Do You Want to Make Jewelry?

Hey, you can make really pretty jewelry too! I thought I'd list a few resources I have found helpful while learning new techniques for stringing and wire wrapping.

The very first book I read about wire wrapping was All Wired Up: Wire Techniques for the Beadworker and Jewelry Maker by Mark Lareau. Mark and Vicki Lareau own a local bead store called The Bead Factory where they offer awesome classes and workshops. Speaking of bead stores, if you have one close to you, chances are really good that you could take a class there and go home with a beautiful handmade piece of jewelry of your own.

There are several magazines that give step by step instructions on how to make beautiful pieces. You'll find projects on their websites too. Here are a few:

Bead and Button
Step by Step Beads
Lapidary Journal

A great forum for asking questions of other lampworkers and beaders is WetCanvas! in the glass art forum.

When you start creating works of your own you can join metalchasers.com, a new social networking site for jewelry and metal artists. The site has great potential for promoting and selling, but what I like best is checking out the gallery everyday for new inspiration.

So, I given you a handful of places to check out to start. When you start making your own jewelry and you need some lampworked beads to make your jewelry really unique and special, you'll know where to turn! (I'm talking about me, but you'll find lots of talented lampworkers out there - something for everyone.)

Merry Christmas

I hope you had a blessed Christmas filled with peace, hope, and joy!

Now that Christmas day has arrived it's safe to post pictures of a few pieces I made for gifts this year. I wish I would have had the time to make something for everyone on my list.

Featured on The Beading Gem's Journal

The Beading Gem's Journal has become a place where I regularly browse for design inspiration, and now one of my pieces is being featured there. Go check it out!

Bracelet for a Little Princess

Although I haven't officially opened up my shop for business I've been making a few sales. Here's a bracelet for a four year old little girl that goes out in the mail tomorrow.

I hope she loves it!

Show and Tell

Between the holiday crunch I'm feeling (already!) and life's little challenges (I have to call an electrician today because I'm pretty sure we have wires melting in our wall. Ack!) I've been getting a few beads and pieces of jewelry made. I've had a few commissions for pieces come in all at once, and that's exciting, but now I really need to get to work.

Here are a couple of sets I've made recently:



And a pair of earrings I made:


I'm working on a necklace to match.

I still need to experiment with photography techniques. I'm looking at a couple of setups on eBay for this. For example, photographing earrings laying down is probably not the best presentation. These earrings are so dainty and sparkly in person, but that just doesn't come across in the photo. Better lighting may help.

Off to work!

Funky

I wouldn't normally put these colors together in a piece of jewelry; I prefer pinks, purples and blues or basic black and white, but now that I have I like it.

Fringe Bracelet by Kewee Bead & Jewelry Co.

I love seeing what jewelry designers do with the beads they buy from me. It is such a pleasure to see something I created become part of a beautiful piece of jewelry. I found a picture of a bracelet on the internet today that was made using beads that were purchased from me over two years ago. Check out the 9/29/07 update at Kewee Bead and Jewelry Company. What a gorgeous bracelet! (Not that I'm biased or anything.)

Another Bead Junky?

After posting a picture of the baby bracelet I made for my niece last week, a friend of mine emailed me and said, "I want one," so I invited her over to make her own.

This is my sneaky way of creating another beading addict. I guess that makes me a bead pusher. Changing the world, one bead at a time.

Here's a picture of my friend (Er, well, her hand, that is.) holding her creation. See? I told you it was tiny.

Beauty from Chaos

The creative process is different for everyone, I suppose. For me, a little chaos in the beginning often gets the ball rolling when I'm making jewelry. Would you like to see my jewelry creation station?


Actually, I'm not alone. I've seen much worse. Some of the beads on my bead board have been there for years, but when I sit down to create a piece it helps me to have lots of shapes and colors from which to draw. I usually end up running to the bead store downtown to pick up a few beads and spacers that I need to complete my project.

Today I put together a bracelet from the dotty beads I made earlier in the week. This bracelet is for a friend who is fighting a fierce battle right now. I can't be with her to stand by her side in person, but I hope she'll wear this, feel its weight on her wrist and know that she is strong. I hope it will also remind her that God is with her and loves her and so do I.

Baby Bracelet

My torch session was short today because I have sick kids, but I made a few dotty beads. I'll show you a picture of them after they come out of the kiln tomorrow. After making beads I came in and put together a baby bracelet. My niece is having a little girl and is due next month, so I wanted to give her baby this bracelet.


It's teeny tiny, which doesn't come across in the enlarged photo. When my youngest was born four years ago someone made a similar bracelet for her, and it was just the sweetest thing on earth. I hope she likes it!