Friendshipbeading.net Beading Forum

Welcome to the friendshipbeading.net beading forum! Please leave your unique mark on our beading website! Discuss beads, bead stores, colours, styles, make beading instructions requests, etc. I'm currently working on making the official forum. It should be ready within 2 weeks! In the meantime, feel free to converse using my comments system:

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Beader Comments:

Allegra on July 7, 2008:

Hi Veronica! There are lots of beading patterns available on this site if you look around! I'm continuously working on adding new ones. By the way, this forum page has now moved, so you should use the new forum at the following address: http://friendshipbeading.net/forum

veronica on July 6, 2008:

are there any free beading available please I am new to the beading craft

Emm on June 23, 2008:

Thanks Allegra. Will keep an eye out for it. Great site by the way

Allegra on June 20, 2008:

Hi Em! I've got the pictures for the other heart patterns ready to start cropping, but right now I'm struggling to put up the forum!! It's giving me some trouble in getting it integrated into this layout. So that should hopefully be resolved this weekend with some brute work, and then I'll get right onto the tutorials!!

Em on June 19, 2008:

Do you have a tutorial on the 3-d heart? Would love to try that one. Thanks for the great tutorial on the rounded heart

Allegra on June 18, 2008:

Hi Jen!! I can see that you are very keen on the beaded teddy bear from all your posts! I love that one too! I just got it a couple of weeks ago from Chinatown (a well-spent 20 bucks LOL!), so I haven't really had time to look at it yet 'cause I'm so busy restructuring the site right now. You may have noticed if you visited over the past week or so that things are changing a lot in terms of looks! And I just added a real forum, and right now I'm formatting it so it fits into the layout of the site. It should be up and running within a few days! I'm sure I will get to the bear within a few weeks. Thanks for your patience!!

Jen on June 17, 2008:

When are u going to post how to bead the bear it is so cute. Please post it as soon as possible Thanks!

Allegra on June 16, 2008:

Guess what! I've made all the formatting changes I needed to make in order to move us into the new layout for this website, so we are moving very shortly! I'm going to embed the forum into the new layout and skip the old one, that way I don't have to reorganize it twice! So we are moving!! It'll be sad to see the old layout go, but the new one should make us even happier!!^^ I'm going to be putting up the forum right away and I'm working on it right now, and so that will be the first thing to be posted on the new layout, and so the forum link on this layout will link to the new layout until I've moved everything over, that way you guys can start using the forum right away without waiting for me, LOL!

Allegra on June 14, 2008:

Okay we have installed the new forum onto the server! Now it's just a matter of days before I get it all configured to our colour scheme and embedded into our layout! It's coming!!! I'm so excited! LOL!

Jax on June 13, 2008:

Woooohooooo! That's great news! I can't wait to see the new stuff!

Allegra on June 10, 2008:

Great news guys!! I have found a really good forum system that I can install onto this site! I'll hopefully have it up within the next couple of weeks. My computer-techy boyfriend is installing it for me. It's a really simple and customizable forum that will let you post pictures if you want, and won't require you to sign up, which I personally hate about most forums, so that's why I found one that doesn't make you sign up to participate! I'm so excited about it! I hope you won't mind if I copy and paste all your "comments" on this page into the forum when I've got it up. It would be a shame to lose them.

Allegra on June 6, 2008:

Hi Nikkie! I have big plans but of course time is my biggest set back for getting it all done!! LOL! I totally plan to expand with new patterns as I find new models (usually I find them in Chinatown when I go shopping there), but then there's weighing just spending all my time looking for new stuff when I haven't finished the patterns I already have! So right now I'm trying to focus on just posting the material I already have, but I also go look for new stuff on occasion as well (like the teddy bear and tiger are new from a recent shopping trip), and the one sweet day that I actually finish all the patterns I have, I'll definitely be on the hunt for more! I also have a friend called Tess (who I actually met through this site) who is buying beading books from ebay and figuring out the patterns, and so she may be posting her stuff here too! I hope anyway LOL!

nikkie on June 5, 2008:

Will you be doing anymore full body hello kitty figures? I love all of your work. I like to bead 3D figures and most of the beading books are written in Japanese; like you stated. So, thanks so much for this site.

Allegra on June 4, 2008:

LOL!! I don't know about each day! Maybe check once every two weeks! (hehe, or maybe if you really want to you can just come in to post here and chat! I love reading the posts!!) My goal is to post one every two weeks at least, and if possible, one per week. Right now because I'm also doing so much layout makeover and adding new sections, I'm a bit slower on making the tutorials. But there is one coming very soon and that's the heart! Within a couple of days it should be posted!

Erin on June 3, 2008:

I LOVE your ANIMALS thier So CUTE!! I'll check each day for new things!! =D

Lizzy on June 3, 2008:

The little animals are soo adorible, I hope you make more tutorials. I'll check back soon

Hott babe on May 31, 2008:

this website is amazing

Erin on May 28, 2008:

OMG I love all the creations!!

Allegra on May 19, 2008:

OMG! I thought I was alone in using lab/medical equipment for beads!!!! I also use those small glass vials with the screw-on lids. They look fragile, but I've dropped them so many times and they don't break! They were designed to take abuse I guess. LOL!!

Jax on May 19, 2008:

They come sterile, you have to break the seal to get into them. The ones we use are clear with a screw on lid, perfect for beads. I have paperclips on my desk at work in one, but never thought to take it home! I have also used empty vaccutainers for beads (the ones they shoot blood into at the lab when you get blood drawn). We had a batch that had passed the experation date and they worked great. The lids are super tight to keep the blood in so no chance of beads getting out!

Tess on May 19, 2008:

LMAO!!! Urine containers?!!! Ewww..... LOL!!!

Allegra on May 18, 2008:

That's so true about containers with dividers that don't actually end in a screw lid or some kind of sealing mechanism. The seed beads always go through! So I buy the stackable clear containers (they are one dollar for a set of 5 at my dollar store!) that actually screw into each other. It's impossible for them to mix! My stacks are getting pretty tall though, with now 3 towers of 10 containers stacked up in each hehehe. I keep the extra lids in the closet in case I want to transport just one or two of the stacked containers with me on a trip, then I screw on a spare lid to just those containers that I'm taking with me and pack them in my bag. Other containers that I've used are metal tins (like the cookie tins!), cream containers (if you buy hand cream or face cream in screwable containers, preferably transparent ones!), and actually urine storage containers, LOL! I think my mom suspected a urinary tract infection a couple of years ago and picked up a bunch from the lab to take urine samples, but then she got better and didn't do the tests. LOL!

Jax on May 18, 2008:

Tess, I agree with you on the divided boxes, they just make a mess if you aren't super careful and since I don't have a designated beading place where I can leave my stuff out, I end up with a disaster! I use all sorts of things to keep my beads in too, from empty pill bottles to these cool little containers my mom gets from her dental office that snap together. One good investment I did buy was my watertight locking plastic boxes (meant for the kitchen, they have a piece on all four sides that snaps down to seal them super tight) that I got at Costco (20 with lids for like 20 bucks). They are assorted sizes and clear so I keep wire stuff in one, findings in one, random beads in one, etc. Depending on what I am working with, I can grab one or two small boxes and not have to dig thru everything. Makes life a little easier.

Tess on May 17, 2008:

That's an excellent idea Jax thanks so much for saying so. i always end up having issues when it comes to putting all of my beads away especially the smaller beads. It's sooo annoying sometimes. but I like the idea of a yougurt lid or a smaller plactic lid that is bendable. Also, I've realized that I won't be buying so much storage containers when it comes to my beads. I was cleaning out the fridge the other day and [this may sound gross to some of you] I found 3 of those circular plastic containers you would buy at the stores minus the fact that they're not stackable, full of dead wax worms. My fiance likes to go fishing especially ice fishing and buys lots of wax worms that are kept in these containers. So, I emptied them out and cleaned the containers really good. Also, another good idea for storages would be souffle cups. As for me, I'm acutally getting sick of storage containers that have dividers in them. So you can sort out all your different beads. It sucks when you have small seed beads or small bead in general. Now my bead boxes are all mixed up. How annoying!!!

Jax on May 17, 2008:

Hey Allegra, I like the new beach layout. It looks great! I am excited to see it when you are finished. I still haven't gotten to try your kitty pattern. When I opened my bead box up, I realized I had a few unfinished pieces so I figured I would finally get to them. But I had to get on here and share my favorite bead buying location. I get some things from the local bead stores but they are really overpriced and both the one near my house and by my work have really rude sales people. I have not seen any beads in the dollar stores close to me. I mostly use seed beads so that puts Michaels and Joannes out, their seeds are too inconsitant for peyote. Same goes for Walmart, tho I did get some cheap plastic crystal shaped beads there and the kids made snowflakes with silver pipe cleaners that are absolutely gorgeuos and super simple. So my favorite place to buy beads is Fire mountain gems online. They have everything! They will even send you a huge catalog if you like instead of just looking online. The best part is everything is assortable, the more you buy, the cheaper the price gets. I liked your idea about the fishing store to find things Tess. Try looking around your house too. I bead on yogurt lids that bend and pour nicely back into my containers. I keep my needles in an empty pencil lead container that I cleaned out with a q-tip. I figure the less I spend on storage the more I can spend on beads right?

Allegra on April 28, 2008:

Hi Yolanda! I also went to the library to find books about beading right after discovering it. Sadly, I couldn't find any books that covered the type of beading I wanted to do. Mainly I found books about wire jewelry and clay bead making. I couldn't find any books about beadweaving! I think the reason is that beadweaving is still largely an oriental beading art form, so most of the beadweaving books are written in Chinese or Japanese. That is why I decided to start this website, to break the language barrier and allow english-speaking users to discover the art of beadweaving! So feel free to peruse the site's patterns, which are all free! I am continuously working to add new patterns to the library, so expect many more to come week by week! Flowers are a fairly simple and fun place to start. Unfortunately, I haven't completed any flower patterns yet on this site just because I got more requests from visitors to do animal and jewelry patterns. I can certainly do a flower pattern for you very soon! In the meantime, enjoy the patterns already available in the animals, hearts, and jewelry sections. Might I suggest the Elastic Caterpillar Bracelet as a great and simple way to start. Enjoy the site!

yolanda on April 27, 2008:

I recently saw a small pink panther seed bead animal at the mall. I went to the library to get info and get started, do you think I can start with a simple one? like a flower?.

TESS on April 26, 2008:

Here's something you'd probably never would do or think of doing when it comes to beading. well, while my fiance and I were out shopping at a sports store called Sportsmans Warehouse. I was out meandering around in the fishing department. And found a few things that maybe some people would never think of doing when into beading. Well, first of all store containers. They are just about the same things that are sold in the beads stores or arts and craft section of other stores. They are the same thing and usually a dollar or so cheaper. Another thing I found are beads. The beads and container that in the photo all came from the fishing department. I don't know if this is a deal, but over here it is. I got the container for $1.69 and the beads were a pack of 100 for $1.99. They're just round plastic 6mm beads. And the holes in them are pretty big. I also found metal beads of different sizes, but the holes were so huge that they looked funny...lol!!

Allegra on April 26, 2008:

Okay, I have made a variation on the other new layout I was making. The new layout has more blue in it, and the theme for it is the beach. I like the beachy theme because it has a refreshing feel. So here's the links to the two layout themes. Which one is better? Beach theme: http://friendshipbeading.net/blue/header.html Brown theme: http://friendshipbeading.net/header_new.html Now to recap my boyfriend's arguments against the brown theme: it reminds him of poo and halloween, and it's dark.

Tess on April 26, 2008:

Nice!! I'm sooo jealous!!

Allegra on April 26, 2008:

That's true that Walmart sells beads. I had forgotten about that. I guess these are places that don't come to mind straight away when people think of buying beads, and that is why the little overpriced stores laugh all the way to the bank. Also Michaels (the arts and crafts "superstore" lol) sells beads. But actually even though Walmart and Michaels are cheaper than the little corner bead stores, they are still a lot more expensive than that store that I am blessed to have near my house (for now!). And they are definitely a heck of a lot more expensive than the dollar stores. I guess you could say they are middle of the line in terms of price. It's funny that you got into beading and then started looking for where to buy beads. I was doing my regular dollar store shopping when I happened upon their seed beads. I thought they were so pretty. I had never seen beads like that before (I had only ever seen plastic pony beads!!), so I bought them without knowing anything about beading or what on earth to do with them! (the joys of the dollar store...it can actually bankrupt you with the guiltless temptation to buy everything off the shelf). Then, as if by fate, a couple of weeks later I was shopping at my local Chinese Mall and happened upon the a store owned by a lady who beads all day and sells her stuff, and talked her into teaching me!

Tess on April 25, 2008:

I know what you mean about higher priced bead stores. When I first got into beading I searched around my area for bead stores. There was a bead store that is almost an hour away from my house. When I first walked in, I was impressed with the place it was so nice. But when I started looking at their prices I practically ran out the door screaming...lol!! Okay, I wasn't that drastic. But I pretty much just walked fastly for the door. Other places you can go to for beads are wal-mart (which have improved on bead selections) and craft stores.

Allegra on April 25, 2008:

Hello all! You may not have noticed yet, but your fellow beader Tess has emailed me (allegra@friendshipbeading.net) a picture of her elastic caterpillar bracelet that she made based on the pattern on this site, and her bracelet is posted, along with a detailed description of materials, on the last page of that tutorial. Check it out! You too can email me your creations and I'd be happy to post them! While we were talking, Tess mentioned to me that her local bead store is sadly closing its doors for good. So that got me thinking that it might be nice to discuss where to buy beads, because all these patterns require you to have them! I am lucky enough to have a local bead store called Butterfly Effects, whose prices are so cheap, they beat most online wholesalers!! But unfortunately, I have almost always been the only customer in the store every time I've visited. I don't know how long they will be there (but who knows? Maybe I just visit stores at weird times). So how can we as beaders procure beads? Regular bead store prices are really over the top. There are several other bead stores in my area that easily charge 10 times the price of the Butterfly Effects store I referred to. I couldn't help laughing out loud while browsing their stores, that they actually expected people to buy their merchandise! And yet, they are quite successful, very busy all the time! I have to wonder if it's just the tendency of people to shop the most expensive places on purpose out of fear of "lower quality" beads at more reasonable prices. Well, I have to admit to you that I actually do a lot of my bead shopping at no other than the dollar store! My favourite dollar store is Dollarama. They are so professional and everything is always neat and tidy and organized. I buy lots of beads there, like seed beads (they sell about 5000 for $1), bugle beads, and even cube beads! I hope there are dollar stores in your area as good as that. They even sell bicones, wooden beads, pearls, etc. Who has ever bought beads at a dollar store? And where else have you bought beads?

Tess on April 25, 2008:

LMAO!!! Oh, how nice of him to say that.

Allegra on April 25, 2008:

haha, thanks! That picture of the clear plastic stack of beads is my own stack! I'm going to change the colour scheme from orange to blue because my boyfriend thinks it looks like a combination of darkness, poo, and halloween as it is now. LOL. How eloquent.

Tess on April 24, 2008:

I likes it...lol!!!

Allegra on April 23, 2008:

I can't help myself not to give you a sneak peak at the up and coming friendshipbeading.net layout!! I have to tear down this one to make way for all the new sections I am planning to provide you with. I have not left myself with enough room on that side panel of links to add any more links! So I have totally redesigned the layout and all the links will be moving to the top of the page, in the blank light brown horizontal line under the title image. Additional links will go along the left and right-hand margins. It's here http://friendshipbeading.net/header_new.html Let me know what you think!

Allegra on April 22, 2008:

Thanks! We seem to already have a little community starting since you and a few others seem to be repeat visitors/posters. This is great, hopefully when I start those sections it will be used right away! I plan toput them up this summer. It's going to take a fair bit of learning how to code in PHP, but luckily I did computer programming courses in high school (at the time, only to fill my schedule, but I ended up loving it, because it's all about problem solving and logic) so that should help me pick it up faster. And I have a secret weapon: a boyfriend who is a computer engineer LOL.

Jax on April 22, 2008:

LOL Allegra, yeah I used to do anything but study when I had a test coming up. I am still not working as an LVN yet, I need to pass the NCLEX (state boards) once I get the OK to test back so a few more months. I am currently studying for that and I am about two weeks behind on my projected schedule but its all good, I will catch up now that I have days off again. I am very excited to see more of your patterns and the idea for the beading-friendship-maker questionnaire is fantastic. I learned to bead from a neighbor and I have always wanted to connect with more people who not only do the style I do but who are willing to share their style. Good luck with your chem exam!

Allegra on April 20, 2008:

Haha thanks Jax! I know exactly what you mean. I have a lot of trouble fitting this in with school (I have a medicinal chemistry exam in two days and technically I should be studying right now as I type this), but I love it so it's not really work. It's what I do in my spare time when taking breaks from studying! But in two weeks, my summer starts and then I will get to this full time, so expect an exponential increase in the number of finished patterns starting very soon! Also, as you can see from my first post down below, I have many new ideas for new sections on this site as well. Thanks for calling it an active site!! If it's active now, just wait until it has reached its full potential. It is in its infancy (really I just started it a few months ago). Thanks so much and I hope you have fun in your new career!! Is it better than school? I can't wait to be a pharmacist!

Jax on April 20, 2008:

I am so happy to have found your site. I just finished an 18 month LVN course and I think I made a total of three things while I was in school (stethoscope name tags!) and am so glad to have some time now to get back to beading. I love your site and am thrilled to find an active site, before I went back to school all I could find were ones that hadn't been posted on in months and were all really lonely :(. I am looking forward to trying some of your patterns. Happy beading (and happy studying or at least I hope its not to painful!)

JESLYN on April 6, 2008:

I am so excited to have stubbled onto your site, it was through a banner advertisement. I have been looking for a site like this. THANK YOU! Hope you do well in school. But... keep up the work on the site. It's GREAT. I'll visit often. Thanks again.

nancy falbo on March 30, 2008:

Ij ust browsed through your heart and caterpillar elastice bracelet tutorial and was amazed at how detail your instructions are. I can't wait to sit down and try both of these. Great work, Allegra!!!

Allegra on March 30, 2008:

I guess I'll take this opportunity to ask you guys what features you would like to see in this beading website in the future. These are my ideas: to make a forum where you guys can converse to make a beading-friendship-maker, which is basically a questionnaire for you to fill out, and then you get matched to beaders who share similar tastes and interests in beading a visitor gallery, where visitors can post their own pictures and descriptions of their beading projects for everyone to view a newsletter posted on the home page of the site, updated weekly with a new beading topic, and you can comment on it, and subscribe to receive it via email beading contests, whereby visitors post their project submissions, and the visitors of the site vote on their favourite, and that beader wins a prize for their project What do you think? Any other ideas/requests for the future?

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