Inspiration for jewellery doesn't always come naturally and you often need something to get the juices flowing which is why there are so many jewellery magazines on the market! I'm thrilled that in the last couple of years we have had some brilliant UK mags come on the shelves. This has been great for helping to source suppliers which if not local at least are in this country! We all know how expensive this hobby/business can be and magazines don't come cheap so here I will be compiling in one place websites that have free projects that can inspire you from the comfort of your armchair if you're lucky enough to have a laptop or from the comfort of your home while enjoying a cup or coffee and a biscuit or with your tools and beads at the ready so you can dive right in to the project that makes your eyes sparkle!
A note for the beginner...don't be afraid to look at a project and take a chance on a different colour scheme...I know when I was learning I did copy exactly but the sooner you experiment the sooner you'll be on your way to making up your own designs and see a project in your mind just by looking at some beads in a catalogue or shop!
so here are some links...I hope you find them useful and don't forget to pop back as I will add more sites as I find them!
Making Jewellery one of the UK magazines. I have had this on subscription since issue 1 It is a great magazine and has easy to follow projects covering a variety of jewellery making techniques from Silver Clay to Glass bead making to simple and more complex beading styles. The website has a number of free projects in all levels of ability
Beadage has a variety of different projects. They have Hemp projects which includes showing you how to do some basic knots which is something a bit different from other sites and the tin cup necklace which shows you how to do knot between beads. The hemp knots are extremely well pictured to show you how it's done!
All Crafts has a page with a large variety of projects available. The pictures aren't very clear but you can click on them to see a large picture in another tab/window. The free flower project is worth a mention and the picture is shown here. I have to say this picture almost makes me want to try this myself. I imagine it will be time consuming and fiddly and I'm not sure I have the patience but it is very pretty!
Free ebooks from Interweave. A variety of ebooks on subjects including jewellery, quilting, knitting and moreWell that's all for now but do pop back as I will try to add other sites regularly. Follow me on twitter? I'll be highlighting individual projects regularly. If you want to follow me on twitter just click the link on my sidebar or my username is rainbow_cottage. Thanks for stopping by :-)
Great jewelry ideas. I've never done anything with watches or chains. Sometimes I think of changing the idea that I've seen.
ReplyDeleteHi Jill
Deletethanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! Really glad to have given you some inspiration. I love the watch project too.
Do have a go at changing ideas and very soon you'll be thinking up your own designs. Trust your instincts! :-)
Teri :-)