What do I need to start a beading project? 1)Beads
Seed Beads - Available in an amazing array of colors,finishes, and styles, they are most often used in bead weaving and loomwork. Larger sizes are smaller, with 11/0 being the most common. Delicas are a cylindrical, squarish, and about size 12/0.
Pony Beads - Larger than seed beads with larger holes, also available in a large range of colors and finishes. Sometimes called size 8/0 seed beads.
Bugle Beads - Sized like seed beads, bugle beads are long tubes (lengths vary).
Stone Beads Precious (sapphire, ruby, diamond, emerald) and semiprecious (hematite, amethyst, jade, onyx, etc.) stones are available in chips and in different shapes.
Spacer Beads - Any small bead can be used as a spacer. Spacer beads are often unnoticable (on purpose) but serve an important function in the spacing of a design.
Other Beads There are millions of beads of many different sizes, shapes, and materials, such as glass, bone, shell, clay, metal, pearls, seeds, and even paper.
2)Jewelry Findings:
Jump Rings and Split Rings - Jump rings and split rings are used to connect different parts of a piece of jewelry. For instance, to connect a clasp to a necklace you could use a jump ring. You could use a split ring to hang a pendent from a chain. Jump rings are a simple wire loop. To open them, push one end forward and one end back. If you enlarge the circle by prying the ends farther apart you will weaken the metal. Split rings are double wire rings (like a keychain) and are more secure than jump rings.
Headpins - Headpins look like small thin nails. Put a few beads on a head pin, bend a loop in the top, and you have a dangle which can be made into an earring with the simple addition of an ear wire.
Eyepins - Eyepins are just like headpins except instead of a head there is a loop. You can make these yourself out of wire - just cut a length and make a loop in one end. But if you want them super-straight you'll have to buy them.
French Earwires - The classic earwire had a coil, a metal ball, and a loop that can be opened to attach to an earring. Earwires are available in different compositions and finishes, like gold filled, silver plated, brass, or steel. Choose a color that complements your earring design.
Callottes/Beadtips - Callottes and bead tips are metal findings that cover the knot at the end of a string of beads. Callottes (also called clam shells) clamp sideways over the knot. Bead tips (also called knot covers) have holes between the two halves which the thread goes through.
Tying the knot around a seed bead and adding a drop of glue or clear nail polish secures the knot. Close the bead tip with pliers and snip the excess thread.
3) Jewelry Clasps:
Hook and Loop - Easy to use. Can be made by hand with some wire (gauge 20 or thicker). May come apart if hook is stretched.
Barrel Clasp - Attractive, simple, and unobtrusive. May come untwisted on anklets.
Spring Ring - The old standby: inexpensive and secure. Often requires nimble fingers to use.
Lobster Claw - My personal favorite. Secure, attractive, easy to use, but a little pricy. Use a jump ring or split ring for the other side.
Toggle Clasp - Simple and elegant. Can be bulky, but is great for thick necklaces.
