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Expert wire-wrapping, metalwork, and bead styling tutorials alongside practical business advice for independent designers.
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Jewelry Making Journalby Rena Klingenberg. In this hardware bracelet tutorial, we’ll transform ordinary washers into fab faux “antiqued” jewelry. This bracelet is nicely flexible. It’s also easy to make it the perfect fit for any wrist, simply by adapting the number of washers, and / or including…
Jewelry Making Journalby Rena Klingenberg. This rugged necklace is made with a combination of hardware-store components and jewelry components. It has a grungy, industrial feel – and thanks to the hardware components, it’s a bit heavier than most necklaces. This necklace is just a basic idea. It can…
Jewelry Making Journalby Candy Carlile. (Central Texas) I am forever picking up pretty focals with the best intentions of making them into lovely necklaces, brooches or bracelets. Alas, many of these wonderful pieces never make it to my work table and sit unloved in one of my many jewelry baskets. So…
Jewelry Making Journalby Terri Marie Wlaschin. (Key West, FL) I feel this past year I am crawling out from a decades long self-imposed lockdown on color and patterning. I know I can be fearless, but first I usually have to wrestle with the beadzilla beast inside me that fights for caution. I didn’t…
Jewelry Making Journalby Izelle. (South Africa) I love working with Alcohol ink, and bezels with glass domes. Every piece is one of a kind. With an eye problem, (due to Lupus ) I lost my central sight (cailed‘bulls eye ) , but still manage to do my jewellry making…..mainly because I never stopped!…
Jewelry Making Journalby Candy Carlile. (Texas) I love miniatures and have found a way to combine cute miniature tea sets with my obsession for jewelry making. You can usually get several pieces from one set. If the little saucers do not have holes for jump rings–just drill holes at the top of them…
Jewelry Making Journalby Audrey Cottle. (PENNSYLVANIA) I use genuine leather and suede to make diffuser jewelry which means it is designed to absorb and slowly diffuse essential oils throughout the day. I started making leather jewelry as a hobby a few years ago. I had a lot of encouragement from…
Jewelry Making Journalby Diana White. (United States) One of the best ways to keep growing as a metal artist, in addition to researching videos, tutorials, and taking classes, is to join in with a metalsmithing group and responding to design challenges/competitions. This is exactly what I did a…
Jewelry Making Journalby Cheryl Barnes. (United States) I am a Memory Wire fan. But, most memory wire bracelets tend to look similiar and I try to break out of that model. I love working with various natural gemstones, metals resistant to tarnish and wire. The oval memory wire is somewhat difficult…
Jewelry Making Journalby Margriet. (Canada) Using wood from our property, letting it cure/dry then combining it with resin, color, small rocks, pouring it in layers which require curing after that it is all cured I hand cut, shape it, then LOTS of sanding and polishing, ( not my favourite part .…
Jewelry Making Journalby Jillian Granik. (Northern New Jersey) My dear mother passed away recently leaving me with almost 100 pairs of costume clip-on earrings. She was a real fashion maven but was squeamish about getting her ears pierced. No one was interested in buying clip-on earrings, so I set…
Jewelry Making Journalby Michelle Miller. (Great Falls MT) Hey Just thought I would show some of the bracelets I have been making lately. I make mostly Aromatherapy bracelets. Trying to branch out into different shapes. Michelle Miller Mrs Miller’s Handmade…
Jewelry Making Journalby Melissa Jones. (Annapolis, MD) Not sure what to do with your mask between errands? Problem solved! I made these for me and my husband when our Maryland mask mandate went into effect, and they have worked out great! I made the first few out of deerskin lace (my favorite around…
Jewelry Making Journalby Debra Lowe.(Colorful Colorado) Having arthritis is a HUGE drag, I constantly drop things. Like, yesterday, I knocked over an open case of teeny tiny rhinestones, on to carpet. After I screamed, I sat on the floor and gathered as much as I could by hand. Then I decided to use…
Jewelry Making Journalby Candy Carlile. (Central Texas) If you enjoy working with gemstones, but find the prices a bit steep, you might consider the vast array of beautiful gemstone chips available for jewelry making. There are also a variety of glass chips in every hue. I also do wire work, so…
Jewelry Making Journalby Leah. (Alaska) I am trying to start selling my jewelry and am struggling to figure out what quality of materials to use. I have always bought my wire and earring findings and clips at Michaels or other craft stores like that. Does anyone know how those materials do over time…
Jewelry Making Journalby Virginia Milner. (United States) With Native American Heritage Day coming up (on November 27, 2020) I decided to create a pretty cuff with a Native American inspired pattern. All you need is 2 rings of memory wire, 20 gauge artistic wire, and seed beads. I made my own eye…
Jewelry Making Journalby Virginia Milner. (United States) I’ve been very taken with the fun and creativity of “chaos beads” lately. And I thought that chaotic, twisted wire could be the perfect backdrop for a Day of the Dead theme. I extended the beads to a 3 inch bar, added crystal skulls and bright…
Jewelry Making Journalby Sharon Wise. (Bonne Terre MO) I love the colors and variety of seed beads. There’s something meditative about seeing a pattern develop and your design coming to life. I’ve tried lots of beading ideas using other beads but I seem to return to seed beads. SHARON Wise Wise…
Jewelry Making Journalby Char. (USA) I make handmade items from air dry clay. They are mostly earring charms. The clay is sculpted, dried, painted, and then varnished. I use a polyurethane varnish on my pieces in varying levels of shine (gloss, satin, and matte).I am not sure how I should store my…
Jewelry Making Journalby Lee Sebastiani. I want to try to make purse dangles. The ones I see online have charms, etc. attached to lengths of chain, but I want to try leather cord. Would just passing the cord through the charm’s loop and tying a knot look too sloppy? Is there some kind of crimp or…
Jewelry Making Journalby Lynda C. (Spring Valley, CA) I read somewhere that when you photograph earrings, you should tilt them toward each other as if they are in conversation…talking to each other. What could these two be chatting about, I wonder? Frames made from 20 g. gold craft wire with faceted…
Jewelry Making Journalby Chris Rehkop. (Ashland, MO) My community kicked-off “Second Saturday” small business/crafter events in August. I participated twice, and am preparing for November and December shows. Sales were sporadic, but are getting better. I joined a local small business group on…
Jewelry Making Journalby Dianna. (Ohio) Can anyone offer a good source for raw or antiqued brass components to use in my earring and necklace designs? Was hoping to keep within US or Canada if possible, but open to suggestions. I’ve seen a lot of designs using brass components with really cool…
Jewelry Making Journalby Susan I Pickering. (United States) I was inspired this summer by your tutorial on adjustable metal fabric wrapped bracelets to create this collection from materials I had: copper wire, fabric scraps left from covid-mask making, assorted beads and charms. I followed your clear…