BeadStyle : Beading 101 and Beyond

Spring cleaning jewelry organization tips

Stacy Hillmer — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:45:00 GMT

This weekend found me spring cleaning - everything from washing my shower curtain liner to dusting behind the microwave. Spring cleaning also gets me in the mood to organize. After editing an entire section of Beading 101 and Beyond on organizing beading supplies, I now feel like my beads, components, and tools are in order. But what about finished jewelry? How does one organize necklaces, bracelets, and earrings so they are accessible but not cluttered? Here are a few ideas from around the Web that I just love.

Marthastewart.com shows you how to transform a vintage medicine cabinet into a wall-mounted jewelry box that you can customize to your collection with wooden dowels, hooks, and silk cord. What I like best about this project is that the cabinet closes to keep jewelry from collecting dust, especially those pieces you only wear once in a while.

Craftstylish.com highlights a wall-mounted earring and necklace hanger from Ginny’s Ear Nest. In addition to the jewelry hanger shown in the blog, the Ginny’s Ear Nest catalog offers a number of hanger styles, depending on what jewelry you have the most of, and free-standing and carousel versions if you’re short on wall space or need a display for a show.

Some favorite jewelry storage solutions here at BeadStyle come from the closet. A piece of needlepoint canvas clipped to a pants hanger makes for a great earring holder. Also, I recently invested in a hanging belt organizer like this one from the Container Store to hang necklaces on. It hangs right next to my clothing in my closet so I can choose jewelry as I choose my outfit.

What are your favorite ways to organize jewelry? Please share below!

Finding a creative space

Erin Dolan — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:35:00 GMT

Sometimes the most difficult part of starting a new project is finding not only the time, but the space to do it! I know that I need a clear, large space with great lighting, good music, and all of my materials within arm's reach. For me, a clear space equals a clear mind for creating.

Easier said than done, though, right? I have been painting for about seven years now, scrapbooking for three years, and beading for almost nine months. My best intentions as I moved from Milwaukee to St. Paul five years ago, then back to Milwaukee last year, were to keep these things away from each other. Well, as I've been packing to move into a new apartment, I realized that the oil paints are kind of mixed in with the letter stickers and paper supplies. It's not the best. So in my new place, I am bound and determined to get organized right off the bat to so I can tackle my creative projects more frequently.

I'm sure tomorrow night, I will stand in my new living room surrounded by mismatched furniture and unmarked boxes wondering what on earth to do next. Our new special issue, Beading 101 and Beyond, has a section all about organization and storage, and while the issue is all about beading, many of our tips can be easily applied to any craft. Here are a few highlights:

- Designate a work area/creative space, even if it just means setting up a desk and shelves in a corner of your living room (which is what I'll be doing in my tiny apartment).

- If you have the wall space, add a bulletin board or a magnetic board above the desk to display inspiration, bead strands, paper scraps, etc. It's great to have these things for visual inspiration!

- Keep materials separated in bags or containers and make sure they're well-labeled.

- Keep your space clean! Put away your scrapbook supplies when you're done so the next time you look at your creative space, you may see "painting space" or "beading space" instead of "scrapbook space." Creativity will strike easier this way!

Be sure to check out Beading 101 and Beyond to get the rest of our tips and some great photos, including before and after pictures of the BeadStyle staff workroom!

I also found a few cool places for great "creative space" ideas. Start looking and start organizing!

From Domino magazine (which recently closed, much to my chagrin), some tips for getting your creative space started

From the Making It Lovely blog, a designer's studio

From the Craftzine blog, a few different craft rooms

Beading 101, hot off the presses

Stacy Hillmer — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:16:00 GMT

If you haven’t been to a bead, craft, or book store in the last week, you may not be aware that BeadStyle’s newest special issue, Beading 101 and Beyond, is on newsstands now! We’re super-proud of this issue because it brings together everything you need to know about bead stringing in a portable-size reference work. We’ve even included six new projects for you to make!

In addition to basic reference info, there are a lot of fun tidbits to take your jewelry making to the next level. Some of my favorite features of Beading 101 include a guide to movies and TV shows that highlight jewelry sure to inspire your own creations, pages and pages of organization tools you already have lying around your house, and a guide to jewelry that flatters your face shape and shirt neckline. I also got a chance to make my first chain maille project in Beading 101, and I show you how to do it too.

Want a sneak peek into Beading 101? Check out our click-through pages of the issue. You can turn the pages by clicking in the upper right-hand corners, but it’s even more fun to click and drag the pages as if you’re really flipping through the mag.

To order Beading 101 and Beyond online, click here, or else visit your local bead, craft, or book store.

Also hot off the presses, one of my New Year's resolutions - a holiday sweatshirt quilt! A little out of season, but completed nonetheless!

Beading 101 alternative bracelet

Erin Dolan — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:53:00 GMT

Besides the tips, techniques, advice, and ideas, there are six all-new projects packed into our new special issue, Beading 101 and Beyond. I made a fun multistrand bracelet using crystals in different shapes and colors (p. 92). As promised, here is another version of my bracelet.

For this alternative design, I wanted to use a more muted color palette, but achieve the same bold, striking effect of the original design. Adding to the challenge, I used not only crystals, but simple rounds and nuggets, for a more casual-looking piece.

I decided on black infused with a line of pale blue, but you can use any color combination you want. I love the look of this ocean blue with black. My bedroom is decorated with similar colors (although blue is the dominant color, with black accents).

First, I cut four 9-in. (22.5 cm) strands of beading wire.

On the first wire, I strung 8 mm round beads.

On the second wire, I strung 8-10 mm nuggets.

On the third wire, I strung the same 8 mm round beads from the first wire with 6 mm round crystals, both in black.

On the last wire, I strung the 6 mm round crystals with black 5 mm bicone crystals.

I finished off the black beaded strands with blue bicones, and the blue strand with black bicones. Use jump rings to attach the strands to both halves of a clasp.

I love the dramatic look of the finished piece. As a matter of fact, it kind of matches my outfit today...I'm going to wear it right now!

Multistrand memories

Stacy Hillmer — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 19:55:00 GMT

I started beading just over a year ago, when I first came to BeadStyle. To make myself familiar with the hobby I would be working with, I purchased a beginner’s beading kit from a local craft store. The kit instructions showed a picture of a multistrand necklace that I decided to mimic with the supplies in the kit. Below, left, was the first piece of jewelry I ever made.

Then, a few months ago, the BeadStyle editorial staff was knee-deep in writing our next special issue, Beading 101 and Beyond, your guide to all things stringing. For a story I was writing about beading parties, I made another multistrand necklace, shown below, right.

Oh, what a difference a year makes! My first multistrand necklace was certainly a good effort, but crooked crimps, low-quality supplies, and beading wire too heavy for the project taught me my first lessons in jewelry making.

To make my most recent multistrand necklace, I took advantage of those lessons (and many more I’ve learned along the way) to make a necklace that I am proud to wear, and already have on several occasions. But even though I don’t wear my first multistrand necklace, I treasure it as my first, and keep it safe to remind me of my humble jewelry beginnings.

What did your humble jewelry beginnings look like?