Cheap stuff to play with in class

[innerkitten]

So I''m taking a jewelry making class and needed some fun stuff to practice with. I actually set my first stone in a bezel last week but it was lopsided lol. My teacher said by the time I get through all this stuff I''ll probably be pretty good at bezels though.

and the token cat pic.

 

[innerkitten]

and my stones.

 

[innerkitten]

There are two pieces of turquoise, one big stone that might be turquoise ( it fits into the palm of my hand ), a rose cut peridot, a shield shaped magenta red spinel ( depends on the light), a bunch of spessartite and some rhodolites. Nothing was more than $15.00 each.

 

[purrfectpear]

Try eBay. You can get some decent stones from Thai sellers for less than that.

 

[FrekeChild]

Awesome!!! I''m so jealous IK!!!!

 

[Lady_Disdain]

I have some nice and inexpensive stones from tiptopgems that were as described and pretty good value (nothing I would show on PS, though). Thaigemstore was recommended to me, but the first package hasn''t arrived yet.

I also get a lot of practice stones from local dealers, which saves a lot on shipping. Since I live in tourmaline land, I set a lot of those.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Those are awesome!! LOVE LOVE LOVE the kitty pic - too cute!!

 

[rubybeth]

Aww, I was hoping to see your lopsided bezel!

The kitty is very cute. Is s/he stealing your pretties!?

 

[VRBeauty]

Hi IK! I''m a little jealous that you get to take a jewelry making class... are you taking it at a local JC? Is this the first class you''ve taken? I know the local JC here is adamant that there will be no stone setting in the first class or two -- they even specify that in the class description --LOL. And I do have a few stones to set...

Anyhow, I''d love to see some shots of your first bezel, wonky or not! Look at it this way -- you can only get better!

As to gemstones, I''d agree that some of the Thai sources on ebay are a good place to look for inexpensive stones, especially if you purchase a few stones at a time to take advantage of the combined shipping.

Good luck!