In the last week of March 2011 while "youtubing" a few how to sugar videos, I came across a video on how to make earrings. After watching the video, I suddenly had the urge to start making my own jewelry. There are a lot of actions that I take impulsively (which sometimes end me up in trouble) and so I started looking into instructions on "how to make earrings with beads". People, when you type that in Google there are approximately 11 million websites in the result! Now I did read a few articles and postings, and got a rough idea of beading terminology. Wanting to start ordering my supplies, I made a list of basic tools and supplies I will need to get started ( shared in the next blog). The websites that I found most useful are:
- http://jewelrymaking.about.com/od/easybeadearringprojects/ss/122207.htm
- http://beads-projects.com/
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k49d76HSO4
On to suppliers... where do I begin?! There are retail, wholesale and middlemen claiming to be wholesale. A lot of times wholesale websites want the business number, but there are a few that will allow you to make an account without the need of registered business and this way you can get very good material at a fraction of price.
How would a person know which ones are genuine and which ones are just there to rip you off? In most forums that I read, people said that if the online store is doing there business from China stay away from it. I whole heartedly disagree! Yes, there maybe 75% (it's a guess, now don't you go on quoting me on this) that may not turn out to be who they claim they are, but the remaining 25% are not scamming you and are still there to give you the best they can. When dealing with an international online store, obviously one has to do their research and Google everything related to the website they can, reading others experience with the company, and better yet if they have an eBay store and/or Facebook page, checking the feedbacks and comments.
As I live in Canada, I am always checking out the shipping cost first after seeing the home page of a site. I made a mistake by not checking out the shipping price for one of the site (Shipwreckbeads.com).
Now I ordered from this site because they have great products and the prices are amazing as well, it's just the shipping cost that made my heart twitch when the customer service rep told me. My total was $70 (Can) out of which $30 was shipping! The mistake I made was in a hurry I placed my order and shipping was to be calculated automatically and deducted off so it did not appear when I paid through Paypal. If you live in U.S.A I think this is a great site to buy your supplies from, but if you are outside of this country just be a little careful with shipping charges. I don't want to cancel my order because obviously shipping and handling is non-refundable so it will be useless. I am waiting for my order still and it was shipped on April 6, 2011.
The website that I found absolutely fantastic is eebeads.com. You do not have to order a huge quantity and their rates are reasonable. Plus with $3.00 shipping to Canada I was in heaven. I placed an order on Friday April 8, 2011 and am waiting for it, lets see how it turns out ( I spent about $75 (Can) ). Oh and the order was shipped within few hours of placing it so they are super fast as well.
It is difficult to find one website that contains step-by-step information on how to get started, so here I am combining my two new hobbies (blogging and beading) and sharing my step by step journey and experience, hoping one day that it will help some one and point them in the direction they want to go :) .
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