cheap wire components

I too am a beginner and have just been doing beading for 6 months. And I was a bit surprised that no one would even try to answer your question. I quickly found out that Michael's base metal stuff loses its lustre very quickly. I have a rather acidic skin and can turn it in a few hours.

The answer really is that you have to take the leap and use sterling silver first, as it is less expensive than gold. I am at that point and now feeling confident enough in my work to replace some of my clasps, etc.

This is not a hobby/passion where one can cut corners unfortunately, but if you feel you have reached the point where you want to use better metals, then bite the bullet and try sterling ear wires, for instance. They really are not all that expensive.

Good luck.....Lauren

Maybe I'm not as much a beginner, but maybe I am, probably depends on who you ask.

I live in an area where everything corrodes one way or the other, and I mostly use surgical steel earring hooks. the cold colored ones lose their color, but at least they stay shiny. GF is a bit expensive for my market. I have a reasonably good experience with base metal pins (but it depends on where they come from), but mine are usually mostly covered with beads unless I use them for wire wrapping. The reason I went back up to add to this section: where I live the air is acidic - there's an active volcano a few tens of miles away -, we're close to the ocean (so there's salt in the air), it's warmer than most places, and our average humidity is above 70%. So OK, stainless steel rusts here, but so far I don't have problems with surgical steel earwires.

Also, I found that some of the plated pins flake when you start bending them, so I wouldn't buy those again (Blue Moon Beads). How can you connect a pin to something without bending it?

I have generally half decent experiences with craft wire. I'm still learning wire wrapping, and I don't want to do that with expensive wire. Again, some are better than others. If you just want to try it out, just don't buy a lot.

I have only been to a Michael's once as we don't have that here, We have Ben Franklin here which is the same company as ACE Hardware (but separate stores), but ours has a bead shop and in some areas it's pretty good, but expensive. Once you make up your mind about something you can find it on line usually cheaper, especially if you buy in quantity or more than one thing. - I have a business license, and so I get wholesale prices at some places. If you have one (for whatever reason), that's a thing to consider. -

Hope any of this helps any, Maren Palms, Etc.: Tropical Plant Seeds - Hand-made Jewelry - Plants & Lilikoi

On Jul 26, 7:44 am, "Lauren" wrote: > I too am a beginner and have just been doing beading for 6 months. And > I was a bit surprised that no one would even try to answer your > question. I quickly found out that Michael's base metal stuff loses its > lustre very quickly. I have a rather acidic skin and can turn it in a > few hours. >

There are also some things that you can try to place a barrier between the air and your jewelry. For ear wires dip the wires in UNSCENTED baby oil and just rub in - you can also use vaseline, both are hypo- allergenic and will help keep your findings shiny for longer periods.

For bracelets and necklaces - get a high end car wax that is liquid, not paste - brush it on and let it dry, then take a soft tooth brush and cloth and polish your design - comes out nice and shiny and also protects your jewels from the atmosphere. If you have added a patina to your design with liver of sulphur don't worry the wax doesn't take it off, it actually seals it in.

It is also wise to keep your finished designs in baggies between shows - AND finally don't store your base metals or sterling in cotton lined boxes or cloth - cotton and sterling do not mix well and the cotton actually tarnishes the sterling faster.

Opps I forgot to sign my post so I appeared a bit rude :) Sorry DeMarie Glitzy Glass Studio

Sandy -- get a resale certificate from your state and buy gold-fill and silver at Halstead Beads. VERY inexpensive, and no plating. Your customers will appreciate it also -- they don't want the stuff to wear off either, you know!

Becki

Or, go to Yahoo and join the BBB group -- they buy wholesale in large amounts, and you can buy as much or as little as you wish (they do group buys).

Also for the person complaining about "no one would even try to answer your question" -- good grief, her post was up for one day before an answer was posted. How fast are we required to answer? If you check the stats on this newsgroup you will see that 31 messages have been posted in the past 5 days -- that is questions, answers, ads, all of it. It is not a high traffic newsgroup. Go buy some patience.

Becki

Thank you so much for all of the tips and interesting information. I do hope the original poster has seen it.

I have been lurking for several months and love the beads that the women on here make, including your self of course. I have a lot to learn as I am starting this in my retirement years (and no, I don't feel all THAT old, grin). It has gone from interest to hobby to passion. Durn....they said I would get addicted. (G)

Cheers...Lauren

Thank you Maren. I was intrigued and visited your website. Those beads are really interesting and quite plain, which is what I like.

I was just talking to my cousin in Florida who, like yourself, grows and sells tropical plants. Small world.

Thank you again.....Lauren.