The Beading Gem

Corra Liew of Decors is a Malaysian wire jewelry designer whose work and tutorials I featured before.  She also shared an easy tutorial on how to make your own crystal stud earrings using Swarovski chaton montees. What a quick way to get prong set jewelry!

She sells the montees in her store. You do need to move the prongs to remove the crystal as you will be making a hole in the setting to accommodate the wire. She uses 20 G wire - I suggest you use half hard wire which will not bend as easily.

Fans of long jewelry designs may not want to have it all beaded. The solution is to team beaded portions with chains!

This design tutorial by Marina Udaltsova is a masterful vision with Swarovski crystals and chain extensions.

Making jewelry can be an expensive hobby.  One way to get some great supplies is through your local charity shop.  Most of the time, the jewelry there is not worth a second look. Yup, plain old junk. But occasionally, there are some great bargains for gemstones and good crystals.  These pieces can be taken apart, washed and dried and recycled into new jewelry.  There are indeed some Etsy stores who sell recycled jewelry designs!

Working with grooved cabochons certainly makes the wire working easier. The wire stays in the groove without having to struggle to hold things in place.  You could use strips of masking tape to help but a groove is definitely a worthy alternative.  Check out this easy tutorial by Liz Kreate who shows us how to make grooved cabochons without any fancy machines!

Florida based Bobbi Maw should really call herself the ring lady!  That is because her signature item in her Etsy store, My Wired Imagination, are rings! These are all wire wrapped with the clever use of prong set crystals or gemstones together with Swarovski crystals. The prong set crystals are also known as sew-ons. These are typically used in the garment and handbag accessories industry but they lend themselves very well to jewelry designs.

Odd numbers usually work a lot better than even ones in designs.  So it is with this pentagonal beaded Swarovski rivioli and superduo pendant tutorial by Bead Diagrams.   Clusters of superduo and 6 mm round beads give this pendant design its 5 sides  It is quite an unusual approach for framing a round rivoli.

Dena Pavone Collection's handmade Swarovski and leather sandals are jewelry for your feet! Glamour and brilliance of the crystals coupled with craftmanship make these footwear much more than something to protect your feet.

There are many ways to make wire wrapped rings. Some are easier than others. This tutorial is one of the easy ones which you can do in a very short time frame. Sounds good for the busy jewelry maker with the gifting season ahead.

Nothing sparkles like Swarovski crystals. Using them adds oodles of elegance to jewelry designs. Here are 3 excellent Christmas Tree earrings tutorials to make for yourself or for others.  Fast and easy to do.  The first is a clever tutorial by Mylene Hillam of Mill Lane Studio. I love her use of different sizes of connectors.  Beautifully photographed too!

Swarovski rivolis make gorgeous centers for beaded projects. Check out this collection of awesome beaded Swarvoski rivoli earrings tutorials which really takes you past the simple round varieties! First up is Sidonia's beautiful bronze earrings video tutorial. Her design has open sides which shows off the crystal.  I also love the use of bronze seedbeads.

I really love large Swavrovski crystals but the ones which catch my eye time and time again are the TierraCast Swarovski bezels and Rivoli frames.  TierraCast have expanded their line to include more pre-glued Swarovski charms with different loop configurations.  I couldn't resist using a number of them for this wire wrapped necklace tutorial.  For those of you unfamiliar with TierraCast - it is US based and makes lead free original pewter products.

Swarvoski makes the loveliest crystal cabochons. But then I am biased because I love bling!  This tutorial is from Fusion Beads where the beaded bezel Swarovski crystals are attached together for a stunning effect. This tutorial is for an open back bezel. The PDF is available as a download.

I am a fan of Nunn Design jewelry making components.  They come in the 3 main colors we love - silver, copper and gold. The patinated and vintage look is irresistable. I know because I bought some directly from them! You can also buy their components from other retailers.

South Sea pearls are horribly expensive to incorporate into jewelry designs.  Fortunately, there are the Swarovski Tahitian versions which are much easier on the pocket.  This beautiful beaded Swarovski pearl bracelet tutorial by Svetlana McDaniel has undulating lines and features the said beads in a large and not to be missed size!

More is less, right? Not always. Sometimes making multiple simple bracelets and necklaces can really make the designs look stunning. Here is an excellent example. This multi strand charm bracelet tutorial by Kelsy over on the Loose Ends blog is loaded with charms and Swarvoski pearls.

After a brutal winter - especially in Nova Scotia where I used to live, summer is most welcome indeed.  Out with heavy boots and in with sandals!  Want to make your sandals more memorable?Then bling them up!  This tutorial for how to add Swarvoski crystals to sandals is by Erica over on Honestly...WTF.

I've covered romantic lace jewelry before.  But this beautiful pearl, crystal and lace jewelry tutorial by Cheri Carlson over on Art Beads deserves a mention. The handsewn pearls and Swarovski crystals on creamy lace give these pieces elegance and exudes Edwardian and Victorian charm.

Be still, my beating heart!  I had a little swoon when I saw this Swarvoski pearl statement bib necklace tutorial over on their site, Create Your Style.  It is a fabulous yet easy design because it consists only of stringing with the addition of beaded headpins or eyepins with simple loops either as the connecting bridges or as dangles.