Beadalon Blog

Our last Facebook Live for the celebration of Craft Month featured one of my favorite go-to designs when I need to get my creative juices flowing again. It brings me back to my childhood crafting days, but with a grown up twist. In fact, the Beadalon Acrylic Tying Station came about because I was making macrame bracelets in the office using a clip board, and the product development team (that I eventually became a part of) knew that we could develop a tool to make making knotted bracelets easier! Top reasons that I love the Tying Station: It allows for hands-free macrame knotting. It holds your design tight without crushing your stringing material. You can use it for other techniques - like this braided wire bracelet  and this ladder stitch wrap bracelet .  The ruler printed on the side gives you a measuring device at the ready and helps you space out your beads in your design. The included foam insert allows for making a longer piece like a necklace or wrap bracelet...

If you need to make curves, bends, loops or rings in different sizes, the Stepped Bail Making Pliers are for you! In this episode of Facebook Live, Wyatt White showed how to make a gorgeous bail, several different shapes of connectors, hooks, and rings out of both Round and Flat Artistic Wire. Stepped Bail Making Pliers   make 6 different loop sizes: 9 mm (0.35 in), 8 mm (0.31 in), 6 mm (0.23 in), 5 mm (0.2 in), 3 mm (0.12), and 2 mm (0.08 in).   By just moving your wire to a different size on the jaw, you can vary your design and create all kinds of components. Join them together with Jump Rings made on one of the larger sizes for custom chains! As always, Wyatt's video is filled with tips and great advice for working with Wire. For example, when he uses thicker Artistic Wire, he recommends the 12 and 14 Gauge Cup Burr attachment for the Battery Operated Bead Reamer as a great tool to round off those sharp ends. Wyatt broke down two amazing projects...

Being a Mama is hard work, and what better way to show the special mamas in your life how much they mean to you than with a personalized birthstone necklace made with Beadalon's  Quicklinks ? There is a quick video that I made last year on Beadalon's YouTube Channel, but I thought it would be helpful to take a longer walk through of this project on today's  Facebook Live.  Materials: 314B-320  Quick Links 326B-414  Quick Links Connectors AWD-22S-10-08YD   22 Gauge Tarnish Resistant Silver Plated Artistic Wire A314-20S-10-02  20 Gauge Artistic Wire Chain Maille Rings 340B-060  Diamond Cut Ball Chain 338B-201  Ball Chain Ends 322B-012  Tag 315B-032  Lobster Clasp Beads of your choice Instructions: Wrap the beads onto the Quick Links using the 22 Gauge Artistic Wire and link them together with the Quick Link Connectors. Attach the Ball Chain Ends to the Ball Chain with Chain Nose Pliers, then use Jump Rings to attac...

I'm still playing around with the thick gauges of  Artistic Wire  this week, and I love this trendy bangle that's super easy to make. It's a perfect project because it doesn't take too much wire, and you can use any beads that you have lying around - as long as they have holes large enough to fit over the wire. I like wearing a few stacked together when I want to make a bold statement. To make the bangle, wrap the wire around the  Artistic Wire 3D Bracelet  Jig 3 times. Use an  Artistic Wire Crimp Connector  with a  Mighty Jaw Crimping Pliers  to secure the two wires together. (Here's a great  video  Wyatt did that breaks down this technique step by step.) This is my favorite Cold Connection technique. The  Nylon Jaw Bracelet Bending Pliers  are the perfect tool to put a slight bend in the straight Crimp Tube. Use 20-24 gauge wire to wrap beads around the bangle in a symmetrical or random pattern. Its as easy as that!...

It was a beautiful Spring day here in Pennsylvania yesterday, so we had class outside for this week's  Beadalon's Facebook Live Video ! One of the things Beadalon/ Artistic Wire specializes in is Heavy Gauge Wire -  10 ,  12  and  14  Gauges round out the category that spans from 10-34 Gauge. Originally, we were going to demonstrate a cool bangle bracelet (check in next week for that one!), but it was so nice outside that we were inspired to blow some bubbles - and the 14 gauge Artistic Wire is perfect for making a whimsical, beaded bubble wand! I like using  Memory Wire Shears  to cut the thicker gauge wires. Because they are such a heavy duty cutter, they make it much easier to cut - and easy is good! I cut about 2.5 feet of 14 Gauge Tinned Copper Wire and wrapped it around a  3D Bracelet Jig , but any round object in the right size will work. Then, I made a wrapped loop to secure the circle into place. In the video, I used my ha...