Making Good Jewelry Even Better...Remaking an Boring Piece for Etsy

The Remade Piece, a real showstopper and a more cutting edge design!

Left is pictured another example of a piece of jewelry that just wasn't doing well on Etsy...in a word, it was BORING. It was simple and elegant, but not unlike many thousands of other pieces offered by other sellers for much less.


So, back to the drawing board, I took it apart and redesigned the cocktail length into a more choker or bib type, then added the graduated pieces as charms instead of to the single length.

Back to the Design Drawing Board!

Here is the necklace placed on the form for adding the final wire wrapped shell drops, having the necklace on the form helps you judge length and fullness of your dandle drop charm design, as well as making it easier to see if you are getting the design even on both sides.

Balance is all important in designing a necklace like this, if you put too many pieces on one side, it may look OK, but the necklace will be constantly sifting to the heavier side, making of a very unhappy wearing experience.

The finished design, beautiful!

A matching charm bracelet!

Since I had some extra components laying around I thought I would add a matching bracelet and set of earrings to complete the look

After all, this is a very original and unique piece, it would be very hard to accessorize and you may loose a sale because a customer has nothing to wear with it to coordinate.

I always list my matching components separately so they are an option and may very well be and extra sale, this way the customer has choice and I have more variety and options in my listings.

And... of course, earrings!

If you have a piece that isn't moving and is looking rather dated, rewriting the description and tags as well as re listing helps, but sometimes you just have to admit this piece is just going no where and it has to be redone.

You also will have learned a thing or two about making jewelry and the latest trends, so don't be afraid to give that old piece a new shine by taking it apart and giving it a new lease on life!

By the way, this new piece is offered in my Etsy shop HERE, along with the matching bracelet and earrings.


Here is another necklace I remade earlier this year, the article on rebuilding it is HERE.

 

The Hot Mess Itself - Bow Wow!

 

From Zero to Hero, Remaking a Sea Glass Tropical Choker Mother of Pearl Stick Beads Choker That Just Didin't Quite Cut It!

Sometimes you just have to admit defeat on a project and start over. From scratch. The necklace in the picture below was a case in point.

Sure, it looked good in theory but I made the mistake of wearing it for a day at the beach and it flopped all over the place and looked awful. I hate to admit it, being of an Artist temperament and all, but this one was a dog in practice.

The Hot Mess Itself - Bow Wow!

But what to do? It took me all of several months to come up with a design that would hold such necklaces in place properly, (I do love my bead fringes and dangle drops), but they are generally a pain in the butt to wear and not have them turn into a hot mess after a few minutes of wear.

I started by rethinking what was needed to hold elements in place, crochet seemed obvious but how to integrate two strands into the third crochet strand?

Well, I'm not giving up my secrets here, it took me many days of agonizing experiments to come up with something that would do the trick and still look good.

I've decide to make an entire line of this type of choker jewelry because it's design is authentic and new. It's just for those Gals who love their dangle beads and fringe look but don't want things sticking out all over the place at odd angles just because you bent over or breathed.

The moral of all this is: Even if you have an item in your shop that has been up for months, don't be afraid to remake it into something new. I have done this with several of my pieces now, they are being favorited left and right and soon i expect some sales to discriminating buyers who know quality and a glad to pay for it.

Anyway, here is the relisting for those interested below the link to this necklace choker in my Esty shop is HERE.

New and Fresh, No More Flopping!

Blue sea glass tropical beach choker necklace hand carved chunky creamy beige conch shell and coral pink, banana yellow mother of pearl, MOP, stick beads. Features blue sea glass beads with lime green and yellow striped glass trade bead spacers for a unique unusual modern look.

The salmon pink silky crochet ribbon Influence adds color, texture and stability, keeping the individual elements snugly in place while allowing limited, flowing movement while reflecting the natural hue of colors of the mother of pearl stick beads.

This is your colorful, lovely, edgy, buttery smooth candy necklace beach wear choker that will set you apart and show you have a unique sea side style all your own! Perfect for those flip flop shopping trips, sunny beach picnics and coffee house gatherings.


The necklace can be easily refreshed by holding under gently running cool water and then laid out on an absorbent surface to dry.

The Necklace is 20".
The Conch Beads range from 22mm, (largest Center Bead) to 15mm.
Aqua Glass Disc beads are 20mm
Hot Coral Pink and Banana Yellow Stick Beads are approx 20mm

Please check out the rest of our shop for a variety of unique handmade jewelry and beads:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/earthgoods4thespirit

Everything Old Is New Again! Large Hand Carved Whelk Conch Shell Pendant

I kept thinking to myself that something was missing with this piece and didn't have a clue as to how I was going to suspend it to best show off its virtues.

After much thought, I decided to use crochet as a frame and bring more earthiness to the shell itself. The result was that the Back side of this piece became just as important and lovely as the front!

Being the Crochet was carefully done, it is entirely reversible with no knots showing!

The Moral Is: Never give up on a piece that stymies you!

This necklace is available here