Buy Jewelry Making Supplies – 12 Shopping Tips for Polyclay Artists
Michaels, a great place to find jewelry findings and beading wire… if you know how to shop their aisles:
We've all been there… wandering the craft store aisles trying to find wire for beading & other important items to make jewelry (earring findings, charms, jump rings, etc, etc). But because of the lack of knowledgeable help from staff, we often leave in frustration without actually picking up the items that we originally came for. Argggghhh!
I get a lot of comments and emails asking for tips on how to find polymer clay supplies and jewelry making stuff. Here's a link to a recent conversation I had with jojo (one of the readers of this blog), about where to buy metal leaf and gold foil: Gold Leaf Polymer Clay
Well it's time to take matters into your own hands when it comes to finding jewelry making supplies at Michael's Arts and Craft Stores.
Here's 12 shopping tips that will be helpful for all poly clayers, whether you are a newbie beginner or a more experienced jewelry designer already making money selling your creations in an Etsy store or at your own web site.
1) First of all you need to realize employees in stores like Michaels, Joanne's and the Hobby Lobby can not possibly be experts in all the different mediums… and in some cases in none of the mediums. If you go to Michaels Careers section on their web site it even says, "You don't have to be an artist to create a brilliant career!" The people with real expertise that you should be going to for advice, are the ones actually making a living with their hobbies (like me for example ;-). I'm here to help!
2) The 'big box' craft stores are focused much more on bringing you the best price rather than the best service. So you will have to figure out a lot of the technical stuff on your own. Reading this post will help you with the learning curve.
3) Spend some time on a day you're not rushed to get to know all the areas of the store and what is there. When making polymer clay jewelry you'll want to try all kinds of different supplies and crafting tools.
4) Jewelery making supplies can be found in more places than just the bead aisle. Silver wire or copper wire can also be found where the wire jigs are.
5) Wonderful cookie cutters which are great for making polymer clay beads, can be found in the polymer clay section, the Makins air dry clay section as well as fondant cutters in the candy and cake making sections.
6) Jewelry findings can be found with the beads or with the beading tools. But sometimes the best charms are found in scrapbooking or cardmaking aisles.
7) Think about buying rubber stamps, Adirondack alcohol inks, Pearl-X Powders and pigment ink pads from the scrapbooking section.
8) Look for glitters in the kids craft section, the paper making area, the paints and painting aisle and in Christmas crafts supplies.
9) Metal foils and metal leafs are found in a few places. Mona Lisa Imitation Gold Leaf can be found often where the adhesives are or where the woodcrafts are located. Sometimes foils like Jones Tones can be found in the fabric paint area or sewing department.
10) And don't forget to bring discount coupons that you can clip from your local newspaper flyers! Michaels has regular 40% and 50% off sales which you should always use for buying the bigger supplies and tools. If you register online at the Michaels Art and Craft web site, you can print the coupons on your printer and bring a few friends to help you get even more discounts.
11) Try 'pre-shopping' online at the hobby store of your choice. That way you can print out exactly what you want and the staff can look it up on their computer to find out where it is in the store.
12) Buy your jewelry making supplies online whenever you can. That way you can sit in your pajamas with a cup of coffee and make your craft shopping experience into a virtual adventure.
So instead of turning around and leaving Michael's without any beading supplies in your shopping cart, realize that you probably know more about making jewelry than the people working there. And that soon with a little research, you'll be the one to point frustrated people in the right direction!
By the way, craft stores aren't the only place to buy jewelry making supplies… but I'll leave that story for another day!
Filed Under: 02: Tools, 03: Supplies, 13: Musings-News by Comment. 
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Comments on Buy Jewelry Making Supplies – 12 Shopping Tips for Polyclay Artists
5:43 pm
Do you have any juicy stories about shopping for jewelery making or polymer clay bead supplies? What has frustrated you in the past about not being able to find stuff. Can you share any new tips besides what I've outlined above? I'd love to hear from you.
Cindy's last post..USA Clay Cane Designs Absent From Fimo Nail Art Trends in Google
8:49 am
I love Michaels. That is where I usually get my beading supplies.
For some reason I am unable to post my url on this post.
10:26 am
Signed up for JoAnn's "newsletters" several years ago..and do most of my supply shopping there.('Cause it's 20 miles to the nearest crafty-type store here!)…
There is always a coupon in those bulletins…and I always jump at the ones for "Free Shipping". Not only does it save me time and money, but, as you said, can sit here in jammies and shop away!!
4:58 pm
@Kim: I'm not sure why that is happening to you. These darn blogs can be confusing. Are you using Firefox as a browser? If you are, you can click on the little symbol in the bottom righ-hand corner and it will switch that tab to Internet Explorer. Then it might work for you. (I have to do that when I write these comments.)
@Garnie: Thanks for the tip! Although we in Canada don't have JoAnn's (at least not around here), this is great advice for all you American shoppers. Does it work for the online store too? Because that might work for Canadians.
Cindy's last post..USA Clay Cane Designs Left Out of Fimo Nail Art Trends in Google
12:49 pm
I have a resident that loves to make jewelry and she is bound to a wheelchair, and does not have computer skills is it possible to send her a catalog?
9:51 am
I'm sorry Susan but I don't have any Catalogs at this time. Thank you so much for asking though! If there is anything else I could help you guys with, just let me know.
9:35 am
Thanks for the Michaels endorsement! I work at Michaels in Southgate, Mi, and fortunately, our Dept. Manager in Arts and Crafts is very knowledgeable and has helped me out as well. Most employees should know where to find an item. Not all are able to give advise on how to use them since we carry tens of thousands of different items.
Another place to find jewelry findings online and to get a catalog, is at: Firemountaingems.com. If they don't have what you are looking for then it doesn't exist! They have it all!
7:33 pm
You're welcome Catalina! I've always thought Michaels should give their employees free supplies each month so they can get to know them and how they work. I'm sure if you had the opportunity to play with the supplies you'd be able to sell more of them. If they split up their employees by department they would be able to specialize more. That is what the art stores do.
You're right about Fire Mountain Gems, they do have a lot of stuff!
Thanks for your comment!
6:46 am
I am trying FireLine or PowerPro brand fishing line to string polymer beads. Anybody have advice about knots for jewelry clasps? The knot I have tried–palomar sometimes tightens most of the way completely but there is a thread left not tight. I can't get that thread to tighten into the knot and have to start all over from the beginning–not fun.
7:45 pm
Rosemary, my dad was a fisherman so I know a knot that would work, but would be impossible to describe in words. There are some free beading instructions including knot tying at FireMountainGems in video that may help. A drop of glue on the knot you are using may work as well.
12:40 pm
I was wondering if you know of supply companies that would send you free samples of their products?
I am new and my 15 year old daughter and I are trying to start our own business around here; so that we could start saving for her to go to college of the Arts in NY.
But, we have purchased some items that were no good and somewhat expensive along the way. However, with me being taken out of work in Feb. 08', this is a habit we can not afford to keep doing.
MAY GOD LITE OUR PATHS EVERYDAY
Thank you
Michele
8:16 pm
Hi Michelle. You can ask companies if they are interested in giving you products to try, but honestly, there needs to be something in it for them.
Like, you would need to have a blog with lots of traffic where you could write reviews. Or be a charity or something. You can't just be someone who wants free stuff.
Another option is to read reviews done by other people, so you can avoid buying product that doesn't work that well. I'm sorry I can't give you better news than that.
3:58 pm
Any luck finding pendant bezels at Michael's, Joanne or any place unusual? The only ones I ever find are online and *expensive*. Just looking for plain oval mounts. Creative suggestions appreciated!
11:42 am
Hi Melody! I was hoping someone else would pipe in. I don't really have a source for oval mounts for you but have you seen those CaBezel molds that shadesofclay.com sells? They are forms for making your own bezels out of polymer clay. You should check them out to see if they might work for you.
In the future I will be doing a wire bezel tutorial, but that won't be for a couple of months yet. Until then I'll keep my eye out!