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    Bead Buying Tips

    by Susan Campanini on 9/26/10 | View Comments Comment(s)

    Bead Buying Tips
    Lots of people are buying beads these days—to create jewelry for themselves, jewelry to re-sell, or for craft projects of various types. I’ve been buying beads from a wide variety of sources for over 20 years, so I thought I might pass on some buying tips.
    The number …

    An Etsy Sale: What Happens Next on the Seller Side?

    by Susan Campanini on 8/19/10 | View Comments Comment(s)

    Here’s the dreamed of scenario for any Etsy seller: log on and open your e-mail and lo and behold, there is an Etsy Transaction notification! So. . . What happens next?
    Well, it may be a little different depending on the seller, the product, and so on. So I’ll have to …

    Beaded Jewelry: What’s Design Got to Do with It?

    by Susan Campanini on 7/27/10 | View Comments Comment(s)

    The answer to this question might well be of interest to Etsy sellers whose craft is designing with beaded materials, to Etsy buyers who wonder what’s involved in the creation of the jewelry they purchase, or to other crafters who design with various components in other media.
    Some years ago at …

    Flavor It Asian: Beads with a Far Eastern Flair

    by Susan Campanini on 6/17/10 | View Comments Comment(s)

    Many countries make and export beads these days, and it isn’t always easy to tell the provenance of a common type of bead such as a colorful pressed glass round. But there are beads with distinctive themes or styles that suggest a culture or aesthetic that is interestingly ethnic. This …

    Thinking Out Of The Box On Etsy

    by Susan Campanini on 5/30/10 | View Comments Comment(s)

    There’s an old saying: “If what you’re doing works, keep doing it!”. But what if it doesn’t work or, at least, doesn’t seem to be working as well as you’d hoped? Quite a few of us with Etsy shops haven’t realized our goals yet, shall we say … What to …

    U of I Mom’s Day Craft Fair

    by Susan Campanini on 4/22/10 | View Comments Comment(s)

    Last weekend was the time for the annual University of Illinois Mom’s Day Craft Fair in the Illini Union on the campus at Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. Beaded Jewelry by Susan has been participating in this event for nearly twenty years. If you’ve read my prior Handmade Spark article called “The Big …

    Bead Show Road Trip!

    by Susan Campanini on 4/05/10 | View Comments Comment(s)

    Bead Show Road Trip!

    Every year, the International Gem and Jewelry Show, Inc. holds expositions all around the country. For many years, we made an annual trip to the exposition center in Rosemont, near Chicago’s O’Hare airport, braving the “terrifying Tri-State” highway traffic, excitedly purchasing numerous strands of beads of all …

    My Etsy’s Worth

    by Susan Campanini on 3/25/10 | View Comments Comment(s)

    Amethyst and Pearl Earrings
    My Etsy’s Worth
    For those of you readers who have recently opened an Etsy shop, what has your shop meant to you so far? Excitement, adventure, income, fame, fortune … frustration, effort, disappointment, anxiety? Maybe all of the above!
    I know from comments in the Etsy forums that some …