Thursday, March 19, 2015

Jewelry Making Tips for Glass Artists

Learning how to create beautiful pendants, bracelets or earrings in fused glass,  soldered stained glass, or even mosaics is a great way to make unique gifts or some money on the side. I've been making jewelry for a long time, and I've found some great sources for findings (those pieces that piece work together, e.g. jump rings and bails). I also have my favorite materials for assembling great jewelry that I will share. For this post, I'm going to focus on findings that don't require special jewelry tools. I will save that for later.

One of my favorite jewelry suppliers is Fire Mountain Gems. They have a wide variety of products, including beads and gems, and they also have a monthly sale section. I have picked up some great deals from their bargain section. They have wonderful customer service, too. I often get my orders within days of making an online order.

The other supplier I really like is Jewelry Supply.com. They carry a lot of the same type of supplies as Fire Mountain Gems. I will often compare prices between the two just to get the best deal.

 Because I am focusing on findings that don't necessarily require jewelry tools, all of the findings in this post will be glue on types. The recommended adhesive for glass and metal is E6000. Please read and follow the instructions. E6000 does have nasty fumes that you do not want to inhale.
So what basic findings will you need?

Bails
There are three types of bails: glue on, snap, and ice pick type. For a lot of fused glass and mosaic pieces, the glue on works best. The ice pick and snap style bails are for pendants that have a hole that the pick can go through or the snap can clamp on. Glue on earring bails make earring construction easy, too.

                                  Assortment of glue on and pick style bails (mycraft.com)


Earring bails (AnythingStainedGlass.com)

Bracelet links also come with blank glue on pads, too. These are a really great way to make bracelets.
Blank bracelet finding  (shoprings-things.com)       
           

 Bracelet with glass, by P. MacLeod

Glue on ring and hair pin/clips, lapel pin and tie tacks are also available. 
24 Hour Creatives
Alyss.com


24 Hour Creatives

Artfire.com

So these are the kinds of findings that anyone can use to create special gifts or personal jewelry. They are an easy, low cost way to wear your work.

May all of your scores run true!
--paula






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