I recently met a wonderful jewelry designer while looking at jewelry making blogs.

Her name is Jean Yates.

I was fascinated by her book called “Links.”

In the book, Jean teaches how she creates jewelry designs based on her own experiences, her own hopes and dreams.

One thing I really like about her design approach is that she often thinks back to her early childhood memories and uses those as a starting point for her designs.

I like that so much because children’s minds are so free to be creative, and if we practice going back to when we were children and really try to feel what that was like, we will be released from so many of the restrictions we put on ourselves as adults.

I highly recommend Jean’s book to help you get your creative design juices flowing.

Here’s a link to her book on Amazon: Jean Yate’s “Links”

You will see in the reviews section on Amazon that Jean has many raving fans!

I also recommend you check out her blog which is very interesting and creative:

Jean Yates Blog

Jean also told me that she writes a column for a beading magazine in Australia called Australia Beading Magazine and that she really enjoys doing that.

After you read Jean’s book, please leave a comment here and let me know what you thought about it.

Thanks!

I have a new bead kit available that goes with my flower heart necklace video.

The flower heart necklace is an advanced design if you are looking for a challenge, and it’s perfect for this time of year as we draw nearer to Valentines Day.

I have the kit available in my favorite color, fuchsia, as well as clear crystal and swarovski pearls.

Here’s the link if you would like more detailed information about the kit:

Flower Heart Beading Kit

How much of the jewelry that you make do you keep for yourself, sell or give away as gifts to friends and relatives?  I tend not to keep most of my pieces.  I usually figure someone else will have more use for it than I would because I don’t go to fancy places or parties and the only place I ever wear a dress is at church.

Well, this Christmas season, I decided it was high time I treated myself to something nice.  And if you’re like most women, it’s high time you treated yourself to something too.  Why not try a nice pair of earrings?  These triple tiered garnet earrings were what I created as my gift to myself this Christmas.  I like the weight of them especially.  They’re not heavy, but I can feel them swinging under my hair and that seems to make me happy.

If you’d like to treat yourself to a nice gift, try making these from my tutorial.

http://www.jewelrymakingprofessor.com/shop/Triple-Tiered-Garnet-Earrings-SKU162442125.html

Volume 1 – Necklaces: Click Here

Volume 2 – Earrings: Click Here

Volume 3 – Bracelets: Click Here

Volume 4 – Rings: Click Here

Volume 5 – Miscellaneous: Click Here

Volume 6 – Beginner Beading Classes: Click Here

Volume 7 – Beginner Chainmaille Classes: Click Here

Volume 6 – Beginner Peyote Classes

Resources: Wholesale Suppliers Click Here

I have a wonderful new peyote pattern video class that I want to share with you.

The instructor is my good friend Andrea Mazzenga, the owner of Buttercup Beads bead store, and a wonderful teacher.

In this video she shows you how to make a very simple peyote beadwork bracelet design called Peyote Madness.

If you haven’t tried peyote before, this is a great video to start with because Andrea uses a flat even count peyote stitch which is the easiest peyote technique and is the basis for more complex techniques we will introduce in the future.

She uses beautiful colored size 11 and size 8 seed beads and creates a nice picot fringe that gives the bracelet a little pizazz.

She also shows how to sew on a button as well as some interesting ideas for embellishments.

Andrea wil be introducing more peyote videos as well as other videos in the future so please stay tuned!

Enjoy!