I had lunch with one of my best bead buddies today. It is always a treat to hang with bead lovers because we all have to wear some of best bead bling. This is what I chose: African stitch bracelet with tigers-eye toggle clasp; a pair of bead and wire earrings from my bead and wire book (Making Designer Bead and Wire Jewelry: Techniques for Unique Designs and Handmade Findings); and a netting stitch necklace, actually one of my first beadweaving pieces from years ago when I was just learning. I adapted it from this project I found at the beadwork …read more

The Bead & Button web site has a new free netted donut pendant project available (pictured). Gemstone donuts, called this obviously because they look like a donut, are interesting, but other than sticking a leather cord around them and making a knot, it can be tricky to come up with different methods for incorporating them into jewelry.
This project uses the netting stitch around the donut, and then there are peyote dangles from the center. 

Wow! Imagine going to a beadwork conference in Turkey!
Here’s some info from a press release I received about this international event: The International Bead and Beadwork Conference will take place in Istanbul, Turkey from 22-25 November 2007. Full details and online registration are at www.istanbul-boncuk.org .
While exploring beadwork from Venice to Indonesia to the Subarctic, South Africa or 17th century England, the Academic Program also pays homage to its host country when two fascinating women join forces in Istanbul for the first time to bring their unique perspectives to bear on the topic of prisoner-of-war beadwork within the context …read more

Yee – ha! In the Feb/March issues of Beadwork magazine, I’m in there two times: First, they have a brief review of my seed bead book, Making Designer Seed Bead, Stone, and Crystal Jewelry, favorable of course (they really liked the illustrations), and then a few pages past that is an ad for all four books I’ve written for Rockport in the Making Designer Jewelry series.

I have a few bead buddies this year to buy little gift-ies for, and one thing I’m considering is one of these beaded key chains from Beads for Education.
I bought one for myself about a year ago, and I love it. The beadwork is exceptional, and I’m constantly getting asked about it. Plus, as an extra bonus, Beads for Education is a non-profit group that helps women and girls in Kenya. So, by purchasing a bead-related gift for a friend, you also end up helping people. Very cool!

I may be opening a can of worms here, but I had someone ask me the other day to create a specific type of jewelry project for this blog, and she mentioned that she’d prefer it to be copyright free. As someone who is not normally a jewelry maker, she had no clue about the can and worms of which I speak. Her thoughts were that she wanted to be able to replicate the design for her own needs and maybe as a gift since the holidays are coming up.
I realized after emailing her back and forth about this that many …read more

Yes, that’s right. This is a tiny beaded corn on the cob pendant or whatever you want it to be. There’s a beaded loop at the top, so you could attach it to a chain or make a necklace for it, or you could make two and have a very unique pair of earrings.
From the top of the loop to the end of the corn, it measures just a little over two inches in length. I made this many years ago while beading with a local bead society, which is now defunct, but one of our members (Marcia Robart) brought …read more

Cute dragonfly earrings! Thes are easy to make too. Just take a look at this beaded earring project from the About.com Beadwork site: Dragonfly Earrings

I went to this a few years ago when it was in Miami. It is so nice to go to an event like this and hang out with beaders. This year the Bead Expo is scheduled May 17 to 21 in Charleston, SC. Here’s the info from Interweave’s press release:
Bazaar, Workshops,and Educational Programs - More than 160 bead-laden booths.
As always, the Bead Expo Bazaar will be jam-packed with beautiful beads and jewelry from all over the world. You won’t want to miss any day of this bead extravanga, which features more than 160 booths!