Beading Basics: What You Need To Know To Get Started Beading
Keywords: beading basics, basics of beading, beading tools
Stringing beads is a fun way to reduce stress and explore your creative side. Put a colorful necklace together or create a beautiful matching set with a bracelet and a pair of earrings. Wear your creations, sell them, or wrap them in tissue paper and give them to your friends.
Basic beading is easy, fun, and relatively inexpensive. You will find beading supplies at most craft shops, art supply stores, and discount stores, in addition to the beading boutiques that often specialize in more expensive beads.
Here is a checklist of the basic tools and supplies you will need to begin working on your new hobby:
Beads
You will find an abundance of different sizes, shapes and styles to choose from. Start off with a few favorite colors using plastic beads so you can become familiar with color coordination and putting on the finishing touches. This way, mistakes will not be so costly. Work your way toward the finer glass, semiprecious, handpainted, wood and cloisonne beads.
Clasps
There is a wide variety of clamps, closures and clasps, also called findings. Again, do not be seduced into purchasing the best and the brightest in the beginning. Most products will have the instructions included on the front or back of the package, but if you run into a problem, consult a beading magazine or catalog, which you can find either online or at craft shops.
Containers
Depending on your budget and preference, you can use either the standard, flat containers or go up a notch to the drawer compartments that many people use in their workshops for nuts, bolts and screws. Any containers will do, but, while working, you will want your beads to be easily accessible. Storing beads in dark, confined areas makes them more difficult to work with and to color coordinate.
Crimping Beads
These are an important element in beadmaking. They are simply beads constructed of a flexible metal, which help keep the clasp attached to the necklace. Crimping beads come in gold and silver and in several different sizes.
Round Tipped Pliers
Invest in a good pair of round tipped pliers. You will need to use them often not only for picking up beads but also to hold the components while working with them. Flat nosed pliers also come in handy. Remember to select a pair that will allow you to crimp.
Trays or Boards
Using a beading tray is not mandatory but it makes it easier to preselect and measure your beads. Most trays are made of plastic and incorporate a measuring device either in inches, millimeters, or both.
Wire, Line or String
Again, depending on budget and preference, there is a wide variety of wire, line and string to choose from. Before purchasing, be sure that it is the correct size to fit the beads you have selected, or vice versa. Some beads have large holes to accommodate thick string while others, such as seed beads, have tiny holes that only thread or wire will fit through. You could even use fishing line to practice on, but beading wire is better it does not have a tendency to curl, shrink and distort the way plastic lines do. You could also use string, rawhide or thread. When beading with string or thread, use a special big eye or curved needle.
Children can also take part in stringing beads. Look for childrens beading supplies at most craft stores, generally alongside the adult supplies. Beading is a great way to teach children coordination skills, and to keep them happy and occupied while you are working on your beading projects. Keep in mind that many of these items should be kept away from babies and small toddlers.
Bead supply warehouses will often send color catalogs by request, listing hundreds of different products, along with accompanying images. Or you may want to subscribe to a beading magazine where you will learn different techniques and methods used by professionals.
Check online or at your local craft store for lots of great, free beading patterns and beading ideas. Once you have mastered the art of beading, you will be making attractive jewelry, and you will naturally gravitate to other beading projects. You may even start to decorate your handbags, create charming wall art, and make lovely bookmarks, suncatchers, key chains or plant holders. There are so many amazing things you can do with beads, you will wonder what ever took you so long to discover them.
Jamie Jefferson helps gathers the latest online coupon codes here: www.susies-coupons.com including coupons for discount art supplies: www.susies-coupons.com
Previous Articles Highlighter:
Jet Charter For Your Ultimate Vacation Plan (1)
Well, you simply get to choose every aspect of your travel. Perfect for fussy rich people, company sponsored getaways, family getaways or even such functions as bachelor parties. Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe...
Commodities Trading 101 - Do You Know The Basics Of Commodities Trading? (2)
The commodity itself is not traded, but a promise in the form of a contract is. This states what is to be sold and for how much and by what date.
How To Find Cheap Gas Online (3)
It will show you all the stations for the area you chose, as well as the average price of gas. Under the map it gives you a list of stations and prices for the area you chose, starting with the cheapest.
Article Writing - 4 Things All Articles Must Have - Don't Forget! (4)
The number varies depending on the number of words used in an article. An effective article must have a keyword density that is not too high or too low.
Submit Articles - 6 Red Hot Tips To Get Your Articles Read (5)
When you write about it, you won't have a hard time because you already know what it is and what it's about. It's just a matter of making your articles creative and interesting.
What You Need To Know About UK Mortgages As A First Time Buyer (6)
Interest only loans permit a buyer who will be in better financial shape in a few years to get a foothold in the housing market. The downside is that the principal will be untouched for those years.
Articles - How To Create An Outline For All Of Your Articles (7)
Do a couple of brainstorming and jot down your brilliant ideas first. Think of some ways to attract the interest of your reader. Designate a time frame where you can write down all the ideas that you can use for your articles.
Submit Articles - 3 Things You Must Do Before You Submit To Article Directories (8)
All it takes is one publisher with a hundred thousand readers to increase your potential audience overnight. Write the articles that publishers want in their publications if you want your article marketing to work the most effective way for you.
Practical Homeschooling Methods (9)
Join a support group to get a better understanding of the minute details you may have missed in your background research. Support groups also give out study material according to the syllabus of the student.
Taking Homeschooling Outdoors (10)
The outdoor camps can be as long as a week or just for a day. But, all of them, apart from imparting interesting lessons, also teach children the 3 Cs - Communication, Cooperation and Commitment - which are the basic elements for leading an ideal social life.
Newer Articles Highlighter:
12 Design Tips For A Successful Website (1)
8. Comparison You should always keep an eye on what your competitors and the companies you aspire to emulate are doing on their websites. Bookmark them all and visit once a month.
Provide Informative Free Articles To Your Website Visitors And Reap The Rewards (2)
It'll keep your customers coming back too. Websites that offer fresh, constantly updated, relevant information optimized for key words usually rank high with the search engines. This is how the search engines are designed to work.
The Essential Guide To Insurance (3)
If you insurance policies are not reflecting your current commitments then you could find that you and your dependents are underinsured. James Copper enjoys writing on all areas of personal and commercial finance.
How To Get The Best Results Out Of Your Bulb Planting Efforts (4)
Planting in the fall does put the bulbs at an increased risk of being exposed to freezing temperatures because they will begin to grow earlier in the spring, but it is a risk that most gardeners are willing to ta ke.
Free Web Site Traffic Methods (5)
Well, you don't have to spend a cent; all you need is the proper mindset and a lot of eagerness. You also must have the drive and perseverance to do hard work and research to generate more traffic for your site.
Why Did People Love Dale? (6)
Dale Earnhardt has truly become a household name. Everyone knows who Dale Earnhardt was, racing fan or not. What was it about him that endeared him to an entire nation?
Help For Those With Acne Problems (7)
Acne is one of most common skin conditions in the world, affecting more than 40 million people. The most common type of acne is acne vulgaris. There are several different types of acne.
Infrastructure Decimated By Earthquake In Kobe, Japan On January 17, 1995 (8)
The economic effects of this earthquake where just as devastating. The clean-up and repair of all the damage cost millions of dollars. Local businesses, even those not located directly in the areas of major destruction, where unable to resume business, as local utilities had suffered major damage and remained offline.
Do You Have What It Takes? (9)
Going on to Go-Karts is the next progression. Also, get your child experience on different kinds of tracks. Have them take a driving course after their first season when they know what it is like and if they want to continue.
Retirement - Investing For Retirement (10)
First, you can invest in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, certificates of deposit, and money market accounts. You do not have to state to anybody that the returns on these investments are to be used for retirement.
Permalink to Beading Basics: What You Need To Know To Get Started Beading