It all started while I was idly browsing Pinterest one Sunday afternoon. Looking for motivational images to keep my spirits up, with impending unemployment looming, I came across a necklace.

I straightaway thought of my friend Clare, who had just passed her twelfth accountancy exam, after a long, hard slog, and sent her the picture.

We both thought it looked cool, and I set about trying to find somewhere I could order it online. After a few days of searching, I had found a couple of online boutiques that sold something similar. The problem was that, being in the US, delivery costs made the necklaces way too expensive for us, over the pond.

That got me thinking. They didn’t look too complicated. If individual sellers in America could make and sell them, why couldn’t I?

I went back to the search engines, researching a whole new world for me, that of jewellery making and the silversmith. It didn’t look too complicated, but the initial capital outlay was steep.

The materials themselves were mystifying to me. I’d need silver blanks for stamping. But should I get sterling silver? Silver plated? I had the same query with the chains for the pendants. Then I needed to buy those little round things that join the pendant to the chain. What were they called? Cue Google search for “little round things that join the pendant to the chain”.

Then came the stamping equipment. First and foremost, I’d need alphabet stamps. The online community was at war as to which sort to purchase. As a novice, should I purchase a fairly low-quality set that would do the job, or invest in a high quality kit that would last? I had no idea.

It didn’t stop there. In addition to the letters I’d need special jewellery pliers, a hard metal block for stamping onto, a silversmith’s hammer, a permanent marker and polishing pads. Ah. Probably cheaper to buy the necklace from America then, and just put up with the delivery costs.

Or not. No, the whole point of this was to give myself motivation, to prove that “I can do really hard things”. So I began scouting out the best reviewed and best value products I could find, ordering them from a variety of different individuals and online stores. Then I just had to wait for them to arrive…

Tune in next week to find out how I get on with my first attempt at jewellery making!

P.S. The little round things are called “jump rings”