As Jane posted earlier in the month, the BeadStyle staff is doing a six-week jewelry course with some middle-school students. For my class next Monday, I will be teaching the girls how to make chain-mail locket bracelets. Since we only have an hour to... Read More

A friend just sent me a Web address for the Etsy Beadweavers monthly challenge . I encourage everybody to check it out and vote. I realize that BeadStyle blog readers are probably more into stringing, but it's worth visiting just for the inspiration... Read More

I first found 43 Things in June when I was looking for information about vision boards. Today, I started an account. Basically, the site's members post their goals, and then cheer each other on in achieving those goals. The goals can be big or small... Read More

I think it's possible that I've made one pair of earrings too many. When photographing this pair of pearl dangles for an earring article in the January BeadStyle , I started to see faces in the beads. The big pearl looked like it has a face (please... Read More

I just read the October issue of InStyle magazine and, as usual, it was full of great ideas and style inspiration. One article especially made me smile, and I think it would give readers of BeadStyle a giggle also. The feature included a bunch of ideas... Read More

Hey beaders, here's your chance to let everyone know your jewelry thoughts: Post a review of Cool Jewels: Beading Projects for Teens on Amazon and enter to win a vintage bracelet kit. The kit has all the supplies you'll need to make a bracelet... Read More

This weekend I took my annual trip to the Cedarburg (Wis.) Wine & Harvest Festival. It's always held right around my birthday, so I always feel like the town's throwing me a block party. They have a farmer's market, lots of good food,... Read More

This past Saturday afternoon, my mom and I toured the Showcase of New Homes in Green Bay, Wis. This event, put on twice a year by the Brown County Home Builders Association, is an opportunity for people to walk through beautiful houses and ooh and aah... Read More

Rings and Things was in town Wednesday for a wholesale show. I went to pick up some things for the magazine, for myself and for classes I'll be teaching at a local middle school and some Girl Scout meetings. I found out it's very dangerous to... Read More

On my Cool Jewels blog , I just wrote about taping a jewelry demo for Living the Life . Check it out if you're interested. Read More

I’ve been corresponding with Carole Kane, beadworkbydesign.com . One of Carole’s designs will be in the January issue of BeadStyle . Carole works as an art teacher, so it’s not surprising that her Web site is not fully up yet. This fall when she returned... Read More

'till Christmas. It may seem crazy, but I've started making lists of Christmas presents already. Who will get jewelry? Who will get cookies? Who will get an encore of the very popular limoncello or grapefruit-cello I made last year? I always try... Read More

The BeadStyle forum offers a lot for beaders — inspiration, motivation, ideas, friendship, feedback. The list could go on and on. I think that the forum challenge captures many of these benefits in a single activity. For a forum challenge, participating... Read More

This past weekend, I tuned the FM dial to National Public Radio, took advantage of the beautiful weather, planted myself on my sun porch, and was morphed into a Labor Day jewelry making fool. I created jewelry, jewelry, and more jewelry pretty much until... Read More

When our re-designed January issue comes out, we'll be including more information about our designers. Salena Safranski, who used to work for the Kalmbach Books department, designed a beautiful double-drilled pearl necklace and earrings. She's... Read More