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Beading Blog - thebroadroom.net: Rambles...
Rambles...
posted by Colleen Shirazi,
August 23, 2007
at 3:20 PM (Pacific)
It's interesting...how you slowly get better at doing this sort of thing. Some aspects of it really are slow. You have to be phenomenally patient, in a culture not known for patience.
It's occurred to me recently because it seems to me our (U.S.) culture has now simply become all about shopping. That's the only thing people do these days. That's also one of the reasons I didn't drop jewelry making...as I sense a lot of people did, once they found out how hard it is. I never accepted the idea of a country that produces nothing and simply consumes. I don't think it's healthy in any sense of the word.
Oh well that's my deep thought of the day.
I have a new bracelet but I have to wait on my wire order to finish it. I never did get that metals catalog, it's really weird. I haven't given up on the idea; on the other hand, that's going to be a whole new phase for me, getting into a different level of supplier (it's a pain).
It's a four-strand bracelet, basically a redo of this:
...only with much fewer tourmalines. It's basically just the pearls with a few tourmalines.
I discovered a few things while working on this redo. One is that the original clasp doesn't work with this kind of bracelet. It's too small. I ended up using a two-strand clasp that's bigger and wider, so it stays put much better, given the strands are twisted.
Two is that it is a complete bugger figuring out the length of the strands. That took me by far the most time. You have to make the strands and attach them to one side of the clasp, then twist them and really try to figure the length. It's easy to overshoot it, easy to make it too small. It's all in the twist.
Three is that it's easier using open jump rings, than using soldered--I've found that in other "strung" pieces as well. You can easily use two jump rings for strength, which is what I did for the bracelet. Having open rings makes the piece more modular. I was doing the triple strand peridot necklace "redo" the other day, fluffed one of the strands (you wouldn't think that's possible but apparently it is), but because I had it on open rings (single, not double), it was a matter of opening the rings rather than restringing the entire strand.
Four is that you shouldn't be afraid to make your piece asymmetrical. A lot of "higher end" jewelry uses asymmetry. It makes the piece look more handmade, rather than mass produced. I used a bit of randomization in this piece and feel it looks much better.
Five and most important...don't be discouraged. It takes years to get your skills the way you want them to be. Most of the stuff you see online that's good, has been made by people who have been doing this for years. Or, as Ted Williams once said, "Just keep going. Everybody gets better if they keep at it."
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