I was unable to continue my jewelry making career for many years.  Life takes one down many side paths.  I am once again starting to start and there is so much to do.  Does your workroom become the household catch-all room?  Do you find that you can do so many things that you don't know which to choose to concentrate on?  When you decide to concentrate on one or two areas, does one of the back burner crafts suddenly start sputtering for attention and offering money to be made enticements?  Sigh.

The June issue of Jewelry Artist LJ gave me a heads up.  I graduated from NAU many years ago.  MA.Ed and my B.A.  Forgot some important safety steps and got a remind...thanks.

I can't wait to have contact with other artists.  Up here, in Pinetop/Lakeside, Arizona, there are a few serious artists who make their living at Jewelry/Pottery/but few who are open to sharing because they are busy trying to survive. The economy has squeezed the tourist dollars and... We still have the nose-in-air "Arteesties" who say jewelry is not art it's just a craft.  Real fine Art is painting.  Art is something you do when you have a fat retirement and are bored. 

I figure that if I have enough time to write this, I must not be working hard enough!  Hubby's heart attack and his two surgeries slowed me down but he is getting so much better that I MUST get back to the joy of jewelry making.  La Jeanne 

Your comment about the difference between art and craft was a very timely one for me.  I just had the same conversation with my mother, a lifelong crochetting, knitting, tatting expert who didn't know what to call her work.  I am a retired display designer and have several years of decorating Christmas stores under my belt.  If anyone knows what that's like, you know that making beautiful things from nothing, or from completely unrelated objects is just part of the job.  I am now making Christmas ornaments, jewelry, and other unique items, with the intention of having a mail-order catalog one day.  I question the terms art and craft, at least the way they are used today.  Craftsman has always been the nomicker for a person highly skilled in his work.  But there is an ocean of difference between what my mother crochets, the gorgeous tablecloths and bedspreads she has spent years making, and the potholders and easy-patterned tissue-box covers of the lesser skilled.  I would call her work art, but it speaks volumes of her skill as a craftsman.  On the personal side of the issue, my own craftsmanship employs quite a bit of artwork, but the finished product would be considered a craft by most, upgraded by most standards, but a craft, nonetheless.  My overall thoughts on the difference are this; those who employ several mediums, whose projects involve original design, specific dexterity and precision of hands and fingers and tools, and whose finished projects appeal to a variety of people, are Artists.  But, like everything else, it's all in the eye of the beholder; it's just that some beholders have more arrogance than eye.  : )

I have just started beading and I would like to know what is the rubber band type string and how do you know how much to measure out.

opps, so sorry, hit some wrong key on my laptop. Anyhow, without having read the download yet, I wanted to address the question of jewelry making as an "Art" or a "Craft". My brother (who's delved into creating sea glass wire wrapped pendants - and done a beautiful job of it) and I have discussed this question at length. He won't call himself an "artist" while I do. I, myself create strung beaded jewelry, wire wrapped jewelry, some chain mail and a little wire weaving as well. I've sold my pieces, here and there, to friends and even strangers. While I do believe jewelry making is a craft, I also believe it is an art. I compare it a little to my former career. As a Registered Nurse for most of my adult years, my knowledge, education, and experience required me to draw on the 'Art of Nursing' as well as the "Science of Nursing'. I cared for people, not simply a disease and that often required an 'art'. Having said that, I simply call myself a "Handcrafted Artisan". If I can take a string, some objects with a hole in it, and some wire.....and create a piece of beautiful 'wearable' decoration, well then.....I have, in fact, created 'Art'. Much like a painter who uses a brush, canvas, and some paint and creates something to hang on a wall (that is..'a decoration') to create 'Art', I am doing the same, as all of us who create jewelry. Is a Tattoo Artist not an artist? imho, he is. But, what is he really doing? Using a tool, some paint, and decorating one's skin. In fact, suffice it to say, many Tattoo artists create 'ankle bracelets' in the form of ink on an ankle, or on an arm! I am happy, comfortable, and proud to say....I am an artist. Just like those who also call themselves artists.....musicians, actors, etc...if we can create something for others to enjoy via their senses, then in my book...we're all artists. Lol, some may be starving artists, but artists we are, nonetheless. Perhaps not as wealthy as another type of artist (why not throw in architects too?!?! Or engineers who design the cars we drive (they have shape, color, depth, and design, no? To reiterate, if you create something in your mind and it becomes a reality for others to admire and use, that is beautiful or visually appealing to someone, why would you not be, an artist?