Making wire jewelry is a popular and rewarding hobby for many people. It can however be confusing to beginners who are just starting out. This article will introduce you to the various tools and materials you will need to get your jewelry making hobby started.

SETTING UP YOUR JEWELRY WORKSHOP

Whether you are making your own wire wrap jewelry as a hobby or you are starting your own business making wire jewelry, you will need to have an area that will promote creativity and enable you to concentrate. Spend some time planning and organizing your jewelry making workshop now so that you will be more productive when you get started.

Many of us do not have the luxury of a private workshop where we can escape from the noise and interruptions of our busy homes. This doesn’t mean you should lose hope and give up on your wire jewelry making dreams, it just means you will need to be a bit more creative with your space.

Try to find a place that is as private as possible, away from phones, televisions and other interruptions. Perhaps you can clear a space out in your garage or attic. Maybe you have a corner of a guest room or a spot in your basement.

Next you will want to consider lighting. Lighting is very important in jewelry making. Find a room near a window with lots of natural light if you can, but if you cannot find such a location, you will need to invest in a natural lighting alternative. There are special types of lighting and bulbs available that simulate natural sun light. Just do a search online and you will most certainly find something. Full spectrum bulbs are close to natural sunlight.

You will also need a way to organize and store all of your jewelry making tools and supplies as well as a surface or bench to work on. Professional jewelry benches can be expensive, so if you cannot afford one, visit a used furniture outlet, flea market, or good will outlet and purchase a bench there. Look for a sturdy solid wood desk that is wide and deep enough to give you plenty of space to work on. If it doesn’t have drawers, you can purchase an affordable organizer with drawers at any home improvement store. This can be used to store your supplies.

You will also need a chair. You should take your time when shopping for a chair as you will spend a lot of time sitting at your desk. You will want a chair that is comfortable and has wheels so you can conveniently slide around your workspace.

If you are unable to invest any money right now into buying your furniture, don’t let that stop you. Your kitchen table will work as a descent substitute. Many beginners get started that way.

WIRE JEWELRY MAKING SUPPLIES

Pliers

There are a wide assortment of pliers and cutters available for wire jewelry artists and each tool has its own purpose. Most professional and experienced wire jewelry artists will normally have a big collection of these tools on hand, but for a beginner it is not necessary. You will only need a few to get started. Pliers are made with various nose shapes and some are made fitted with springs. Springs enable the artist to control tension on the wire. Pliers are also available with nylon jaws that prevent scratching on the wire.

Flat Nose Pliers

These are excellent for holding, flattening and straightening wire. You can also use these pliers to make angular bends.

Round Nose Pliers

Round nose pliers are great for making bends, curves and for forming loops. They are also great for detailed and delicate work.

Flush Wire Cutter

A good flush wire cutter will cut through gold, silver, brass or copper wire and give you a flush even cut.

WIRE

Wire comes in a variety of different sizes, otherwise known as gages. Smaller wire has a higher gage number. For instance a 28 gage wire has a smaller diameter then a 14 gage wire. For your first wire jewelry pieces, it is probably best to begin with a higher gage wire, which will be easier to work with. Once you become more skilled at this, you can then start working with thicker and stronger wires.

Wire also comes in a variety of different shapes: round, square and half round. Round wire is a more popular choice amongst wire jewelry makers, but the other shapes can give your jewelry pieces a unique and interesting look.

Wire also comes in different degrees of hardness. Obviously softer metals are more pliable and easier to bend where as hard metals are stiffer and more difficult to bend and shape. Wire hardness is available from dead soft to extra hard. Dead soft wire is very soft and easy to work with. It is excellent for sculpting , but be careful with this wire. It is very soft and it can be easily damaged if not handled carefully. Hard wire is the most difficult to work with and manipulate, but it does have an advantage over the others as your jewelry pieces will be more durable and last longer.

Wire is also available in a variety of different metals. You have your choice of copper, silver, gold or brass. Copper and brass are cheaper than gold and silver. It may be best to start out with the cheaper materials until you become more experienced.

CREATING YOUR FIRST PIECE OF WIRE JEWELRY

Once you have found a good work area and have your basic supplies, its time to start practicing and creating your first piece of jewelry. In the beginning it will certainly be challenging to come up with your own designs, but thankfully there are many accomplished wire wrap jewelry makers out there to help you along the way. Go online or to your favorite book store and purchase a beginner book on wire jewelry making or invest in a home study course. There are great courses online that come complete with all the tools and instruction you will need to get started. You can even start your own lucrative home based business making wire jewelry.

I hope this introduction to wire jewelry making has helped and has gotten you excited enough to explore this craft in more detail. Happy jewelry making!

Gioiellando has been a leader in fine Italian jewelry for the past 15 years. Not only do they offer unique Italian designs, they also give their clients the opportunity to create their own design. If you are in the market for high fashion diamond jewelry, as well as high carat gold jewelry, then look no further than Gioiellando’s. They offer a wide range of products that are sure to fit into anyone’s personal jewel collection. Because they take great care in the precision of their design and creation, you can rest assured that the jewelry you order will be the jewelry you receive.

When people order Italian jewelry, they do so because they want the best and will settle for nothing less. When you order from Gioiellando’s, you too are saying you will settle for nothing less. Their Italian design is so chic that your friend’s will envy your design. It will be like nothing else on the market, which is a good thing when it comes to jewelry. Why wear something that is not one of a kind? Instead, you will be making a statement about yourself that you know high fashion and design when you see it.

Not only does Gioiellando’s fine Italian jewelry represent the classic Italian look, they also offer creative pendants that will look good draped around anyone’s neck. From their diamond animals and zodiac creatures to their more whimsical heart designs, their pendants truly are a one of a kind look. To further represent their confidence that you will love their jewels, Gioiellando’s even offers returns on their products. You no longer have to worry about being stuck with a piece of jewelry that does not fit your style like at other jewelry stores. You can shop with confidence here.

Although Gioiellando’s has been in the jewelry business for the past 15 years, they did not hold themselves to the Italian jewelry market. Currently, they are located in four continents, with a production plant in Hong Kong. Because of this expansion, they know the Italian design as well as the world design. They are able to meet your wants and needs when it comes to your jewelry because they have been everywhere. To view their entire collection, visit their Web site at http://www.gioiellando.com. There you will find all your jewelry needs. With their huge collection in fine Italian jewelry, you will find no reason to shop anywhere else.

Africa has been making jewelry crafted by hand for a very long time in keep with their traditions and they use African beads which come in a wide variety of colors and shapes as well as textures. You can now make your jewelry yourself using inspiration from the African styles and the raw materials like trade beads that the African jewelers themselves make use of. You can make simple African jewelry like necklaces or pendants or something as complicated as the pieces that are normally used by Africans for their rituals in healing and their spiritual ceremonies. All you require is the African beads or trade beads, a clasp, some jewelry cord or wire, crimping pliers and crimping beads. If you look at pictures or piece of African jewelry you are sure to draw inspiration from these and be able to create your own designs. Tribal jewelry from Africa includes the bone necklaces from Kenya, the coconut disc necklaces from Nigeria, crosses from Ethiopia and the Mali wedding beads. Settle on a particular style. If you would rather make a necklace with a lone pendant, then search for a bead that has an attractive color or pattern. If you intend putting together several African beads, put them against a neutral background like the black velvet that most jewelers use to find out how they combination looks. A pendant can also be put together with smaller trade beads. Get hold of some good African beads. There are quite a few sites on the Internet that deal with trade beads and other African beads and jewelry supplies and these companies buy them directly from families who make them in Africa.  Some of the pieces might be very old or of limited versions and be sold at a very high price while the other trade beads are more affordable. Measure out the required length of beading thread that you will require. The length should be ideally the length that you want your necklace of trade beads to be plus an extra five inches. If you would like to use bigger African beads then you might like to replace the beading thread with cotton cord or leather. If you choose to use wire to thread them, put a crimp bead on one end along with one part of the clasp. Pass the wire through the crimp bead, make sure you tighten it and then flatten the bead with the help of the crimping pliers. The extra wire should be trimmed off.   Start stringing the beads. If you are looking to have a pattern that is symmetrical, start with the center and keep adding African beads on either side. Add the other part of the clasp or a jump ring if you are using a hook clasp. Draw the wire through the clasp and cut off the extra. And then wear you beautiful necklace of trade beads and watch the heads turn.

Firstly I want to explain one important thing about this article and that is, I am not an expert or computer technician nor am I versant in all the SEO techniques, Simply I am a Silver Jewelry Manufacturer who had to build a web site on a budget and really as a catalogue and show room for customers .Everything in this article has been tested by me and put into action, cheaply and effectively with budgets in mind. When I started this project my knowledge base was almost zero on the mechanics of web sites, so if you follow the steps and advice that I am about to give, you will end up with a truly workable Jewelry Web site at an economical price.

We are going to start off by selecting a company to build our site, here is the first tip to save money .Do not use a company that ties you into a monthly account for construction and ongoing maintenance, buy your web site outright. There are hundreds of Internet web designers on the Internet crying out for work, and if you can find an Asian internet design company you will save hundreds of dollars to start with, just like we did ,the company we used is called BaliOrange.net which were extremely cheap and professional.

Once you have found your company you will need to register a domain name, you will find lots of companies on the web were you can research a name, its best if the name has something to do with what your web site is about, for example if you sell shell jewelry, try and register a name with the word shell, seashell, coral, or the name of a shell in the title. Your web designer will also be able to help with this and id recommend you discuss were to host your site with your web designer as well.

Next you need to make a list of what features you want on your Jewelry web site ,my recommendations are as follow, no 1 the web site should be a data base driven web site.No2 it should have a system for being able to update prices in individual categories by percentage base. No 3 if you sell rings, you will need a drop down menu next to each ring were people can select there ring size.No4 you will need a good graphics system for uploading photos. Tip check out other web sites, when you find one you like forward the URL to your designer, he can take the graphic size details from that source.

Research the Internet for Tips on SEO optimization, every thing you need to know is already available and free. When you understand what you want for your on page optimization just forward the wording to your designer to include on your site. You will need to research Title Tags, Meta Tags and Description, spend some time reading about the different SEO practices before you start your web site and compile all the information for your Web Designer, it will save you a lot of money in the end.

Now I have kept the best till last, you must have a Link Directory if you want your web site to be successful, and you must build it properly or else the whole web site is doomed to sit at the back of goggles listings forever, and you will have wasted every dollar you have spent on making your jewelry site.

If your web site is popular it’s going to be because your directory is popular, and Webmasters that are intelligent really have six key concerns when approving a link to your web site, and they are as follows, is the link directory reachable from your home page, and is your link button clearly visible. Is your directory well organized? Tightly themed and with categories’. Does your web site have good content .If you cant answerer yes to all of these questions, you will find that your link requests will be ignored from other Web masters, and your site will be dead.

There are some very good programs around for link directories, just like the one we use and a one time payment for such a program will guarantee your web sites popularity.

A couple of words of advice, when you assess a website for a link partner don’t use the goggle page rank indicator as your judgment on a sites worthiness as a link partner, PR0 today can be a PR5 tomorrow and you going to look pretty stupid for not linking with that site when you had the chance, remember once your site is indexed by search engines you will start with a PR0,and you will work hard to obtain a page rank so don’t waste your time with a substandard link directory, get it right now and you will be successful.

Jewelry making has long been an art form passed on from father to son, all the way back to ancient times; people have adorned themselves in Silver, Gold, and Gemstone Jewelry,

African tribes, the Native American Indian tribes and numerous ethnic tribes have used Bone carved pendants, Animal Ivory, Bird feathers and Seashells, to fashion accessories to use as jewelry.

Today we give our Jewelry titles ,such as Ethnic Jewelry ,Tribal Jewelry ,Antique Jewelry, Fashion Jewelry and so on .In this article we are going to Talk about Designer Hand made jewelry ,How to make it either for fun or for those really keen students how to do it and make money from your hobby .

Right lets get going .You have two options to start with, you can either buy raw silver from your local distributor, or find a Jewelry Manufacture that will supply you with the materials, there is a choice between 925 or 985 in the grade of silver you buy, I prefer to work in Fine silver 985, but you may find this a little difficult to buy. For the purpose of this article we are going to choose the second option and buy our material from a reputable Jewelry Manufacture and we are going to start with making a simple Sterling silver 925 pendant with a Turquoise cabochon Gemstone.

The majority of tools needed can be purchased form a good hardware store and some of the more hard to find items you will be able to get from either a Silver Jewelry Manufacture or Supplier.

Your heat source can be either a gas bottle with extension hose and flame adjusting nozzle or as we use in our workshop a petrol bellows and hose set with adjustable nozzle, its important witch ever set you buy that you can regulate the flame and heat .Next comes the hand tools you will need a small brass hammer, tweezers about 7inches long, small tin snips, brass block 4inches by 4inches and 1inch thick ,rags,2part epoxy, battery acid, fine grade file , a flexible shaft grinder and a ceramic base to heat your silver on ,here is a handy tip a house brick and unglazed roof tile work just great. That should be enough for you to get started.

Step1 is to cut a strip of silver slightly wider then the thickness of the turquoise and long enough to wrap around the diameter of the gemstone, and carefully cut it so as the 2 ends meet tightly around the gemstone.

Step2, take your solder and place a small amount of flux on the two joins, heat the silver strip till red, apply the solder carefully, and it’s joined. If you haven’t done any soldering before try a few practice runs first, you will be able to use that silver later on.

Step3, take your sterling silver band and place it on a flat piece of silver plate, check that the turquoise still fits, then as in step 2 apply flux and solder the band to the plate.

Step4, remove the excess silver with your tin snips and sand off any rough edges.

Step5,decide on a shape for your bail and cut it out of silver accordingly, bend into shape .now solder that to the pendant ,and while hot dip the whole pendant into a small jar of acid ,rinse in a jar of clear water and dry.

Step6, Place your turquoise into you silver and carefully trim away any surplus silver. Once your happy with the fit you can sand the silver again with fine grade emery paper, give a small amount of epoxy to the inside of the pendant and insert the turquoise stone .Now take a spoon and using the back work it around the pendant to give a snug fit with the silver and allow to dry.

Step7, Using your flexi grinder insert a polishing cloth disc, add some silver polish and buff the silver to the required finish.

The principles above are applied to all silver work; no it’s up to the imagination of the jewelry designer and skillfulness of the jeweler.

How many times have you looked at a piece of your jewelry and wondered just how it was made. Is the meat carved? How is it created with such fine detail? The methods that are used to create the fine jewelry that you wear use the same technology that lifted civilization from the Iron Age to the Bronze Age.

In fact, many anthropologists theorize that ancient people stumbled onto the idea when molten copper melted out of chunks of copper ore that they had lined their fire pits with. Its called the “lost wax” casting method and its the same method that ancient peoples developed to make copper and bronze axes and tools with.

To create a piece of jewelry using the lost wax method, the piece is first crated in exact detail out of sculpting wax. The wax piece is then encased in plaster and allowed to cure and dry. After the chunk of plaster has been allowed to dry it is then placed in a hot kiln so the wax piece inside of it can melt and burn out.

When it has cooled, the chunk of plaster with the hollow shape of the original wax piece in it is placed in a centrifugal jewelery casting device. The centrifugal caster then spins around and molten gold or silver is forced into the hollow spot in the chunk of plaster by centrifugal force.

After the the metal inside of the plaster has been allowed to cool, the plaster is then chipped away. What is revealed is a whatever was originally encased inside the plaster made of wax, only now it is made out of metal. Even things such as bugs and leaves can be encased in plaster and then reproduced in gold this way as long as they can be burned out in a kiln.

It is easy to get lost in the world of amazing jewelry but it is often not possible to have too many pieces of jewelry at once. So it is important to own versatile jewelry that will go with many things all at once.

When choosing jewelry, make sure that it has the potential to be mixed with other jewelry for achieving a different look without changing around too many pieces. Gemstone jewelry makes for the perfect versatile jewelry because it has the potential to be worn with a lot of different outfits and other jewelry.

For this, you can buy simple pieces in silver with gemstones of uniform color. These types of jewelry are quite versatile and they instantly match any outfit that you might be wearing. Silver jewelry is especially recommended because silver is very versatile in its nature. It suits almost every woman and it is possible to team it with casual and formal attires. Pearl and silver jewelry is also highly recommended.

If you own a simple, straight threaded necklace made out of gemstone beads, you can easily team it up with different earrings. Sometimes, when the occasion calls for it, you can turn it in to a nice gemstone beads bracelet. This is a very common trick used by many women to make their jewelry do more than just one thing.

For doing this, you can buy a simple turquoise necklaces or a simple pearl necklace that can be twisted to form a bracelet that has two rows of beads or pearls. It will hang loosely off your wrists and will look lovely on your hand.

With customization offers, it is possible for you to have jewelry pieces customized so that you can interchange the pieces with one another. One idea is to have complimenting pieces made as a pendant and a finger ring. When ordering your can make sure that your ring can be changed through a hinge and turned in to a pendant and conversely the pendant may be able to turn in to a finger ring. You will need a good jeweler to do this for you but once it is done, you will have two pieces of jewelry in one.

For pieces such as these, it is a good idea to go for nice and brightly colored gemstones so that they suit your outfit on any occasion. Uniformly colored gems will also suit any material that they are set in to. You can choose from various gems such as blue sapphires, jades, red garnets, zirconium, quartz, ruby and many more such gems and gemstone beads to set in to your jewelry.

Choosing to have your jewelry customized so that they are more versatile does make a lot of sense. But if you are wise in your choice, you can choose simple gemstone jewelry that is very versatile in nature. You can wear most gemstones with a wide variety of dresses and they will look equally gorgeous every time you wear them.