Jewelry submitted by Brooke Brimm
rBy [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Felicity_Walker]Felicity Walker
Walking into a bead shop can be a wonderful experience - so many colors, shapes and designs. It's almost impossible not to get incredibly inspired, and it's just as hard to walk out without having spent more than you intended! But when you're confronted with so many beads, it can be helpful to have some idea of what the different types of beads are, and how they're used. That way you can choose the right sort for your project.
Seed Beads
Probably the most widely used beads, seed beads are small, round or shaped, and can be made from almost anything. The most common seed beads are made of glass or plastic, but you can also get them in wood, pearl, jet, metal and so on. There are a huge variety of sizes and shapes available, which is very confusing. The smallest seed beads are often referred to a size 10 or 12, and slightly chunkier ones are size 8. Because they're so small, they're great for decorating garments, using in almost any type of jewelry design and in most types of sewing and embroidery.
Bugle Beads
A bugle bead is a long tube shaped bead, made from plastic, glass or metal. They can be anything from 2mm (1/16") to 5cm (2") long. The most popular is a size 2 bugle bead, which is around 5 to 6mm (1/4") long. These are also great for sewing projects, and can be very effective in certain types of jewelry as well. They're often used as flower stems in sewing projects, or can be used to lengthen a fringe.
Sequins
Although not exactly a bead, sequins are often used together with beads in sewing projects. They are round pieces of plastic or metal, and either have a hole in the center or to one side. They can also be either flat or cupped. The most common sequin style is a 6mm (1/4") cup sequin. Generally sequins are used as decorations for garments and sewn items. The ones with center holes are sewn in rows or individually for the right effect, and the sequins with a hole on the side can be used to form clusters that hang or in fringe work.
Center Beads
A center bead is used as a feature bead in the middle of a jewelry piece, a sewing design (such as a flower), the end of a dangle, or to complete a row of beads. Basically almost any bead that doesn't fit into another category and is larger than standard beads can be loosely classified as a center bead. They come in plastic as well as glass and metal, but if you're using one as a feature, it may be better to go with glass or even crystal, because they last longer and are more beautiful to look at then plastic.
Oval or Rice Beads
Named because of their oval shape, these beads are generally used as a spacer in dangles or as a feature in sewing. They can produce some interesting effects when used in jewelry. The most common size is 1cm (1/2") long, and they come in all sorts of colors and materials.
This is only a quick look at the main categories of beads. Once you start exploring a bead shop you'll realize there's far too many types of beads available to fit them into a few categories. Still, this guide should at least help you get an idea for what types of beads are available, particularly if you have a project you're planning to make which asks for a specific type of bead. Have a great time beading!
If you want to learn more about beading, click over to Felicity's site at http://www.beading-is-fun.info To read Felicity's Ultimate Bead Lover's Guide, go to http://www.ultimatebeadloversguide.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Felicity_Walker http://EzineArticles.com/?Types-of-Beads&id=327578
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Monday, May 5, 2008
Types of Beads
Thursday, December 27, 2007
What Are Seed Beads?
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Shelley_Green]Shelley Green
Seed beads are called this as they are so tiny like little seeds. They are produced usually in mass so sold by weight rather than amount. I for one would not want to be counting out little tiny beads one by one! They are about 1mm in size but they do vary. There are different sizes of seed beads.
Seed beads range from under a millimetre to several millimetres in size. The term "seed bead" is a term used for any small bead which is normally round.
Different shops and sources explain that the seed beads are measured per inch, meaning that a size 11/0 would be that 11 beads would measure one inch. This is roughly correct but not exact and this measurement relates to the original glass rod that the beads are made from and not the individual beads.
As a general rule the larger the number, the smaller the bead is going to be.
Seed beads have many uses, I would say almost infinite as I am finding new uses and new ideas and ways to use them all of the time. They are used to sew on to garments or material to give a 3D effect and an extra something special. My main use for seed beads is jewellery making, but I think you may have already guessed that by looking at my site!
Seed beads come in all different colours, pretty much any colour that you can imagine. Some of them are matt in colour and some have a shiny look to them. I have some beautiful seed beads that are clear on the outside and have a gold or silver centre, these look very impressive when made into a necklace or other piece of jewellery.
I love working with seed beads, either on their own or mixing them together with tones, or I sometimes use them as smaller spacer beads between other larger beads that I have when making jewellery.
A lot of the more extravagant necklaces and beaded jewellery on my site are made with seed beads but using a pattern. The pattern is similar to a pattern that you may use for cross stitch or knitting. Most bead making patterns have both diagrams and also written instructions to follow. It takes concentration to follow a pattern but the end result is really and truly amazing, as you can see by the jewellery on my site. I use a thread called nemo, which is like cotton by very strong and a needle and literally sew the beads together to make the jewellery. I follow patterns and also make my own patterns an I like to add an individual touch to my jewellery as do my designers.
Shelley Green is the owner of [http://www.beads-click.com]http://www.beads-click.com, a site that specialises in beads and beaded jewellery. This site is for bead lovers everywhere!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shelley_Green http://EzineArticles.com/?What-Are-Seed-Beads?&id=821349
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