craft beading, necklaces, buying beads?
So I am interested in starting beads again and I notice at all the craft stores the beads now come on chains, like a necklace. I am so confused about that? Am I supposed to take them off the chain and reuse them or am I buying a halfway put together necklace? This is as opposed to loose beads
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1000 Jewelry Inspirations (mini): Beads, Baubles, Dangles, and Chains (1000 Series) A visual catalog for jewelry, bead artists and crafters who will relish the opportunity to have so many ideas at their fingertips to inspire their... Read More >
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I believe that some of the higher quality, perhaps glass, beads have always come strung as strands (several of which together make “hanks”), so maybe the ones you’re seeing temporarily strung that way are glass beads or just the more expensive beads?
I also assume that the temporary cording used to string them wouldn’t be strong enough to be used in actual jewelry.
Seed beads that are already strung on a cording are also easier to use in certain kinds of beading (where a number of beads are to be picked up by the needle before being attached to a surface) so maybe that’s another reason.
Michaels has a HUGE collection of beads on string. You can also visit http://www.firemountaingems.com to order loose beads.
Yes, you are supposed to take the beads off of the string from the store, it is not designed to wear. Most of the beads I buy are on plastic cord. It won’t stand up to normal wear and tear, and neither will beads strung on string.
There are some beads that are strung on actual chains, I saw some cute tassels done that way. and yes, those stay just like that.