So here's a funny story. Back a couple years ago, my friend said to me, 'Hey, my 15th anniversary is coming up, do you have any ideas for a gift I can get my wife? The traditional gift is crystal.' I said, 'Oh yeah, I have ideas! Why not get a big geode like at the Nature Company?' They have really big expensive ones, and they're very beautiful. These guys are well-to-do, they can afford the big amethyst ones.
'Eh, I don't think so...' he says.
'Oh, I know!' I say, 'You can get one of those crystal lamps. There's a big piece of quartz crystal and a lightbox under it, and it makes the crystal light up.'
'Uh, I was kinda thinking, you know, like crystal glassware stuff...?'
Okay, he wants something fancy... so I go, "Okay, you want some crystal jewelry?' And I go looking up places that sell crystals and stuff online.
Well, in the end, he went and got something crystal (actually, he never told me what he got), and I started shopping at crystal jewelry sites. I was reading about the different gem properties, like citrine which is good for energy (lord, I needed that), and carnelian for wealth and success (boy, do I need THAT), and black tourmaline to transform negative energy into positive energy.
So I found a place that had, I thought, reasonable prices where I picked out three crystals I wanted, a ring to hang them on, and a silver chain for a necklace. Eighty-three bucks! I said, 83 bucks!? I could go down to the crafts store, pick up a buncha beads and make my own necklace for less than that!
And yeah, I did.
I not only made myself a (rather large and garish) necklace with several types of gemstone, I also made my mom a necklace for Christmas, and a necklace as a gift for one of my friends. For a grand total of 32 dollars. Yeah, baby!
However, this was not the budding start of a lovely new hobby. Because although I enjoyed making the jewelry a lot, I almost never wear any. I enjoy it more than making candles, and those I use! Ah, well.
So for a year, although I had leftover beads and some gems, I didn't make any more jewelry. Then the next year I asked my mom what she wanted for Christmas, and she said she'd like another necklace. In fact, how about if I make some for her to give to two of my cousins, too? Well, hey, any excuse is good!
My Jewelry Designs Show-Off Page
Plus, it also occurs to me that if I make myself one necklace or bracelet, and make two that I sell for 20 bucks a pop... this hobby could pay for itself. *IF* I can sell them, that's always the stumbling block with me. (That, and paying postage :X )
This year, I broke down and got myself some tools, and I'm learning wire-work. That's the fancy big-bucks stuff. But starting out with beading doesn't have to be a big investment. In fact, I remember when I was a clueless newbie going up and down the aisle for 2 hours trying to figure out what I needed to make the three necklaces I wanted, and I have some tips for you!
Getting Started In Beading
First, don't worry about any tools. Those fancy pliers are for wire-work. (When you see necklaces where each bead is connected to the next with metal links, that's the wire-work. Those guys do that all by hand.) You can start up with beading by stringing beads, which is a whole lot simpler! If you have a toolkit at home with regular needlenose pliers, you can get by.
The absolute cheapest and least-supply-intensive way to start beaded jewelry is to buy a pack of memory wire for bracelets. Memory wire is spring steel (aka "a slinky"(tm)). It doesn't close with a clasp, you open the spirals, stick your wrist in, then let it close on your arm. If you make at least 3 loops, you won't even need any clasps.
If you want to cut the memory wire into shorter spirals, you WILL need a serious pair of wire cutters -- spring steel is no joke. Hopefully there is one in the kit with your needlenose pliers. Do NOT buy wire cutters at the jewelry supply place, those are for *little* wires. Those will be ruined trying to cut these memory suckers. You need heavy-duty hardware grade wirecutters. Or, the bracelet packs come with pre-cut spiral sections. You don't have to cut them if you want to make braelets with a lot of loops and beads.
Put a loop in the end of the memory wire with your needlenose pliers and start sticking beads on. When you get to the other end, put on another loop. Done! How easy is that?
There's memory wire for chokers, but if you prefer to be making regular necklaces, you want to grab some Tigertail. To make your life really easy, you can usually find a tigertail kit with all the findings to make a few necklaces (and/or bracelets). Tigertail is made up of several strands of steel, wrapped in nylon. It looks like thread, but it is very strong. You can cut it with a big pair of scissors (I tried cutting it with my jewelry-grade wire cutters, but that didn't work so well). Just use the back end of the scissors so you don't dull the paper-cutting part.
When using tigertail, you put a crimp bead on one end, a jump ring, then thread the tail back through the crimp bead and crimp it. No, you don't need crimping pliers; they make it pretty, but your needlenoses will do fine.
String on your beads, then do the crimp loop on the other end of the wire, this time with the clasp on. This is the hardest part, getting the necklace strand pulled tight and the end of the wire jammed down through the crimp bead and shoved back through a bead or three. This really separates the men from the boys! It takes a lot of dexterity.
Beads & Accessories
Now these are up to you. I like working with gemstone beads -- I like how they look, I like how they feel. There are also glass beads which are pretty, and plastic beads which I always think look tacky. Even that Swarovski-whosit crystal. They're really pretty, but... perhaps too much so. Then there's natural beads -- wood, shell, bone, antler, etc. I wouldn't try to mix beads. Maybe glass and gems can work together, but I think if you try to put plastic in with them, it will amplify the cheapness of the plastic.
I do use plastic spacer beads. I got a big pack of variously-sized and shaped silver beads, and I recommend this for folks starting out. These help space out the beads, make little accents and shape changes, and fill out the strands. They will also help with transitions between bead shapes and sizes, and colours.
I also recommend picking up a pack of decorative head pins (for necklaces, not bracelets), and bead cages. The cages can help you highlight big beads with a bit of flair; break up the uniformity of the smooth beads.
For the headpins, you can make some dangles; almost like pendants. Slip on a bead or two or three, then bend the top of the pin into a ring and string it on your tigertail. A group of three of these will give you a fancy look without having to invest in a pendant. (Those suckers can cost 10-15 bucks a pop!) Or you can use two on the sides for a framing effect, etc.
You may also want to pick up a pack of split rings. (For heavens sake, don't get spring rings like I did!) Remember, to open and close a split ring, you hold it in two pliers on either side of the split and then move the pliers perpendicular to the ring -- don't yank the ends back and forth, that will distort the ring and make it useless. In other words, picture the split ring is like a sandwich you are going to bite into, with your hands as the pliers on either side. Push one hand up and the other down, to twist your sandwich. (Not recommended for use with actual sandwiches).
The split rings will allow you to hang things and dangle things. In my mother's first necklace, I had a caged bead centered, then dangled 3 rings in a short 'chain' from the cage and connected a single accent gem on a head pin.
There is a lot of variety you can achieve with just this much. Use your creativity! Take a look at what else is in the jewelry-making aisle there, and see if any designs pop into your head. Oh, and... maybe plan to spend an hour or two shopping! :X
