I took an adult education class on wire wrap jewelry making a couple of months ago, and I am now officially addicted to my new hobby.\u00a0 I’m still a rank beginner, and most of what I make is for myself, since the finished product is usually a little too wobbly and imperfect to give to another person.\u00a0 But I’m practicing, practicing, practicing, and am ever eager to learn more ways to use my new skill.<\/p>\n
Yesterday I got an offer in the mail for the magazine Step by Step Wire Jewelry <\/em>(clearly one of the catalogs I’ve been ordering jewelry making\u00a0supplies\u00a0from sold my name – humph), and I kind of started salivating as soon as I saw that there was a whole magazine <\/em>devoted to new wire wrap projects.\u00a0 And then I went online today to investigate if the magazine is any good – and, sadly for my coffers, it looks like it’s fabulous – and that led me to look at some of the books that the magazine editorial staff has written…and all of a sudden I was on Amazon, ready to spend quarts of money that I don’t have.<\/p>\n Screeching mental brakes.\u00a0 Wait a second, wait a second, I told myself.\u00a0 Why am I thinking about buying books that I can’t afford and don’t even know much about?\u00a0 I might well spend precious money on some books that are worthless to me, and then I’ll just be grumpy and pissed with myself.\u00a0 GO TO THE LIBRARY CATALOG, my inner voice screamed.\u00a0 You’re a librarian – you\u00a0know how to\u00a0order some interesting looking wire wrap jewelry books via interlibrary loan, and then you can audition the books and try out all kinds of cool projects.\u00a0 FOR FREE.\u00a0<\/p>\n And, you know, you don’t have to be a librarian to do this.\u00a0 All you need is a library card and internet access, and you can sit in the comfort of your own home and request books for yourself.\u00a0 And lo and behold, in a week or so those awesome books will arrive at your home library for you to pick up and check out for a few weeks.\u00a0 And guess what?\u00a0 If you don’t have internet access at home, or if you would just like a little additional help, you can visit your local library and ask a nice librarian (like me!) to find the books that you’re looking for and request them for you.\u00a0 And you might just be surprised at how many books are at your local library, meaning that you don’t have to wait a week for them to be delivered from another library in the system.\u00a0 Wow.\u00a0 That is cool, huh?<\/p>\n So now I’ve requested six wire wrap jewelry books on my library card, and before you know it I’ll have those books in hand and I’ll be acquiring all kinds of new skills and techniques and ideas.\u00a0 For free.\u00a0 Libraries ARE awesome!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I took an adult education class on wire wrap jewelry making a couple of months ago, and I am now officially addicted to my new hobby.\u00a0 I’m still a rank beginner, and most of what I make is for myself, since the finished product is usually a little too wobbly and imperfect to give to … Continue reading Why Libraries Are Awesome<\/span>