Think of this new book as an overview of what is possible.  It’s not nearly detailed enough to be a true how-to book, but it covers so many different materials that it will probably boggle your mind with possibilities and send you racing for your notebook!

The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Jewelry Making Techniques
by Vannetta Seecharran
This book covers far more than beading techniques, so look elsewhere if you’d like an introduction to beadwork.  This is a guide for an experimental jewelry who wants to create one-of-a-kind jewelry using modern techniques and materials.  There are instructions and photographs outlining how to work with …read more

Understanding how color works technically is one thing, being able to choose lovely colorways for your designs can be another!  Beverly Ash Gilbert, who shared a wonderful artist profile with us back in March, is an absolute master at chosing palettes and working with color in her pieces.  Now Beverly has published a new tool called The Eye for Color system which will help you put into practice the principles behind great color selection.

Beverly’s packet has two color wheels and six color harmony templates with a unique snap-together construction.  There is a beautiful inspirational booklet that comes with the system, …read more

Margie Deeb has a brand new color report out and ready to rock and roll.  “Subtle contrasts” are the catch phrase for the fall/winter palette for 2009.  Margie discusses the top Pantone colors that will be found in clothing this fall, based upon Pantone’s survey with Fashion Week insiders.

The main section of Margie’s report takes each of these ten directional colors and provides a report on Delicas and Swarovski beads that represent each.  She then provides several suggested palettes for using that color, including color schemes that will delight both the classic and the avant garde among us.   I …read more

If you had it in mind to learn a new technique or two this summer, but you still haven’t gotten started on that goal, here’s something to consider.  There are lots of sites where you can buy a kit or a pattern, where you will learn in excruciating detail how to perform a certain task.  Sometimes we just need it in excruciating detail, huh?
Earring kit by Laura McCabe available from Beads East
For example, my friend Dulcey Heller creates kits and patterns for a site called simply Buy the Kit.  Despite the name, they also sell “bead-less kits”, a clever way …read more

Pantone has your color report for fall ready and available as a pdf file.  Overall, they are referring to their report as a “Study in Contrasts”, with strong choices like American Beauty red contrasting with the more subtle Rapture Rose and Iron gray contrasting with soft Creme Brulee.

Most of the colors for fall are warm, which I do tend to like since I’m a red head, but overall, I’m just not that excited about this forecast personally.  We’ll see though…
Something I truly love can be found on the Rings & Things website: they’ve got links to the beads in their …read more

Improving your jewelry designs is another great way to work through the summer slump.

Our own archives have many posts on jewelry design.
Check out the recent book review on a brand new Dummies Guide,  Jewelry & Beading Designs.
Michelle Mach of Beading Daily wonders Why Simple Designs Aren’t Always Simple to Make.
The Savvy Designer, Anne Rush, shares some insights into Jewelry Design Trends for the fall of 2009.
And Pantone has their color fashion report ready for the fall too!

The forum at Beading Daily has come up with a first-ever forum challenge for beaders: You are hereby challenged to create something out of beads or create beads themselves that are inspired by flowers. Some participants plan to actually create a flower out of seed beads, but the intent isn’t to limit you to any particular medium or technique.
The deadline is July 18, 2009, so hurry!
All the information on entering the contest can be found at the Beading Daily website.  Scroll down to the 3rd message for the official rules.  There are prizes being offered, so get your entry in …read more

Beadwork Magazine has a new challenge out for beaders, who always seem to be looking for the next big thing to make!  Create with Patterns grew from an internal challenge among the magazine’s designers to include any of us who’d like to play.  The deadline for entries is August 3, 2009.

To enter, simply pick a pattern (be it from nature, your favorite shirt, or as we did, a piece of scrapbooking paper), make a project inspired by it, and e-mail us a JPEG (about 1MB) that includes your creation and pattern swatch to beadwork @ interweave.com (remove the spaces) by …read more

Here’s a few close up detail shots of the necklace I finished last week.  I thought some process shots would help:

Artist: Francisca Bastos
Website: Francisca Bastos Design
For almost 25 years, I have worked with stones in every shape and color, originating in different mines in Brazil and coming straight to my hands. As I receive them, they are transformed into jewelry, handmade with 18kt gold. Pearls, corals, mother of pearl, and amber, to name a few, are all organic in themselves. Pearls have their own light, which has fascinated humanity for thousands of years, amber carries energy within itself, corals bring the sea in their soul, as well as mother of pearl. The gold comes directly from …read more