Christmas Holiday Beading

Some really great project ideas here, hope you enjoy it!
Keep smiling
Felicity 8-)

Beading Video - Using Crimp Tubes

I regularly get asked how to use a crimp tube, so I thought this video might be handy!
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Felicity 8-)

Beading With Wire

Hi everyone!
Megan sent me some photos of her latest creations, so I thought I'd share them here. Hope those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving had a great time.
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Felicity 8-)

Beading - Finishing Your Piece

Hi everyone
Hope you find this information about finishing your piece helpful!
Keep smiling
Felicity 8-)


When you're planning a piece of jewelry, it's loads of fun to choose the right beads and work out how you're going to put them all together for the final result. But there's another element you need to consider - how are you going to finish off your piece?

The bits and pieces that are used to finish off pieces of jewelry are commonly known as findings. This general term covers all sorts of fasteners, connectors and spacers that you can use to give your jewelry the finishing touch. There are an enormous variety of findings available, so I will just cover the main types that are reasonably common in shops.

Findings are generally available in either gold or silver colors; sometimes as pure metals, sometimes as gold or silver plating. If you're making earrings, it's a good idea to use either sterling silver or gold for earwires. Also, if you choose a magnetic clasp, remember that this can cause issues for someone with a pacemaker.

Fasteners

Unless you're using some sort of stretchy cord or making a very long piece, you will need a fastener to put on or remove bracelets and necklaces. There are plenty of fasteners available, including:

- Trigger
- Screw
- Hook and Eye
- Magnetic
- T-bar

Shop around until you find one you like. These are just generic categories, and the range available in each category can be quite varied and interesting.

Spacer and End Bars

These are used for multistrand necklaces or bracelets. The spacer bar helps to keep the strands separate in the middle of the piece, and the end bar is used to finish off the ends of the rows. You can also buy fasteners that are specifically designed for multirow jewelry. If you don't want to keep the strands separate at the end of the row, you can pass them all into an end cap or cone to finish off the strands.

Earrings

Depending on the design of your earrings, you might need earwires or ear studs for pierced ears, or screw or clip ear findings for non-pierced ears. You can also buy ear posts and a matching scroll or butterfly and use them to hold earrings in pierced ears. To make drop earrings you will need eyepins or headpins to support the beads, and you can also buy chandelier earring findings for more complicated designs.

Crimps

Crimps can be used for a couple of different purposes, including attaching fasteners to beading wire or thread, and also to help keep beads in place in the design. You buy metal crimps for use with wire and tiger tail, and you can buy leather crimps or spring ends to use with leather and cotton. You can use metal crimps with thread or elastic, but you must be very careful that when you squash the crimp you don't cut the thread.

Rings

Jump rings and split rings can be used as links, and for joining other items, such as fasteners, onto a piece of jewelry. Jump rings are a single circle of metal, and split rings are a double circle to provide extra strength and security.

Fiber and Bead Necklace

Redge Designs: Fiber and Bead Necklace: "I basically used some cross-stitch thread I had from cross-stitch projects I haven't finished (or haven't started) and some beads. The technique includes weaving, beading and braiding. This is the first time I've tried to do weaving, and I think the result's pretty good :)."


This is an unusual way to combine beads with other materials - hope you like it!
Keep smiling
Felicity 8-)

Beaded Watches

Hi everyone!
Mimi1831 posted some really gorgeous watches she'd created over on the forum, so I asked if I could post them here. They certainly got my creative juices stirring.... after all, my current watch is getting a bit long in the tooth! Now, if I get some green beads....
Keep smiling
Felicity 8-)

Working With Wire

Chasing Contentment: "I've signed up to sell my jewelry at a craft fair in early November, and I'm trying to begin working on pieces to show.

I'm looking at fall colors, holiday stuff, things I hope will be interesting. I'm also trying new techniques, which isn't always easy for me.

I'm trying to work with some wire these days, and these are some of my first attempts. In this one, I used red wire with red and white beads. I'm very pleased with how it turned out, and it's really easy to wear because the wire is super light."


This is an interesting design, so I thought I'd share it with you. I also liked the comments about working with fall colors in preparation for that season. Do you do the same thing?
Keep smiling
Felicity 8-)

Types of Beads

Hi everyone
I just wrote this article and thought you might enjoy it.
Keep smiling
Felicity 8-)

Walking into a bead shop can be a wonderful experience - so many colors, shapes and designs. It's almost impossible not to get incredibly inspired, and it's just as hard to walk out without having spent more than you intended! But when you're confronted with so many beads, it can be helpful to have some idea of what the different types of beads are, and how they're used. That way you can choose the right sort for your project.

Seed Beads

Probably the most widely used beads, seed beads are small, round or shaped, and can be made from almost anything. The most common seed beads are made of glass or plastic, but you can also get them in wood, pearl, jet, metal and so on. There are a huge variety of sizes and shapes available, which is very confusing. The smallest seed beads are often referred to a size 10 or 12, and slightly chunkier ones are size 8. Because they're so small, they're great for decorating garments, using in almost any type of jewelry design and in most types of sewing and embroidery.

Bugle Beads

A bugle bead is a long tube shaped bead, made from plastic, glass or metal. They can be anything from 2mm (1/16") to 5cm (2") long. The most popular is a size 2 bugle bead, which is around 5 to 6mm (1/4") long. These are also great for sewing projects, and can be very effective in certain types of jewelry as well. They're often used as flower stems in sewing projects, or can be used to lengthen a fringe.

Sequins

Although not exactly a bead, sequins are often used together with beads in sewing projects. They are round pieces of plastic or metal, and either have a hole in the center or to one side. They can also be either flat or cupped. The most common sequin style is a 6mm (1/4") cup sequin. Generally sequins are used as decorations for garments and sewn items. The ones with center holes are sewn in rows or individually for the right effect, and the sequins with a hole on the side can be used to form clusters that hang or in fringe work.

Center Beads

A center bead is used as a feature bead in the middle of a jewelry piece, a sewing design (such as a flower), the end of a dangle, or to complete a row of beads. Basically almost any bead that doesn't fit into another category and is larger than standard beads can be loosely classified as a center bead. They come in plastic as well as glass and metal, but if you're using one as a feature, it may be better to go with glass or even crystal, because they last longer and are more beautiful to look at then plastic.

Oval or Rice Beads

Named because of their oval shape, these beads are generally used as a spacer in dangles or as a feature in sewing. They can produce some interesting effects when used in jewelry. The most common size is 1cm (1/2") long, and they come in all sorts of colors and materials.

This is only a quick look at the main categories of beads. Once you start exploring a bead shop you'll realize there's far too many types of beads available to fit them into a few categories. Still, this guide should at least help you get an idea for what types of beads are available, particularly if you have a project you're planning to make which asks for a specific type of bead. Have a great time beading!

Cherry Blossom

Needle Lil More Time To Sew: 100 Details For 100 Days - Day 19: "This tree is part of a small pictorial quilt I made while living in Japan. The first cherry blossoms in all of Japan appear in January on the island of Okinawa, the southernmost prefecture. I guess you could say spring comes early!

My cherry blossoms are 4 mm hand-dyed ribbon with French knots and are anchored with seed beads. The trunk has various colors of cotton floss and perle cotton using chain stitches and stem stitches. The appliqued background pieces are hand done in very close buttonhole stitches."


This is such a pretty use of beads, I had to put it on the blog!
Keep smiling
Felicity 8-)

Cindy's Jewelry Gems

Cindy's Jewelry Gems: "Here is a bracelet I've designed recently. Cleaned up my beading board, and found beads in ones and twos, so I made a kaleidoscope bracelet.

Kind of fun, wear with everything bracelet. I have other new things on my PictureTrail site, too."

A great idea for using up those left over beads that we all seem to end up with!
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Felicity 8-)

Beadlust

Beadlust: "Next (above) is a recent bracelet by Nicole LeClaire Brown, featuring some of her own lampwork glass beads (the lime green ones). I admire her ability to keep it simple, yet give us a visual feast. That's a challenge."

Ahhh, my favorite color! It's been a while since I've found a nice green beaded piece. Yay!
Keep smiling
Felicity 8-)

Beading: Going Crazy For Beads

By Ed Whitlock

Beading is a fun hobby that many have turned into part-time or full-time jobs. Working with your hands and turning beads into beautiful jewelry have given many the satisfaction they seek in a hobby. People from all around will comment on the stunning jewelry. I like to say I made that myself.

There are lots of options when working with beads. One could use string or wire. The design options are endless. Beading is great for necklaces, bracelets, earrings and more.
Suppose you had an outfit that was different and you needed certain jewelry for it, with beading, you could just design your own piece of jewelry.

Gorgeous beads keeps the beader coming back for more. One can purchase their beads at specialty shops for beading, arts and craft store, jewelry shows, online and many more places. Beads are sometimes called eye candy because of the variety of beautiful beads to choose from. I am constantly fascinated at the colors of beads in which to purchase. Choose beads in the colors and shapes that you like and that look best on you.

There are many interesting patterns and designs available to both the beginner and the advanced beader. Beading does not require a pattern, but a beginner may want to start with one. One is not limited to a book or pattern. Beading can be added to or taken away from easily to adjust the piece to the person. If a certain look is to be attained, certainly following a pattern precisely will give those results. Creative people like to play around and design their own style.

Beading is a fashionable hobby that is lots of fun. Throw a bead party! Kits can be made up ahead of time to accommodate several people making the same thing in a party or group.

Beading in a group is great to get the creative juices flowing. When beading, one can easily forget the hectic schedule of the day and set the mind on other things.

Beading supplies can be purchased online or in several craft stores. There is not a lot of expense to begin this hobby. But beware, beading is addictive!

You can read this article, and more like at http://www.beadingcentral.info
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ed_Whitlock

Beads – The Latest Thing for a Long, Long Time

By Sally Taylor

It’s not often you can go shopping and not see beads which are claimed by the seller to be the “latest thing”. That’s probably just what people were thinking when they started making beads over 100,000 years ago! Recent findings have revealed that beads have been part of human life for that long, if not longer.

Recent examination of beads excavated in the early 1900’s from sites in Israel and Algeria have shown the beads to date from between 100,000 to 135,000 years ago, a finding which pushes the previous earliest known date of 75,000 years back quite some distance in human history.

These finding are extremely elemental in building our view of our species history for many reasons, the most important being that it shows beyond doubt that humans were thinking symbolically much longer than previously supposed.

The first beads that we know of were shells. Perforations in shells are often from natural causes such as parasites, but humans still had to think of a means to string them together which shows their ability to use chords – and to tie knots or make clasps. Because these shells were found in areas that they would not occur naturally, we know that early people sought them purposely and possibly even traded for them. We also know that these early bead makers had a sense of self and an idea of self adornment, were thinking symbolically, and had an understanding of art.

These points and other factors about beads and bead making also reveal that human social units were much more complex at this time than previously realized as well. Beads throughout history have been used to show social association or class, as an indication of wealth or prestige, as gifts, for beautification, and for currency meaning that complex social units existed from the beginning of bead crafting. Bead materials, bead crafting, and finished product has been an important indication of intra-cultural crafting trade since the earliest of bead making cultures as beads of materials from far away lands were seemingly the most significant to a culture’s people and carried the most importance and prestige within a group.

As time went on more and harder materials began being used for bead making. These items included seeds, teeth, bone, eggshells and ivory. Holes were drilled using the method of rotation. By 40,000 years ago stone was being used for bead work. By 28,000 years ago beads had become quite elaborate masterpieces and true marvels of skill mastership.

As civilizations flourished, so did the art of bead making. Today we still value our beads, whether they are an expensive string of pearls or just a few colorful ceramic baubles. The following examples of beads from around the world testify that in the vast history of humans, no civilization was, or is, complete without beads.

This is a picture of the oldest beads known to have existed. They were found in Blombos Cave in South Africa. http://www.svf.uib.no/sfu/blombos/Artefact_Review_2/images/BigBlombos-Cave-marine-shel.jpg

This image is of a bracelet of amber, tin, and faience with a copper clasp. It was found in the bogs of the Netherlands where the materials would have had to have been traded and dates to the Bronze Age. http://www.civilization.ca/media/docs/images/bog01b.jpg

These images are of beads found on the earliest shipwreck ever found. They date from approximately 1306 BC. There were thousands of beads found on this trade ship excavated off the shores of Southern Turkey. http://ina.tamu.edu/UB-beads.htm

These stone beads are from the Poverty Point area in the Southern United States. These beads date back to between 3800 and 2500 years ago.http://lithiccastinglab.com/gallery-pages/beadsgroupeffigymoore.htm

©2006, Sally Taylor: Sal is an avid gem and treasure hunter, explorer, writer, and Internet Marketer. She is the owner of http://www.rockhoundstation1.com and author of a controversial Internet Marketing Beginner’s Guide to Business Building: http://rockhoundstation1.net/ps/sally
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sally_Taylor

Making Money through Creative Beading

By Ed Whit

Not everyone can be a good bead crafter, but if you have a special talent for creative beading, you may be able to turn your talent into a lucrative profession. One way to know if you can make money this way is to listen to what other people are saying about your beading crafts, whether you do jewelry or other beading projects. Don’t just listen to what people say when you give them your beading projects as gifts; they aren’t going to be as honest as you would like. Instead, try to display your beading work in places where a lot of different people will see them, and try to eavesdrop on the conversations that they have about your work.

People love creative beading, and most people can spot good work when they see it. Whether you are making costume jewelry or adding beading to clothing, you are going to be able to make a good living from it if you find that people keep coming back to purchase your particular designs. Once you establish yourself as a bead crafter who does good quality work, you may want to make up some business cards for yourself and pass them around. Try to set up a booth at craft fairs as often as possible, and hand out your business cards to people who buy your products. Be sure to include your phone number and email address, and let people know that you are willing to do custom work. Your creative beading talent could very well provide you with a good full time income.

You can find this article and more like it at http://www.beadingcentral.info

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ed_Whit

A couple of simple ideas in there that are worth thinking about.
Keep smiling
Felicity 8-)

Online Alternatives to Ebay for Selling Bead Jewelry

BeadBoard.Net - Bead Jewelry Making Ideas � Blog Archive � Online Alternatives to Ebay for Selling Bead Jewelry: "Everyone has heard of the online auction site eBay, but not everyone has had the best luck selling bead jewelry on it. I'm one of those people. I find that it's just too difficult to compete with the other bead jewelry artists in pricing and quality.

For bead jewelry artists who don't want to start their own website or those who want to sell online through other means, there are plenty of options. There are really two kinds of online sales sites.

1. Online stores allow you to display your wares and sell them for a set price.

2. Auction sites allow you to put up your pieces for 'auction' for a limited time and allow potential buyers to bid the price up, with the highest bidder buying your jewelry.

There are pros and cons to each, but I've generally found that online stores are easier to manage because you're not constantly monitoring auctions and timing and pricings.

Here are a few alternative sites I've looked at for buying and selling bead jewelry. Feel free to post your own experiences with some of these sites!"

Check out the rest of this article if you're interested in selling your beaded jewelry online.
Keep smiling
Felicity 8-)

Funky Watch

Stacy's Stuff: "Here's the watch after it was completed. I ended up using elastic since it was too large with beading wire and the addition of a toggle clasp. I think I like the continual flow of this way better anyhow. I put Bali spacers between the clay beads and small silver circles next to the watch."

This is a cool watch - would make a great present for someone a bit young at heart and funky!
Felicity 8-)

Purple Bracelet

bink: Over the past two days, I've spent a tot: "My camera doesn't do a particularly good job discerning bright white from off-white from eggshell, but there is an overall yellow tint to the posted picture due to the light I was using. I made the thing out of glass and shell beads, and fishing line since it was worlds easier to thread through the beads without a needle. It has a toggle closure, which is fairly useless since the bracelet is so big that I can very easily just slip it on and off my wrist without haven't to open it. In fact, it has a secret ability in which it turns into a deadly assault weapon when I swing my hand too quickly in a given direction.

And yes, I felt hungry making this bracelet. Why else would it look like a fried egg sunny side up?"

I can't say I'd thought of eggs until the creator said that!
Felicity 8-)

Bold and Beautiful Beaded Lanyard Patterns

Bold and Beautiful Beaded Lanyard Patterns: "Most of us are familiar with what lanyards are but may not be conversant with the term. A lanyard is the cord or strap that is worn around the neck to hold an identification badge, whistle, keys or other small object. It can be worn around the neck, arm, waist or wrist.

When worn around the wrist, a lanyard is often referred to as a 'wristlet.' Lanyards have become increasingly popular for their ability to keep important objects close at hand while simultaneously keeping hands free.

Lanyards are used to display identification cards as also for carrying cell phones pens and eyeglasses. Neck lanyards come in different materials nylon, rope, polyester, lace, beaded lanyards, custom printed lanyards and decorative lanyards."

Interesting article for you, if beaded lanyards are your thing!
Felicity 8-)

Getting inspired

Hi everyone
I've been having a break from beading for a little while (AAARRGGHH!!) while I help a friend put together a book about scrapbooking.
Anyway, something interesting came to mind while I was flipping through some of her scrapbooks, and various books and magazines - and that was, how useful all that stuff could be for beading! Sounds silly, probably, but there was one particular page which had some interesting combinations of colours, and I started thinking, wow, I'd really like a necklace in those shades....
Yep, it's true! Keep your eyes open, and you'll find inspiration for your beading everywhere you turn.
Keep smiling
Felicity 8-)

Finding the Right Bead For You By Ariana Cherry

Beads. Ahh, the world of beads!! If you are a jewelry maker or handmade jewelry lover, then you know what I’m talking about. There’s so many to choose from, that it makes it hard to decide which ones are best for your own personal designs.

Sure, if you are following a specific pattern, then you purchase the beads that the instructions call for—but what if you want to spread your own wings and flourish from that pattern? Then you go to the world of beads!

First, you find a craft store or bead store – You can find some of the neatest beads at chain stores such as Wal-Mart. Then there are craft stores such as Michaels or Hobby Lobby. Of course, then you have your specialty stores too. But then—its not always about the store----its about the BEAD.

Now, look deep into your very crafty-or should I say… “Beady” soul. What colors scream you? What designs catch your eye? Do you love the water? Do those clouds up above just mesmerize you? Are you just a faithful lover of the color blue? Then go look for those pretty shades of blue… Sky blue, navy blue, ocean blue, and/or turquoise, etc. Then you can find patterns with flowers, cat-eyes-anything to your hearts content. Baby—if you love blue—then bead the night away in blue.

How about nature colors? Our mother’s great outdoors have just color that travels a million directions! You have the soft green grass, the colors of leaves in autumn, all of the animals, brilliant pinks and purples in the flowers. There is just so much color in the world of nature! Take your favorite picture of nature’s outdoors with you when choosing your beads—this will help you wonderfully.

Of course, there’s even more patterns and colors that can help you decide. Perhaps you already have favorite colors you like to work with. It’s almost like taking a test—Your first instinct is always the right answer! If there is a bead that is just talking to you-go for it! Pick her up-touch it, feel it, and imagine it in your studio—with your designs! I promise you-it will talk to you. Everybody’s perfect bead is different.

There is no right answer in creation. Your designs, your colors, and your beads—they are all about you. And ONLY you. Create from your heart- our heart is always right-no matter how much you might want to ignore it at times.
http://www.sentimentaljewelrycreations.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ariana_Cherry