Aug

Do you love arts and crafts but have expended your talents with sewing and knitting projects? Why not try something new? Many 2001 A Space Odyssey are finding that jewelry Archie Comics can be very a creative and fulfilling hobby, with opportunities to even make money if so desired. Many people spend tons of money buying beaded bracelets, necklaces, earrings and other "junk jewelry" without knowing they can do it on their own. If you are interested in getting started on your own beading projects, keep reading to get information on great jewelry making websites and how to find the beading supplies you need.

What Donkey Kong Beading?

Beading is one of the latest crazes in the art of jewelry making. Why you ask? Because it gives people the opportunity to make fun jewelry in a very quick and easy way. The art of beading can be represented in a variety of fashions, from simple designs to very intricate beaded necklaces, but in this article we will focus on the very simple idea of stringing a necklace or bracelet with beads, then knotting it to wear without having to purchase anything but the supplies, which will last you a long time.

I know you're probably thinking, "It's not easy to know where to get started without help." So I would advise that you don't do what I did, which was diving in headfirst. I started out by going to an expensive bead store, that was essentially very helpful, but initially tried sell me American Girls collection expensive and unnecessary item they could. I had to gather my bearings and go home to do research. After I came back, I was able to ask the right questions, find the beads and supplies that I needed at my level of jewelry making expertise, which was novice, and then start from scratch. Take my advice, if you are just beginning, it is not necessary for you to go out and buy the most expensive beads and supplies, because in the beginning, you will probably be wasting a lot of your wire or cord just making mistakes (which is allowed). After you develop your skill and style then you can go back and buy the more quality items. You will save a lot of time and money this way. To help you out, I've provided a few websites for jewelry making and supplies that should make things easier for you.

Great Jewelry Making Websites

Beadiefriends.com has tons of instructions to help you get started on your beading journey. You can learn to square stitch, peyote stitch, create beaded chain necklaces (my favorite), and even a beaded watch. Also, they teach you how to make earrings, charm pins, stretch bracelets, bead embroidery and even how to sell your crafts to others. If you'd prefer not to make your own designs and patterns for beading, they not only give you sample patterns to work from, but they also teach you how to read those patterns to easily create the bead designs you desire.

Beadage.net is another beginner-friendly website filled with great information on the art of beading. This site gives great instructions on how to create your own beaded jewelry, and also provides great patterns as templates for your designs. You can learn to make earrings, wire jewelry, hemp jewelry, and much more. In addition, they provide a beading supply guide and gemstone guide that will help you do your research before venturing out to buy items that you don't need (like I did). Also, they have a beading glossary to help you sort out the definitions of the different beading terms, which is helpful because you need to know the difference between resin, turquoise and glass beads if you're going to get serious about beading. Also, they have a bead shop that sells the items that you need at a reasonable price and they also offer tools to get you started - this is a great one-stop-shop for a beginner just getting started.

Where to Find Beading Supplies

A top website to find what you're looking for in beading supplies is firemountaingems.com This site caters to every aspect of beading and provides all of the beading supplies you'll need for your jewelry making experience. They offer various varieties beads, including glass, metal, acrylic, shell, crystal, turquoise and wood beads. In addition, they have tons of supplies, including chains, clasps, faceted gems, earring findings, charms, and pendants. And if you need tools you'll find everything from loop-closing and gem-setting pliers, to charts, design software, sort trays, adhesives, cord knotters, needles and cleaners. They even offer books and videos on the art of beading - so they pretty much make everything available to you.

Also, one of the best places to find wholesale beads in large quantities for your jewelry making is on eBay. I know eBay can be a difficult place to trust because you don't know who you're buying your items from. But really, it's not much different than buying from any other website. You have to do your research on the seller and check their reviews, which are luckily right on the page. If they have a user rating of 99% and 10,000 people have reviewed them, then you're probably be dealing with the right seller. And since you have the ability to bid on the beads, you might find a great deal. Often times, people sell large amounts of beads in lots, which means you might find individual beads or beads still on the necklaces, which will allow you to de-string and re-string them on your own beading cord or wire.

Whether you're just getting started on your first jewelry making projects, or are looking for information on how to further along an already-started hobby, it doesn't hurt to learn from the great information that is out there for you. I hope that I've been able to help you get started and the next time we meet, maybe I'll be at a store picking out your latest designs and smiling at how your jewelry making hobby flourished into a career.

Jeffrey Meier at Jam727 Enterprises at http://www.thearticlehome.com blog offers even more detailed information on a wide variety of topics.

The only way I know that the illustrator, designer and street Garbage Pail Kids Toofly's real name is Maria 1973 Topps baseball cards is because that's the name displayed with her e-mail address. I suppose I should be more cautious and say that I assume that it's her real name. Frankly, I didn't think it was important enough to ask her about.

The lady is a lot of ink these days. Maybe we need a new term for that; let's say she's propagating billions of editorial pixels. That would be in addition to the untold gazillions of pixels that her art generates on computer screens around the world, those well-lit but low-resolution 2D images that, try as they might, just can't quite do justice to the lady's work as seen in Real Life.

Started with comics Let's back up a bit as long as we're talking Real Life, and hip you to Toofly growing up in Corona, Queens (New York) "around some Italians and a lot of South American and Dominican families, in a small little one-family house" with her grandparents, mom, uncle, aunts and younger cousin. Toofly liked drawing as far back as she could remember, and confesses that she would "sneak into my uncle's room and grab his X-Men comics and try to draw some of the female characters, especially Jean Grey."

Those were the early days, the artist recalls, of "discovering what a strong female looked like." Soon enough, when Toofly started at New York's High School of Fashion Industries in 1991, she would discover what a strong female acted like, too. "I was taking fashion design classes but realized that I would much rather draw and paint than sew clothes. When I walked into a classroom with walls full of graffiti tags and character illustrations, that did it for me. I had discovered what I was meant to do."

Street walls to Wall Street Toofly has since taken her street-wall sensibility into areas that Wall Street can relate to, like commerce. "I do a lot of everything these days," she says, "and there's always something new I'm doing. My freelance pretty much supports me, and everything else is extra fun stuff." Even with her illustrations licensed for all manner of t-shirts, bags, totes and prints, she doesn"t claim to have "made it big," and admits, "I just recently arrived to the gallery scene, and little by little I'm starting to send my press kit and proposals around to various corporations for those big commission deals. It's got to be right though," Toofly asserts, "because I'm not just going to do anything for money."

Still, the fact she can make money today -- with an art style born of equal parts bravado, talent and, quite often, misdemeanor trespass -- testifies to her persistence as well as savvy marketing skills. It is also good timing for artists of her ilk to go Fatima tobacco cards as the march of progress has made itself known in many urban areas by the presence of video surveillance cameras and other anti-graffiti measures. Whether it's on canvas, a brick wall or a greeting card, Toofly says, art is still art. "I still have a purpose, and the freedom to dream up my own reality, and no one can take that away from me."

Toofly has plenty of tools -- spray cans, brushes, pens, crayons, chalk, mop heads, whatever works -- and plenty of influences too, "from all over the place," she says, "like fashion photography, graphic design and various contemporary and historic artists." Comic (excuse me, graphic novel) illustrators like Jim Lee and Scott Campbell are faves, as she "grew up drawing their female characters." Boris Vallejo's fantasy painting was a strong influence, but perhaps the greatest influence was graffiti writer Sabe -- "because," Toofly admits, "if it weren't for his drawings and tags in those classrooms I may have ended up somewhere else."

The Muses knock on a lot of doors at Toofly's house. "I'm moved by emotional music," Toofly says, "whether it's Led Zeppelin, Muse or Mary J. Blige love songs. I also listen to freestyle and 90s hip-hop classics to get me back to my roots." The lady is a virtual melting pot herself, and the rhythms of her life and times are easily discerned in the characters she draws, taut as coiled springs, energy ready to blow up into something new and unexpected.

Enjoying "every good moment" Besides all her work that people can find on the web (just the term "artist Toofly" will get you well over a thousand hits), she has some group gallery shows coming up, graffiti productions throughout New York's five boroughs and various events where the artist will paint live or speak. Toofly is also starting to sell her line of products and art prints on her own site as well as different boutiques and lifestyle shops in the U.S., Europe and, soon, Japan.

Toofly has her priorities in order. She is involved in organizing and promoting youth workshops of various kinds, helping kids find places to create their art without ending up on video security tapes, trying to give back to the community that nurtured her. "I was given a chance to experience life, good and bad, to learn and have fun in it," she reflects. "You have to accept that things do not last forever, so try to enjoy every good moment you can create. It helps to know that at the end of the day, I can fall and get up again, and if it's not meant for me anymore, then that's okay too."

Toofly's art, her vision, is uniquely hers, and doesn't ask to be compared or contrasted, just accepted for what it is -- which is all she asks for herself, as well. "All of this and the freedom to do art unapologetically?" she muses. "It's very inspiring."

By Scott McQuarrie, representing the EZWatch Pro brand, a leading provider of computer based Security Camera Systems for business, commercial and government applications.