Hindi Prayer

I haven't done anything with photo trasfers in a while .... OK I actually can explain this, as I really do not like the word lazy in connection with me and I have already used it in my previous post. Our appartment isn't big and I don't have a fixed jewellery-making spot yet. No workshop, no designated area.
I like working in front of TV, because I like having sound around me while working, but radio lacks the visual stimulation. (Can you believe that we lived for a little over 4 years without TV and now all of a sudden I like it???) So my tools, wires, all that jazz is on a little table in front of the telly. When we have visitors, I try to clean it a bit and stock it in shoe boxes. When the visitors are gone, I take out the shoe boxes and spread everything around again.
I think people like us, because we had a lot of friends for dinner in past few weeks... and I just keep cleaning up and "down" again and again.
And the photo transfers are the messiest (water is involved too), so I don't take it out of the box as often as I would like to.

BUT! Solution is on the way: I'm getting our friends used to the idea that I have started making jewellery and that I need some work space. Some of our closest friends have already seen the "mess", as I didn't clean up. And it actually turned into an improvised house jewellery party! They wanted to see what I'm making, what are the tools and some of them picked what they liked! AWESOME!
So now when this hobby is slowly becoming a part of me, I won't have to clean up that much anymore (still talking only about the jewellery mess, of course :-))) and instead of looking through those shoe boxes I will spend more time making my pieces!


Oh, did you want to know about the 'Hindi Prayer'?
So this time I have added bits of gold leaf to the transfer and it came out very pretty. I would say the leaf adds a touch of antique feel to it.
I have to apologize as the photo transfer doesn't photograph very well (the irony!), because it is shiny and also because the base is mother-of-pearl. I'm thinking that bigger distance and macro on the camera will give a better result - next time, ok?

The text isn't actually a prayer, it's from a calendar, but the name sounded so nice. And most people will not understand anyway...

Materials - and My First Miserable Mistake

SOooooo… Beginnings are always hard. I bet you already know this. Not different with making jewellery. I have to admit, I was lying a bit in my first post. I have already received my first batch of supplies 3 weeks ago. I’m sorry. But I’m eager to share the journey and the tips, so bear with me – no more yapping anymore, just the real deal. Promise.
Beginnings are always hard. I said it already. But keep that in mind. There will be a lot of frustration before you taste the sweetness of the success – and I’m not there yet, so I definitely know what I’m talking about.

Where to start… Study some materials and MAKE UP YOUR MIND what kind of projects you would like to focus at the beginning. Buy a magazine or a book, or just use internet which has enormous resources and information totally for free. Now when you see what all possibilities there are, decide where you would like to explore your talents first – the choices are enormously endless.
You can start stringing, which is really easy and you can play with different beads and findings and create your first designs.
You can work with wire, seed beads or do chainmaille (chains with jump rings)...

Decided? So now you need materials and tools.
Don't make a mistake like me - I wanted to try a bit of everything and so I bought a bit of every material only to find, that I can hardly finish a project, because I keep missing some vital findings or don't have the right pair of pliers! My next order will be better!

Here are the main mistakes to avoid when getting your first order (and which I didn't avoid):
Get the right colours! If you're getting i.e. beads, you want to get colours that are coordinated, not just beads that looked pretty! Also get them in right sizes! Sometimes beads that are too small and beads that are really big don't look good together.
Pay attention to the metal finishes when buying wires and metal findings: i.e.silver and antiqued silver can look good together, but not always. If you're trying to make your order small or are on a budget, get one or the other first. So see if you want to coordinate things in silver/ antiqued silver, gold/ antiqued gold, copper or other metals... have a look on-line or in your local bead shop at the different metal finishes. I wanted to save money and bought some cheap gold-plated beads - they didn't look like gold at all, and worse, I couldn't combine them with copper either, it just looked too weird (not WIRED, seriously weird)!

But otherwise ordering materials and findings is FUN!