Ten YouTube videos and twenty pairs of earrings later, I was left with one big dent in my wallet and nothing to lose. Learning a new art medium is extremely challenging, and EXPENSIVE! Here are a few tips that will hopefully save you some money when starting out:
- Don't get overly ambitious too soon
- I'm not saying don't go for it, but I'm telling you to not get carried away. I promise you that your mind will be running a mile a minute, so just stay focused on one design at a time.
- Plan out your projects
- I've wasted A LOT of materials by jumping into my ideas. Make sure you plan out what you want your piece to look like and hang prior to cutting your wire. This will also help you know which materials you want to use.
- I wish I had found fusionbeads.com sooner. I absolutely love this site! You can pick the quantities you want, and who isn't a fan of FREE shipping. If I'm trying something new, and I'm unsure of how it is going to come out, I can buy the bare minimum to experiment to make sure I'm on the right track. They also have an inspiration section if you are looking for new ideas, and tell you exactly what they used to make it!
- Get to know the experts
- The Internet is your friend, but make it your best friend. YouTube was my teacher, and I learned several techniques by searching for tutorials. I particularly found the tutorials from the following people extremely helpful as a starting point:
- Jewelry Supply: http://www.youtube.com/user/JewelrySupply
- Beadaholique: http://www.youtube.com/user/Beadaholique
- The people that work at your local bead stores are also really knowledgeable and are typically always more than willing to help you if you tell them what you are trying to make.
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