Are you a jewellery maker looking for tips, new ideas, or to learn new techniques?

​My personal view is that - if you can - take in person classes - you can ask questions, get advice and support and work in real time, with a tutor that can watch you work and give you tips to improve, and really explore the techniques.
Of course however, we don't all get that opportunity, or if we do, we can't necessarily join a regular class for ongoing support and advice, but luckily there are other options. There are some really great jewellery making books available, and there are also many many video tutorials and information streams
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If you've been thinking about learning to make your own jewellery - then you've almost certainly been on YouTube or Pinterest or other sites watching videos and tutorials of jewellers making different projects, or watched jewellers live streaming from their workbenches on a platform like Twitch...

These are great places to research ideas and techniques, there are huge amounts of information out there, and some fantastic teachers and makers share their skills in this way. The downside of course is that a lot of the content is edited and skips sections, not all of it is very well filmed, so it can sometimes be hard to see the key details, and as anyone / everyone can post on the internet, it can be hard to work out which channels or creators actually know much about their subject and to search out the really great ones from the rest....

My favourite YouTube channels for really good, informative and helpful jewellery making tutorials are these ones below - in no particular order...

​Do you have any you love, to add to the list?? Do add more in the comments!

• Craft Cast - https://www.youtube.com/@CraftcastwithAlisonLee
• Tracey Spurgin - https://www.youtube.com/@TraceySpurgin
• Ronda Coryell = https://www.youtube.com/@rondacoryell
• Adrienne Gaskell - https://www.youtube.com/@agkumihimo 
• Lucy Walker Jewellery - https://www.youtube.com/@LucyWalkerJewelry 
• Online Jewellery Academy - https://www.youtube.com/@OnlineJewelryAcademy 
• Off the Beaded Path - https://www.youtube.com/@offthebeadedpath
• Soham Harrison - https://www.youtube.com/@1soham1 
• Charles Lewton-Brain - https://www.youtube.com/@lewtonbrain 
• Cool Tools - https://www.youtube.com/@cooltoolsvideos 
• Rio Grande - https://www.youtube.com/@RioGrande1944 
• Interweave - https://www.youtube.com/@Interweavecraft 

Of course - I also have my own YouTube channel and I hope to be adding some more videos there soon - head to this link to have a look - https://www.youtube.com/@pitstopx 

If you've been wondering about making your own jewellery, but haven't yet been sure whether it is for you or not - I'd love to encourage you to give it a go!

Of course, I'm biased - I love making jewellery, and also - more importantly, I know it is hugely valuable as a creative outlet; there are plenty of great reasons to give it a try...

Any creative hobby or pastime is proven to be a valuable therapeutic in terms of improving or safeguarding your mental health. Taking the time to have a break from the rest of your life, without worrying about whatever else may be going on in your work, life or family is incredibly valuable. The process of making something and the focus this requires, as well as working with your hands, which very few of us do much of in our lives gives our brains a real break, by using a completely different way of thinking and working... Not to mention the sense of achievement when you can proudly show off your new creations!

If you'd like to find out a little more about getting started with jewellery making - do click here to receive my free booklet with all of my top tips...