How To Become A Jeweler | My Self-taught Journey ~ With Progress Photos ~ 

It’s definitely true 🙈💜

Thank you so much! 🥹💜 that means a lot to me! 🙏🏻 best of luck in your journey 🙏🏻

This makes me so happy, thank you! 🥹💜 the thought crossed my mind about experienced, formally trained jewelers not taking kindly to me sharing my tips as a self taught person but, we all have to start from somewhere and we don’t all have the funds, time, or resources to be formally taught. There are many super talented formally trained people, and there are many talented self taught folks, and it’s nice to learn from all kinds of kinds. 💜 I don’t mind looking a little silly for the sake of learning my lesson and sharing that lesson with others. 💜 And now, being way on the other side of having put myself ALL THE WAY out there for the world to judge, I’ve found that I have only be educated and genuinely advised by those more experienced jewelers that I thought would judge me. I have found it’s actually a really beautiful and accepting community of creators. 💜💜💜

Thank you so much! I’m so glad you enjoy them 🥹

thank you so much that means a lot! 🥹

Thank you so so much! 🥹🥹💕💕💕💕

I’m so glad!! 🥹🎉

Thank you so much! And that’s so exciting that you started! I wish you TONS of success! 🥹💜💜💜

You are so welcome!💜💜💜💜

Thank you so so much, I’m happy to help! 🥹 Once you get started you won’t be able to stop 🎉🎉

You’re very welcome 🥹💜

💜💜💜

Thank you! And that’s very exciting!! 🎉☺️ best of luck in your journey! 🙏🏻

Could you also share where you sourced your gems and silver from in the UK?

I’m so so happy to hear that, thank you for sharing that with me! 🥹💜

Hello Stanley! It’s nice to see you again 🎉 stone cutting sounds both fun and nerve wracking, I know that must take a lot of skill as well! 🫢 that’s awesome that you chose to stick with the family craft ☺️💜

Ohhhh this message was so sweet to read, thank you for sharing this with me! I'm SO happy that I can help and encourage you. I can remember SO many times that I was frustrated to no end, so I feel you. ☺🙏 Just take a day to pause, but always come back. You WILL get better and get past it and eventually it will become something that is second nature, I promise! YOU'VE GOT THIS! 👏

​@@MiteraMade yay! I've got this! The continuity is the most important, you are right and that's why its good to have people like you that motivate other people , thank you for your work :)

Thank you 🥹

I’m so glad that you can relate and that you could take something from this video! 🥹💜 thank you for being here! Best of luck on your learning journey, it never ends and that’s the best part! 🎉🎉🎉

@@MiteraMade That's right. Learning never ends. Thanks.

Yesss. That sums it up perfectly! ☺️💜

It’s absolutely going to help you!! I’m so glad I could serve as any amount of inspiration! Best of luck in your journey 🙏🏻🥹

I’m glad to always have your sense of humour around! 🙈 lol 😆

Thank you so much! You absolutely can learn!! 🙏🏻💜 start with the basics and just slowly tackle each new skill and just let yourself go in the direction that you enjoy the most! 💜

Thank you for those recommendations! 💛💛💛

Thank you so much, that means a lot! 🙏🏻💜😊

Thank you so much! I bet those classes are so fun!!🥹💜 I definitely plan on filming more about stone setting and wax carving when I get my studio back up and running when we are in the states! 💜 hopefully that will be around late august or September 🫶🏼☺️

So the caster I found when I was in the UK (I just left Saturday lol) was about 6 hours away, so they don’t need to be in the same city or even the same state! The closer they are, the better for shipping times but the mail is pretty good overall it doesn’t matter too much to me where they are. The main thing I looked for when finding a caster was a good reputation as well as good communication. I called each one and spoke with them, asked a few questions and went with my gut on who would be the best to work with and thankfully it all worked out! 🙈 I myself now have to start this process over again here in the states so we are in the same boat! 🙈💜💜💜

That’s true too!💜💜

Best of luck with everything! This is such a fun road to go down ☺️💜

Thank you! I don’t have a ton, although I’m about to go through this whole process again finding a new caster in the states 🙈. I guess, from my experience so far, I looked up all of the casters in the UK and either called or email them to ask my question and I ultimately went with the person that had a combination of good reviews as well as who was the kindest and easiest to correspond with; the one who took the time to reply quickly or answered all of my silly questions without being frustrated with me lol. Here in the UK that was Merrell Casting. Once I find someone in the US I will let you know 🫶🏼☺️

Thank you so so much!! 🙏🏻🥹 I use a Canon 90D 💜

@@MiteraMade thank you for sharing! 💕

That’s so exciting, definitely don’t be scared to put yourself out there! 🎉 I mean, clearly you aren’t 😉😂🙈. That’s all very sweet of you to say although I am super taken, I appreciate the compliment and courage to share 🙈🙏🏻💜 best of luck in your journey 🙏🏻🎉

This made me laugh 😂 I guess with zero explanation it’s a random one. 🙈 the small crock pot acts a “pickle pot” which is an acidic solution that cleans your jewelry after you solder it. You can buy a pickle solution to heat up in the crock pot, but I use a salt and white vinegar mix for mine and it works PERFECTLY! It stinks but works 😂

@@MiteraMade interesting, thanks for explaining! I guess that's what I saw in this one video where they put the ring in a metal bowl that was on a stand and torched the bottom of it. I am looking forward to getting started! I may give wire wrapping a shot as well while slowly learning but I am very interested I cutting metal pieces and doing designs that way. And using a dremel!

😂😂 idk why this made me giggle so much 🙈😂 on one hand I kind of understand what you’re trying to say and on the other I don’t 🙈 everyone is definitely entitled to their own opinion though! 💜 I think people should make what they love, and if someone wants to buy it, then that’s great. 💜

Tiara!!!! Thank you so much! 🥹💜💜 Sending a big big hug! 💜

Thank you so much 🥹💜 I get some from small lapidary businesses on Etsy, some from Turquoise Moose and some from Rio Grande 🙏🏻

Thank you so much Koren 🥹💜 I have the Durston Superior Workbench, I found it on Facebook marketplace second hand but never used which was a steal 🎉🙈 definitely check out those places first! 💜

Did they post it to you or you had to pick it up?

I'm glad you enjoyed the video!

@@MiteraMade thank you for the reply! I really am thinking about getting into this world of silver/gold making jewels. You also mentionned that you took a class that was not really useful, since you already knew what was taught in it from self-learning online. I was wondering, for someone new that has not even started to do much research and has no experience with the tools, would you say taking a class would be worth it? Considering classes are less flexible, and more costly, but also has teachers to help you and pass on lots of compiled information?

I completely understand the time thing, at one point in this journey I was working full time, going to school full time and making my jewelry full time, and yes I have a 7 old son. 🩷 I will be 100% honest, I literally could not do it all. Lol I would cry a lot because I knew I just wanted to run my jewelry business but many time had to choose school work and a degree over making progress on collections or doing the tasks that would help my business grow. I felt a TON of guilt for not spending “enough” time with my son (he was fine it was just me being in my head), my house not being clean, not making dinner enough, etc. EVENTUALLY, after driving myself into the ground trying to do it all, working all day and then staying up until 2-3am just to go to work again the next day, I knew I needed to give something up, and it wasn’t going to be jewelry and of COURSE not my family lol. I ended up quitting school and settling for my associates degree. For me it was the best thing I could have ever done for my mental health 💀. I am not telling you to quit school but I am saying that you’re not alone in feeling overwhelmed 🫶🏼🩷 find something that can free up a bit more time. I even considered hiring a house keeper to help me keep up with my home, even though I couldn’t necessarily afford something like that, at some point I needed to invest in myself and I looked at it as an absolute investment for time. 😭 When it comes to my son, he knows how passionate I am about my jewelry and he tells me all the time that he’s proud of me 🥹💜 he even watched sometimes and is really interested in it. I try not to feel guilty because I know he gets to see what dedication looks like and I try and keep him in the loop on my projects so he can be excited with me. You have to take time for yourself too, it makes you an overall happier human and they need that! 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼 I don’t have a list of people but off the top of my head, Andrew Berry, Stardust Mine and the metal smith society on Instagram are great! 💜💜

I also want to add though that my husband has a big hand in making sure I’m able to spend the time I need on my business. He LOVES to work on cars so a lot of the time Isaac is running back and forth between the two of us watching what we are working on and learning.💜

​@MiteraMade thank you! Your video is probably the most golden thing that most of us, wanting to get started, need to hear. So much of what you're advising us are things we let stop us. Not only are you talented in your work and have an insane work ethic, but you're incredibly wise. I would love more of these videos on how you built your business. Trying to build a website alone on shopify almost made me launch my pc out the window. Many of us creatives lack the business end of it to get us to that next step, the dedicated structure to grow. We want to create but then we're lost as to what the next step is. I know you think you've grown slow but I think you've done an incredible job in a short amount of time. The amount of knowledge you've amassed in those years is admirable. Also, the light you emit to the world is really beautiful. Thank you for sharing it with the rest of us😊

I’m from the US, I was living in the UK because my husband was in the Air Force and we were stationed there. 🙏🏻☺️ Thank you for your sweet words and encouragement! 🥹💜

Thank you so much! 🥹💜 all of my traffic comes from Instagram, Facebook and TikTok 🙏🏻💜

@@MiteraMade Thank you :)

Thank you so much! I use Merrell Casting in Birmingham! They’ve always been so helpful and easy to work with 💜

@@MiteraMade that’s the one I’ve used, thanks 🙏

Good luck on your move back 🙂. I am enjoying your channel greatly. Can you please consider making a video on the fine details of using a casting house, such as spruing and what you do and what does the caster do? Thank you ☀️

Thank you so so much, I am so thankful that I could inspire you to start this journey! 💕🥹 I wish you TONS of success!!

Thankfully I found it second hand on Facebook marketplace 🎉 BUT you can buy it from Durston tools! 🙏🏻

I do/did, I only quit recently because we are moving from the UK to the US, but my “normal” job was and will be in the banking industry. I do all of this after work and on the weekends 💜😊

Thank you, I think? 😂

thank you so much! I definitely have been there, I'm so sorry that happened to you but great job for pushing forward!! I hope the wax work is going well 💕