Ornamentea have new ceramic beads by Elaine Ray and have posted them with cool earring ideas.  I love these dangling earrings and variety of colors and possiblities  that they show.  It is also great that below the image on their site, they show you exactly which beads, finding and tools you will need to complete the project.

Also nice about the tutorial is that they give links to suppliers for everything from the beads to the ribbon.

She also shares with her readers her recent bargin finds in other stores and how she modified them to fit her tastes. I never would have thought of Forever 21 as a spot to pick up jewelry making findings.

She never fails to inspire and seems to have endless energy for crafting projects.

There are many great choices for this creepy time of year.  I love the raw brass scarabs and can think of tons of projects to make with them.

There are also candy colored skulls if you are looking for some Halloween silliness.

I love these pendants, they are so simple and striking that they hardly need anything else, besides something to hang them from, of course.

The chains are an exciting change from the standard chains often found around.

The store is a treasure trove of jewelry making supplies from tool to materials.  Located in the Diamond District, I always feel especially in touch with the jewelry world when I go into the building and up the small stairs and emerge into this excellent store.

If you needed another reason to visit, tomorrow’s event provides it.  They are holding beading demonstrations from 2-7pm, where you can ask questions, get advice and of course shop.  Have fun!

They also have upcoming silver jewelry sales and findings sales, so check out their website.

Also, I couldn’t resist posting this STUNNING necklace found on her website.  It was a joint work between Nelson-Smith and Lampwork Bead artist Ronit Dagen, and I find it just spectacular.

I have used a similar tool for making jumprings, but hadn’t seem this “coiler” before, nor thought of using coils as beading spacers or as wraps for larger beads, as can be seen in this pictures.

You can read the article and look at the informative images here.  Also, be sure to check out the commentary below the article to see which coiling gadgets other readers found useful and to pick up some helpful hints.

Bonus: To celebrate their 10th Anniversary – if you spend $20 you can buy this BeadFreak Tee-shirt for just $1.

Here is what they have to say about it:

The $3 Bead-a-Rama is back! Stock up on limited inventory closeout buys, starting under $3. Fill your bead box with designer staples including cultured freshwater pearls, glass, shell and gemstone beads, plus a variety of spacer beads, drops, and more.

Fire Mountain Gems and Beads offers international online ordering to most countries. Enjoy the same great selection and service as domestic customers.

So I was excited to see these hollow glass beads at Fire Mountain Gems. Hand blown and light, these should ease the weight around your neck. If you are like me, frugal and in need of a big selection of beads, Fire Mountain is a good place to start shopping.  Just remember you still want to pay careful attention to your stringing supplies too as you probably don’t want them loose sliding around on beading line.  So get a tight string, or think about knotted ribbons or something else light and airy.

Here are a few of the hollow glass beads that I found fun.

Have a great weekend!

Play Tweet Your Prize on Twitter for your chance to win some fantastic jewelrymaking stuff!!

Add @Artbeads on Twitter, then to enter, simply follow the instructions below for tweeting a link to the item you’d like to win and telling your Twitter followers about the giveaway. With each giveaway, you’ll have a chance to win your favorite item in the featured prize category.

To play Tweet Your Prize, keep an eye on tweets from @Artbeads and be ready to act fast. Each Tweet Your Prize giveaway will only be open for limited time. After the entry deadline, we’ll pick a winner at random from among all of the Tweet Your Prize players. The winner will be sent a direct Twitter message and will be announced through a new @Artbeads Twitter message as soon as they claim their prize.

If you are already on Twitter, you’re ready to play. If not, just visit www.twitter.com and create your Twitter account. Now let’s have some fun!

CURRENT GIVEAWAY DETAILS
Prize Category: Express Yourself Sale
Entry Begins: Thursday, June 11, 2009
Entry Ends: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 9AM PT
Winner Selected: Tuesday, June 16, 2009

HOW TO ENTER:
Step 1: Follow @Artbeads on Twitter so we can direct message you if you win.

Step 2: Pick your favorite item from the current Express Yourself Sale prize category page.

Step 3: Create a short URL of your favorite item’s description page by visiting www.tinyurl.com or other site to shorten the page URL.

Step 4: Copy the message in bold below to your Twitter message box and edit it to replace the words “PASTE ITEM TINY URL” with the new Tiny URL you just created of the prize you want to win. Your new message should also include the second TINY URL that goes to this Tweet Your Prize information page. This way your friends will know how to play too! Now, tweet your message. Good luck!

I would express myself with this PASTE ITEM TINY URL from @Artbeads! Tweet your favorite for a chance to win http://tinyurl.com/djzynl