AllCrafts.net Free Crafts Update Blog

Make an Embroidered Ring

So hip, and a good excuse to try out new embroidery stitches! Plus, Embroidered Rings can use up extra bits of fabric and floss. Added to Jewelry-Making and Needlework

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making, Needlework
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Valentine's Day Crafts - Gifts and Decorations

Candy Cane Hearts - Use up leftover mini candy canes in this fun craft

XOXO Jar - Environmentally savvy crafting, using a recycled jar and craft supplies that you probably already have around the house.

Sweet Heart Crochet Pattern - So cute! Crochet a few for a garland.

Crochet Box of Chocolates - Hee hee! Couldn't resist this one!

Beaded Heart Candleholder - Fun, no pattern needed design

Painted Valentine Hanging Plaque - Pretty enough to display year-round

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making, Candle-making, Holiday Crafts, Knitting and Crochet, Painting, Recycled Crafts, Valentine's Day Crafts
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3-D Beadie Christmas Ornament

Ready for a beadie challenge? Try this unique 3-D Beadie Christmas Ornament. Added to Christmas Crafts and Beading Projects

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making, Christmas Crafts
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Handmade Millefiori Beads

Create great matching millefiori beads for your next necklace or bracelet project. Added to Jewelry-Making Patterns

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making
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Beaded Gecko Keychain Pattern

Make a Beaded Gecko for every occasion with this easy pattern and fun variations - from Halloween to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Added to Beading Patterns Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making
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Yo-Yo Wine Bottle Sack

A chic yo-yo project? Check out this Yo-Yo Wine Bottle Sack (pdf) for a nice hostess gift. Added to Sewing and Quilting

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making, Quilting, Sewing
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Valentine Heart Pin

Enjoy this classic Valentine Heart Pin using tri-beads, lace and a pipe cleaner. Suitable for kids with a little help. Added to Valentine's Day Crafts and Beading

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making, Valentine's Day Crafts
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Beaded Bridal Veil

Craft this magnificent Beaded Bridal Veil and create a gorgeous view while you say your wedding vows. Added to Jewelry-making and Wedding Crafts

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making, Wedding Crafts
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Red Button Heart Bracelet Jewelry-Making Project

Still plenty of time to make this special Red Button Heart Bracelet for someone you love. Added to Valentine's Day Crafts and Jewelry-Making projects.

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making, Valentine's Day Crafts
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Rainbow Crystal Mobile

Nice gift for those with everything. This pretty Rainbow Crystal Mobile will brighten up any room near a sunny window. Added to Jewelrymaking and Beading

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making
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Knitted Felted Slant Pocket Bag

Here's a great-looking tote or purse to knit and felt. Added to Knitting

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making
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Beaded Necklace made with Tigertail

Illustrations and diagrams to start and end a beaded necklace made with tigertail cord. Added to Jewelry-Making free projects

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making
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Hardware Locket

While this is listed as a kids craft, I disagree a bit. I think it's a fresh, modern take on jewelry-making. Plus, it requires a hot-glue gun. Added to Jewelry-Making

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making
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Crochet Hoop Earrings

Several variations with this unique pattern to crochet onto hoop earrings. Use beads or not, plus a fuller version, too. Great way to use up bits of crochet thread. Added to Crochet and Jewelry-making.

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making, Knitting and Crochet
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Photograph Jewelry

Elegant keepsake jewelry charms and pendants made from a few craft store supplies and your photos. Nice. Added to Jewelry-making and Computer Crafts

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making, Computer Crafts
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Beaded Wire Photo Holder

Great gift for moms, dads and grandparents, this beaded wire photo holder is creative and useful. Added to Jewelry-Making and Kids Crafts.

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making, Kids Crafts
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Beaded Snowflake Pendant

Here's a lovely Christmas present idea - a beaded snowflake pendant. Also nice for tying onto packages or as ornaments, too. Added to Jewelry-Making.

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making
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Beaded Car Dangle

Show your creativity in the car with this lovely Car Dangle. Just don't get carried away - keep it to a safe size. Added to Jewelry-Making.

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making
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Beaded Safety Pin Christmas Tree Pattern now at AllCrafts.net

The pattern for the perenially popular Safety Pin Beaded Christmas Tree seems to have disappeared off the Internet, so we've added this pattern to our website. Added to Christmas Crafts and Jewelry and Beading.

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making, Christmas Crafts
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Beaded Pearl Rosary

Nice directions for a beaded pearl rosary using a wire-wrapped loop technique. Added to Jewelry-Making

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making
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Bead and Buttons Bracelet

Great beginner seed bead project - easy to customize the colors to match an outfit. Added to Jewelry Making and Beading.

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making
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Pearls and Pebbles Necklace

Chunky beads and pearls combine to create an elegant necklace, in pdf format. Added to Jewelry-making.

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making
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Loop and Bead Closure

Here's a neat idea for a clasp for a necklace. Create a loop and bead closure. Also see further down for covering a clasp with polymer clay. Added to Jewelry-making.

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making
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AllCrafts.net Arts & Crafts Review - Dazzling Bead and Wire Crafts

Dazzling Bead & Wire Crafts>
by Mickey Baskett

Great book for intermediate to advanced beaders and adventurous beginners.

Dazzling Bead & Wire Crafts is a book full of creative and different bead & wire projects. More than 50 projects cover the range from demure jewelry to purses to home accessories and gifts.

Many crafts books begin with a techniques section. There are many technques in this book, but they are part of the projects. Most of the projects contain an unusual idea or application that can be applied to other projects. The introduction is brief. The supplies section discusses and illustrates several non-traditional types of wire - armature wire, solder wire, buss wire, aluminum wire, and more. After a short section on tools, the projects begin. And the projects are exactly why you will like this book. They're fascinating.

Let's dive into some of my favorite projects in this book! A delicate pearl and wire choker uses pink colored wire to tremendous effect. A necklace for grandma uses scrapbooking supplies to frame photos of the grandchildren. Small jump rings are added to the frames to string them.

Polymer clay is used in several projects. In the Beads & Charms necklace, polymer clay is stamped with words inside bead charms and strung onto a necklace with wire wrapped beads. Polymer clay is used on an elegant headband. The clay is stamped and twisted head pins are inserted into each medallion. Polymer clay is also used in a few designs to create pendants.

Another unique element in these jewelry designs is the trendy bottle caps. In the Beaded Palms earrings, the edges of the bottle cap are punched and strung with seed beads.

In wirework, a homemade or store-bought jig can be used. Pegs are arranged so that you can bend and wrap the wire into intricate designs. This is used in one example to make a delicate wire twist bracelet. Between the wirework, pastel beads are wrapped in wire and seed beads. It's subtle but stunning. Another necklace design uses the jig to create delicate filigree.

Polymer clay and beads are used in a few projects to create unique purses. One is stitched from leather and others are made from various boxes.

The second section of the book contains projects for the home. The projects are varied and interesting:

-placemat trim
-glass charms
-hanging vase
-bell pull
-sushi set
-cocktail skewers
-key ring dangle
-ceiling fan pull
-decorated tins and boxes
-fish bowl trim
-bead mosaics
-suncatchers

There are more projects than I've listed, but these are some of the most diverse group of beadwork ideas that I've seen in awhile. With these ideas, you can use your beadwork skills to create gifts beyond necklaces, earrings and bracelets.

All of the projects have full page color photos. Many have patterns and diagrams, too. The table of contents and index are useful in finding projects quickly. Overall, this is an excellent book for those who like beads and wirework and are looking to expand their skills and ideas.

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Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making, Crafts Book Reviews, Newsletter
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Beaded Bracelet

Simple but interesting beading technique that could be used for different looks. Added to Jewelry-Making.

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making
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Virtual BeadBoard

Here's an online tool to design necklaces and more. It also calculates how much material you will need - handy if you're creating multiples. You do need to register, but it is free and easy. Added to Jewelry-Making and Beading.

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making
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Beaded Bow Brooch

Lovely retro-style pin made of seed beads. Great directions, too. Added to Jewelry-Making and Beading.

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making
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AllCrafts.net Arts & Crafts Book Review Basic Jewelry Making

AllCrafts.net Arts & Crafts Book Review
Basic Jewelry Making: All the Skills And Tools You Need to Get Started. (Spiral Bound)

Why aren't more jewelry books like this one? "Basic Jewelry Making" has page after page of large, close-up photos of each step in a technique or project. It is spiral bound so it lays flat as I compare my wire wrapping with the one in the photo. Incredible. Each page has about 3-6 photos. The text is in the step by step captions underneath each photo.

There are three main sections to this book:

• Working with Beads

• Beads with Wire

• Bending Silver and Gold Wire

The introductory section explains the tools and materials you will need to get started. There are large photos of each tool and material. The first technique illustrated is essential in creating great-looking beaded jewelry - crimping. The photos give a clear view of how to do it and what the finished results should look like. The project that follows walks you through each step of creating a simple necklace with a clasp. The finished piece looks very professional. The next few projects in this section illustrate more techniques, including an elegant floating crimp. Using elastic cord, crimping on silk cord, and making polymer clay beads, are also helpful and are a nice bonus.

The next section of this book, Beading with Wire, is a comprehensive course in intermediate techniques. Here's where I learned lots of new ideas. This chapter focuses on working with headpins, loops, dangles and wire wrapping. A complex necklace separated by wire-wrapped loops is fantastic and each step is shown with photos. The final project lets you have fun with just wire by making a nice wire-wrapped pendant.

Once you've mastered these techniques, you're ready to play with the big boys. The last section, Bending Silver and Gold Wire, will show you how to make gallery quality pieces. The tools and materials section is full of pictures and explained thoroughly. All of this material was new to me, and quite interesting. From sterling silver and gold wire, you bend and hammer it into earrings, bracelets and more. The finishing techniques add that extra pizazz to your jewelry. From these lessons, you can go in many creative directions.

I was really struck by the quality of the instructions in this book. The photos are large and close-up and the captions are detailed and helpful. I've learned some of the secrets to the beautiful jewelry that I've seen at fine craft shows. "Oh, so that's how they do that," I thought more than once while reading and examining the photos. By far, one of the best jewelry making books on the market today.

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making, Crafts Book Reviews, Newsletter
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Gemstones Crossword

Here's a good challenge for our jewelry-makers. Try our crafts crossword puzzle.

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making, Crafts Crosswords, Newsletter
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Hello from Wendy - Newsletter

The latest issue of the AllCrafts Update has been emailed. We'll summarize it for the blog. More info about the newsletter can be found here. The current issue is always available at http://www.allcrafts.net/news/

Christmas is coming...
The Christmas Crafts section at AllCrafts.net will be updated for our next email newsletter. Looking for a Christmas Craft? Do you have a great Christmas Crafts resource?

Gemini Dreams Beads is a large website for all things jewelry-making and beading. If we've inspired you with our new Beading page, this is a good place to get started. Their sale prices are great. Enjoy! Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making, Crafts Supplies, Newsletter
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New Projects in Beading and Jewelry-making

Jewelrymaking is all-new! Here's some of the free projects added:

Crimp Bead Technique Beaded Jewelry Reference Beaded Aqua Lariat Egyptian Earrings Stitch Markers for Knitting Hollow Tube Beads Hand Knotted Rosary Beads Bead Charm Bracelet #1 Dad Mini Beaded Banner Beaded Key Chain for Mom Candy Corn Keychain Crayon & Pencil Beadies Loom Beading Alphabet Beaded Roses Wire & Ribbon Necklace Handbag Charms Beaded Star Card Beaded Hipster Belt Beaded Tree Decoration Loop Clasp Beaded Bracelet Beaded Star & Icicle Funky Fimo Jewellery Moebius Bead Beaded Flip Flops

Fashion Chandelier Earrings Jeweled Drop Earrings Floating Illusion Necklace Beaded Pink Panther Ring Wire Wrapped Gemstone Necklace Beaded Poodle Dog Beaded Valentine Day Heart Beaded Christmas Tree Beaded Crystal Lamp Beaded Lighthouse Lamp Photo Mobile Cell Phone Charms Beaded Tablecloth Weights Bugle Bead Bracelet Bead & Ribbon Bookmark Bead Basics Test Tube Tussie Mussie Framed Heart Peyote Pattern Basic Jewelry Findings Right Angle Weave Bracelet Beaded Mesh Pencil Holder Art Clay Pendant Memory Wire Bracelet

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making, Newsletter
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Candy Corn Keychain - Halloween Crafts

Quick and easy beading project. It would be great as an embellishment to a Halloween wallhanging or decoration. Added to Halloween Crafts section at AllCrafts.net

Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making, Halloween Crafts
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Home Based Jewelry-Making Business Idea

Offers several great-looking kits to get started in jewelry-making, with a definite emphasis on running a business. Also sells beading supplies and tools. The Resources section is particularly nice. Added link to Jewelry-Making & Beading section. Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making, Crafting Business
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Findings & Finishings Book Review

AllCrafts.net Arts & Crafts Book Review
Findings & Finishings: A Beadwork How-To Book
by Sharon Bateman


The opening chapters give a simple but thorough overview of beads, threads, wires, tools you'll need, and the basics of working with beads and wire.

True to the title, the strength of this book is her chapters on findings and finishings. These ending details can take your bead work from homemade to wow!

The photos and instructions are very comprehensive. This book includes at least 100 different techniques using purchased findings and ones you make yourself. All types of findings are covered:

* Head and Eye Pins
* Spacing Bars and Connectors
* Terminals
* Spacers
* Crimps
* Clasps
* Ear Wires
* Pins

Many of these ideas are very innovative. I was even more fascinated by the finishings chapters. They included some great ideas for edges, fringes and original beadwork on findings.

The photo gallery will inspire you to branch out from her ideas even more. Highly recommended to take your beadwork to a new level of expertise.

Findings & Finishings: A Beadwork How-To Book at Amazon.com
Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making, Crafts Book Reviews, Newsletter
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Beaded Chain Belt and Bracelet

Instructions for the latest fashion trend - beaded chain belts. Added to Jewelry-Making section. Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making
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Free Bead Earring Instructions

Free Bead Earring Instructions
Beginner jewelry making project. Good photos in these instructions. Added to Jewelry-Making section Categories: Beading and Jewelry-making
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