First Video is up!! Its about tools please check it out!!!

Basic Jewelry Tools: http://youtu.be/Q16OymthE5M

Jewelry Tools and Basics for Beginners

Hi everyone I am here today to talk to you about tools and basics needed to get you started on creating jewelry!!!


The Most used tools in jewelry making are:

1.) Round Nose Pliers- round nose pliers are called round nose pliers because well they are round, you can use them for making loops in wire work, you can use them to create jump rings, cones, shapes of all kinds, use them when stringing beads etc

2.) Flat Nose Pliers- Flat nose pliers are flat on the ends, great for closing crimp beads, feeding your string thru beads when your at the end and have to feed the string back thru a few beads, they are also handy in wire work, for holding things, making shapes, closing ends

3.) Bent Nose Pliers- they are bent at the end . These are my go to pliers for just about everything, they come in handy for tucking in the ends of wire after looping, they get into hard to reach areas as well

4.) Jewelry tweezers- just like tweezers for your eyebrows only a bit longer and smoother at the ends, these are great for picking up beads and small findings or even pushing things together I have 2 pair on hand at all times one pair has a scoop at the end great for scooping out beads and such

5.) Flush Cutters- Flush cutters cut stringing wire as well as metal wire, you will always use these. They give you a clean straight end, great for wire working.

6.) A Bur Cup-aka a Wire Rounder- this is one of my favorite tools I use it constantly, this tool you use to create a rounded end to your wire so that it doesn't snag on skin or clothing. I also use it as a mandrel to shape my ear wire or to make large bail loops or loops in general

7.) A Bead Board- this is a lightweight board that already has your measurements marked. usually has some small compartments to hold your beads, findings, or any supplies you need to create the piece you are working on.

8.) A Steel Bench Block (my personal preference or an anvil)- to hammer or flatten wire designs, create paddle pins etc

9.) A Chasing Hammer (commonly known as a ball pien hammer) - It is flat and rounded off to the sides , great for striking metals and wire, the other side is rounded like a ball and has a texture to give your pieces some texture

10.) Nail Clippers- not a must have but a good to have on hand I use these a lot especially when stringing and you have small tails left that the flush cutters may not reach, I got mine in a small manicure kit at the dollar store

11.) A File- mostly used when working with wire to smooth out ends so they aren't sharp, there is no particular file to get I often use a cutical nail file, also purchased at the dollar store, you can get the heavy duty ones at any hardware supply store


STRINGING-
Stringing is the material you will use to bead your jewelry onto. Always make sure your beads have a hole big enough to fit onto the string.
Now each designer has a personal preference for stringing materials , you will also find your favorite so I will only list what I use:

Beadalon 49 strand- I use this for both necklaces and bracelets as it is durable, and flexible!!!

I also use Beadalon 7 for lighter weight bracelets
they come in different lengths, and colors I use satin silver most of the time or copper color

FINDINGS-
Findings are what clasps, jumprings, headpins, earwires, etc are called. There are so many styles of findings, my advice to you is to google findings to familiarize yourself with the various different ones

CLASPS-
there are many varieties of clasps
My preference are lobster claw and toggle clasp. however there are many more styles such as spring clasp, hook and eye clasp, S clasp, magnetic clasp, barrel clasp, and quite a few more each comes in various shapes and styles

CRIMP BEADS-

Crimp beads are what hold your strings together to secure them so your beads don't fall off, they come in a variety of sizes, and colors.

A lot of designers use  what is called a CRIMPING TOOL to make them pretty and round. And also use a crimp cover. I don't personally do this but it is a nice clean look. The preference is totally up to you.

EAR WIRES-
Ear wires also come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Again what you use is your preference!!!

CHAINS-
Chains for use in jewelry making come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, metals etc, play and experiment, always be sure if you are using chain to secure a pendant that the chain is well made and can hold the pendant. They can be used in many ways in your designs. get creative!!!

JUMPRINGS-
Jumprings also come is various sizes, and gauges. Jumprings secure your clasp, charms, etc onto your design.



MEMORY WIRE-

Memory wire is thicker than normal wire, its important that you use cutters specifically for memory wire it will break your regular jewelry flush cutters, they do sell memory wire cutters specially made for this. Memory wire is great for making stack-able bracelets, it holds it shape very well.You can add beads, charms etc, always loop your ends to secure it. Memory wire basically wraps around your wrist and its great for those who don't like using clasps.


I hope I covered most of the basics to get you started, you don't need all of these at one time. But these are whats on my tool bench and my most used tools and items. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Thanks and have a great day!!

As always Happy CREATING!!!

HAVE YOU HEARD??? The BUILD A LINE challenge is off to a start

Have you heard of the Build A Line Challenge??
Each participant creates their own jewelry line over a three month period. Im excited to see their journies progress. This is a great oppurtunity to check out some amazing artists and to read about the Build a Line challenge. This is for the MASTERS !! Also a great learning experience for all even if your only reading.
Learn more about this amazing challenge here: (sorry you will have to copy and paste)

http://bsueboutiques.typepad.com/bsue_boutiques_jewelry_su/2015/01/build-a-line-challenge-master-class-blog-hop-part-one-bsue-boutiques.html

Upcoming Trunk Shows

If your wondering where you can find my items or other amazing items, check these out

These are my TRUNK SHOW DATES

THE JEWELRY BOX
Wednesday January 28,2015
5am-10pm CST

BEAUTIFUL ARTISANS AUCTION 

February 5th @5:30pm pst -February 6th @6:00pm pst

ELITE ARTISAN JEWELRY SHOWCASE

All show timea start at 10pm EST the night prior to the start date and end at 10pm EST on the end date :)

February 16-17th

March 18-19th

April 15-16th

JEWELRY DESIGNER OPEN MARKET

February 17-18th

Will add any other dates soon!!!

Some Random Thoughts for today

Life is in fact short. Do you . Laugh lots. Dance often. LOVE hard. Color the world.

A friend said this quote to me and I love it " Blessed are the cracks for they let in the light" thats deep !!

My favorite quotes from the Cheshire cat :
"If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there"

"We are all mad here"

I love those!!

Also going thru my mind today,
Im part of a lot of groups on fb and omg I cant believe the hate and ignorance that goes on! This im relating to jewelry but you can use it in life as well ready here goes:

Always be kind to one another, you never know what goes on inside and how your words or actions cut to the deepest parts of a soul, they hurt!!

Everyone starts somewhere!! Be supporting, be thoughtful, teach, advise, instruct, and learn!!

Empower one another!!

There is no right or wrong! Art is art!! Its a release of ones heart and soul!!  I know everyone has likes and dislikes however there is no need to be harsh if you want to leave a critique than leave constructive critism!!!

Alot of you have asked what groups I belong to and holy moly there are many buy I will name a few

I'll start with the ones I help moderate remember these are on facebook you can type the names into your fb search bar!!!

Gone To Pieces Budget Lampwork group- we have an awesome mod squad and we aint afraid to show it :)
If your a lampwork artist or an artist interested in lampwork this is a budget friendly group pieces are on auction listings all under $25.00

The Frazzled Clay Artisans Group-

I started this group recently so that clay artists have a group to list items in an auction format it is still growing but we have some amazing artists, clay can be metal, polymer, porcelain, ceramic etc any kind of clay!!!

You can also see me frequent these awesome groups:

Bead Chat (hosted by aunties beads)

Creative Bead Chat

Aspiring Metalsmiths

Lampwork Bead Addicts

Artisan Designer Jewelry Buy and sell

The Jewelry Box

Elite Artisan Showcase

Jewelry Designers Open Market

Bead Peeps

Thats just to name a few!!

Upcoming blogs

The Coffee Corner- a weekly blog that will feature a new artist each week

A Buyers Guide to buying handmade and things NOT to do- Well you'll just have to wait for it

Tutorials- so I have been asked by several people to do a few video tutorials on different things, these will be basics for beginner and intermediate level artist's , so stay tuned

Product reviews, store reviews, and whatever else strikes my fancy!!!

Have a question? Have a thought? Anything on your mind? A topic you'd like me to blog about? Let me know by leaving a comment below!!!!

Bead Peeps Hop and Swap

Hello everyone sorry it has been awhile since I have blogged. Life has happened :)
So I recently joined a great group on facebook called Bead Peeps. A very cool group with great information and such. They are currently doing a Hop n Swap. Im partnered up with another artist we send each other cool artisan made components and create using what pieces we get. This year I am joining in the fun. Its pretty awesome getting to push our creativity and also to meet amazing people along the way.

I havent been assigned a partner as of my writing this yet but here are a few things they may want to know about me :)

I love working with lampwork and copper. Copper is my go to metal for just about everything I dont know why other than I like how it looks.
I usually work with a huge color pallette colors I normally dont work with just because I havent much yet are yellows, pinks, oranges, lol citrus colors no reason why I havent just havent crossed those colors much!!

I love working with beads, lampwork, metal, leather, ceramics, natural stones, and ya know come to think of it I havent worked with any polymer clay pieces yet!!

There are some photos of my work in a previous blog, I grow as an artist each day, recently I've begun hammering and handforging metals, thats alot of fun!!

I love having my imagination and creativity pushed , Im always up for a challenge, and I cant wait to meet you :)

Also as a side note to anyone reading this I've had requests to make a few video tutorials which is an honor because im fairly new to making clasps, ear wires, and paddle pins, and such but why not take you on the journey with me :)

So stay on the look out for videos coming up very soon

My next blogs coming up will be about A GUIDE TO BUYING HANDMADE AND WHAT NOT TO SAY OR DO!!!

I will have a featured artist coming up soon, as well as some more informative topics!!!!!

Thanks all