Me again!!!!! HELP!!!

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Sheri Shanks" :

]I'll have to give it some thought.... but I'm open to suggestions!!!

it only works if you pick it for yourself . . . so you are comfortable with the image. hence my lack of one here. however, since your e-mail is "sassie" that could work **grin**

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

newest creations: ----------- I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples, promising liberty and justice for all.

sassie works... (the name started out from my initials... s a s ..... and it just expanded from there!!! .. though I have been told that it fits very very well!!)

On Tue, 4 May 2004 20:27:58 -0400, Sheri Shanks wrote (in message ):

Not really. Beads are addictive little things, and this is a very welcoming group. I'm an especially talkative member of RCB, and I like to make sure that new folks aren't ignored. (I'm disabled and mostly housebound, so I have the time to answer questions)

You have a golden opportunity to learn and enjoy beading, because you have down times at work. I suggested the book and "training kit," simply because it costs almost nothing, and that's how I taught myself. The fact that you have a bunch of Mill Hill beads kicking around is great - Mill Hill beads are Japanese seed beads (Matsunos, I think), which are of the highest quality. They're _way_ too expensive to use for beading projects, though, but great for embellishing a needlework item here and there.

My local crafts store has free project sheets hanging up right in the section with the beads. The projects appear to be mostly strung projects, and the materials lists would be very helpful for a new beader to buy, but not overbuy. You don't have to follow the instructions exactly - I noticed a lot of them are on memory wire, which I don't use. You could string the same project on the line you bought and add clasps.

Another good option for you might be to try a kit. Margie (I think it was Margie) just made a lovely bracelet with a kit from Foxden Designs. I just checked on their web site, and the kit is right there. It seems to be a reasonable price, but might be a little too advanced for a beginning beader.

The only piece of advice I have about craft store beads is to not buy too many of them. The seed beads at your basic craft store are made in China or India, and are of terrible quality. (check my web page at

and open the folder called seed bead comparison) I tested craft store seed beads against some Japanese seed beads of a similar size. The photos should tell you all you need to know. I also discovered that craft store beads are far more expensive than quality seed beads, because the supposedly "expensive" seed beads need less culling and have much bigger holes, giving you a lot more beads for your buck.

Lampwork beads, clasps and other findings and semi-precious stones from craft stores are no bargain, even if you got them for free - and craft stores are hardly free. The lampwork beads are usually unannealed Indian beads, and will shatter if you look at them too hard. Plated clasps wear down to base metal in an instant, and trigger metal allergies. The few semi-precious stones I've seen are either fake, reconstituted or mis-identified. (Dyed Howlite called turquoise, or fiber optic beads called Tiger Eye, for example) For the same money or a lot less, you can get quality materials from reputable dealers.

If you have a local bead store, that's a great place to start. Many offer classes, where you can learn tons and meet other beaders face to face. You can also buy the exact quantities you need, and have the whole instant gratification thing. A good local bead store (LBS) will be happy to show you the difference between cheap findings and good ones - and once you see them side by side, you'll never want a cheap finding again.

A couple of Ebay sellers have been mentioned here in the group, and you cannot go wrong with them. People like Marjean, Nicole or Juanita are completely honest, have beautiful items, and their products are a great value. If and when you decide to take the plunge and buy lampwork beads, the artists you're meeting here are second to none. Don't overlook the beautiful polymer clay beads, either. We have people here like SaraJane who are astonishingly good, and are moving polymer clay from the craft realm into the world of fine art.

It's not a cult at all, it's a true art form which isn't well appreciated by the general public. There are many reasons for this, but I suspect that the main one is that beading is historically a women's craft. In those few societies where men do the beading, it's a highly respected art. I promote beading like an evangelist at times, because I feel so strongly about it being an art, not a "hobby for the little woman."

But I'm getting entirely too serious over an activity that also happens to be very relaxing and also a lot of fun. Please feel free to ask all the questions you want, and we'll be more than happy to give you our highly opinionated answers. :-)

Kathy N-V

I didn't mean any offense by my comment... (that's the one things I dislike about this form of communication..... you can't see the person's face or hear the tone of voice) I enjoyed creating with the Mill Hill beads and am grateful that I kept them all. I have a lot of them because I bought them like crazy when I was married... and then when two local shops went out of business I bought them up!! I've got boxes that I have never opened!!! One summer the kids even got into them and made those little tiny bead creatures that was all the rage a bit ago... and they didn't even dent my stash!!! I have saved your message for reading later.... I know that there is a lot of good info in there that I want to have handy! I'll probably print it out !!!