I just found an interesting poster at allposters.com. It reads: “Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.” Do you believe that? It certainly takes creativity to make something complicated seem simple — one would have to be very...

You’ve perfected your technique, polished your designs and have gotten positive reviews from friends and family. Now, you want to test the waters and try to sell your creations. There are a few things you will have to tackle: 1. Choosing a name: Try to come up with something that really describes what...

I love bold colors, textures and unusual materials. A great combination for summery designs is wire lace and Greek ceramic beads and/or pendants. The wire lace gives the impression of fishnet floating on water, and the Greek ceramic pieces come in a variety of styles that scream ‘summer at the beach...

A few weeks ago I bartered with an artist and look what I got. This adjustable ring was once an earring. I thinks it's so nifty. Geriann of gajettes made this lovely ring and she makes other cool things as well — like clothing and accessories. Her pieces are made of hand-slected, reclaimed, recycled...

Jean Yates , one of BeadStyle 's contributors, asked me questions about my background, the creative process, and how I see the world in general. She put the interview on her Amazon page , so check it out if you're interested. My favorite question: "Do you think you see the world differently...

Yep, this post has nothing to do with beading and everything to do with cake! But beaders like cake, don’t they? Plus, us beaders would be a very boring bunch if our crafting interests were limited to beads alone. I love meeting beaders who also enjoy knitting, crocheting, decoupage, scrapbooking, sewing...

Creating a brand new piece of jewelry gives me a real thrill – a creative contact high. But we can’t be on cloud nine all the time. Sometimes simple satisfaction is the order of the day because I don’t have the time, energy, money, or inspiration for a full project. For that, I find that fixing or improving...

I taught jewelry-making to a Girl Scout troop in Brookfield this weekend. Each girl got a kit with a pendant, beads, and findings, plus a few design tips. Then they pretty much did their own thing. I wish I had taken photos of the girls wearing their finished necklaces: one of the necklaces was pink...