Bead Arts

Art Bead Scene
Stop by and see the variety of art beads we found recently, all based on the idea of “spooky trees”, and inspired by the current change of season and upcoming holiday.

Bead Arts
Here is Cyndi’s list of the best metal bead suppliers. Do you have any you’d like to nominate?

Jewelry and Beading Blog
How about some low-cal candy corn this Halloween? How about zero calories in fact? That’s what you’ll get with this eye-candy elastic bead bracelet at the Jewelry and Beading Blog.

Katie’s Beading Blog
Get a sneak peek at one of Katie’s projects in the new issue of Easy Wire magazine. Subtle fall colors and lots of texture combine for a fresh, organic look.

PearlEsq.
Robin provides some fun ideas for how to create “under pressure!” She shows how to have some fun with techniques on your down time, so when in a rush, you’re ready to go! Also check in on her fun Stamp Giveaway Contest!

Savvy Crafter
Beads, beads, beads! They’re everywhere. Candie pokes around her apartment taking pictures of all things lovely and beadafied.

Snap out of it, Jean! There’s beading to be done!
Jean shows a bracelet with lots and lots of cheery Earthenwood Studio pumpkins. She entered it in the Art Bead Scene challenge for October. Pumpkins surely can be Boo-tiful!

The Impatient Blogger
The Big Apple is a veritable beader’s paradise! Margot went to judge the Create Your Style Swarovski competition and scored some fantastic new beads and bits. Go see! Go see!

Sturgeon Moon

Once more, I spent this month working on the moon for last month! It’s not that I’m behind…I decided in the beginning to work on the month that has just passed, hoping to gather more inspiration while I’m experiencing it! You can find links to more of the Bead Journal Project’s participants on Robin Atkin’s blog.

You can also click on “Bead Journal Project” under “categories” in the right-hand sidebar (of my blog, that is!) to see the past three months’ beaded journal pages.

mixed-media, bead-embroidery, beads, creativity, bead-journal-project

Art Bead Scene
September is coming to and end and so is this month’s Art Bead Scene monthly challenge. So catch your last chance to join by rounding up beads from more than one of your favorite artisans, and send us a picture for the When Beads Collide theme. Check back next week as we announce the theme and prizes for October.

Jewelry and Beading
Tammy has been working on jewelry making e-course for some time now and has a total of 17 available. They are free, yes - f - r - e - e! Learning everything from bead strining to metal clay.

Katie’s Beading Blog
Break out your rubber stamps and get ready for beady action. This week, Katie shares an easy way to dress-up a plain picture frame.

Savvy Crafter
One minute Candie’s in China and the next Hong Kong. Check out the whirl-wind tour she’s been on this week.

Snap out of it, Jean! There’s beading to be done!
Margot Potter was nice enough to scan the back cover of Art Jewelry magazine’s November issue for Jean, who has a cool necklace for Fire Mountain Gems on display!

The Impatient Blogger
Margot shares some of her insights on blogging, linky love and blog promotions with Get Known Now platform building expert Susan Falter-Barns.

Jewelry and Beading
Japanese if you please! Tammy is playing again with metal clay and points her readers to this way cool Japanese web site.

Katie’s Beading Blog
In Katie’s ongoing quest to find new uses for findings, she reveals chandelier earrings and a necklace that use beading cones as an integral part of the design.

Savvy Crafter
Ahoy, Bead-lovers! Even pirates would be envious of Candie’s loot after her beach-side bead shopping spree along the South China Sea.

Snap out of it Jean! There’s beading to be done!
Jean’s traumatic experience with her first spiral seed bead bracelet. Argh!

The Impatient Blogger
See Margot sign books at a new AC Moore store opening. Then enjoy another entry in her Adventures in Jewelry Making with the BQOTU (Day) entries. In this episode, Margot shares how to properly open and close a jump ring. It may not be rocket science, but jewelry making does use physics, who knew?

Art Bead Scene
Need to find some beading friends to share your creativity with? Someone who understands the depth of your beady insanity? In a helpful post last month, Heather gave us six great reasons to join a bead society, along with a resource to find one near you.

Art Bead Scene
Worlds and beads are colliding at the Art Bead Scene! This post is just a friendly reminder that the month and your chance to win free beads from Joan Miller and Humblebeads are almost up!

Jewelry and Beading
Tammy touts the treasures you can gather from other beaders when you join a bead society.

Katie’s Beading Blog
This week, Katie shares tips on writing a newsletter to promote your business.

Naughty Secretary Club
There is a new clip of Handmade Nation to be seen! Look for a snippet of an interview with Naughty Secretary Club’s Jennifer Perkins at the Renegade Craft Fair Brooklyn about the art of Revamped Vintage Jewelry plus glass bead making and more.

Snap out of it, Jean! There’s beading to be done!
In a discussion of why we should plan out our designs, Jean shows a pretty fall bracelet set with a cool clasp and some findings which suit the beads perfectly!

The Impatient Blogger
Clay play anyone? Margot shows some recent experiments in polymer clay and talks about her creative process. After you check out the beginning stages, see the resulting finished necklace here.

Take nine artists, a color scheme, and a “can do” spirit. Some assembly required. What emerges? A story that we’re all proud to be a part of.

We’ve been waiting for this moment for more than a year! Our traveling charm necklace is finally up on auction. All of the proceeds will be donated for breast cancer research. The auction ends Sunday, September 16.

You can read the story of our necklace here, and a direct link to the auction is right here.

Thank you for looking, and thank you even more if you bid!

Love from,
Leah, Bobbi, Wendy, Amy, Ellen, Dorothy, Dulcey, Illaya, and Cyndi

breast-cancer, charm-necklace, creativity, mixed-media, wearable-art

The slogan of this mission is “eradicating poverty one bead at a time”. Bead For Life creates a bridge between Ugandan women who want to build a better future for themselves and their families and bead buyers who can help them.

[tags]beads,beading,handmade-beaded-jewelry,Uganda[/tags}

Art Bead Scene
Elaine Ray maps out a plan of attack for holiday jewelry sales, get started today!

Jewelry and Beading
It’s back to school time, and for us jewelry makers, that can also mean back to jewelry school. Jewelry and beading is working on giving you all kinds of educational jewelry options this month, including a look at Wild Acres in Little Switzerland, NC.

Katie’s Beading Blog
Rock your own style with Katie’s superstar earring idea. This week’s post includes a link to how to make your own twisted wire jump rings.

Naughty Secretary Club
Craft Lab is back on HGTV Monday mornings at 7am Central. Don’t let the episode names fool you! Just because it says it is about enameled pet tags does not mean they don’t make adorable pendants for necklaces too!

Savvy Crafter
Candie and friends get their bead on at a recent birthday bash! Read all about the group effort to make a special keepsake for their friend’s 29th birthday.

Snap out of it, Jean! There’s beading to be done!
Jean’s chain maille gallery is growing! Check it out!

The Impatient Beader
Margot went to Bead Fest and scored some rockin’ new beads! Read all about them…and the first day of school at The Impatient Blogger.

You’ve probably already read our story, but I’m going to include it again below so that those who are not familiar with it can read it. The time we’ve been waiting for is almost here! “A Charmed Life” will be auctioned off, starting Sunday, September 9 and ending on Saturday, September 15, on eBay. Search for it using the phrase “a charmed life necklace breast cancer”

Starting in April 2006, a small group of my artist friends and I have been collaborating on a charm necklace project. None of us have ever met in person as we live all over the country, but this project is working towards making us feel closer in so many ways!

All of the charms were sent to me to be assembled, and then the necklace began its journey from one member to the next. Each of us wore it on a special date…everything from art openings and reunions to a concrete convention. We’ve shared our pictures and stories with each other as the necklace has made the rounds. Our ultimate aim, though, is to auction it off this summer and donate all the funds to breast cancer research.

The stories from those who’ve worn the necklace and the reactions of those who see it are quite gratifying. We’ve had people stop us on the street, cross crowded rooms, and even chase us down to get a better look at it. Everyone immediately senses that there must be an amazing story behind it. We’re hoping that our sale will be amazing too: we would really like to make a major contribution to breast cancer research with the auction of our piece. Every one of us in the group has someone we love who has struggled with one form of cancer or another, and many with breast cancer specifically. [Note ~ The necklace will be up for auction on eBay in September 2007. Search on the phrase "a charmed life necklace breast cancer"]

The participants:
Wendy Van Camp
Illaya Brown
Bobbi Chukran
Leah Hitchcock-Ybarra
Dorothy Lueloff
Ellen Chasse
Dulcey Heller
Amy Fraser
Cyndi Lavin

breast-cancer, charm-necklace, creativity, mixed-media, wearable-art

Art Bead Scene
Shocking statistics from the Art Bead Scene archives! Melanie offers up advice on how to stand out from the crowd when it seems everyone is making jewelry.

Jewelry and Beading
Is lampworking right for you? Can you rub your tummy and chew gum at the same time? Then maybe so.

Naughty Secretary Club
When Adorn Magazine called and asked Jen if she was up for a necklace making challenge she responded “I was born ready”. Read all about the necklace, how it was made and how it almost didn’t make it to NYC in time for the photo shoot.

Savvy Crafter
Hong Kong or Bust!!! This week Candie tells about her mini field trip to Hong Kong for a day of crafty supply shopping.

Snap out of it Jean! There’s beading to be done!
Jean’s been linked to a cool goth site, http://www.deadlounge.com/index6.html for a while. It’s fun to mix it up. Check out the new bracelet she made for the red and black corset crowd! While your’e at it, try the poetry generator! http://www.deadlounge.com/poetry/index.html

The Impatient Blogger
Got some crafty mishaps lurking around your archives? Margot shares two not so fabulous designs from her earlier beading efforts. Check out her photos from her recent infomercial shoot while you’re there!

I first blogged about Baylie in August of 2005, one year after the loss of a young friend to a brain tumor. Baylie’s disease is different from my friend’s, but her spirit is as strong and giving as his was. Baylie took her inspiration from Lance Armstrong’s bracelet campaign, and, with a little help from her friends, has so far been able to donate over $105,000 for Chiari and Psuedotumor research. Way to go, Baylie.

Visit her site, Baylie for Brains, to see how you can help, with a $5 donation for a bracelet, or maybe even by making some bracelets for them.

I miss you Matty B, and I love you!

handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, chiari, psuedotumor

You can find links to more of the Bead Journal Project’s participants on Robin Atkin’s blog.

Click on “Bead Journal Project” under “categories” in the right-hand sidebar to see the beaded journal pages I’ve done for previous months.

bead-journal-project, beads, beading, bead-embroidery, journals

Art Bead Scene
Heather offers 5 creativity boosters to get your muse out of bed and back to the workbench.

Jewelry & Beading blog
Thinking of trying your hand at making fused glass jewelry? Well, then you need your own glass studio. Tammy tells you how to set one up.

Katie’s Beading Blog
This week’s blast from the past features Katie’s 1980’s Fimo earrings, plus links to cool, contemporary caned polymer clay jewelry.

Naughty Secretary Club
Jennifer reminds us that Elle Girl Magazine is alive and well in an online format. Look for Naughty Secretary Club in the current issue as well as a video podcast interview with Beth Silverberg about her “cool job” of being a jewelry designer.

Snap out of it, Jean! There’s beading to be done!
Jean shows off one of her latest pieces of chain maille with a goddess focal, which is in her chain maille gallery and also in this month’s Art Bead Scene. She discusses the focal’s goddess image and what it means.

The Impatient Blogger
In another archived post from Adventures In Jewelry Making with the BQOTU (day) Margot shares her pearls of wisdom…or is that snarky know it all musings?! If you are a project designer waiting for an editor to show you some love, you need to read.

I recently went to see what all was on Tammy’s updated list of e-courses, and I was amazed by the number of offerings she has! She has divided them into “crash courses” and “slow-and-easy” formats, so you can pick what fits your needs. Do you want to learn more about knotting, metal clay, or business tips? How about macrame, basic stringing, or metal fabrication? It’s all available at Tammy’s About.com jewelry making site!

[tags]tutorials,beading,jewelry-making,beads,wearable-art[/tags}]

Art Bead Scene
If you have ever struggled with taking great photographs of your beads or jewelry, you might be interested in this photography/Photoshop tutorial that glass bead artist Lori Greenberg posted on Art Bead Scene back in April. It has helpful tips for newbies and experts alike!

Creating Projects for Magazines
In another Adventures in Jewelry Making with the BQOTU Post from April of this year, Margot gives you the skinny on getting your work into magazines. Flakey Artists need not apply.

Jewelry and Beading
Tammy from the Jewelry and Beading Blog offers some tips for getting started with fused glass. Take a class. Or even better, become an apprentice.

Katie’s Beading Blog
Take a peek inside Katie’s jewelry box with this crafty blast from the past. It’s the first in a series of posts that bring new meaning to the phrase, “you’ve come a long way, baby!”

Savvy Crafter
Who’da thought it? Scented jewelry?!?! Follow your nose on over to Candie’s blog for a little “scent” for thought.

Snap out of it Jean! There’s beading to be done!
Jean senses a transition from summer to autumn in the air. This pair of earrings is a quiet contemplation of two seasons, one which is departing, one which is coming up.