With every new year comes new hopes and dreams.  A renewal of what lies ahead of us in the new year.

2012 brings new ideas, creations and so much more.  

I ask myself this new year, how do I keep this new fresh feeling alive everyday this year?  

The conclusion?  

You just do. 

Break it down, we have 12 new starts to every month, 52 brand new weeks and 365 new days to start fresh and this year being leap year brings an extra day.  How fortunate.

Every new day is a blessing and I look forward to sharing so much with you.

What will you do this 2012 to keep it fresh and new?

Here is one for me 'Jewelry with Purpose'.  Watch for more or go visit right now. 

Hello Beading Buddies;  Have you gotten your recent issue of 'BeadStyle'?  The November issue is now on the stands. I always look forward to the new issues of this publication.  

Beadstyle is a beading publication that is focused on the beginning beader.  Those that are just starting out and trying to get their footing to understand all of what goes into learning to make jewelry.

There are always lots of easy projects to explore.  All projects have a list of supplies and step by step instruction to complete the jewelry.

If you would like to subscribe to BeadStyle I have provided a link.  By clicking on the BeadStyle picture, you can purchase your subscription through Amazon.com or visit your local craft store to pick up a magazine and send in a subscription card you will find within the pages of this fun magazine.

Seasonal jewelry is a fun time to explore  may ways to create new looks with old icons.  Here is a favorite icon I love using when creating Halloween jewelry, the candy corn.  (although I must admit I do not like to eat candy corn)

Don't limit yourself to icons either.  Each season has a pallette of colors to choose from.

Allow your creativity to flow from the color schemes of the season.  Can you think of any other time you may where orange, yellow and white with out fear of looking like a candy corn? 

Have fun with seasonal jewelry using either icons or color schemes, what ever you choose to use let your creatvity flow and then come back here and share it with us.  We want to hear from you.

Before we continue talking about how to store our beading supplies let's take a look at some of the supplies that will be stored.

We know there will be beads and tools, but what else is there?

Let's focus on the basic jewelry findings to have on hand for a beginner to complete our projects.

What is a finding?

Beading and jewelry findings are the basic components that complete a beading project.  Findings hold your jewelry together and can also be incorporated into the design of most pieces of jewelry.

Let's look at a quick list of what I suggest to have on hand:

For bracelets, necklaces and anklets you will need a spool of beading wire, spool of elastic, crimps, clasp and seed beads are optional.

For earrings you will need ear wires, head pins or eye pins. 

Then for general use I recommend to have jump rings or spring rings on hand.

These are not the only findiings you will be using or needing but this is the minimum of the basic findings needed.  We'll talk more about other findings as we learn and develop our techniques.

And let me stress, if you don't learn anything else from me learn this.  What I find to be the most important part of learning to make jewelry is to learn the techniques first.  That is laying the foundation, getting your footing to build on your new knowledge.  Get yourself familiar with the techniques, get to a comfort zone or at the least close to it and then learning about all the many components and materials you will be using to create your designs will come so much easier.  

Now, back to the jewelry findings.  You may be asking, so what are all of these findings and what do they look like?  That's a good question and one I ask myself every time I learn a new component.

I have covered this thoroughly in an article titled 'Bead Findings for the Beginner'.

Let's explore more and understand these basic findings so that you will have a better understanding of how to store your supplies.

As always, Happy Beading!!

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Let's talk a bit about how to store your beading supplies.  Let's talk bead containers.

Containers, just as most things, come in lots of shapes, sizes, styles and colors.

First, ask yourself these two questions, "What supplies am I storing?" and "Where am I going to store my supplies?". 

Once you answer these, it will help narrow your selection of containers. 

Let's look at a few options that may be considered and then let's look at some storage solutions.

Options of Supplies:  Beads; tools; magazines, books and catalogs; spools of wire; findings and the list goes on, you fill in the rest.

Options of storage space:  Closet; Drawers; Cabinets; Shelves.

Closet - Bags and Hooks; Peg Board

Drawers - Stackables; flat divided containers with closing lid

Cabinets - toolbox

Shelves - Boxes; Beadboards

Theses are just a few options and solutions to storing your beads and beading supplies.  I will follow up on this particular topic to give more thought in depth.  For now answer the two questions posed to you above and see what solutions you come up with.

I would invite you to post your comments and suggestions of what you are doing for storage to help give beginning beading enthusiast ideas to pull from.

Beaded Blessings.

Beading publications are a great resource for the beginning beader to get a taste of what to expect.

You have an option between beading magazines and beading books.  I have purchased both and my personal preference is investing in subscriptions to some of the beading magazines available.

With beautiful illustrations, explaintations of the process and countless resources of suppliers gives a good overview on difficultly and idea of the work involved in each project.

For the beginner in beading my all time favorite beading magazine in 'BeadStyle'.

BeadStyle is focused and dedicated strictly to the beginner but not all the projects look like a beginner project. 

This publication is a sister magazine to 'Bead and Button' and is published every other month.  The nominal fee is worth every penny with all the information, guides and resources that are provided. 

I keep all my publications to referrence back to see how styles have changed and find they have changed very little.  Or nostagia to see when new products or components were introduced.

For more information on Beadstyle you can check out their website  or click on the magazine below to purchase your subscription today.

Finding a bead supplier is an easy task if you know where to look.

But who is reliable?  Do they offer quality products?  Are their prices affordable?  What is the return policy?

I'm here to help a bit with those questions.  I've shopped a variety of retailers over the years since I've been teaching and I have narrowed down my selection of favorites.

The ones I use are not the only ones, but for the amount of shopping I did to find the right suppliers to fit my needs these are my first 'go to' choices.  I factored in the amount of selection I wanted, customer service, return policy, bulk discounting and first and foremost the product's quality.  Some of my suppliers are local retail stores and others are internet resources.

I would encourage you to first decide what your needs are. 

How much will you be buying at a time? Are you doing many projects at the same time or just one project? Do you have access to a local store?  Can you get out to your local store? Take these and other factors into consideration.  Finding out what your needs are first may also help to decide whether you buy on line or locally. 

You will find my list by clicking here or go to 'Beading Resources' tab and find my list there as well.

If you would like to find a larger list of suppliers available to you an instant resource would be to look through a beading publication.  They are loaded with suppliers fighting for your business.  So again these are not the only ones just the ones I have successfully used over the years and have been pleased with my purchases.

If you have others that you have used and are pleased with I would invite you to share with us your opinion and reviews in the comment section below.

As always I am happy to help if you have any additional questions, feel free to contact me.

Happy Beading,

Teri

When I was a child I received a bracelet from a very dear Aunt.  It was a coil like pearl bracelet.  It made me feel very special to receive such a special token of love.

My Aunt has been gone for a long time now but I still have the precious treasure she gave me.  It has left me with a lifetime of memories of our short time together.

Once I learned about making beaded jewelry I've never been able to look at jewelry in the same way.  I constantly dissect each piece to figure out how it is made. 


When I came across that special bracelet I saw it in a whole different light. 


The pearls have long since faded unlike the memories it holds.  But seeing it differently now strangely gives a deeper meaning to this treasure.  I quickly identified this coil bracelet as a memory wire bracelet and noticed the smaller details in the design. 

If all of this talk of tools and techniques are daunting to you with out actual pictures check out this simple 'how to make a memory wire bracelet' tutorial.

I provide simple and direct instructions in 4 steps on how to make a memory wire bracelet. 

This project will immediately build your confidence that jewelry making is doable.

Give this a try and check back in with me to show us some pics of finishd products.

Enjoy and happy beading. 

Three basic jeweler's tools and two beading techniques are all you will need to learn to take you from beading nothing to beading something.

In an early post, we discussed the three basic beading tools, now let's talk about the two techniques.

The first technique used to create bracelets and necklaces is called a 'crimping' technique using the chain nose pliers and wire cutters to complete this technique.

The second technique used to make earrings takes a bit more practice. This technique is creating a single loop in a head or eye pin (we'll discuss pins later).  All three tools; chain nose pliers, round nose pliers and wire cutters, are used to accomplish this.

I'm sure you are asking what do these terms 'crimp', 'single loop', and a 'head pin' mean.  I did too when I first began and I will answer those questions for you. 

We will look at these two techniques in detail and view videos demonstrating these techniques.

By the end you will move more confidently into working basic projects and succeeding.

I invite you to follow the beaded path to continue down the road of catching the beading bug. 

Happy Beading.

When I teach a basic to beading class I focus on teaching about the tools, techniques, terminology and lots of tips. 

We’ll break this down into segments.  Let’s start with the beading jeweler’s tools.

Three basic tools are all you need to get started on any beading project. Necklaces, bracelets, earrings, bookmarks and what ever your imagination can think of are only a tool away.

These basic beginner jeweler's tools are the chain nose pliers, round nose pliers and nippers or wire cutters. 

You may notice that I keep referring to these tools as ‘jeweler’s tools’.  Please pay attention to this.

It is best to use tools intended for jewelry making and not the typical household tools. Jewelry making tools are specifically made for the sensitive materials used in jewelry projects.

One additional tool you will need is some type of beading mat for your work space.  Pictured here is a pre-formed beadboard that allows you to hold and store your project. But something as simple as a hand towel will work just as well.  The main purpose is to absorb your beads so that your materials will not roll away from you.

These tools are very affordable and easily accessible both in craft stores and on line.

Follow along with me and let’s talk about these tools in more depth.  Find out all the specifics you need to know before making your first purchase.