Amulets and Talismans: Simple Techniques for Creating Meaningful Jewelry

Making Jewelry with Meaning

The things you collect - the ticket stubs, the coins, the pieces of shell from a beach - hold meaning and significance, reminding you not only where you've been, but also where you're capable of going. Making these items into wearable pieces of art - amplifying their power to become amulets and talismans - is a rewarding experience that's easy to do.

Working with the most basic of tools, you will learn cold-connection jewelry techniques to expand your creative process. In addition to basics like creating jump rings and using a file, you will also:

• Make your own hook and latch clasps
• Cut windows from sheets of metal
• Inlay designs into polymer clay
• Incorporate concrete into your work
• Achieve patinas with heat
• Journal your thoughts onto faux bone
• Turn paper pulp into realistic rocks
• Create "time capsule" beads from Plexiglas
• And much, much more!