How-To - Kim Miles

How To's ~ Cubic Zirconias, Silver Tubing, Bangle Beads

The question I'm most often asked is, "How do you put CZs in beads?" Here's the answer.
I've also posted everything I know about silver-tubing beads.
I don't teach, but try the ISGB Forum to look for classes near you.

The first bead shown here is the "Times Square Bead" I made for New Year's 2005.
It's in a private collection, and with 80 CZ's, I'm not planning to make another one soon...

Setting CZs is pretty simple. All I do is poke a hole in the bead with a tungsten pick, pick up a CZ with my tweezers, and set it in. If I encase it, I'm sure to make it a fairly heavy encasing. If I leave it on the surface, I heat it, push it a little deeper into the bead, and then heat it once more until the glass cups around the CZ.

I use mostly 2mm, grade A white CZs from Pehnec.com. You can go smaller, but larger than 3mm will usually crack the glass. The colors work as well as the white ones. Remember that CZs are Cubic Zirconias, NOT crystals or rhinestones.
I have no idea how they work with boro. I use mostly Moretti/Effetre glass.

"I was going to conquer the world, but I got distracted by something sparkly" ~Kelsey's T-Shirt~

Silver Tubing

Since I've started making silver-lined beads that fit Troll Bracelets, a lot of people have asked me for details on what stuff to get and where to get it. I spent a lot of time looking around, and trying things that didn't work. There doesn't seem to be a lot of specific information out there... very frustrating. I eventually bought a bracelet from the Troll folks in Denmark, as well as one of their beads and another bead from the Pandora bracelet line. Now I think I have it figured out. And to save time in answering everyone individually, I'm here to tell you everything I found out. For specifics on actually making these beads, you'll have to go a-googling.
I'm not enough of a silversmith to explain the details.

Here's a list of What-to-get and Where-to-get-it...

TrollBeads is where I got my starter bracelet. I've read that Pandora beads will fit Troll bracelets, but not the other way around. I like the Troll bracelets better anyway. I ordered a 7.5 inch bracelet and made my own clasp. Theirs are really pretty though. Here's a bead/bracelet compatibility chart to help you out. Uniquely Charming - on ebay.

There are bunches of "authorized" Pandora stores, but here's a pretty good one that somewhere has a nice page to help you figure out what size bracelet to get. Pandora-Beads.com.

I actually went to ebay to buy my Pandora bead to fit on my Troll bracelet.
The seller is Pandoras Box Of Beads. I had a lovely shopping experience.

The mandrels and sterling silver tubing I use for my beads are 3/16 inch or 4.5mm. The tubing has an inside measurement of 3.75mm, and the walls of the tubing are 26 gauge. I get the tubing from Santa Fe Jeweler's Supply, and the mandrels are at all the big glass bead suppliers like Arrow Springs, Glasscraft, and Frantz.

Metalliferous in NY, NY is a good place to get silver tubing and silver washers that become end caps.

I use a bead press from Jim Moore Glass Tools to flare the tubing, forming it into rivets.

You have to do the finish work by hand. I get my hammers and polishers at Rio Grande.

Any questions? You'll have to ask someone else, because this is all I know!
Have fun with these!

Bangle Beads

The Bangle Bead tutorial was originally printed in Beads Of Glass, by Cindy Jenkins. The book is packed with wonderful how-to's on all sorts of bead techniques. Buy it HERE!!!

In addition to what's printed in the book, I'll also add that I don't recommend making Bangle Beads out of soft glass if you intend to wear them. The glass is fragile and easily broken, even with "careful wearing". Cracks in the rings are hard to see sometimes. One way to test them is to gently rattle the bead, listening to the sound it makes. A dull thumping of the rings is good, while a beautiful ringing sound means you have at least one cracked ring. Sad but true. Boro is a better choice for Bangle Beads that will do anything more than sit quietly on a table.

Beaders' Ethics
Mindy Brooks
Editor, Bead&Button
editor@beadandbutton.com
When, if ever, is it acceptable to sell or teach another person’s designs?
That’s a question we hear frequently at Bead&Button, and it tells us that many of our readers care about the ethical and legal issues involved when it comes to the money-making aspects of beading. Unfortunately, we also have firsthand experience with beading’s darker side – the dishonest few who cause heartache and financial harm by cashing in on another person’s original work. And when unethical people profit from ideas that don’t belong to them, it hurts us all.
Maybe it was inevitable that as beading became more popular, people would look for shortcuts to exploit the growing number of lucrative opportunities, and maybe
there is nothing one editor or one editorial can do to change that. So, it’s gratifying to know that my concerns about the ethics of beading are shared by the editors of other beading magazines, including Cathy Jakicic of BeadStyle, Marlene Blessing of Beadwork, Pamela Hawkins of BeadUnique, and Leslie Rogalski of Step by Step Beads. They will also be covering this topic in upcoming issues of their publications.
To address the question presented at the start of this editorial,
Bead&Button’s position on copying designs is as follows:
1. It is unethical to copy an artist’s work to sell without the artist’s permission.
2. It is unethical to copy any work that has appeared in a magazine, book, or website and represent it in any venue as an original design.
3. It is unethical to teach a beading project that has appeared in a magazine, book, or website
without the artist’s permission.
4. It is unethical to teach a beading project learned in another teacher’s class without the teacher’s permission.
If you agree, please help disseminate this message by including a copy of these statements with your class materials, your kits, and the pieces you sell. You can download
a copyright-free version at beadandbutton.com.
Mindy Brooks
Editor, Bead&Button
editor@beadandbutton.com