You can easily get started with jewellery making by purchasing some essentials and experimenting. However, if you need a little help or pointing in the right direction, then we recommend magazines such as Bead and Button, Bead Magazine, Beadwork and Bead style. These magazines have a bias to traditional bead work, however, there are some great inpsirational ideas and sections with show you step by step how to achieve some of the basics.
There are many great books available too and a search on any of the major book websites will yield pages of beading and jewellery making books.
If you would like to be shown how to get started, we have a comprehensive schedule of workshops from beginner to advanced level. We specialise in contemporary jewellery making to compliment today's styles and fashion. There are evening, daytime and weekend workshops covering Beginner level (getting started) where you complete six jewellery projects including earrings, wire bracelets, crimp necklaces, pin work, pin work pendants on cord and tripple stringing.; Intermediate (the next steps), where you learn to stetch your skills and refine your technique, making your own fancy heart and crystal ear wires, headpins, cages for your beads, crimping with the crimping tool, making a spray beaded brooch and much much more. These classes run on an evening from 7pm to 9pm and cost just £20 per session including materials and finished jewellery to take away. Check out our section on jewellery making classes to find a workshop that suits you.
We also run weekend workshops that include Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced jewellery making, along with wire work, ring making, wire knitting, tiara making, wedding cake jewellery, textured jewellery, Swarovski crystal jewellery and much more. We are constantly coming up with new ideas for our workshops to develop our customers skills.
Basic tools required to get started...
- Side cutters
- Snipe nose pliers (sometimes known as chain nose pliers)
- Flat nose pliers
- Round nose pliers
To make strung necklaces and bracelets...
You will need the following:-
- Beadalon - nylon coated stainless steel wire
- Crimp beads - small hollow metal bead approx. 2mm diameter
- Necklace ends also known as callottes or clamshells
- 5mm jump rings - this is the small ring that connects your clasp to your necklace end
- Clasp
- a selection of beads
More information to be updated soon...
