Polymer clay has already achieved status of artistic medium, thanks to some very talented artists. Ford/Forlano, represented by Gallery Materia manages to create some amazing jewelry pieces using polymer clay. Check it out at Gallery Materia.

Or check out Ford and Forlano's beautiful home page:

Ford/Forlano home page

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Beads News is a Japanese magazine with excellent tutorials on bead weaving. There new website has a lot of good lessons on how to create beaded rings:

Lesson 1: Woven ring tutorial (original in Japanese) (Click on the side to go to lessons 2 through 5)

Other independent beaded ring tutorials:

Flower ring tutorial

Flower pendant tutorial

Square woven ring

Round beaded ring

Beads News magazine main site

And to help with the instructions, here's a webpage translator: WorldLingo Web translator

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Bug Challenge 2004

BUG & INSECT CHALLENGE 2004

A Wire Jewelry & Art Competition

Announcements related to the contest are only posted at the Wire Wrap Jewelry newsgroup. To join this group to get the announcements, click on the link.

How it works:

1) The theme of the contest is "Insects and Bugs". This theme can be interpreted in any design based on a real or imaginary bug, as long as the resulting piece is clearly identified as an INSECT or with insect-like properties.

2) The piece can be composed of any type of wire, any gauge, any color, any mix of wires.

3) The use of the resulting piece can be any size, any length, any style: necklace, pin, ring, bracelet, object d'art, etc.

4) The piece MUST be composed MOSTLY of wire. Only a maximum of 30% of the size of the piece may contain beads, otherwise your piece will not qualify to enter the challenge. (If in doubt, submit your questions to eni@oken3d.com before entering).

5) To enter the challenge, email ONE CLEAR picture of the piece to eni@oken3d.com with your name and a brief explanation of why and how you created it. Also mail US$5 worth of beads (entry fee beads) to be divided amongst the winners. This will only make the challenge more interesting!! Please contact Eni Oken for postal address. (No plastic beads allowed, please).

6) If you are planning to enter the challenge, please contact eni@oken3d.com so that a list with all the challengers can be posted by May 15th, 2004. The deadline for all image submissions and entry fee beads is MAY 30TH, 2004.

7) There will be 3 winners:

Prize 1 - Best of show - selected by the jury of the Challenge as the most unique, interesting, artistic and technically well developed.

Prize 2 - Complexity and Technical ability - selected by the jury as the more complex and/or intricate, using the best technical skills.

Prize 3 - Originality and Creativity - selected by the jury for its innovative design and artistic merit, independent of complexity.

8) Prize 1 will receive a 40% of the entry beads and a $50 gift certificate to Hagstoz (generously donated by Ross); Prize 2 will receive 30% of the entry beads and Prize 3 will receive 30% of the entry beads.

9) Be sure your image and entry fee beads arrive before May 30th for you to qualify for the Challenge.

10) Winners will be announced beginning of June 2004.

11) The distinguished jury is composed of:

Connie Fox - Wire Artist and Instructor (www.conniefox.com)

Robbie Ward/Metallique - Wire Artist and Instructor (www.metallique-bijoux.com)

Sherilyn Miller - Editor in Chief of Belle Armoire and Wire Artist (www.sharilynmiller.com)

12) Entering multiple entries: it's ok to enter more than one project in the challenge, however, please send US$ 5.00 of beads PER entry.

INSPIRATIONAL LINKS

Real Bugs:

Great site: Beautiful Bugs

Cool beetles

Bugs have six legs!!

Illustration of real bugs

Bead and wire Bugs:

Mary Wales Loomis' fantastic wire insect jewelry

(which inspired this contest)

June 2004 issue of Bead and Button Magazine on bugs

Beaded Dragonfly Barrette

Great-looking beaded creepy crawlers: www.beadlebugs.com

www.buggs.ca

Commercial Wire Butterfly

Dragonfly Wire Sculpture Tutorial

Animal and Bug Wire Art at Greenpiecewireart.com

Cool beaded Fireflies at rootzcreationz.co.za

Standingrock.net wire butterfly

Fun Spider at Timelessglass.com

Great looking firefly

Judy Allen's Bead Art: awesome butterflies

Mill Hill Beaded Bug Kits

Wire Space Bugs

Snazzy Deco's excellent beaded bugs

Belikoff Group's African Beaded bugs

Heather Thompson's Wire bugs

May's Issue of the Wire Artist magazine: Wire Dragonfly

Bug Jewelry

Jody Bishel's fun bugs

Cynthia Chuang and Erh-Ping Tsai's great porcelain bugs

Vintage Retro Platinum Diamond Bee

Bugs with Vintage jewelry

Joyce Fritz's awesome whimsical bugs

Joan Miller's Porcelain and wire beautiful bugs

Vintage Enamel Bugs

Vintage rhinestone dragonfly

Vintage bug

Amethyst Bug Pin

Other fun bug designs:

Imaginary Life forms

Stylized bugs

Send comments or questions to Eni Oken at

List of Challengers

Here's the list of challengers so far:

Don Norris

Gail Jewell

Crystal C.

Carli

Jackie Ryan

Christa Maria

Nancy Barnhart

Emily Lewis

Mary Anne Shaw

Suzi Clough

Carol Robertson

Kristen Syddall

Karen Elizabeth Halbrook

Janie Derby

Sandy Hendrickson

Susan Midlarsky

Annie Flores

Christa Maria

Chrystal Hayes-Robinson

StoneyRidge

Please let me know if your name is not here (or if it's here by mistake), ok!

eni@oken3d.com

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This single image shows a pair of gold Eagle earrings from the Greek Hellenistic period, circa 3rd century B.C. The eagle bodies are composed of dense granulation, and are flanked by beaded tassels with rosettes above each bird. Just stunning!

Greek Hellenistic Pair of Gold Eagle Earrings

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Jewels of the Romanovs is an online exhibit that shows treasures of the Russian Imperial Court, including several medals and pins, along with some fabulous Treasures of the Church.

Jewels of the Romanovs

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Bella Online has a very good Jewelry Making site, with lots of interesting links, tutorials and articles.

Check out Jewelry Making at Bella Online

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Lately bangles seem to be having a come back. Here are some interesting links on how to make wire and bead bangles:

Tammy Powley's tutorials at About.com:

Beaded Bangles by Tammy Powley

Basic Wire Bangle

Square Bead Wire Bangle

Connie Fox's Bangle tutorials:

Garden Bangle

Elegant Bangle Bracelet

Other tutorials:

Wire Beaded Bangle by Shala Kerrigan

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African Zulu beadworkers have created these imaginative animals, using wire and glass beads. These are not pieces of jewelry, but yet free standing animals three dimensional animals.

Check out at Zulu Beadwork: Freestanding animals

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Revisiting macrame

Joan Babcock gives new shape and meaning to macrame jewelry. Using well known macrame weaves and stitches mixed with colorful and beads and silver, Joan's jewelry is bold and contemporary. Each piece is a work of art. Check out Joan Babcock Designs to see her wonderful jewelry.

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Learning macrame

If you are interested in learning (or re-learning) how to make macrame, go to Elaine Lieberman's site, which has excellent online instructions on the basic variations. The site is a bit difficult to navigate (scroll down to reach the instruction's menu), but the tutorials are clear and good.

Introduction to Macramé Instructions by Elaine Lieberman

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Accessories Magazine and Accessories The Show are two good sources for forecasting the next fashion trends. See What's Next in Jewelry at Accessories Magazine's site for a good forecast and also the report on what was hot in the last year at Jewelry: Key Retail Trends.

The section Fashion Trends of the Accessories The Show site is also a good indicator, including color forecasts for the various months of the year.

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Pantone has a great section of their site dedicated to displaying a fashion color report. The page includes comments from famous designers in regards to trends and colors used for the next season.

Pantone Fashion + Home

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Robyn's page has 12 great tutorials on creating beaded necklaces and bracelets. The patterns are interesting and fun and the pictures are clear and easy to follow.

Robyn's Bead page

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Photographing jewelry and small objects

This hands on tutorial shows notes on how to take pictures of small objects such as jewelry, using a simple plastic water jug as a light diffuser. The diffuser helps to avoid the strong highlights normally produced on metallic objects and also doubles as a homemade tripod.

Photographing jewelry and small objects

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Luis Espinoza is a Quechua Indian wire artist from Peru, from the land of the ancient Incas. His wonderful wire jewelry reflects the traditions of his Incan heritage, with geometric shapes, birds and animals.

Check out his site at LuisEspinoza.com to see some of his amazing works.

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If you want to learn how to make beaded rings, then follow some of these links to online tutorials:

Ruby's Beadwork: Pearl Ring

Hugs and Kisses Beaded Ring

How to make a Beaded Ring

Mandala Ring

Margo Field Beaded Ring Instructions

Beaded Rings and Beaded Headbands

The Hachinoji-Ami

Beads Ring Collection: This is one the best sites for beaded rings, with great instructions, but the site has been down for a few days. Here are some direct links to tutorials:

Beads rings Collection RS01

Beads rings Collection RS04

Beads rings Collection RS05

Beads ring Collection RS06

Beads ring Collection RS08

Beads ring Collection RS09

And a webpage translator to help with the instructions in japanese:

WorldLingo.

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It's always a good idea to keep with fashion trends, if you are seriously interested in making a living with jewelry. Besides checking out the fashion magazines, you can also check out these sites, which show the latest trends for each season in jewelry designs and designers:

Neiman Marcus: has an excellent section of trends and newest styles for each season. Click on Jewelry & Accessories and then on Designers or Trends.

Barney's New York: click on shopping and then on Women's Jewelry.

Ylang-Ylang: online store specializes in fashion jewelry, with good fashion trend section.

Fragments: online shop specializing in fashion jewelry, selling some of the best designers around.

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Puget Sound Bead Festival is running a Beaded Inspirations Contest in the categories of Precious Metal Clay, Wirework, Contemporary Beaded Jewelry, Seed Beadwork, Non-Wearables, & Mixed Media.

The deadline for submission is June 1, 2004 and the entry fee is US$10.00.

For more information and the full description of the rules, click here:

Beaded Inspirations Contest 2004

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Bead contests at Bead-Patterns.com

Bead-Patterns.com runs regular themed jewelry and beading contests on their sites, with good gift-certificate prizes. Check out the rules for the next one and also the archives of past contests:

Bead Contests

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Katy Beh Contemporary Jewelry gallery is located in New Orleans but has a really beautiful online presence: besides representing very interesting jewelry artists, it is also a really good example of a professional and beautiful website.

Katy Beh Contemporary Jewelry

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Wire Jewelry Tutorials on the web

These sites have online lessons on how to make wire jewelry.

How to Wirewrap a faceted Pendant, by Mavis Llewellyn

Elegant Bangle Bracelet by Connie Fox

Charm Bracelet by Connie Fox

Garden Bangle by Connie Fox

Wire Wrapped Bead Huggers by Karin Wilcox

Wrapping a simple pendant

Wigjig

Chain Maille

Orbital Chain

Wigjig University

Derakon's chainmail instructions: REALLY GOOD LINK!

The ring lord

The wire artist jeweller magazine

Chain fire

Fine Wire Jewelry tutorials

Metallique-bijoux

Lesson links at Fine Wire Newsgroup

Wire names by Maggie

Wirewrapping with Diane Boehler

Wire Wrapped Ring Tutorial by My4Jewels

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