Jewelry Making

By Jennifer C.

I have been doing this for about 6 months now, so by no means am I an expert in this field. However, for those of you wanting to start, I'd like to share what I have learned.

First, it's important to use the right beading wire. Don't go cheap here, all that will happen is the bracelet or necklace will break at some point. I only use Beadalon 49 Strand Wire, Invisiline, or 1mm Stretch Magic wire. When I first started out I bought the 19 Strand Wire and found it couldn't hold the heavier beads after several months.

There are some great tools out there that are must haves. First a wire cutter to cut the Wire to length as well as the excess. Chain nose pliers can be used for crimping the beads as well as holding the headpins while wrapping the wire with the Roundnose pliers. A split ring tool is not essential but makes attaching rings to Charms much easier.

The Chain nose pliers are great for crimping until you become more advanced. I currently have begun using the Bead crimper tool which provides a more polished look. The lower section will crimps the wire into two separate strands, while the upper section folds it in half and rounds it off. You need to make sure the wires are laying parallel when you do the first crimp, or the crimp may not be as secure.

There are several different sizes of crimps. They range for 1mm which are great for the illusion style jewerly, up to the 3mm size to use when threading multiple strands of wire. Some like to secure the jewelry with two crimps, I prefer just one.Now that you have your tools and wire, its time to find the beads. I stay away from plastic beads as they give the jewelry a type of unfinished and cheap look. I generally stick with Glass beads, Gemstones, Bali Silver, Lampwork beads, Seed Beads, and Swarovski Crystals.

When creating your jewelry, a bead board comes in incredibly handy. This way you can lay out your design and rearrange as needed before threading your beads. I've found it's best to choose your biggest beads first and center those in your design. Then work your way out with the smaller beads. Most like to do it in symetrical fashion, but some really neat designs can come out of using simliar but not duplicate beads.