THE JEWELERS’ PALETTE, 2/15/2025
Join my community of jewelry designers on my Patreon hub
From Warren and
Land of Odds
Use February’s Discount Code For Extra 25% Off @Land of Odds:
FEBRUARY25
www.landofodds.com
February 15, 2025
Hi everyone,
Some Updates and Things Happening.
(Please share this newsletter)
**NOTE: Miyuki is now noticeably raising their prices on all seed and delica beads
In this Issue:
1. Boost Your Instagram Marketing
2. New kit: Catenary Arches Bracelet
3. My 2nd Edition of PEARL KNOTTING…Warren’s Way is now available as ebook, kindle, or print
4. Love this quote
5. Check out The Contrast Club jewelry
6. The Jewelry of Wallace Chan
7. Latest question from our members — please share your comments
8. A book you might like: The Secret Lives Of Colors
Some articles you may have missed
Featured
1. Posting on Instagram seems to have the greatest return for jewelry designers compared to other social media sites.
TIP 1: To boost Instagram engagement, show your process. Don’t post things that look like a commercial ad. It shouldn’t be a wide shot of your jewelry display at a craft fair — “Come see me”; rather, it should be something like you in the process of setting up that display- “Come share my experience”.
- Your art’s final form may be stunning, but people want to see how it’s made.
- Instead of just panning over finished pieces, show your creative process: “Show your audience how this work happens.”
- Use different angles and close-ups to highlight texture and patterns. Keep videos engaging but not too fast — let viewers absorb the details.
- A mix of casual presentation and behind-the-scenes content can enhance interaction. Give people a reason to stop scrolling by making them feel part of your creation process.
TIP 2: Struggling to come up with Instagram content? Keep your audience engaged by not breaking up the “flow” of your posts. Try these tips:
- You don’t need to post daily, just focus on high-quality, engaging reels.
- Break your process into multiple reels — each section or stage of the painting can be a post.
- Show close-ups — let people see the details and textures of your work.
- Use time-lapses strategically — some parts can be sped up, but also include real-time segments.
- Film short clips periodically — record a 5-second video every hour and compile them later.
- No need for constant recording — this prevents distractions and makes content creation easier.
TIP 3: Spend less time overproducing to avoid Instagram burnout. Keep things raw, uncomplicated, authentic.
1) Skip tools like Canva for Reels — They make content look too polished and decrease engagement. Instagram favors organic, natural-looking posts.
2) Don’t Overcomplicate — A heavily edited, structured reel with too much buildup can lose viewers before they reach the main point.
3) Keep It Simple & Efficient — The less time you spend overproducing, the more content you can create without burnout.
For a lot more tips and tricks with Instagram, visit our social media marketing collection on our Jewelry Designers’ Hub www.patreon.com/warrenfeldjewelry
2. I finally finished this new kit — Catenary Arches Bracelet!
Kit with Instructions, or
Download instructions only
About the CATENARY ARCHES BRACELET
I have always been fascinated by the architectural works of Antonio Gaudi in Barcelona, Spain. He builds very organic, undulating forms. These fantastical shapes and spires and walls and rooftops are supported internally by a type of arch called a catenary arch. I knew from experience that creating a beadwoven arch was a difficult proposition, most likely to fail when the piece of jewelry was worn.
The typical arch structure would be called a parabolic arch, and this one I knew would not work. In response to weight pressed onto the arch, a parabolic arches channels this stress along its entire length, from base to top to base. The stresses and strains from pushing on parabolic arches, pulling the arches, smashing the arches, would typically end up in a flat and flattened mess.
A catenary arch is a type of architectural arch which follows what is called an inverted catenary curve. A catenary arch, in response to weight pressed on to it, centers its response to force at the top of its arch. It does not distribute this force, as in the parabolic arch. As such, it can handle the stresses and strains pushing on it much better. The catenary arch is less likely to fail because of stress and strain. Architecturally, a catenary arch has the ability to withstand the weight of the material from which it is constructed, without collapsing. This catenary arch can be uniformly dense and thick along its entire length. These are strong because they redirect the vertical force of gravity into compression forces pressing along the arch’s curve.
This catenary arch has been used in building structures since ancient times. It forms the basis of Gothic cathedrals, Renaissance domes, the St. Louis Gateway arch, for examples. Gaudi faced the same issues in creating building structures. His solution was the catenary arch.
My challenge was to see if I could create a beadwoven catenary arch that could hold its shape when the piece was worn.
WHAT YOUR WILL LEARN
- Ladder stitch
- Coordinating Peyote and Right Angle Weave stitches to optimize support (movement) and structure (shape)
- Bookbinding stitch to reposition thread when you need to cross over several beads
- Creating a catenary arch using bead weaving strategy
- Attaching catenary arch to a foundation base
- Using brick stitch to form an edging
- Attaching a clasp
- Designing and working with a piece that is more 3-dimensional rather than 2-dimensional
Kit with Instructions, or
Download instructions only
3. My 2nd Edition of PEARL KNOTTING…Warren’s Way is now available as kindle, or print
PEARL KNOTTING Doesn’t Need To Be Hard
In this very detailed book, with thoroughly-explained instructions and pictures, you are taught a non-traditional Pearl Knotting technique which is very easy for anyone to learn and do. Does not use special tools. Goes slowly step-by-step. Presents a simple way to tie knots and position the knots to securely abut the bead. Anticipates both appeal and functionality. Shows clearly how to attach your clasp and finish off your cords. And achieves that timeless, architectural perfection we want in our pearl knotted pieces.
Most traditional techniques are very frustrating. These can get overly complicated and awkward. They rely on tools for making and positioning the knots. When attempting to follow traditional techniques, people often find they cannot tie the knots, make good knots, get the knots close enough to the beads, nor centered between them. How to attach the piece to the clasp gets simplified or glossed over.
Fortunately, Pearl Knotting doesn’t need to be this hard.
Pearl Knotting…Warren’s Way teaches you how to:
o Hand-knot without tools
o Select stringing materials
o Begin and finish pieces by
(1) Attaching directly to the clasp,
(2) using French wire bullion,
(3), using clam shell bead tips, or,
(4) making a continuous piece without a clasp
o Add cord
o Buy pearls, care for them, string and restring them, store them By the end of this book, you will have mastered hand-knotting pearls.
This second edition takes into account a fuller utilization of technical options for the E-book version. Additional information, clarifications and summaries of ideas are added throughout. Instructions for Variation #3: Using Clam Shell Bead Tips is simplified a little bit.
4. Love this quote:
Interpretation is the revenge of the intellectual upon art. / Susan Sontag
5. Check this out: Interactive Fine Jewelry from The Contrast Club
The Moth. (The gold wings push aside to reveal the stone)
The Contrast Club is a family run design company located in Southern Finland. The company focuses on merging the worlds of jewellery and engineering, bringing a breath of life to the traditional art of fine jewellery.
After spending several years balancing parallel career paths in art and engineering, The Contrast Club was created as a beautiful middle ground where aesthetics are supported by creative technical design. Using this unusual pairing in expertise, the company focuses on the creation of items that go beyond the boundaries of traditional products, pushing the limits of what an object actually is. Together with its network of artisans, jewellery professionals and engineers, each piece goes through a meticulous development process, lasting months, if not years, before it is ready to be presented to the public.
Bracelet (Lay this flat on table, rest your wrist on it, and it automatically curls around your wrist and closes)
6. I wanted to introduce you to the jewelry of Wallace Chan
Wallace Chan is a world-renowned Chinese jewellery creator, visual artist and innovator that exhibits internationally and participates in prestigious art fairs. He is renowned for his unworldly jewelry creations and sculptures. He is also the first Chinese contemporary jewelry artist whose work is included in the permanent collection of the British Museum.
“The Chan Cut”
His creativity and curiosity have led to a myriad of innovations over the past 45 years including: The Wallace Cut, an illusionary three-dimensional carving technique invented in 1987; the mastery of titanium; a patented jade technology; the invention of elaborate gemstone settings without metal claws; and most recently, The Wallace Chan Porcelain, a groundbreaking material that is five times stronger than steel.
7. In our jewelry designers’ hub, I post questions students and customers have related to jewelry design, either the techniques, the materials, or the business. Here’s one of the latest. Please share your responses on the hub.
How do you make the leap from another career to becoming a full-time jewelry designer?
8. A book you might like: The Secret Lives of Colors
The Secret Lives of Colors by Kasia St. Clair.
The Secret Lives of Color tells the unusual stories of seventy-five fascinating shades, dyes, and hues. From blonde to ginger, the brown that changed the way battles were fought to the white that protected against the plague, Picasso’s blue period to the charcoal on the cave walls at Lascaux, acid yellow to kelly green, and from scarlet women to imperial purple, these surprising stories run like a bright thread throughout history.
In this book, Kassia St. Clair has turned her lifelong obsession with colors and where they come from (whether Van Gogh’s chrome yellow sunflowers or punk’s fluorescent pink) into a unique study of human civilization. Across fashion and politics, art and war, the secret lives of color tell the vivid story of our culture.
And don’t forget to use this 25% discount code
throughout February at Land of Odds!!
Use February’s Discount Code
For Extra 25% Off @Land of Odds:
FEBRUARY25
www.landofodds.com
SOME POSTS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:
OPEN LETTER TO JEWELRY DESIGN EDUCATION PROGRAMS
THE JEWELRY DESIGN PHILOSOPHY: NOT ART, NOT CRAFT, BUT DESIGN
BUILDING YOUR BRAND: WHAT EVERY JEWELRY DESIGN NEEDS TO KNOW
WARREN FELD JEWELRY (www.warrenfeldjewelry.com)
Custom Design, Workshops, Video Tutorials, Webinars, Coaching, Kits, Group Activities, Repairs
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Thanks for being here. I look forward to sharing more resources, tips,
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