Jewelry Design Ideas
If you’re looking for a rewarding handcraft which will provide you with endless hours of creative fun and which also has some sales potential, jewelry design is a wonderful art to get involved with. Many craft stores offer jewelry design classes, but there is a lot you can learn to do on your own using jewelry tutorials and a bit of creativity (and a lot of patience in most cases). Being able to make unique handcrafted jewelry can fill you with a sense of pride, and you’ll never have to worry about lacking the perfect item to match anything in your wardrobe. Handcrafted jewelry makes wonderful gifts for friends and family members. It can save you money on holidays and birthdays; handmade gifts are the most personal ones and usually will be appreciated the most by their recipients!
Wire Jewelry
One easy way to work with metals which doesn’t require soldering or a forge is wire wrapping. Wire wrapped jewelry has been around since ancient times; all you need to get started is a couple of spools of wire and two pairs of jewelry pliers (round nose and cutting pliers). It’s best to get two gauges of wire to start with. You’ll mostly use a larger gauge (20 or 22), but a smaller gauge (28 for example) can be used to add detail and embellishment. Don’t go with too large a gauge (16) in the beginning as this kind of wire is hard to manipulate. Most wire is copper (sometimes silver or gold plated), but you may also find wire made of steel, brass, aluminum or other metals. It is easiest to get started with copper wire. Be sure to pick up some beads as well!
Wire wrapping can be used to make simple or elaborate items; you can fashion pendants, bracelets, chokers, and even crowns with wire wrapping. You can wrap pretty much any type of object; gemstones are most commonly used, but many people also wrap sea glass and shells.
Macram Jewelry
Renee Boyett
Not all jewelry is made of metal; macram is a type of jewelry you can make using cotton or hemp cords. Macram jewelry is great for people with allergies to metal or people who simply find string more intuitive than metal. When you make macram you will create patterns out of knots. Macram cord in hemp or cotton can be dyed or un-dyed; all the colors of the rainbow are at your disposal!
A lot of people think that macram jewelry is just for hippies, but it’s not! You can make macram bracelets, necklaces, and chokers which are quite elegant and feature open, flowing patterns or fun, chunky tight-knit weaves. A macram necklace or choker can form a great accompaniment for a wire wrapped pendant.
Beading
Beads are often used as focal pieces for pendants or strung together in macram or other types of jewelry, but beading is an art unto itself. Many jewelers craft their work with nothing but beading wire and seed beads. The beaded look can be used to craft extremely complex designs and can generate organic and unique pieces.
Resin and Clay
Two materials you can make pendants out of and which involve very different creative processes are resin and clay. If you enjoy sculpting, you can create clay pendants and charms which resemble anything you want. Casting resin is a form of liquid plastic which solidifies after you add a hardener to the mix. Hardened resin resembles clear glass; you can seal anything in resin, even dead plants and insects, which will be preserved.
Chain Maille
Chain maille isn’t just for medieval armor! It can also be used to craft necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and more. Men and women both love chain maille; there is even a more delicate form of chain maille known as micro maille which is used specifically to create jewelry. Anyone can learn to make chain maille jewelry; to get started you should purchase a starter kit of chain maille rings. Jewelry tutorials online can introduce you to the basic patterns. This is a fun activity if you are interested in history as well as crafting.
What Do I Do With All These Leftover Parts?
Have some leftover beads and charms from larger projects? If you wire wrap, you can use these leftovers as accents in your pendants and other projects. Indeed, if you make a lot of pendants, you can save money by purchasing leftover bulk beads from craft stores. If you don’t wire wrap, consider crafting an odds and ends charm bracelet. A cornucopia of random beads can make a pleasing mix if you color coordinate.
What’s Popular in Handcrafted Jewelry Right Now?
What are some fun trends you can try your hand at with jewelry making? Right now, all of these techniques for handcrafted jewelry design are popular, but there are also some popular themes which you can try out.
- Steampunk. Right nowVictorian vintage-style jewelry is quite trendy, especially pieces which featuregears and other “steampunk” elements.Not familiar with steampunk?Check out the Wikipediaentry on steampunk.
- Food. That’sright little clay charms which resemble tasty food items (cakes, fruits,etc.) are quite popular right now!
- Anything vintage. Whilesteampunk jewelry is probably leading the pack as far as trendiness thesedays, anything vintage at all is bound to interest people.
Where Do I Get Supplies?
Supplies for jewelry making are available at your local craft store or beading store even fabric stores carry a lot of what you’ll need for most types of jewelry making. Some techniques for making jewelry require specialty supplies though (chain maille rings, casting resin and so on); these are best purchased online. Jewelry supply wholesalers online can save you money and give you access to a much wider selection of materials. Online jewelry supply stores are an excellent resource for precious gemstones to use in wire wrapping as well. Hopefully some of these jewelry design ideas will be enough to get you started. Have fun crafting unique handmade jewelry!
