Beads by Mail Getting Started with Beads
Step by Step to Making Your Own Beautiful Jewelry
FREE ... Every bead order includes FREEBEES--$5, $10, up to $20 worth OF MORE BEADS!
800-572-7920 in the USA. 719-598-1506 if calling from outside the USA.
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Introduction
Beads are HOT! You see them everywhere, in jewelry, handbags, even trimmings on clothing, shoes, and home accessories. We have even seen coffee tables completely covered with a woven-bead fabric constructed of larger wooden beads.
Museums are competing for ancient, medieval, and modern bead artifacts. Some of the most beautiful beaded objects come from Africa.
Easy Projects
It's easy to make beaded jewelry. Most designs are quite simple. Dangle earrings take about 5 minutes to assemble. Bracelets take about 10 minutes to string. A simple necklace takes about 20 minutes to assemble and string, after you have decided on a design.
Getting Started With Beads
Our comprehensive Web pages save you valuable time and money because everything you need is right here on our site, only 2-3 days from arriving at your door, sooner if you can't wait.
For your convenience we are offering the Getting Started Kit with everything you need to start designing jewelry.
It's yours and at a very special price! You could spend hours assembling such a kit yourself and some required items might not even be available in your area.
Stunning Easy Lady Bracelet
Ask for the instruction sheet to make the Lady Bracelet, we can email it. You can also order the kit with all the items you need to complete this stunning bracelet except the Beadalon, which you can order separately. The kit is only $25.00 (I sell the same bracelet off my wrist for $65.00)
See more of these pretty crystal pieces on the Swarovski page.
What You Need to Put Your Ideas Together
To make jewelry you need tools and findings (connecting pieces, clasps) as well as beads. Order our best selling Starter Kit which contains these items plus a quarter pound of high quality glass beads and a valuable FREE gift.
- Tools: a pair of jewelry pliers: needlenose or chain nose are best if you only plan to purchase one pliers. Ours are very high quality, $13.99 each.
- Wire cutters or nippers, small size, $13.99, needed to cut cord or thread.
- Earring Findings. For earrings you need earring wires and headpins. The shepherd hook style for pierced ears is the usual style. These come in silverplate or goldplate, or sterling, or 14k goldfill. We also have a clip style for unpierced ears.
- Stringing Cord. For necklaces and bracelets you need something to string the beads on. We recommend Beadalon 7, a strong, supple steel cord. 30 foot spool for $3.50. We also sell the stretch cord for bracelets, 2 yards for $2.50.
- Crimps. You also need crimps and clasps. We have a wide selection of sterling or gold clasps and crimps.
- Bead Board. If you will be doing a lot of stringing, you should get a bead board. It really helps organize your design with everything in one place, and is easy to take with you. Our bead board is covered in a felt like material that keeps beads from bouncing & rolling on the work space or floor.
Please visit our Toolbox page. You will see photos of the items on the above list. On the Toolbox page you'll see other useful findings, helpers like tiny zip top baggies, and unusual clasps.
Getting Started with Beads Kit
Beginning beaders keep ordering this kit, and they value the time it saves and the easy way they can make their own jewelry with it.
Your Getting Started Kit contains:
- Chain nose pliers, one pair, $13.99 value.
- Quarter Pounder, about 150-200 glass beads, $14.99 value. See photo at top of page for typical assortment--yours may vary.
- 4mm spacer beads, sterling 100 beads, $10.00 value.
- Beadalon 7, 30-foot spool, $3.50 value.
- Sterling crimps, 20, $2.99 value.
- Silverplated lobster claw clasps, 4 clasps with rings, $2.99 value.
- Earring findings for 3 pair earrings, $5.00 value, silver.
- One bead board, $9.00 value.
- Special Bonus, Free Gift worth at least $8.00 or more!
We have not changed the price of the Starter Kit since 2002!
Special offer: Getting Started with Beads Kit
Everything you Need Only $49.99!
(a $70.00 value if purchased separately)
Basics of Bead Stringing, Invaluable for How To
This invaluable handbook covers most every technique needed to string beads, including knotting, memory wire, wire work, crimping, and has many color photos of designs for necklaces, bracelets & earrings. It's a real value for the price! Get it for half price with the Parts Pak or the Bead Board Special! (see below) Basics of Bead Stringing, $12.99 per copy.
Beads
Bead Sizes
Our wide selection of unique beads allows you to create original designs that you won't see elsewhere.
On each of our pages you'll find lots of information about beads, materials used to make beads, types and styles of beads, and so on. Each photo description contains valuable bead information.
We give bead sizes in millimeters (mm). There are 25mm to an inch. We sell beads in 3mm (smallest) up to 16mm. A 12mm bead is about a half inch.
Best Selling Bead Deal, Our Quarter Pounder
Our best seller, the quarter pound of high quality Czech glass beads, contains about 150 - 200 hand-picked beads in a large range of colors, shapes, and sizes. $14.99. You'll find a photo and description of the quarter pounder at the top of this page. Our Czech glass page also has photos and full descriptions of hundreds of beautiful glass beads. The quarter pounder is included in the Starter Kit.
quarter pounder bead assortmentMetal Beads, Gold, Silver, Brass
Metal spacer beads are extremely popular. You'll see them in all kinds of designs. We have several sterling silver styles, some from Bali, usually hand made. We also have 3mm goldfill spacers. You can find these as well as other metal beads--enamel, cloisonne, filigree--on the Metal Beads page.
Gemstone Beads
Semiprecious gemstone beads are a very popular jewelry item. You will find hundreds of different gemstones in bead or pendant shapes on the gemstone pages (see the links in the pink navigation bar). Gemstone leaf shapes, scarabs, carved ovals, nuggets, buffalo, fish, horses, and other amulets, in turquoise, peridot, citrine, jasper, garnet, amethyst, carnelian, jade, pearl, and other gemstones.
Free Instructions
Your free jewelry design instructions are on the pages listed below.
Basic Jewelry Construction should be your first stop if you have never made jewelry before.
Making a bracelet with Stretch Cord demystifies the beaded bracelets you see everywhere.
More Easy Projects With Beads demonstrates "beadiful" ways with home decor, different jewelry ideas.
Visit the Gallery page to see what others have made with our beads. Lots of ideas here.
Beadalon 7 Comes with the Starter Kit
We include a 30-foot spool of Beadalon 7 in your Starter Kit, and we also sell it separately at $7.50 for 30 feet (on sale now $3.50 per spool). It is flexible and extremely strong. Yet it is narrow enough to thread through any bead, even seed beads.
Getting Started with Beads Kit
Many new beaders have requested this kit, and they love it.
Your Getting Started Kit contains:
- Chain nose pliers, one pair, $13.99 value.
- Quarter Pounder, about 150-200 glass beads, $14.99 value. See photo at top of page for typical assortment--yours may vary.
- 4mm spacer beads, sterling 100 beads, $10.00 value.
- Beadalon 7, 30-foot spool, $3.50 value.
- Sterling crimps, 20, $2.99 value.
- Silverplated lobster claw clasps, 4 clasps with rings, $2.99 value.
- Earring findings for 3 pair earrings, $5.00 value. Choose gold or silver color.
- One bead board, $9.00 value.
- Special Bonus, Free Gift worth at least $8.00 or more!
We have not raised the price of the Starter Kit since 2002!
Special offer: Getting Started with Beads Kit
Everything you Need Only $49.99!
(a $70.00 value if purchased separately)
NEW, Extend your Design Ideas with our Parts Pak® Values and SAVE up to $25!
You'll create many new ways to design with the findings in our new Parts Pak®. We've made it easy for
you to try a variety of earring, bracelet, and necklace findings. Let your creativity loose on these sterling
silver and high quality plated parts. Here's a list of what's in your PartsPak.
If purchased separately from us, you'd pay about $65.00. None of the findings in the Parts Pak are included in the
Starter Kit except the lobster clasp and the crimps, which you can always use.
Contents may differ slightly from the list.
Sterling findings (may not be the same):
- 2 sets, heart and bar toggle clasp
- 6, 7mm split rings
- 6, 2" eyepins
- 4, 2-hole spacer bars
- 2 sterling toggle clasps (ring & bar)
- 6 sterling shepherd hook earwires
Variety of included metal or plated findings:
- 10, 5mm silvertone jump rings
- 4 silvertone lobster claw clasps with ring
- 6 silvertone clip ear findings with loop & 6mm ball
- 6 silvertone magnetic clasps
- about 10 sterling crimps (crimpers)
- one yard of black leather 1mm cord
- 2 pair of eyeglass leash holders
AND you get ... a 30 foot spool of Beadalon 7.
As stated above, if you purchased all this separately (and if you are enjoying your jewelry making time, you probably would need most of what is in this Parts Pak eventually), it would cost over $63.00. WE ARE OFFERING IT FOR THE UNHEARD OF SPECIAL PRICE OF $42.00 which is a 33% savings for YOU! In addition if you also want to order either one of our extremely popular and useful books, we will include:
Basics of Bead Stringing, an $11.00 value, for $6.50,
Your total savings $25.00! You can order with our Shopping Cart, or call 800-572-7920. But hurry so you can start designing with these useful helpers soon!
35% off! Special Bead Board Package Deal!
Professional Bead Board, PLUS
The Basics of Bead Stringing, PLUS
A really good pair of chain nose pliers, AND a 30-foot spool of Beadalon!
This is a real money saver! The four items you cannot do without if you are going to make jewelry:
- the bead board accommodates up to a 34" necklace design, we like the way this one has several "wells" for those clasps, rings, regular price $9.00;
- the Basics of Bead Stringing book, 83 pages jampacked with designs, ideas, optional endings, knotting, table of clasps and accessories, and more! Regularly $12.99;
- chain nose pliers, very high quality tool, regular price $13.99;
- and a spool of strong flexible Beadalon for stringing all your bracelets, anklets, and necklaces, regular price $7.50.
We accept payment by MasterCard, Visa, Discover (Shopping Cart or offline ordering), personal check, money order (offline ordering).
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