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To bead or not to bead...is not a question worth even asking! The real question is, WHAT to bead?
As an art form, beading has progressed far beyond the stringing of simple necklaces and the stitching of decorative edges on cloth. You will find links to sites that will inspire and teach you to do this, but oh...so much more as well!
As an art form, beading has progressed far beyond the stringing of simple necklaces and the stitching of decorative edges on cloth. You will find links to sites that will inspire and teach you to do this, but oh...so much more as well!
Peace signs, love beads, and hemp
My goodness, the face of bead art has changed tremendously in the past 30+ years. If this is all new to you, may I suggest that you start by looking at some of the fantastically creative work being done today. You'll find links to artwork that will just blow you away.And if you're a veteran of bead art, may I suggest that you start the very same way! You'll find yourself saying, "Oh, I've got to try that!" over and over again as you look through the links that follow.
A feast for your eyes
- Wildest Dreams Designs
- Jewelry that gets you noticed
- Bead Creative
- Nancy Eha's fantasyland of beading bliss
- Mazel Tov! Jewelry Treasures
- For outstanding women who don't mind standing out
- Robin Atkins
- Bead adventures in embroidery and more
- Sherry Serafini
- Stunning bead-embroidered jewelry
- Eni Oken
- Ornament and fantasy with wire and gemstone beads
- Creative Chick's Blog
- Ramblings of a Southern Fried fiber artist!
- Joan Babcock Designs
- Jewelry and fiber art, original designs using micro-macrame
- DarkHare Beadwork
- Stunning boxes and vessels that are not to be missed!
- NanC Meinhardt
- Fabulous lush sculptures
- The Beadmeister
- Mel Jonassen's outrageous sculptural work
Lots and lots of bead lovers to schmooze with you
- Jewelry Making at About.Com
- Friendly and knowledgeable, Tammy Powley guides this lively forum.
- Bead Art Forum
- Very personable and talented group. Lots of off-topic community building discussions.
- Bead and Button Forum
- Well organized forum with lots of talented and helpful members.
- Wet Canvas Wearable Art Forum
- Wonderful community with on-going projects, daily show and tell, and "wear" it's at threads.
- Beadwork at About.com
- Nice community with some serious beaders!
- All About Beads Forum
- A friendly forum with lots of lively discussions.
"Mermaid"
Fused glass and Czech crystals
Techniques galore!
- Jewelry Making at About.Com
- Articles and tutorials on every topic related to jewelry, from the basics to advanced work.
- Beadwork at About.Com
- Articles and tutorials on all beading stitches you could possible think of!
- All About Beading
- Tutorials and patterns added by the authors.
- Beadwrangler
- The bead and fiber junction with lots of info on combining the two.
- Mazel Tov! Jewelry Treasures Blog
- Tutorials which encourage you to make the project your own!
- HGTV- Beads
- Instructions for a wide range of projects.
- Beadage
- Tutorials, glosseries, and links to supplies.
Related Lenses
- Beads
- Name your favorites ~ we got links!
- Beaded Jewelry
- Marvelous handmade artisan pieces
- Beading
- My own personal tutorials
- Handmade Beads
- Learn to make your own ~ glass, clay, paper...
- Seed Beads
- Do you dream in bead color?
- Art Quilts
- Fabric delights
- Mixed Media
- When you want to try all forms of art, all at the same time...
We need beads! And other stuff...
Online suppliers of beads and everything else you need to use them, shows where you can run your greedy...*ahem*...beady little hands through the strands, books and magazines that are guaranteed to make you drool.If you want a more comprehensive list of suppliers, check out the Beads Lens. The links below are my "best of the best" lists to get you started!
Beads, beads, beads!! Also string, needles, wire, and a few other things...
- Rio Grande
- A comprehensive selection of raw materials, findings, chains, gemstones, beads, stringing, art jewelry supplies, display and packaging.
- Fire Mountain Gems and Beads
- Huge assortment, aimed at uniting the world, one bead at a time!
- Rings and Things
- This wholesale catalog is your one-stop source for beads, jewelry findings, charms, cord, polymer clay, Swarovski crystal beads and prisms, Czech glass beads, jewelry display items and other jewelry components.
- Ornamental Resources
- An enormous selection of beads and other decorative materials, with many hard-to-find items.
- ArtGems Inc
- A fabulous collection of beads, findings, and charms from all over the world.
- Empyrean Beads
- Fantastic selection of vintage and modern seed beads.
- BeadRoom
- All types of vintage glass beads, arranged by color. BeadRoom also carries Czech molded glass beads, made from the old molds!
- African Accents
- Wonderful beads, great selection, but wholesale only.
- Hands of the Hills
- Specializes in Hilltribe silver but carries so much more!
- Nina Designs
- Beautiful beautiful Bali silver ~ the real stuff, handmade.
- Venetian Bead Shop
- Wait until you see these beauties! Direct importers of Venetian and Murano glass beads.
Guestbook ~ reader feedback
The place where you can share other resources that you think we all need to know about!
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Reply
- CharleneAnderson CharleneAnderson Apr 14, 2008 @ 11:23 am
- Great lens! If you need more "stuff" check out my eBay store for beading, jewelry making, knitting and other creative tools, supplies and equipment.
http://stores.ebay.com/Purveyor-of-All-Things-Creative?refid=store
Charlene
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Reply
- DazzlingDesigns DazzlingDesigns Mar 29, 2008 @ 5:30 pm
- Neat lens. 5-Stars! Please feel free to stop by my Unique Handmade Jewelry lens.
Thanks,
Donia
Handmade Beaded Jewelry Gallery
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Reply
- hwheel hwheel Mar 6, 2008 @ 7:47 pm
- Very interesting post of beads. It caught my attention because I collect and sell African Art and Crafts, and one of my favorite pieces is called: The Beaded Passport mask. Thanks
Herman
www.theafricanartwheel.com
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Reply
- SusanShaw SusanShaw Jan 17, 2008 @ 12:24 am
- Thanks for all the great info! I've done beadwork for years and I found this lens really useful!
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- The_Lone_Beader The_Lone_Beader Dec 19, 2007 @ 2:59 pm
- Yes... what shall I bead next??? =:)
- Load More
"Each According to Their Kinds"
Bead embroidery
Bead and gem destinations
- Tucson Show Guide
- Tucson is the wintertime destination for bead buyers. This is a good guide to all the shows that cluster there.
- International Gem and Jewelry Shows
- My very favorite shows. Take your wholesale info with you so that you can shop the "wholesale only" section.
- Bead Renaissance Shows
- The ultimate bead, button, and jewelry events, retail and wholesale.
- The Whole Bead Show
- Workshops and merchants.
- Bead and Button Show
- A week-long beading festival!
- Intergalactic Bead Shows
- If it's a bead, you'll find it at IBS!
The best beady books and mags
For thems what want more ~ and isn't that all of us?The links that follow are for the books and magazines that I consider to be the very best for getting started in their respective forms of bead art.
A much more complete list of beading books can be found here: Book Shop.
Beady art books
- Bead Embroidery
- By Valerie Campbell-Harding, Pamela Watts
Emphasizing how beads add color, texture and beauty to a piece of work, they guide the reader through a variety of traditional and contemporary techniques, including bead weaving; sewing "trapped" beads; stitching beads onto mesh and canvas; and adding them to fringes, edges, cords, chains, and tassels. - Beaded Embellishment
- By Amy C Clarke, Robin Atkins
Beaders, quilters, and fiber artists will find this book invaluable for its solid technical information about how to apply beads to cloth, resulting in unique creations that will stand the test of time. - Off the Beadin' Path
- By Nancy Eha
A unique and creative experience for beaders. In addition to detailed instructions for dozens of stitches and techniques, Nancy shows you how to explore your own creativity. - The Beader's Guide to Color
- By Margie Deeb
Demonstrating how color can be used to create unique and vibrant beadwork designs, this guide will interest beaders at all skill levels. - The New Beadwork
- By Kathlyn Moss, Alice Scherer
The exquisite works of nearly 100 supremely talented bead artists. There are pieces of very elaborate jewelry as well as vessels, purses, decorative accessories, wall hangings, and sculptures. You won't find any how-to projects, just dozens and dozens of gorgeous beaded artworks. - Beads and Threads
- By Diane Fitzgerald, Helen Banes
Page after page of beautiful, showpiece necklaces you can make following the instructions in this book. - Creative Bead Weaving
- By Carol Wilcox Wells
Learn to weave beads into beautiful textural patterns to create jewelry, bowls, baskets, purses, and even sculpture. Contains step-by-step instructions and detailed diagrams. - The Art and Elegance of Beadweaving
- By Carol Wilcox Wells
This book picks up where Carol's last one left off! Not for the faint of heart or for beginners. - The Best in Contemporary Beadwork
- Beadwork Magazine, ed
Inspiration overload!! More than 100 stunning full-page color photos catalog the works chosen for the juried exhibit "Beads International 2000." The winning pieces include such materials as glass, stone, and found objects-they are set in jewelry and mosaics, woven into fabrics, and sewn to clothing. There are purses and wall hangings, masks and earrings, everything from the funky to the classic. - Making Beautiful Beads
- By Suzanne Tourtillott
So why not learn to make your own? This is a good overview of glass, metal, poly, and fiber. - The Beader's Companion
- By Judith Durant, Jean Campbell
A nice little guide to all the basics for the beginner. Compact to travel well. - Exquisite Beaded Jewelry
- By Lynda S Musante
A fantastic guide to creating jewelry with wonderful art beads, including wiring, stitching and multi-strand stringing.
And beady magazines
- Step by Step Beads
- A great first magazine for beginners.
- Beadwork
- One of my personal favorites. There is usually a good mix of projects and information.
- Belle Armoire
- Well beyond beads into other forms of wearable art.
- Ornament
- The rolls royce of wearable art. Often features beadwork of other cultures.
- Fiberarts
- All types of textiles, often incorporating beads, but not always.
- Jewelry Crafts
- One of the standard jewelry magazines. Best for beginners.
- Lapidary Journal
- Covers stone much more than glass, as the name would suggest, and the Bead Annual is spectacular.
Books for bead collectors
- Beads of the World
- By Peter Francis
A must-have if you want to collect beads and know what you have! - Collectible Beads
- By Robert K Liu
Another important reference book to have for the collector. - The History of Beads
- By Lois Sherr Dubin
OK, I promise (maybe), this is the last reference type book I'll recommend. But I really do recommend it if you're at all interested in the materials you claim to love!
"Wind and Waves"
Bead embroidered neckpiece
For those times when the beads just sit there and look at you
- Creating Lens
- The more I create, the more I can create...
- Art Lenses
- Lenses which focus on various art forms! All lenses, all the time :-)
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by CyndiL
I am Cyndi L, a mixed media artist in Massachusetts.
My experience has been that life and art are intertwined. We are all works of art
m...
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