Jewellery making

jeanette251978

Hi all,

I am looking to start making jewellery for a hobby but also to make some money - Im completely new to this and would appreciate any advise.

Ive been looking on the internet for suppliers and i have found some - can anyone recommend anyone in particular? also where can i find info on how to make the jewellery? does anyone sell them and be successful?? where do you sell?

thanks in advance for your advise!!!


xx

Jo_F

Jeanette, if you have my email then email me, otherwise catch me on MSN, jeesh woman are you stalking me? I do jewellery!

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

Hey, just wanna bump this one as interested too but dont know where to start... x

jeanette251978

Jo_F wrote: »

Jeanette, if you have my email then email me, otherwise catch me on MSN, jeesh woman are you stalking me? I do jewellery!

LOL! am i so obvious? haha!

Well you kind of inspired me actually, you gave me the idea - didnt want to ask but would be grateful of some advise!

I actually love craft fairs and stuff so would love to get into it.

How did yours go the other week????? Ive lost your email addy

can you PM it or just PM me? cheers dude, your a star xx

Jo_F

Have just got up, and not fully functioning yet, but will get in touch with you later.

Basically it all depends what kind of jewellery people decide to make, a good place to start is looking at books in the local library, there are also a few beading magazines, they offer details of bead/findings suppliers and also tutorials on how to make things.

Seed beading is time consuming and you need a lot of patience (I know the air turns blue sometimes round here, but that's mostly with my beaded flowers!)

Start with simple earrings/bracelets/necklaces while you figure out colours, layouts etc.

Ebay seem to have a lot of starter kits, these will include beads, findings etc and then you will need some pliers, the smaller round nose ones with a wire cutter are a good place to start.

Also start with gold and silver plate findings, there is no need to go mad and start with sterling silver, not while you are learning/making mistakes/trashing attempts

There are also quite a few beading and craft forums, in the case of UK Beaders there are a lot of the suppliers on there, ranging from beautiful lampwork beads to tiara bases.

One thing though, Hobbycraft can get a bit expensive.

Honey9036

The following websites are good for jewellery-making supplies:

http://www.kernowcraft.com/Default.aspx
http://www.beads.co.uk/

or you could try this Thailand-based website - they are much cheaper than UK suppliers (they are trade-only, but will allow you to order a $75 "sample order"):

http://www.925e.com/index.php

Finally, this site is good for presentation boxes:

http://www.goldpack.co.uk/

Don't be put off by websites that state "trade only" - just make up a company name for yourself and you're good to go.

Good luck with your venture! I hope this info helps.

Lori
x

melancholly

i know this is a bit far from stoke (although maybe only an hour?), but there's a shop there that runs introduction courses that might be a really good way to start and get some confidence:
http://www.mailorder-beads.co.uk/bead-workshops-jan-mar08.html

the all day basic course is very good (did it last year and made lots of things that i still wear!). there are probably other shops near you that do similar things too.

i found christmas fairs this year a bit quieter than i'd hoped, but i only do it on a very small scale for extra funds, not for a full income. just be aware that a lot of people import cheap ready-made jewellery and sell it at fairs - they can undercut you massively. don't want to put you off, but it's a trend that has been increasing lately!

Jo_F

I agree with the bought in comment, but there are people out there that do appreciate the work that goes into handmade stuff, and my biggest selling point is that I don't do replicas, I may do two bracelets similar, but each one will be different in some way.

Got an online shop being built at the moment for me, and have also opened an account with etsy, so hopefully will be selling in there in the new year (biggest problem with that at the moment is that you have to list in US$ and the exchange rate makes for scary looking numbers lol)

One problem with the Christmas fairs that I have found was the weather, seems its been too wet for most people to venture out of the house!

misspixierocktastic

Hi there i have my own jewelery range i used to have a big cartel shopping site and i would see my necklaces on there
They were targetted at the younger audience and used to sell very well, i found that american ebay was great for bulk buying my charms etc and then i would hand out them all together it was also great fun now i make them fro friends as presents etc :-)

Sarzzie

Thanks for this, I want to make more money next year and this sounds interesting, does anyone have a eBay shop?, I don't yet but that seems more straight forward to me than starting a website.
Great advise, many thanks again x

Jo_F

I don't have an Ebay shop, but I have sold some stuff through Ebay, have also sold some by badgering people on some of the forums I go on (done in the nicest way )