The Bead Spot

Yesterday, my baby girl was fussing while I was trying to get some cleaning done because she wanted to be picked up. I tried to distract her, so I looked around and grabbed the nearest thing I could find -- one of the kids bracelets I completed last week. I stretched it out and snapped it around her wrist. While it had a little wiggle room on her wrist, it fit a lot more snuggly than I would've preferred. She's only 1 year old. How well will they fit on older children, who are, by the way, my target customer? I've decided that, to ensure I have bracelets big enough for children up to about age 7, I'm going to need to make more in a larger size. I have just a little more than a week to do it. Grrrr.

This type of clasp* is a two-piece device consisting of a ring and a bar longer than the diameter of the ring. To secure the clasp, person wearing the jewelry puts the entire bar through the ring. Because the bar is longer than the ring is wide, the bar doesn’t slip back through. Most bar-and-toggle clasps are made of metal, but many websites also sell some made of gemstones, bone and other materials. Beaders can also make them with beads. *Many beaders and websites call this type of clasp a bar-and-ring clasp.

Elastic cord comes in a range of thicknesses, which are measured in millimeters, for projects that need to stretch, such as kids bracelets. It's available in several colors, including clear (shown in photo), with some cord having more than one color and/or a metallic shine. Surgeon's knots typically work best to secure elastic cord.

Today, I made a few attempts at getting a decent shot of the herringbone bracelet I made to use on Etsy, but I'm having a little trouble. I set up this shot outside, and as soon as I got it, I turned to go back into the house just in time to see my little girl try to walk to me and fall out the door. She was OK; the step from inside the house to outside is about 4 or 5 inches high. I think it startled her more that I screamed when I saw her falling than she was really hurt. After I sat with her a bit, she calmed down (and so did I). So I picked her up and set her down on the patio, then got in position to take the shot. For some reason, my little girl started crying to go back in the house. So I had to hold her while I tried to shoot this. I'm not sure if holding her factored into how little detail shows, but I'm sure it didn't help. Hopefully, I'll have time to do some more practicing.

Split rings look just like key rings, only much smaller. Like jump rings, split rings can be used to connect parts of a jewelry piece together, but because of their tight spiral design, they're much more secure, making them a good choice to hang charms from. Also because of their spiral design, split rings can be tough to separate. That's where split ring pliers come in. One end of the nose of the pliers has a notch for separating the bands of the split ring. I've had some success opening split rings just by sliding my thumbnail between bands of the ring, but that doesn't always work.

Just FYI to readers: I realized that my beaders' dictionary seemed more like an encyclopedia, so I've changed the title. All of the information the dictionary contained is still available; just click on the "Beaders' Encyclopedia" button in the toolbar.

Jewelry crafters use jump rings to connect different parts of jewelry together, to attach clasps and to make chains and chain mail. The rings are available in a variety of finishes -- gold filled, gold plated, sterling silver, copper, brass, steel, etc. -- and sizes (indicated by millimeters and wire gauge ). Most jump rings are round, but they are available in oval shapes, too.