Beginners Beading

Today I went to my Beginners Beading day course at London Jewellery School. It was a fun day where we made bracelets, earrings and necklaces. Some of the things we were taught I'd already had a go at myself, but there were some techniques I didn't know and I'll definitely be trying them out at home. The tutor was really enthusiastic and helpful, so I think I might go back for other courses.

The first thing we made was a bracelet using elastic. This isn't that exciting but I learnt how hide the joining knot inside a bead:

Then we made bracelets using memory wire. This always springs back into shape, a bit like a slinky. I like this technique, although next time I might use less wire to make fewer coils.

From this we moved on to earrings. I've made earrings before but had bought my own ear wires (the bits you put through your ear). We were taught how to make our own ear wires, which is surprisingly simple and you only need to use one set of pliers (the round nosed ones). You need to file the ends of the wire too, otherwise they'll be too sharp to go through your ears:

Lastly, we made necklaces. The first is called an illusion necklace, using a wire called Tigertail. This is a metal wire with a nyclon coating. We also used crimps, which  are tiny beads you squeeze together using crimp tools. They keep your beads in place and crimp covers can also be used at the ends of your jewellery to hide a crimp bead. I made the clasps, using a similar technique to the one you use to make ear wires:

This is a necklace I made with a tassel, also using crimp beads but with nylon wire instead of tiger tail: