Your Beading Mission…..

I’m thrilled to have a guest blogger today! I’d like to introduce Gwen, from Murphy Grace Home.  Gwen and I found each others’ blogs a while back and have been “friends” ever since! She’s a thrifty, crafty gal trying to corral her rambunctious black lab, Murphy.  Be sure and visit Gwen at her blog and on Twitter when you get a chance! For starters, check out some of the great things she did with these burlap coffee sacks:

When it came time to do my monthly Artbeads “Blogging for Beaders” post, I instantly thought of Gwen because she has just picked up her old jewelry-making hobby again.  She even makes some of her own beads! I thought she could give us all some pointers based on her experience. So…….heeeeeere’s Gwen!

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Have you always wanted to try making your own jewelry, but thought that it might be hard or that you needed too many tools and other stuff? Think again.

You can really do it with just one of these:

Yes, there are specialized tools that can make it easier, but you can start with a simple pair of needle nose pliers.

One other thing that doesn’t cost a lot and helps so much is a beading tray/board. (They have them at Michael’s and probably Hobby Lobby, use a coupon).

It allows me to lay out all my design ideas before actually stringing them. You just line up the beads in the slots and see what you think.

Okay, enough with the tools, you want to make something, right? How about starting with most of the design choices and ingredients already decided for you?

This Hearts Afire necklace was made with a simple kit from Artbeads.com. Their kits have every piece you need, minus the pliers. All of the beads, closures, directions, shiny stuff, it is all in there for you. They have such a fabulous selection of kits to get you started, rings, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and more.

Or, you can design your own like I did here,

I call this Cotton Candy Love and again, it was just a matter of laying out my idea and then stringing it. (made with 10mm Cat’s Eye beads, a sterling silver Heart Outline Frame, and a Swarovski 10mm Heart).

So what are you waiting for? Check out the great tutorials and ideas at Artbeads.com and take the plunge!

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Thanks so much, Gwen! It’s so great to know you can make a custom piece of jewelry without a lot of fancy tools and without being intimidated.  So head on over to Artbeads.com and get started! Also, check out their fabulous sweepstakes going on now:

I’ll be sharing this post with some parties over the next week, be sure and visit!

       

 

*Disclosure: The products used in this project  were kindly provided free-of-charge by Artbeads.com, within the frames of Artbeads.com blogging program. Neither I nor Gwen have received any compensation from Artbeads.com. The post above represents my/our honest personal opinion(s).