The Bead Spot

Unlike the two-needle method , this ladder stitch technique will leave a single length of string, which can be used to add beads in brick or herringbone stitch. For this example, we’ll make a four-bead ladder, but the technique is the same for shorter and longer projects. Note: I indicate placing your work to your left only to make these instructions as clear as possible. Quite often, I’ve got my beadwork all over the place as I’m stitching, so please don’t feel locked into holding yours exactly as written. What matters is that you stitch in the correct direction for whatever placement you have your work. Step 1 Attach a stop bead to your stringing material. Place it to your left. Step 2 Pick up four beads with your needle, and slide them within an inch of the stop bead. (For clarity, let’s number the beads 1 through 4 from left to right.) Step 3 Pass the needle from left to right through bead No. 3. Pull the string tight. The barrels of beads No. 3 and 4 shoul...

In April, my husband and I will visit his family in Bettendorf, Iowa. As I often do when I travel, I’d like to stop in at a local bead shop. I’ll do some online looking to see if there are any in the area once the trip gets a little closer, but I’m all for taking suggestions if any readers are from the area or have traveled through and know a good place for a bead girl to shop.

“Little Bead Boxes: 12 Miniature Containers Built with Beads,” by Julia S.  Pretl is another bead book I like. The little trinket boxes are just gorgeous, and the instructions are very easy to follow, which is very handy for people who’ve never done dimensional beadwork before.

My box of beads and supplies arrived in the mail Saturday. I've been having a good time working on my kids bracelets. I haven't completed one yet. I'm still mulling patterns, which I probably should do on paper. So far, I've started three bracelets, then decided I didn't like what it looked like, so I unraveled it. So, before I begin yet another, I think I'll sketch it out. The size 6 beads, by the way, are working great with the stretchy string.

I like freebies anyway, but this one is by far my favorite. I got it from Fire Mountain Gems years ago as a thank-you for my order. At the time, I was still a beading newbie and had no idea how handy this little thing would be. It is perfect for digging seed beads out of their containers. I misplaced it a couple of years ago, so I went to the Fire Mountain website to buy another. Darn the bad luck, I couldn't find one. I wound up going to a craft shop and buying a similar tool that's about the length of a spoon. It has a scoop on one end and a set of tweezers on the other. I thought I would get a lot of use out of it, especially the tweezers end for getting a good grasp on tiny beads. However, the scoop was a lot more flat and wide, making it easier to spill beads out of the sides of the containers. And the tweezers weren't as handy as I thought. It turns out, it's a lot easier and faster to just push your finger against spilled beads, making them kind of "stick...

On the same trip my husband and I took to Rochester, N.Y., in the fall of 2008, we also visited Studio 34 Creative Arts Learning Center . The shop is not very big, well-stocked, decorated with projects and populated with some very friendly beaders who welcomed me to bring in something I'm working on the next time I'm out that way.  I recommend, however, that anyone unfamiliar with area who wants to visit the store get directions for its website. It's located in a small section of an old, large building. Had my sister-in-law not been leading the way, I don't think I could've found it just by knowing the address.

I love Fire Mountain Gems , Fusion Beads and other online bead retailers, but I also like to go to brick-and-mortar stores when I get the chance, too. We don’t have one in my hometown, just a Hobby Lobby and a Michaels craft stores, which are good for a few things, but neither has seed beads in stock. While visiting my sister-in-law in New York a few years back, I visited Let’s Bead , which had so much stuff, I didn’t know where to start looking. I bought several strands of beads, which have since blended in with the rest of my stash so that I no longer remember exactly what I bought there. However, I do remember I liked the store, and I will definitely visit it again when I travel to Rochester, N.Y.