Learning To Make Jewelry When Time Is Limited

• Tweet
• Sharebar

• Tweet

I have to admit: I haven’t had the time (or the energy) to make much jewelry lately. We have a new addition in our house (a little girl) and my time was already stretched thin with a four-year-old, a full-time job, a husband and house that’s constantly in need of some sort of repair or update.

Before becoming a mother I would spend a lot of nights just relaxing and putting together jewelry pieces or stringing beads for hours and hours on end, sometimes while watching TV or while listening to music. These days I don’t have the luxury of having hours of free time (and if I did I’d probably want to spend those hours sleeping! LOL!) Yet, despite all the demands on my time and attention, I still find that I’m able to make jewelry and enjoy my hobby as long as I keep a few things in mind and don’t expect to be able to “work” at my jewelry like I used to. Here are some of the things I’ve learned and methods I use to make jewelry with a busy schedule:

Break Your Jewelry Making Into Smaller Steps: The one thing I’ve learned over the past several years is that I need to make the most out of the few free minutes I get here and there. And since long stretches of free time are premium, I’ve learned to break my jewelry making into smaller steps that can usually be accomplished in a small block of time like 20 – 30 minutes. So, I usually have about five or six steps in any piece of jewelry I’m making. They are: Sketch/Design, Choose Supplies and Beads, String, Adjust and then Finalize. I first sketch out what I want to do or design a piece in my head to some extent. Then I spend some time going through my supplies to make sure I have all the beads, wires, clasps and other accessories I’ll need to make the piece I want to make. After that I usually use a beadboard and string everything together. I adjust for size or if the design doesn’t look right and finally I attach clasps and clean up the ends, making sure everything falls and wears the way it should! It isn’t easy to get used to this if you’re used to designing things in a little more “free form” style. I started making jewelry this way almost by accident when I had my first baby and I only an hour or so between wakings to work around the house, clean everything, take a shower and make some jewelry for an upcoming show!

Not all jewelry can necessarily be made this way. If you’re making your own lampwork beads or making jewelry with metal clay then there are definitely some steps you can’t squeeze into 20 minute openings. I’m also very lucky to have a husband who is willing to take the kids and give me some free time when I really need it!

Maintain A Jewelry Making Schedule: Making jewelry is a fun hobby for me and it helps bring in some money, but I try not to let it over take my life! Since I make my jewelry at home, there’s always that danger of mixing up the whole home and business and environments to the point where you begin seeing “home” time as time you “have” to work. It’s taken some practice, but I’ve learned that I don’t necessarily need to make jewelry every day to still be good at it. I try to make some time most days of the week for working on various jewelry and creative projects, but I don’t beat myself up if I miss a day or two due to someone being sick or a school trip or anything along those lines.

Prioritize Projects: I used to go to a lot of different small craft shows and local bazaars and try to sell my jewelry. Now that I don’t have every weekend free to spend the day at a show, I tend to pick one or two larger craft shows each year and just plan to attend them. I am also a bit more realistic when I get a special order for custom jewelry. I’ve learned that being honest with people is the best way to do this. I simply explain that I’m a busy mother of two and may not be able to get an order done for a month or more. Most people are completely understanding and even applaud me for being truthful!

Use Good Jewelry Making Tools: Sure, anyone who makes jewelry should invest the money in a good set of jewelry making tools at some point, but there are some little tricks I use to help me manage making my jewelry in those little blocks of time. First, I like to have multiple projects going at one time, so I have a few different specialized beadboards that I sit on a shelf in my closet. That way I can have three different bracelets and maybe some necklaces in various stages of design. If I find that I need more beads or supplies for one piece I can quickly switch to another piece as time allows. I also have several boxes of Bead Stoppers available at all times because my daughter seems to have the amazing ability to start crying right as I begin stringing a jewelry piece.

The real key to making jewelry when you’re a busy mother/wife/employee is to be flexible and open to new ideas and new ways of doing things. With two young kids in the house and a million other things going on, I’m definitely making less jewelry now than I used to, but with a little determination I’ve been able to keep enjoying my hobby while continuing to make beautiful jewelry (just not as much of it as I used to! LOL!)