Handy tip for jewellery making

Jewellery making isn't a expensive hobby, and theres ways to keep the costs down even more too, after all keeping the pennies to a minium is a must in this ecomomic climate.
Tip number 1 is to make your own jumprings. I do this by keeping all the off cuts when i make earrings, i then curl the little off cuts round, round nose pliers to make a circle of the size i want.
Tip number 2 is make brooches out of left over beads. The first 2 brooches i have here are made from copper welding wire then the beads are strung on to 20 gauge wire and arranged to my liking. The 3rd of the designs is known as a birds nest, this is made with 20 gauge wire. 3 or 4 beads are threaded on the wire and the end turned over, the wire is then wrapped round and round the beads until you have a density you like then its wound 3 times between each bead to keep it all in place. I love this design for its simplicity and beauty.

The 3rd tip i have is to dismantle old necklaces you no longer wear, or to browse through your local charity shop for cheap beaded necklaces. My baby sister has a habit of snapping my necklaces and sending the beads everywhere, so this has been a helpful tip for me over the years.

In my last posts i talked about making a steampunk brooch and keyring, and What is Steampunk, these designs where both made from items i no longer used.

So there you have it 3 quick and easy tips for keeping the costs down when jewellery making!

Creating a Steampunk Brooch and keyring

As promised in my last post What is steampunk?  I have created two pieces of jewellery in the steampunk style.
The first is a brooch, which at first started out as a pendant but during making it i decided it might just be better off as a brooch!
I used a Abalone pendant, a tiny butterfly charm, a old watch face, a cog charm, a bolt and 2 clear cabochons that reminded me of a mystics glass ball.

This a fairly simple design.
It basically just involves arranging the pieces in a arrangement you like then gluing it all in place.

All there you have it the basics of a brooch, next is just to attach the brooch back and its finished.

The second design is the key keyring, this one is a little more difficult. To make this i used a old watch keyring which i dismantled, a key charm, beads, jump rings and keyring.

First i dismantled the watch in the key, (the clock face is the one used in the brooch) the space where the battery sat i filled with diamante. I also used diamante to cover the information and add a bit of detail. The glue i used is G-S Hypo Cement which has a precision applicator, which just makes things easier

The next step was to make the chain it all hangs from. This is made of jump rings which i strung together and added the charm and beads to. For the pearl, here's a quick run down in pictures of how to make it.

 Lastly the keyring was attached to the top jump ring.

This was a bit of a rush through of how i made the two items, please ask any questions.

To buy the brooch click here
To buy the keyring click here

What is steampunk?

Steampunk is an imaginative style of jewellery I love.
It encorporates vintage victoriana with modern machinary to make truely unique pieces of jewellery.
The pendant below is a good example of Steampunk, as it shows the romance of the swallow next to the machinary of the clock and cogs. For people wanting to create this jewellery for themselves, this pendant is my best seller.

This style is a great way to upcycle too. Most pieces are made from watches or old keys, which aren't to hard to find, but be careful with some old watches which glow in dark because they may contain Radium. Radium is radioactive, so even though the levels maybe low, its often best just to steer clear to stay on the side of caution.
Printed paper is another great thing to use in a locket. One piece i saw recently used old miniture pictures of steamships on charms which they had weathered, they hung from a intricate pearl necklace. It looked simple but was very effective.
Ive been dying to give this style a go for Fashion Magpie Jewellery for a while now, so think i may make steampunk my next project, it a bit different to my usual designs for it should be a great challenge for me, and i look forward to showing you how i get on

Hi

Hi
I thought it was about time i started a blog for my website Fashion Magpie Jewellery.
Fashion Magpie Jewellery are bespoke handmade pieces made in Northumberland, England.
I have been designing and making jewellery for a few years, but i still get excited about making jewellery now.
It all started with one kit that i made earrings from to give to relatives for Christmas. I enjoyed it a lot and was encouraged to try selling it. From here Fashion Magpie Jewellery was born!
Pieces are made from a variety of beads. Mostly i use faux pearl beads in various sizes, Tibetan silver charms and sometimes I'll use Swarovski beads.
I wanted to start a blog so i can show you about the pieces i sell and how they come to be. I hope you find it interesting and i look forward to telling you about the all the different projects i can think of in the future. Until then see you soon!
Fashion Magpie Jewellery