Comments on: The Creative Virus

By: Lynn Schmitt

Lynn Schmitt — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 08:57:26 +0000

Hi Theresa,

I’ve found that Thunderbird Supply – thunderbirdsupply.com – out of Gallup, New Mexico consistently has the best prices on sterling silver and copper wire.

I also use Rio Grande (riogrande.com) and Monsterslayer (monsterslayer.com) for sterling silver and copper components – headpins, jump rings, etc.

Rings & Things (rings-things.com) has a great selection and lots information on gemstone beads.

Shipwreck Beads (shipwreckbeads.com) usually has the best prices on Czech glass beads and Chinese crystal.

Like someone said earlier, use the best materials you can afford. If you’re learning a new wire technique, try it in a less expensive wire like copper, brass or the color coated copper wires from Artistic Wire (artisticwire.com) and Parawire (parawire.com).

Good luck!

By: Theresa

Theresa — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 12:57:16 +0000

Hello everyone,
Thanks for your great tips and comments.
I will give copper a try but I am still aiming for silver.
Do you have any ideas concerning shipping costs and customs fees.
I don’t know how reliable shipping is ( lost or stolen) since I will be ordering to Mexico.
Great sales, may your creative juices keep flowing.

By: carole

carole — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 18:47:41 +0000

I buy my sterling silver wire and fine silver wire from Monsterslayer. They have excellent customer service and the cost is based on daily silver prices.

By: Lisa Yang

Lisa Yang — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 16:14:08 +0000

You can make lovely jewelry that you can sell for good prices using copper or silver filled wire. Also, there are plenty of silver colored beads over a copper base that look great and last well. I have found that gemstones don’t need to be the highest quality or a known gem – they just have to accent your design appropriately in order to sell. There are some people who will buy only sterling silver or gold filled, but I have found there is a wide audience who doesn’t care about the actual material, as long as your product is high quality, looks great and holds up well. Don’t start out planning to sell ‘cheap’ since you are already underestimating your talent. Find the best materials you can (others have given you plenty of sources) and make jewelry that you know people will want to wear. Good luck!

By: Jane

Jane — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 22:43:30 +0000

For wire i go to parawire.com. They have a big selection of different types of wires…since all they sell is wire. I love that they carry artistic wire in a lot of different colors and their prices are quite reasonable. As far as fire Mountain Gems, if you sign up for their newsletter, they always alert you to special blow-out sales they’re having….really really good deals on stones, beads and focals.

By: Diane Smith

Diane Smith — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 22:29:59 +0000

Beadaholique.com is another place to try. Good luck!

By: Sandra Litva Moran

Sandra Litva Moran — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 15:03:37 +0000

I have been ordering from Fire Mountain Gems for years, I have only once been disappointed by a few strands of “lower grade Tourquoise” I purchased, but that’s it! My new find is Jet Beads, he orders from FMG exclusively & you receive the highest discount level on all your items, a HUGE money saver! FMG has a ton of wire including sterling & sterling filled, but I will agree the copper wire is gaining in popularity & is beautiful in its natural state or oxidized as well! Hope this helps 🙂

By: Cory

Cory — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 14:42:09 +0000

You might try http://WWW.beadsgalore.com they are in Arizona and always have good sales.

By: Kathi UNIQUELY YOURS

Kathi UNIQUELY YOURS — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 14:14:51 +0000

There are also some great “destash” group pages on Facebook where you can get a little of one thing and a lot of another (depending on how much you decide you want to spend). I am also the admin. for a group page called “Online Sellers Forum” – it is a place where online sellers talk about their success, support each other in times of failure and we also do some self promoting too (lol); you could potentially find some great suppliers, as well as a few buyers too. Friend me on Facebook if you have any trouble finding it & I can simply just add you to it (if you want) – Hope to see you there!!

By: Cyreathia Reyer

Cyreathia Reyer — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 13:06:38 +0000

Theresa – I agree look in to copper, you can sell it and highlight the healing properties.

Rio Grande also sells great silver filled wire and have the best prices that I have found. I have used and abused it and it still looks great and it is cost efficient. Rio Grande also accepts it in scrap for store credit. Gemstones, look at Rio Grande, Thunderbird, and even ebay.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 11:33:01 +0000

I agree with Tamara, copper is gorgeous, and mixed metals is still looks hot. Instead of using silver beads, I use pewter, as well as what is called “silvertone” and “Tibetan silver”. Happy Mango sells very interesting items from around the world, high quality at great prices, and Magpie Gemstones carries all kinds of great quality stones clearly marked as to grade, as well as findings and lots of pure copper beads. Subscribe to their newsletters to find out about their sales and weekly features. Because of the high cost I, too, use very little silver wire now. To get the look, though, I use a lot of tinned copper from Artistic Wire. Over time and/or through exuberant hammering, the tin will start to wear away, exposing the copper underneath. This is one of the few (if only) products from Artistic Wire that doesn’t have that plastic coating on it that I’ve found starts to crack and fray after a while even if you don’t hammer it.

Barbara

By: Tamara

Tamara — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:02:42 +0000

You could also consider copper wire as an alternative to silver, or as an additional type of wire. It’s soft to work with, and more inexpensive than silver. And it is beautiful with more colours than you would think.