You may or may not have figured this out already, but the News section of Golden Maille runs on WordPress software. If you’ve never heard of WordPress, it is a content management system, most often used to publish Blogs. Since being introduced in 2003, it has grown by leaps and bounds, and today over 300 million websites use it. WordPress itself is free, but several cottage industries have sprung up around it. Many folks are gainfully employed designing themes and plugins, some of which are sold, though the majority are given away freely.

I discovered WordPress in 2004 when I added the first News section to my website. Since then, I have installed it dozens of times for myself and for family and friends who wanted to start blogs. As more and more jewelry makers are discovering every day, the internet is a great place to show off, and sell, your jewelry, and WordPress is the easiest way to build a website for that.

I am often asked how the Golden Maille site was built, who do I recommend for a web host, how did I do this or that. I don’t mind answering these questions, I have helped several people get their sites up & running. Since the questions are getting more frequent, I feel like there’s a real desire for more information, so I’ve decided to start a new series of posts designed to help everyone create a website with WordPress and get it set up properly so Google, and the rest of the world, can find you. And once they find you, they can click a button and buy your jewelry right then. To do this, I’ve set up a new website named JewelersWebsiteAssistant.com.  There is actually nothing on it right now, but I’ll be using it as a demo site to show you how to do things as I go along.

The first few lessons will be basic: how to register a domain and change the nameservers to point to your hosting account. How to install WordPress with a couple of clicks. Then I’ll talk about selecting a theme and which plugins you need and how to install them. Later on, I’ll get more in depth about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and why you need it. And how to customize your theme, how to add advertising to your site if you want to go that route.

If you’ve already set up a website, but have questions, send me an email or leave a comment – I’ll be happy to help.

Talk to you soon,

goldie

Sorry folks, but I’ve had to deactivate all Rose Gold Filled 16ga Rings due the annual RGF wire shortage coming early this year. This effects certain Rose Gold Filled Refill Kitpacks, too, so those have been deactivated also. We’re hoping to have the wire back in stock in August, but can’t give you an exact date yet.

I had originally said that I wasn’t going to offer this particular Ringset in Gold Filled, especially now with gold prices so high, but I keep getting questions about it and requests for it, and as you know by now, the squeaky wheel gets the Ringset. If you have the Silver version, you know that it is just pure creative freedom in a box! Here’s a direct link: http://www.goldenmaille.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=12&products_id=243

My frustration with my mess of disorganized earrings boiled over this weekend. I love to wear earrings but it has to be easy to grab them & put them on or I won’t mess with it. Yesterday morning as I was untangling several pairs, the perfect solution came to me – chains to keep them separated but secure. I used YGF 14ga/7.5mm rings for the main part, RGF 16ga/3.5mm rings as connectors and 14ga/6.0mm for the ones on the ends but the sizes aren’t really important -these are just what I happened to have the most of at the time. I have a stash of small brass screws that I use when I make custom display boxes, so I used those to fasten the finished chain to a white velvet tray insert.

Charlie used 3M picture hanging strips to hang it on the inside of the door to the cabinet where I keep my makeup and stuff so every morning while I’m getting dressed, my nice neat earring collection is hanging there, waiting for me to select the ones I want.

My Organized Earring Collection

Looks like I need to get busy and make some more to fill this thing up!

I’ve had several requests to make a Yellow Gold Filled version of my handmade earwires. Some people like the look better than commercially available varieties and others want a 100% handmade end product, so I’ve added a YGF plain earwire that is just like to ones I’ve offered in Rose Gold Filled for quite some time. I’ve also added a larger handmade hoop in both YGF and RGF. These are my personal favorites – they’re about 1 inch wide and 1.5 inches high.

And now a question for you: what do you want to see next?  I’ve had a couple of requests for YGF versions of the handmade hook and eye clasps, a couple for the Earring Designer Ringset, the 16 ga and 18ga Designer Ringsets, and some for the Barrel Weave kits.

Let me know in the comments which one you want next.

A little pre-holiday goody – a new refill kitpack: The Half Persian Two Color Bracelet in Yellow and Rose Gold Filled.

I finally gave up trying to find a commercially available clasp similar to the one Urban Maille uses and made my own. And according to the questions I’ve been getting about this one, it’s about time.

This bracelet is massive, weighing in at almost 2 troy ounces and the finished width is 10.5mm. The kit makes a bracelet up to 9.5 inches. You can find it at the bottom of the Kitpacks page.

We will be closed from December 23rd through January 3rd for holidays and inventory. Of course, you’ll still be able to place orders during this time and when we start shipping again on January 4th, we’ll ship them out in the order they were received.

Today is the busiest shipping day of the year and things are starting to slow down a day or two so please be patient with your mail carrier.

If you were a member of the Creative Wire Jewelry forum many years ago, you will remember Maaria, whom Aislyn dubbed “The Queen of Beautiful Chains”. I have searched but I can’t find the exact date that she posted a picture of some unique rings that she had made; I believe it was 2003 or 2004. That image has stayed with me all these years and I finally got a chance to try one of my own. Here is my version of the Maaria Ring:

I used 12ga Dead Soft Half Round for the ring, 14 22ga/2.25mm rings for the byzantine section and 4 20ga/2.75mm rings for the connectors.

If you would like a little more Maaria inspiration, you can visit her web site. Don’t worry that you don’t understand her language (Finnish), just click the links, then click on the pictures. Her work is gorgeous!

All of the pre-holiday orders are gone, the banana pudding is in the fridge and the pumpkin bread is in the oven: I am as close to ready as I can be.

Charlie & I both wish you a Happy Thanksgving!