| I use Fire Mountain Gems for all my jewelry needs. Throughout their catalog they show jewelry ideas and they have directions on their web site. Order something and/or get on their mailing list and you will get a big fat catalog every year along with several smaller ones as the seasons turn. Rings and Things also has a good tho' smaller catalog with some items I cannot find at FMG. I also have assembled a nice collection of jewelry making books for the mailing charge only on paperbackswap.com. Look on amazon to find books you've looked at in local bookstores then buy the used cheaper copies from amazon independent sellers. Or get them on paperbackswap.com. You swap books you no longer want for ones you do want. You pay to ship books at a low book rate to others and they pay to ship their books to you. It's a great way to get rid of books you don't want and get books you do want, and it also is a green solution to the plethora of unwanted books out there in the world. Also try Beading Daily. they offer beading tips and patterns online for free. They will try to sell you magazines but you can ignore that and just get the freebies they offer. Check books at your local library and scan particular projects of interest for your own personal use. Also, books on jewelry may be culled and bought for 25 cents or so. Look at other crafts also. You can get lots of ideas for jewelry from sewing, furniture making, textiles, etc. You can find lots of small hardware bits that make great steampunk jewelry. Subscribing to one beading magazine is not too expensive and will give you lots of ideas. Beadwork is a good one. If you have a local beadshop they will have classes and also samples of their class's finished products. Examine those and try to make them without attending the class. Collect all sorts of stuff with which to make jewelry, from hardware to old ribbon to foreign coins and seashells. If you have trouble with getting good color combinations go to colourlovers.com where people post color combinations they like just for the fun of it. Look and learn about color on that site, and try the combinations in your jewelry. the catalog from Fire Mt. Gems also has a page of the color trends for the coming seasons. This is good inside info to know as well if you plan on selling jewelry. | 
Linear Mode
