Jewellery making anyone??

Jo_F

My bead and earwire stash went up dramatically this morning, as I spent a couple of hours stripping down earrings that I made a while ago and they don't seem to be to find anyone that wants to buy them. Think it was around 100 pairs of earrings, all my cats eye ones, some glass and bone, and all my gemstone earrings.

Have since found that my little snips are dying, they need more pressure to make them cut the pins, and as a result I now have a hand full of blisters.

So if I am going to make anything this afternoon, its going to have to be beadweaving as I am in too much pain to do any wirework. (plus the aforementioned snips might just make a mess of the wire)

LJM

Jo_F wrote: »

Not only is it addictive, but the beads seem to breed at an alarming rate.

I think we all start with a marg tub of beads, and then turn around and find the beads have taken over the house.

(or is that just me!)

def not just you i have bags pots and boxes all over place whooops lol it is soooo addictive but fun

jeski

Well my bead order arrived today. Can't wait till my two year old goes to bed so I dare get them out of the box. Of course as soon as it arrived I realised I'd not got any bead wire stuff (so technical), and not enough fastners, so had to nip out to get extra bits from the craft shop.
Get ready for the questions!

LJM

good luck,be prepared to pack it in after about 10 mins if your anything like me i got so frustrated when i couldnt get it right but persevere it really is worth it,its calming (eventually:rotfl: )fun and passes the time far too quickly,show us some piccies of your stash,i love beads

jeski

I have no idea how to post pics on here.
I haven't been able to have a stab at it yet either as I managed to order the wrong thread and got some strtchy nylon stuff which is neither use nor ornament. I did order some tigertail last night when I realised though.

I got some gold chain too. I want to make some dangly earrings. I think they are called free form? The bunches of dangly bead type? Am I right in thinking that I just thread however much chain onto an earring and attatch beads with jump rings? Or is that completely wrong?

Jo_F

jeski wrote: »

I have no idea how to post pics on here.
I haven't been able to have a stab at it yet either as I managed to order the wrong thread and got some strtchy nylon stuff which is neither use nor ornament. I did order some tigertail last night when I realised though.

I got some gold chain too. I want to make some dangly earrings. I think they are called free form? The bunches of dangly bead type? Am I right in thinking that I just thread however much chain onto an earring and attatch beads with jump rings? Or is that completely wrong?

The nylon stretchy stuff sounds like elastic, used for bracelets with no fastener.

As to the chain earrings, yep, just cut the chain in the the length you want, add the beads, I would assume you are threading the beads on a pin and then when you make the loop in the pin you can add the chain end before you close the loop, and you can use a few differing lengths of chain on each earring to make them really blingy, just put the top ends of the chain in the same jump ring and then put that at the base of the ear wire.

Remember not to yank the ends of the ring apart to open it, you hold both sides and slide one end past the other, and then in reverse to close it.

BOBS

Remember not to yank the ends of the ring apart to open it, you hold both sides and slide one end past the other, and then in reverse to close it.

good advice .... i made jewellery for about a year before I realised that i should have been pulling jump rings apart!! Wondered why I couldnt get them to go together again!

Jo_F

Oh and another tip about jump rings, when making a bracelet or a necklace, most of us use a jump ring to put the clasp on, it creates a safe break point in the piece of jewellery, just incase the piece gets caught (like round a door handle), then you are not likely to injure the wearer, but if you do it near the clasp, the ring will give way, and hopefully the beaded part will stay intact when the piece comes apart and will be easy enough to put another clasp on.

jeski

Thanks Jo-F.
See, there I'd have been trying to hread a bead onto a jump ring.... D'oh!
You've already proved invaluable and I haven't attempted to thread a bead yet.

scuzz

I finally made my first bracelet this week. I'd done two, when my neighbour came over, fell in love with them and bought them:j A good start to what I'm hoping will start as a sideline and maybe grow to something else.