Keeping Prices Affordable
by Tracy Martin.
(El Centro, CA)
Hi Everyone,
I was hoping to post these as a way of showing how I can keep my jewelry prices ‘affordable’.
Last month at our County Fair, I purchased a grab bag of 12 gemstones for $2.00.
For the copper wire, I purchased a 3′ piece of insulated electrical wire from Home Depot. After removing the insulation, there were 20 strands of copper wire (22g) at 3′ each.
for the silver (base metal) wire, I purchased a roll of wire from the 99Cent store for… you guessed it, 99 cents.
The two crystals I purchased about 20 for $2.00.
The copper flower was in a TON of broken, mismatched jewelry my mom had given to me.
The silver chain was from a multi-strand necklace I purchased at the Salvation Army for 10 cents.
So, in material, it cost me probably less than $1.00 for both pendants.
The silver one took about 20 min. to make and the copper one took about 45 min. It took about 10 min. to strip all the insulation off the electrical wire. So, total about 1 hr. 15 min.
If I charge $16.00 each, I make a little less than $30.00 per hour.
Not bad, I don’t think!
As for the pendants, not sure of the names yet.
If anyone can identify these other stones for me, I would be truly grateful.
Tracy
Nutkitten Handcrafted Jewelry
Comments:
Stone bargain,
by: Rena
Hi Tracy, some guesses on your stones (you can do Google image searches for these to see if they match up with your stones!):
Photo 1 – autumn jasper
Photo 2 – red agate
Photo 4 – possibly dyed stones, or maybe rhodocrosite.
Also, thanks for sharing your super strategies for sourcing such inexpensive jewelry supplies! Isn’t it amazing that you could still gross around $30 for an hour’s jewelry-making work and a handful of very low-cost supplies?
How Fun
by: Millie.GotRocks
A grab bag for 2 bucks! Whoohoo.
Your stones appear to be all agate pieces that have been tumbled. Because of the translucence of the first stone I’m pretty sure it’s an agate.
Good job on the jewelry!
Stones
by: Anonymous
Pics 2, 3, and 4 are all dyed stones. Pic 2 is dyed agate, and it looks to me to be the same for pic 3. Pic 4 is heavily dyed, but I’m pretty sure it isn’t rhodochrosite, that is usually a much less intense pink with white bands.
Continued good luck with your jewelry!
Keeping Up With Tacy
by: Maryanne Murphy
Hi Tracy,
Thanks for posting this article. It’s great to keep up with what you are doing!
You are a shopper extraordinaire. What wonderful solutions to the high cost of materials. I am so envious, finding those stones for $2.00!! What a great deal. And your solution for copper wire is a brilliant move. How ever did you think of that? And thanks for sharing this revealing tidbit.
I’m glad to see your materials cost and pricing is paying you at such a great rate…and you are achieving your goal by offering lovely handmade jewelry at affordable prices!!!
Maryanne
