I recently enlisted my best friend/maid of honor/graphic designer to create the images that will appear on my wedding invitations. She was tickled pink to be asked, but flatly refused payment. As an artist myself, I knew that she deserved compensation for the hours this project would require and the years of experience she would bring to it. So I arranged to barter…with beads!

Steph has wanted to learn how to bead for a while now, and was particularly taken with the project Sparkle and smoke by Editor Cathy Jakicic in BeadStyle magazine. So last week, I took Steph to Eclectica, my local bead store, to pick up the necessities. Steph selected a lovely combination of golden obsidian lentil beads, onyx faceted ovals, and pyrite rounds. She wanted a color palette that would complement many outfits, and we all know you can't go wrong with black and gold.

Next, I introduced Steph to crimp beads and crimping pliers. I was a little jealous at how quickly she mastered crimping! She, like me, was amazed at how one little bit of smashed metal could hold together an entire piece of jewelry. We also discovered the hard way why it’s important to leave several inches of wire at the end of a strand to crimp with – oops!

Steph was a real trooper when it came to measuring and trying on her necklace at least half a dozen times as we added the strands to her piece. I explained that getting multiple strands to drape correctly is a tricky business.

But we succeeded at last! Here is Steph’s completed piece, and I couldn’t be prouder. I was especially impressed when she suggested adding jump rings to the ends of the small-link chain (the second strand) to prevent the end links from sliding under the other strand ends and tangling. I wish I had thought of that!

I loved bartering beads and beading knowledge for the services of another artist. Have you ever bartered with beads? What were the results?