No crimping pliers, no wire cutters...no problem ! I ran into a dilemma last week as I was preparing for a weekend trip: I wanted to bring a jewelry project with me to help pass the time during my flight, but knew I wouldn't be able to get any pliers...

A Little Chat with Katie Hacker One of the best things about being part of the beading community for so long is gaining friends such as Katie Hacker. A dynamo of a woman, Katie has touched the beading community with her classes, books, lots of advice...

I can't remember where I first learned this diamond chain stitch, but I love it! It's so easy and so versatile that you can work it up with pretty much any beads you happen to have around. It's fast, too - it only took me about an hour to...

I've been looking for an earring project for an April birthday gift and this week's free project from Step by Step Beads, Crystal Corona Earrings, is perfect. The materials (crystal bicones, seed beads, ear wires) are common ones you're likely to have in your stash already or could easily purchase at your local bead shop. It's also astonishingly quick--I finished the first earring in less than half an hour. The project illustrations are excellent--they are fairly large with arrows showing the thread path and numbered beads, so you know exactly what to do next even if half your attention is diverted by the subtitles on Heroes. ...

I recently redesigned a pair of earrings using a different gemstone colorway. I found out pretty quickly that the new stones I was using had very small holes. So, with my stash’s head pin box before me, I started trying…22-gauge? Nope. 24-gauge? Nope. (I was starting to feel like a toddler with a shape sorting ball!) Wow—26 gauge? Yes! Luckily I have all those gauges on hand—how frustrating it would be if I didn’t....

Do you use buttons in your jewelry? When I was a little girl, I inherited a large jar of buttons from my grandmother. By using them in jewelry, I can not only appreciate their beauty and uniqueness, but also maintain a connection with my family. One common...

I met beader/knitter/cartoonist/all-around-creative-person Julie Ann Smith when she emailed me in response to one of the Beading Daily newsletters and asked me to take a look at some of her work. I was blown away by her bright, cheery designs! (Be sure to check out one of her peyote bracelets, The Illusion, at the bottom of this newsletter.) Julie Ann has a tremendous amount of energy and has a good sense of priorities (beading tops laundry every time!)....

The Aug/Sept 2012 issue of Beadwork offers 18 exciting, all-new jewelry projects for novice and advanced beaders alike. Featured topics and techniques include: shaping tricks, St. Petersburg stitch, geometric beading, bezeling with Tila beads, and more.