issues selling on etsy (only purses, no jewelry, and that’s been s.l.o.w., too), so I would rather take advice on that than give it.
)
I have set up my own website and blog, so I could be of a little more assistance in that area (although I am currently reworking the design, I’m not exactly a graphic designer, I do better with 3D). I use NetObjects Fusion 10 (free) which is a WYSIWYG editor (user-friendly interface, no coding necessary. although you can if you’re tech savvy). It does have the capability to set up a shopping cart I don’t use, and PayPal has come out with an easy way to set up their shopping cart on your site. If you do that AND an etsy store, you’d need to figure out how to combine databases so that no one buys an item on your website while someone else is buying it from your etsy store (tech nightmare, anyone?).
GoDaddy works just fine, but don’t EVER EVER let your domain expire, they hold it for “auctioning” for 3-4 months or charge you a really high fee. I host through Dreamhosters (they’re really helpful and super friendly), but you can just leave your hosting at GoDaddy, too (so you don’t have to figure out how to change DNS servers and whatnot, that took me an entire day to figure out… you know the saying, the mechanic’s car is always broken? Well, the IT guy’s wife has to do her own tech stuff.
On Apr 11, 2011 at 2:46 am #
MoonBell says:Oh, and I created a (free) WordPress blog (although I am not all that good about keeping it up :/ ), that’s worked great for me and there’s a plethora of free themes, addons, etc.
On Apr 11, 2011 at 11:30 am #
sunny chick says:Congrats on the success of your open house!
On Apr 11, 2011 at 12:00 pm #
Natures Precious Gems says:I have a website but have a hard time keeping it up-to-date. I just started using etsy. I find I have sales on my website after a show. They see a piece and didn’t buy it then think about it and buy from my website.
I use Yahoo for my host & they have several different ways to design a site. It’s very easy and I haven’t had one problem in 2+years.
I did my first home show last year to kick off the show season, it was very successful and I only invited people I knew and allowed guests. I served punch and snacks. It was fun, I plan to at least do 2 a year.
On Apr 11, 2011 at 4:44 pm #
grama rose aka stormy says:I think Etsy is slow for all of us I sell more on my supply shop allysarosesupplies.etsy.com than jewlery design You have to think that there are thousands of beading ladies out there so everyone needs a good following to have sales Good luck I don’t like strangers in my house so I could never do an open house invitation only for me! best of luck and don’t get discouraged things are slow right now Deb
On Apr 11, 2011 at 9:56 pm #
Pam E aka funky tulip says:Congrats! I found my house show was my best event so far, but I’ve only done 2 craft shows. I also use etsy (www.etsy.com/shop/funkytulip), but it is SLOW. so far, all sales to friends, but I post on facebook everytime I post something new. Good luck, and let us know what works for you.
On Apr 11, 2011 at 11:10 pm #
Arja A says:Congrats.Your displays are very nice.
I’m on Etsy and ArtFire. Both have been very slow.
On Apr 12, 2011 at 1:06 am #
Cotopaxi Chickie Sue says:Congrats on a successful open house! I love your display – very inviting. I’d like to host one myself, but I’m SO far out in the sticks! Maybe sometime this summer, tho’….
On Apr 12, 2011 at 3:06 pm #
S walden says:Fisrt of all beautiful set up. It is perfect for that type of venue! I have found a web site that is very easy as they have many templates already to go. You just pick one and it is step by step design with great follow along instructions. Best part of it all is that it is FREE! The site is wix.com. Good luck!
On Apr 12, 2011 at 5:37 pm #
Jewelry by Shannon says:Great job on your show … displays look nice! And great convo above from everyone … gotta learn from each other and not get discouraged during these slow times!! SLS
On Apr 14, 2011 at 1:33 pm #
DMYJewelryDesign on etsy says:Setup looks great, I never thought of doing a home show…hmmmmmm I did have a co-worker ask me about doing a home party. I’m very flattered, but I don’t feel ready to take that next step. Maybe someday. I am also on Etsy and like everyone else it is slow. I won’t be retiring from my day job anytime soon
On Apr 22, 2011 at 5:26 pm #
Stuff N Thingz says:I’ve only vended at horse shows and other horse related events. My husband is a bit paranoid about having any major shopping traffic at our house. I would rather find a venue I can rent for a weekend a few times a year. Has anyone else done that? Similar to a home show but in a more generic location. I was thinking to rent space at a local barn if they have a common room. If anyone has experience with that I would love to know your thoughts on how it went.
On Apr 26, 2011 at 10:03 am #
OneOfAKindJewels4u says:ty all for the wonderful comments and ideas. I love coming to this website for support from my fellow beaders. ALL the people that came into my home, I knew. I didnt wnat anyone tothink that I just randomly invited people into my home. It went really well and I plan to have one every other month(by request). Now I just need to get my home parties going. Have a great day everyone & happy beading.
On Apr 26, 2011 at 12:28 pm #
Purple Chick aka Violet says:What hours did you do your home show, how long? And what day of the week worked for you? Glad it was a success…. I want to do one soon, and I also had a friend in a neighboring city call and wanted to know if I would do a show in her house…. so just trying to figure out times…. thanks…