Making your own jewelry doesn't have to be complicated or even hard. Make simple designs and make it your own. As for me I started off first by repairing my jewelry and my friends jewelry due to being broken or just needing a new style. It doesn't cost much to be creative and still be unique to your very own taste and style.
When I had my own store and I needed to have more inventory I would buy lots from ebay filled with beaded jewelry. You do have to be careful because some beaded jewelry is not usable after you take them apart. Some beaded works are plastic and the strings are melted together (not good for renewing) I prefer glass and stone beads for best results sometimes you'll even get vintage stuff included that just needs some TLC.
Watch out for painted beads too, they may peel away and not look good at all. Rarely I would purchase a metal jewelry lot which I find more difficult to have usable source for jewelry making. But sometimes you get lucky. I inspect all the metal for tarnish, weakness, and of course check to see what kind of metal by using a magnet, if it sticks to the magnet then it's most likely steel which means it could rust and leave black or green marks on the wearer. Which would be me, since I can't wear fake stuff and having green on your skin, well you know it looks bad. If I do use metal in my jewelry making I try to make sure it doesn't touch skin for this reason.
There are several ways to restring your new works by wire, cord or even string that looks like fishing line. The most important thing to remember is your clasp, It should be sturdy, strong and easy to use. For this I prefer using real 925 clasp which is fairly cheap and will last longer. If you make something really fancy you can use 14k gold clasp, but remember gold is a softer metal so it could bend or break easily.
Now that you understand the basics and where to get your cheap material, let's get started...
The very first thing I did was inspect my purchased lot, separate them, untangle them (they seem to get tangled easy.)
Now what do you have to work with? For me I have containers ready for my disassembling of the lots, I strip everything down by taking beads off strings, cutting clasp off and saving goods ones. sorting my beads by color size and type. Of course before this is done I inspect everything to make sure there isn't any rare and valuable pieces that should just be repaired instead of disassembling. I always have a magnifying glass to read any marks that could be found. If they are found I research them via internet to find out if they have value before deciding what my next move is. I also have a diamond tester for any rare jewels that show up unexpected, Don't worry if it's not diamond because sometimes other precious jewels will make it respond too. In my case I bought a 11 rings, ring lot at which the seller thought all of them were just 925 sterling silver. But I got real lucky and blessed with my purchase because with my diamond tester and magnifying glass I found out one of the rings in the lot was platinum with sapphires. The sapphires tested just like diamonds. Needless to say I was stoked since I only paid $11.00 total for all these rings. Btw I sold the sapphire ring for $1100.00.
Now back to making your own jewelry, it's easy once you get started and it's up to you to make them one of a kind and make them yours and make yourself proud that others love to wear your custom jewelry creations.
Below are the jewelry creations I have made, most have been sold and or given away, but some have stayed in my own personal collection. Have fun, create, share and smile because you did the work that others will love for a long, long time.