Lynerwi, I think that there is a shop not too far from here that I am going to visit this week (hope they are open). They have a great website and they do say they will answer all questions.
And I did take the plunge. I purchased a book, spent hours (literally) looking at beads and wires and bought some stuff. Realized I bought a crimper that was too large, took it back, bought the correct one and some more stuff. Made two necklaces as gifts for my
guinea pigs DD and DIL and can't wait to go again!
My tips for newbies:
-Get a tray to lay out your design. I thought I could get away with a mat or something like a towel, but the beads kept moving, I couldn't get them to line up to see the length properly. I paid about $5 for the tray and saved myself a huge headache.
-Get the correct sized crimper. Bigger isn't necessarily better. Ask me how I know.
-Know that just because you go to the store with a plan, you need to be flexible because the store will not have exactly what you want. That's what took hours. I actually came away with a huge headache from this because I kept having to change my plan. I hope to get better at this.
-If you are not accustomed to working with metric measurements, figure it out before you go shopping. Have a metric ruler handy. Those darn beads are all measured in mm.
It's a good learning experience and it only took me this once. I'm pretty comfortable with it now.
**The things that I am still confused about are the wire measurements and the different types of wires. What I purchased worked out, but I don't know if I just got lucky or if it's not really that confusing. IE., crimper must match crimping tubes must match wire. Any words of wisdom on this?
Most importantly, it was fun! I like that there's a lot more to learn.
