Collecting Your Beads - For the Beginning Jewelry Maker

Before you actually start to make any jewelry, it is important to have a good selection of beads on hand.  The jewelry piece you make should have a variety of beads that appeal to you and that are appropriate for the piece you are making.

You can find beads from a variety of sources.  There are specific magazines and catalogs that sell all the types of beads you may ever want -- and believe me there are some truly beautiful beads out there.  But getting beads just from these sources can be expensive, and it can cost you a lot of money if you get carried away.

There are other places to get beads (which are really nice too).  You can find beads at craft or art stores.  More and more art stores are carrying beads due to the popularity of jewelry making for beginners.  But this too may have a hefty price tag if you are not careful.

Try going to lower-end or bargain stores for find beads.  Walmart has now added a jewelry making/ bead section to our local store.  Try the one in your own area to see if they have come in line with this too.  Also, dollar or discount stores often sells beads in their crafting areas.  Or, you can get nice beads by buying cheap necklaces and then take them apart to re-purpose the beads.

Other places where you can look for great beads are at yard sales or flea markets.  Here you will probably find a variety of old-school necklaces that may not be in such good shape, but you can use the beads to make new jewelry pieces.  Often you will find vintage beads that are absolutely lovely...and at a bargain price.

You can also make your own beads to make your new jewelry pieces.  There are many ways to make beads, from paper beads to clay beads, or if you are really into it, you can make your own unique glass beads (using a microwave glass bonder) or your own designer silver beads (using silver-clay and a kiln).  You can find out how to make many different types of beads from instructions on the internet.

It is good to have a variety of beads on hand to spur your imagination for making new jewelry pieces.  Jewelry making is a very imaginative and creative process and when you have a lot of beads on hand, your imagination can really soar!

So got to it!  Get set and get your own collection of beads together.  Successful jewelry making for beginners starts with having a collection of great beads!

The Complete Bead Guide Answers All Your Questions About Beads, Beading And Beadwork And Is The Ideal Ebook For Beginners & Experienced Bead Lovers! To get your copy...

Click Here!

Your Jewelry Making Portfolio

Hi Everyone:  I just wanted to share a Jewelry Making for Beginners tip.  Because (like me) you are just starting out at jewelry making, you should keep a log book or portfolio.  In your book (the format of which is totally up to you - a 3-ring binder would be ideal, so that you can add pages easily) you should include lessons so that you can refer back to, things you may learn, how-to articles and instructions for some of the pieces of jewelry you wish to make.  Also, when you are going through magazines, or finding jewelry pieces you like on the web, print or scan them and  include these in an 'idea' section of your book.  Then when you get to the stage where you feel you are ready to make a piece like that, you will have a model to follow.  And it makes a great 'idea' source.

You may also want to include an inventory section in your book, just so that you know what items you have on hand (beads, findings, tools, etc.).  Then when you go to make a jewelry piece, you will know if you need to get more supplies.  This can also help you keep on a budget for your jewelry making (as beads and things can get quite expensive). 

Also take photos of jewelry items that you make.  Like me, you probably will make jewelry pieces to give away as gifts.  Taking a picture and storing it in your portfolio gives you an idea of what you have made, if you want to make a piece like that again.  Also, it is a bit of a 'brag' book that you can show other people.

Anyways, the time to get started on your log book or portfolio is now, when you are beginning jewelry making.  Jewelry making for beginners is a gradual process.  You will not learn how to do everything overnight.  It takes practice to become good at it.  But it is a lot of fun too...and it helps your creativity flourish.

Here is an essential book for beginner jewelry makers that I found useful:

The Complete Bead Guide Answers All Your Questions About Beads, Beading And Beadwork And Is The Ideal Ebook For Beginners & Experienced Bead Lovers! To get your copy...

Click Here!

How to Open a Jump Ring

One of the first things you need to learn when starting out in jewelry making is how to open a jump ring.  Jump rings are important in beginner jewelry making because they are used quite a bit to join things together.  They join beads and bobbles, are used as extenders, and can also be used to create jewelry pieces when used together.\

Jump rings are an essential findings for your toolbox.  They not only do they hold things together, but you can also use many of them together to create your own chain.

You can get a jump ring closing tool that completes jump ring and chain mail projects quickly and easily. To use the tool, you simply grip the jump ring on opposite side of opening with needle-nose pliers, insert the open side of the jump ring into one of the closing tool slots and twist. The same motion opens and closes rings.

You don't need a special tool though to open and close jump rings.  You can do it manually, with the use of needle nose pliers.  Here are the steps:

1.  Use your round nose or flat nose pliers to grip the jump ring on both sides of the split.

2.  Move one plier towards you and the other away from you, in other words move your hands in opposite directions (forwards and backwards). Don’t pull it apart  from left to right or the round shape of the jump ring will be distorted.

3.  At this point, you can slide whatever you are planning to join onto the jump ring, whether it be a chain, earring wire, a toggle closer or even another jump ring. 

4.  Follow the same steps above for closing the jump ring. Grip both sides of the jump ring with your pliers again. Move the jump ring back into place by wiggling the ends back and forth. You will feel the ends sliding against each other. Your jump ring should be perfectly aligned when closed.

Opening an closing jump rings can be a little "fiddle-y" at first.  It can take some practice to do it perfectly, but if you keep working at it, it will soon become second nature.  Since jump rings are used so much in jewelry making, it is a good idea to practice and become really good at it.

With this blog post, I will leave it to you to practice a bit on your own.  In my next post, I will show you how to make a simple bracelet (very CUTE!) just with jump rings.  When you have mastered the art of manipulating jump rings, you will want to make a dozen or more of these cute bracelets in lots of colours and styles (because you can be creative with this technique).  See you next time... and happy jewelry making!  (Remember, practice!)

If you need a place to get beads and jewelry making supplies, try:

GemMall.com

Welcome to Jewelry Making for Beginners

Beads for Jewelry Making

I have always loved jewelry--gold, silver, beaded jewelry--all kinds.  I love necklaces and pins, bracelets and earrings.  To me jewelry always completes your look.  And jewelry can be passed down between the generations so that you can have a piece of your past, like your great-grandma's pearl necklace, that can still be worn in today's day and age, because good pieces of jewelry are timeless.

There are many great jewelry makers in the world and it truly is an art form.  The jewelry that is popular today is more ecclectic and vibrant than ever before with elaborate pieces that hang down the front of your bodice in necklaces, large earrings that trail below your shoulders, and large colorful pins that really catch your eye.  Almost anything goes, with such a large variety in style and beading.

Because of my love of art and jewelry, it seemed a natural progression for me to start making jewelry on my own.  I have just begun and already I am passionate about it.  There are so many beautiful and fantastic projects I have in mind to make, it almost overwhelms me.  But it is harder than it looks, as I have discovered...although not so hard that even I can't learn to make jewelry that I can be proud to wear (and to give as gifts as I am planning to do this Christmas!)

In this blog, Jewelry Making for Beginners, I want to share my jewelry making experiences with you.  As I am a beginner jewelry maker, I am sure that if you are starting too, we will have lots to share -- tips and new techniques we can learn together, as well as sharing the beautiful projects we come up with.

Join me on this blog, Jewelry Making for Beginners, and let us make the world sparkle a little more with our unique jewelry creations!

To start, here is a book for beginner jewelry makers that I found useful:

The Complete Bead Guide Answers All Your Questions About Beads, Beading And Beadwork And Is The Ideal Ebook For Beginners & Experienced Bead Lovers! To get your copy...

Click Here!