4 Top Tips for Using Crystals in Your Beadwork

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Whether crystals are the star of the show or a sprinkle of sparkle in your beaded jewelry designs, there’s no doubt they bring the glamour! Crystals are faceted similarly to traditional diamond cuts for ultimate sparkle and are available in a wide range of colors and styles to make your beaded jewelry shine.

Here are four top articles with tips for using crystals in your beaded jewelry designs—plus, inspiration to share your best sparkling beadwork in the 2022 Bead Arts Awards. Enter by July 11 for your chance to win $250 and other prizes in the Crystals category sponsored by Dreamtime Creations. Finally, we will consider all entries for the $750 grand prize!

6 Tips to Learn How to Bezel a Rivoli with Peyote Stitch

Do you love rivolis? This special type of crystal has a point on the front and the back that can make it challenging to stitch into your beadwork. This article features six ways to improve your peyote stitch bezeling technique, taken from a variety of experts including Melinda Barta and Kelly Wiese.

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Enough Waffling: Learn Cubic-Right Angle Weave with Marcia DeCoster

Get a sneak peek into Marcia Decoster’s take on cubic right-angle weave (CRAW), starting with stitching your first cube and covering Marcia’s Top 5 Tips for CRAW. In addition to an inside look at Marcia’s online course, this article contains tons of links for free how-to projects for getting started with CRAW.

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Add Sparkle! How to Glue Flatback Crystals in 5 Easy Steps

Learn how to add flatback crystals to nearly any surface with this quick guide. It includes a link to a free how-to video along with Tammy Honaman’s expert tips. If you’ve never used flatback crystals, this guide will get you started. And if you’ve been using them for years, you might just learn something new!

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Bead Weaving Polygon Stitch: Carol Cypher’s Top 5 Tips Taking You Beyond the Basics

If you haven’t yet tried polygon stitch, this stitch will add a lot of pizazz to your beading repertoire. It lends itself to combining crystals and seed beads in new ways, including the bezeled fancy crystal stones shown here. Along with a glimpse into Carol’s online courses, this article includes Carol’s tips for ergonomics, staying organized, and more.

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We Want to See Your Crystal Beadwork

Enter your best sparkly beadwork in the Bead Arts Awards. Beads, flatbacks, fancy stones, and more will dominate designs in the Crystals category sponsored by Dreamtime Creations.

The Crystals category winner will receive $250. All winners will also receive a one-year membership to Interweave Plus (a $49.99 value), a digital badge, and a feature on Interweave.com. We will also highlight our winners at Bead Fest PA, 2022. Entries are due by July 22, 2022.

We can’t wait to see your crystal creations!

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