How do I get featured?

We select new pieces to be featured on the homepage on a rolling basis. To increase your chances of being featured, here are some guidelines to follow.

1. Make Something Unique and Special

Take a look around at what is already here, and make something different!

If your piece is too similar to other pieces that have been featured already, we probably won’t feature it.

2. Take a Great Photo

You don’t have to have a fancy camera to take a great photo of your piece. Here are some tips for shots that pop:

  1. Use natural, diffused light.
  2. Shoot against a neutral background that is not busy. Take a look at other featured photos for ideas.
  3. Make sure there is enough contrast between your piece and the background that you can see all the beads clearly.
  4. Show as much of the piece as possible, all of it if you can. Details like length and clasps matter to other beaders–we’re here to learn!
  5. It’s tricky to shoot photos of jewelry on someone – you have to deal with fleshtones and you usually can’t see the whole piece that way. When in doubt, take a picture of just the jewelry.

Here are some photo don’ts.

  1. Don’t take a scan of your jewelry using a flatbed scanner.
  2. Don’t make your photo so artsy that you can’t see how the piece is made.
  3. Don’t submit fuzzy or blurry photos.
  4. Don’t add watermarks or logos or writing to your photos.
  5. Don’t combine multiple photos into one image.

3. Write a Great Description

It’s all in the details! We like to help our readers make their own jewelry–so tell us how you made yours. Include what materials you used, where you found them, and what techniques and tools helped you put it together.

Don’t write sales copy. Avoid adjectives like, “stunning” and “beautiful”. Everyone thinks their piece is stunning–but we’d like to judge for ourselves. The more factual and neutral your description, the better.

Double check your spelling and grammar. Have someone else look it over if you’re not sure, or if English isn’t your native language.

Capitalize properly. Please capitalize proper names such as “Swarovski” and “Austrian”. Please do not capitalize gemstone names (like topaz, jasper, onyx) or names of beads (like seed beads, sterling silver beads). In combination, capitalize the proper name part only (for instance: Bali beads, Swarovski crystals).