Mardi Gras - Great Beading Project!

The Mardi Gras season begins January 9 and runs through February 20, 2007! There is a long history to Mardi Gras. Its known for its festive atmosphere, carnivals, food and of course beads! Beads play a big part in the Mardi Gras celebrations and are used to decorate everything and everyone - necklaces made of beads are collected and thrown from parade floats. The official colors of Mardi Gras are purple, green and gold. Each color has a meaning behind it - purple represents justice, green stands for faith and gold stands for power. To help celebrate this very festive occasion we have for you this uniquely designed Mardi Gras beaded banner pattern, done in the peyote stitch! Its the perfect beading project, its fun and easy to do and will welcome your guests or look fantastic in any room of your house! To see all our Holiday and Special Occasion Beaded Banners click HERE! We have something for everyone and every skill level! ~Happy Beading~ Jenny and Jan Copyright 2003-2007© The Bead Shak All Rights Reserved Posted By : Bead Shak IceRocket tags: Mardi Gras, peyote, beaded banner pattern, holidays, on line shopping, advertising, beads, home decor, celebrations, bead patterns, Mardi Gras mask Technorati tags: Mardi Gras, peyote, beaded banner pattern, holidays, on line shopping, advertising, beads, home decor, celebrations, bead patterns, Mardi Gras mask

New Beaded Banner Patterns and Beaded Banner Kits!

Super Bowl Sunday is only 8 days away, its the perfect time to do something special for your favorite team or sports enthusiast, we have the perfect idea, our Touchdown beaded banner pattern! Everyone will be cheering when they receive this as a gift or see it hung for all to see! Valentines Day is also fast approaching with only 18 days left! We have added some new beaded banner patterns just in time for this special occasion! Hearts Desire beaded banner has hearts and roses, the symbol of love. The rose will last forever along with the love it represents! Love Grows beaded banner is a uniquely designed beaded banner that reminds us Love Grows as time passes! All you need is to give it to that very special someone, the banner will say the rest! Beaded Banner Kits! We now have a limited number of Beaded Banner Kits available for purchase! Hearts Desire, True Love and Touchdown are available in Kit form as well but there are only a limited number available at this time! So hurry on over so that you don't miss out on this great purchase! Beaded Banner Patterns, Coasters, Door Hangers, or Ornaments! We have something for everyone! You can see all the new pattern additions Here! Have a great weekend everyone! ~Happy Beading~ Jenny and Jan Copyright© 2003-2007 All Rights Reserved Posted By : Bead Shak Technorati tags: beaded banner patterns, peyote, super bowl, football, super bowl sunday, online shopping, advertising, Valentines Day gift ideas, gift ideas, home decor, bead patterns, beaded banner kits IceRocket tags: beaded banner patterns, peyote, super bowl, football, super bowl sunday, online shopping, advertising, Valentines Day gift ideas, gift ideas, home decor, bead patterns, beaded banner kits

Valentines Day Gift Making Ideas!

Valentines Day is only 24 days away! What a better way to say how you feel to that very special person, family member, best friend or partner than to make them something for Valentines Day! Its a personal gift they will love for years to come! We can help you express how you feel with one of our uniquely designed beaded banner patterns, no words are required, our beaded banner patterns say it all for you! Lovers Silhouette! One girl, one boy, a very special beaded banner pattern for this very romantic time of the year! Our Lovers Silhouette beaded banner pattern depicts exactly what Valentines Days is all about! The perfect gift for that special someone, a great reminder of what is now and is yet to come! Bee Mine! It buzzzzzes out simply Bee Mine, in a whimsical and very cute way! A great gift for Valentines Day or any day where just two words say it all! Red Roses! Red roses are the universal way to say I Love You! Our Red Roses beaded banner pattern is uniquely designed, perfect as a gift for this day or any day where flowers are a way to express how you feel! The perfect embellishment for any room of your house at any time of the year! Valentines Celebrations At The Bead Shak Pattern Club for January! We helped our Bead Shak Pattern Club Members get a head start on their Valentines Projects for the special person in their life this month. A sample of all the fantastic projects that were included in January's Members Area are below: Valentines is the main theme for our Members this month, from the very cleverly designed Hugs and Kisses Coasters and Tissue Box Cover, to a beaded heart sun catcher and then to top it off our February Sampler was included. Our February Sampler is elegantly and brilliantly designed, depicting love in very traditional ways. Our Sampler series of beaded banner patterns are extremely popular and have been included for our Members in the Bead Shak Pattern Club each month. The Sampler series for Months gone by are also sold separately on the main Bead Shak site you can see them all Here! If you are interested in joining the Bead Shak Pattern Club, viewing past samples of what we have included in the Club or looking for more information about this we would love you to visit with us at here at The Bead Shak Pattern Club! If you are new to beading, or new to the peyote way of beading we also offer free instructions on our site! We also are always happy to answer any questions that you might have about any of our patterns, our Pattern Club Membership, or any beading question! Have a great day everyone! ~Happy Beading~ Jenny and Jan License Agreement Privacy Policy IceRocket tags: Valentines Day, gifts, on line shopping, advertising, peyote, beaded banner patterns, bead patterns, pattern club, Valentines Day gift ideas, beaded banner, hobbies, crafts, home decor, craft projects Technorati tags: Valentines Day, gifts, on line shopping, advertising, peyote, beaded banner patterns, bead patterns, pattern club, Valentines Day gift ideas, beaded banner, hobbies, crafts, home decor, craft projects

Craft Wire - What Gauge?

Craft wire is one of those craft supplies that can be used for so much by so many different kinds of crafters. Craft wire can be used or incorporated into beading projects, jewelery making, scrap booking, knitting and even crocheting. Craft wire now comes in a variety of colors, everything from white all the way up to turquoise blues and purples perfect for embellishing a scrapbook page, designing a unique piece of jewelery or stringing beads onto and shaping for your bead projects. Next comes the question what gauge of wire do I need to buy? Wire is measured in gauges and the smaller the gauge number on the package is - the thicker or bigger the wire is going to be. 18 gauge wire is what we have used in some of our beading projects in the Members Area of Bead Shak. Its a medium thick wire, when twisted together won't bend easily and you can twist and turn it into shapes like hearts or large circles for hanging your beaded project. If you want to form closed circles, do more intricate shapes you will need pliers for this which are available at most craft stores. 22 gauge wire is a medium wire and will hold its shape well and is perfect for doing coils, and other free hand shapes when other gauges are either to thick or a little to thin to hold their shape. Rounded pliers found in most craft stores are perfect to help you shape this wire into something unique. A great way to make coils with this wire is to take a pencil, diameter of the pencil your choice, wrap the wire around the pencil and when you have the length you want, slip the wire carefully off the pencil and you have a perfect coil. 24 gauge wire is a fine wire and we have used this gauge of wire for beading projects in the Members Area of Bead Shak. Its fine enough to do loom style beading for small projects but durable enough to hold its shapes. Its the perfect wire for to make coiled, or shaped embellishments for your beading or scrap booking projects. 26 gauge wire is a very fine wire and best suited for seed beads projects. 28 gauge wire and on up is very very fine wire and is used in wire crocheting, wire knitting or weaving. As with everything to do with crafts and beading in particular, we all have our preferences as to what beads we like and from what company, what thread or cording we like to use and from what company and this will be true for your choice in wire. The above is a guide and one gauge of wire might be more suited to you than another. The most important thing is to be creative and have a ton of fun with any projects that you have chosen to do! Have a great day everybody! ~Happy Beading~ Jenny and Jan Copyright 2003-2007© The Bead Shak All Right Reserved Posted by: The Bead Shak Technorati tags: crafts, craft wire, beading, scrap booking, beaded banner patterns, pattern club, hobbies, on line shopping, home decor, bead patterns, craft tips, craft projects IceRocket tags: crafts, craft wire, beading, scrap booking, beaded banner patterns, pattern club, hobbies, on line shopping, home decor, bead patterns, craft tips, craft projects

Valentines Day Ideas!

Hi everyone we hope that you had a fantastic Holiday Season with your family and friends! The holidays seem to be over just as fast as they came! Valentines Day is fast approaching with only 36 days left to make that very special gift for your friend or family member! We have a project just for you! Valentines Wall Hangings Lover Silhouette is one of our very popular projects and perfect for that special someone this Valentines Day! February Sampler is perfect for any time of the year, its timeless and timely! Red Roses are always the popular choice for Valentines Day and we have them in this brilliantly designed beaded banner! Valentines Door Hangers, Coaster and Tissue Box Covers Valentines Hugs and Kisses is a must have for this special day, uniquely designed and just plain fun something special for any day of the year! This door hanger has matching coasters and a tissue box cover that will make this the perfect gift for that special someone! Whimsy Hearts is a whimsical way to celebrate Valentines Day or any day, fast, fun and just plain cute! There is matching coasters for this door hanger making it a fun gift to make and receive this Valentines Day! Cutie Pie Heart Set is the perfect accent set for any room of your house, makes a great gift for the special someone and simply says Be Mine! To see all the Valentines Projects we have for you click Here we have something for everyone that is special to you! If you are a beginner beader we have free peyote beaded banner instructions to help you get started. Click Here and then click on the link Tips & Techniques. If you need any additional help we are always available to help you out, so email us with any questions you may have! We also added to The Bead Shak site some new beaded banner patterns and a Series called Simple Seasons Beaded Banners, which include Spring Medley, Summer Medley, Autumn Medley and Winter Medley. To see all the newest beaded banner additions go here Newest Patterns! Have a great day everyone! ~Happy Beading~ Jenny and Jan Copyright 2003-2007© The Bead Shak All Right Reserved Posted By : The Bead Shak IceRocket tags: Valentines Day, beaded banner patterns, peyote, free beading instructions, wall hangings, beaded coasters, coasters, home decor, on line shopping, advertising, hobbies, crafts, beading, bead patterns Technorati tags: Valentines Day, beaded banner patterns, peyote, free beading instructions, wall hangings, beaded coasters, coasters, home decor, on line shopping, advertising, hobbies, crafts, beading, bead patterns