Easter is rapidly approaching so as I’m surfing different jewelry making sites I have my “ears up” for bunny beads.

I came across a site that I thought had the cutest lampwork bunny beads I think I’ve ever seen.

The beads are made by jewelry artist Lara Lutrick.

Look at these and tell me how cute these are.

Here’s Bunny #1

As you can see in the picture this focal bead has a raised bunny decoration with a bunny on each side of the bead.
 

The bead is fairly small measuring about 20 mm tall x 17 mm wide (hole to hole) x 11.5 mm thick with a bead hole that is 3 mm.

Here’s Bunny #2

I love the organge color of this one! It so reminds me of carrots!

The beads in this arrangement are made of Bullseye glass and notice there is a little hint of pink on the bunny’s ears. Nice touch!

In this photo there are also two beads with raised dots and two beads with scrollwork.

If you are looking to create some original easter jewelry these beads can become the focal point for some very cute ideas.

Lara has many other beautiful glass bead creations on her site that I recommend you have a look at.

I could spend hours just looking at lampwork bead creations, and Lara’s are some of the best I have seen.

Here’s a link to her blog: Lara Lutrick Lampwork Beads

You’ll be inspired by the beautiful beads she creates!

I love the challenge of the Puffy Heart pattern.

Being able to create this heart seems to me kind of a “right of passage” for bead weaving.

Once you’ve mastered this bead pattern, you feel like you can take on most anything.

Now there is a new beading pattern which gives the puffy heart even more special meaning.

I created a video that shows how to use pink Swarovski crystal beads to weave the breast cancer awareness pink ribbon right into the heart.

By doing this not only can you create the beautiful crystal puffy heart, you can also show solidarity with women and men who have been affected by breast cancer.

As a breast cancer survivor, it means so much to me when I can combine my love of jewelry making with support for such an important cause.

On the video I show two different ways to turn your beaded heart into a necklace.

One way uses a bail and chain, the other uses beading chain that feeds right through the heart itself.

Here is a preview of the video class: Pink Ribbon Puffy Heart Preview Video

Enjoy! 

I just published a new bead jewelry making pattern on video that shows how to make a Happy Kitty charm.

This one is so cute I just love watching the Kitty face come to life as I weave this pattern!

This is a more difficult weave because there aren’t many areas where we repeat the same pattern over and over.

The materials are easy because all I use is different colors of 4mm 5301 bicone swarovski crystal beads.

In the video I show how to create a simple bale so that you can hang the kitty bead motif by a cell phone strap or necklace.

Here is a close up picture of the Happy Kitty Charm: Happy Kitty Picture

Here is a preview of the video class: Happy Kitty Preview Video

Enjoy! 

I am very happy to announce that I now have in place an affiliate program for my monthly membership program.

If you have a website, blog, or newsletter that is related to beading or jewelry making you can promote my monthly membership program and earn monthly recurring commissions on every sale.

For details about the program please visit this link:

Jewelry Making Professor Affilliate Program

Last night, I had the pleasure of being the guest speaker at the Main Line Bead Society’s monthly meeting.

Bead Society members come from all backgrounds of different types of jewelry making, and all different skill levels.

The one thing they have in common is a love (can I say addiction!) for making jewelry.

My presentation talked about the effectiveness of video education for learning jewelry making, and then we did a beading project called the Heart Ring.

It was great fun and I really enjoyed meeting so many wonderful jewelry artists.

I liked it so much that I became a member of the organization and I can’t wait for upcoming meetings to see my new friends again and learn about other areas of jewelry making.

If you live in the tri-state Philadelphia area I recommend that you take a look at finding out more about the Main Line Bead Society.

You can check out their website here to learn more: Main Line Bead Society

This week’s featured video class shows how to bead weave a Rose Ring.

I really like the simple design of this ring, and notice that you can use different color beads when you weave the “rose” part of the design.

My favorite is the dark red color, but I have made the ring with light pink beads as well.

With all the different shades of roses available today I think you could make the rose parts in any color you want!

The video shows how to make a size 6~7 ring using three different colors of swarovski 5301 bicone beads in 3mm size, 35 inches of monofilament string, and a flush cutter.

However, I also show how to add a few beads to the pattern to make a size 8~9 ring as well.

It may be hard to tell from the picture, but the way I make this is to weave one level of beads together to form the ring, and then I add more beads to create the second level.

With spring just around the corner (please hurry up and get warm!), this rose ring is a nice match for spring weather.

Here’s a closeup picture of the ring: Rose Ring Picture

Here’s a preview of the video class:

Rose Ring Video Preview

This week’s featured video class shows how to make a necklace piece that I call a Framed Pendant.

When making this piece we weave a “frame” of beads around a large centerpiece bead. In the video I use a Swarovski 1122 Rivoli gemstone in 16mm size.

I love the way a large rivoli gemstone like that sparkles in the light.

It really draws attention!

The remainder of the materials consist of 5301 bicone beads in 3mm size, a lot of size 11 seed beads, monofilament string, jump ring, extender, silver chain, flush cutter, chain nose pliers, and bent nose pliers.

Here’s a closeup picture of the ring: Framed Pendant Picture

Here’s a preview of the video class:

Framed Pendant Video Preview

I just read a profile about jewelry artist Tammy Powley that I wanted to share.

As you may know, Tammy is the moderator of my favorite jewelry making forum at About.com, and she has authored many books and articles about jewelry making.

What I liked about what Tammy revealed in this profile is that there is no “magic” to achieving success with jewelry making.

Tammy took, and still takes, a lot of classes to continue learning new techniques that she can bring to her creations.

You will see in her profile the different types of jewelry making she has learned.

All the different skills she has learned enable her to mix things together to create very unique designs.

For example, she talks about mixing beads and fiber with metal.

And if not having enough time is your excuse, Tammy also reveals that she is an English teacher at a school!

She must be very good at organizing her time considering how much jewelry making information she creates, but organization is a topic for another day.

A good New Years resolution for all of us, yes including me, it to expand our horizons a little and try other types of jewelry making.

Here is a link to the profile: Jewelry Artist Tammy Powley

This week’s featured video class is the Heart Ring.

This ring is a great companion to the last two featured designs, the puffy heart and the open heart.

The beaded Heart Ring is not easy to make, but is quite a bit easier to handle than the puffy heart and open heart.

Here’s a preview of the video:

Heart Ring Video Preview

If you’ve been making jewelry for a while, you probably have friends who also make jewelry.

As they say, birds of a feather….

So what do you get your jewelry making friends for the holidays?

Something that feeds their crafting habit, of course!

There are lots of options, but I really like the idea that Barbe Saint John wrote about in her blog post today.

She recommends buying gemstone beads.

There are so many beautiful gemstone beads available that you might not ever buy for yourself (even though you want them!), but why not buy them as a present for a jewelry maker you are close to?

Wouldn’t you be happy if they bought them for you?

Check out Barbe’s post here: Bead Gifts for Jewelry Makers

She also mentions a website called beadtrust.com which looks like it has some really beautiful beads.