Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Learn To Make Beaded Jewelry

By Janet Denning

Making beaded jewelry is not only fun to do; it can be a personally and even financially rewarding activity! When you learn to make jewelry, you can give your work to friends as gifts and even sell them for some extra money - and it's always great to make a hobby that you enjoy become a profitable one!

Beaded jewelry is extremely versatile; you can make nearly any kind of jewelry at all using beads. You can make earrings, bracelets and necklaces all with relative ease. If you take care in making these items, they can look just as good as commercially produced ones! Best of all, once you learn to make your own jewelry, you'll never be at a loss as where to find the right piece of jewelry to match an outfit - you can simply make it yourself!

However, a lot of people rush into jewelry making and go purchase beads, but neglect to find out what else they will need. Before you go shopping for supplies, make a list of all of the materials and tools you'll need so that you won't miss out on picking up important supplies.

You'll need some material for stringing your beads; Tigertail is one which a lot of beaded jewelry makers use. This is a strong material to use, but it is easily kinked - so it may not be the best choice for your first project. Soft-flex is another material which is strong and easy to work with even for beginners. You'll most likely need some crimping beads; these will hold your beads in place as you finish your pieces. A crimping tool is another piece of equipment you'll find useful - it's more costly than pliers, but will make for a much better looking piece of jewelry.

You definitely have a lot of different choices in beads as well, so don't limit yourself to traditional beads. There are beads of all styles, sizes and shapes which let every piece of your beaded jewelry be unique and beautiful.

Before sitting down to string your beads, it's best to take a careful look at your beads so that you can get an idea of how they will look once part of your finished piece. Getting a bead board is a good idea, since this will let you lay out your beads and see how they'll look. The best thing to do is to lay out your beads and then leave them for a day - if you are still pleased with how they look the next morning, then you'll be ready to string them and finish the piece of jewelry.

The only limit to the styles of jewelry you can make is your imagination. Of course, the style you choose to create will influence the length and the way that you string your beads; measuring carefully beforehand is key. It's a good idea to get a measuring guide to help you as you get starting making jewelry. There's nothing worse than making a piece of jewelry only to find out that it's not the right length! You'll usually have to remake the whole piece to fix these kinds of measuring mistakes.

Making your own beaded jewelry lets you make beautiful pieces of wearable art which will be kept and cherished by everyone you give or sell it to - it's a great feeling! No doubt you'll also want to create some one of a kind pieces for yourself to wear too. Before you get started though, it's a good idea to take a few classes or get some detailed instructions so that you can start making great looking, quality beaded jewelry.

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