Home:Beads For Jewelry Making

Beads
For Jewelry Making

Beads!

Big, small, glass, crystal, pearl, gemstone, seed beads, wood, vintage...

Look at these jewels, they are all beautiful!
Here is list of the different types of beads you can easily find in the craft market.

I used to work a lot with gemstones and more and more I am using glass and even plastic beads. They make nice, colorful and inexpensive jewelry!

Beads are sized in numbers or millimeters and are sold by the strand or by the piece.

Mixing and matching beads together is a lot of fun but not always easy. It takes time and many testing/trials. However, once in a while, you can get the perfect match right away...and that's very rewarding!
Let's see now the dfferent types of beads you can use for jewelry making!

Glass Beads

Swarovski Crystal

Faceted glass (sharp edges).
High quality : crystal is glass with lead.
Comes in various shapes such as diamond, round, rondelle,bicone cone, teardrop... Some pendants or charms (angels, hearts, dragonflies) can be used for beautiful handcrafted jewelry.
You can find high quality glass pearl also called "faux pearl", less expensive than pearl or freshwater pearls and come in nice colors (pastel, water color) and sizes that you can't find for pearls or freswater pearls.

Czech Beads

Pressed glass with a smooth finishes.
Various shapes such as round, drop, donut, cube, bi-cone, flower, leaf...
Amazing shapes, colors and designs. One of my favorite!

Lampwork Beads

Handmade by melting glass rods with a flame torch.
You will find a lot of flower and leaf designs in beautiful colors and shapes. Flowers are very trendy now.

Italian Beads

Murano or millefiori; beautiful!

Seed Beads

Delica,rocaille, charlotte...

Made from choped glass canes.
Czech, japanese, french are the most common types.
Sizes from 20°(the smallest) to 7° (the bigger) and a huge choice of beautiful colors (yes again) I do use 15° a lot, they are tiny but sparkling ! Look at "My Ring Making" for bead embroidery projects.

Plastic Beads

Resin Beads

Matt satin finish, lightweight, amazing colors.

Polymer Clay

Polymer is plastic, you can buy or make your own polymer clay shapes.
Polymer clay can be found in all craft shops. It is easy to use and do not require special equipment. You can come up with interesting designs such as millefiori, flowers, leaves ......Making polymer clay patterns takes time but it is a very relaxing and rewarding hobby or business.
You can make also your own polymer clay beads in a snap!

Pearl, Freshwater and Cultured Pearls

You can design beautiful jewelry using freshwater pearls, the price of a strand is less expensive than saltwater pearl.
They come in white, cream, grey, brown and many others dyed colors.
Average sizes go from rice (1mm) to 7 to 8.5 mm.
In my projects I use mostly fresh water pearls, mother of pearl buttons, beads and charms. If you want to design with cultured pearls, please note that pearl grades goes from AA Grade (high luster), A Grade ( good luster ), A/B Grade ( pearl's luster is moderate ).
Shapes : round, potato, rice, half round are the most common but now you can find amazing shapes such as heart, coin, stick...
Mother of pearl, shell (nacre) iridescent part of a shell.
Big and beautiful choice of buttons and charms like fetishes or butterfly.

Natural Beads

Wood, Coco, kukui, buri,vegetal ivory... for beads, donuts, charms...
Amber is a natural resin, (see gemstone beads section).
Bone beads: hair pipes for example.

Gemstones: a short list by color

Red : garnet, red coral, red jasper, red jade.
Orange, yellow : amber, carnelian ( agate ), amber, citrine, tiger's eye.
Blue : aquamarine, aventurine, lapis-lazuli, blue topaz, turquoise.
Green : ammonite, blue-green opal ,green jade, malachite, agate , turquoise, (Chinese) moss agate and agate Tree, peridot.
Pink : pink opal, rose quartz, pink topaz.
Violet and purple : amethyst, ametrine.
Grey : labradorite, grey agate.
Black: jet, onyx ( black agate).
White : moonstone ,white jade, white howolite.
Crystal : transparent crystal quartz, tourmanilated quartz.
Multi color : tourmaline, multi-color moonstone, fFluorite, jasper.
Brown : pietersite, brown jasper.

The variety of gemstones is immense. Not only they have fine, rich, superb colors but also they are known for their magical properties (joy, happiness, love for example ). Gem stones beads, charms and pendants come in different sizes, shapes like any other bead .

Vintage Beads

It is possible to find amazing vintage (hand-made or not) beads, amazing for their colors, shapes and design. Because they are vintage, they are unique and you can design unique jewelry.

My Tips...

"Embellishing" beads for jewelry making.
I have added pictures at the end of the slide show.

I always try to add a bead cap or a sequin for example to embellish a bead.
I like to make my own: bead (right angle weave technique, polymer clay) or bead embroidery for "My Ring Making".
I use the collage technique a lot on big flat beads or donuts.
I always finish a jewelry with a shell or metal charm.
I always attach the gemstone's symbol (love, protection, friendship) to my jewellery. People love that!

Design Ideas

For Necklace Design Ideas, please click here.
For Earrings Making, please click here.
For Handmade Bracelets, please click here.

Few informations on Techniques, Supplies and Findings.

To make a Beaded Bead, using the right angle weave technique, please click here.
For Basic Instructions, please click here.
For Wire Jewelry Making, please click here.
For Supplies, get our free ebook.
For Findings, please click here.