Thanks to Making Jewellery magazine out of the UK, for sending me a beautiful promo copy of their new March 2010 issue.  Inside the plastic wrap it includes an 86-piece jewelry kit.  All of this can be yours in today’s drawing.  Just Tweet/FB/comment below with your favorite crafts tip!

You could win this magazine!

Here are the entries, live-blogged (need I point out, you should follow these Tweeters & Facebookers):

• idolyzer my tip – don’t let the cats near your beading…. seriously
• swimmer_chick Use empty medicine bottles for bead storage- easy to label and see what’s inside!
• Clayshion tip: when smoothing out polymer clay, dip your finger in water and rub your finger lightly over the project. Takes out prints.
• Elaine Carroll Embree To finish a stretchy bracelet, I use a grill lighter to heat up my flat-nosed pliers and press firmly on the knot. This makes the knot much more stable.
• Julia Grosz For my fellow math dyslexics: use a popsicle stick to mark the length of wire needed for a link or piece to keep them all uniform. For those without a jump ring mandrel, coat your round nose pliers in R&T’s Tool Magic and use different color sharpies to mark where to bend for consistently-sized loops.
• MABJewelry tip: Beaders, plastic bowl lids make great little bead trays. Just fold to repour beads back into bags or tubes.
• Priscilla Hennen well I don’t know if this is the BEST tip, but it’s one i’ve used recently. when making polymer clay bangles, a soda can is the perfect size/shape for curing them on!
• all_about_savin Type up directions and place in a 3 ring binder with finished pictures. Separate by occasion. Easy reference tool.
• silentgoddess -When needing a tight soldering joint, I use the edge of my bench block to file stock even & straight. Perfect fit each time.
• makeupkat1959 I use a thread spool holder hung on the wall to sort my bead strands
• Katherine Gibson James I love using scraps from other projects-scrapbook paper especially. you can make wall art, lamp shades, wrapping paper, cute covers for book ect..
• jessicaleap if out of storage containers for beads, you can use a devilled egg dish to hold beads
• lanieekat I save old 35mm film canisters for storage of all things small and crafty. They are perfect 4 beads
• justicejewelry Candy boxes, like whitmans, & valentines hearts, ones with plastic inserts for individual cholates, are great 4 sorting beads!
• Deb Gilchrist The plastic, resealable baby food containers are the perfect size for organizing smaller beads and findings – see-through and stackable.
• HerArtSheLoves I use clay softer and gloves, then I feel like I’m in of those of CSI type shows.
• Karen Potter Naylor One of my favorite tips for organizing bead projects…I scoured thrift stores and bought all of the MINI muffin pans I could find. They were about $.25 ea and I spray painted them white, let them dry and then I use them for projects with lots of parts & possibilities: clasps, head pins, cute wire, beads, charms, jump rings etc. and even better, they stack on top of each other! When i am ready for a particular project I just get the pan and a beading mat and I am ready to go….Another design tip: I also look at wallpaper patterns, paint chips with fun finishes to inspire me. I get a lot of ideas from looking at furniture decorating and fashion magazines… I cut the pics out when I can, put them into a document protector inside a notebook and when I am lacking a creative idea, I just pull those things out and look at them… Not to copy but to get the creative neurons firing again by looking at things I love.
• MelanDesigns Always carry a digital camera and small sketch notebook! When something inspires you take notes, sketch it or snap a picture!
• Miz Fit Leather – leather is the greatest asset to any jewelry makers inventory. It is the universal element, creating great jewelry for males and females. You can make fun bulky designs by braiding it, or use it to display a simple pendant. Why limit your customer base to just female customers, open up your designs to anyone!
• murphygracehome I put a white cloth on the table while beading.Not only does it make the beads that I drop easier to find, they don’t roll!
• Alison Nappi My secret to making the perfectly shaped earwire is a pen! 1. Cut the wire to length (I use about 2″ of wire) 2. Debur one end and make a loop at the other 3. Slide the looped end under the pen cap (make sure the loop doesn’t lay flat against the pen. It should lay perpendicular to the pen) 4. Hold the “tail” of the pen cap and bend the wire around the pen. 5. Bend the deburred end of the earwire slightly 6. Make any ajustments (if needed) and vuala! the perfectly shaped earwire!
• glitz_glitter Baking soda is perfect for polishing your oxidized silver. It is easy to clean up, and leaves the silver with a lovely sheen
• Janeen Sorensen I hope this will count, but my tip is that I utilize my local library! I check out books on techniques that are new to me, and use them for inspiration and to expand my design capabilities. It’s a free way to challenge yourself to be a better and more wide-ranged designer.
• leahmichon I use argentium silver and fuse it instead of soldering – this way, no harmful chemicals from flux or pickle.
• Nesrin Akdemir If you’re working on a project(s) that needs multiple pieces of chain that all have to be the same length. I’ve found for me the fastest way to do it is to measure and cut 1 piece of chain, string it onto a long headpin. Then string one end of your spool of chain onto the same headpin, hold the headpin up and measure and cut it the second piece using the first one as your guid, and repeat as many times as you need. I hope that made sense. It saves me a lot of time.
• yay4renee tip: don’t be afraid to think outside the box and explore different possibilities.
• Latisha Leppert I hope this counts as a tip…it is more in dealing with the creative process…When trying to create something unique- pick a 1 or 2 items to begin with then build on those things. When you try to look at a lot of different items (paper, beads, yarn, fabric-whatever your craft is) you can become overwhelmed by things and it gives you what I call craft block. If you simplify it down then you can get your creative juices going and not be overwhelmed with all the possibilities.
• Mortira Craft Tip: Plastic snack cups from kids’ lunches are perfect for holding beads, glitter, buttons, or just about any small bits
• Lynn OBrien If you are like me and do a lot of different crafts, I organize my tools by using clear locking lid mini boxes. I can label them for easy finding, as well as see through them to see what I have. I store all my mini-totes on shelves so that I can have easy access to them.
• BeadGoesOn We tumble our Thai silver with Dawn (blue) dish soap & water. Does the best job for us! Loose beads only!
• Emily Hale mine is to look at the trends, what are people wearing now, and what will people be wearing 6 months from now? maybe not so much a tip? but it helps me focus on what i plan on designing…
• whimsybeading Turn left over strung beads/crystals into knitting stitch markers using tigertail wire, 1 crimp bead and a touch of glue.
• Maureen Connolly my jewelry making has veered into the more ‘metal-than-bead’ genre – mainly copper – so my tip is to use (pre-1984) pennies in place of copper discs. I always have a bowl of them in some sand on top of my woodstove so when I need one, it’s warm to start with so it flattens easier and more uniformly.
• PepperPaige I use a hardware organizer with clear drawers to organize my beads. Tons of little drawers that are perfect for all supplies.
• genedotts When storing your finished pieces of sliver jewelry. Put a peice of Chaulk in some Cheese Cloth and keep it stored with it.

See the comments below for more tips, and our winner!

I bet this’ll turn out to be a nice shopping list for anyone who wants to make great jewelry.  (Or to buy that person a birthday gift…)

• ☺1st vote:  Peace sign charms  (@SatinDollCo)
• 2nd vote: PEWTER FLEUR-DE-LIS CHARMS (@rhapsodiejandg)
• 3rd vote: Gunmetal chain . . . but perhaps that’s wishful thinking on my part. I love it! (@CrazyCraftChick)
• 4th vote:  Filigrees (Andrea Twombly) (in her comment below)
• 5th vote: I vote for Swarovski Crystals… ALWAYS!  (@AlsoMrsB)
• 6th vote: Gunmetal Oval Chain – like you expected me to say something else? – Suzann@Beadphoria.com (Suzann Sladcik Wilson) (via Facebook — we’re getting responses all over!)
• 7th vote: Headpins with interesting finials! (Diana B) (in a comment below)
• 8th vote: My vote – gemstone faceted rondelles – like this lapis, YUM!!!! http://tinyurl.com/ybl49ee (JustATish)
  

Tweet or FB your vote to me and I’ll add them in real time ☺ Dave

Stacks of bead “shopping trays” spontaneously appear at our shows.  (These are action photos taken by cell phone…)

Mysterious bead stacks...

Been to our bead shows?  Know what these are all about?

...made by aliens?

If you have a theory, we’d be interested to hear it…leave a comment!

Tough enough for a biker, but made for a woman

Ingredients:

• 1 of item #55-000-05 Idea-ology™, Ornate Plates (Antiqued Metals)
• 1 of item # 30-193 Buckle Blanks, Nickel Silver (Silver)
• Item # 86-343 Win-Ox™, 3 oz.
• Some parts from item # 82-500-08 8oz EasyCast Epoxy Kit
• Bicycle picture, copyright-free from Flickr

Instructions:

1. First heat belt buckle and then patina it.
2. Use punch to make holes in the ornate plate & set in eyelets, hammer down and file, then patina.
3. After patina dries on belt buckle, drop photo into the ornate plate, fill with resin & place belt buckle in desired spot so that it dries with the resin.
4. After that dries, flip belt buckle over, level out and pour desired amount of resin (either over the entire ornate plate or just in the oval lip).

See how quick & easy it is to make hip jewelry!  (Above the hip, I guess.)

We had a whole crew putting this new product through ITS paces…

Busily trying all kinds of ideas

Everyone had lots of inspirations they wanted to try out…

So many images to transfer, so much jewelry to make!

In the spirit of yesterday’s belt-buckle blog post, here’s another approach…

Impressionist belt buckles, anyone?

You can do so many things with Image Transfer Solution…

Amazing images

It was neat to see how a transferred image works when it’s overlaid on another design…

Try layering contrasting images

While we were at it, we tried out some new products we’re introducing…

Game spinners & sprocket gears (available soon!)

We learned tons from doing this workshop!  Soon you’ll see an ITS technique sheet on our website.  We’ve been adding more ITS-related items to our store, too, to enhance your experience.  Check out new Wetordry™ polishing paper for truly delicate hand-sanded results.  And Renaissance® micro-crystalline wax polish is a fantastic way to protect your transferred images!

Have you tried Image Transfer Solution yet?  It’s a marvelous way to create custom pendants, beads, and more…we’d love to hear of your experiences with it in a comment below!

Come sail away...

How about talking DS (dear spouse) into a getaway trip for your holiday gift?  The Bead Cruise will spoil you like a Princess, though it’s actually a Royal Caribbean boat

Some of the big names in craft jewelry will be aboard to teach you.  How about workshopping with color expert Margie Deeb, “Beads, Baubles and Jewels” regular Mary Hettmansperger, Barb Switzer, Beverly Herman and our own blog partner Melanie Brooks?

Not to mention stops at a private island and in the Virgin Islands.  And gift bags, workshops, cocktails, along with all the comforts of luxury cruising.

Here’s the website to “accidentally” leave up on the computer for your significant other to see…www.beadcruise.com

"We're here to help you": join a bead society & meet some new faces!

There are lots of reasons to join a local group of beaders or other craft/jewelry artists.

• Socializing with people who have similar interests
• Learning new techniques & tricks that’ll help you “grow your business”
• Donating your skills for a cause: editing a newsletter, scheduling workshops and field trips, organizing charitable fundraisers or educational workshops in local schools…
• Membership is usually very inexpensive or free!

…but the simplest reason to join is for FUN! ☻☺

Do you realize how incredibly many of these groups exist?  Check these constantly-updated resources to find a group near you:

• Our discussion forum about bead societies.
• Our page about bead societies, polymer clay guilds and other art groups.

There seems to be quite an upswing of interest in forming local groups lately.  If you don’t find a group near you, will you be the founder of a new one?

Rings & Things wants to hear from YOU about any more bead societies and art guilds that haven’t made it onto our lists yet.  Leave us a comment here with information!

By the way, Rings & Things doesn’t track the meeting times & places of all of these groups.  (We’ve found that these may change.)  But you can announce your bead society’s latest meetup schedule right here — so just leave a comment below to plug your group.

March news: New monthly lottery, right here on the Rings & Things blog.  Here’s how it works:
* You enter by leaving comments. Comment on any March post(s).
* At the end of March, I’ll randomly draw 2 winners of surprise goodie packs! …So read the blog regularly to see if you won!

Find your “beady name”.  (Thanks to the Beadwright blog.)

Enjoy!

–Delica “Del” Turquoise

What’s your beady name?  Are we related?  Tell all by leaving a comment!

March news: New monthly lottery, right here on the Rings & Things blog.  Here’s how it works:
* You enter by leaving comments. Comment on any March post(s).
* At the end of March, I’ll randomly draw 2 winners of surprise goodie packs! …So read the blog regularly to see if you won!