Posts Tagged ‘jewelry making’

Handmade Jewelry Repair Tips

Making jewelry is a creative hobby and it can be very rewarding, but it can also suck out your creativity if you’re making a lot of unique jewelry designs and then spending lots of energy putting together the materials for each piece over and over. One great way to alleviate that jewelry making burn out while still using your jewelry making talents is to begin offering jewelry repair services! A lot of handmade jewelry makers work throughout the day putting together new jewelry pieces and hunting for jewelry supplies for that next bracelet or pair of earrings.

Repairing jewelry requires a slightly different approach to purchasing jewelry supplies because you’ll need to have lots of connectors, pendants and wire available. You’ll also need think about using a good jewelry supply inventory software package to track what jewelry pieces you have in stock, what you’ll need to purchase soon and where you can get them for the best price. Repairing someone else’s jewelry uses your jewelry design skills and will often present some unique challenges. Instead of making a anklet from your own ideas, you usually need to take someone else’s jewelry pattern and find pieces to replace missing or broken jewelry pieces that either look similar to the rest of the jewelry piece or at least compliment it. Here are some other tips and tricks to remember when you begin repairing jewelry for clients:

Matching jewelry pieces to older jewelry is often next to impossible. You have a better chance of locating replacement jewelry supplies or pieces that are complimentary, though sometimes matching the color of certain gemstones can be very frustrating.

Keep an eye out for structural aging in older jewelry pieces. Even if a mounting isn’t broken, you may want to recommend replacing it before it does fall apart.

Don’t be afraid to price your services fairly. Often times you will be fixing a piece of jewelry that holds a special meaning or is particularly liked by your client. You are providing a service of not just fixing a piece of jewelry, but often you’re helping restore a memory or feeling!

Finally, don’t forget to have fun with it! Both repairing handmade jewelry and making your own jewelry are enjoyable ways to earn some extra cash, but it’s up to you to find the right balance to keep you happy and profitable at the same time. You can usually charge just as much to repair a piece of jewelry as you would to create it. But because are often working with existing jewelry supplies repairing a piece of jewelry may be much more profitable.

Want to pick up more tips and tricks? You can visit our site to read more about making handmade jewelry and get some great jewelry ideas while you’re there.

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Beads From Nature

Nature has been, is, and will always be a part of us. It is everywhere. It is connected with everything that we do, especially when it comes to the arts. Well the art of beading is not an exception because there are beads that may actually come from nature itself! This is one of the explanations that beaded jewelry making is such a popular pastime as it is so various in the types of materials that you may use and therefore the variety of designs you can create.

These types of beads are extremely appealing because they’re nice possibilities from the industrially-made plastic or hand-crafted glass beads. They also are a lot lighter so you can use a large amount of them and not worry about your jewelry not being wearable. They’re great accessories in the summer time or when visiting a tropical country.

Wooden beads are possibly the first thing that comes to one’s mind when talking about beads from nature. There are so many kinds of wood to choose between. There’s bamboo, sandalwood, and rosewood to name a couple. And since wood has a pattern of its own, the mixtures are reputedly unending. Wood is also very alterable. You can color it and change its shape whichever way you would like. You can also burn it too! Another great thing about wooden beads is that they are very easy to combine with other natural beads.

Another present from nature that we are able to use for beading is freshwater pearls. These come in all kinds of colours, shapes, and sizes. They can be pretty costly, particularly if they’re high quality pearls but if you look hard enough you can find some that are more cost-effective.

Ah, shell beads. Who can resist them? They have the most beautiful colors and you may even pick them on your own. All you have to do is drill a complete into them. Be careful when doing this though as you can easily hurt yourself if you are not acquainted with what you do.

What is more natural to us humans than bone? But take note that the ones used for beading aren’t from humans! They usually come from cows and camels. Bone is so versatile and so simple to change. Soaking it in tea or coffee will right away give it a nice darker color. Soaking it in bleach, on the other hand, will leave you with a brighter looking bead.

The best thing about natural beads is that you can simply manipulate their colours. Dyes customarily give the required effect. Doing this is very easy and quite inexpensive. The textures also differ. But despite this it is really easy to mix one natural bead with another. Make sure to use hemp and it instantly fits with the overall theme of nature. Incorporating natural materials in our designs has become very enticing jewelry for men and women as we are all becoming more environmentally conscious.

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How Do I Know Which Rock Tumbling Supplies To Buy?

When beginning a new hobby, it is important to know where to start. The best place is to get to know what sort of equipment you will require. Hopefully, I can offer you a few tips on the correct rock tumbling supplies.

If you are going to tumble rocks it makes sense that you should get a tumbling machine. It does it exactly what it says, it tumbles. Scout around a bit before buying one, though. They do come in many sizes and you want to get the best one for your needs.

Barrels should be next on your list. These hold the rocks throughout the process. The one negative aspect of the barrels is that they need to be replaced at least once a year. Rocks are banging around in them for a very long time and the barrels are made of plastic!

Since the rock tumbling process consists of four steps, you will need one barrel for each step. So, plan on starting with four barrels.

Your next ingredient comes in three sizes and you need a lot of it. What is it? Grit, that’s what it is. You must get silicon abrasive grit. You can find it at mineral/rock or hardware stores.

You will want to get one tub of size eighty, one of size two hundred twenty, and one of size four hundred when buying your grit. Ask for help in the store if you have trouble.

We are almost done with our list. We cannot forget the cerium oxide polish. After all that rough and tumble is done, you place the rocks, polish and water into a fresh barrel. This will make them glossy. You can get just a small amount of this at the store. You just use a tiny bit at a time.

Finally, you need to buy some plastic, round pellets. The rocks beat each other up during the tumbling process. If you add the pellets in with them, it minimizes any rock on rock damage. They are not very big and they are tough enough to protect your rocks without harming them.

So, there you have it. You are on your way to become a fantastic rock tumbler!

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