Blog for Beaders

Photo Source: Gehna Bazaar.

Much mystery surrounds the beautiful Opal, October’s birthstone. Deriving its name from the Latin word opalus, meaning precious jewel, opals have a special quality of reflecting and refracting particular wavelengths of light. This lovely gemstone is as old as the dinosaurs! Opal is made from non-crystallized silica, a mineral found near the Earth’s surface in areas where ancient geothermal hot springs once existed. As these hot springs dried up, layers of the silica, combined with water, were deposited into the cracks and cavities of the bedrock. This in turn formed opal. Most of the world’s opals today come from Southern Australia, although they are also found in places like Brazil, Mexico and Nevada.

The Romans referred to the Opal as Cupid Paederos, or a child beautiful as love. Much like other birthstones, opals were valued for their magical healing powers. The ancient monarchs wore them in crowns and necklaces to help ward off evil and protect their eyesight. Opals are also believed to ward off nightmares.

Those born in October should be proud. The gift of an opal is said to represent faithfulness and confidence, so you’re the most faithful gift of all! Here’s a short poem written from the Gregorian calendar from which our birthstones are determined:

“October’s child is born for woe,
And life’s vicissitudes must know,
But lay an opal on her breast,
And hope will lull those woes to rest.”

If you’re looking to add your own fiery speck of opal to designs, try browsing through our selection of opal components like gemstones or Swarovski crystals.

-Marissa

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Create multi-strand jewelry designs with ease when you use this magic multipurpose finding. The Magic Finding is a simple and fun way to create multi-strand jewelry designs without the need for countless crimp tubes. This round finding features seven small openings in its center, which allows you to thread up to seven strands at once in a necklace, bracelet or earring design. Simply thread your jewelry wire through one opening, loop around and thread it back through another opening. Use Magic Finding pliers to clamp down on all of the openings at once for a good, even hold every time. Your looks will have the same professional flair and a more polished feel, and you can crimp all of your strands at once!
Check out our selection of Magic Findings and Components to start creating today!

If you need help, head on over to the Learning Center to read our Handy Tip on how to use a Magic Finding.

-Marissa

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We love hearing from our customers about the success they have had turning their passion for jewelry making into a successful business. Antoinette frequently visits our Facebook page with elaborate creations from her online store, so we reached out to her and asked if she would like to tell the story of how she created a successful jewelry making business. Her heritage and her love for beading is what sparked the inspiration for her desire to turn it into success.

It started in Spring 2009 in her basement as a hobby. Antoinette says “I have always pursued activities where I could use my artistic talent. I love color and designing and my journey led me to creating my own jewelry line.” This passion for art soon turned into her starting her own business. It’s her love of both fashion trends and the desire to make every women feel beautiful that drives her to keep creating new additions for her line.

A lot of Antoinette’s inspiration also comes from her Czech roots. Often her relatives still living the Czech Republic would send her mom jewelry made from Czech crystals. Most of the time she received ones with garnet color. Antoinette recalls “I loved to look in my mom’s jewelry box and admire the unique jewelry. Some of it looked like it was fit for a queen. I guess my mom and dad named me right when they named me Antoinette.”

She likes to use high-quality silver, semi-precious stones and Swarovski crystals in her designs to ensure that her customers receive special creations. Her focus on more one-of-a-kind pieces rather than mass-produced items is what will make her looks stand above the rest. She hopes to inspire people to celebrate their uniqueness and let their beauty shine with her jewelry. We could not be more proud to help support this dream.

Browse her shop on Etsy or her personal online jewelry store. We’re happy that Antoinette was able to turn a passion into success. If you’re just starting out and looking for a way to sell your designs, check out our Seller’s Secrets page where we share helpful ways to develop your jewelry-making business.

We want to hear your story, too! Send us your jewelry design to our blog for beaders e-mail to be featured as one of our customer success stories. Share your stories and inspire others to get creative! Mail them to artbeadsblog@gmail.com.

-Marissa

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Congratulations to Meredith T., the winner of our Take Your Teddy Bear to Work Day Contest. Her touching story won over our hearts, and in return she’s being awarded this darling stoneware pendant with a fun teddy bear image. Thank you to everyone who shared their teddy bear story with us. We are glad to hear that there are a lot of bears out there that are loved. You can read Meredith’s story below.

“My 10yo daughter has a teal green teddy bear atht was a gift from her grandpa before she was even born. It was in the bassinet when she came home from the hospital and has been her constant companion since she was old enough to carry him. His name is Buddy Green. When she started school she was devestated to learn that she couldn’t take him with her each day. I told her that bears couldn’t go to her school because they had their own school to go to–Beartere Elementary. I bought him a little dolly backpack and filled it up with tiny notebooks and pencils. Each day while she was at school I would write “assignments” in the notebooks or color pictures for Buddy to bring home to her. He “rode the schoolbus” and got home right before she did every day so he’d be waiting on her bed with his papers in hand and she’d rush in each day to see share with him what each had done at school that day.”

Don’t forget to enter our Spooky Seed Bead Sweepstakes going on right now, too! 31 lucky winners will each win a fun-filled seed bead goody bag with a special Halloween treat! Read more about it on our previous blog post.

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This week we honor Take Your Teddy Bear to Work and School Day, and to celebrate we’re offering you the chance to win a cute stoneware pendant with a fun teddy bear image. All you have to do is share your funny teddy bear story by leaving a comment below. Is there a funny way your teddy bear got his or her name? Is there a cute adoption story about how you came to own your beloved bear? Maybe it’s a childhood memory you hold dear when your teddy bear was your best friend. Whatever it is, we want to hear it! Our favorite story will be chosen to win. Hurry, this contest ends tonight at 11:59PM PT. We will announce the winner tomorrow.

No purchase necessary, must be 18 or older to enter, one entry per person. Odds of winning depend on number of entries. Prize valued at $25, void where prohibited by law. Contest valid in the US and Canada only excluding Quebec.

-Marissa

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Seed bead designs are intricate and detailed, and some can be considered wearable works of art! If you’re interested in seed beading but have been too afraid to take the plunge, you no longer need to fear. We will break down the basics and help get you started with seed beads.

Seed Bead Terminology
Seed Bead: A small bead usually round in shape used in loom bead weaving, off-loom bead weaving, and jewelry designs.

Delica: A cylindrical-shaped seed bead very consistent in size and shape. These are high-quality beads that will give you exact shapes in looming or weaving.

Tila: A flat, square-shaped seed bead with dual stringing holes and angular corners. These beads are much thinner so should be handled with care to avoid fractures.

Loom Weaving: Weaving seed beads on a strand using a loom and following a graph or charted pattern.

Off-Loom Weaving: Stitching seed beads with a needle and thread rather than using a loom to create patterns. You may use common stitching techniques to achieve different patterns.

Stitch: Different weaving patterns used with seed beads. Some more common stitches are Peyote stitch, Herringbone stitch and Square stitch.

Tools You will Need

Seed Beads—make sure to purchase quality beads because oftentimes large-chain craft stores will carry seed beads with uneven shapes and sizes, making your projects difficult to complete. Seed beads are measured like wire gauges: the higher the number, the smaller the size of the bead. For example, an 11/0 is smaller than an 8/0 size.

Beading thread—the most commonly used beading thread is Nymo waxed nylon thread or Silamide nylon thread. Either one is a great choice for beginners, and either one comes in a variety of different colors. You may want to first purchase a neutral color like white. Normal sewing thread will not work in seed bead work because it breaks too easily and discolors quickly.

Beading Needles—unlike sewing needles, these needles are specially made to make the eye of the needle as close to the width of the entire needle as possible. The size of a needle is similar to the way the beads are sized; the higher the number the thinner the needle. A good way to determine what size needle you will need is to use one size smaller than the size of the beads you’re using. For example, you should use a number 12 needle with 11/0 seed beads.

Bead Mat—this is handy if you lay your beads out to keep them from scattering across your work area and possibly breaking.

Seed Bead Books—some seed bead books are great to have available to find simple stitch techniques or patterns you want to try. These books also often provide project ideas to help spark inspiration or for practice.

Scissors—find a small pair for cutting close to your beadwork.

Some designers find inspiration for their creations from pieces they’ve seen before, so your best bet for getting started is to take a look at some of our free seed bead jewelry ideas to spark your inspiration. These ideas are all available at our Learning Center and include step-by-step instructions as well as a list of components used for each idea.

Take what you’ve learned today and venture on over to our seed bead page! It may seem like you’re still not sure where to go from here, but trust us—everyone has to start slow and practice many times. In no time you’ll be a seed bead expert!

Do you have the need…the need to seed bead?

-Marissa

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Do you dare enter our Spooky Seed Bead Sweepstakes? We’re giving away 31 prize bags filled with Halloween-themed seed beads…and a little surprise inside. Guess if you get a trick or a treat! We will randomly select 31 winners to each receive one goody bag. Monster Mash your way to our official contest page to enter and read the full contest details.

This contest begins today, October 11, 2011, and ends Sunday, October 23, 2011 at 11:59PM PT. Only one entry per person; must be 18 or older to enter. This contest is void where prohibited by law and open to US and Canada residents only excluding Quebec. Odds of winning depend on number of entries. Prizes valued at approximately $10 each. No purchase necessary. Winners will be announced Monday, October 24, 2011.

-Marissa

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Congratulations to our winners of the DeCoRé™ Giveaway! Susan A. of Texas and Angie M. of Ontario, Canada have each won an incredible prize package that includes two packs of DeCoRé ™ epoxy clay and their choice of mixed media components worth up to $35. We hope they have fun designing cool new ideas!

Thanks to everyone who participated in this contest. You guys are great! If you didn’t win you can still get your hands on this incredible new addition to our collection of products. This crafters clay is great to use when you want to make unique jewelry ideas or just get creative with new art projects.

Stay tuned tomorrow when we reveal your next chance to win with Artbeads!

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Want to learn about some of your favorite jewelry designers? Here’s our profile on Kristal Wick! Author and bead maker Kristal Wick’s work is currently being featured in Santa Fe, Alaska, the Cayman Islands and the Virgin Islands. She was also invited by Swarovski to design a new jewelry line. She has even designed and created jewelry for the Jimmy Buffett band backup-singers and dancers.

Kristal has been featured in several magazines including Beadmaker and Stringing and Step by Step Beads. She has also appeared on HGTV’s series Crafters Coast to Coast and the PBS series Beads, Baubles & Jewels. Kristal released her first self-published book, Sassy Silky Savvy, in 2005, and her latest Interweave Press release, Fabulous Fabric Beads, has become one of the most popular beading and craft books from recent years.

You can learn more about some of our featured designers by heading over to the Beader’s Loft in the Learning Center.

-Marissa

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A better question to answer first is What the heck is DeCoRé? It’s one of our newest products that’s perfect for designing your own unique jewelry. DeCoRé ™ epoxy clay offers new way to make unique jewelry designs. It will adhere to almost any kind of material including metal, wood and glass. It’s really easy to use and takes little effort to create something beautiful.

So why do we like it so much? Because it’s so simple to use and produces incredible results! Each pack includes two different clays—one is the designated color (A) and the other is a simple white base (B). Mix equal parts of A and B together for approximately 4 minutes in your hands and then mold onto any surface or design it into anything you desire. You can even sprinkle in some tiny Swarovski flatbacks to give it an extra sparkle if you like.
No need to bake—it should not shrink or fade once it’s cured.

Explore new ideas by browsing our great selection of clay colors and DeCoRé ™ jewelry findings like blank rings and pendants. Be sure to read our DeCoRé Handy Tip if you need more help using this product.

Check out what Teri, one of our designers, made using DeCoRé ™ as a base! She incorporated Czech glass beads and other great Artbeads products to create a whimsical forest figurine, set atop the crafting clay. Find out what you can make with this exciting new product!

-Marissa

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