Bead-weaving + Native American beadwork - Daily Blogs

Infuse Your Beadwork with Native American Symbolism

Native American beadwork has a rich heritage of symbolism through the use of colors, gemstones, and animal totems to tell stories and convey meaning. If you're looking to infuse your beadwork with a few special and meaningful symbols, check out some...

Published May 22, 2013 4:00 AM by Jennifer VanBenschoten

Filed under: Gemstones, Beaded Beads, Bead Making, How To Bead, Native American beadwork, Bead-weaving, Beading Tools, Beaded Jewelry Design, Beads, Jewelry Making, Beading Daily

The Beading Stitches of Native American Beadwork

Being a history geek, I love to know the whole story behind how things came to be, including many of my favorite bead-weaving stitches. Many of these stitches developed independently all over the world throughout the history of the human race, but chances...

Published Nov 23, 2012 4:00 AM by Jennifer VanBenschoten

Filed under: Bead Embroidery, Peyote stitch, Bead Making, Brick Stitch, Glass Beads, How To Bead, Seed Bead Patterns, Native American beadwork, Bead-weaving, Bead Crafts, Beads, Beading Daily

Three Ways To Incorporate Native American Beadwork Traditions Into Your Beadwork

There's no doubt that for many of us, beading is a spiritual practice. For the Native Americans of North America, beads and jewelry were a particularly important part of their spiritual beliefs, and with the introduction of seed beads and smaller...

Published Jul 11, 2012 4:00 AM by Jennifer VanBenschoten

Filed under: Bead Making, How To Bead, Seed Bead Patterns, Native American beadwork, Bead-weaving, Beads, Beading Daily

Making Mistakes: How to Correct Five Common Mistakes in Your Beadwork

When I was learning how to bead, I made loads of mistakes. Nobody's perfect, right? And that goes double for me, especially when it comes to my beading. Now that I've been beading for many, many years, I'd like to say that I make fewer mistakes...

Published Apr 19, 2012 9:00 PM by Jennifer VanBenschoten

Filed under: Bead Embroidery, Bead Crochet, Beaded Beads, Bead Making, Stringing, How To Bead, Seed Bead Patterns, Native American beadwork, Bead-weaving, Beading Tools, Beaded Jewelry Design, Beads, Jewelry Making, Beading Daily

Social Market for a Mirrix is Back!

Do you love to do beadweaving on a loom? Mirrix Looms are hands down my favorite beading loom to work on when I'm doing loomed beadwork, and now Mirrix Looms has started their Social Market for a Mirrix program again! In case you haven't heard...

Published Apr 18, 2012 9:00 PM by Jennifer VanBenschoten

Filed under: Bead Making, How To Bead, Native American beadwork, Bead-weaving, Beads

Celebrate National Craft Month with Mirrix Looms!

Our friends Claudia and Elena over at Mirrix Looms have a wonderful challenge for anyone who loves to use their beading loom during National Craft Month! Between March 1 and March 31, make as many loom beaded bracelets as you can using your Mirrix beading...

Published Mar 12, 2012 4:00 AM by Jennifer VanBenschoten

Filed under: Beaded Beads, Bead Making, How To Bead, Native American beadwork, Bead-weaving, Bracelet Making, Bead Crafts, Beaded Jewelry Design, Beads

Beadwork Origins: Native American Beadwork

Some of the first beadwork I can remember seeing as a child was Native American beadwork in the collections of our local natural history museum. I was totally captivated by the bright colors of the beads and the intricate patterns that were formed on...

Published Feb 5, 2012 7:00 PM by Jennifer VanBenschoten

Filed under: Bead Embroidery, Peyote stitch, Beaded Beads, Bead Making, How To Bead, Seed Bead Patterns, Native American beadwork, Bead-weaving, Bead Crafts, Beaded Jewelry Design, Beads, Beading Daily

Gemstone Cabochons: How to Find Hundreds of Interesting (and Affordable) Gemstone Cabochons

From Jennifer: Studying geology in college is definitely an advantage when it comes time for me to choose and buy my gemstone cabochons for beading. I learned how to identify and classify dozens of different types of rocks, gemstones and minerals, all...

Published Dec 4, 2011 10:00 PM by Jennifer VanBenschoten

Filed under: Gemstones, Crystals, Bead Making, How To Bead, Native American beadwork, Bead-weaving, Lapidary, Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist Magazine, Beads, Jewelry Making, Cabachon

Do You Love Bead Embroidery? Here Are Five Free Patterns for Bead Embroidery!

If you've ever seen the awesome and inspiring bead embroidery of artists like Sherry Serafini, you might have been inspired to try your hand at this particular beading technique. Unlike other types of off-loom beadweaving, bead embroidery is the stitching...

Published Nov 10, 2011 10:00 PM by Jennifer VanBenschoten

Filed under: Bead Embroidery, Gemstones, Crystals, Beaded Beads, Bead Making, How To Bead, Seed Bead Patterns, Native American beadwork, Bead-weaving, Bead Crafts, Beaded Jewelry Design, Beadweaving, Beads, Jewelry Making

Beadwork Projects Inspired by Vintage Jewelry Pieces

My Victorian Infinity Necklace was inspired by an antique seed pearl necklace. I can remember how much I loved trying on my mother's and my grandmother's jewelry when I was a little girl. (I think most little girls love to do that, right?) But...

Published Aug 2, 2011 10:00 PM by Jennifer VanBenschoten

Filed under: Pearls, Crystals, Beaded Beads, Bead Making, How To Bead, Seed Bead Patterns, Native American beadwork, Bead-weaving, Bead Crafts, Beaded Jewelry Design, Beads, Jewelry Making, Beading Daily

Taming My Bead Stash

When our basement flooded, my beads sought refuge on top of the radiator! My beads are in need of a really good re-organization, and I'm sure that you'll agree after you read this! For years, I've been accumulating beads and findings and fibers...

Published Jul 28, 2011 10:00 PM by Jennifer VanBenschoten

Filed under: Beaded Beads, Bead Making, Stringing, Glass Beads, How To Bead, Seed Bead Patterns, Native American beadwork, Bead-weaving, Bead Crafts, Beaded Jewelry Design, Beads, Jewelry Making, Beading Daily

Inspired by Texture: Easy Ways to Personalize Your Own Metal Clay Pendants and Clasps

I don't know about anyone else, but when I make a piece of beadwork I usually spend a lot of hours on it. There's the design process itself, which can take lots of time and require many sketches. I take the time to make sure that my thread tails...

Published Jun 5, 2011 10:00 PM by Jennifer VanBenschoten

Filed under: Bead Making, Native American beadwork, Bead-weaving, Lapidary, Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist Magazine, Beads

New Free eBook: 4 Free Native American Beadwork Patterns Plus Bonus guide!

Having grown up in Minnetonka, Minnesota (yes, where Tonka trucks and Minnetonka Moccasins are born), now living in Colorado, I've been surrounded by Native American influences all my life. I remember stumbling upon old redware pottery shards and...

Published Mar 25, 2011 4:44 AM by Kristal Wick

Filed under: Bead Making, How To Bead, Seed Bead Patterns, Native American beadwork, Bead-weaving, Bead Crafts, Beaded Jewelry Design, Beads, Jewelry Making

4 Tricks to Keep Your Beads on Your Thread

4 Ways to Say Stop From stopping wayward advances . . . When I was in college, I studied for a summer in England. Medieval Architecture. I learned a lot, of course, but the real reason I went across the drink was to see the world. I spent my summer session...

Published Jun 2, 2010 4:20 AM by Jean Campbell

Filed under: Bead Making, Stringing, How To Bead, Seed Bead Patterns, Native American beadwork, Bead-weaving, Beads, Beading Daily

Learn Bead Speak with This Free Crossword Puzzle

“Pass through 5B; *square-stitch 1E to 3B. Weave through 7B; add 3B picots to the next 2B and the following 2B. Repeat from * fifteen times.” Am I speaking another language here? Yes; Beaderese. Does it give you a headache to read? Of course. Want to know why? The synapses in your brain are getting the workout of their lives! ...

Published Jun 24, 2009 5:36 AM by Michelle Mach