I've been preparing for summertime. My boyfriend Burt and I hope to get a few things around the house taken care before June, like finish painting the siding, build a filter for the pond and keep ahead of the growth in the yard.

Next month, I'm off to Seattle to teach beading classes and visit my friends. Since I'll be spending several days in a bead store, my notebook should be full of sketches by the time I return home. Here's to keeping the balance on my credit card less full than my sketchbook!

A New Generation of Mother's Jewelry

Mother's Day is May 11. If you've been looking for a special Mother's Day gift with a truly personal touch, Generation Gems has you covered. You can purchase loose beads with engravings to create your own designs or choose from their extensive collection of finished jewelry creations.

The materials available for engraving include hematite, cat's eye, black onyx, white onyx, wood and gold stone. It takes 10-14 days to complete your custom-engraved beads. Each engraved bead costs $12 and includes both the name and the birth date. This makes it possible to include the names and birthdays of as many as 16 children in a single piece of jewelry!

You are certain to find the perfect bead for the perfect mom, grandma or aunt in your life. Contact Generation Gems at GenerationGems.com or toll-free at 1-866-384-GEMS.

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Organization 201: Bead Storage

My first concern when shopping for a storage system is being able to see the beads. I prefer clear containers. Although I have a few matte plastic boxes in my collection, I use mostly transparent containers. The down side: clear plastic containers tend to be brittle and crack or fracture easily. They are not an ideal choice for travel. Translucent plastic boxes are more flexible and have heavier sides that stand up to dropping, squishing, mashing and other transport mishaps.

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Most beaders probably don't worry about how well their storage travels, that's just part of my own set of habits, styles and tendencies. Before considering storage, ask yourself the following questions. Where do you bead? What types of beads o you use? Do you integrate other materials with your beads? How much storage space do you have? These are a few considerations, but the most basic question is how can you possibly store and find all of your beads?

Fishing tackle boxes are inexpensive, hold a lot of beads and are readily available. Large beads store well in tackle boxes, normally a translucent white plastic and pretty tough. If the crosspieces come as inserts to customize the sizes of the partitions, be sure to snap them snugly into place so beads can't sneak underneath and mix. Add a line of glue along the bottom edge for extra security. A bead scoop or triangle tray is helpful to scoop out the small beads that hide in the corners of the partitions.

Flip-top containers filed into clear 4 x 6 boxes allow you to see all the beads. Flip-tops make it simple to pour a few beads out onto a work surface. The caps fit snugly, can be removed for easy fill-up and fit all the available sizes. The containers are very space-efficient, fitting a lot of beads in a small, organized space. There is a perfect size for anything from head pins to seed beads. Flip-top containers work best for beads under 3/8" (9mm), the width of the flip-top opening.

Photo courtesy of Fusion Beads

Craft Mates make excellent travel containers that are easy to store when you're not on the road. Each row of containers has an Ezy Lockin' button that must be pushed to snap open the lids. Once the lid is open, the entire container can be turned upside down without spilling any other sections in the row. The mechanism automatically locks when the lid is re-closed. Container rows store in a hard-cover sleeves or slide into any number of cute totes or cases, so they can go anywhere. The 14 compartment boxes are a great size for small beads and can hold a lot of beads, safely, in a relatively small space.

For beaders who work with groups of beads, round stack jars are an ideal method of storage. The jars screw directly to one another and a lid screws onto the top of any jar. Jars are easy to detach and can be opened up one at a time or all at once. Different diameters are available, the jars are clear, and round sides make it easier to get a hold of beads. You can purchase as many lids as you like to make it simple to separate and store the jars.

Photo courtesy of Fusion Beads

If your bead collection is rich in metals you might consider using storage that features a tarnish inhibitor. There are several models of storage boxes that can protect non-ferrous metals from tarnishing for up to 5 years! ArtBin, manufactured by Flambeau, features this exclusive protective layer, saving you the trouble of keeping loose anti-tarnish paper in your silver storage boxes. As soon as I saw these boxes, I ordered some to try to subdue the plague of tarnish created by my studio environment.

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Many readers sent me e-mails with their organizational ideas.

From Angela Campbell:

I was at the hardware store the other day and spotted the containers (the ones that you can hang on the wall) that nails, screws and the like are stored in. I bought two of them and have been using them as bead storage. They are great. I labeled the drawers by color and put my beads in them. You can hang them on the wall or stack them on your desk.

From Mary Rembach:

I installed a pegboard on the wall in an unused bedroom. I have hooks, cups and other pegboard accessories to hold all my bead strands and other supplies. Under it, I have a 6-foot folding table. Now my supplies are all right in front of me. I also purchased a deluxe carousel that houses all my small loose beads and findings. It has clear cups and spins around, so I can see all my small parts.

From Deon Delange:

Several years ago at a thrift store, my husband found a food dehydrator for $5 that someone had made from plywood. It's about 4 feet tall, 2 feet wide, and 2 feet deep with 13 shelves,including 1 x 1 inch lumber for the frame and hardware cloth for the shelf bottom. He used it only once as a dehydrator because I discovered that by turning it upside down, it could be used as small drawers.

This works really well for storing tubes of seed beads. Each shelf is assigned a color, i.e. shelf #1 white, shelf #2 black, etc. Something similar could easily be inexpensively made, and could be used with any type bead storage: tubes, zip bags, etc.

Remember: When you commit to creating a system to organize your supplies, you are working to make your creative time more fruitful. Don't be afraid to devote some time and energy into getting organized. Shop around. When I first started on this organizational series, I had no idea how many options were available. Some are designed specifically for beaders, but just as many were intended for other uses.

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Gilded Age Butterfly Design by Jean Yates Inspired by New York City in the Gilded Age, this delicate necklace is reminiscent of lovely young women bedecked in their finery for the formal parties of the social season. Materials 11 (42 x 62mm ivory enameled butterfly 4mm crystal bicone beads: 7 clear, 7 light topaz 13 black 60 (5.5-6mm) top-drilled white button freshwater pearls 13 (2.5 x 4mm) silver Turkish spacer beads Sterling silver jump rings: 3 (6mm), 2 (4mm) 27 (22-gauge) sterling silver head pins 4 sterling silver crimp tubes 20 x 11mm sterling silver decorative loop hook clasp 2 inches 6.3mm sterling silver open cable extender chain 2 (3 1/2-inch) lengths sterling silver figure-eight jewelry chain 2 (11-inch) lengths .019-inch-diameter flexible beading wire Bead board (optional) Round-nose pliers Chain-nose pliers Wire nippers Finished Size 16 1/2 inches (including clasp), plus a 2-inch extender chain Project note: Use a bead board to lay out beads if desired. Instructions 1) String a crimp tube onto one length of wire 1/2 inch from one end. Place short wire end through one loop on butterfly bead and back through the crimp tube. Use chain-nose pliers to flatten the crimp tube. 2) String on a Turkish spacer and 15 button pearls, alternating the orientation of the pearls. String on the end link of one 3 1/2-inch length of figure-eight chain. String on 15 button pearls and a Turkish spacer. 3) String on a crimp tube; place wire end through clasp and back through the crimp tube and Turkish spacer. Flatten the crimp tube; trim excess wire. Note: Before crimping, make sure clasp is positioned so the hook is facing upward. 4) Repeat steps 1-3 for other half of necklace, attaching a 2-inch extender chain instead of clasp. 5) To finish chain swags, open a 4mm jump ring and attach it to opposite end link on one of the attached chains. Attach jump ring to the loop at end of butterfly bead. Repeat to attach the chain swag on other side of necklace. 6) Slide a black bicone bead onto a head pin; use round-nose pliers to begin to form a wrapped head-pin loop above bead, but do not wrap loop yet. Repeat four additional times. 7) Repeat step 6 four times, twice with clear bicone beads and twice with light topaz bicone beads. 8) Beginning with a black bicone head pin, proceed to wrap loop, attaching loop to a large link on one of the chain swags before wrapping. Trim excess wire. Attach remaining beaded head pins from steps 6 and 7 to chain swag in the same manner, spacing them evenly and attaching them to the large links. 9) Repeat steps 6-8 to attach head pins to the other chain swag. 10) Slide a Turkish spacer and a clear bicone bead on a head pin; form a wrapped head-pin loop above bead. Trim excess wire. Repeat twice. 11) Repeat step 10 three times, only substitute a black bicone bead in place of a clear bicone bead. Repeat step 10 three times again, only substitute a light topaz bicone bead in place of a clear bicone bead. 12) Open a 6mm jump ring and slide on three beaded head pins, one of each color; attach jump ring to one of the loops on butterfly bead. Repeat twice, attaching one jump ring to the opposite loop on butterfly bead and attaching other jump ring to the end link on extender chain. Sources: Button pearls and Turkish beads from The Bead Shop; bicone beads, open cable chain, clasp and butterfly bead from Fusion Beads; figure-eight chain, crimp tubes, jump rings, head pins and flexible beading wire from Via Murano. Copyright © Oct. 2006 Gilded Age Butterfly. All rights reserved. Back to top. Click here for printer friendly page.

Spring Zing Jewelry Contest 2008

Connie Fox is a remarkable wire artist, and I've heard high praise for her skill as an instructor. Her Web site features an inspirational gallery of student pieces and Connie's own work. The site is now sponsoring a contest that mixes metal, wire and anything else you can think of into a great piece of finished jewelry. Contest winners receive gift certificates for merchandise -- a fine selection of tools, beads and wire.

Make any type of jewelry that includes mixed metal and wire. The mixed metal can be any metals or metal clay. Entries may utilize pre-made components, but pieces using handmade components will earn higher scores. Your entry will be judged on ability to effectively use mixed metal and wire, skill, originality and innovation. See Connie's Web site, Jatayu.com, for all the details on how, where and when to send in your entry.

As you make that first circle around the lawn with the mower, take in all that spectacular color and let yourself be inspired by the change of seasons and the wonder of nature.

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