Think you can't make jewellery? Think again ;)

When I sell my jewellery, I've noticed that many people I've come across say to me 'Wow, I'd love to be able to create something like this, but I'd never be able to; it's too hard and time consuming for me!'
Then I respond to these people by saying 'It's not as hard as you think once you've tried it a few times. It took me a few months to learn all of the techniques correctly but now it doesn't even take me 5 minutes to make a pair of earrings!'

And it's true, jewellery making doesn't have to be very time consuming, and it doesn't have to be difficult. I taught myself how to do it. I guessed how to attach jump rings to charms and chains, and looking back now I wish I had looked on the internet to learn how to do the techniques because I could've been making 5 minute earrings within the first month! All you really need is the motivation and patience to learn, and lots of practice!

My motivation was to create gifts that my friends would love. It was nearing Christmas and I didn't have a penny to my name to buy gifts for my friends, I'd always been interested in jewellery making so I thought I'd give it a try. I borrowed some money off my mom and purchased a few supplies off ebay and from my local market. About a week after, I had 6 kilt pins with 5 charms on each (poorly attached charms may I add!) and they were ready to give to my friends. Before I wrapped them up I wrote a small card explaining how each charm on the pin was personal to my friend (such as a pepsi can because they're usually very hyper, or a dress on a coat hanger because they're very stylish).
The pins weren't amazing but my friends loved them because I'd taken the time to personalise each one to match each person. Two and a half years on, a few of my friends still have them, although most of the charms have fallen off :')

So all it really takes is practice and motivation :) And if your first few attempts go wrong, don't panic! You'll get it right eventually.

Magazines such as Making Jewellery, Make Jewellery and Beads & Beyond can really help when it comes to learning techniques. Making Jewellery is my personal favourite.

And if you're really struggling, ebay is a great place to buy pre-assembled necklace chains and bracelets that you simply attach pendants or charms to. You could try making memory wire bracelets, all you do is create a loop in one end of the wire, thread beads onto the wire and create a loop at the other end, simple!

Loppy x

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