The Beading Gem

One of my favorite beading online instructors is Bee Jang who hails from Thailand.  A dedicated blogger, she shares some of the prettiest bead woven crystal bracelet tutorials. Some use Swarovski crystals.   Shown here are some of my favorites from her beginner category.  Doesn't have to be hard to be pretty! I really love this one which features pearls and flowers with crystal waves.

I've covered terrarium jewelry before but this tutorial by Cynthia over at the Jordan Valley Home and Garden Club is so good, I just had to share. She uses real tiny succulents which don't require much watering.  It is easy to overdo the moisture so pay attention to her detailed instructions on care.

We take the materials we use without a second thought.  Take copper for instance.  Not only do many of us love using copper for jewelry, this important metal has many industrial and biomedical uses (see first link below). South African photographer, Dillon Marsh,  has an excellent combination photo series called For What It's Worth which helps us visualize the output of copper from mines and the captures the environmental changes wrought by mining practices.

For What It's Worth West O'okiep Mine, Okiep (1862 to the early 1970s) Over 500m deep, 284,000 tonnes of copper extracted

Soon it will be very hot in many places if not already. So break out the electric fans and start up those air conditioning units!  Maybe even try this beaded fan necklace tutorial from INM Crystal?  It may not cool you down directly but sitting still to bead might save you from overheating!

Maybe you have double holed diamond shaped gemstones in your stash?  I know I do.  So I was really pleased to come across this wire wrapping tutorial by Brenda Sigafoos over on Wire Sculpture.  She called it the Lady Luck ring.

Earlier this summer, I went to Guelph, Ontario's Art on the Street - a wonderful collection of artisans displaying and selling their wares on that hot, hot July day.  I was delighted when I came across Nicole Gagnon who creates minimalist and often exotic wood jewelry for her Etsy store, NG Nicole Gagnon Wooden Designs.

Nunn Design's Becky Nunn not only designs and supplies beautiful jewelry findings but also shares some pretty awesome jewelry making tutorials.  Now Nunn Design is back with another $75 gift certificate giveaway for their specially made jewelry supplies!

You know how it it is with kumihimo.  It's addictive and soothing*. Kumihimo fans once hooked can really churn out bracelet after bracelet.  If you're one of them, then you might like trying to do something different with kumihimo bracelets.

Wrapped leather bracelets are ever popular and fun to make. But wrapping the ends of the cord neatly at the start wrapping the beads can be a tad challenging.  So Kate Richbourg of We Can Make That at Home used the ancient silk wrapping technique of hiding the knot under the wrapped threads for her ball chain and leather bracelet tutorial. No glue is needed for this secure fastening.

Taking off your rings to wash your hands is a good thing because the soap will be thoroughly washed away.  Otherwise such residue can irritate the skin.  Putting your rings on the sink might be a bit dodgy as they could easily fall into the sinkhole.  So having a ring holder is definitely an asset. But having a glamorous ring holder is even better especially if you are a jewelry maker!

I like framed designs.  The pieces look more finished in many ways.  If you agree with me then you'll like Judy Larson's easy wirewrapped briolette with beads pendant tutorial.  As you can see, she formed a loop at the top making it easy to add just a jump ring or two to connect to a chain necklace.

Judy Larson is a wonderful jewelry making instructor who freely shares her tutorials both online and at her local classes. Her experience as a teacher resulted in this latest tutorial. She noticed beginners trying to wire wrap a cabochon and finding it tricky to hold the banded bezel around the stone AND the stone as well to work on the bail portion. She said, "unless a student is very good at making bezels, places wraps in exactly the right place, and makes the bezel very tight, the stone may slip out."

Jolanta Pietrzak is entirely self taught.  She got into jewelry making a few years ago, starting with just the basics.  But has now grown to be an accomplished wire worker and has a shop named Alabama Studio on Etsy. Despite the name, Jolanta is actually based in Poland.

I have to chuckle.  Although many of you did tell us which your favorite Czech beads were for last week's Best Beads giveaway, in reality, there was no one outstanding type of Czech beads. Some readers said they just couldn't pick a favorite.  Patricia said it best, "I love fire polished and table cut beads. I love Picasso beads, I just love them all." 

The reason why hearts are such a popular design element is the loving sentiment imparted by both the designer and the giver to the eventual wearer! So here is another beautiful wire woven heart tutorial  to enjoy!  I might add the best photographed and presented tutorial I have ever come across!  Kudos to Colette Kimon!

Swarovski rivolis are beautiful but they are somewhat like cabochons in that they need something frame them before making them into earring dangles and pendants. The most common beading approach is to make a peyote bezel.  Here is one excellent tutorial by Deborah Roberti over on Around the Beading Table.

I don't think you need to be a bride to wear this elegant all pearl tiered necklace. The tutorial designer is Rebecca over on My Girlish Whims.  The use of brooches to connect the tiered strands below with the back pearl strands is what makes this monochrome design pop!

One reason why I like 2 part expoxy resin clay so much is it provides even more options to jewelry makers. Especially if you are not into hot connection techniques like soldering. This tutorial shows you how to make stud earrings with connector beads and resin clay. It was featured for the Best Beads giveaway earlier this week.

It's one thing to be passionate about gemstones. It is another to actually write a book about them. Marge Dawson did just that. Her full name is Marjorie May Dawson. Marjorie is one of the many variants of Margaret. Derived from Latin Margarita, which was from Greek μαργαριτης (margarites) meaning "pearl", this classic female first name was probably borrowed from the Sanskrit word मञ्जरी mañjarī or perhaps the Persian word, marvârid (مروارید) which means a pearl or daughter of light.

I've been hankering for a Rainbow Loom ever since I wrote about this crafting phenomena last summer. It's inexpensive, selling for under $20.  I didn't think it was exclusively just for kids. This is just the material for the beach or even the pool - situations where fine jewelry is best left at home. But how to make a grownup version? That's been bugging me for a long time.

Flowers growing in the garden have a limited season. Cut flowers last even less. So pressing flowers is a way of preserving their beauty and connecting with nature. Kyla of Impressed by Nature takes it one step further and makes lovely jewelry out of them.  This Californian artisan sells them through her Etsy store.

White Ranunculus Earrings

Czech bead manufacturers produce a huge range of bead types. So the different kinds of jewelry designs possible will be neverending!  I received some awesome Czech made 30 mm long bugle beads from Best Beads for review and had a lot of fun with them.

Image from Wander and Hunt's DIY Pearl Kit

UPDATE : Links no longer available.

Some women prefer not to wear stud earrings as they find them uncomfortable when on the phone. So this idea of not having a wire poking into you is clever.  Geneva over on A Pair and a Spare's Dior inspired tutorial shows how you can add extra pearls to regular pearl stud earrings AND look stylish!

I am of the belief that it doesn't have to be hard to make a stunning necklace.  This awesome easy knotted seed bead necklace tutorial (UPDATE : link no longer available) by Trisha over on The Sweet Survival is one excellent example of big bang for little seed beads. It is the kind of design that makes one slaps forehead and wonder why we didn't think of it before!

It`s been 4 years since I wrote about one of the first 3D printed jewelry designers to use the new technology. More and more designers are now gravitating to the field as costs are dropping and the equipment becomes more widespread.  This is one of the reasons why Etsy had to change their policies not so long ago as `handmade` had to be redefined to include them. These designers are still using their heads, hearts and hands but their hands are now on computer keyboards.

Quark Pendant from Mixee Lab

I never would have thought to stamp pennies!  But this great stamped coin charm by Kelsey over on the Loose Ends blog is a winner.

The Glasgow Rose, a stylized floral motif,  was often used by Glasgow Style artists and designers at the forefront of Scotland's  Arts and Crafts movement in the late 1800's.  British crafter, Emma Reid, of the Emuse blog created this fun Glasgow Rose inspired wire earrings tutorial.   The key ingredient after turning the wire into the shape she wanted was nail polish!

Italian goldsmith, Giovanni Corvaja's fascination for metal, especially the precious ones, began in his childhood. Today this incredible artisan shows off his affinity for metal through his outstanding work.   He has devoted 10 years of research and 2 years of studio time to his unique pieces aptly called the Golden Fleece Collection.  The technique he developed involves drawing wire down to an increasingly finer thread which profoundly alters the properties of gold. The super fine gold wires become softer and smooth to the touch, rather like fur.

Alcohol inks are yet another excellent way to add color to jewelry projects.  Check out the marbled washer pendant tutorial by Allison (of Dream a Litter Bigger) over on Momspark .  She makes it look so easy to get that water color look to what are hardware store washers.  Don't they look stunning?

It is a lasting regret that I will never meet most of you.  But here's a chance to hear me speak!  I was recently interviewed by Ingrid Talpak, the host of Living with More Style than Cash (WebTalkRadio) for an hour long episode called Making Amazing Jewelry.

Olivia over at Hopeful Honey says owls are adorable!  I couldn't agree more. Her inspirational tutorial is for a simple lariat necklace. It is not so much the technique but the clever idea of combining a bird charm with a large metal leaf. No wonder she called it the "Owl Sitting on a Branch" design.

Want to carry a mini tool kit around with you without the hassle?  Check out the Leatherdos Mini Tools Clip ($9.99)! It doesn't just keep hair tidy but is a screwdriver, wrench, ruler, cutter and trolley coin all rolled into one!