I have been Googling “Jewelry Making” for several years, but I just couldn’t make the plunge because of the cost. It requires special tools that can be very expensive, and of course, the beads can add up, too. But then about a year ago my favorite jewelry catalog went out of business, and it became harder and harder to find jewelry that I liked, went with my (mainly black and white) style, and was affordable. I started Googling again, and checking out Amazon, and there I found a set of tools that were highly rated and were affordable. I also found a wholesale bead site that sells beads at extremely reasonable prices, and so I decided to just go ahead and do it. I also found several sites that had jewelry making and bead stringing tutorials for beginners, and I studied these carefully.
Necklace and Earrings Set
I bought the tools, half a dozen different sizes of black, red, and silver beads, wire, clasps, earring posts, crimps, and anything else that I thought that I would need. When it had all arrived Al and I went over to Jo-Ann and he helped me pick out five different strands of specialty beads in black and white, or black and red. It actually wasn’t anywhere as expensive as I had thought it would be, the five different sets that I will make from the beads we got at Jo-Ann will cost me the same as sets from my now closed ex-favorite jewelry catalog! And I’ll have lots of plain black and red beads left over for other sets. All I will have to do is go back to Jo-Ann and buy another strand of specialty beads, I can even buy them in other colors, as long as they also go with my black beads.
Necklace and Earring Set
I made this set using one of the strands of specialty beads and some of the black and silver beads that I got from the wholesale bead site. It took me quite a while to make since it was my first one, but the techniques are really very simple, and I know that I will get better and faster with practice. I love how this turned out, and I wore it with my new shorts.
