Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Jewellery Tip - Sorting different sized crimp tubes


Like many designers in the craft industry I share my studio with a pet. Most of the time Kitty Kat is just happy to nap and occasionally she'll chase a bead or other embellishment that has fallen on to the floor.

But it doesn't always go like that.

Today we had a little incident when she jumped up on to the bench top. She landed awkwardly on top one of my boxes of findings, became unbalanced and then she and the findings tumbled unceremoniously onto the floor. Apart from darting out of the studio terrified with her tail between her legs, she was unscathed. But sadly the same can't be said about the 3 drawer box which broke and sent the contents scattering everywhere. Fun!

If you've ever had beads or findings scatter across the floor before then you'll know that the easiest way to clean them all up is to grab the vaccuum, wrap a stocking over the nozzle and secure it with a rubber band. It makes gathering all the findings easy.

Now all that's left to do now is sort everything back into its compartment. Unfortunately, the bottles of crimp tubes broke and all the crimps became mixed up.

So here's an easy way to sort them - it's a bit tedious but it will ensure that all the crimps are sorted correctly.

Grab a needle tool with a tapered point (a toothpick will work too!) and a bead mat or other soft surface to work on. Pick up each crimp with the point of the needle tool and note how far along the shaft it will go.

You should be able to easily identify the different sizes this way.

So now everything is back in order in the studio including Kitty Kat who is doing what she does best!

'Til next time.....








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