The First

Hi! I'm Tara and I'm a Newbie Beader. A little over a year ago, I had been laid off from my second mortgage company in 12 months and needed a hobby to keep me from going insane while at home all day. I happened to find the Auntie's Beads website somehow and then stumbled upon a goldmine - the Karla Kam videos. I watched her make bracelets, necklaces, and just do basic stuff, and I said to myself "I can do that!" And so now I am.
I've never been to a class, although I keep meaning to sign up. I've gotten a lot of ideas from YouTube and other peoples' blogs, though.

I am woefully unskilled when it comes to taking pictures, but here are a few of the stuff I've done so far.

The first is a necklace I made for my sister in law. It's an illusion "mothers" necklace with Swarovski crystals in her sons' birthstones. This is a really bad picture because there is too much in the background and it's hard to see the detail on the picture.



This is a pair of earrings with some blue glass beads I got at a little bead store near work on clearance and some Swarovski crystals. My loops look terrible and should have been wrapped loops instead of simple loops. Those were among the first pieces I made.


There is so much I want to learn when it comes to jewelry making. I need to perfect my wrapped loops because they are very inconsistent. I want to do a LOT more with wire. I want to test my creative side more. I have no plans to sell my jewelry as of right now, but maybe after I've gotten a lot better. Since I'm still learning, I am still using silver plated materials and cheap components. I want to venture into more quality stuff, but am nervous at this point about screwing up and wasting thing like headpins, chain, etc.

So here I am. A newbie beader. Please be gentle with me as I learn what I am doing, and if you have any tips for me, I'd love to hear them!