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My First Chain I like chain so much that back in April I spent a full day making my own in a wireworking workshop. Using steel wire, I made my own jump rings, formed my own links, hammered them, joined them, and polished the finished piece. The best tip I learned: Once you've figured out the size...
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Michelle Mach
on
Jul 6, 2009
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Filed under: Chain Maille, Peyote stitch, Pearls, Bead Making, Stringing, Wire Jewelry, How To Bead, Seed Bead Patterns, Bead-weaving, Beading Tools, Bracelet Making, Beads, Beading Daily
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Beautiful, Breakable Briolettes As a teen, I routinely stuffed my size 9 feet into size 8 shoes, trying to deny that my feet would never be small again. The same kind of denial recently led me to try stuffing a piece of 22-gauge wire (my favorite size!) into the tiny, delicate drilled channel at the...
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I'll never forget the first time I heard back from a magazine editor that she wanted to buy one of my designs. Luckily, the acceptance came by e-mail, not phone, so the editor's hearing wasn't permanently damaged by my shriek of joy. I had no inside connections, no prior publications or jewelry...
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Beautiful Bangles and Cuffs Before I learned to make my own jewelry, I almost never wore bracelets because my wrist wasn't the "normal" size carried in stores. Wire bangles and cuffs, with their one-size-fits-many styling, were the exception. Even though my jewelry skills mean that I'm...
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Michelle Mach
on
Jun 19, 2009
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Filed under: Pearls, Crystals, Bead Making, Stringing, Wire Jewelry, How To Bead, Bead-weaving, Polymer Clay Beads, Step by Step Wire Jewelry Magazine, Bead Crafts, Beads, Jewelry Making, Beading Daily
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Do You Bead Green? In the Summer 2009 issue of Stringing , we present an article about eco-conscious beading, Bead Green: New Earth-Friendly Beading Supplies . In the article, author Melaina Juntti writes, “Nowadays many of us think critically about how our lifestyles and hobbies affect the planet...
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6 Reasons We Love to Make Earrings Soon after joining Twitter (under the name BeadingDaily ), I asked jewelry designers to tell me what they liked about making earrings. Within minutes, I was deluged with reasons. Here are just six: 1. "It's fun and there's no reason to worry about them...
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Daily Blogs
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Michelle Mach
on
Jun 12, 2009
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Filed under: Pearls, Crystals, Bead Making, Stringing, How To Bead, Seed Bead Patterns, Bead-weaving, Beading Tools, Earring Making, Bead Crafts, Beads, Jewelry Making, Beading Daily
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I love playing with wire, don't you? The design possibilities and colors are endless. Denise Peck is considered one of the wonderful wire women influencing wire popularity, trends, and techniques for many moons. I asked her to share one of her fave techniques with my Beading Daily peeps, so here...
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Getting Started with Herringbone Stitch Almost all the instructions I'd seen for flat herringbone stitch projects started with a base row of another stitch, usually ladder stitch. So when I saw today's free project, I was momentarily flummoxed. Begin herringbone without ladder stitch? I felt...
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Michelle Mach
on
May 29, 2009
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Filed under: Peyote stitch, Beaded Beads, Bead Making, Stringing, Herringbone Stitch, How To Bead, Seed Bead Patterns, Bead-weaving, Beaded Jewelry Design, Beads, Beading Daily
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Cool Tools "Are you sure you don't need any help?" I smiled and declined the saleman's offer. True to its name, this hardware store was indeed "the helpful place." Everyone really, really wanted to help me. Looking at my shopping basket, I could see why. I mean, what kind...
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Daily Blogs
by
Michelle Mach
on
May 22, 2009
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Filed under: Pearls, Crystals, Beaded Beads, Bead Making, Stringing, How To Bead, Seed Bead Patterns, Bead-weaving, Beading Tools, Earring Making, Beaded Jewelry Design, Beads, Jewelry Making, Beading Daily
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Simply Sensational Recently, Stringing editor Danielle Fox and I were marveling over a necklace that had been submitted to the summer issue by sisters Silvija and Taya Koschnick. It was so simple, yet very appealing, the kind of piece that both of us would feel comfortable wearing often, even though...
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Michelle Mach
on
May 15, 2009
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Filed under: Chain Maille, Bead Making, Stringing, Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, How To Bead, Beading Tools, Necklace Making, Beaded Jewelry Design, Beads, Beading Daily
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Name: Cynthia Deis Business: Owner of Ornamentea and Panopolie—two brick-and-mortar bead shops in Raleigh, North Carolina—and the Ornamentea website, www.ornamentea.com . Contact: Ornamentea, 509 N. West St., Raleigh, NC 27603, (919) 834-6260; Panopolie, 6320 Capital Blvd., Raleigh, NC 27616...
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Two Is Better Than One Some things are better done solo. Shopping for unmentionables comes to mind. Or flossing. Or, in our opinion, diving (we are still shocked that synchronized diving is an actual Olympic sport!). But writing beading books? Well, we’ve both done the solo author thing (check...
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Daily Blogs
by
Michelle Mach
on
May 4, 2009
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Filed under: Crystals, Stringing, Glass Beads, Wire Jewelry, How To Bead, metalsmithing, Beaded Jewelry Design, Beads, Jewelry Making, Beading Daily
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Beadwork Pattern Play Challenge Deadline: August 3, 2009 Did you enjoy seeing how five designers created projects inspired by swatches of pattern in the June/July issue of Beadwork (page 56, Pattern Play Challenge)? Did you check out the two free charts of MaryLou Holvenstot's Limelight Leopard in...
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Daily Blogs
by
Michelle Mach
on
Apr 29, 2009
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Filed under: Chain Maille, Bead Embroidery, Bead Making, Stringing, Wire Jewelry, Seed Bead Patterns, Native American beadwork, Bead-weaving, Beads, Beading Daily
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Warning: This blog may upset sensitive beaders. Have You Ever Tortured Your Beads? Sadly, my answer is yes . I adore beads, but that doesn't mean they are always safe in my care. I spill beads onto the sofa and sit on them. I vacuum them up. Occasionally, I break them with my pliers. Once, in a scene...
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Daily Blogs
by
Michelle Mach
on
Apr 24, 2009
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Filed under: Peyote stitch, Bead Making, Stringing, Wire Jewelry, How To Bead, Seed Bead Patterns, Bead-weaving, Step by Step Wire Jewelry Magazine, Beads, Beading Daily
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Keeping Secrets Sometimes I have a hard time keeping secrets. Especially good secrets. In fact, when I was a kid, I remember getting up really early one Christmas morning (as usual) to see what Santa had left me, then promptly waking up my little sister to spill the beans that the Jolly Old Elf had brought...