Chris Ralph

Create Your Own Homecrafted Jewelry



Posted: Monday, December 17, 2007

by
Nevada Outback Gems

Beautiful jewelry can be crafted by anyone who will take the time to learn the necessary skills. Various jewelry equipment suppliers and gemstone sellers have done all they can to make things easy for individuals to try jewelry art for themselves. The necessary knowledge is now easy to acquire. If you have any artistic flair or talent, there is no question that you can make your own, special art pieces to wear. When you make your own rings, pendants and other items, there is no question that your jewelry becomes very sentimental. You can also produce unique items different from anything that might be seen in a standard, commercial store. There is also little question that you can save some significant money by making your own adornments.

Many folks are intimidated by the skills that they imagine are needed. Certainly some craft skills need to be learned, but not all jewelry skills are hard to learn or take massive amounts of expensive equipment - some are really fairly simple. This is why many folks have taken up crafting their own adornments as a hobby. Most start out with beading, but there are whole worlds of gemstone work and metal smithing that interested individuals can grow into. It is very possible to start out small and grow into this hobby, purchasing equipment and supplies as your knowledge, interest and skills increase. In fact you can learn the basics about the skills involved on my website. The pages are not, by themselves, sufficient to teach you all you need to know, however they will give you the flavor of what is out there. They will also give you an idea on how difficult that skill is and what tools are needed. There are also books are available to help you learn.

When beginning any new hobby or craft, it is often best to start slow and allow yourself a chance to grow into it at your own pace. The old saw recommending that one learns to walk before they run is applicable in a number of crafts. New Craft projects which are too difficult or involved and become frustrating are soon dropped or left behind. Perhaps the simplest and easiest way to get involved with jewelry making and the world of jewelry arts is in the field of bead stringing. For the most part, bead stringing involves working with a variety of pre-made beads which are polished and ready to use with the holes already drilled so that they are ready for use. Stringing of beads typically involves running a thin metal wire or nylon filament string through the holes in the beads to assemble a necklace, bracelet or anklet. The piece is finished by adding some sort of clasp piece at each end which allows the loop to be opened and worn.

Another one of the easiest ways in which its possible to make your own jewelry is to simply buy pre-notched settings and set your own stones. Several suppliers of "ready to set" jewelry items offer their products through the Internet. It is easy to get one of their catalogs and see what types of settings they have available. The empty settings are known as findings in the industry. Jewelry items of all types, earrings, rings, pendants, bracelets, etc. are all available in pre-notched and polished forms.

Another possibilty is the new precious metal clays. They are a high tech modern way that you can produce your own jewelry. Precious Metal clay is a moldable material made with a powder of precious metals suspended in an organic binder. Once formed into the desired shape, the material is heated to a certain point at which the binder disappears, leaving a fused metal product which can be worked and used to produce jewelry. Several types are available, and both silver and gold based clay products are available to the artist.

It is possible to buy gems at various gem and jewelry shows, directly from jewelry equipment suppliers, or from independent gem dealers. This type of arrangement gives you, the jewelry making artist, the greatest degree of freedom of choice in your designs.

Jewelry making is a hobby that you will be glad you looked into.

Much more detailed information about how you can easily make your own jewelry can be viewed at: http://nevada-outback-gems.com/Make_jewelry/making_jewelry.htm

Basic information on gemstones, including an encyclopedia of gems, can be found at: http://nevada-outback-gems.com/Encyclopedia_pages/Gemstone_Encyclopedia.htm

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