For The Love of Beads BlogThe adventures of Suzanne, Nibbler, and friends in the world of beads and jewelry making crafts

First off, check out this gorgeous necklace by Heather Cote of Azure Island Designs:

This beautiful piece was made using blue dyed bone beads that Heather won in a Giveaway we sponsored on The Beading Gem a little while ago. Isn’t it great? I love the way she has captured the various colors in the bone beads and the silver spacers really make the whole thing shine!

Beading Daily frequently has incredibly useful tips and suggestions and lately they have had a few great ones. Want to lengthen a necklace that’s just not long enough but don’t know how? Check out their Necklace Extension suggestions. They also have this handy post on how to properly clean chains.  Finally there is a really good guide on how to choose the right wire gauge for your projects.

Melissa of Strands posted recently about her massive stash of buttons and how she has gone about including them in her jewelry designs – neat idea!

Also, take a look at Lisa of Lucid Moon Studio’s first jewelry tutorial – beautiful piece and nice, clear, instructions – good job Lisa!

The Rabbit Muse featured a neat bracelet today in which she used a skeleton key in a most interesting and creative way.

Pearl, the Beading Gem, has a great post about origami jewelry up today. I am in the process of trying to find some appropriate paper to make myself a bazillion origami stars!

And lastly (the blog world is taking a short break for Thanksgiving it seems) Sue Beads, TotusMel, and the wonderful people over at the Art Bead Scene are all offering various holiday savings so check that out before its too late! (If I missed anyone, apologies! Feel free to leave a note to let me know!)

For your Saturday Morning (yes; Saturday Mornings, unlike other mornings, extend until at least 2pm) reading pleasure, here are some fun tutorials, giveaways, and general other good-reading blog stuffs!

First off, welcome, Sarah Moran, to the world of blogging! Go check out her brand new blog and say Hi! Her recent post showcases some really lovely work and I look forward to seeing more from this talented lampwork artist.

Gina Lee Kim is giving away a beautiful painting on her blog so drop by and leave a comment to enter! The winner will be announced on Tuesday.

Also, Barbe Saint John is participating in the 29-Day Giving Challenge, starting yesterday so drop by her blog for a chance to win some great Japanese jewelry making books. The text is all Japanese but the pictures are apparently quite clear so you won’t need a translator!

Humblebeads has been featured in Bead Trends October issue and shared a sneak peek of a bead she included in one of her 11 projects! I can’t wait to see the great projects from Heather and others.

Beadwork Magazine has featured some work by Jean Campbell which includes a beautiful pendant from  Earthenwood Studios.

The Peacock Fairy has been featured in two issues of Stringing Magazine, including the Best of. Keep an eye out for these issues and see her lovely contributions!

Jean of  the Snap out of it, Jean blog has a nice review of Big & Bold: How to Make Dramatic Beaded Jewelry up.

Love bright jewelry with real flair? Take a look at the new Alphonse Mucha inspired collection by the Beaded Lily.

Steampunk at heart? TotusMel’s Wunderkammer featuring some gorgeous military inspired steampunk clothing today.  Everday on Wunderkammer there’s a new collection of oddities and really cool stuff.

The Beading Gem always has a bunch of great articles to read and the latest is no different. Take a look at this introduction to finger loop braided bracelets, complete with links to tutorials and a website with all the information you could ever hope to have about this medieval weaving technique.

Halloween is coming up fast, are you ready? Me neither. Need some decorations or jewelry in a hurry? Check out About.com’s crafty guide to Halloween!

Lastly, a quick congratulations to Heather Cote of Azure Island Designs who won the Beading Gem’s giveaway of our beautiful African Trade Beads! I hope you enjoy them!

Happy crafting everybody!

Happy Caturday!

Mmmm, I love sleeping in. And the best thing to do when you finally crawl out of bed is make a nice cup of tea (or coffee) and relax with some good reading about your favorite topic: jewelry! So, enjoy some good articles from the world of beading (and other crafty) blogs!

The Beaded Lily is having a giveaway and all you have to do it tweet! Take a look at the prize and rules here.

Humblebeads is going cross-country! Take a look at where they’ll be and go say hi if they’re stopping near you!

The Rabbit Muse has created the most adorable little bird earrings that I simply can’t stop drooling over! Love ‘em as much as I do? You can buy them here.

TotusMel of Needle Tatting and Other Nonsense made a cute spider necklace for Halloween, available in her shop here, or get the slightly larger, crystal embellished version here.  Both are great little goth additions to your favourite outfit!

Beading Daily has a very useful tutorial about coiling wire. I’m sure some of you can sympathize with the story of replacing a lost tool only to find the missing one as soon as you get home!

The Beading Gem has a two more fun tutorials to check out. One for some really neat tassle jewelry and another for a great chain idea for a really dramatic pendant.

The Art Bead Scene posted the other day about this totally indispensible tool for crafters – a free ruler whenever you need it! I think I might have a ruler taped to every flat surface in the apartment soon… Also, if you need a vacation but can’t stand to be away from your bead stash for long enough to take a normal cruise, this might be just the trip for you!

Bliss tree tackles an interesting debate about fashion’s connection with jewelry and beads. Personally I am a fan of creative stuff of any genre and I feel embroidery or embellishment on clothing is no less “beadwork” than other things.

Lastly, if you’re looking for more good jewelry-making books to buy, take a peek at these two book reviews over on Barbe Saint John’s blog; Mixed Metals by Melinda Barta and Danielle Fox and Simply Gemstones by Nancy Alden.

Have a good weekend and happy crafting!

Lorelei is almost at 800 sales on etsy! Wow! Go give her congratulations (and buy something to help her get the rest of the way there!)

The Rabbit Muse has replenished their stock of the most adorable little butterfly charms. Grab them before their gone!

The Beading Gem has a great post up about various kinds of earring displays as well as links to a couple of tutorials (As well as one to yours truly, thank you very much!).  Always a good read over there!

Art Bead Scene has a list of Editor’s Choice participants in their most recent Challenge and there were, of course, some really cool entries.  Interested in participating in the next challenge? Follow the blog and watch for the next posting – they pick some really interesting inspiration pieces!

Over on Beading Daily there’s a great guide on anodized jump rings so if you ever wanted to know more about colourful chainmail – now’s your chance!

Ysolda, the one knitting blog I can’t get enough of, has a fun little tutorial for a cute knitted owl. If you’re a knitter and want something cool to adorn your lapel with, pick up your needles and head on over.

Katie has a neat idea for those who like the look of multi-layered bracelets but whose lifestyle/klutziness make them impractical.  She is a real recycler of old jewelry and this is not the first really cool bracelet to necklace conversion she’s posted.

Happy crafting!