Lark Books is pretty amazing when it comes to sharing sample tutorials from its best books - for free! They're currently offering two PDFs that I think you'll be especially interested in.

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Back in September I wrote about Barbara Natoli Witt's elaborate beadwork and a new book, Adornment, which showcases many of her necklace designs. This week I'd like to point you to an amazing interview Barbara recently had with blogger Jess Gold.

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I have another incredibly talented beadwork artist to share with you this week. Peggy Dembicer is an experienced mixed-media fine artist with a body of work that includes elaborate tapestry and paper weaving. But what really attracted my attention was her large-scale loomed beadwork. (Thank you to My Owl Barn, of all places, for helping me discover it.)

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Tune in to JTV on February 5th or 6th from 10am to noon to see an interview with Barbara Carleton of Bejeweled Software Co., maker of the popular Jewelry Designer Manager. Along with talking about her pricing and tracking software, Barbara will present Beaded Phoenix's helpful reference poster kit designed by Rosanne Andreas.

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Last week I decided that I wanted to whip up a bead embroidery heart tutorial for Valentine's Day. My obstacle, however, was that I didn't have any red colored backing ...

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I remember when Liza Lou first exhibited her beaded kitchen in 1996.  Yes, an entire beaded kitchen. I'd never seen anything like it before, and I couldn't get over the intricacy, bright sparkling colors, and (of course) scale of it all.

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Entries are being accepted for the 2012 Bead Dreams design competition held by Bead & Button magazine. Bead Dreams is a well known, juried event where skilled beaders and jewelry makers from around the world vie for top spots in nine design categories. Winners are announced during an awards ceremony at the annual Bead & Button Show.

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Now that we've covered the absolute basics of loomwork -- like the types of beading looms and their parts -- it's finally time to begin beading. Start out simple by weaving a basic bracelet band using 4mm fire polished beads. Then grab some ribbon ends and learn how to finish your bracelet using the selvage method.

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Jill Oxton's Cross Stitch & Bead Weaving publications have been going strong since 1990 -- and still, somehow, I only recently discovered them. That's probably because I'm in the U.S. and Jill Oxton Publications is headquartered in Australia. But still, no excuses. It has definitely been my loss.

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In case you missed them, Jennifer has written a few posts recently that are very motivational for sparking your beading creativity in 2012. Her most recent post was a call to action for me; it's about the importance of keeping a beading journal or sketchbook -- with lots of ideas about what to put in it. That's something I really let go in 2011, with so many other things gobbling up my time.

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