Getting Started : Beginning Jewellery Making

Hello again, yeah I know, I know, two posts in one week, amazing ain't it! Haha I told you I would get better at blogging...



Ok so when I first started making jewellery I found it really hard knowing what to buy to get myself started. There are so many tools and things around it can be quite confusing getting the essentials or getting non-essential thingy ma-bobs and gadgets. Then there are books, beads, threading materials, wire, findings, storage....do you get my point? So I thought it would be a good idea to write something that will give newbies an idea of what to get and how to get started.



I'll break this up into sections:



Tools



When I bought my starting tools I did end up with alot of things I never use. I bought a plier set by Bead Smith. The set I bought was one of the cheapest ones. It is an 8 piece set, consisting of: Round nose, chain nose, nylon jaw and flat nose pliers, thread cutters, knotting tweezers, side cutters, and a bead scoop, all in a nice little case.



I do think it is good value for money as it only cost me around £9.99. However I don't use everything in it. I mainly use:



Round nose pliers

Flat nose pliers

Nylon jaw pliers

Wire cutters



Because they were not the best quality they are showing the wear and tear. So I would suggest investing your money in getting these 4 tools but of a better quality.



Books



Okey well there a probably hundreds of jewellery making books out there but these are the ones that I got to get myself started.



All About Beads by Barbara Case



Bead Fantasies by Takako Samejima



These are the only two I bought, and the are both excellent. However as I said there are lots out there to choose from and we all have our own tastes so that really up to you haha.



Amazon is great for all your beady books : http://www.amazon.co.uk/ or http://www.amazon.com/



Storage



Well there are lots of storage options available. However I prefer tool organisers, like this one from B&Q:



http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9380709&fh_view_size=10&fh_location=%2f%2fcatalog01%2fen_GB&fh_search=organisers&fh_eds=%c3%9f&fh_refview=search&ts=1241725284831&isSearch=true



You can pick bead storage up at most craft shops and bead shops and they vary in price.

I also picked up a great deal in Lidl, it was a black and decker organiser and its fab so keep an eye out in Lidl and Aldi because they often have special offers.

Beads

Now beads, there are absolutely thousands upon thousands of beads out there in all different styles, colours and materials and its really down to you to pick your own. I will warn you, you will spend LOTS of £££! There are so many beautiful beads!

Some of the suppliers I like to use that are reliable, good quality and good value are:

http://www.beadsunlimited.co.uk/
http://www.empirebeads.co.uk/

and the ebay shops I use the most are:

Sanctuary Beads (http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/SANCTUARY-BEADs)

K2-Acessories (http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/K2-Accessories)

The Bead Basket (http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/the-bead-basket-uk)

They are all very reliable seller, with very reasonable postage rates and a great variety of beads and everything else you need.

Findings

Personally I always buy silver plate finding and Sterling Silver findings. But its totaly up to you. Theres lots of different colours, metals, finishes that you can buy. There silver, gold, copper, bronze, antique...etc.

Heres the basics:

Head pins
Eye pins
Jump rings
Chain
Earwires

Other findings that are good to have are:

Crimps
spacers
Ear posts
challotes

These can also be purchased from the above supliers.

Threading materials

The materials I purchased were:

Tiger tail wire which comes in an array of colours

Strong and stretchy beading elastic which also comes in lots of colours

Hemp twine comes in lots of colours but I only every buy the natural one.

Anyway hope this help all the newbies a little bit. Do not hesitate to contact me if you need any help or have any questions. Will speak soon, Thanks for reading..

Love
Rachel