Beading Daily Holiday Guide

aaaaa From the editor Dear readers,

P.S.

What kind of bead shopper are you? When I asked Beading Daily readers that question earlier this year, I was happily reassured that I am not the only person who buys “extra” beads just in case and who sometimes buys beads without any idea of how I’ll use them. One reader commented that she hated regular shopping, but she loved bead shopping. When I mentioned this to a friend, she said, “Of course she does! Beads always fit!” I had never thought about it that way, but she’s right. With bead shopping, not only can you can skip the dreaded trip to the fitting room, you’re almost guaranteed to find something that fits your personal style and your wallet. It’s no wonder Be sure to check out we love bead shopping! page 3 for a handy wish Inside this year’s Holiday Gift Guide, checklist in case you you’ll find lots of gift ideas for your beading need to drop some not-so-subtle gift hints! friends—and yourself. Whether you’re looking for the perfect focal to finish a necklace, a book on your favorite new technique, or enough wire for fifteen rings, you’ll find it here. We’ve also included the top ten gifts that beaders want, our magazine editors’ gift picks, and a stunning free necklace project that you’ll want to wear to all the holiday parties this season. Happy holiday beading! Michelle Mach Editor, Beading Daily

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your stash

top 10 beading gifts Beaders love to shop! Need proof? Check out the top gift that Beading Daily members hope to receive this year: a gift certificate for bead-related goodies. Choosing your own special beads, books, and tools is almost as much fun as beading itself! Results from Beading Daily poll, July 2008.

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1. Gift certificate (for bead-related goodies) 2. Beads 3. Books on beading/jewelry making 4. Beading classes 5. Organizers/storage 6. Tools 7. Wire (for wirework) 8. Clasps 9. Findings 10. Metal clay

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Most Popular Types of Beads More than 1,700 Beading Daily readers voted for their favorite types of beads. While sparkling glass beads claimed the top spot, chances are you’d love to receive all the beads in the top five: 1. G  lass beads, including lampworked and pressed-glass beads 2. Crystals 3. Gemstones 4. Seed beads 5. Silver beads

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Top of our lists editors’ favorite

gift picks

My bead stash has tripled in size since I became editor of Beading Daily. Fabulous, right? That’s how I felt until the moment I tried to find a specific bead in my motley collection of bags and boxes. My ideal gift this year would be a sleek organization and storage system. There are tons of options in the latest Studios magazine—the trouble will be choosing just one! While I settle in with a cup of hot tea and try to decide, take a look at the favorite gift ideas from the editors of Beadwork, Step by Step Beads, Stringing, and Step by Step Wire Jewelry. Michelle Mach, Beading Daily editor Jim and Amanda Sexton

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Mixed-Media artist Amanda Sexton’s storage system as pictured in Studios Magazine

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Pearls! Crystals! Stones! Marlene Blessing, Editor in chief, Beadwork Looking for cool jewels ideas for the holidays? Beaders have all the luck. Luminous freshwater pearls rank as the #1 jewelry-making bargain with a luxury look and feel—and you can find them in loads of colors and shapes, from ivory rounds to midnight-blue keishi. Make a multistrand bracelet filled with an assortment. If glitter is more your style, crystals give you tons of sparkling options. Wirewrap a few large rondelles as connectors in a chain necklace or simply string an asymmetrical crystal pendant on leather. Can you resist semiprecious stones that won’t break the bank? Choose jasper or Chinese turquoise beads and mix them into a naturelover’s design with dark wood beads. Or create a pendant gift from three stone dangles—one clear quartz, one peridot, and one amethyst, all suspended from a metal loop. Look for more ideas and inspiration in my Create Jewelry books—Pearls, Crystals, and Stones.

Do you still want more?

At Interweave Bead + Jewelry, the creating never stops!

READ

With five great magazines for bead and jewelry artists, the resources are endless. Look for Beadwork, Step by Step Beads, Stringing, Step by Step Wire Jewelry, and Jewelry Artist on your local newsstand. Or visit www.interweave.com to subscribe. What about books that ignite your creative fire? We publish new award-winning beading and jewelry titles every year from your favorite authors and editors, including Lisa Kan, Carol Huber Cypher, Marlene Blessing, and Melinda Barta. More topselling authors are in the pipeline! Visit www.interweave.com to learn more.

WATCH

Interweave Bead+Jewelry is the new media sponsor for the popular Public Television series, Beads, Baubles and Jewels, bringing projects from the pages of our magazines vividly to life. Our talented magazine editors and book authors can be seen in more than 300 U.S. television markets. In 2009, streaming video will make the series even more available, with content available 24/7. For more information, visit www.beadsbaublesandjewels.com.

CLICK

Beading Daily reaches out to beaders every weekday with engaging columns, fun contests, and free downloadable projects. And since Beading Daily is a blog, you can reach back, replying to editors’ posts and making your own unique contribution to the community. Visit www.beadingdaily.com

DVD

KATIE HACKE R DEnISE PECK

SHOP

…’til you drop at Bead Fest, the best events in the beading and jewelry-making universe! In 2009, Bead Fest will be located in Santa Fe, Portland, and twice in Philadelphia. Our 425+ classes feature exciting projects and top-notch teachers. And the bead markets at Bead Fest are a bead and jewelry-artist shopping paradise! Visit www.beadfest.com for dates, registration, and class information.

interweave.com • (800) 272-2193 16      beadworkmagazine.com

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by Judy TOmsky from July/Aug 2006 Step by Step Beads

Love Your Accent

Leslie Rogalski, Editor in chief, Step by Step Beads Though I label myself a seed beader, I collect tons of my favorite accent and focal beads so I always have plenty on hand to add interest and dimension to my designs. Resin (and Lucite) beads have yummy colors, unique shapes, are lightweight, and their large holes allow for creative stringing and macramé. I am inspired by many forms of clay: the varied colors and surfaces of raku, porcelain, and ceramic beads add earthiness and an aura of antiquity to a design. I love seeing the mark of the maker in the clay. Lampworked and glass beads: Oh my! Where do I begin to tell you why I love these wearable works of art? Metal is unique in that it can add either a modern, industrial edge or the look of history: bead designs gain a new dimension with tribal silver, hammered copper, or brass components. Natural materials also add an earthiness to designs. I guess I want everything!

BeadingDaily.com is a beader’s community that has something for everyone. Join us today for free!

Keith O’conner

Gary Wilson

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Be ad Em be lli sh ed Bu tto ns M ic he lle M ac h

JoAnne Zekowski

Patti Cahill

Tips • Forums • Projects • Interviews • Newsletters • More!

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Little Luxuries Danielle Fox, Editor, Stringing I just love the diamond-embedded charms from Nina Designs, www.ninadesigns.com! Starting at only $17.20, they are available in over seven designs—small rounds, rectangles, and lotus petals, for example—and come in both sterling silver and vermeil. These jeweled charms make very special gifts, whether they are presented a la carte or incorporated into a piece of jewelry. After all, diamonds are a girl’s best friend!

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Awl That and More! Denise Peck, Editor in chief, Step by Step Wire Jewelry I find that my favorite tools change regularly while I’m making jewelry. I’m always discovering new ones and wondering how I lived without them. For instance, I’ve tried a lot of pliers over the years, but when I finally sprang for the ergonomic Swanstrom set of pliers, I thought, wow, so this is what really good pliers feel like. If you want to make someone really happy, start giving them one pair of ergonomic pliers for each special occasion! My other favorite tools right now include a set of stepped bezel mandrels, small and large. Five sizes on each tool—there’s always a perfect diameter for whatever job I need. I use it consistently for making my own ear wires. Plus, each section is long enough to wrap several times, in order to make instant jump rings. And I couldn’t live without my scratch awl. A common tool in most household toolboxes, but for jewelry making—indispensable! I use it for making decorative divets, as well as making holes in metal and flattened wire.

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Charmed, I’m Sure Melinda Barta, Managing Editor, Stringing and Beadwork My ultimate favorite one-stop-shop for the supplies needed to make custom collage charms is www.ornamentea.com. With blank bezels starting at under 50 cents each, the “World’s Tiniest” tarot cards and assorted stamp packs used to decorate and fill the bezels, and the Diamond Glaze or Amazing Glaze resin needed to seal your collages, you’ll be on your way to making quick-and-easy holiday gifts in no time. Plus, I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to see their new line of artsy bezels created by Susan Lenart Kazmer and yet another nontoxic option for finishing charms— Susan’s favorite, ICE Resin. Find instructions for making these charms in my new book Custom Cool Jewelry.

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Free project

Red and Gold Glamour

Finished Size: 17" (shortest strand)

SaraBeth Cullinan

Materials 32 Siam 6×4mm crystal rondelles 38 ruby 8mm fire-polished nuggets 9 ruby 10mm fire-polished rounds 1 ruby 18mm fire-polished round 28 gold-filled 3mm rounds 2 vermeil 15mm filigree rounds 32 vermeil 6mm daisy spacers 16 vermeil 7mm filigree spacers 1 vermeil 10×35mm S-clasp with 7mm soldered jump rings 4 gold-filled 2mm crimp tubes 4 gold-filled 3mm crimp covers 35" of .014 beading wire

1: Attach 16" of wire to one half of the clasp using a crimp tube. Cover the tube with a crimp cover. String 1 rondelle and one 3mm round eight times. String 1 rondelle. String 1 daisy spacer and 1 nugget five times. 2: String 1 filigree spacer, one 10mm round, 1 filigree spacer, and 1 nugget. String 1 daisy spacer and 1 nugget four times. Repeat entire step twice. 3: String 1 daisy spacer. String 1 rondelle and one 3mm round eight times. String 1 rondelle, 1 crimp tube, and the other half of the clasp. Pass back through the tube; crimp and cover. 4: Attach 19" of wire to one half of the clasp using a crimp tube; cover the tube with a crimp cover. String 1 rondelle and one 3mm round six times. String 1 rondelle and 1 daisy spacer. 5: String 1 nugget and 1 daisy spacer three times, omitting the final daisy spacer. String 1 filigree spacer, one 10mm round, and 1 filigree spacer. Repeat entire step twice, omitting the final filigree spacer. 6: String 1 filigree round, the 18mm round, and 1 filigree round. Repeat Step 5, reversing the stringing sequence. Repeat Step 4, reversing the sequence.

a Tools

Wire cutters Crimping pliers

Resources: Contact your local bead shop. Fire-polished nuggets: Raven’s Journey International. 10mm fire-polished rounds: Michaels. 18mm fire-polished rounds: Shipwreck Beads. Swarovski crystal rondelles: Fusionbeads.com. All other beads and findings: Fire Mountain Gems and Beads. SaraBeth Cullinan is a frequent contributor to Stringing magazine.

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