Sharon Zimmerman
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How Do You Decide Which Jewelry Sources are Ethical? Part 2 – The Roundup
Does it ever feel to you like others are operating with information that is either over your head, or speaking like their information is common knowledge? Me too! And I read and consume lots of news about ethics in the jewelry industry on a daily basis.
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Should you sell your handmade jewelry on consignment? The pros and cons
The upside of selling on consignment is that you have almost total control over what inventory they receive. After all, it is still technically your inventory until they sell it.The downside of selling on consignment almost always involves a breach of trust in the form of late payments, poor reporting, or damaged jewelry.
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Holidays in July: a checklist to prepare your jewelry business for the holiday season
December is the month when I make as much as 25% of my retail sales for the entire year – that is a hefty amount to prepare for and involves so many moving parts – I need to have a marketing plan in place (shows, email blasts, social media posts and more), an inventory plan…
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Why choose Fairmined gold over recycled gold?
Making any changes to your supply chain when you make jewelry comes with a series of Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style options. If you decide to change the materials you use, your story changes – different materials can change your pricing, your tools, your process, and your marketing.
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Why is my skin turning black under my rings?
A few years ago, I thought I was developing an allergy to silver and gold. Almost overnight, my skin was turning black underneath my rings and I couldn’t explain it. The answer? Science!
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Why I stopped using lab-grown diamonds and gemstones in my jewelry
At the time, lab-grown seemed like the best answer to a lot of my problems with gemstones and diamonds. When I wanted to make more bridal jewelry and incorporate more gems, the options were few – I could find a handful of traceable gem dealers with some options (none of those options were diamonds), or…
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Tool Talk! 3M Bristle discs – the magic polishing tools
Making a round shape and keeping it round in jewelry is sometimes harder than it looks. When I started out in jewelry-making, I loved making rounded, sinuous, and organic shapes (still do, tbh).The problem? Traditional methods of cleaning, finishing, and polishing involved files and sandpaper, all of which tended to make more work for me…
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Tool Talk! Wax Carving Tools
Lots of wax carving tools can be adapted, re-shaped, sharpened, and formed to make them into the exact tools that you need. Check out the latest Tool Talk video to see how I adapted some old dental tools to be sharper and more ergonomic.
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Tool Talk! Why I Love My Deadblow Mallet
Deadblow Mallet – Why do I love it so?The deadblow mallet has tiny ball bearings in it that give this mallet heft and weight, meaning you need fewer blows to achieve the same result. And herein lies the reason I love it so much – fewer blows means faster work, faster work means more time…