Daniel Millions asked:


Handcrafted beaded jewelry is jewelry that is handmade using beads and a material to hold the beads together. The handcrafted beaded jewelry includes rings, bracelets, earrings, necklaces, belts, anklets, pendants, children’s jewelry, bridal jewelry sets and other jewelry sets. The beads found in beaded jewelry can be manufactured from a variety of materials.

The beads that are used to make the jewelry may be glass, crystal, wooden, ceramic, metal, pearl or stone. There are bead artists who create customized beads from different materials. It is possible to create birthstone jewelry with beads since precious and semi-precious stones are used to make beads. One piece of jewelry may have different varieties and sizes of beads used in its creation. For instance, a southwestern style necklace may have different sized silver, turquoise and coral beads on its strands.

Depending on the pattern or instructions that are used to make beaded jewelry, the jewelry item may have been woven. When handcrafted beaded jewelry is woven, the bead artist is able to create pictures on the item. A woven bracelet may have a depiction of roses against a leafy background on it or any other picture that is desired by the artist or customer. A bead artist can be very creative with woven jewelry in a similar way as the quilter or painter. It is possible to weave beads into different shapes that will suit the purpose of the ornament.

In that case, needles and a strong beading thread are used to weave the beads by hand or with a loom. The result will be a flat piece of beadwork. The flat beadwork is versatile and can be as tiny or large as the bead artist desires. If a small rectangular piece has two edges sewn together, it can be used to form a small bag as a pendant. A long woven piece of beadwork may be left flat to serve as a belt. If the two long edges are sewn together, the result is a beaded pipe form that can be used to create handsome necklaces or bracelets.

Thin wire can be used to create jewelry instead of the needle and thread. When wire is used for stringing beads, the jewelry is sturdier than the threaded beads. There is less room for creativity with the wired beads since they can only be strung on the wire but the simplicity of manufacture does not lessen the beauty of finely made beaded jewelry.

Handcrafted beaded jewelry is valued for its elegance and the hard work that goes into their manufacture. Bead artists need good eyesight, a steady hand and patience to create their jewelry. The many hours that a bead artist needs to create their jewelry are appreciated by anyone who has ever tried to use beads to make jewelry.

Many handcrafted items of beaded jewelry are one of a kind pieces that will not be duplicated again. Many collectors of handcrafted beaded jewelry can enjoy their jewelry decades after their purchase since the handcrafted beauty of the jewelry never goes out of style.



Lisa

Eri Attebery asked:


Boy do I spend a lot of time shopping for and buying beads on the internet. My husband would say way TOO much time! Compared to shopping at my local craft stores, I just love the unbelievable variety of beads available on the internet.

If you’re patient, you can search various online bead jewelry supply stores and find some amazing prices on beads as well. This is particularly important if you are buying beads and beading supplies on a wholesale bead supply basis to make jewelry that you plan to sell.

I’ve been buying beads online for so long now that I decided to put together a list of things that I think make a great bead jewelry supply website. No site on the web is perfect on every aspect, but many of the places I shop on the web do very well in many of these categories.

I put the list in prioritized order of what’s most important to me, but you may have different preferences so please rearrange the list to fit your own priorities as you see fit.

Here goes:

1. Secure Payment Page

I’m sure you hear horror stories on the news all the time about people having their financial information stolen when they purchased from not very reputable online stores.

Make sure you only purchase from a store that has a secure checkout. That means the site uses encrypted servers. How do you know if it is an encrypted server or not? You can identify this when you go to the payment page the browser should have an https:// and not just http://

2. Great Value

Of course, you want to get the lowest prices you can get for what you buy. But make sure that you buy quality as well. That means you should look for the best value (the combination of quality and price), not just the best price.

3. Low or Free Shipping Costs

You’ve probably had the experience of shopping on a website and thinking you found a great deal, then you get to the payment page and get surprised by a large shipping fee. Suddenly, that great deal turns out to be not quite as great as you thought.

Make sure that the bead supply website you’re using doesn’t use low prices to bring you in and then make up for it by tacking on high shipping charges. Look for sites that offer very low, or even better, Free shipping.

4. Large Selection of Products

When you go grocery shopping, wouldn’t you rather get everything at one place rather than having to go to many different places?

In the same way, when you are shopping online it’s nice to have a bead supply store that has a very large selection of products so that you can do “one stop shopping” and save a lot of time.

5. Products Always in Stock

It can be very frustrating to find what you think is a good bead supply website, you place an order, use your beads, then go back to the website to order more, and find out that they are out of stock.

If you sell jewelry then a wholesale bead jewelry supplier that doesn’t keep a stable level of stock can really put you in a bind. Find a supplier that maintains a high level of stock, particularly for items that you use often.

6. Good Customer Care

Even the best suppliers will occasionally make mistakes and ship you the wrong thing, the wrong quantity, or a product will be damaged.

When this happens, you want a supplier who will quickly resolve the problem for you in the way that you choose to communicate with them.

Email, phone, quick response

7. Shopping Cart that Stores your Information

If you frequent a bead supply website often, you don’t want to have to re-enter all your shipping details each time you purchase something at the site.

Advanced shopping carts will store this information for you which makes it much easier, and much quicker to check out once you have all the items you need.

8. Volume Discounts Offered

The more you buy from a retailer, the more discount that store should be willing to offer you on your purchases. Smart retailers know that you will buy more if they offer you a discount for doing so, or give you free shipping or some kind of incentive.

Also, if you are making jewelry to sell to others and buying large amounts of beading supplies, getting discounts on volume purchases means more profit for you when you sell your jewelry.

9. No Minimum Order Required

While it’s true that it cost companies money to process orders, it seems to me very self-serving and short-sighted when a company charges a fee if you don’t purchase a minimum $ amount when you order. It sure doesn’t make you feel like a valued customer.

Fortunately, there are some bead supply sites that don’t have any minimum order requirements. That can be a big help during times when you only need a couple of small parts.

10. A Strong Privacy Policy

No one likes spam. Many companies will sell their customer’s information to email list marketers, and that’s when you will start receiving unsolicited emails for things you don’t care about.

Make sure the store has a policy of keeping your information to themselves with a commitment to not give it to any third parties without your express consent.

Are there more things to consider? Actually, I have an additional 15 or so things that I look for, which I’ll offer in another article, but the ones listed above are the big hitters. Use these tips when evaluating bead suppliers and you’ll end up dealing with the best.



Danielle

Hanan Ben Lulu asked:


Introduction

In this installment of How to Make Fimo Beads we will learn, in few simple stages, the process of creating Fimo beads. The arts and design however, are on you.

Fimo beads are handmade beads that originally came from South Africa. They are generally made of polymer clay, but they can be created from nearly any kind of malleable material that anyone can purchase at a hobby or craft store. Once a set of beads have been created, they can be used to make many different kinds of jewelry, including necklaces and bracelets.

Ingredients

To make Fimo beads, it is important to assemble all of your materials before you begin. You will need polymer clay (or any other type of malleable clay-like material that may be available to you. You will also need some sort of device to help you make shapes other than a sphere (you can make a sphere with just your hands). A knitting or crochet needle will also be needed in order to make the holes in the center of the beads. Finally, a high temperature oven will be required to allow the beads to harden. Varnish and paint will also be necessary in order to customize your creations. If you have a pasta machine at home which has been collecting dust, a perfect sacrifice is the making of your Fimo beads.

Knead and Balls

First take the clay from the package starting with approximately one ounce. Squeeze and gently warm the clay between your hands rolling it into a long thin snake. Repeat this process until the clay stretches out, without breaking, when pulled apart. Try to manipulate the clay long enough to remove obvious air trapped within the clay. Once the clay is easily malleable, you should divide it into small balls of equal or different sizes. You should make sure that the balls are of equal size in order to create more authentic Fimo beads, but they can be any size that you wish for your own jewelry making purposes. If you managed to get a pasta machine use it to roll your clay out into sheets in your chosen thickness. I usually lay down a sheet of wax paper on my work area for easy cleanup. A sharp cutting blade is required and should be kept separately with your other Fimo bead making supplies. Once your beads have been shaped, you can make a hole through the center of them with the needle you set aside earlier. Simply slide the needle through the center of the bead and then leave it in.

The baking

Now it is time for the baking process. After your beads have been sculpted, hang them in an oven and set the temperature to approximately 265 Fahrenheit. The beads should be hardened in about thirty minutes. Proper baking time is essential to allow the polymer to fuse completely. If you do not bake for the correct length of time your finished pieces will be weak. Once the beads have cooled you can remove the needle safely without jeopardizing the shape of the bead. As a final bit of customization, you can paint and varnish the beads to your specifications.

Some Safety

Never breathe in the fumes while baking and be sure to use an exhaust fan. Store your clay away from direct sunlight and heat in plastic bags or plastic containers. The clay will retain its workability indefinitely if you store properly.

In courtesy of:

* http://www.monsterguide.net/how-to-make-fimo-beads.shtml

* http://www.articleaddition.com/Article/How-to-Make-Fimo-Beads/43586



Jeremy

Karen Lincoln asked:


Beads have become part of our lives, and these are used in various things such as the jewelry that we wear, or on other decorative things in our homes such as table mats, bed covers etc. The greatest part of using beads, is that you can get creative and create your own beading designs and decorate different things that you use. You can decorate a hand bag with beads, and thus making it really attractive. When you work with beading, you need to have patience, time and creativity. If your doing beading in a professional capacity, you need to be precise, so that your beading designs look neat and intricate.

If you’ve understood the simple basics of beading, you can work on varied beading designs, be it simple designs or more complex such as Peyote designs. Geometric and floral patterns are simple beading designs. Creating, animals or huge table cloths, is a lot more complex.

Majority of bead work is done with thread. However you can get innovative and use different materials with beads. Wires have become increasingly popular, mainly because its so easy and flexible to work with. Attractive hair pins and clips, with bead work is done using metal strips. To do this, you need to bend the metal as by doing this the beads don’t fall out. Create a loop by attaching the two ends of metal. You can use aluminum strips, which are extremely thin and workable to create dangle bead earrings. If you stick both ends of the strips by folding one on top of the other, you can make beautiful pendants.

Beads made of glass or wood, or transparent plastic can be used to make bracelets. Bright colors make jewelry more attractive. You can also use large beads to make a chunky bracelets which are quite popular with teenagers. It’s actually very simple to make a bracelet. Just thread some beads together, add a hook at the two ends of the threads, and you have an attractive bead bracelet. Using rubber instead of thread is also something unique and creative. However one thing that you need to be mindful of, is taking care not to stretch the rubber while your putting in the beads. Only when your wearing the bracelet, can the rubber be stretched. It’s advisable to make a rubber bracelet by using the rubber that fits the size of your wrist.

Floral designs are another common feature amongst beading designs. Various flowers such as daisies, roses etc can be made. Also, you can use smaller beads to create small leaves, adding to the attractiveness of the beading designs. These can be rather complex, and you need to be a little patient while creating these beading designs.

Beading involves creating loops of beads or parallel lines of beads. The square, the peyote and the loom are the patterns that are formed. Designs are made from these patterns, which are then used in a myriad of different forms to create beading designs. These beading designs look rather complex, which is not really the case. If you use a beading kit, you can learn to create various types of beading designs. Or you can also copy existing designs to learn different techniques. While beading is relatively simple, it does require some practice and a whole lot of patience.



Marcia