How to Design Jewelry With Semi-Precious Beads
- 1). Work out a budget for your pieces. The pricing of beads may be quite varied depending on the type, size and color of your semi-precious beads. If you plan to sell your jewelry, pricing can be determined by the cost of the materials, labor time, marketing costs and desired profit margin.
- 2). Sketch out sample jewelry pieces to determine what type of jewelry you want to create—earrings, necklaces, bracelets, rings or pendants—and the colors, materials and type of stone or metals, texture, size and overall design of each piece. Find inspiration from looking at your current pieces, past trial and error designs, crafting websites, your favorite jewelry designers, clothing and your environment.
- 3). Purchase semi-precious beads at craft stores, wholesale jewelry trade shows, online distributors and local bead stores. Beads come in hundreds of varieties, and selection can be overwhelming, but having your design ideas prepared will help narrow down your choices. You will also likely find different beads that inspire ideas on-site as well as accent and filler beads.
- 4). Gather jewelry making tools and materials such as wire, cords, chain nose pliers, clasps and wire cutters. Organize your beads by color, material and type of stone. You may want to use bead board, a tool which will help you layout the order of the beads before assembly, to help determine exactly how you want each piece to look.
- 5). Begin assembly of your semi-precious beaded jewelry pieces. As you put together the pieces, you may find the original design doesn’t meet your satisfaction. Often in production, pieces change as you put them together. Go with your instincts to create jewelry that you would be proud to wear and sell to others.
