The Beading Gem

Beautiful Beaded Christmas Ornaments by HelenAtBeads

Have you started making beaded ornaments yet? One designer to consider is British bead artist, Helen of HelenAtBeads. I really like her peyote tear drop shaped baubles - such a change from round ones or stars! Having said that, she also has star and flower designs!

Her colour palettes are less ornate than many designs so that might appeal to those who prefer theirs that way.

She also has a fabulous sea urchin inspired beaded paper weight design, shown below!

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6 Beautiful Beaded Tassel Tutorials

You can make tassels from long strung seed beads, threads or even leather. Here are 6 beautiful tutorials to make beaded thread tassels to be used as Christmas ornaments, decor or simply as necklace pendants or ties.

First up is Diana's lovely beaded angel with tassel tutorial shown above. Her shop, DiasJewelryShop is worth a gander as she does have some unique designs. That's why I've featured her before.

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Gorgeous Metal Findings from SupplyDiva

I have always loved the "alternative" metals to gold and silver. They have colour and are relatively inexpensive. If you're like me, check out this Mexican workshop called SupplyDiva. They have many different metal findings in copper, brass, bronze as well as silver.
Such bounties from tiny charms to gallery wire, to various embossed blanks ready for patina. Metal stampers will also find some excellent shapes here.

beadwork Christmas feature designer seasonal tutorial

6 Beautiful Beaded Christmas Bauble Tutorials by SYLIANKY

It's never too early to bead a Christmas bauble! Why, if you were a die-hard reader, you could be beading baubles all year long for gifts.

Speaking of gifts, I love how the above peyote beaded ball peyote pattern shown above (3 designs) can be packed prettily into a gift box. The Ukrainian designer is Halyna of SYLIANKY.

Halyna is very creative. Here are just a few of my favourites so be sure to browse her shop for more. She also has a number of bead crochet baubles.

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5 Pretty Beaded Flower Jewelry Tutorials by Tezukuri Notes!

I love flowers - both the real ones as well as beaded versions. One excellent Japanese instructor is @TezukuriNotes. She delivers on the Japanese esthetic - simple yet very pretty designs.

She uses fine 0.17 mm (~ 6lb) monofilament fishing line which is stiffer than the usual beading threads such as Fireline that we use. You may well have to double up on the thread paths or go up to 8 lb. The advantage of monofilament fishing line is its transparency.

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erdmetaljewelry's Laser Cut Metal Findings and Custom Laser Cutting Service

Turkish findings supplier, erdmetaljewelry, is a wonderful discovery for those who are hunting for unique metal charms and findings. They have an enormous inventory of all kinds of laser cut charms. The largest selection are their raw brass, stainless steel and gold plated sections. All are at reasonable prices.

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8 Gorgeous Beaded Hoops and Loops Earrings Tutorials

Hoop earrings have been popular for thousands of years. The picture below of a young girl wearing hoop earrings is from a fresco painted in Ancient Greece dated about 1650-1625 BCE.

Today we have all kinds of variations on the hoop style. Shown here are my favourites. Be sure to check out the designers' shops because they all have much more to offer!

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Beautiful Celtic and Viking Inspired Penannular Brooches | How to Pin a Penannular Brooch on a Shawl or Cloak

Penannular brooches are incomplete ring brooches which has been in used for thousands of years. These were especially popular during the medieval age and were worn as fasteners by both men and women - usually those with the means to afford them. They are still popular today.

Shown above is the Wolf Head Brass penannular brooch from CELTICFUSIONDESIGN.