Beadalon Blog

It's been a design flurry in the Beadalon satellite studio this week! Good thing my creative juices were flowing and I was able to meet all of my designing deadlines. Sometimes I'm not so lucky, and creative block stops me in my tracks. Even when I'm not working towards a deadline, designing jewelry is my happy place, and if I'm not able to create, it can be super frustrating. Here are my go-to strategies for overcoming creative block and getting my head back in the game: 1. Get your hands moving by making one of your go-to projects. 2. Clean (and by clean, I mean organize and move stuff around) your workspace. You will likely find something that sparks an idea for making. 3. Check out Pinterest or other designers, but try not to get overwhelmed with visual stimulation. 4. Walk through a bead store or a craft store - walk the whole store, not just the beading section. 5. Work with a creative buddy to bounce ideas off of. 6. Choose a color palette to focus on - maybe col

Spring is finally just around the corner, and these Netted Easter Eggs are the perfect project to get in the spirit! This technique was born (get it) from a similar project covering a holiday ornament that you can find instructions for here  and here . Starting with a simple 6 pointed star, I increased each netted row by one bead until I reached the largest part of the egg. I stayed with that count until the egg started to get smaller, then decreased as necessary. There was a little trial and error involved, but not as much as you might think! Play around with your counts if you find a different size egg to bead around. Find the printable instructions (and lots more!) for the original Goose Sized egg free here in the Beadalon Learning Center . I included two alternative row counts for a medium and small egg, too. You can also watch the class that I taught for the Michaels Community Classroom and follow along. Materials • Beadalon® WildFire™ Bead Weaving Thread, 008” • Wood Goose Egg b

Hi Beady Friends! Danielle Wickes from John Bead was my guest on this week's Facebook Live, and she demonstrated this gorgeous bracelet woven with SuperDuos, size 11 and size 8 seed beads. She is an amazing teacher and designer, and you can find out more about her on her website.   She was so gracious to put together an instruction booklet for this project. You can find the materials and full instructions here and follow along with the Facebook Live tutorial here .  This project works up so quickly and easily once you get the thread path down! I can't wait to play around with different color combinations, and even try out some different sizes of beads. Thanks so much to Danielle for sharing her beading knowledge with us! Feel free to post your creations made from Danielle's tutorial on both the Jewelry Making with Beadalon Facebook Group , and the Bead Projects and PDFs from John Bead Facebook pages. Happy Beading! Meredith

Hello beady friends! I love cup chain. It's sparkly, dainty, beautiful and just makes me so happy. However, one of my biggest challenges has always been finishing it off cleanly and easily. Cup chain ends are hard to come by, and I'm not always the biggest fan of how they look. Another popular technique is to wire wrap around the last cup in the chain, but there's always a loose cup at the join. I've spent years amassing all kinds of cup chain, and just as long searching for the best way to finish them off.......until now! My beady friend Sarah at Jesse James Beads sent me their new Love Yourself collection and in the  Follow Your Heart Mix , there is the smallest Daisy Spacer I've ever seen! That tiny spacer got me thinking....one thing led to another led to me digging through my beading supplies like a madwoman, and then, there was the "eureka" moment! Cup Chain + Daisy Spacer + Headpin +7mm Crimp Cover = perfect finishing technique! Materials: Flat Head

  Since we aren't able to visit together in person in Tucson this year, designer extraordinaire, Deb Floros, joined me for a Facebook Live instead. I'm so glad that she did because she helped me think about layering necklaces in a whole new way!   Here are some of Deb's thoughts on layering: - don't get hung up on getting it "perfect" - don't feel like you have to keep it to an odd number - experiment with two necklaces together - try pairing a shorter necklace in metal with a longer necklace in gemstones - two necklaces can have a big impact if they have a lot to say. - there are no rules!  - don't dismiss chokers as a style of the past. My big revelation? While you can layer down, you can also layer up! Not only that, but in this project, Deb uses chain to fill the negative space between the choker and the layered necklace below. Flipping the Memory Wire around, so the opening is in the front, is also a great way to play around with design possibilit

MultiColor Artistic Wire is variegated wire that has three colors in one copper core wire. You can use it the same way as you would use Artistic Wire, but you get triple the color bang for your buck! There are 6 different color combinations and three gauges to choose from. My friends over at Jewel School on Jewelry Television asked me to film a little snippet for them about why I love MCAW so much. Here's the updated list! Top 10 Reasons to Love MultiColor Artistic Wire: 10. Available in the three most popular wire gauges - 18, 20 and 22 - perfect for many wire wrapping projects including earrings, bracelets and necklaces 9. Complements so many different colors of gemstones, glass and crystal beads 8. Becomes part of the design, not just the structure 7. Makes clear beads pop and glow from within 6. 6 different color combinations, each coordinates perfectly with solid colors of Artistic Wire 5. Creates amazing variegated patterns when coiled 4. Totally unique, never before seen in