The Beading Gem

There are many wonderful micro macrame jewelry designers out there. One of the best is Joan Babcock whose work I wrote about years ago.  To the best of my knowledge, this New Mexico artist is the only designer who combines wire with macrame. If you hop over to her website, you will see her superb and spectacular fibre and macrame works of art.

She has over 30 years of experience, not just as an artist but as an instructor. So lucky for those of us who want to learn more from this expert, Joan has several tutorials, books and an instructional DVD available on MicroMacrameMaven. Note that some of the single tutorials are in the books.

Beaders everywhere love to try new patterns and tutorials which grab their interest.  But not everyone beads all the time. So remembering how to bead some stitches might be a bit fuzzy.

So a good reference book on hand is a good thing. It saves you having to fire up the computer or turning on your mobile device and spending time to look for a suitable tutorial.

Beaders everywhere are spoilt for choice these days with the arrival and continued appearance of new two hole beads.  The design possibilities just exploded!

There is clearly a need for more project tutorials and this latest book by Virginia Jensen might just fulfill that need.

Just when I thought there could be nothing more new with kumihimo when along comes another inspired instructor and designer with another innovation!

Cindy Grayson is a seasoned kumihimo jewelry instructor who came up with a way to help users visually layout their beads and create unique graduated bead patterns of their own!

Remember my recent review of Pru McRae's Kumihimo Endings book?  I did say back then that she has another book.

This one, The Prumihimo Disk book really shows how good Pru is with kumihimo.  This innovative designer developed a different kind of disk which allows the user to easily place beads on the outside of the braid. 

Remember Isabella Lam?  I featured her beautiful work not too long ago.  Her beautiful tutorials and bead kits in Bead4Me show her flair of combining crystals with beadwork.  Isabella, who lives in Israel, loves the challenge of using new beads in unique combinations.

She is also an established author with many publications featuring her work.

Many long time blog readers will know that I have featured Pru McRae's Youtube video tutorials from time to time.  Pru of Prumihimo is a kumihimo expert and an experienced teacher from the UK.

She has written two books so far.

What do you do when you have forgotten how to make a particular beadweaving stitch? I am not a beginner but my memory certainly needs refreshing now and then.  I usually have to either hunt through books or on the internet.

Wouldn't it be useful to have a handbook to refer to?  Just one source to consult should one be stuck.

Remember Fen Li's free French beaded flower tutorial from last week?  That was to celebrate the launch of her first book! It is exciting because it is the culmination of a lot of hard work.

Fen is the designer behind Bead Flora  (she is also on Etsy as Bead Flora Studio). She has been passionate about the French beaded flower technique for nearly 2 decades. The craft saw a revival in the early 2000's when many beautiful creations were created in the aftermath of 9/11. They are still around as these designs do not wilt.

Not too great with polymer clay jewelry making?  Me, too.  Then it is worth watching how Julie Picarello makes easy polymer clay art beads! She shares some awesome tips.  My favorite is the one about using ecru colored clay rather than white to tone down colors!

She starts with making stacks of polymer clay sheets - her tip on color order is useful.  You can have so much fun customizing designs using different tools as she does.