Sunday, July 11, 2010
I have loved jewelry since I was a little girl. One of my fondest memories from childhood is when my mother's friend would clean out her jewelry boxes a least twice a year and pack up her discarded jewels and send them home to me. I was about seven years old at the time and I couldn't wait to open the boxes mom had brought home. Of course, I would adorn myself with every piece and play until I simply fell asleep wearing all of it. Forty-nine years later I still love jewelry. However the difference is, although I have a lot of it, I don't wear all of it at once. So it shouldn't come as any surprise that I would choose jewelry making as a hobby.
The word jewelry means items of personal adornment. Jewelry worn today has evolved, just like man, over the centuries. The oldest beads found were made of shells and have been dated at 100,000 years old, ostrich egg shell beads have been dated back 40,000 years, some copper pieces have been dated at 7000 years, and even Cro Magnon man possessed jewelry made of bone, teeth, berries, & stones. So jewelry has been around for a very long time and has played an important role in not only cultures but also in religion. It has been used as currency, symbolically in religious rituals, it has been used to ward off evil, used to show membership, as artistic expression, and finally as functional pieces such as hair pins and pins.
I think the most enjoyable gift I have ever given was a large shopping bag of findings, beads, earwires, and instructions to my best friend, Angie, two daughters. They were delighted and made each other all different styles of earrings. That would have been very nice if that were the end of it but not only did they make earrings for themselves, they made each of their friends earrings for their Christmas gift. I gave a gift that was enjoyed by the recipient but also by all of their friends.
I hope my blog will inspire others who are thinking of beginning jewelry making either as a hobby or as a way to earn additional income in this really bad economy. I began making jewelry simply as a self indulgence and ended up selling so many of my pieces to co-workers, friends, and relatives that I was truly surprised. The draw to my designs isn't only that they are hand made but that I only make one of each. No two designs are ever the same. This is a selling point because not one co-worker has ever worn the same piece or set as another because each one is a "one of a kind" piece.
To begin jewelry making, my suggestion is, begin with something simple, in my opinion that would be a set of earrings. These can be as simple as a bead dangling from an ear wire or as complex as your imagination will allow. Earrings are generally very easy and fast to make and this is also something that will allow you to experiment and get a feeling for the tools you're going to use and to get use to putting together different components or findings.
Tools for jewelry making:
If you are just wanting to try your hand at making jewelry and aren't quite sure that you will like it or not I would not invest a lot of money in buying a lot of tools and findings that you may not use. However, buying an economy set of jewelry making tools would probably be cheaper than buying a couple of tools individually. Economy sets can cost from $10.00 up to $20.00 depending on where you buy them. These sets usually include: Flat Nose pliers, Chain Nose pliers, Round Nose pliers, Side Cutting tool, and End Cutting tool. All of these tools are very significant in jewelry making. My other suggestion, if your a beginner, is to buy a earring jewelry kit. They have all the components to make a pair of earrings and the step by step instructions. If you find a kit but don't like the color of the beads included in the package look at the package for the size & the number of beads needed then purchase a package of the color beads you desire in the same size. These kits can easily be found at most craft stores and I have even seen them at Wal Mart. I have also noticed, of late, that many on-line jewelry suppliers are selling kits.
For additional inspiration, buy a beading magazine, they usually contain many earring designs and have pages of jewelry making suppliers listed in the back of the magazine. You can also access free instructional videos & designs from many jewelry making suppliers on the internet. Even You Tube has instructional videos.
The word jewelry means items of personal adornment. Jewelry worn today has evolved, just like man, over the centuries. The oldest beads found were made of shells and have been dated at 100,000 years old, ostrich egg shell beads have been dated back 40,000 years, some copper pieces have been dated at 7000 years, and even Cro Magnon man possessed jewelry made of bone, teeth, berries, & stones. So jewelry has been around for a very long time and has played an important role in not only cultures but also in religion. It has been used as currency, symbolically in religious rituals, it has been used to ward off evil, used to show membership, as artistic expression, and finally as functional pieces such as hair pins and pins.
I think the most enjoyable gift I have ever given was a large shopping bag of findings, beads, earwires, and instructions to my best friend, Angie, two daughters. They were delighted and made each other all different styles of earrings. That would have been very nice if that were the end of it but not only did they make earrings for themselves, they made each of their friends earrings for their Christmas gift. I gave a gift that was enjoyed by the recipient but also by all of their friends.
I hope my blog will inspire others who are thinking of beginning jewelry making either as a hobby or as a way to earn additional income in this really bad economy. I began making jewelry simply as a self indulgence and ended up selling so many of my pieces to co-workers, friends, and relatives that I was truly surprised. The draw to my designs isn't only that they are hand made but that I only make one of each. No two designs are ever the same. This is a selling point because not one co-worker has ever worn the same piece or set as another because each one is a "one of a kind" piece.
To begin jewelry making, my suggestion is, begin with something simple, in my opinion that would be a set of earrings. These can be as simple as a bead dangling from an ear wire or as complex as your imagination will allow. Earrings are generally very easy and fast to make and this is also something that will allow you to experiment and get a feeling for the tools you're going to use and to get use to putting together different components or findings.
Tools for jewelry making:
If you are just wanting to try your hand at making jewelry and aren't quite sure that you will like it or not I would not invest a lot of money in buying a lot of tools and findings that you may not use. However, buying an economy set of jewelry making tools would probably be cheaper than buying a couple of tools individually. Economy sets can cost from $10.00 up to $20.00 depending on where you buy them. These sets usually include: Flat Nose pliers, Chain Nose pliers, Round Nose pliers, Side Cutting tool, and End Cutting tool. All of these tools are very significant in jewelry making. My other suggestion, if your a beginner, is to buy a earring jewelry kit. They have all the components to make a pair of earrings and the step by step instructions. If you find a kit but don't like the color of the beads included in the package look at the package for the size & the number of beads needed then purchase a package of the color beads you desire in the same size. These kits can easily be found at most craft stores and I have even seen them at Wal Mart. I have also noticed, of late, that many on-line jewelry suppliers are selling kits.
For additional inspiration, buy a beading magazine, they usually contain many earring designs and have pages of jewelry making suppliers listed in the back of the magazine. You can also access free instructional videos & designs from many jewelry making suppliers on the internet. Even You Tube has instructional videos.
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